Real Nappy Week - April 15th -21st

Real Nappy Week is coming and I thought I'd do a blog entry all about it.

There are events held by companies to raise awareness of using cloth, online retailers having sales on cloth nappies and facebook pages holding competitions and giveaways. It's a fab week to pick up bargains and help save you further money by using cloth.

Go Real - http://www.goreal.org.uk/real-nappy-week

They have a theme for the week - Real Nappies... Real Change!

This year, throughout the week, we thought we'd set up a theme to each day. We will be taking a look at the benefits of Real Nappies, inspiring you to make the change to 'Go Real'!

Monday 15th April - Real Choice

Tuesday 16th April - Real Fun

Wednesday 17th April - Real £hange

Thursday 18th April - Real Easy

Friday 19th April - Real Future

Saturday 20th April - Real Change - The Great Cloth Diaper Change

Sunday 21st April - Real Clean

The Great British Nappy Hunt - http://www.greatbritishnappyhunt.co.uk/index.html

During this week, participating retailers will be hiding 'Billy the Cloth Bummed Kid'somewhere on their sites. All you have to do is register to receive daily information and clues about where to find Billy, track him down on our participating retailers' sites, click on him and answer Billy's questions.

Each correct entry will be entered into a daily prize draw with all correct entries being submitted to the final Grand prize draw at the end of the week.

Billy the cloth bummed kid has lots of gorgeous nappies to share with his hunting friends this Real Nappy Week, so don't miss out!

Real Nappy Week Retailer Organisation - http://www.realnappyweek.org/index.html

We want to make this year the best Real Nappy Week EVER, so help us spread the word about Real Nappies by playing our fantastic game of Clothopoly and getting all your friends involved. With a total of 61 prizes worth up to £500 available, you've got to be in it to win it!

Clothopoly is a game where competitors visit different cloth nappy websites to collect game pieces, just as in a traditional game of monopoly. Instead of visiting swanky Mayfair or Park lane, competitors will be visiting BumGenius or Tots Bots to collect letters which make a winning phrase.

In total, 67 retailers are supporting Clothopoly by donating prizes, a total of £8300 worth!

A list of supporters is available here.

Prizes

Grand Prize: £500 worth of nappies, wipes, changing bag and accessories!

10 x Second Prizes: £250 worth of nappies and accessories

50 x Runner-up Prizes: £75 worth of nappies and accessories

The Great Cloth Diaper Change - http://greatclothdiaperchange.com/?page_id=8

In 2012, 256 locations in 15 countries held SIMULTANEOUS events to break the world record for the most reusable cloth diapers changes simultaneously. That meant that some events (like in Malaysia) happened at 2am!

In 2013, we will be holding a slightly different event.  This year, we will be changing the diapers at 11am LOCAL TIME, so the change will roll around the world.  In order to make this event a success and increase awareness of reusable cloth diapers, we need your participation!

Here's a map of events taking place during the week, hopefully there's one near you!

Events Map

Retailers to visit during the week which may have discounts on nappies

Little Lamb

Baba Me

Fluff Heaven

Fill Your Pants

Clean Green Nappy Machine

Babi Pur

Babybots

Bambooty

Cheeks and Cherries

Bambino Mio

It may also be worth liking the retailers facebook pages so you can keep up to date with any offers going on.

If you know of any other events or retailers taking part please comment and I'll add them to my post.

 

  

Made By Amber - Review

In September last year I had a panic. I wanted to get Kellan a custom made nappy for his first birthday and I was close to leaving it too late. Some WAHM's  (work at home mums) have long waiting lists for customs or take a good 3-4 weeks for a custom to be made. I had a design in mind but it wasn't an easy design. I went on a search via Facebook on WAHM nappy pages messaging them asking them if they could help. I had a couple say the design was too difficult or their waiting lists for a custom were full and I started loosing hope. That's when Made By Amber messaged me back and came to the rescue.

I'd sent an image I wanted a rough recreation of this was the image;

Those in the know will know this is a Creeper from the game Minecraft.

Now I'd seen that Amber had made patchwork nappies in the past and she said she'd have a go at it the best she could. So Amber got to work and I waited not knowing how it'd turn out or if it would be possible but Amber surprised me.

The finished Creeper nappy

 Back

Front

Amber had got the design spot on. I was over the moon and couldn't wait for Kellan's birthday so he could wear it.

Getting a custom with Amber was great. Her prices aren't over the top and she slotted me in which I will be forever thankful for as I know how busy custom lists are. She made the nappy in 2 weeks which I wasn't expecting either and that meant all that rushing about and worry that I'd left it too late was not needed and the nappy got here in plenty of time for Kellan's birthday. Amber was always easy to get hold of and easy to talk to. She was lovely to work with.

The nappy is made from minky and is so soft and fluffy. The fit is brilliant on Kellan and he has plenty of growing room left too which is excellent so he gets loads of wear from it.

If you are looking for a custom made nappy then Made By Amber is definitely a place to check out. Here's her Facebook page - Made By Amber and her website - madebyamber.co.uk

FuzziBunz - Elite Review

I've used one size FuzziBunz nappies before but the old style which had microfiber inserts. These were an ok nappy but didn't fill me with confidence to use them more regularly.

FuzziBunz Elite

The FuzziBunz Elite is the new improved one size nappy. The inserts are now made from minky, the elastics for changing the nappy size are better hidden so don't come into contact with baby's skin and the sizing is slightly bigger.

When Kellan tested these he was in the medium setting, he's now in the large setting at 14 months old. The larger sizing makes the Elite a lot easier to put on as the old style were smaller and trying to get a small fitting nappy on a wriggly baby is no easy feat. There are more poppers so more room to adjust the fit around the waist and/or the legs. This was great for Kellan as he doesn't have the chunkiest of thighs which really proved a problem for us with a lot of nappy brands. The leg fit was brilliant and even though Kellan's waist was wide the leg fit didn't suffer which was a huge plus for us.

The minky inserts were great. They dried very fast in fact they are always the first inserts dry after a wash which is brilliant if you don't have a tumble drier. They also haven't stained which is brilliant, Kellan's poo could stain anything but these cope remarkably. They are pretty easy to stuff into the pocket too. The old style inserts I found were a difficult fit which was another reason I didn't use our old FuzziBunz so much. They are a smaller insert but if you get the minky the right way round they just glide in the pocket when pushed in.

They contained Kellan's nappy contents well except when he was sat in his pushchair. We had an incident at the park where he was sat in the seat and he did a rather loud sounding poo and we had back and leg leakage. We had to rush home to change him as I'd stupidly forgotten wipes so couldn't change him. That was our only leakage with the Elite and I've learnt to not use them when he's going in the pushchair. When around the house and he's not putting pressure on the Elite he can last a good 3-4 hours which is great as he wee's for Britain. We wouldn't be able to go overnight in the Elite but its a great day nappy.

To change the size of the nappy from small-medium-large you undo the elastic in the pocket at the back waist and the legs by undoing the buttons and moving them to the right number for the size. I didn't get a size guide with my Elites so looked it up on the FuzziBunz website. It's a simple process and less fiddly than the old style nappy which meant untucking elastic from a slit in the inner fabric and adjusting via the button and trying to tuck the elastic back in.

The Elites come in a large range of colours and there are Diaper Talk Elites which we have two of and adore. You also get a spare set of elastics with each nappy and we've not had a need to use ours yet so they are kept in our bits and bobs box just in case.

Kellan in a FuzziBunz Elite Diaper Talk

 

Kellan in a FuzziBunz Elite

In conclusion the Elite is a great nappy if your little one has small thighs. If you don't own a tumble drier then it's the perfect nappy for you as it'll dry fast indoors. I wouldn't suggest them as the only nappy in your stash but they are great for during the day when at home. I do find that we get red marks on the waist and legs after Kellan has worn one which could mean I need to change the sizing but they are a smaller fitting nappy than most one size nappies. They are very adjustable and can be hard to get on a wriggly baby but I think that's the case with a lot of poppered nappies. These are worth trying out.

Bambino Mio - Mio Solo Review

So here's my first review for the reuseable nappies I tested for the Mother & Baby Awards 2012.

Back in 2008 when Jorja was a toddler we tried out Bambino Mio prefolds. We didn't have such a great time with them sadly. The wrap would fold in on itself at the belly and cause wicking which defeated the point of wearing them so we gave up on them.

The Mio Solo is a relatively new nappy on the market. There are no prefolds and wraps involved this time it's a simple pocket nappy with a fold out insert. It's a one size pocket and claims to be from birth upwards. The colours are based on retro sweets from parma violets, flying saucers to cola cubes. Bambino Mio have very recently released prints too.

The Mio Solo

When we tested the Mio Solo Kellan was 8 months old and he's not big for his age, his waist is quite wide but his thighs aren't that chunky which has caused problems for us with nappies before. I had to set the Mio Solo on the medium setting for Kellan as they are quite generous in sizing. Kellan had just started moving on to the large setting on one size nappies around then and he still had plenty of room for growth at that medium setting.

So Kellan had an ok fit with the Mio Solo. The waist was great for him especially the velcro which allowed for more range of fit but there was one very big draw back with having velcro as a fastener for us........ yes Kellan loves undoing velcro and laughing as I run to go do it up before we have a puddle on the floor, don't you just love babies lol. Now this wouldn't really be much of a problem if your baby wears clothes a lot but Kellan doesn't really wear much except a t shirt or if we go out then I dress him. So yes it was annoying for us. The fit around the legs was another problem. As I said before his thighs aren't that big and we had gape at the legs, aka I could easily put my finger between the nappy edge and the inside without having to stretch the elastic. This posed a big problem 1. he's a heavy wetter and he'd leak quickly from the leg and 2. he is breastfed and his poo's, sorry you can't escape the poo talk when it comes to nappies can you, were runny and so we had escaping poo, booo!

But............ I also used the Mio Solo on Gwen who at the time had just turned 3. She seems to have had a sudden growth in the hip area which has meant a lot of her stash, collection of nappies for those who aren't there with the lingo yet, has become useless until Kellan grows in to them. The Mio Solo fit Gwen with room, not a lot of nappies are like that with Gwen so I was impressed. Gwen can undo velcro but with her being older she knows to leave it alone so she gets on well with them. Gwen used to be a heavy wetter but seems to be less so as she's gotten older and she can go overnight in a Mio Solo which Kellan stood no chance of unless we wanted him soaked with wee in the night. She is in the large setting and the rise, measurement from the top of the front of the nappy down between the legs and up to the top of the back of the nappy, still had plenty of room.

Now when it came to washing the Mio Solo it was simple. Fold the velcro tabs on to the washing tab and put in the machine along with the other dirty nappies. The fold out insert makes it easier and quicker to dry. We don't have a tumble drier so it takes a while for our clean nappies to dry and when compared to other brands the Mio Solo is one of the fastest to dry. It's also easy to get the insert back in the pocket. You just put your hand in the little pocket at the end of the insert and push the insert in to the bottom and then tuck the flap over at the back of the nappy. Then just velcro the Mio Solo up and put it with the rest of your stash until it's next use.

So in conclusion the Mio Solo worked better on our older child mostly due to it's sizing. If there were a popper version of the Mio Solo then I'd be willing to try them again with Kellan now that he's grown a little.

It's definately worth giving them a shot especially if you see them on offer or on pre-loved nappy groups. Don't invest all out as you may not get on with them but that can be said for every nappy as each baby gets on with each brand differently.

Kellan in the Mio Solo

Wow where do I begin?

So much has happened since I last blogged here. So here's a quick run through of what I've not blogged about.

Christmas was quiet but fab. We cut down on the amount each of the children got but they loved what they got so they didn't care. 

New Years we went to hubby's parents for a party and left around 1am. The kids had fun playing with their cousin and nibbling on the food laid out for everyone.

Harvey turned 9! It really doesn't seem like it was that long ago that he was this little toddler running around after Cerys. He had tons of Lego as his presents which he loved and I made him a Lego themed birthday cake too. The amount of time it took to make Lego blocks out of icing was ridiculous but they looked great.

I turned 30 and well I don't really see the big deal about it, it's just another year.

We had parent teacher consultations in early March. Cerys is doing ok, Harvey needs to put his hand up more often and is on target, Archie is above average for everything and Jorja is getting there slowly but surely :) All are well behaved, polite, helpful, popular with others and get on with their work

Cerys is going on a class trip for 5 days to a place called Swattenden at the end of May. She's dying to go bless her but it'll be so strange not having her here for so long.

Easter is this weekend and this year our usual egg hunt isn't taking place. The weather isn't the best and it seems everyone has gone nuts buying out anything to do with easter chocolate so we haven't gotten any small eggs to hide. Cerys went to easter egg bingo at the school last week and won one of the top prizes and came home with two carrier bags full of easter eggs!

The kids school held an enterprise week sale on the last day of term. We went around each of the kids class rooms and bought something from each to help their class win. We came home with quite a stash of goodies.

Kellan is now 5 months old. He's dribbling like mad but no sign of teeth yet, is practically there with sitting up and he's done that so fast, literally in a week or 2, he loves being up on his feet and is such a smiley happy little guy.

Cerys got into her second choice of school, Spires Academy. It's currently being rebuilt so when she goes there she'll be using the new building. We think she'll love it there although she's not so keen on wearing a tie and blazer. She has to get a coach from our village to the school and we no longer have to worry about her wandering off in to town as it's too far from town for her to do that which was a downside to her first choice school.

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We've also been doing a lot of baking recently. It's really not good as we seem to be ballooning in size but oh it's just yummy.

Double Chocolate Cupcakes

Chocolate Brownies

Red Velvet Cupcakes

Valentines Day Cake

Whoopie Pies

Chocolate Cake for the Kids

Ginger Cake

Fudge Cake

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I also won a few cloth nappies. We won a prize from Itti Bitti in a photo contest on Facebook. The prize was;

 a set of cloth wipes, 

1 all in one nappy, 

1 snap in one nappy, 

1 wet bag, 

2 tuttos,

1 change mat

Gwen won a nappy from The Nappy Lady on Facebook as her photo was chosen for their timeline cover photo. I chose a Tots Bots Bamboozle size 2 in Pumpkin.

I got an Ella's house Bum Slender to test from Nappy Go Lucky on Facebook. It's a hemp fitted nappy.

I won a nappy from The Clean Green Nappy Machine on Facebook. I chose a Tots Bots Easyfit V2 in Gingerbread.

I won a Ones & Two's nappy from their Facebook page. (pictured on the right)

I won a new Little Lamb one size fits most nappy from their Facebook page.

I won a Bumgenius Freetime from Babe Me's Facebook page after a image hunt on their website.

I won a custom wool soaker in a Facebook cloth nappy group party.

I also won a Gumigem teething necklace from one of the new ranges they've just released after they chose the name suggestion I put forward for one of the designs. The design is now called Zebula.

The Sloomb nappy, Jack, arrived.

I also won a Jane Shilton gift card on Twitter and have ordered myself some lovely boots.

 

 

We also have quite a few new nappies. Fuzzibunz Elite Diaper Talk, Wee Notions Frilly Bum, Blueberry Coverall, Upsy Daisy Camo and a Holden's Landing Medium AI2. I'll do seperate posts for these nappies as reviews.

I think thats about all that I needed to post about so I'm off for a cup of tea while my little man is fast asleep.