jemjabella

I Bought a Skirt

Anyone who knows me, or has been reading my blog a while, will know why the very act of buying a skirt has need of an entry of its own. To put it into perspective: the last time I wore a skirt for any significant period of time was the early 90s. So anyway, this is the skirt:

I want to wear it tomorrow so I had to shave my legs especially!

I know you wanted to know that.

Cloth Nappies: Day Three

The last day of my experiment (yesterday) was a resounding success. Isabel was in cloth (just ordinary terries) all day until bedtime; we went out to the park for a bit, went to the shop and no leakages. I'm really impressed with how well they seem to hold pee actually, because I've always considered Izz quite a heavy wetter (it's because she's never off the bloomin' boob! ;) )

A secondhand wrap has arrived today so we can do away with the plastic pants for at least some of the time until the other nappies arrive (hopefully Monday). When we have the whole stash, I'll be trying a night nappy to see how they hold up then... although am slightly dreading that, given that we share a bed!

Normal non-nappy services will resume shortly...

Cloth Nappies: Day Two

Non-parenting readers will have to bear with me while I complete my experiment ;)

Yesterday Izz spent most of the day in cloth, with no leakages! My mum picked me up late morning and we went to Boots to get some terries/pins/waterproof pants (until I can afford some nice wraps) and she showed me various folding methods (we're using the kite, as it seems give the best fit around her bum). This nappy was on for about 3 hours before I remembered to change her(!) and although it was wet, she'd not made a peep about it. The pee had soaked towards the outer of the nappy so wasn't rubbing wet nappy against her skin.

When we got home we used a Onelife nappy for onesize-fits-all nappy and she had this on for a couple of hours or so before bath and bed (still 'cheating' with a disposable overnight ;))

I've ordered a few Bumgenius (despite the leakage on day one, because I think I'd not adjusted it enough), a few FuzziBunz and some second hand Onelife nappies to go alongside the terries. If we find that one works better than the rest I'll probably sell or swap the others (and that's the other beauty of cloth: they retain their value REALLY well!) All in this has cost about £90, which is a lot up front but will save us money in the long run (especially versus the £150 estimate for the rest of the year in 'sposies.)

We've started the day in cloth today, and will aim to go all day (including a trip out to the park later). Today will be the deciding day. If we have no problems, then that's it... cloth all the way!

Cloth Nappies: Day One

A couple of weeks ago, I sat down and worked out how much we've spent on disposable nappies in 7 months. It turned out to be some ridiculously huge figure like £120. As Izz gets bigger and the size of the nappies get bigger, the price per pack gets more extortionate and you get less in a pack so we'd be looking at another £150 or more just to get to her first birthday.

I know a lot of mums who use cloth nappies, and I know for a fact that we (my siblings and I) were in cloth (terries) at one point or another as kids. I'm figuring if these people/my mum can do it, there's no reason I can't... even if I am a lazy bugger. So, cue me shouting for help, and a friend from sling meet lending me a nappy bucket full of cloth nappies to trial.

We started yesterday...

Observations

• Isabel definitely noticed when she was wet! I don't know whether it was just because she was feeling under the weather yesterday, but as soon as she'd peed she cried. This is the first time she's fussed for a nappy change (even as a newborn the only thing she cried for was boob).
• The smell is more noticeable. I guess the lovely chemical cocktail in a disposable disguises it normally ;)
• We had leakage in the "bumgenius" after 2 hours, which seems like quite a small turnaround time. I would expect 3-4 hours out of a 'sposie during the day.
• It's nowhere near as complicated as it looks/sounds.

So, mixed feelings about cloth after yesterday. I definitely still want to go that way, but may get some terries and try the old fashioned route before making my mind up. I'll update again when I've got a better grip on which way I'm going.

Summer Reading Challenge

I’m taking part in the Transworld Dan Brown Summer Reading Challenge!

Between the Lines (Transworld Publishers) are having a summer reading challenge which should give me the opportunity to read and review some books for free! (My favourite price.)

I've picked the following four (the first I've wanted to read for a while, the others I picked at random):

1. The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown
2. Assassin by Tom Cain
3. Lockdown by Sean Black
4. 61 Hours by Lee Child

If you're EU-based and taking part, let me know what books you're reading. If and when you post the reviews let me know and we can get some inter-linking review fun going on. :D