Weaning.... and cloth nappies

Wow its like a whole new world.

Elsie is now 6 months already so we have just introduced her to weaning. Some days she even eats a bit but most days its spread around her face and the high chair much to her delight. At the moment its just fun so I don't really worry about how much she is actually eating.

I do however worry about the nappies! There appears to be more coming out then goes in. Even on the days she eats nothing.

We stopped using throwaway or flushable liners within a few weeks of using cloth because they were rough, seemed to squidge together and didn't contain any of the poop anyway. One of the benefits of cloth is having something soft and dry next to babies skin so rough paper liners ruined this.

However the weaning poops have appeared. They are not solid enough to be flicked into the toilet nor runny enough to go into the machine as they contained bits of carrot and no one wants that going round and round in the machine

So what have I tried? Well at first I tried the swish and flush method. This involves holding the fleece liner we use in the flushing toilet water. Epic fail -I just ended up with a very soggy, still covered in poop, liner that dripped water from toilet to bucket.

If the poops were solid I would have used the flick method, its pretty self explanatory it involves flicking the poop off the liner or nappy straight into the toilet. Sadly there is no 'flickability' to Elsie's poop.

The next method I learned of via a cloth board. Its called a poop spoon. Yes that's right a dedicated spoon to scrape the poop off the nappy and into the toilet. Now obviously you need to have a dedicated spoon, as much as you may want to let your partner use it for his cornflakes its really not advised. So if you have a poop spoon where do you store it? One place is a  toilet brush holder. We don't actually have any of these though. So will I be buying any toilet brush holders in the near future? Thankfully not yet. I recently received some bamboo disposable liners. They have been invaluable. They are still soft against Elsie's skin but catch pretty much all the poop. I have been able to roll the liners up and dispose of them and continue to chuck a fairly clean looking nappy into the nappy bucket or wet bag.

Hope I haven't put any of you off your dinners!

Buy all the diapers....

Green Pomelo Review 2

Nappy Review

Green Pomelo Birth to Potty (BTP)  pocket nappy

Price
£11.60 from GreenPomelo.com


Style
There are a range of BTP pocket nappies in Velcro and poppers and both styles of varying ranges of colours and patterns. There are funky and bright patterns which make a change from the usual pastel shades we see with more well known branded nappy companies.

Drying Time
These nappies dry reasonable quickly, the inserts are removed to dry and the cotton outer we trialled dried within a matter or hours in the house. The inserts needed to be left over night which is standard for any pocket nappy inserts.

Absorbency
The 2 micro fibre inserts were very absorbent and boosted with one of the 2 bamboo boosters supplied lasted over 5 hours on Elsie when I gave in and had to change her.


Containment
Fantastic, our fluffy dumplings tester Elsie had no leaks after 5 hours and on other days everything she threw at this nappy even when weaning was contained.


Fit
The nappies fitted Elsie's chunky thighs really well and we were able to fasten the velcro tight around her slimmer waist. The nappy becomes a little bulky like most pocket nappies with both the microfibre insert and the bamboo booster.


Overall Rating
9/10


Our little fluffy dumplings say "the bamboo boosters make all the difference to this nappy"

Reviewed by Fluffydumpings Sarah mum to Elsie .


We previously reviewed the Green Pomelo nappy with only one microfibre insert and have therefore been kindly sent both sets of microfibre inserts and bamboo boosters to review again.  
We also trialled Green Pomelo cloth wipes which have been excellent at cleaning up weaning poop - and speaking of which we have since discovered how invaluable biodegradable liners can be. The Green Pomelo bamboo liners are softer then previous throw away liners we have used and we will continue using these whilst we have the messy weaning poop.

Blueberry Coveralls Review

Now during Real Nappy Week I ordered a couple of Blueberry Coveralls from Little One Lane.
Nappy Review

Blueberry coveralls are made in the USA. They are designed to fit a weight range of 10 - 40lbs (BTP) They are made in a range of colours and pretty patterns and are available to buy in either applix (velcro) or poppers.   

Fluffy Dumplings Rating
Price
£12.50  from various online shops we bought this from Little One Lane

Being birth to potty makes them better value then sized nappy wraps as you will be using them for more than two years on average. 


Blueberry coveralls have a great resale value too.



Style
The wraps are available in a range of colours and cute patterns. There are available as applix or poppers. In our experience the applix wraps have given a better fit because Elsie has a small waist but chunky thighs.


Drying Time
The wraps are made from lightweight and waterproof material and laminated interior that can easily be wiped clean between uses and left to dry for a few minutes. he washing machine the wrap was dry with a couple of hours on an airer.

Absorbency
Now with it being a wrap its the actual nappy underneath that performs the absorbency. We used with a Totsbots Stretchy and Elsie was dry all night.


Containment
Blueberry coveralls have latex free elastic covered by soft bindings which do not irritate even the most sensitive of legs. The wraps also have double gussetted legs which help prevent leaks also.


Fit
The wraps fit from 10 to 40 pound and as such last on average from birth to potty training. The velcro fastening and poppered fronts gave us the perfect fit and as such no leaks even though it was a very messy     night.
.

Overall Rating
10/10


At fluffydumplngs we are so pleased with our first brand new Blueberry wraps. Elsie for the first time has woken with no marks on her legs and we have had no leaks over night.

Secret Cloth Nappy Swaps

Do you remember the disappointment at the tat you were bought for your Secret Santa gift at work? I can remember being bought mugs with men's anatomies on and joke books with pictures of poop in.  Tat that was immediately bagged up for charity in the new year.


Well currently I am taking part in the best cloth nappy version of Secret Santa. Instead of for Christmas though its for the start of the Olympics. Its been named the Secret Olympic Swap, SOS.


All the participants are members of a Facebook group called Cloth Bum Mums. We all registered on Elfster and have agreed to purchase a nappy up to the budget of £20. Via Elfster you get to ask your recipient anonymous questions and they can also state their wishes, what they don't need and what they  like etc.  This is great as it ensures that if you don't know your recipient already very well from the group you can still ensure you buy them the perfect cloth nappy.


Now mine has been answering questions and stating wishes and I know which current makes she uses and which WAHM she prefers. So the next step for me was to get on a custom slot for one of these WAHM.


So for the past 24 hours I have stalked the WAHM on Facebook and twitter and today successfully bagged myself a slot. 


Now my buy is for a boy. Slightly scary as I only have girls so buying something suitable is a little daunting. I am relying on the WAHM knowing more about my recipient then I already do.

Just as exciting is the fact my purchaser has asked me some questions today! It is so exciting knowing that someone is taking the time to search for a cloth nappy for your little one. I have given them pretty much free reign although stipulated that I don't like black or skulls. I hope they are as excited about buying for me as I am for my recipient!

Real Nappy Week - guess what we were wearing

Now is this ironic? It was Real Nappy Week last week and I write a cloth nappy blog, so why was my baby girl in disposables all week?

Well sadly she had a nasty skin infection and nasty eczema which meant 3 lots of creams applies all day every day which were not going to be kind to cloth.

I have felt like a big fraud this week and it has been the hardest week.

Reasons I don't like disposable nappies

1) They smell. When they have a wee or poo in them there is a nasty smell. its not the wee or the poop its the reaction with the chemical. This smell varies slightly depending on brand but its always there. Changing the first nappy of the day is the hardest nastiest smell ever.... fact.

2) They leak. My Elsie is purely breastfed still and so has the runniest of poops. It leaks out the side of the nappies every time. I can not believe how rubbish these nappies are. I have touched more poop last week then I ever would with cloth.

3) Even once removed what are you to do with them. I had to carry around poopy nappies in plastic bags (and poopy clothes) most days last week. Even when I had managed to change Elsie in a baby changing room I didn't want to touch the dirty bins to stuff yet another nappy into it. The room was stinking enough.

4) Our rubbish bin has become rather full much quicker than usual.

5) Instead of a nappy wash I am doing daily poopy clothes washes because of all the leaks.

6) My baby has no big squidgy bum anymore.

7) They are so expensive. They last a couple of hours and then are binned.

8) They are so hard and dry.

9) They look really ugly.


My poor little girls skin is much better and today and soon she will be back in her cloth.

Day 2 of Real Nappy Week

So its day 2 of Real Nappy Week and what have I bought? Nothing. Not a single nappy, wrap, wipe or wet bag. I know I can't believe it either. Its not for the want of trying either. I am desperately looking for night time nappies and wraps again as Elsie seems to have chunked out considerably and our current wraps dig into her thighs.


I think there is an abundance of nappy offers and codes I just can not decide on what to order and from where. I have searched the web and various cloth nappy groups for codes and discounts.  When in fact any of these offers on there own would please me immensely just a few days ago because its RNW I just cant stop from searching out 'better' offers. I am at risk at getting to the end of RNW and there being nothing left to buy!


So if you spot any wraps or fitted nappies at exceptional value please comment or tweet me @fluffydumplings so I don't miss out.