How I convinced my husband we should cloth bum!

I have always loved the idea of using cloth nappies. My husband, however, has not. We've been using cloth nappies for over 5 months now, and even now if I'm out of the house, he sneaks her back into disposables. He's come up with a stream of reasons that he doesn't really like to use them, all of which I understand. But I was very determined to use them, and seeing as I do 80% of the nappy changes I stood my ground. He will thank me one day ;) Below are a list of his 'excuses' and my responses...

"They cost an absolute fortune!"
When you consider how long you need to use nappies for (24 months at least normally) you do save money in the long run. The initial start up cost is a definite downside to cloth nappies but it does pay off as you save A LOT of money. If you look after your nappies well, you can also use them beyond one child and continue to use them for subsequent babies (there's a good reason to build a lovely large stash)

It is 100% cost effective... Unless like me, you become a cloth nappy addict. I swear he doesn't even know about half of our stash... I am slowly adding them so he doesn't realise. I've heard of other mummies telling their husbands/partners that they won them in giveaways etc as well. Genius!!

"I don't want to deal with the poop"
It's just poop. And we own soap. When our first was a couple of months old.. He projectile pooped. Everywhere. All over me and my husband. We were speechless but poop is inevitable with babies, whether you use cloth nappies or disposables, and I guarantee as a parent you will get pooped on a number of times during the nappy years... and possibly beyond!

My husband is a bit of a poo-aphobe and really didn't like the idea of having to 'deal' with the poo. So we compromised. We have two nappy pails, one for nappies that need a rinse, and the one for pre-rinsed 'ready for the wash nappies'. So now he has no excuse HA!

"What if I'm out and she poops everywhere... I can't bin the nappy and I don't want to carry that around"

This phased me at first as well. It took my a while to get a good 'system' going, so we kept emergency disposables in the changing bag for a while. We do now carry two wet bags, one for nappies and one for clothes (this one came with the changing bag) to make things easier. And I can 100% confirm that carrying a poop filled cloth nappy is no different to poop covered clothes that have been exploded on. You can wrap them up and put them in the wet bag as you would with soiled clothes, take home, wash and go again! The wet bags can be washed too and if you have a good wet bag, they don't smell and you wouldn't notice any difference (that's wee and poo included).

"I work up to 60 hours some weeks, I can't bothered dealing with them after a long shift at work. Disposables are easier"

There really isn't much difference (especially now we have our 'still to rinse' bucket). It the same quick change as we mostly use all-in-ones, and all he has to do is put the dirty nappy in the bucket. There is equally as much effort in changing a disposable! Besides, I change the nappies most of the time anyway. Since buying lots of lovely prints - I actually enjoy it!

"It's too much washing"

Honestly, when my husband said this, my response was "you never touch the washing machine anyway". He doesn't. The last time he did the washing I was in hospital with severe morning sickness, I was there for two days and he managed to ruin 3 of my favourite tops by mixing the washing...

In terms of how much extra you wash, it really isn't that much. I wash twice a week and it's literally just a case of chucking of them in the washing machine and hanging them up to dry. Which I love, as I get to show the nappies off on the airer... sad I know.

We now use cloth nappies 90% of the time. I'm still working on him! We will get there! I'm a stubborn mummy and determined on using them all the time.
Let me know what your husbands and partners think of them and how or even if you had to convince them to use the cloth.
Leave me a comment below and don't forget to subscribe! :)

Reusable Kitchen Towel

A couple of weeks back I accidentally came across a blog about reusable kitchen towel on my Pinterest. We've been making the move to all things reusable (as much as possible and as much as I convince the husband) over the past few months, and I just think this is a brilliant idea! If you're like me, kitchen towel is pretty much just for mopping up children's spillages, and we seem to spend an absolute fortune on the stuff, just for it to go in the bin!

It took me a while to think of a material that was suitable for this and that I could buy in my local shops. In the end I found some lovely polka dot materials in my local fabric store for around £2-3 a metre and some of the wilkos value hand towels for £1 in my local Wilkinson's store which are perfect! The hand towels cut into 6 equal squares, and then I just cut out the same size square from my patterned fabric. You could just use 2 layers of towel but I wanted them to match my kitchen and to stand out from the other face towels I have for the kids (they're incredibly messy eaters!). The kitchen towels that I've made look like this...

I have found a few different tutorials which give lots of information and pictures showing how to make these. The one below is pretty much exactly what I did for mine, I've just not got around to adding the snaps!

http://thatshortgirlsblog.blogspot.co.uk/2012/04/reusable-paper-towel-tutorial.html

This tutorial is also brilliant as she has also added a tube with snaps for the inside, which is a such a good idea, because rolling these up neatly is difficult!

http://cateyedkp.tumblr.com/post/28130255598/unpaper-towel-tutorial

And for those without a sewing machine here is tutorial for hand sewn ones! This is packed full with information, so even if you're no good with a plain needle and thread (like me!), its full of tips to make these easy peasy to make!

http://www.mommypotamus.com/diy-unpaper-towels-without-a-sewing-machine/

These really are great and they're so much better for the environment! We're using these around 50% of the time at the minute, as we're just finishing up our final (and last!) rolls of kitchen towel. They are perfect for spillages and so much more absorbent! So far we are definitely a fan of these. We currently have two rolls but I have purchased the material to make another two rolls, which is sitting on my sewing desk currently waiting, alongside a couple of other projects.

I would imagine you would need to remake a fresh set or two every 6-12 months, depending on how much you use them or how well they're looked after but when you compare this with how much you'd spend on disposable kitchen roll, you'd still make a substantial saving... plus they're prettier!

I hope you've found this helpful! Leave me a comment and let me know what you think of these and please subscribe to this blog :) x

DIY Vest Extenders Using Old Vests

A couple of months ago I was sorting out my little girls old vests, wondering what I could do with them as it seemed such a shame to get rid of them. Then it occurred to me.. I could make some vest extenders with them! I had been looking for some to buy but they just seemed so expensive (especially when I included postage) for something which just extends a vest..

These vest extenders are relatively easy to make and if you cut carefully you still have a lot of the vest fabric left so I've also cut a lot out ready to make bunting for her room (although I've yet to get around to making it). Also you get prettier vest extenders from using old vests instead of boring white ones everyone tends to stock!

This is also really quick and only takes around 10-15 minutes for each vest extender.
I'm not a brilliant machinist by any stretch of the imagination but I found these quite easy. The picture below is my first attempt... so please excuse the slightly wonky seams and sewing! They are pretty self explanatory but I've added pictures of each stage to make it even easier to do.

 

What you will need:

1 old vest for every vest extender you want to make

Matching thread

Scissors

Pins

 

I start by cutting the three pieces I need, out of the vest and laying them flat on the table. You then need to figure out which way you need to sew the two bits of fabric with the snaps. I used another vest to help me with this, as it's really important that it all attaches to the right bits to work. For me it worked out to have the top snaps in the photo facing upwards and the outer snaps below, facing downwards.

 

 

Once I had figured this out, I pinned them together and started to sew a straight line down the them, sewing them together, which should look like this when done...

 

 

 

I have seen some vest extenders left like this but I didn't think it looked as neat so to hide seams and rough edges, I then stitched a 'back piece' onto the snaps pieces like this, along the black lines I have added... (I've cut this a bigger than needed, just so I could show this properly)

 

 

 

Trim any excess fabric off to create neater seams and then turn this inside out and tuck in the tops of the fabric, leaving the snaps exposed, and sew down

 

 

 

And you're done!

 

I apologise for the un-neat stitching in these photos! I was too busy focusing on getting the right pictures!

 

I've made a number of these in various sizes for different nappies, so longer ones for night nappies and shorter ones for when she goes up a size in vest and when she's wearing slimmer nappies. I love making these as they cost next to nothing and it's a brilliant way to reuse old vests that you no longer need. Also if you're like me and buy the same brand all the time, they are almost guaranteed to fit!

 

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5 ways to use cloth nappies on a budget

When I first starting cloth-bumming, I was on maternity leave, earning much less than my normal wage and trying to save as much money as possible and I know many are also in a very similar situation. Cloth-bumming is often described as a way to save money and 'cheaper in the long run' and whilst all of these are true, I know many who have decided against cloth because of the initial cost.

If I'm honest, cloth-bumming wasn't an overnight revelation for us and it took us a good few months to build up our stash (which is still very small compared to some I've seen) and the same amount of time to have my little girl in these majority of the time. The picture below is about 80% of our stash (I have some more on the way - it's so addictive!)

 

Buy nappies preloved

A lot of my nappies have come from preloved sites including pages on facebook, and they are brilliant. This a perfect solution for if you're wanting to try as specific brand, as more often than not someone has one or two lying around which they don't use. Some of my Miosolos (bottom shelf) cost as little as £3-4 before postage which is a fraction of the cost to buy brand new which is normally around £15 depending on the site/shop.

Have a good look online for cheaper prices

Keep an eye out for offers as well. All of my new nappies have been bought on offer, as I just can't afford to pay the full price. For those in the UK, Tesco stock white Miosolos for £7 each on their website which is fab if you aren't too bothered by the print. My Totsbots were bought in an event on the makers page before Christmas, costing £8.50 each instead of the usual £16 (depending on site). I have also noticed many sites also have offers on depending on the time of year (black Friday, Christmas etc) which can usually get you a few ££'s off.

Some real nappy sites that I've seen also have their own 'preloved' sale pages where they sell off ex-display or also old prints that are no longer stocked.

Sign up to real nappy websites

Many websites give you a discount code for signing up to their website which can be anything up to 15%

Check your local supermarkets and baby shops

It seems cloth bumming is becoming more and more popular so it's also worth looking at baby events in your local supermarkets, as a lot are starting to stock real nappies lately. For example my local Morrison's in the town centre and the Waitrose in the next town all stock Miosolos. I haven't ever seen these for much less than retail price apart from one store, but it does save your postage costs from buying online.

Check with your local council for incentives

Many local councils in the UK run incentive schemes or money back schemes, which allow you to claim back some of the money from purchasing your nappies. These depend on your local council but it's definitely worth looking into. My local council give packs of two nappies or a £25 voucher if you spend £50 (including preloved nappies)

For those in the UK and looking into cloth nappies, there's LOTS of information, along with a list of local cloth nappy libraries where you can borrow and try different nappies to find what works for you on this website: http://www.goreal.org.uk/uk-cloth-nappy-library-network