The problem with bath toys...

When bub was around 12 weeks old, we attended a Plunket PEPE course which is designed to help out new mums by providing advice, support and education. The course itself was fantastic, and we would recommend these kinds of courses to just about everyone.

A negative was one comment that a guest speaker said which has been ringing around in my head ever since. She was talking about the importance of getting babies used to water (great stuff) and talked about bath toys. Apparently the ones that have 'squirting capabilities' get really mouldy within a month- even if you sterilise them. Her suggestion was to buy new ones from the $2 shop every month and dump the rest.
It horrified me that she was effectively promoting adding a bunch of these brightly coloured, mostly non-recyclable items to landfill every month. She didn't seem to understand my issue with it either, sadly enough.

So what do you do with a bunch of bath toys you can't use in the bath? It would be great if you could give us some suggestions!

Also, how do you deal with people who just simply dont understand (or want to)?

Thanks!

DIY Dishwasher Powder

We don't have a dishwasher, but Wendyl Nissen has tested this recipe and we trust her. Commercial dishwasher powder is unbelievably toxic so if you have little ones around then you should really give this a try. The recipe can be found on Wendyl Nissen's newletter (I hasn't made it on to her website yet) or get it right here:

Amazing Dishwasher Powder
I've finally been able to test the recipe I have given out before which was sent to me by a reader. It's quite fantastic. I've adjusted it slightly but you'll love it and can be safe in the knowledge that it is cheaper and less toxic than the commercial ones. This does have a little borax in it which is toxic in high doses, but shouldn't be swallowed so do keep this in your old dishwasher powder bottle with a child preventing screw cap on it.

½ cup of borax 

½ cup soda ash (this is powdered washing soda, not the crystals. Try Trade Me or www.lotusoils.co.nz)

¼ cup of citric acid

½ cup salt (not iodised))

10 drops of lemon essential oil 

Place all in a plastic container and shake.

Use 1 Tbsp per load. Use white vinegar in the rinse compartment.

Let us know how it works.

-K

DIY Cleaning Products ep.2

Anyone try the DIY spray cleaner and glass cleaner? If you haven't, you should it's really good. Anyway here's the next one to try. It's a bit more complex and you will need to do some specialist shopping but it is worth it. If you want to try some to see if it works as good as the store bought stuff; you can buy it ready made here, 


(This is another one from Wendyl Nissen by the way)

Some thoughts on being neighbourly

Since becoming a SAHM*, my reading list of blogs has increased quite substantially...

I went to one of my regular reads this morning (http://sortacrunchy.typepad.com) and came across her post about her neighbours and how she felt bad that she hadn't gotten to know them better.

It lead me to thinking about our neighbours and how I would only be able to give you perhaps 2 first names out of the 20 something people who live down our driveway.

Seems kind of sad doesn't it? Do we really live such insular lives nowadays that we never end up meeting the people who live a mere few metres away?

As stated in our last post, we don't have much longer living here. Perhaps in our next house we will make an intentional effort to get to know those living close by.

Walkslowlylivewildy.com has a post about 5 ways to connect with your neighbours- the first one in particular really got my attention.

"Go out your front door"

Seems so simple doesn't it? So often I feel like we rush out of our home without a second glance at our surroundings.

So with this in mind, my encouragement to all who read this is to go out of your front door, stop and look around. Maybe say hello to the next person walking by.

If anyone has any great ideas as how to engage your community, feel free to share your tips in the comments below.

Token baby pic. Wee man @ the Cascades

*Stay at home mum

Cloth Nappy Week, New Zealand

It would seem that this week is the week for Weeks. 


Today marks the start of Cloth Nappy Week, run by a website by the same name and sponsored by, well, practically everyone. www.clothnappyweek.co.nz says:

Cloth Nappy Week 2011 is dedicated to educating and celebrating the benefits of stylish, eco-friendly cloth nappies in New Zealand. Whether you're new to cloth nappies or have a collection that's taking over the nursery, we welcome you! 

There are lots of events on, experts available for advice on the use of cloth nappies and heaps of specials.
As we've said before, we are passionate about cloth nappies and love to walk down the baby aisle in the supermarket and buy NOTHING.

If ever there was a time to give cloth nappies a go (even just a trial) then now is the time!

Some things baby... cloth bums... by E

I have to be honest here- it took me a long while to care about my environment and things in it. K had stopped eating fish a long time before I even asked why and I was pretty much a non-thinking consumer. 
While I haven't done a full 180 degree turn on many things, becoming pregnant with bub made me a lot more aware of how I live.


We made the decision to use cloth nappies on our baby from day one. A few people baulked at this idea, imagining the big white towels that our parents generation used. Luckily for us, the modern cloth nappies (MCNs) are quite simply, the bees knees. Its so satisfying walking right past the baby department and not having to buy disposables!


Here's a few reasons why I am a complete cloth bum convert:


1) The sheer expense of disposables is one aspect- www.Snazzipants.co.nz, which is a New Zealand cloth nappy store has estimated

"based on the figure of 8 nappies a day for the first 6 months (you'll probably use more than this for a newborn, but I’m estimating conservatively!), and 7 a day thereafter, using el cheapo disposables worked out to $3670 for 2/12 years or $4510 for three years."

Buying a fulltime set of MCNs is between $300-$500 is a huge saving comparatively. 


2) It's honestly not any extra hassle to put on an extra load of washing per day. Babies, particularly at bub's age, are sticky, grubby creatures so there's always washing to be done anyway! Most of the MCN's available don't need any soaking, so you can just put them straight in the wash.
Disposables recommend (in the fine print) that you flush any solids down the toilet [makes sense huh?] so with MCN's you aren't actually handling any more poo then you would with disposables. 


3) The landfill issue... There are dozens of websites out there which tell you about the world's landfill waste problems, so I wont bother spelling it all out here. 
At our 20 week scan, some kind person had left a balled-up used disposable in the carpark. Nice! What got me is just how big that balled-up plastic nappy was. I started wondering how many a baby would go through in their lifetime and it horrified me- along with making me feel a little sick at someone disposing of what is effectively raw sewage in the carpark...
We can and will re-use the MCN's on our next bub too (whenever that happens)  


4) Toilet Training-  I have heard anecdotal evidence that a bub in cloth nappies is likely to be easier to toilet train as they can tell when they are wet- unlike with many brands of disposables which wick away the moisture. As to whether this is really true, it'll be a wee while before we are able to put this theory to the test! 


5) A colourful cloth nappied bum is cuter! 

A and his cloth covered bum

If you have a bub and haven't tried the way of the cloth, I'd just love to encourage you to do so. :)


-E