Posts tagged ‘babies’

March 17th, 2012

Fitted Mattress Protectors

by NappyLadyUK

For years The Nappy Lady has just stocked flat mattress protectors. These are the most cost effective and versatile as they can be moved to any bed no matter the size.

So why have we added fitted mattress protectors?

While fitted protectors cost more that than flat ones, they do have some benefits. If a baby in a cot is sick or has a nappy leak (shouldn’t leak in a good cloth nappy though), with the fitted mattress protector you can just take off this one layer and replace. The mattress underneath is fully protected. If you use the flat protectors for a baby in a cot, these would be placed underneath the normal fitted top sheet. If you need to change the bedding in the night you’d take off the top sheet and the flat protector and then you’d replace both. This gives you slightly more washing.

Once my children are older (30months+) and night time training or trained, they have all slept directly on their flat mattress protectors. If they are sick or wet the bed i’ve only had to whip off this flat protector and put another one on. Their normal fitted sheet underneath has been fully protected and therefore i’ve no need to have to “fit” anything over the edges of the mattress in the middle of the night. This system has worked exceptionally well for years in our house.

Now our eldest is approaching seven years old, he’s had some urinary problems following an operation to correct a hypospadias he was born with. I still think he can’t “feel” a full/nearly full bladder until it’s right at the very last second. He’s now normally reliable at night as long as he goes to the toilet right before bed. If he forgets to go before bed (and Mummy forgets to remind him), it’s quite likely he will wet the bed so i like to have a protector just in case. He’s now starting to go to sleepovers and it’s these times i especially worry about him wetting the bed as he gets very embarrassed by it. At sleepovers he’s more likely to have been drinking a lot of juice which i find really stimulates his bladder, plus he’ll be having so much fun it’s easier to forget that toilet visit. This is where these fitted sheets are fab. His friends will never know that his travel mattress has a bed protector on it as it looks and feels just like normal. If he takes the Tencel fabric sheet these are incredible soft too. He’s happy that he doesn’t look different but also knows he’s got the bed protected just in case. I put two of these fitted sheets on so if he does have an accident in the night he can take it off his travel bed easily and there will be a clean dry layer underneath. His friends will never need to know.

The fitted mattress protectors are available in either cotton or Tencel fabric.

Wendy Richards

www.thenappylady.co.uk

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January 9th, 2012

Do Cloth Nappies Damage Baby’s Hips?

by NappyLadyUK

A common question I get asked by first time cloth nappy users is: Does the extra bulk of a cloth nappy effect baby’s hip development?

The answer is NO!

Cloth nappies keep a newborns hips slightly wider apart than disposables do but this is actually the optimum position for a newborn. When a baby is born their hip joints haven’t fully developed and at birth and at their 6/8 week check the Doctor will check for “clicky hips” or hip dysplasia.   If baby has clicky hips they often need to wear a pavlik hip harness. This harness keeps their legs wider apart so that the hip ball and socket joint are held in a deeper position and can develop properly. This usually helps prevent the need for hip operations later on.

Cloth nappies don’t hold the hips in as wide a position as a hip harness but the extra width and support cloth nappies provide can sometimes prevent the need for a hip harness at all. In the past hip dysplasia was treated by putting the child in 2 bulky terry squares at a time to achieve the wider leg position.

One of my recent customers Kirstie has written about her experience with clicky hips.

“We had already decided our son would use cloth nappies before he arrived and we purchased a complete nappy system from Wendy during antenatal. He stared wearing them after the meconium had been passed out his system.
In his fifth week he was diagnosed as having a “clicky hip” and he required a Pavlik harness. We were reassured to learn from the paediatrician that the cloth nappies had been helping to keep his hips in a better position compared to the thinner disposable nappies. At first it was tricky to weave the nappys’ velcro fastenings through and underneath the harness straps, but after a couple of days we were changing nappies fairly expertly. We had a few leakages at first as the harness was keeping his legs wide open but as soon as his thighs bulked up the seal around the legs was tighter and no more accidents.
He is now four months old, and was only in the harness for 7 weeks. We are happy knowing that the cloth nappies are still augmenting his hip joints.
We regularly receive positive comments about using cloth nappies, and we are really pleased that we made the decision to use them.”

Once baby is also cruising and walking their bottoms and backs will thank you for choosing cloth. Learning to walk requires a lot of falling too. The impact (especially on hard floors) is softened by the fluffy padding of their nappies. I know i’d certainly prefer to fall over with a thick layer covering my bottom than just thin trousers!

For more benefits of Cloth Nappies see our article “Advantages of Cloth Nappies.”

Wendy

www.thenappylady.co.uk
www.facebook.com/TheNappyLady

CategoryNappy choices, Product information | Comment5 Comments »

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October 7th, 2010

My best and worst baby purchases?

by NappyLadyUK

These are the most useful purchases i’ve made and have been used with all three children:

Cloth Nappies (obviously) especially my Motherease wraps which have lasted all three children plus loaned to friends.

Grobags (sleeping bags). Lasted all three children and still look like new. I love the little thermometer which comes with the official grobags as it makes it so easy to ensure baby is wearning the right amount of layers for the room temperature.

Trip Trappe High Chair – Very practical, fits under our table so baby can join in with the family meal, converts to different sizes as baby grows. Can finally be used as an adult chair.

Medela Electric Breast Pump – fantastic pump, quick easy and effective.

Baby bouncing seat. All my children have loved sitting in these and the movement really soothes them. My first Son taught how to wave his arm and bounce himself!

Baby gowns that look a bit like a smock. They have no legs (and therefore annoying poppers) so it makes for quick access for night changes.

Muslins – These probably have a million uses and 5 years on mine are still used everyday.

These are my worst purchases and a complete waste of money!

Bottle heater – thankfully only bought this second hand. Took ages to heat a bottle, much quicker to boil the kettle and sit the bottle in a mug of boiled water.

Babygrows that do up at the back instead of the front and with no nappy opening! Completely impractical! Didn’t actually buy these myself they were gifts (from people with no children unsurprisingly)

Door Bouncer – Neither of my boys enjoyed this. Took so long to get baby in and at the right height they’d had enough. Will try with the new baby soon and if she doesn’t like it, it’s going on ebay!

Bumbo – Some babies love these but both boys hated sitting in them. Thankfully i didn’t buy one but hired it from the local toy library. Baby found the bouncy chair much more comfortable.

Weaning cubes – Very expensive and pretty quickly the lids didn’t close. Only held a very small amount and within weeks i needed 5+ cubes per meal. I found it much easier to use normal small Tupperware containers as the small ice cube portion stage was so short.

 What are your best purchases and what do you regret buying?

Wendy Richards

www.thenappylady.co.uk

CategoryBits and Bobs, Product information | Comment6 Comments »

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August 31st, 2010

Getting Out The House With Baby (plus 2 other children)

by NappyLadyUK

By some miracle we managed to get the Richards family to the family Dentist appointment this morning for 8.40am A few weeks ago this wouldn’t have been a problem but put a new baby into the mix and everything seems to take forever.

So how did we do it?

Everyone’s clothes laid out the night before, change bag packed and ready to go. Baby went to bed in clean babygro and thankfully this made it through the night so only a new nappy needed first thing.  James ensured the boys were fed and dressed, I fed baby, had my own breakfast (while expressing some excess milk for the freezer). Somehow however we got out the house on time.

This was a great practise for when Ben returns to school on Thursday, thankfully the school is only 5 minutes walk away.  I’ll have to keep up the night before prep so no last minute lunchboxes to make or notes to write in his reading book etc but hopefully it won’t be too stressful and I’ll keep myself organised. I’ll have to lose my morning check of emails and dose of breakfast news for a while so if any major world events can take place between midday at the 10pm news that will be really handy.

What I do wonder is what I did with my time before children or when I just had Ben. I remember never being able to get out the house before 10am when I had just him however I’m sure I looked less dishevelled than I do now. Anyway who needs neat hair and makeup!

Wendy Richards

www.thenappylady.co.uk

CategoryFamily | Comment5 Comments »

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August 28th, 2010

Olive Oil, Washable Wipes and Babies

by NappyLadyUK

There are so many baby skin care and cleaning products available, a trip to the supermarket for a new Mum can be overwhelming. I’ve never used any of them until baby is over 6 months old as while they are so small they don’t get particularly dirty and plain old water is great. 

The only additional product i use when they are small is olive oil, which is a wonderful and natural moisturiser. It doesn’t have to be a special kind of olive oil, just the basic supermarket brand is perfect. If you go overdue baby’s skin often becomes dry and starts to peel within a few day and moisturising with olive oil helps speed the process up and stops the skin getting sore. Evangeline is now 3 1/2 weeks old and was 4 days overdue. She’s been gradually peeling since about day 5 and has nearly finished,  it started on her tummy, then her limbs and now finally her face.  I’ve been adding a glug of olive oil into her bath and also massaging a little over the peeling sections.

If you use nappy barrier cream it can be hard to get it off in the bath as it’s water resistant, a little olive oil rubbed into the nappy area removes any remaining cream and leaves the nappy area clean, soft and moisturised. 

To prevent nappy rash (or treat it)  i also add a generous glug of olive into my washable wipes mixture, this makes the wipes even smoother on the skin and again keeps the skin moisturised at each nappy change/clean up. I keep my washable wipes in a tupperware container, when making up a new batch of wipes and solution i empty and clean the container, add a glug of olive oil, top up the container with water and then gradually add my wipes into the box so they soak up the solution. When you use the wipes on baby you’ll see the gleam of the olive oil on babies skin, once baby is cleaned up, pat their skin dry before you put the new nappy on. I always use a muslin to dry their skin at nappy changes.

So if you ever come for a nappy demonstration you’ll know why i’ve got a bottle of olive oil in there. I’ll explain the box of herbal teabags you’ll also find in there another time…

Wendy Richards

www.thenappylady.co.uk

CategoryBits and Bobs, Product information | Comment1 Comment »

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