The fish get a new home . . .

We have tropical fish. We got then about a year ago now. It was quite stressful at first, getting the water temperature right, making sure there was the correct balance of bacterias, not over feeding or under feeding, making sure the fish are friendly with each other, the right balance of plants etc. Anyway, it's all going well now and we haven't lost any fish for ages and we have a good mix of different species - it's a happy tank!  To move house with fish is a lot harder than with a dog or hamster. We need to take the water with us to insure their survival. Even then they may become very stressed. We had a plan to buy a water carrier, bag the fish up and put the tank on the removal van last. However, not having anywhere permanent to go meant we needed to re-house the fish.  Last Sunday the first 4 fish went to their new home. A friend from church's daughter has a tank so she tool the mollies and clown loaches. Those of you who have clown loaches know that they need hiding places. So Abi, the new owner, made a makeshift cave using pebbles from the beach and an old mug! The fish liked it very much :)  The final 13 make their way to Hagley.   We bagged up the fish, including a large plec (about 6 inches long!) and travelled to a friends house to give them our fish. The children were very excited to have new fish and named the plec Godzilla!  I believe all the fish are doing well in their new homes. Thanks to those who have taken in our refugees! 

I guess we don't need it then . . .

We're been packing all weekend. How did we aquire so much stuff?? For example I seem to have 3 sewing machines?! We even found boxes in the loft still packed from the last move. I'm thinking if we haven't used this stuff in 5 years, we don't need it now. It's been hard packing and continuing with the demands of a baby, the washing pile certainly doesn't get smaller but Isaac has been really good. Sitting in his little chair watching us or playing on the play mat while I frantically wrap all breakables. Next week cancel all the utilities. . .   

Packing, packing, packing

You can probably guess from the title that we're moving house. We've been in Halesowen 5 years now, we bought the house 6 months before getting married and have been really happy here. Problem is, with our tiny addition comes endless amounts of stuff. Plus it was never the plan the stay where we are as we wanted to move into a catchment area for excellent schools.  There have been no ends to the trouble we've had moving. We have had incredibly demanding buyers who think they can get away with it due to the stagnant Market.  We bought the house at the peak of the housing Market, it was buoyant and making a deal was hard but getting a mortgage (even 125%!!!) was easy. We were naive  to say the least but were eager  to buy before the big day. We borrowed up to our eyeballs and bought a recently converted 3 bed end terraced  house. We've done a lot of work to it, the garden was a huge job. We decorated 2 bedrooms, the lounge and dining room.  It's just how we want it! However the Market started to slump which did mean that we lost money on ours but gave us an opportunity to buy in an area we could never afford at the peak. We put ours on the Market and armed with bump set upon our quest to find the perfect family home. We saw about 3 we really liked but there was no interest in ours and the houses were snapped up one by one.  Then Isaac was born!! We'd only been home about a week when we got a call for some buyers to look round. Oh my days! The house was a tip, filled from top to bottom with baby stuff, our dining room had become a changing station! It took all day to tidy which was pretty hard with a newborn to look after as well but we did it. A couple came round and the girlfriend certainly liked it.  In my experience if house hunting, the girl usually gets her way . The man sercums  to her decision on the basis that he wants to make her happy. They promptly came round again 2 days later and made us a stupid offer. We were not able to go that low - it was laughable.  To cut a long story short they negotiated until we were blue in the face and even had to throw our sofa in to make the purchase. They also came round 5 times in total which was really quite awkward with such a small baby.  The week after we accepted the offer we shopped around for mortgages and saw a house we like. It needed EVERYTHING doing but was perfect in size and location. Having lost so much on our house we needed to get a good deal so we went in with an offer £44k under the asking price and to our amazement we got it!!  So here we are 8 weeks on being chucked out our house to meet these pushy buyers demands. We will be homeless next Sunday but hope that we can crash on my Mums bed sofa until our dream home is ready.

The wonders of fleece

Before starting my complete nappy addiction I did become totally obsessed with LO's bottom and everything that came out of it! It's true that as a new parent you become obsessed with when your baby poos and what it looks like when they do, have they wee'd enough that day etc. Isaac has always been a heavy wetter and using cloth often means extra boosting to help the nappy last without leaks. There are quite a lot of different choices when thinking about boosters. You can get bamboo, microfibre, hemp to name a few. I've mainly opted for bamboo as it has good absorbency the drawback is that it requires longer drying time although you can put them in the tumble dryer ( I've only done this once when I was desperate!)  Boosters can be added to AIO's by laying them on the inside of the nappy or in pockets by simply stuffing with the other inserts.  Once boosted, the nappy is ready to put on baby and then I add a fleece liner made from . . .you' ve guessed it, a blanket from pound land! I got this tip from a friend who's been using cloth a lot longer than me. I think I got 20 liners from one fleece blanket.  Fleece is truly magical!  The other night Isaac had his close pop in nappy on for 11 hours ( good sleeping!) in the morning I went to change him and the soaker, booster and night booster were very damp to say the least. His bottom in the other hand was completely dry thanks to the fleece. A fabulous invention, the only drawback, new born poo makes the fleece stick to baby's bottom but I try to change dirty nappies very quickly anyway. 

Night get ups!

I love my sleep, or should I say loved my sleep. I'm usually an early to bed, early to rise kind of girl. Don't do late nights really, even when I was at university and most people went out at least 3 times a week I tended to stick to one night out in the week. It was something I worried about when thinking about becoming a Mum and as the pregnancy progressed I even doubted that I'd have the energy to get up regularly. I didn't have a great labour and was in the early stages for around 80 hours which meant I started motherhood on practically a week without sleep. Great start! The first few days were pretty tough as baby appeared to need feeding every hour. What I nightmare, I thought being a Mum was all rosy! I had not signed up for this! As the first week went on LO started to take a bottle so I got some let up and hubby and I took it in turns to get up. By now he'd started to sleep for periods of 3-4 hours as well so things were looking up. By week three we mostly got a block of 5 hours -never before had I been so grateful of 5 hours (before now I'd have struggled to function after such a short while). 'Nap in the day & 'Sleep when baby sleeps' people kept saying but this really is easier said than done. What about the washing? When will I have time to shop? Who sterilises the bottles or cleans the loo if I'm asleep? Plus, do I just sleep where baby sleeps? And how long will he sleep for anyway is it really worth it for a 20 min nap? Or will he sleep for 3 hours and really make it worth my while . . . With so much unpredictability I decided this was stupid advice so when hubby went back to work (2 weeks after Isaac arrived) we had to make a plan. I would go to bed at 8ish whilst hubby did last feed and then I'd get up in the night as he had to go to work the next day. This started to work really well as baby slept from around 10 until 4 by now. I was getting what seemed like loads of sleep and I was really grateful. I have to say I'm super lucky because my little boy started sleeping through at 9 weeks. At first it was 8pm until 5 or 6 in the morning but by 12 weeks was 8pm - 7am! What a star! Having more sleep certainly makes me an easier person to live with and at least hubby and I get a hour or so in the evenings together. Recently Isaac has been a little off colour, first a cold, then conjunctivitis and now an infection in his belly button. This has meant that nights have once again become a little unpredictable. I have to say that hubby has found it hard to get up in the night and we're both rather grumpy if we do without sleep but for now I'm coping better with late get ups so the responsibility usually falls on me. It makes sense for the moment as I'm the one who's not at work. Come July these things may change . . .

Working with Washable Wipes

I first discovered washable wipes when I was pregnant. I'd heard that new babies couldn't have the shop bought ones anyway and liked the idea of knowing exactly what was going onto my baby's bottom. I invested in a Cheeky Wipes all in one kit. It included 2 boxes one for clean and one for mucky wipes, 25 bamboo wipes (like little face cloths), tea-tree and lavender oils, and mini wet bags for when you are out. It was excellent value £35 I think.

I got strange reactions from people "You won't keep it up when you see what's on the wipes!" they cried! However, we used them right from day one and thought they were great. They were convenient and didn't harm baby's delicate skin. The washing wasn't onerous at all we just threw them in a mesh bag and they went straight into the wash with sheets and towels etc.

A few weeks on and the wipes did become a little rough so I cut up another poundland fleece blanket and alternated between bamboo and fleece. This combination worked really well for us. I also did away with the mucky wipes box and simply added the wipes to our nappy pail when they needed washing. However I did keep the box for clean wipes so they were ready in a solution of lavender oil, warm water and a little baby oil.

Cloth Nappies . . . a minefield!

The first week we had Isaac at home we had a whole bin bag full of disposable nappies. It really upset me to see so much waste from one family especially as we are used to having less than a bin bag full a week. As the next couple of weeks went on my hatred for disposables increased. They feel horrible; like thick paper, they smell like toxic chemicals as soon as baby wees, they started to give baby a nasty rash and they are not good for keeping explosive new born poo inside! I quickly came round to the idea of starting to use cloth nappies. I realised that it may be hard work but wanted to save the environment, baby’s bottom and my purse!

Luckily I had two friends who had used cloth with their little ones and they pointed me in the right direction to what I needed to start off.   I surfed the web and visited my local Tesco’s and armed myself with 6 new nappies. I started off with a plain wonderoo v2, a giraffe print baba and boo, some tots bots easy fit v2 (a cosmic and a starburst) and a bum genius flip in butternut. Washed and ready I couldn’t wait to get started but I have to say that my first day was a bit of a disaster.  I couldn’t get a good fit with the poppers, I had wee leaking from the leg and on baby’s tummy and the paper liners stuck to his bottom, plus hubby was really not sold on the idea.

I put the nappies in the wash with the intention of trying again the next day. I started to do some research and found quite a lot of helpful hints on the web. I found out the more you wash the nappies the more absorbent they become with some nappy companies recommending 10 washes to reach full absorbency. Bearing this in mind I changed baby every 2 hours, the flip performed best butI really struggled to get a good fit with the nappies that had poppers.

A couple of weeks later and I’d purchased over 30 nappies from different companies. Here are my reviews of the ones I’ve tried.

Tots Bots Easyfit V2: All in One nappy                                                                        8/10

I purchased some prints when they were in the sale at Tesco, and a couple of whites. They are very easy to use, completely Dad proof as they go on just like disposables. Easily fit from around 11lb as I bought aplix  so could be fastened fairly snug on baby. Once fitted they are quite slim fitting but on a new born do look a little bulky. I didn’t find them very absorbent at first and did get one or two leaks but the more often I washed them the better they performed. They do take quite a long time to dry when you can’t get them outside but that is their only drawback. Over all a very good nappy especially for those who want an easy start to cloth.

Tots Bots Easyfit V3: All in One nappy                                                                      9/10

These nappies came out in April 2012 and I purchased a London print pack containing 4 nappies. I chose aplix again and found them to be a really excellent nappy.  Exactly the same to put on as the V2 but Tots Bots have improved the nappy in several ways. Firstly the inside is super soft against babies skin, second they appear to be more absorbent and performed well after 2 pre-washes. The nappy is also slimmer fitting than the V2, it looks good under trousers. Lastly the drying time is excellent! Just 3 hours indoors! The only reason I gave this nappy 9 and not 10 out of 10 is the cost. £16.50 per nappy is quite expensive, but some would say totally worth it!

Bum genius freetime: All in One nappy                                                                    8/10

As with the Tots Bots the freetime is an all in one nappy and I again chose aplix over poppers. It is a very absorbent nappy as it comes with 2 inserts and space for boosting if required. The fit was excellent but quite bulky, I think this would improve as baby grows. Again it takes a while to dry but the inserts do fold out which helps especially if you can get the nappy outside. A good performer and easy to use.

Bum genius flips: A wrap with inserts.                                                         10/10

I had been told that this was a slim fitting nappy so purchased a few to try. I bought the aplix version with stay dry inserts. Each wrap comes with 2 inserts and you can buy organic or staydry. Putting the wrap on the smallest fit means that the insert requires folding but I found that helpful  as it self-boosted the front – excellent for a boy! The fit is excellent snug around even newborn legs. Easy to use and great when you are out because you only need change the insert, the wrap can be used again. They look slim under clothes and they are quick drying. They are good value for money too and you can get packs of different sizes that work out very good value. The only draw back is having to put the insert in yourself but it is so easy I find it no effort at all. One of my favourites (I currently own 6 wraps and 12 inserts!)

Tiny Nippers Aplix: a pocket nappy.                                                         7/10

I saw these on line and was mainly drawn to the good value for money. At just £7.99 I thought it must be worth a punt. Each nappy came with 2 inserts but putting both in did make the nappy rather bulky so I put one in and added a pop in booster which are very thin. A really excellent fit, once stuffed this nappy went on as easy as the Easyfit or Free time. Using the aplix gave a good snug fit and there was not gap round the legs. Absorbency was good especially with the added booster and it was excellent against newborn poo explosion! Drawbacks include inserts taking a while to dry and if you are not used to cloth stuffing can be fiddly at first. All in all a very good nappy though especially for the price. I now own 4 and will be saving for the new prints due out summer 2012.

The red nappy disaster

My 'Poppet' tots bots v3 came today. Wow! So soft inside, I almost wish I could wear it myself Lol! Red nappy though, alarm bells rang in my head, will it run? To be on the safe side I washed it with another red nappy, my red cardigan and Isaac's red hoodie. 

When the cycle had finished the inside of both nappies were pink! Oh no I have a boy I cried, but my husband didn't seem to care?! Isaac wore the nappy and it was fabulous - great colour, slimmer and faster drying than the previous tots bots AIO, softer and more absorbent too. Now what to do as the darn thing needed washing again. . . . . . 

My hubby had a great idea " put it on a quick wash with a white towel, that way if it runs the towel will go pink" Good thinking by OH! I did this and the towel stayed white, so I concluded that it was not the nappy that had run, but the little primark hoodie belonging to baby Isaac! 

Well done Tots Bots a great new AIO -By far the easiest and most convenient way of using cloth. 

Surprising success with cheapies

Let's face it, cloth nappies look super smart and you can save loads of money by not having to buy disposables  but the outlay is pretty expensive. When I started using them full time I needed to bulk out my stash. I'd be on maternity leave another few months and only plan to return part time anyway so it wasn't as if money was there to be burned. 

With a lot of my nappies costing between £14 - £18 each I needed to find a cheaper alternative. I came across tiny nippers, a pocket nappy. They had brought out a new aplix range and again a couple of more masculine prints had caught my eye. These were selling for just £7.99 including inserts. I swiftly ordered 2. When they came I washed them in the usual way and tried one on Isaac. It was a truly brilliant nappy. 

Easy to stuff and went on a dream. I did need to use the second row of poppers so don't know if it will actually last birth to potty. He wore the nappy for about 3-3 1/2 hours with no leaks and kept in the newborn poo really well. The only drawback is that the nappy comes up a bit bulky especially when you compare it to the flip or tots bots AIO. However I thought it was great and promptly bought another! 

Whilst ordering my 3rd tiny nipper nappy I came across baby land. They had a few new prints out, 4 of them very girlie but the 5th was rockets so I bought one. The nappy had the dreaded poppers instead of my fail safe aplix but at just £4.49 (or £3.59 without the insert) I couldn't resist. When it came I washed it straight away and used it on baby the next day. I was so surprised as again it was easy to stuff, I added a pop in booster as it only had one with it. The nappy stayed slim and due to its stretchy material I got a great fit even with poppers. The nappy lasted 4 hours!! I only took it off because it was bath time so it may have lasted even longer! I'll be ordering some more baby land ASAP! 

Having fun with night nappies

Due to having a bad start in the day, I didn't use cloth at night as I was worried that LO would wake up wet. I continued to use disposables. However I always needed to change them at least once in the night so I set upon my quest for a good night nappy.

By this point Isaac was starting to sleep for a 6-7 hour block so I needed something reliable. I did the usual research, looking on forums and asked for advice on Facebook pages that I'd joined. I decided to invest in close parent pop-in so I bought one to begin with.

I washed it with my other nappies that day hoping it would be dry for the night. However due to it being bamboo the thing was still soaking wet! As bed time approached I decided to tumble dry it on low as the manufacturer states (not the outer, only the inserts).

It was a revelation and I has no leaks whatsoever. Pleased with my find, I invested in 2 more and would have been tempted to by more for day use had they not been so bulky.

As Isaac started to sleep longer I required night boosters too but they still work really well for 12 hours!

Since then, I've also tried, a bum genius flip with double stay dry layer. This also lasted 12 hours although it was truly soaking so if your LO doesn't like being wet I wouldn't recommend it. Also the bambooty easy night. This requires no extra boosters as they come attached. The prints are gorgeous and plenty of choice for boys (hooray!). This lasts Isaac around 10 hours. Be warned they come up very small so using their size guide always buy the one larger than seems necessary -it'll still be trim!

In conclusion then, my firm favourite is still the close parent pop-in. I now own 4, a super reliable night nappy!

12 weeks on

12 weeks ago my life changed completely. I had my gorgeous little boy, an event I've waited for my whole life. I knew I'd always wanted a family and at 9.45pm on Friday 13th (!!) January 2012 my dream came true.

Isaac Matthew Stone finally arrived (8 days over due) and weighed a healthy 7lb 2oz.
Since then my life has changed completely! Here is my story of how . . .