Real Nappy Week - Real Useful Links

Here are some helpful websites and links on deciding to go for real nappies and what sort of nappies are on offer these days.

Go Real - The Real Nappy Information Service is full of everything you need to know and helpful staff who can answer any questions you may have.
Brew Drinking Thinkings' Real Nappies Big Review - Brew Drinking Thinkings reviewed lots of different cloth nappies on different children to give you an idea of what to expect from them.
Fill Your Pants - Great website for buying cloth nappies and have loads of amazing deals on for Real Nappy Week! Also Brew Drinking Thinkings has a discount code for readers to use on Fill Your Pants.
Go Real's YouTube - Go Real has a brilliant YouTube channel filled with very useful and factual videos to help those interested in going cloth.
Really Pants - They have Nappy Gurus all over the country you can talk to as well as useful reviews and articles to read.

I did promise some video demonstrations and I do have some finished but have yet to move them to my computer, edit them and then upload to YouTube. I hope to get them done tomorrow after The Baby Show!

Oh and I'll be at The Baby Show Friday & Saturday, covering everything that is going on. Follow @petitmew for live feeds and photographs. Hope to get some videos to you some time after. Bye for now!

Real Nappy Week - Reasons to Go Cloth

Here are a few of my reasons for you to consider using cloth nappies instead of disposables, even if it's just for this week only!

Up to 500 Years in Landfills!
Did you know that 8 million disposable nappies in the UK go to landfills EVERY DAY? That's a lot of nappies that can take as long as 500 years to decompose, yuck! As a cloth user I'm not putting my nappies into bins which then end up in landfills, I own them.

A Saving of £500 or More!
Reuseable nappies make cost more to buy at first, but you are having to constantly buy disposables until they are potty trained. If we include the cost of washing cloth nappies you could be saving £500, more if you keep your cloth nappies and use them on future children. You can also give them to a friend, family member or sell them second hand.

Easy to Use!
I showed my mom how modern cloth nappies work and she was amazed how easy they are compared to when I was a baby. I'm a lazy sod with a fish brain so if I can use them that surely means anyone can!

Washing Made Simple!
The idea of washing them in our small 2nd floor flat did freak me out originally, but it's not how I imagined it. I just throw used nappies into the washing machine with a bunch of other clothes that need washing, put in the washing liquid into the drawer and turn on the machine. Most of the time we use a 30C wash, but if they are badly soiled then I will use a 40C (I rarely do but sometimes a 60C is required) so it doesn't cost extra to wash them, and since we don't have that much in the way of light colours we tend to put use our "Mini" wash which is a cycle our machine offers for small loads, saving water and energy.

Funky Colours!
Cloth nappies come in all sorts of colours, fabrics and patterns. They are super cute looking and feel very soft. Why not give your little one a bit of fashion on that adorable bum of theirs and get yourself some super cool cloth nappies? Go on!

I hope these reasons make you consider giving cloth nappies a try. Have fun and remember to keep an eye out for some more Real Nappy Week fun at Petit Mom!

Real Nappy Week - The Beginning!

It's the start of Real Nappy Week (16th til 22nd May 2011) and I'll be blogging about real nappies over the next few days.

Last week I was on the Peter Levy Show on BBC Radio Humberside & Lincolnshire. If you were unable to listen to it then you can find it on the iPlayer. I'm on about 24 minutes into the recording. I'm still a tad too shy to have a proper listen to it as I have a thing about listening to myself. I've worked in radio before and hosted events in the past, you'd think I would be over this by now but I just get all embarrassed the moment I hear or see myself on screen! Is it just me who acts so daft when they hear themselves?

I'll also be giving you my thoughts on all sorts of different nappies which I have been testing out, some hard facts about disposable nappies and how going cloth could save you money and help our environment as well as useful links to websites too.

You may also see that I have changed my blog layout to suit my love for cloth nappies. I hope you like it!

Listen to me @ BBC Radio Humberside!

I'll be on BBC Radio Humberside today speaking on The Peter Levy Show. I'm from the area and moved to West Midlands a few years ago. I still enjoy Peter Levy as presenter of Look North as he makes the news more enjoyable with his cheeky and funny banter with the weatherman, Paul Hudson.

You can listen to it over at 95.9FM or check it out on the BBC website and listen to it on your computer. I'll be talking about cloth nappies and the Real Nappy Week, which is next week!

I have not been interviewed on live radio before, I have hosted recorded and live radio before, but this feels different. Wish me luck!

E is for... Environment

Many of us are concerned about what we do and how it affects our environment and this comes up more often in my mind now that I have a child of my own. But what can I do to help out?

I have to admit that for the first few months we used disposable nappies. It seemed easy and hassle-free from the idea of trying to dry out cloth nappies in a tiny two bed flat with no tumble dryer and the idea of poo cleaning was not something I was keen on, I was happy to wipe and bin. This changed when I got the chance to review for Smartipants and Fill-Your-Pants.com.

You see the whole idea of poo in a cloth nappy being hard to clean and the troubles of cloth nappies is a thing of the past. Cloth nappies have changed since you and I were little and are very easy to use. When you have a newborn baby the soiling they will do won't be solid and thus you can just chuck the whole nappy (poo and all!) into the washing machine with the other nappies and wash them, no need to get your hands into the muck as it will come out easily in the machine. I was amazed by this when my son decided the first time we used the nappy to not only have a huge poo but for it to be a nasty wet one that got all over the place. I remember thinking the nappy would never be the same and throwing on a high wash. I was amazed it came out as if he had never soiled inside the nappy ever. Soft, fresh and didn't seem to have a single stain on it at all.

You see there are perks to cloth nappies that some of you may not realise.

Easy to Wash - Seriously, I thought these would be a pain. Now that we are onto more solid poo they don't stick so I just open the toilet and it'll... well.. roll off. I know that sounds disgusting but I'm trying to tell you how easy they really are and how you don't need to get your hands into the mess your sweetheart has left in your beloved cloth nappy. And you can put these in with your usual washing so you aren't adding an extra load and thus not wasting money.

Cheaper - Okay so a box of disposables may cost you £6.99 and sure there might be a great deal on at your local supermarket, but you are buying those boxes over and over again and that cost adds up. With cloth nappies you pay once and they will last well into potty training age and you can even save them for when you decide to have another, or perhaps a friend whose expecting.

Eco-Friendly - Disposables will end up in landfills, but your cloth nappies will be used again and again. There's no competition here, they are better for the environment compared to disposables and use no chemicals.

VAT Free - Disposable nappies are considered a luxury, whilst cloth nappies are not and thus you do not pay VAT on them. Isn't that great?! 

Kind to Skin - Would you enjoy wearing plastic underwear for hours? Cloth nappies are more breathable and gentle to the skin compared to disposables. You may also find your child doesn't suffer from nappy rash as much when using cloth nappies.

These are my top five reasons why cloth rocks. I could go on about the fact disposable nappies cost parents as much as £1,300 per child over the course of a few years and 80,000 lbs of plastic are used every year to make disposables.

 I'm certainly happy to have embraced cloth nappies. We still have disposables as a just-in-case, but replacing even just half of your daily disposable nappies a day will help save our environment.

Check out Go Real and remember it's Real Nappy Week on 16th til 22nd May 2011.

If you would like to Guest Post for Petit Mom's Alphabet on a certain subject please contact me via email.