Chubs' bedroom makeover/ renovation

One of the last things that we needed to do as part of the renovations was to fix up Chubs' room a bit. We intentionally didn't buy her a chest of drawers, shelves or any other furniture when she was born. We didn't really set up a 'nursery' as such or do much decorating, it seemed like a bit of a waste of money for something which would only be used for two years. Apart from the cot, all the other furniture that was in her room was stuff which we already had or bought very cheaply (eg discount shop wire shelving). We planned on getting a matching set of shelves, drawers etc when we bought her a bed for her second birthday - which is approaching all too quickly!

While we were doing the renovations, a lot of stuff got moved into Chubs' room. All of the items in the kitchen, living and dining room had to get moved out, and three people really do have a lot of stuff!

Today Chubs was dispatched to my wonderful sister's house who was keen to have a day with her niece which was perfect for us. Dear Husband and I got stuck into the room putting things away, giving things away and throwing things away. Everything got covered in dust during the building work, so the dishwasher and washing machine have run non stop all day. Did I mention how much I love the dishwasher? It would have taken literally hours to have washed up everything that was covered with dust, but thankfully the machine did it all for us!

There is SPACE now, both in the living room and in Chubs' room. It's great to see her run around and have room to play and dance! Her bedroom is also a play room now, just perfect for our little girl.

New shelves

We got some cube shelving for Chubs' room which I think looks great. The idea is that she can bring one or two of the fabric drawers out to the living room each day, and then we can pack up at night. Before hand we were keeping toys in the living room (since that's where she played) but we can now keep more space free. The lover shelves are toddler height so she can get out and put away her own toys.

The colours of the drawers were more or less chosen for us, by what was available. However, it's actually worked out really well. Unfortunately I didn't get it in the photo, but you can just see the teeniest tiniest bit of the top of a rug at the bottom of the picture. It's the same rug in the background of these photos. It's made of hand felted pure wool balls which are stitched together. My mother gave it to Chubs for her first birthday. The rug was hand made by Nepalise women and sold through a fiar trade business. Because it's pure wool felt it's monstrously heavy and we haven't really hand any space for it (since all the floor was covered with junk) so it's really great that Chubs can have it in her room, and it matched perfectly and totally by accident.

change table

This is Chubs' change table. It's the same one that we've always had for her (and that I had a long time before that) but the position and arrangement is new to fit in the shelves. Nappies are in the pink shelves on their back and poo bins you can see in the front of the photo. Underneath the table are bulk items (wipes and disposables), overgrown sized nappies, some filing and my sewing machine and overlocker.

Repurposed shelves

The shelves on the wall actually used to hold our crockery in the kitchen. We were able to get them off the kitchen walls and thankfully they were in such good condition that we could put them up here. I have planned on using them for display, but we needed them mostly for storage in the end. I made the curtains when I was pregnant, there is also a sheer white and pink spotted curtain underneath for privacy during the day.

As I said above, much of this side is a mishmash of old shelves and drawers and cheap flimsy stuff, but it's doing it's job. As I said when we started the renos, everything we have been doing is a bonus. We have a home with food in it, electricity, safe water and love, everything after that is just the icing. When Chubs gets a bed in here, we will change this side a bit but it is certainly perfectly adequate.

We still have some more unpacking and sorting to do, although we did get a lot done today. It's hard not to lose momentum now that most of the work has been done, but we're almost there!

Packing tip for baby

We cosleep a lot of the time, but have always taken the portacot away with us as well. We do this firstly because she spends the first part of the night in the cot, and secondly because it is good to have a safe contained space in case of a broken glass, a spill or a time out.

Whenever we have flown the portacot has been free luggage (along with the car seat and stroller and carry on nappy bag) which is good because a lap child does not have any luggage allowance of her own for clothes and other gear.

Solution: shove as many clothes as you can into the portacot. On our last trip away I was able to fit all of this into space in the portacot.

There is here:

- 7 cloth nappies
- 7 cloth nappy inserts
- 3 dresses
- set of portacot sheets
- 20 disposable nappies
- 2 maxi dresses of mine

As you can see, this is another bag (or overflowing beer carton box) of space which it would have taken up had it not been packed in the portacot.

Linked

Keeping the mozzies away

The mosquitoes are out in force, especially when we were visiting the tropics. I don't like spraying Chubs with insect repellent, especially just before bed. Some things which work for us:
- using roll on insect repellent rather than spray makes it more contained and less likely for her to breathe it in. I'd rather get it on my hands than in her lungs.
- wipes. We found sime insect repellent -soaked wiped (like baby wipes) which made wiping down her arms and legs easier than spraying or rolling. They were pretty expensive though so we used them sparingly.
- in the evening before bed, we put her in a long sleeved romper (pictured) and then put her shoes over the top. It was so hot that she was sleeping in just a nappy, but we put this on while we were enjoying the evening oursite. No need to spray her for a short period of time or to wash the insect repellant off before bed. The shoes over the top looked a bit silly but kept the suit clean and dry - win!

Cloth nappies while actually travelling

As a follow up to the earlier post about travelling and nappies, we have used disposables every time on our actual travel days. The most we have travelled in one day is an 11 hour drive, and we have also spilt this drive over two days. We use mostly cloth and sposies at night and as spares, but using disposables on the actual travel days is so much easier. Being able to toss a wet or dirty nappy when flying means less to carry, and when driving it's one less thing in the car. I've also been worried about washing when travelling for more than one day. When staying away from home (especially in a caravan park) then soaking overnight in the machine and hanging out to dry on the next travel day is not going to work. Nappies aren't like clothes where you can save the laundry up for a week. The ease of the rare use of sposies like this is totally justified in my opinion. We also use sposies all day on the day before we travel (when leaving or when coming home) so that I don't have dirty nappies left at home needing to be washed, or travelling with a big bag of poo.

Cloth nappies (diapers) while travelling

 

We’ve been using MCNs since Chubs was a newborn, and have travelled several times with and without them. Here’s the decision making process that I think through when deciding to take them or not.

 

Trips where we didn’t take the MCNs and used disposables only

-          When Chubs was 14 weeks old we flew 800km to visit my in laws for 10 days. Dear Husband had some work at the time as well.

-          When Chubs was 5 months old we flew 1000 km in the other direction for a five week stay; also with Dear Husband’s work.

 

Trips where we have used mostly disposables and a few MCNs

-          When Chubs was 10 months old we drove and had two nights in an apartment at the beach (100 km)

 

Trips where we did what we do at home – ie mostly MCNs with disposables as spares and at night.

-          When Chubs was 18 months we drove 800km to visit my in laws for 10 days.

-          Shortly we will be going to a remote island for a week; I plan to take MCNs then.

 

So how do I decide what to take?

1.       Swimming

If we are somewhere where we will be swimming, the at least a few MCNs is a must. Since we use pocket MCNs, they readily transform into a swim nappy – just leave out the insert. Disposable swim nappies are expensive and wasteful and regular disposable nappies explode when the polymer crystals expand, spilling the crystals ev-ery-where.

If Chubs is in her clothes and an MCN (even with the insert) then it’s generally no worries for some impromptu water play. The MCN with the insert will sag, but it won’t explode with icky chemicals everywhere.

2.       Luggage

When going by air, then the MCNs may need to be left behind. Each time we have flown with Chubs we have been going to major cities where disposables are easily purchased. By the time you add a portacot, stroller, car seat and nappy bag to all your usual travel gear (keeping in mind that a lap child has no extra luggage allowance for her clothes) then fitting in a few days’ worth of MCNs might be too hard. Whenever we have gone away and taken MCNs we have been travelling by car.

If disposables can’t be easily purchased at your destination, then cloth is probably the way to go as reusable cloth will take up less room than single use disposables, especially if you are going for a week or more.

3.       Washing facilities

At home I have my MCN washing routine down pat, and that’s one of the things that makes using MCNs so easy. However, if the washing routine falls apart then it very quickly comes a disaster. One trip (when we were away for five weeks) we were in a serviced apartment with a combination washer dryer and no hanging space. Thank goodness I hadn’t taken the MCNs. The washer dryer was a disaster – it took over four hours to dry a half load and was too noisy to have on at night.

Recently we drove to visit my in laws and we were sleeping in their rumpus room; the laundry is a sectioned off part of that room. This meant that I couldn’t do what I normally do, ie run the nappies at night. It was all ok in the end, but it’s something else to consider.

Another factor is drying – if you plan to line dry, what will you do if it rains for days on end?

4.       Availability of more

When we head away for our remote-ish holiday, nappies will be available if we run out but they will be very expensive and possibly in short supply. I may not be able to get the brand or size that fits, they might be sold out that week and they will be over three times the regular price. I will be taking disposables for night time and spares, but the reusable MCNs will hopefully guard against having to buy more.

5.       Environmental impact

One of the main reasons that we use cloth is for environmental reasons. To head to a World Heritage Listed National Park and leave behind 50 disposable nappies which take hundreds of years to break down didn’t sit well with me.

6.       Ease of use

Our MCNs are pull ups, which is a huge help for a mobile toddler. Especially in summer, a standing up change underneath a dress is so easy. The disposables we use aren’t pull ups so we can’t do that.

7.       Aesthetics

The most trivial of all my points, but I do think that cloth looks much nicer under skirts and dresses than sposies.

Baby bag tip

Today's tip is a Works For Me Wednesday one; that is, it works for us. The tip is to have two baby bags - one for daycare and one for home. Well, not exactly 'home', but one bag for when Chubs is out with us, and one for daycare.

I know that some people have one nappy bag for all the time - I know this because I see them in the lockers at daycare. For us, however, it works much better to have two.

There are several reasons for this. The daycare bag is filled with different things - pretty much just lots of nappies, a lunch box full of food and spare clothes.

The nappy bag for us, however, looks very different. We usually only go out for a few hours at a time and then come home, so I don't need a whole day's worth of nappies. I use small wet bag(s) which can fit one or two nappies, whereas I send larger ones to daycare which can hold five or six. Wipes are provided at daycare but not anywhere else so they are in the nappy bag; I also have books and toys, snacks, paracetemol and a comb. There's a change of cloths and a cardi in there too, and a change mat.

When Chubs was a newborn I found it easiest to repack the nappy bag at night so we were good to go in the morning. At some stage though (I'm not really sure when - perhaps when I went back to work?) I started to just repack in the morning - toss in two nappies, two wetbags and a snack and we're done. I try to keep an eye on when the wipes need replacing. I keep spares of everything in the car, too, in case I do forget anything.

MCN update

I've blogged before about how we use Modern Cloth Nappies (MCNs) . We've made a few changes to our system so I thought I would update.

I now wash every day or every second day, not twice a week. Some of the nappies that we had started to delaminate on the PUL (waterproof layer). I'm not sure if this is because they were sitting around wet for several days or just because I bought cheap nappies to start with. Either way, I thought that a switch to daily or twice daily washing was in order.

I have also purchased some higher quality nappies. These new ones are still pocket ones. (Pocket MCNs have an outer layer which looks like a disposable nappy with waterproof PUL cover and snaps, and a fleecy lining. The insert goes inside the nappy/ diaper and gets pulled out for washing.) The new nappies are mostly bamboo (both the fleece lining and the inserts) with a small amount of microfibre. They are so much more absorbant than the 100% microfibre ones we already have; the microfibre ones look so cheap in comparison. In addition, the new ones have a higher quality PUL. Since they were more expensive than the first lot that we had, I really want to make sure that I look after them, hence the more frequent washing. The new ones can be pulled up; I'm looking forward to this when toilet training starts. They also have separate snaps for the legs as well as the waist which gets a closer fit and less leaks (most MCNs and all disposables only have one pair of tabs/ snaps to close to fit both the leg and the waist.)

We rarely use disposables at all now, except at night. I got some more mini wet bags too, which is perfect for a trip to the shops with one or two nappy changes.

Some of the cheaper ones I will throw out soon. I don't regret buying them. One set has lasted 12 months, another set six months. The ones which are delaminating I will get rid of, but about half of them are still in good condition. Even the ones which aren't have been used several times a week - for a rough very conservative estimate that's 100 times. They initial cost was about $5 each, so at 5c a wear (plus a tiny tiny washing cost) I'm very happy with our investment. Expensive nappies last years, but cheapies can be easily replaced. Disposables work out to about 30c each plus the huge environmental cost, so I'm happy with that.

I have purchased some more bamboo inserts, so I'm using them in the microfibre covers too for increased absorbacy. The new nappies I have are only available in plain colours (no patterns) but I would have purchased plain colours anyway. As I said before, patterned nappies look cute on their own but always seem to clash with Chubs' outfit, so I prefer to have plain colours and several double ups (eg four nappies in each of three colours rather than 12 different coloured nappies.)

I rarely use the disposable liners now, except for the first nappy of the morning (which is almost certainly a poo nappy.) TMI altert: Now Chubs is on solids - and a lot of them - her poos are generally soft but formed and roll off the nappy easily. We rarely get a newborn style poo-nami any more, so the liners really aren't needed.

Cloth nappies/ diapers are very easy for us with huge environment and financial savings. I've made a few updates but we're definately a MCN-ing household for the long haul!

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The WHO Code and KASAD20: Icing

The first part of this post is devoted to discussing the World Health Organisation's International Code of Marketing Breastmilk Substitutes. It aims to contribute to the provision of safe and adequate nutrition for infants, by the protection and promotion of breastfeeding, and by ensuring the proper use of breastmilk substitutes, when these are necessary, on the basis of adequate information and through appropriate marketing and distribution. It was adopted in 1981.

It is important to note that the WHO Code is not 'anti-formula' but is about ensuring that companies should not use unethical marketing practises to sell more formula or other products and in so doing jeopardising infant health.

I would like to take this opportunity to point out to my readers that this is not an 'anti- formula' post, not am I trying to make a judgement on any parent's feeding choices. Indeed, I think that freedom of choice is very important for parents - please don't think that I am saying anything about if you should or shouldn't use formula or dummies or how feeding choice determines if you are a 'good mother' - whatever that means. What this post is about it about exposing the dodgy marketing practises which are used to increase profits - both for formula companies and for chemists.

Many of the advertising techniques which are used by formula companies are unethical, deceptive and endanger health to increase profits. If this was a blog post about the dodgy marketing strategies of tobacco companies, then people would be calling for action to prevent this. Please keep this in mind while following this story - it is about holding large companies responsible for their dishonest methods, not about feeding choice. Breastmilk substitute marketing is even more complex that tobacco advertising, because it deals with a legitimate, needed and life saving (in some cases) product, which enable the companies to get away with much more, to the detriment of our children's health.

The WHO Code covers formula, but also bottles, dummies and solid food (when replacing breastmilk). it is quite comprehensive but, in my opinion, it tells manufactures and retailers to 'play nice' when it comes to advertising. Formula should not be claimed or implied as to be superior or equivalent to breastmilk and there should not be formula advertising to the general public - including toddler formula. Health facilities and health professionals should not promote or recommend a particular formula brand and free samples of formula or items that promote breastmilk substitutes (eg a freebie toy, blankie, pen or changemat with a formula logo should not be provided to pregnant women, new mothers, or health facilities. Pictures or text that idealise the use of breastmilk substitutes should not be used - this includes using a 'shield' logo which implies protection, or made up non-words like 'immunocare' and 'prebiotics'.

I note that many of these measures also apply to medication and cigarettes. There are many rules about the advertising of prescription medication - for example in Australia it cannot be advertised to the general public. This does not mean that the medication is bad, or that it shouldn't be used, or that you are a bad person if you take the medication, but that direct advertising may convince people to take it who don't need to which may place them at risk.

I must admit, I once felt sceptical about these advertising rules. If the product isn't bad, then why is advertising it bad? It was once explained to me using this analogy.

The marketing regulation is in response to a real problem ie babies dying because of the advertising of infant formula and feeding bottles, it is in response to the UNNECESSARY and INAPPROPRIATE use of these products. If advertising and marketing of infant formula did not result in the unnecessary and inappropriate use of infant formula and feeding bottles then there would be no need for marketing to be regulated. I'll try to develop an example (and this will not be perfect so please forgive- it is an extreme example)...another product that can be useful and necessary in some situations is a urinary catheter. It is used when people have surgery, when they have various medical conditions and in the past even by astronauts (I think!) but there could be a wider market....they could be sold to long haul truck drivers or to people who find it difficult to drag themselves away from the TV or game console for toilet breaks, others who just find it more convenient. Most I would think would say that such usage is inappropriate and potentially dangerous. I think however, that should there be a situation where urinary catheters were marketed for such purposes and the marketing worked (ie people were using them) that it would be reasonable for such marketing to be banned because it was harming people. This not because there is anything wrong with the product itself but because the climate that was created by the marketing had made any marketing harmful. That's what happens with bottles....and bottles are so ingrained all over the world that they are a universally accepted symbol for babies.

The WHO Code is not in itself legally enforceable, and this is the problem. Some of it has been prohibited under legislation in Australia, particularly the MAIF agreement. For more information see here. However, this is not sufficient and the government's failure to enforce the entirety of The WHO Code.

In my next post I will give details of a breach of The WHO Code at my local pharmacy, why I'm concerned about it and what I am doing to change it.

KASAD20: Icing

Materials

- 8 ply yarn in three colours.
- 6 mm knitting needles
- yarn needle to weave in ends, scissors to cut yarn.

Skills and difficulty
Beginner knitter
- cast on
- cast off
- knit stitch
- changing colour at the end of row

Colours
In this example, C1 is pale yellow, C2 is pink and C3 is purple.

Procedure

1. Using C1, cast on 32 stitches.
2. Knit 8 rows (4 ridges) End C1.
3. Knit 8 rows (4 ridge) of C2. End C2.
4. Knit 8 rows (4 ridge) of C3. End C3. 
5. Repeat steps 2, 3 and 4.
6. Repeat step 2.
7. Cast off and leave a 50cm tail.
8. Weave in beginning end and butterfly the tail.


Return to all the KASAD posts

Daycare packing list - updated

I blogged earlier about Chubs' and my packing lists to make sure we have everything we need for work/ daycare. In theory, and generally in practise, these mean that I don't need to drop Chubs off without everything she needs (although I often forget to pack a wet bag for her...) and that I'm not overflowing with milk but missing pump parts.

In a few months the list have changed though. We have been able to get Chubs down to one bottle at daycare (although she still feeds 3 - 6 times during the day when she's with me and 2 - 4 times overnight.) I'm also able to cope with only one pumping session at work which frees up a lot of time (ie, 15 mins which is HUGE) during my crazy busy day.

Here's the lists which are current now. I've also made a few annotations...

Night before jobs

- Chubs lunch - bottles + teat, breakfase, lunch, two snacks, biscuits, rusks, dummy

- Mummy lunch

- Batteries on charge The catch here is to actually DO this, not just to write it on the list...

- Ice packs in freezer

Chubs' daycare bag

Night before

- Sheet bag – top sheet, bottom sheet, bunny rug , white hair brush

- Drawstring with 6 cloth nappies, wet bag Add the wet bag in! Don't forget the wet bag!

- Spare clothes – long sleeved romper, onesie, singlet, jumper, socks

- 3 disposable nappies

Morning of

- Lunchbox

- Blankie (in sheet bag)

Mummy work gear

Night before

- Breast pump bag with flanges, diaphragm, valve, 1 bottle, 1 lid, 1 sealing disk, motor, battery pack

- Lunchbox

- Book bag

- Computer bag and charger!!!!

- Anything else?

Morning of

- Computer

- Keys + nametag

- Lunchbox – lunch, ice packs

- Breast pump – add batteries which you remembered to charge last night, didn't you...

- Anything else?

Saving money on maternity clothes

Maternity clothes can really suck the budget, which is a shame since you only wear them for such a short period of time. Here's a few tips to save money since you can't actually go nudie from four to nine months. Especially if you're still at work, it's still important to feel good about what you're wearing. Trackydacks and oversized t shirts really get old after a while.

A fairly obvious one is to not buy too many clothes. You won't get to wear them again after a few months (unless you follow some of the tips below.) I'm not fashion forward by any stretch of the imagination, so wearing the same clothes again and again didn't bother me too much, as long as I looked and felt well put together.

21 weeks

Have a think about what sort of clothes you need. Do you need work clothes, or more casual park clothes? I had no trouble finding t shirt type clothes frugally, but I really needed some more formal corporate wear. I found it hard enough to appear professional when I was vomiting constantly all day, so wearing proper business clothes was important to me. There's no point spend lots of money on t shirts if you're at work most of the time, and vice versa. Don't bother buying a nice formal dress if you don't have an event to wear it to.
Borrowing maternity clothes from a formerly pregnant friend or relative is a great option if it's available to you. I didn't know anyone from whom I could borrow, but many of my clothes are currently on loan to another friend who just had her little bundle a few weeks ago.

Seek out suitable non maternity clothes which you can wear after your baby is born. For the second trimester you may be able to get by on regular shirt a size or two larger than you usually wear, which may just be enough to get you by if you're finishing up at work early. It's best to avoid larger sized normal pants, though - they will be all the wrong size in all the wrong places. Maxi dresses and loose fitting tops may fit around your growing belly, especially if you alter any accessories like belts or straps. Keep an eye on the length of tops - often the top will be wide enough for your bump but not long enough. A belly band may help to extend the coverage.

32 weeks

As well as buying non maternity clothes for pregnancy, some maternity clothes can also be worn as regular clothes post pregnancy. Many of my pregnancy t shirts are just normal t shirts with a bit of extra length, and often maternity jeans can be adjusted and worn as normal jeans later.
Many maternity stores, online shops and department stores have maternity clothes which are also nursing tops. I've found the peep holes and/ or false front on these tops very very useful and most of my nursing tops have extra fabric in the belly - I've bought many of them after the bump was well and truly out, though.

Buying second hand was also a big saver for me, and not just financially. As I said above, I had trouble finding affordable corporate wear, so second hand eBay clothes rescued me there. I have no desire to pay $100 or more for a blouse - let alone one I was going to wear for only a few months - and these were the only ones I could find new. The second hand ones I got were of excellent quality and have been passed on to others as well. It is a bit hit and miss - I did get some items which we're suitable, but I think that's more to do with the pitfalls of online clothes shopping than the second hand nature of my clothes.

36 weeks (with an ice cream!)

If you're handy with a sewing machine, you may like to sew some new clothes or modify some existing clothes to suit your changing body. I don't have the seamstress skills to modify clothes - I probably would have ended up with a ruined outfit, but if your sewing skills (or a helpful friend's) are up to the task, then this would be a great saver. Some people sew maternity clothes from scratch, but to be honest I don't think that I would want to invest as much time into a project that I could only wear for a few months. Also, I was so sick during my pregnancy that it took everything I had to get me through the day doing the bare minimum; there was no way that sewing projects were going to get a look in. There are many other women, however, for whom this would be an excellent option, and despite what I just said I do find the idea of wearing an outfit you created around your body as you create a new person quite romantic and warm and fuzzy.

What other maternity clothes ideas do you have?

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Packing list for a weekend away

Over Easter, we were offered a last minute opportunity to go to the beach for the weekend. It was wonderful (despite the car breaking down and illness all round.)

We went to the Gold Coast which is about a one/ one and a half hour drive from here depending ont he traffic. It took us longer, taking two calls to RACQ roadside assistance to get there. Because we drove, we didn't have to worry too much about how much gear we took. I didn't know what shops were nearby or where they would be, I didn't want to pay convienence store prices and it was a public holiday so we took all our food down with us. We went shopping on Thursday here for food including a bag of ice and then we put all the cold food in the esky.

Here's the packing list that I worked to, for Dear Husband, 10 month old Chubs and me. We were staying in a holiday apartment with a kitchen - obviously if we were in a hotel room or camping or something it would be different.

Chubs

4 onesies/ outfits
3 ls rompers
1 jumper
3 pair socks
Shoes (not because she needs them, but because they are cute!)
2 bunny rugs
Sun hat
Swimming hat
Swim ring

Other

Three beach towels
Toys
Dummies
Nappy bag
Disposable nappies (I didn't take cloth)

Pack of wipes
Porta cot
Bed rail
Sheets for porta cot

Some jars of baby food - it was 'bad mother food' while we were on holidays :)
Spoons
Small plastic containers
Bibs

Face washer

Water bottle

Groceries
Esky
Ice

My clothes and gear
Dear Husband's clothes and gear

It was a lot of gear and the car was full, but we did use it all. There wasn't anything that I though we shouldn't have bothered with, although we certainly could have culled a lot more if we needed to for space reasons.

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What's in a name bib: tutorial

I made a few bibs like this recently as gifts. They are super easy and super cute! I put the names onto bibs, but like the Heart Two Heart shirt you could put it on a shirt, a bag or anything else which would suit.

You will need:
- Something to place the name onto (a bib, a t shirt, a bag etc)
- knit fabric to cut up. An old t shirt is perfect, as long as the fabric isn't too thin or stretched. This is great for a t shirt which has a stain or a hole in one area only.
- thread in a coordinating or contrasting colour
- sewing machine or needle to hand sew
- scissors
- ruler (optional)

Firstly you need to cut out your letters. You could print off a template if you like; however I just free handed it, I cut a strip 7cm wide and then cut the small letters out of that (in this case, a, r and r). Out of a 10cm strip I cut out the large letters (H, y).

Arrange the letters on the bib until you're happy, then pin them. I recut a few letters to adjust the proportions until I was happy.

Stitch around the outside of each letter. I used a sewing machine, but you can hand stitch it if you like. My pi day shirt shows you what the hand stitching can look like. The knit fabric won't fray, which is why this works well.

Take out the pins, pull the threads through to the back and tie off.

Ta da! You're done.

Please let me know if you tried this tutorial, and if there's anything else you think I should add to it.
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Cot safety

The way that Chubs' room is set up means that her two nappy bins (one for rubbish/ disposables and one for cloth nappies to be washed) have to be between her change table and her cot. When we move her cot down, I was worried that one of the bins was within one tiny arm's reach, and I didn't want Chubs to be able to reach the plastic bag, pull off a section and play/ chew on it, all while I though she was sleeping soundly.

I moved the cot awy from the nappy bins a bit, but I was worried that the nappy bins could get bumped and work their way back closer to the cot. I could remember to check it every nap time and every evening, but I think that this is the sort of thing which gets forgotten when Mum is sick, or tired, or in a rush or there's a change to the routine and I wasn't happy with that risk.

We buy our wipes in bulk. I place these boxes between the bin and the cot as a spacer. It give me somewhere to store the wipes, but I also keep the boxes there when the are empty. It makes the other side of the cot a bit squeezy and it drives me nuts that the cot is off centre, but Chubs' safety is way more important and this will prevent her from getting a mouthful of plastic.


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Toys

The toy monster is taking over. Chubs' room, our room, the living room, the car, the stroller, other people's houses - everywhere! We're doing a bit of a purge and a clean up at the moment. A beautiful problem to have; too many toys for a special, beautiful girl. What's your way of corraling the toys?



As wet as a bug in a tub WFMW

We've been through a few different ways of bathing Chubs depending on the circumstances, so I would like share with you what has worked for us at different times. We don't have a bath in our bathroom (only a shower) and our laundry is a separate outside shed, so using the laundry tub wasn't really an option either.

Since space is at a premium for us (and because I'm a cheapskate frugal) we never purchased a hard plastic baby bath. I had this plastic storage tub which the lid had broken for years ago. I had been using it as a laundry basket, but when Chubs was born we just turned it into her bath.

Bath Number One

When Chubs was a newborn; however, it was easier to put her into the shower with us. Usually I would undress and de-nappy her and then hand her into Dear Husband who was already in the shower. He would hold her while I washed her with two washers. As a newborn, it was pretty much only her bum and the fat rolls on her chubby neck which ever got dirty. He would then pass her out into my towel- draped arms and I would then dry and dress her on the change table.

This worked well as it was much easier for one of us to hold her in the shower than to try to hold her in the tub, and it meant more free hands since there were two of us. Even if one of us tried to hold her in the tub and the other one washed, there was too many arms in the way and not enough room. Chubs didn't really like reclining in the tub anyway. She also was born with heaps of beautiful hair which didn't fall out. Her hair gets knotty and covered in spit up (then) and food (now) so it was easier to shampoo her hair in the shower than in the tub.

The biggest problem with the shower is that it's definatly a two adult plan. One person needs to be ready in the shower, and the other one needs to pass the baby. There's no way that one person has enough arms to hold a slippery baby, operate the taps and wash the baby all while being wet and slippery themselves. When Dear Husband is away with work and I am home alone with Chubs, I only ever bathe her in the tub, not the shower.

A friend of mine had a toddler and newborn twins, as well as a frequently travelling husband. She tried putting the twins in a Bumbo seat in the bath so she could do all three at once, but I hear that the Bumbos didn't fare too well. She said they kind of fell apart from the water, which I think is quite disappointing, especially considering how expensive they are. (To clarify, she still has the girls, they just aren't newborns and a toddler any more :)  )

When Chubs was five to six months old, we all went away for five weeks with Dear Huband's work. His work arranged for us to have this inflatable baby bath, which is like a teeny-tiny wading pool.

Bath Number Two

I love love love this bath! One of the great things about this bath is the inflatable stopper bit in the middle. At five months, Chubs was just beginning to sit up, but hadn't quite worked it out yet - and definately not reliably. I was able to let her sit in the tub with one hand on her shoulder to stop her falling back, and the bar in the middle stopped her bottom from slipping forward and her legs from shooting out underneath her.

The other great thing about this bath was that it's soft and inflatable. Because it's soft, she couldn't bump her head or anything. We were able to let the air out and bring it home on the plane. It's great if you don't have much space. We certainly didn't deflate and reinflate it everyday, but it would be much smaller for storing between babies and for travel (as I said) than a normal hard plastic bath.

However, the inflatable bath was a pain to clean as it never really dried in all the crevices, so it got mouldy and was hard to get out. It was also hard to fill and empty since it was flexible, so it all had to be done with multiple buckets-ful. These were minor issues though, and I really could have coped with them quite easily. The reason that we stopped using the inflatable bath was that as Chubs got bigger, she got more mobile. By about eight months, she could sit up very well unassisted and could grab the side and try to stand up, pushing the flexible walls down in the process. You can imaging what the flood in our bathroom looked like.

Bath Number One Three

So we are now on to Bath Number Three. It looks mightly similar to Bath Number One, hey? Chubs can sit up in this one now and it's working much better than it did when she was a newborn. She still comes in for a shower every now and again, but she will usually play for 20 minutes or so in the tub - which is great to get us through the cranky evening hours.

So that's our scrub-a-bub-tub story until now. I wonder what happens next?

Linked to WFMW

Tutorial: How to sew kindy sheets WFMW

I've been sewing kindy sheets for about 12 years and making a little bit of money along the way*.

The kindy I sew for needs sheets which have a finished size of 65cm by 125cm, with a drawstring bag which has a finished size of 45cm by 45cm. The sizes don't need to be exact, but should be fairly close. If in doubt with the bag it can be a bit bigger.

Finished sheet sets

These sheets are good for two reasons. Firstly, the bottom sheet with the open elastic corners is much easier for young children to put on and take off by themselves than regular fitted sheets (such as cot sheets). If you wanted to encourage your young child to make his or her own bed at home, bottom sheets like these would be easier to put on and take off than regular sheets while your child is still learning. Secondly, the bag is big enough that the children can put the sheets in themselves.

There are two main ways to make the sheets. Firstly you can make the top sheet and the bottom sheet as one piece each, either from two separate pieces of coordinating fabric or all from the same fabric. The second way is to add a strip of coordinating fabric to one or both sheets. If you do this it is usually a more efficient use of fabric and can make for a really cute set, but does take more sewing.

I've used both an overlocker (serger) and a sewing machine in this tutorial. You can just use a sewing machine if you don't have an overlocker - indeed, that's what I did for a long time before I had an overlocker.

Making the sheets
1. Cut out the two sheets. In this case I have cut 127cm x 67cm as I will be using an overlocker to do a rolled hem on the edges. If you want to use a sewing machine to hem the edges (with a fold over hem) then you will need a bigger seam allowance depending on how deep you want to make your hem. For sheets with a strip see step two.

2. If you are adding a strip of fabric to one or both sheets, then your total length needs to be 125cm + seam allowance for the strip joining + hem allowance for top and bottom.

Two sheets cut and pinned to add a strip to the top

3. Sew the strip on if you are adding one, then hem all four sides of the sheet. Repeat for the other sheet. Tie off threads and trim. Iron sheet if you feel so inclined.

Sewing the strip for the top of the sheet

4. On one sheet only (which ever one you want to be the bottom sheet) stitch a 20 - 25cm piece of elastic across each corner. Make sure stitching is secure.

Stitching the elastic to the bottom sheet corner

Sewn elastic on the corner of the bottom sheet (wrong side)

Making the bag
The bag can be made from smaller pieces of fabric sewn together or from a larger piece.

1. If you are stitching smaller pieces together - pin, sew and iron them to get two 50-ish cm squares or one piece which is 100cm by 50cm (ish). It's ok if the squares are a bit bigger. Pin right sides together.

Front (and back) of pinned bag - wrong side out

2. Sew three sides (or two sides plus the fold) leaving the top open.

3. Zig zag or overlock the raw edges on the opening. If you have the selvages on the opening (like I do in the photo) then you can skip this step.

4. Fold the top down 2 - 3 cm, iron and pin. Stitch the drawstring closed leaving a 2 cm gap.

Pinning for the drawstring pocket

Stitching the drawstring pocket

5. Cut a piece of ribbon or cord which is 5 - 10 cm longer than the drawstring pocket. Pin a safety pin through one end and feed it through the gap from step 4. Remove the pin and tie a secure knot in the ribbon or cord.

6. Tie off and trim all threads and turn bag right side out. Pop sheets inside and enjoy!



If you are making mutiple sets, make sure that each bag is different so that the children can recognise their own.

* Kindy sheet sets don't make much money when you factor in your time, however if you are looking for a way to finance your hobby, you make a small profit if you don't take into account your time. I actually enjoy the sewing so I'm happy to count it as recreation which works for me.

Since I never waste a scrap of fabric, I've also linked this to Waste-not Wednesday.

Today's challenge...

Ugh. Laundry.

At the moment I seem to be able to get the laundry washed and dried no problem. I get some of it folded, but then I don't get it away. So the house is full of piles of clean unfolded laundry, and baskets of folded laundry waiting to be put away. I HATE sorting though baskets of clean laundry looking for something to put on, but yet I find myself here more often than I would like to.

I think part of the issue is that the time I have to do the folding and the putting-away is when Chubs is asleep (either for the night or a nap) which therefore means I don't want to go into whichever bedroom she's in (hers or ours) to put clothes or linen away. I also think that the I'm-too-exhausted-to-get-up-off-this-couch-right-now-so-I'll-just-sit-here-for-five-minutes-oh-no-it's-now-an-hour-later-and-Chubs-has-woken-up situation is a factor, too.

What is your laundry rate limiting step? How do you get past it (or not)?

Op shop find!

We are very spoiled and have a Vinnies just around the corner from us. This Vinnies is amazing. I've long been an op shopper, but I've never seen a shop with the quality that this one has. It must be stocked from donation bins in rich suburbs.

Previously I have gotten barely worn Cue blouses for $8 (usually $70ish), a never worn pair of leather work shoes for $10 (would have been $80+ ), unworn Pumpkin Patch things for Chubs still with tags on and so many other things.

On Saturday I got everything here for Chubs for $7.50!

What's there:
- Pink Target footed tights and purple Bonds footed tights in good condition
- Unworn Bonds short sleeved t shirt
- Long sleeved Bonds shirt in good condition
- Pink Target cords in excellent condition
- Pink three quarter leggings in fair condition
- Fisher Price all-in-one swimsuit in fair condition
- Roald Dahl's Dirty Beasts and Pamela Allen's Alexander's Outing
- a board book (not pictured) and a soft bath book.

Pretty good for $7.50!

The prize for...

... this week's great baby idea is buggy books! I love love love buggy books - we've got a few. The thing that makes them so amazing - the clip! These stay attached to the stroller (or the car seat, or the bouncer frame, or the high chair tray...) which means we don't lose it when someone throws it away. Genius.

Chubs has a cloth Winnie the Pooh (A A Milne/ E H Shephard/ Disney) book which crinkles and can go in the washing machine - woot. She also has The Tiger Who Came to Tea by Judith Kerr which I remember from my childhood, too. Chubs is a little too young to appreciate the story about the forthright tiger with the insatiable appetite and little understanding of social convention and etiquette, but it is good for chewing on. See tooth marks for proof.