recycledbaby.co.uk

I think I want a baby sling but I have no idea which one to get. There are so many different types. Do I go for metal frame? Ring? Just cloth? I have no idea which is best. We saw some at the baby show that made you look like a Jedi warrior when you tied them up but I’m not sure I’m ready to wrestle with five metres of cloth to tie my baby in. How do you do that when you are alone in the house with the little one? It looked like fabric origami but the overall effect was cool! That’s a point actually – it will be hot in summer!!

My friend says he just uses a sarong tied across him with the baby on his hip and I’ve seen a few people carrying babies African style with a sarong tied across their back. I’m not sure that’s good for you though. It’s bad enough carrying them on your hip and throwing your back out of alignment without having to lean forward to balance the weight out. There don’t seem to be many cons to having a sling but I guess you just have to try a few and find out what works. I read this  but I still have no idea. They seem to be quite easy to make if you believe some of the crafty type blogs and sites out there, but only if you can get the rings for them. Personally I don’t seem to have time to brush my teeth let alone buy the material and the rings to make a sling. Maybe that will ease up as he grows but for now I’ve got to look to borrow one or buy one second hand and see!

The Bumbo buying has been taken out of my hands. After several abortive attempts to purchase Bumbos from eBay which resulted in me running around swearing like a trooper and taking it out on him indoors, husband has decided he is going to buy it for me (deliberate or cunning, you decide). Trouble is he says he’s not going to pay more than a certain amount for it. We could be waiting until the baby is walking.

Toy libraries are just the best. I’ve discovered one near me and because our neighbourhood is next to a council estate and therefore we must all be deprived, it’s free! Free to join. Free to borrow toys. Free strawberries when you turn up with your little one. I love it. This week I have borrowed a Bumbo and it’s amazing. If you haven’t seen one before – it looks kind of like a high sided, rubber potty with a really high bit that sticks up between their legs. It helps them to sit upright and stops them from slumping over. You can get them with play trays on too which is also ace. Little one has decided it’s OK…..must get me one of these. Time to get onto eBay and have a look. Do I have to worry about fake Bumbos on there? I guess the Chinese can copy anything but how do you know if it’s real.

The Bumbo from the toy library

I found this website today and if it takes off it could be the start of something really great for parents.

www.babysfirstplanet.com

At the moment we are all looking for recycled stuff on eBay and Freecycle but this site is trying to combine everything in one place along with help and advice.

It looks to be run by passionate people. Lets hope it takes off.

I’ve been surfing about recently due to an inability to move around much and come across some people who have the same idea as our family. Here are some links to useful sites.

The Recycle This Guide to recycling baby stuff

reduce reuse recycle

The ethical superstore for all your shopping needs!

Another green mom Living Slowly

This is a hard one. I want to try and tell people that we are trying to live greener and make green choices when it comes to our baby. The trouble is, I can’t imagine for one second that people are going to take any notice of us because I’m learning fast that babies are public property. The baby shower and any trip out with my mum brings this home to me in graphic detail. This one isn’t even born and already it’s gathering new stuff at an incredible rate. I don’t want to belittle people’s generosity but by the same token, I do want to let them know what we are trying to do. It’s a tough call. I don’t want to spoil their obvious enjoyment of the new baby but at the same time I’m trying to limit excess. Excess is easy to fall into, especially when there is an entire industry out there devoted to telling you that you HAVE to have new things for your baby, otherwise you are a bad parent and even worse, a bad consumer! Heaven forfend.

I think I’ll tell my friends but I fear telling family will be as much good as trying to stop the tide. Still, we’ll have a go and see what happens.

monitors - good or evil?

We have been given a set of baby monitors by a colleague of him indoors and I have mixed feelings about them.  Even now, before the little one is born, I am scared of the possibility of cot death. We are getting a new mattress for the cot and I’ve got one for the moses basket. We will be following all the guidelines for the baby sleeping in our room for the first six months and to be honest I think co-sleeping might be a good thing, at least they are right there with you, but I guess that has to be balanced with the increased risk of rolling onto them. I think you would have to be pretty tired or dead drunk for that to happen. I mean, how tired can you get with a new baby? I guess we’ll find out soon enough.

I saw Billy Connolly doing stand up once where he talked about their baby monitor. He said they would put the baby to bed and you would hear them making all the usual baby noises and then suddenly it would go absolutely silent. It was as if the baby was holding it’s breath. He would then start to worry about the baby and as the silence continued the panic would rise and he’d get up and go towards the door to go upstairs but as soon as he got across the room they’d burble and the panic would be over. This would go on all evening but apparently the panic goes on for a lifetime! He tells it much better, if anyone knows of a link to the bit I’d love to know so I can add it here, it is very funny.

To cope with this parental paranoia the manufacturers have now come up with ubermonitors. They are mats that you put under the sleeping baby that can tell if your baby is breathing or not. This then fires a signal to a monitor which alerts the parents. Now I love the idea of this, but I also can see that it’s a noose around your neck. I can imagine parents getting web cams and setting them up as well as this monitor to make sure their baby is alive and breathing. They are clearly the same parents who hide webcams in teddies to spy on the nanny! It just feeds the paranoia but provides some peace of mind at the same time. The dilemma – if you did lose your baby to cot death and you didn’t have the monitor would you spend a lifetime regretting not buying it?

The information surrounding cot death is a bit of a nightmare for me. How many blankets? What if I use too many blankets? What if the room is the wrong temperature? Do I need a mattress made of natural materials? Will having a mattress covered with that material with silver in it to ward off germs be safer? What if I fall asleep with my baby on the sofa? (Highly likely it would seem.) No wonder parents to be look shellshocked half the time, all these questions and no real answers from the scientists. People dropping bombs of information into your brain and there is no way to evaluate it properly.

I think I’m going to stick with my traditional reused ears only baby monitor and keep everything crossed that I’m doing right.

More info on Sudden Infant Death Syndrome here.

So we have just had a baby shower for my little one and it was a glorious day. The sun shone and lots of friends came to party and we had a bit of a feast. There was cake a plenty – seriously, babies seem to attract cake like bees to a honey pot! My friend Sue put it all together. She was returning the favour as I organized her baby shower for her a couple of years ago. Darcey is now nearly two and beautiful.

There were party games including guess the number of jellybabies in the jar and pin the dummy on the baby, advice cards for me and loads of fun. In true recycledbaby style there was quite a bit of reusing going on. We reused the baby shower banner and the cones that hold balloons down in bunches. I will say that we were a bit bad and used paper plates and there was lots of wrapping paper and gifts but that’s the point of a baby shower isn’t it? Everyone gets excited about the forthcoming arrival and brings a contribution. We had lots of lovely clothes from all my mates who are unfailingly generous and kind, even if some of them are convinced my little one will be gay because of all the dance music it’s been subjected to at work. Apparently I’d make a great mum for a gay baby! Not sure how they came to that conclusion but it’s a flattering one none the less.

So I’ll pack up all my shiny new things and put them in the little one’s room where I shall stroke them occassionally and look forward to the day when I can put them to good use!

So lets talk yoga. I’ve been taking pregnancy yoga classes in the run up to the birth and it’s been good. There isn’t a whole lot of yoga. It’s mostly us learning to control our breathing around our ever expanding bumps and talking a lot. Nerissa Fields is the lady running the class and she’s great. She’s a mine of useful information and she’s arranged for loads of different people to talk to us including breast feeding gurus, sling gurus, real nappy gurus, baby massage gurus, people who have already given birth. Everyone you need to have contact with as far as I can see. Information is power and the more confident we feel, the more relaxed we are and the easier birthing is. Basically, the less intervention you need, the less it costs in terms of the NHS and the environment so it’s recycledbaby through and through.

I’ve also learned that we only want to use yoga positions that force the baby downwards. Apparently child pose, which I find quite comfortable, is holding my baby inside me. Blast it! She has also introduced me to the birthing ball. Lord everyone should have one of these. I happened to have bought a swiss ball a couple of years ago so I’m using that instead of buying a new one. Reuse/recycle and all that! I have bought a little grey plastic step stool which is actually quite comfy to sit on as well. It will also be useful in the future.

This week we have been learning about the importance of making sustained, low noises when we are in labour. I’ve heard sheep giving birth and they do a similar thing. Nerissa says she has a video of an elephant doing it as well but she’s lost it.  I have no idea why it helps but if it does I am fully prepared to look like and idiot and make low, humming sounds. Even now, when I close my eyes I can hear Nerissa telling me “You are in control, it’s your birth and you can use your breath to stay in control. Even if it doesn’t go the way you want it to.” It’s actually really comforting to hear that.

It is really gentle and a nice way to spend a bit of me time in the run up to the birth. It’s also been ridiculously useful. I didn’t know that there is help for mums with two kids under three in the form of trainee nursery nurses from the local college. I also didn’t know that I have the right to demand to be transferred to the local midwife led birthing centre after I’ve had a c-section, if I have to have one! It’s this inside info that really makes life easier, or at least makes you feel more confident and that can only be a good thing right?

Nerrissa Fields Yoga

We hit the motherload today thanks to people at my husband’s work. We got a great big bag of clothes for the little one with loads of stuff that goes up to a year old. It is really good quality and it’s in great condition. There are baby-grows in there, jeans, t-shirts and night things. They are all so cute! Now I have to make sure we buy a mega box of non-bio washing powder – although through various freebies I have got at least six months supply of free washing powder and fabric conditioner. I’ve got tablets, pouches, sachets and lots of vouchers. The packaging alone is enough to make you want to weep. Had a look at soapnuts online  … not sure about these, can’t imagine how some nut casings will make dirty nappies super-clean and how come you can reuse them over and over again. Still you can get a trial pack for 75p which has to be a good thing. Maybe I’ll try them after he’s born. I’m thinking for now I’ll just go the the cash and carry though and buy a huge box. I’m not going to put too much pressure on myself, I think it’s going to be hard enough once the little one arrives.