recycledbaby.co.uk

This story is so on the money. Go into any new house and there is barely enough room for one bin, let alone the three you need to recycle properly. Every new fitted kitchen should have a special vertical cupboard to store stuff in before you put it out.
In my area we just have one green box that you put stuff into but it’s huge and there is still nowhere to put it.
All new houses should come with a special, covered, gated area in the garden for the wheelie bins and the recycling. It would make life sooo much easier.

Here is a great article from the Guardian newspaper on why you should recycle properly.

Breast is best!

Breast is best. I know this and I’m sure I’ll be able to follow through with the breastfeeding but I’m a bit nervous about the whole thing. No-one in my family has breastfed a baby since before the war. My aunt says her breastmilk looked like the water from rinsing milk bottles and she gave up because the little ones were not getting enough. My mum’s not hugely pro-breast feeding so I guess we’ll see. So as a back up I’m going to get a sterilizer and a couple of bottles. I know this is almost admitting defeat before I’ve started but I don’t want to be running around with a brand new baby trying to buy stuff. It’s enough of a nightmare buying nappies and things without the baby here, once he/she arrives it’s going to be way too difficult. I want to stay in bed for a babymoon, shopping online or at the supermarket is not on my agenda.

As an aside – I heard about babymooning from a friend and it sounds amazing. You basically stay in bed for a couple of weeks getting to know your little one. Your other half/mum/friends all have to do the housework, cooking and shopping for you. You just stay in bed, the two of you, learning to breastfeed, recovering from the birth and sleeping. Apparently they do this all the time in Arab culture and the Indian’s are big on it too, although the girl at my baby yoga says having the mother-in-law there all the time feeding you special food is a nightmare! Apparently you have to eat a lot of fenugreek.

Back to bottles though and the books all say get a bottle that looks like a breast to prevent nipple confusion so I’ve had a look and Tommee Tippee seems to be the closest. Seriously, I really did compare my nipples with those on the bottles. I walked around Boots with a picture of my boob on my phone comparing and contrasting. If anyone had looked over my shoulder they would have died laughing. Tommee Tippee do a sterilizer that everything fits into and now I’ve decided what I want I’ve set the husband the task of buying it or getting it free on freecycle.org and I guess we’ll see how it goes.

I have bought my first pack of real nappies in an online auction. I actually punched the air and shouted yes when I finally managed it. I am now the proud owner of a pack of five Tots Bots size one nappies and a wrap. It has taken several weeks to get my hands on them and the kind of obsessive behaviour found in OCD clinics everywhere. Of course it’s only five nappies and according to most websites you need at least 12 to get through a day. That’s a LOT of poo and wee. Can a baby really get through 12 nappies in a day? Surely that’s an unusual day? I guess I’ll have to wait and see for myself. My mum is offering to buy me a starter pack of six Motherease nappies and frankly, after the couple of weeks I’ve had trying to buy the Tots Bots, I’m inclined to let her. Is that wrong?

Now this is a bit disturbing. I’ve read about the BPA bottle scandal and now you are getting BPA free bottles in all the supermarkets and baby stores. Scientists appear to have found Bisphenol A in Bisphenol A free bottles. Have a look here and decide for yourself. Looks like someone has to do some more research.

The alternative is glass bottles and breastfeeding. It’s a hard thing because it’s not always possible to do either. Glass bottles aren’t hugely practical and breastfeeding is best if you can do it but not all little people take to it. We really need scientists to stop looking for faster, bigger and cheaper but looking at what’s right for people and the planet. Faster, bigger and cheaper might be good for profits but it is not the way to secure our future.