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.
I found this website today and if it takes off it could be the start of something really great for parents.
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
The ethical superstore for all your shopping needs!
Another green mom Living Slowly
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?
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.
It’s been a week of tying up loose ends and getting bits and bobs. This week so far we have bought the sterilizer and the bottles and the rocking base for the moses basket. As a complete environmental bonus they all came from just around the corner from our house. We don’t have to wait for the postman to come we just go and get them. The sterilizer is from a lady who is having the post baby clearout. Her kids are now heading towards school and she is getting rid of everything. The moses basket base is from a lady who lives in a town north of here but her dad lives across the road. We bought the base from her and she dropped it off at her dads and we just wandered across the road and picked it up. Well I say we, I mean him indoors, because I can’t wander much at the minute. I have SPD and the baby bump is weighing heavy at the moment. Can’t wait for the little one to arrive, more because I want my body back, it really feels like I’m just a big jar at the moment. I’m sure it will all be worth it in the end.
Here's the moses basket complete with base.
Reusable nappies are supposed to be the best thing for the environment so how come my local council is soooo not behind them. You would think with the landfill taxes they will be forced to pay they would be jumping on the reusable bandwagon as fast as they could, but no! Their website starts off well – telling us that three billion nappies are thrown away each year in the UK, that’s about 8 million nappies a day! But it goes downhill from here. Other councils seem to do much more than Leicester City Council. If you start looking for information about reusable nappies online it turns out lots of councils offer vouchers to help you buy them new. Not my council. Leicestershire County Council offers you £30 to buy your first real nappies. The boundary is about a mile and a half away from my house and if I could move my bricks and mortar right now I would. My council offers you the chance to try before you buy. That’s it…a bucket of nappies, if they are available, that you can try for two weeks. No cash help, no enthusiasm, no wonder people just carry on using disposables.
This will be my new pram in Capri, they mean blue!
I’m getting a Quinny Buzz. We played around with a couple of different prams and it’s pretty much the only thing that fits in the Mini, and then only when we take the wheels off. My husband’s car isn’t a problem. He’s got the kind of bus that could probably house several small families from a developing nation. Not environmentally sound but useful. It’s my car that causes problems. We probably should change it but I love my car and it’s ridiculous to get rid of a perfectly good car that is bought and paid for, get into debt and stress, just because I can’t be bothered to take the wheels off the pram. That’s what the recycledbaby project is all about.
The Buzz also fits the Maxicosi car seat so we can just drop that on top of the pram base and away we go. Now here’s my problem. I can’t find a second hand one online anywhere. Well I can but I’ve got to get loads of different bits and it’s going to take too long to get it all before the baby arrives. On top of this my husband has found a complete set, car seat, base and stroller top for a really good price, around half what it is in the shops. What do I do? The recycledbaby project way is to buy lots of bits, my tired pregnant, angry self is saying just get the new thing! We are getting the new pram.
We’ve got a big decision to make now. The pram! There are so many different options and mostly I have to be able to get our pram into my banana yellow Mini. This limits things somewhat. There are very few prams you can get into a Mini. It’s such a huge decision because we also have to decide on a car seat for the baby as well and you have to get a car seat that’s compatible with the pram set. Who knew it was so complicated? Plus I’m told they won’t let you leave the hospital unless you have a proper car seat! My other half is into design and engineering so I’m pretty much leaving the selection to him. I’ll get him to present me with a load of options and see if we can get one second hand. Oh except we can’t get a second hand car seat because you can’t use second hand car seats! I don’t understand this at all. Babies only use the first one for a year or so. If a car seat has not been in an accident and is still in good condition, why on earth shouldn’t it be reused for another child? They cost over a hundred pounds and use all sorts of petrochemicals and plastics which aren’t good for the planet. It makes sense to reuse them. No-one is saying we should put kids in danger. I wouldn’t consider using a seat that had been in an accident, but I would consider using one that had been used before.
