Why Swim Nappies Make a Clean Splash

There is something unbelieveably gross about the thought of swimming in a public pool that is contaminated with faecal matter. Aside from the grossness, swimming with human faeces and swallowing pool water that is infected with offending floaties, poses a huge health risk, with the potential to cause some nasty cases of gastro, including Giardiasis and Cryptosporidiosis.

Earlier this year, a public pool in Kununurra, Western Australia, made the news when, after a spate of potential health risks, it urged parents to use appropriate swim nappies and to be more vigilant of their children's bowel movements.

Every state has a policy for dealing with faecal accidents in public swimming pools and spas, but Western Australia's policy is particularly detailed, requiring that "[b]abies or children who ordinarily wear nappies shall wear a tight fitting aqua-nappy or similar costume when using the water."

In fact, this is now a requirement in almost every public swimming pool across Australia.

If you've perused the baby aisle at Woolworths or Coles in the past 10 years, you might have noticed packs of disposable swim nappies on the shelves. All well and good from a hygiene perspective. But what happens if you don't want to spend a dollar per swim on a nappy? And what do you do if you want a reusable, environmentally-friendly alternative? Or what if your aquatic centre actually says NO to disposable swim nappies because escaping fibres clog their pool filters? (1)

Oz Baby Trends distributes the Seedling Baby range of reusable products, which includes the multi-fit reusable swim nappy, Paddle Pants.

Apart from the ease of use, monetary savings and eco-friendly factors, reusable swim nappies are without a doubt the easiest way to begin to make the switch from disposable to reusable nappies.

And the testimonies speak for themselves:

"Very impressed with the Paddle Pants. My daughter has worn it now for over 6 months. It is so fantastic that the nappy can be adjusted to fit her quickly growing body. The quality is fantastic and looks just as good now as it did brand new."

- Hayley, Newcastle

"Mr 23 Months is just off to the pool to show off his Paddle Pants again. Love, love, love them!"

- Lorna, Sydney

"I used Paddle Pants for the first time recently. My boy's allergies have been playing up big time, so nappies have been a shocker, to the point I almost considered disposables! I had no idea he had a major poo until I took the swim nappy off. It wasn't even on the gussets!"

- Shelley, Nowra

To learn how to size your Paddle Pants, visit the Seedling Baby blog HERE.

Swimming checklist:

• Check your baby every half hour. If the swim nappy is doing it's job, you won't know they've pooed unless you check!
• Don't let your child swim if he/she has diarrhoea.
• Swim nappies are not designed to absorb wee (if they did, they would also absorb pool water and your child would quickly sink) so allow your child plenty of toilet breaks.

Remember: Swim nappies are not a substitute for frequent toilet breaks and nappy changes. Happy paddling!

© Oz Baby Trends 2013

(1) Author's note: Our swim centre in Sydney prohibited the use of disposable swim nappies after discovering that the fibres from disposable swim nappies were causing fliter blockages. It is not uncommon for aquatic centres to ban disposable swim nappies and to sell reusable alternatives at the front counter.

Breastfeeding with the caboo baby carrier

Breastfeeding in the early days can be arduous. With our first baby, it took an hour just to feed from one side! I'm not sure if this is considered normal or not, but I would have given anything to have known about babywearing back then. Imagine being able to position baby in the breastfeeding position and get on with life, just like that!

While we certainly believe that nursing mothers need and deserve the rest which usually accompanies feeding time, sometimes you just need to get stuff done, so an awesome carrier in which you can breastfeed and continue on with life was an essential addition to my shopping list for the next baby. Thankfully, the caboo came on the scene just in time!

Yes, you read correctly! You can breastfeed in both the caboo +organic and the caboo dx. Let us show you how.

When feeding in the caboo +organic or caboo dx, you may need to adjust the strap so baby can approach the nipple at the right angle. You can do this by loosening the rings nearest baby’s feet. This will let the head down slightly. You may also wish to fold the strap over and down the shoulder slightly on the head side so you can easily maintain visual contact with your baby while feeding. To alternate to the opposite breast you will need to take baby out and change the inner strap to the outer strap.

Breastfeeding Position for the caboo +organic

 

Breastfeeding Position for the caboo dx

Top Tip: If feeding your baby you can tilt them towards you by placing baby’s arm closest to you down a little, resting around your waist. 
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We can't recommend the caboo enough as ideal for skin-to-skin contact, keeping baby warm and establishing breastfeeding.

As you would expect, caboo adheres to EN 13209-2:2005 and the T.I.C.K.S guidelines for safe baby carrying.

A note on babywearing safety:

• Make sure baby is in view at all times…regularly check your baby is secure and happy
• Keep baby high up on your chest… close enough to kiss (unless of course you're breastfeeding)
• Keep baby's chin off their chest and allow for free flowing air
• Baby should be held comfortably close…and fully supported
• Make sure baby is central…and the cross section is spread out under their bottom if they're in the upright position
• Don’t overdress your baby… remember your body heat will keep them warm so dress them down a layer and never cover baby’s head or face with an item of your own clothing.
• Use common sense… don’t engage in activities which may expose you or your baby to unnecessary danger or risk

© Oz Baby Trends 2013

Top 10 free (and FUN!) winter activities for kids

When the chilly weather sets in, it can be tempting to turn the TV on and snuggle up under blankets watching movies. But we've found this doesn't tend to burn a lot of kid-energy!

Here are our Top Ten FREE winter activities to keep little bodies and minds active and warm.

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1. Pillow fight. Put adult t-shirts on the kids, stuff a few pillows up them and enjoy a pillow fight.

2. Treasure hunt. This can be done indoors or outdoors, depending on the weather. Just hide a
few goodies and then write on post-it notes to give your kids some clues. This activity not only keeps
little bodies moving, but it keeps little minds busy as well. This website has some great ideas for awesome treasure hunts.

3. Build a cubby house. This is such a simple idea that the kids will just love. With a few chairs, pillows, blankets and sheets, anything is possible! After creating your own cosy little haven in the bedroom, lounge room, or backyard, why not have a picnic in it? There's nothing nicer than snuggling up with a hot chocolate and a few books on a cold winter's day.

4. Sort your photo albums. Admittedly, this might be a cheeky way to get your hundreds of photos sorted while at the same time entertaining the kids. While you're all sitting down together, having a laugh over baby
photos, make some popcorn and a warm milo, relax and enjoy the memories while sorting! Click HERE for some fantastic ideas on how to get your photos in order.

5. Play musical chairs. Musical chairs is an old favourite at children's parties, but it's also a fantastic game any other time. Simply gather a few chairs, turn on your favourite music and start dancing. It'll warm the kids up and get you all laughing.

6. Puzzle it. Who doesn't love a puzzle? If your kids aren't so keen on the traditional jigsaw puzzle, there are
plenty of other options: let them try word puzzles, mechanical puzzles and mathematical ones too. Sudoku can be fun and addictive for older kids.

7. Art and craft. If your little ones are more the arty type, then why not let them try their hand at some great craft a activities? Check out the Activity Village for thousands of ideas, free printables, eduational games and crafts for every holiday or season.

8. Visit the library. Your local library is a veritable treasure chest of information and ideas. You can easily spend a few hours sifting through books, and enjoying story time. Most libraries offer a kids club for children aged 0-13, and most also offer school holiday activiti
es. Visit your local library and see what's on offer:

9. Rug up and visit the park. The winter months produce a lovely and unusual variety of flora and fauna, so make the most of it and rug up and go for a walk through a local park or botanic gardens.

10. Nature watch. Let your kids become bird watchers. The winter months bring out beautiful and unusual bird species, so why not get together with some of your kids' friends and do a bird watch. You can download and print our FREE bird watching chart HERE.

What would you add to our list of free winter activities for kids?

© Oz Baby Trends 2013

Night Nappying 101

It is not uncommon for cloth users to opt for disposable nappies at night. There are a number of reasons given for this. Some people say they are worried that a cloth nappy simply won't last the distance. Others say they don't want wet fabrics against the baby's skin for so long. Many just do it because they don't have a nappy that can be used for nights.

But even if you're only using 1 disposable a night, that's still 365 nappies - or over $180 worth of disposables a year while your child needs nappies at night.

If you're a night time disposable user but want to make the switch to full time cloth use, we're going to arm you with the information you need to eliminate disposables from your evening routine! Are you ready?

A Seedling Baby multi-fit pocket with extra booster
set makes a great night nappy

We've night cloth nappied 4 children and have tried a number of different options, including dedicated night nappies, but the three we love most are:

- pop-in +bamboo with night booster
- Seedling Baby multi-fit pocket with extra booster set
- Mother-ease bedwetters

From birth through to approximately 2.5 years, our fall back options are the pop-in +bamboo nappy and the Seedling Baby multi-fit pocket.

If baby is still waking at night
If your baby is still waking through the night, a pop-in +bamboo without the night booster can be sufficient as long as you are changing at each wake/feed, which - for baby's comfort - is a good idea.

A Seedling Baby multi-fit pocket with just the one booster set also does this job beautifully. In both the pop-in +bamboo and Seedling, the boosters are made from a high bamboo content fabric which offers incredible absorbency.

If your baby is sleeping through
If your baby is sleeping through, but not yet toilet training, both the pop-in +bamboo and the Seedling pocket can be turned into night nappies.

The pop-in simply requires a dedicated night booster (available from your local stockist separately or in the nappy packs) The Seedling just needs another booster set, which you can place on the outside of the pocket (you won't fit two boosters sets inside the pocket opening).

Designed as a dedicated night nappy team, pop-in +bamboo with night booster is a killer combination has seen 3 different children through for up to 14 hours from 6 months - 2.5 years.

The pop-in night booster can be folded however it suits! We fold it the 'wrong' way
so that we can then fold the front over again to add extra absorbency for little boys.

Mother-ease bedwetters can be found HERE

If your baby is over 2.5 years or approx 16 kg
Both the Seedling pocket and the pop-in are designed to fit babies to approximately 16kg, but we all know that no two babies are made the same and what fits one might not fit another at the same age or weight. If your child is on the larger side or you feel that the one-size design of these nappies is not suiting your baby any longer, we really can't recommend the Mother-ease bedwetters highly enough. These come in 3 different sizes to fit children between 13 and 31 kgs, so they are also great for older kids and children with special needs.

What about the wet fabric against their skin?
The pop-in night booster has a strip of polar fleece sewn on, and this acts brilliantly as a moisture barrier, keeping your baby dry throughout the night. With the Seedling, you can simply use a polar fleece liner if you would prefer to not have the bamboo directly against their skin. Polar fleece liners never go astray! They're great poo catchers and polarfleece can be purchased cheaply by the metre from Spotlight. Just cut it into strips and you're set. No need to even hem!

HANDY HINT
Always rinse the night nappy a soon as it comes off baby, to reduce the chance of the ammonia breaking down the fibres of your bamboo boosting.

Tell us - what's your go-to night nappy?

© Oz Baby Trends 2013

The Cheat's Guide to Preparing Cloth Nappies

If you've asked Google how to prepare new cloth nappies, he probably told you to wash them anywhere between 3 and 10 times. But if you're anything like us (impatient) and don't like the idea of wasting a whole lot of water to prepare a nappy for first use, this blog post is for you.

The main reason that multiple pre-washes has been traditionally suggested was to increase the absorbency of natural fibres (bamboo, hemp and cotton) prior to first use. Well, the nature of natural fibres hasn't changed and it's true that it does take multiple washes for these fabrics to reach peak absorbency... BUT, we're not big fans of washing stuff 10 times before it can be used. Especially not gorgeous new cloth nappies that you just want to put on your baby! So here's our cheat's way to prep your cloth nappies.

1. Soak boosters overnight in hot water* in a tub or bucket of water.

2. Wash with half a scoop of detergent and line dry.

* Hot water ensures correct shrinkage from the outset, but make sure that you don't go any hotter than manufacturer's instructions. For the pop-ins, maximum washing and drying temperature should not exceed 60⁰C.

A few extra points:

• Please make sure that there is no way a little person can reach the tub or bucket.
• Your nappy outers won't need to soaked overnight, but they should be washed in the machine with the boosters to remove any factory and transit dust.
• Even one-of-a-kind handmade nappies can collect unmentionables along the road to your home, so pre-wash everything at least once before it goes against your baby's skin.
• Don't forget to attach the velcro tabs to the laundering tab that you'll find at the back of the shell, to prevent the velcro snagging during the wash.
• Keep in mind that the absorbency of your natural fibre nappies will improve over the next fortnight as your nappies are used, washed and dried multiple times.

We've used this method of preparing nappies for a few years now and can attest to its efficacy, but if you're still a little nervous about putting a nappy on for night use that hasn't been pre-washed 10 times, put that particular nappy in the wash with your clothes each day until you're satisfied it will get your little one through.

If you have a combination of natural and synthetic fibre nappies (pretend you bought a middle box bamboo pop-ins and a middle box of minkee pop-ins!), you'll need to pre-wash your minkee inserts separately from your bamboo inserts, because the natural oils in bamboo may do a jig with your minkee nappies and cause them to repel urine. Definitely not what you want!

How do YOU prep your cloth nappies?

© Oz Baby Trends 2013

We've Got It Covered

Every now and again, a product is created that makes you shake your head and wonder why you didn't think of it first. Simple yet intelligent, easy yet effective - that's the pop-in car seat protector from Close, and since it launched in Australian last July, it's made it's way onto the car seats of thousands of Australian children, keeping the seats protected and the parents happy.

But it's not just car seats that a reaping the benefits of this nifty little pad. It can be used in strollers, prams, high chairs and trolleys. The ultimate multi-use protection for a wide range of places where little bottoms sit.

And it's now available in a funky new print... Introducing red monkey, which has been walking out the door since it walked in last week!

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Here's what parents are saying about the pop-in car seat protector...

"I did a compression test on the car seat protector and it held 300 ml. Very impressed!" Shelley, Nowra

"We had our son in disposables during a long car trip and he had an 'explosion'. Thankfully, the car seat protector kept everything off the seat!" Kylie, Dubbo

"We have 3 pop-in car seat protectors - one sits permanently in the car seat, one lives in the nappy bag for use when we're out at restaurants or visiting family and the other is in the boot of the car. I use that one in the trolley." Gina, Toowoomba

"Our son is toilet training and has never had an accident in the car, so I can't attest to how much liquid they hold. But they are AWESOME for catching the crumbs that would otherwise disappear deep into the crevices of the car seat." Jenny, Adelaide

Good, happy children, please!

When I was growing up, we'd ask Mum each year what she wanted for Mother's Day. And each year, the answer was the same - "Good, happy children." Now, as a mother, I emphatically concur that this is the BEST Mother's Day gift!

Mother's Day creeps around each year and most of us enjoy gifts of our own jewellery, painted rocks and homemade cards, which - if you're a wannabe minimalist like me - is just the kind of stuff you love to receive.

But even minimalist mamas need a thing or two, and one of the best new baby products I've ever encountered is the caboo +organic baby carrier. Designed to fit babies from birth through to around 14 kg, this versatile, organic cotton baby carrier, which fits both mum and dad, is Number 2 on my list of Minimalist Mama Must-Haves. Number 1 is nappies.

If Dad does a lot of the carrying, the caboo dx is probably the pick for your family. And the Cocoon weather protector is a great addition if you do a lot of outdoor babywearing. The Cocoon fits most baby carriers and even some strollers, so it fits with the minimalist's desire for products that multi-task!

So, if you'd like to gift yourself with something extra special this year - something that your baby will enjoy too - we've got just the promotion. Maybe you could even slip this blog link to your other half...

To locate your nearest stockist or consultant, click HERE.