Vi is back in cloth nappies during the day. While I look forward to showing her Itti Bittis off during warmer weather, for now I am delighted with how easily they fit under her warm clothes.

Following the post introducing my homemade bleach wipes, Robin asked me to describe the homemade baby wipes we use. First I'll explain why I like them, then I'll share an easy method for making and using your own. why cloth baby wipes are great

• use as many as you want to clean a big pooey mess, without any extra cost
• soft on baby's bottom
• no unknown or undesirable chemicals or irritants
• easily customise to suit your child, by adjusting the amounts and ingredients in your wipe solution (note: please keep all baby wipe ingredients out of children's reach, as you would any other chemical)

make your own using this recipe:

homemade baby wipes

 

You will need:

• 40 or so soft washable cloth pieces, sized slightly bigger than your hand (approx 18cm x 20cm) - I use organic cotton squares like these, since I like to avoid chemicals on young babies' skin
• a pet bowl or other non-spillable, non-breakable bowl - I use a stainless steel version to make sure I can get it absolutely clean
• rubbish bin with tight-fitting lid
• two mesh laundry bags, suitably sized for lining the bin
• wipe solution:
1. normal, room-temperature tap water
2. 1-3 drops of tea tree oil - I use this for its antiseptic properties when a child has diaper rash, and also because it eliminates the smell in my diaper pail

Method:

• Fill the pet bowl halfway with water, and add one to three drops of tea tree oil
• Stack dry wipes next to the pet bowl at your changing station
• When confronted with a wiping situation, grab one wipe and dip it in the solution
• Wipe baby's bottom
• Place used wipe on top of the nappy
• Grab another wipe, dip in solution, wipe, place on top of nappy; repeat as necessary
• DO NOT dip a used wipe back in the solution
• Use a final wipe to grab all the used ones and drop them in the bin
• When you are running low, remove the mesh bag from the bin, close it and throw it in the wash (make sure the mesh bag isn't stuffed too full)
• Line the bin with a clean mesh laundry bag
• Retrieve clean wipes from the dryer or clothesline, stack the clean wipes, and repeat

variations to try: Many websites recommend using a spray bottle to dispense the wipe solution, and I have tried that. However, I think my pet bowl, while inelegant, is less fiddly (I had to pump the bottle several times before it sprayed) and more hygienic (I found it difficult to clean the spray bottle with its many parts). I love the simplicity of water and tea tree oil, but there are many baby wipe recipes available. Have fun experimenting!

My lovely friend Megan from Little Daily Escape gave me the Honest Scrap Award which entitles you, dear readers, to a list of ten true things about me. As I have written it, the list has sort of become a random jumble of things that are on my mind, but I am sure you will find some facts hidden in there as well. 1) My colleague Andy was a new believer back when we worked together. I so enjoyed working with him. Today his 18-month-old daughter Iona is going in for open heart surgery. Please pray for her right now and throughout the day as you think of this precious red-head! 2) There are many personality tests available, but the one I have found most memorable was one I took as part of a class in Cambridge. The test revealed that people with my unusual (and, frankly, unhelpful!) personality type love to receive invitations and dislike accepting them. Our professor collected the test results and had the class brainstorm possible jobs for people with each personality type. When he read mine out (anonymously), there was a surprised silence in the auditorium. Then a classmate quipped, "the Queen!" Sadly, the ideal role for my personality is already filled. 3) A good thing, then, that I'm outside the job market - at least until something suitable in a monarchy opens up. Just in case, I keep up with my colleagues and classmates via LinkedIn. 4) I dream of one day writing a book that is worth reading. 5) I've been breastfeeding every day for the past 1167 days. I know it's not for everyone (I would never have dreamed that this would be me!) but I credit the forced breaks and breastfeeding hormones with helping me be a kinder, gentler mama than I would otherwise be. I believe God led me down this path because he knew I needed all the help I could get! 6) For a while I told people that my middle name was "Marshmallow". Thankfully my parents aren't as silly as I am. 7) I recently sold almost all my Ella's House cloth nappies and am using the funds for some Sandman night nappies for Nikki and Michael. Nikki rarely wets her pants during the day, but her bed is wet almost every night. I would much rather wash diapers than sheets! And I would like to get Michael in cloth at night, too. 8) I decided to sell the cloth nappies now, during this moving time, because moving and cloth don't go together well. Also, with two in diapers, I prefer the convenience of disposables during the day. I am debating now between AIO (all in one) cloth nappies or prefolds for Michael and Vi, because I do want to use cloth, but I need something simpler than the assembly that went with my Ella's House nappies. Any thoughts?? 9) Craigslist is big in the US, but Gumtree rules the roost here in Oz. I have been searching for a Like a Bike for Nikki, and I was thrilled when I found one for sale on Gumtree today. It's brand new, an unwanted prize, and I'm getting a great discount. Hurrah! 10) I feel very blessed to have a precious handful of true friends, and Megan, you are certainly one of them! Thanks for nominating me for this award.

An announcement was made today at 3:30pm that Egypt is going to stop using daylight savings time effective midnight tonight, 28th August 2008, instead of Thursday 28th September. This is to make Ramadan fasting a little easier for the millions of practicing Muslims in this country. The start of Ramadan is determined locally by the sighting of the moon , but it will probably begin on 1 September. For one lunar month eating and drinking are prohibited during daylight hours among followers of Islam.

For us, using cloth diapers has been a great decision. Even Nadia, who washes them, told me yesterday how glad she is that we aren't throwing out disposables all the time. It's nice we're not unnecessarily adding to the garbage in Garbage City .

With Michael still so little and Nikki not yet potty trained , I am changing somewhere around 12 diapers a day. So, while cute, you can imagine that I was less than thrilled when Nikki's Baby started wearing diapers today. Baby had a lot of poo, and as soon as we got a new diaper all snapped up on her, she had another poo and it was time to take that one off and put on a new one. The poppers are too difficult for Nikki just now, and it dawned on me that I had acquired another baby in diapers. We changed eight diapers in a row before I decided that Baby was going to go diaper free for a while!

 

I have been incredibly blessed on my return to Cairo to be invited to a 'baby group' full of breastfeeding mums. Most are also cloth diapering and a few are babywearing as well. Since I'm one of the few who has a second child and also because I'm tandem nursing , I get asked a lot of questions and am able to share my experiences and information I've picked up along the way. Big change from other groups where the mums get saucer-eyed and shy away when I mention home birth or sleep sharing. Attending the baby group this morning and also receiving some questions today from my dear friends Megan and Jill made me think that I should give an update on several different aspects of my own brand of mothering that I haven't mentioned on here in a while: sleep sharing, baby wearing, and cloth diapering. Sleep Nikki shared a bed with Ben and me from day one. She indicated that she wanted more personal space for sleeping when she hit 10 months , and that's when we purchased a crib for her to sleep in downstairs. Since then she has slept through the night every night. She is a phenomenal sleeper. While we were in England for Michael's birth she switched from two naps to one 40-minute nap per day, and she was going to bed at 6pm and waking at 7:30am. Here in sunny Cairo and with her dad's early schedule, she wakes at 6am, so I put her down at 4:30pm in order to give her the 13.5 hours she needs at night. Still one 40-minute nap, which is thankfully flexible on timing. Ideally I put her down at 11am, but with the baby groups all starting at 10am, on those days she ends up with a 1 or 2pm nap. Like today. Michael sleeps in our bed. He's less demanding than Nikki was at this age , and he wakes only twice in the night - once at around 3am for a diaper change (I'm leaving him in cloth at night and he doesn't like to feel the wetness) and feed and then again at around 5am to feed before his sister wakes up. It works out pretty well. At first I tried  to feed him more often at night since Nikki always wanted to, but he just wanted to sleep, so I guess I won't complain about that! He also sleeps on my back in the Mei Tai during Nikki's hour-long bedtime routine. We have a baby hammock for Michael which he enjoys for short periods of time during the day (eg when Nikki is having her diaper changed, or I'm getting dressed), and he will also sleep in the hammock if put in there when he's already sound asleep. Based on our experience with Nikki, we're not keen to rush him into his own bed before he's ready, hoping that when he is ready it will be clear to us and also at that point he will sleep straight on through without any difficulties. Babywearing Before leaving for England, Ben and I purchased a Cairo-proven tandem stroller off of some expats who no longer needed it. I had thought that I would start using it once I got back here, but so far babywearing has been so convenient that I have not familiarised myself with the complexities of unfolding the pram. Fortunately wearing two children is not at all uncomfortable if the correct carriers are used, and if the carriers are used correctly. I have used three different carrier combinations so far:

• Nikki in the Ergo on my back, Michael in a pouch on my front
• Nikki in the Ergo on my back, Michael forward-facing in a wrap (buddha carry) on my front
• Nikki in a Mei Tai on my back, Michael facing me in the Ergo on my front

The first combo, with Michael in the pouch , was the one I used on my five minute walk to the doctor's office the other day. Handy for a short walk, but not recommended for a longer trek. My favorite wrap for a little one is the forward-facing buddha carry in a wrap. The baby gets to see the world go by, and all skin is protected from the sun except the face peeping out, which can be protected with a hat. I'll wait to do this again until Michael can hold his head up a little longer. I also love having Nikki in the Ergo on my back. Very secure, quick and easy, without the ties from the Mei Tai trailing around and getting dirty if I have to re-tie when I'm out. Until Michael has sufficient head control for the front-facing buddha carry, I will continue placing him in the Ergo on my front, with the super handy sun / sleep cover pulled up to protect his baby skin from the sun and to support his head while sleeping. This also lets me show off my beautiful new Mei Tai, so it's a happy combination all round. Cloth Diapering Not since the La Leche League meeting I attended when nine months pregnant with Nikki have I been in a group with so many cloth diapering mums as I was this morning. One mum uses prefolds with a diaper wrap. Another loves her Bum Genius all-in-ones . A third is so against throwing anything away (even toilet paper!) that I think she is a strong candidate for elimination communication . My Ella's House hemp nappies are going strong. Nikki moved to the larger size while we were in England; perfect timing to have all the small ones available for Michael. The wraps are my favourite part of cloth diapering, and of course I had to buy all new ones for a boy this time around. Fun! Here is my best estimate of the cloth diapering supplies I now need for two children, washing daily except weekends:

• 20 small cloth nappies (ella's house - hemp nappy - poppers, size small)
• 20 small cloth nappies (ella's house - hemp nappy - poppers, size small)
• 40 boosters (ella's house - fleece topped hemp booster )
• 48 cloth wipes (green baby co - organic cotton washable wipes with a bowl of tap water at the changing station)
• flushable/washable liner sheets - a necessity for Nikki since she started eating solids ( ultra bio-degradable nappy liners )
• 5 medium "boy" diaper covers (two Tots Bots , two Nature Babies , one Wacky Wrap )
• 5 large "girl" diaper covers (two Tots Bots, two Nature Babies, one Wacky Wrap)

Yea! My sister is feeling much better . Last night before dropping off to sleep, Ben and I listened to and watched between three and five fireworks displays visible from our bedroom window. In England, unlike America, there are no laws restricting fireworks within city limits, and we fully enjoyed the show as Londoners exercised their freedom. New things for Nikki in the new year... today for the first time she pointed to a picture of a cow and made a mooing sound! We asked her later on during a stroll through Kew Gardens with no cows in sight what sound a cow makes and she repeated her cute little moo. Also, we have moved Nikki up to the next size in cloth diapers. At the end of 2007 we were having difficulty fastening her size small Ella's House hemp nappies . Now she has graduated to the smallest setting on the large size. The small size is set aside and ready for her little brother! In further birth / after-birth preparation, I have done quite a bit of online shopping since we've arrived in England, and I think I'm finally done! Birth Pool Birth Pool in a Box Eco Regular with Pattern
Extra large and comfy clothes for hospital transfer (if needed) and after the birth
Yoga trousers
Long-sleeved t-shirt
Cloth diaper covers in prints suitable for a boy, and also larger size wraps for Nikki Nature Babies - aplix wrap
Tots Bots - Tots wrap - aplix fastening - with leg gussets
Baby carriers
Gauze Calin Bleu wrap in Chocolate
Mei Tai Baby adjustable carrier with
headrest
black straps
three interchangeable fabric panels
black floral brocade ,
stained glass dragonfly , and
cloisonne butterfly

Yesterday Nikki had the second round of her primary course of immunisations. To cheer her up after a jab in her left leg and a dose of oral polio, Amal, an Egyptian health unit worker, told Nikki she was a movie star and took photos with her hot pink Nokia phone. Nikki promptly forgot her troubles in a whirlwind of flattery and photography. Exciting times running the household today. The washing machine, a lifeline for any family with a baby in cloth diapers, stopped in the middle of a load. I called my landlady, the excellent Karima, and within an hour a team of two electricians had restored both the washing machine and the oven (which I have never figured out how to turn on) to full working order. It was fun to use my limited Arabic, saying 'ayewah' and 'mas boot' at the appropriate times as they explained the buttons on the oven.

Yesterday morning, anticipating that there would only be a few each day, I mentioned to Nadia that we shouldn't wash the nappies every day. When I got back from Bible study this morning Nadia said, "I hope you not grumpy with me." She had washed the twelve or so we used yesterday. In fact I was delighted and complimented her for being proactive. She said that we are both learning, and indeed we are! I'm thrilled that my maid is enthusiastic about washable diapers - rather than requesting a pay rise. Wendy asked if we are using disposables overnight, and Ben and I did have some trepidation about how disrupted our sleep might be using cloth diapers. I prepared the bed and bought three specific items for nighttime cloth diapering. We changed her into them right before we went to bed at 11pm, and she slept through as usual until I had to wake her at 9:15am to go to Bible study. At Bible study I typically change Nikki once; this morning it was twice and also again soon after I returned home. I did debate using disposables, but since I was sure of the changing environment I went ahead with cloth. I tied the soiled diapers into little plastic bags before tucking them into my backpack. Once home, I opened up the plastic bags to put the dirty diapers in the pail. The worst part was having to pick out the used disposable wipes. Good incentive to get organised with washable wipes on the go - then it can all just go in the diaper pail without any worries. Thirty hours in, I am still giving cloth nappies two thumbs up. But I have decided that Tots Bots aplix waterproof wraps fit Nikki better than Mother-Ease Airflow with poppers . The small size Mother-Ease looks baggy all around but cut into her little thigh. We are fortunate that everything else fits so well.

Today we mark an exciting milestone: day one of cloth nappies! I'm excited about them, because:

• although we made a significant upfront investment, they should work out to be less costly in the long run than buying disposables
• they are better for the environment, even taking into consideration the energy consumed in washing and tumble-drying them
• children in cloth nappies feel the results of their wees and poos, which should make toilet training more straightforward
• ...and Nikki's hemp nappies are seriously cute

So what has it been like so far?

Nikki has been in cloth nappies since 10am this morning, when we got up. Her first one was a doozy - very full of wee and poo! She's had three more wet nappies that she's complained about since then. Containment has been excellent with her fitted nappy covered by a waterproof wrap. Already she is nearly as eager to have a wet nappy removed as she was during her first couple of weeks as a newborn. While it is more work for me, I see it as a healthy awareness of her personal hygiene to request a new nappy soon after the current one is soiled.

Any surprises?

Aside from the fact that she's already pooed twice today... I am so pleased with the Green Baby Company organic cotton washable wipes I purchased along with the nappies. They are soft, perfectly sized, and much more convenient than the cotton makeup rounds we were using.

Also, I'm amazed at how good it feels not to be throwing things away at the end of a diaper change. Yes, the soiled bits are going into our diaper pail (for us, a plastic trash can with a step-on opening), but the days of overflowing rubbish bins are behind us. Hurrah!

So exciting! The cloth nappies are every bit as cute as I had anticipated. And for those of you who would like to see pictures, I have arranged a special photo shoot:



I chose hemp nappies from Ella's House , which are very absorbent without being bulky. All cloth nappies need a waterproof layer, whether it is built in or added separately. Pictured above is a MotherEase Airflow wrap in their Savannah pattern - appropriate for a move to the African continent, wouldn't you say?

If you're curious about cloth nappies, have a look at the KittyKins website .