frugalandthriving.com.au » baby

one frugal toy that is getting some mileage

Melissa — Thu, 10 Feb 2011 14:00:00 +0000

The best toy we’ve gotten for the little fella so far is a set of plastic picnic cups that I picked up for $3 at Kmart. They have kept him amused for the last five months and there is still plenty of future fun potential for these cups. Here are some of the games we play with the cups as well as some games I can envision for the future.

Stacking and unstacking
Building towers and knocking them over
Listening (ocean sounds in the cup)
Using as a phone
Talking into the cup and making funny noises
Wearing a cup as a hat (gets endless laughter)
Putting stuff into the cup and tipping it out again
Hiding toys beneath the cups and finding them again
Scooping water
Playing skittles
Spinning the cups
Rolling them
Banging cups together
Throwing them (which is fun when you’re eight months old)
Learning colours (putting same colour objects into the right cup)
Building sandcastles and mud pies
Tiddlywinks and throwing things into the cups from a distance (this keeps mummy amused at the moment)
Catching things using the cups (like indoor lacrosse)

Oh yeah, and when all the games are over, we can use them to drink out of.

I honestly believe that more fun can be had with simple objects rather than the battery powered ones, particularly at this age. Relatives have given battery powered toys that make music and have flashing lights, and the little fella’s attention span for these things is only a couple of minutes at most. An empty greengrocer box, on the other hand, keeps him amused for ages. In a world where you can buy everything and anything, kids really benefit from frugality. It helps them develop attention and concentration, as well as imagination and creativity. But more importantly, it is a whole heap more fun to play with stuff yourself rather than watching a machine do all the playing for you.

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in one end and out the other: cloth nappies six months on

Melissa — Thu, 30 Sep 2010 14:00:57 +0000

I admit that this article a little bit of an apologetic for the humble cloth nappy. So many times I hear that it’s too much of a hassle to use cloth nappies, that it’s too time consuming. That it’s too hard. So I’m writing in defence of the cloth nappy.

Apparently, Australians go through 800 million disposable nappies per year, producing 145,000 cubic metres of landfill. Not only do disposables present a problem at well, disposal, there is the pollution caused from manufacturing the plastic (a crude oil by-product) and the endless shipping to a household near you.

Six months on, and we’re still using and washing our terry flats. Yes, we use water and our detergent (homemade) ends up in the water ways. It’s not perfectly environmental, but a lot better than disposables.

If you’re considering using cloth nappies, but thinking there is too much time and effort involved, I thought I would share with you our nappy system and just how long it takes to wash nappies.

Honestly, it doesn’t take much more time and effort to wash cloth nappies than it does to throw out disposables, especially if you consider the extra time spent having to go out and buy disposables. Which brings me to the savings. We calculated that we would save around $2,000 in one year by using cloth nappies instead of disposables.

Our nappy system, timed

We have 22 terry flat nappies and 4 modern nappies with boosters for night time. Terry flats dry in 24 hours maximum on the worst weather days or within a couple of hours on a sunny day. No need for a dryer. Best place to hang them for us on wet days is in the garage on a line strung over the bonnet of the car. The heat from the engine when DH gets home from work dries them in no time. Actually, as an aside, the bonnet of the car after it’s just got home is a nice place to warm your bath towel or jammies for bed time.
We have a nappy bucket in the laundry tub to soak the nappies in. We use regular old nappy soaker to soak them.
We also have a regular 80c bucket upstairs in the little fella’s room to put used nappies in. That gets carried down stairs at nap time or play time so there are usually two or three nappies to throw in the soaker bucket. Total time to throw nappies into soak: 20 seconds – 1 minute (depending on whether I have to add water and soaker also) about 3 times a day.
We do use liners in the nappies to help with poo disposal. I have an old frozen vegetable bag or flour bag or whatever is empty, sitting in the laundry to dispose of the liners and wipes. I know, not entirely environmental, but I think the liners are biodegradable. These get put in the bag at the same time the nappies are put on to soak. Time: no extra.
About once a day I wash the nappies. Cold water wash with a little homemade detergent is all it takes. I add a little eucalyptus oil to the final rinse to freshen them but it’s not necessary. The nappy soaker takes care of sanitising the nappies, but if you can hang them in sunlight, there is nothing like the sanitising effect of the sun. Total time to transfer the nappies from the bucket to the washing machine and throw in a bit of detergent: 1 minute.
If you want to wash less often than once a day, you will not only need more nappies, but also another bucket to soak them in. I’m hard pressed to fit more than 12 nappies in the bucket.
I hang the nappies on an airer and transfer it outside into the sun. That way if it rains, we can whip the whole airer inside without any mucking around. Hanging the washing is a nice time actually, because the little fella plays outside on a rug and gets a bit of fresh air and Vitamin D. Either that or I wash the nappies at night and hang them on the airer right beside the washing machine. Either way, total time to hang nappies: 2 minutes.
If we could be bothered, we fold the nappies, but often they end up in a pile next to where we change the little fella. After all, he goes through them so quickly. If we do fold the nappies, it takes about 2 minute.
We use chux type cloths for wipes, cutting them up into small squares. One packet lasts two months and it takes about 15 minutes to cut up all the squares. I have tried washing the chux and reusing them. They last about two washes before not being able to do their job.

I could probably have a load of nappies on to wash in the time it would take me to walk to the otto bin, which would be the alternative procedure had we opted for disposables. In fact, with the soaking and the folding and the washing, we would spend less than 10 minutes a day dealing with dirty nappies. Out of the 1,440 minutes in a day.

And I’m not exaggerating with the times. It can be surprising just how little time everyday tasks can take. We have a bottle steriliser that takes 8 minutes to do it’s work. I can do a load of nappies and a load of washing up with time to spare in that 8 minutes. Have a go at timing the everyday tasks around the house that you do, and you will be surprised at just how little time they take.

And if that wasn’t alternative enough…

When it comes to the great nappy debate, there is a third option that nobody really talks about, and that’s natural infant hygiene or elimination communication as it’s called. In short, it’s allowing a baby the option of using a potty instead of soiling their nappy all the time. When I mention this around ‘certain’ circles, there are a few raised eyebrows that say, ‘you do what?’

The idea as I understand it is that just like babies have ‘cues’ when they’re hungry or tired, they can also have cues for when they need to go potty (especially just after birth in my experience). Learning to recognise these signals, just as you learn to recognise tired and hungry signals, means that you can provide an alternative to the nappy. At the same time, you make a sound like ‘psss’ or any sound you like and later, this can become a new cue for the older toddler who needs to go, but can’t yet talk. At least, that’s the idea.

We have been giving the little fella potty time from when he was only a couple of weeks old. We’re ‘part timers’ in that we offer him the potty at each nappy change and occasionally during the day. We base potty time more on timing and less on cues. So after a sleep is always a good time to offer the potty as well as 10 – 30 minutes after a bottle.

The little fella still uses his nappy. If he uses the potty, good, if not, that’s fine too. Over the last few weeks, we’ve only had a couple of pooey nappies. It is so much easier to just rinse the potty into the toilet and use a little ordinary toilet paper to wipe the little fella clean than dealing with poo smeared all over his legs and cleaning the nappy.

At first we used an old empty ice cream container and held the little fella over it. A bigger container would have been better because little boys can tend to ‘overshoot’ the mark a little bit. A towel beneath the container protects the carpet.

Now that the little fella is six months old and can sit better, a potty works really well.

Again, this doesn’t take as long as you might think. A few extra minutes at nappy changing time is all that is needed if you want to offer the potty part time. And it’s amazing just how quickly even the youngest baby ‘gets it’. The little fella has occasionally held on until potty time, and he makes the cutest grunt of effort when he’s on the potty. That’s if he’s not trying to stand and wee wee on the floor. Still need that towel.

I’m hoping that actual potty training will be easier later on. I recently read that parents aren’t potty training until as late as four years old, and some Queensland kids are even going to school in nappies! But natural infant hygiene isn’t ‘potty training’. It’s just allowing an alternative to nappies, while still using nappies.

One of the best websites on natural infant hygiene is Tribal Baby. If you’re wanting to give it a go, check out this website for more details.

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frugal toys for baby

Melissa — Thu, 09 Sep 2010 14:00:46 +0000

You don’t need to spend a lot of money on toys for baby. Oh, I know it is tempting, there is so much fun looking stuff out there. But there is a lot of truth in the old idea that babies prefer to play with the empty box.

There are plenty of things that you will already have lying around the house that will keep bub entertained for months. In the picture, the little fella found that stainless steel bowl fascinating for a good half hour while I sat a had a cuppa.

Baby’s number one favourite toy will be you. But if you are wanting some parent time out and hoping to stimulate bub’s minds and creativity with independent play, then below are some frugal ideas for toys that you can find around the home:

Bubs own hands and feet (yep that’s all they need to keep occupied sometimes)
Pieces of fabric particularly if you can get different ‘feels’
Empty bottles with rice (ensure the lid is well sealed or glued/ taped into place)
egg carton (this is great a great toy, it opens and closes and there are all those holes to explore)
fabric bag or old stocking filled with crinkly plastic (clean chip packet for example) inside (secure tightly)
empty bottles filled with water and glitter (again, well sealed)
Tupperware containers
measuring cups
plastic cups or bowls (or tins) that stack
plastic cups
wooden spoons
paper (the little fella loves to scrunch paper but he tends to eat a bit of this so be prepared to pick wads of it out of mouths)
Cardboard carton boxes
homemade wooden blocks
empty formula tins (to bang on, to put things in and tip them out again. Cut a hole or a slot in the lid so that bub can deposit clean plastic milk container lids into his formula tin bank)
Dangle toys, cartons, scrunched up foil etc, from a broom stick positioned over two chairs for bub to swipe at.
TV remotes (without the TV) can be good with lots of little buttons to play with (just make sure the batteries are either removed or not leaking)
Toilet rolls
empty boxes

When looking for everyday items that can become toys, just ensure that there are no sharp edges, they are big enough not to be a choking hazard and that they are safe to chew. If you are using recycled tins, clean them well, remove labels check the edges (inside and out) to make sure they are not sharp and hammer them down and cover well with tape to make them safe.

If you’re wanting to get crafty, below are some great tutorials for baby toys that you can make yourself.

Cloth Softie Book @ Do ah Diddy	Cloth rings @ Make it Love it	Matching Blocks @ Make it Love it
Crinkly taggie toy @ Simple Gifts	Humphrey the Bonzo Dog @ Bustle and Sew	Taggie Ball @ What I live for
Taggie Blankie @ Melissa Sews	Taggie Animal @ Homemade by Jill	Taggie Cube @ What I live for
Quiet time book @ My Little Gems	Oopsie the Octopus @ Moda Bake Shop	Car roll and mat @ Punkin Patterns
Pocket Book @ Expect Moore	Quiet time book @ Modest Mavern	Quiet Time Book @ Sew Can Do
Bean Bag Numbers @ The Ideas Room	Baby Beach Ball @ Purl Bee	Quick Teething Ring @ Patchy Apple

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crafting for baby – a few non-essential items

Melissa — Wed, 14 Apr 2010 14:00:37 +0000

I previously wrote about how I was preparing for a frugal baby, listing the absolute bare minimum essential things that I thought I would need. Then we brought the little fella home.

I never expected that I would be bottle feeding so to the list of essentials we added a breast pump (I was trying for a few weeks to bring my milk in), bottles, formula and steriliser (as I expected to breast feed, we started out boiling our bottles on the stove top. A steriliser was an expensive but oh so wonderful convenience purchase). We also ended up with a pram (for nanna really), a bath and a bouncer, both of which get a pretty good work out.

Apart from the essentials, I also did some less essential crafting before the new arrival, that I wanted to share with you. Despite being non essential, we use the items below on a daily basis. As a quilter, I have quite a stash of fabric from my cashed up days, so everything except the fabric and notions for the bag was made from what I already had on hand (no extra money spent).

I made a baby or nappy bag from this tutorial at A Mingled Yarn. I used cotton instead of vinyl for the inside and as commenters on the blog post suggested, reinforced the back pocket. The only modification I would make is to make the side pockets a little deeper so that they close over larger bottles. Oh, and DH would prefer it in less ‘girly’ material so that he can carry it.

To go with the nappy bag, I made a matching change mat out of scraps of material and recycled vinyl from old packaging. The back is made up of patches of scrap fabric so that nothing was wasted.

It’s amazing how much strong plastic packaging we get as packaging. Below is an example of where I got the plastic to make the change mat. The zipper on the packaging was salvaged and stashed away for another project.

I also made a nappy stacker that hangs off the cot. The stacker is tied to the cot. When full of nappies, it weighs an absolute tonne and a coat hanger would neither hold the stacker without bending or go over a door handle. The stacker is a variation of this tutorial at Sew Dang Cute. I got rid of the ruffle and added some pockets to each side for liners and wipes what not.

The dinosaur embroidery is just some clip art from the web that I altered in Inkscape. I have learnt that satin stitch isn’t a good stitch for large areas, Romanian couching would be better for next time.

And again, I made a matching change mat with vinyl between the cotton fabric and a terry flat nappy.

These change mats may seem a bit frivolous when you can just use a nappy or a towel, but they certainly saved a lot of surfaces (like the in-laws’ back car seat) when we travelled down to NSW for dad’s funeral.

Finally, I made some burp cloths from another nappy and cotton backing. The only regret with these is that I haven’t made more, because we use them all the time and they get pretty icky quickly.

I did also make some bum wipes out of scraps of nappy from the change mat and burp cloths. These just go in the wash with the nappies and get reused. The joys of EC is that wiping baby’s bum is a lot easier if he goes over a potty.

There were many other projects on the list, but they will probably have to wait for baby no. 2.

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using cloth nappies

Melissa — Thu, 08 Apr 2010 14:00:41 +0000

I have a small confession to make. For the first four weeks of the little fella’s life we used disposable nappies. Not entirely, we had a foray into cloth the few days we were at home, but mostly it was disposable. The hospital required it, and I’m not sure I could have managed the six long days in the car with a bucket full of stinking nappies.

But now that things have settled down and we’re back at home, we have gone the last week using entirely cloth nappies (even out and about) and we won’t go back to disposable (unless we have to do another long car trip etc). I have to say that using cloth nappies is really not that much more work than using disposables. We are currently using terry towelling flats. They are inexpensive (we purchased them at $1.70 each), easy to wash and dry (much quicker than fitted nappies – a night on the clothes horse in the laundry is sufficient at the moment).

If you’re interested, below is how we fold our nappies. It fits a newborn bum well and is a good fold for boys.

Fold the corners into the middle to make a smaller square. It would help if our nappies were square to begin with.

Fold one side about 1/3 of the way across and fan out the top corner.

Fold the other side over the first and fan out the top corner also.

To make the nappy slightly more compact, I fold down the top edge.

Turn the front up and wrap the sides around baby’s waste. Fasten with a snappy. Bub’s asleep, so I’ll have to take photos of the nappy on some other time.

We do use disposable liners at the moment as they make cleaning up easier. I have cut up chux into small squares to use as baby wipes. We just use water at the moment to wipe him (and bath him). As the little fella had thrush thanks to the anti-biotics I was taking, we give him a nice smear of cream at most nappy changes.

Great advice from a reader (thanks Fiona) is to get a whole heap of nappies and use more than one bucket. At the moment I’m pretty much washing nappies every day and when the bucket is full, they end up sitting in the tub waiting for the next load. And as we live in a two story townhouse, it would be good to have a bucket upstairs and down (although I get more exercise this way)! We still wash in cold water and use homemade laundry detergent and hang dry (we don’t own a dryer anyway, but terry flats dry fairly quickly).

The only thing stopping me from buying more nappies is that we are starting to practice natural infant hygiene or elimination communication (EC). EC is where you respond to baby’s cues and hold him over a bowl or tub so that they can toilet naturally, rather than them soiling nappies all the time.

Today I ‘caught’ our first ‘number two’ in an old ice cream container. Whoohoo, one less nappy to wash! It was followed by not one but three wees on a towel on the carpet. Whatever the little fella’s cues were I missed them, it’s a learning process for both of us.

The difficulty is that bub likes to toilet at the same time as feeding, which makes things complicated. I soon discovered that pulling a nappy on and off while feeding was too much of a hassle for both of us so I have a nappy under him just in case and I don’t wear jeans while feeding him (and hope I don’t get a tinkle in the face ). It takes time and patience to EC, so we are just trying it a few times a day to get used to it and not at all at night.

If you’ve had experience with EC, I would love to hear from you and how you are going with it.

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The Ultimate Guide To Making Your Own Diapers/Nappies

Melissa — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 14:00:08 +0000

Photo by sewingdork

When I plunged into the cloth nappy world I was totally overwhelmed. Flat, fitted, pre-fold, pocket, covers, liners..? Which nappy is best? What to buy? OMG look at the price!

Making your own, especially from recycled materials is the cheapest option if you want to go with the modern fitted nappy style. Below is a list of tutorials that I hope will make sense of the whole diaper / nappy world.

Of course, if you decide to practice elimination communication(I’m going to give it a go) then the whole nappy conundrum will be in part at least, moot.

There is some overlap in these tutorials as different tutorials explain things in different ways, and if one part doesn’t make sense, it can help to look at a another tutorial for a better idea. You can also pick and choose or adjust patterns, sewing techniques and materials to suit your needs. For example, you may like make an all-in-one, one-size pocket nappy by combining tutorials.

Common Materials

Cotton – is the most popular nappy material and is either flannel, terry, jersey (T-shirt fabric) and fleece (sweatshirt fabric).

Bamboo and Hemp – both have become very popular materials and are more absorbent than cotton, and antimicrobial. Often mixed with cotton.

Microfiber – super absorbent, this synthetic fibre is often used to fill pocket nappies or as an inner layer to the nappy as it can loose its absorbency after repeated washing.

Polyester fleece – soft, breathable and water-resistant. Can leak if nappy is compressed or not changed in time.

Wool - soft, breathable, anti-microbial, water-resistant and absorbent at the same time, used for nappy covers as they can be worn, left out to air and worn again. They do need to be washed properly to keep the lanolin in the wool, but can be washed far less frequently than regular covers.

PUL -stands for Polyurethane Laminate. This is fabric that is coated in a soft laminate. It is durable and is often used in covers (water-proof type) or in all in one nappies (more breathable type).

Vinyl and Nylon – waterproof material usually for the covers.

The Diaper / Nappy Tutorials

Flats

These nappies are usually made out of terry cloth (between 50 and 75cm square), but can also be made out of thinner cotton or flannel. The thinner the nappy the more need for boosters and heavy liners and effective covers.

Who would have believed that folding flat terry nappies would be an art form?! My knowledge was limited to standard nappy folds. Here are some more advanced fold techniques.

1. The origami fold

2. Birdseye flats

3. Ice-cream cone fold

4. Newspaper fold

Pre-folds

Pre-folds are like flats but with a thicker sewn in liner or padding down the middle to boost absorbency.

1. Sew pre-fold diapers the “real” way

2. Pre-folds from old t-shirts

3. Pre-folds from recycled flannel

Fitted

These are like disposable nappies, they have elastic around the legs to prevent leakage. They’re still usually used with covers though. The disadvantage of these is that you will need different sizes as your bub grows, although there are one-size adjustable ones.

1. Fitted from old t-shirts

2. Fitted nappy Pattern (pdf)

3. Quick and easy fitted

4. Fitted from an old t-shirt

5. Cheap fitted nappy

6. Quick cloth fitted

7. Make a fitted diaper from a pre-fold

All-in-One

All-in-ones are basically fitted nappies with a waterproof layer so no need for a separate cover. As you’re washing the ‘cover’ with the nappy at the same time, they can take longer to dry.

1. Fitted using PUL

2. Fitted PUL with leg gussets

3. Another all in one

Pocket Nappies

These usually (but not always) have an outer waterproof layer (like PUL) and an inner layer with an opening that you can stuff with absorbent liners like microfiber hemp or pre-fold nappies. These are popular and convenient because you can increase the absorbency as you need, depending on how much you stuff the pocket, they can be “all-in-one” if they are made with a waterproof outer, but dry much quicker as you was the liner separately.

1. One size pocket diaper with snap in liner

2. Pocket nappy without Velcro (fasteners needed)

3. How to sew a pocket diaper

Covers

Covers can be the old style vinyl pilchers, or wraps with elasticised legs not unlike the fitted nappies.

1. Felted wool wrap from old clothes

2. Soaker from an old woollen jumper

3. PUL wrap style cover with leg gussets

4. Felted wool wrap with appliqué

5. Wool butt sweater

6. Recycled wool longies with open leg bottom

7. Making your own longies pattern

8. Side snapping diaper cover

Liners

Liners boost the absorbency of the nappy and reduce leakage and as they are separate from the nappy, can make nappy laundering easier with messy nappies.

1. Knitted liner

2. Diaper Inserts

3. Diaper Liners

4. Cloth diaper insert sock

Miscellaneous

I love the idea of the “little squirt” a commercial attachment that goes on your toilet to wash your dirty nappies off. Well I found a DIY solution instead.

1. Make your own diaper sprayer

2. Cloth Wipes

3. Diaper stacker tutorial

4. Diaper clutch

5. Diaper clutch and changing pad in one

6. Travel diaper change pad with pocket for wipes / nappies

Organic Baby. Caring For Baby The Chemical Free Way

This practical, definitive guide uncovers all you need to know about the use of harmful toxic chemicals in baby products. A MUST read for all parents to discover how to keep baby healthy, safe and chemical free. Click here for more information.

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Preparation For A Frugal Baby

Melissa — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 14:00:06 +0000

We’ve still got about three months left, but I’ve started preparing now for our first newborn bub. Here are a list of things that I’m doing to prepare, if you have any other advice, it would be much appreciated. The aim is to be as organised as possible so that things at home still flow as smoothly as possible after bub is born, and we’re not spending extra money that we don’t have on things like takeaway because I wasn’t organised.

Purchase of Essential Baby Goods

My instinct is that you don’t need to buy a lot of stuff for a newborn baby. We are going to get:

A Cot – We sold an old TV for $100 so that’s our budget for a second hand cot. Even a cot, some people would argue is non-essential because if you’re into attachment parenting you can co-sleep or alternatively put bub in a drawer. But we would prefer a cot. I have some old sheets that I’ll cut up and resew as cot sheets and as I’m a quilter, I’ll splurge and make my own cute-as-pie cot quilt.

Cloth nappies – I’m in love with the modern nappies but I know that they are way out of our budget so I’ll probably end up buying the old terry towelling nappies and maybe making some pre-folds. I read that using cloth nappies can save you around $10,000 a child. Apart from the whole landfill issue, I don’t know how people even afford disposable.

Car seat – This is fairly essential I think. We are lucky here as the QLD Ambulance service actually hires baby capsules and car seats for $65 for 6 months and fits them for you to ensure that they meet safety standards.

Baby carrier – I’m going to go for a sling or wrap rather than a stroller. If I decide I really want a stroller instead, I’ll get one second hand after bub is born. When I imagine doing things like navigating supermarkets, I just think a wrap or sling makes so much more sense than a pram.

Clothes – Actually, I’m not going to buy any clothes. Mum bought some singlets and as I’m due in Feb at the hottest, muggiest time of the year, I really don’t think I’m going to need much more for a while. And there is also MIL wanting to buy stuff so I’ll leave clothes up to the nannas.

Bucket – As I’ll be using cloth nappies, I think that a bucket with a lid will be well used.

Do I need anything else? I’m going off the advice of parents who have done this before. Do I need a bath? I figure a wet flannel or the hand basin or a small plastic basin will do. Change table will be the floor or a towel on the bed, maybe a bit of vinyl tablecloth. Bottles, pumps and other paraphernalia? My instinct says no, particularly as we plan to breastfeed. But what if I can’t? Should I buy one bottle just in case?

What are some baby things that you think are essential?

Organising the House

De-cluttering – We’re making room for the new addition by getting rid of stuff that’s cluttering up the house. As I’ve mentioned, some things we’ve been able to sell, which has given us some extra income to buy baby stuff. Otherwise the rest is going to charity.

Cleaning – We’ve been in this house for 2 1/2 years and the curtains desperately need a wash. And the bedding. And the cupboards need cleaning out. I figure what better time than now.

Stocking the Freezer – I’ve begun doing some bulk cooking and stocking the freezer with pre-made meals. I figure that even if I’m exhausted, I can still pull out a container of something to reheat, and we will still be eating healthy, home cooked, tasty, inexpensive food. I’m freezing stews, stocks, savoury mince and curries in portion sizes for later.

Writing, writing – And I’m madly writing articles so that there will be plenty to read on Frugal and Thriving in the first few months.

What things would you do or get to get organised for a new family member?

Organic Baby. Caring For Baby The Chemical Free Way

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Showcasing: Nurture Nappies

Melissa — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 14:00:05 +0000

One of my favourite Australian online sites for buying reusable cloth nappies is Nurture Nappies. They have a large selection of those new-fangled nappies, as well as a whole array of other useful bits and pieces like liners and covers.

A couple of my favourite things about this site is that they offer an introductory package so that you can try out different brands and work out which ones that you like best, they give personalised advice as to what type of nappies might best suit you depending on babies age and your family’s personal circumstances and information about washing and care.

While their nappies aren’t the cheapest options around, they offer some top brands, product specials and packages, and their site offers plenty of info, advice and customer service.

By the way: I am not affiliated with this site nor do I get anything by writing about them. It’s all about passing on the great resources that I find to you.

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Low Cost Maternity Wear

Melissa — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 20:00:15 +0000

Photo by Hans & Carolyn

Finally getting out of the morning sickness phase and I’m finding that my clothes aren’t fitting already. I’ve been scouting around the internet for low cost maternity wear ideas, but I’m really not ready at all for maternity wear. A the moment I’m doing the old rubber band round the button trick, but that is only going to last so long.

If you have been down this road already – help! I would love to hear your ideas for low cost maternity wear. My budget at the moment is a shy above $0.

After doing some research, here are some low cost/ no cost options I found for maternity wear.

The Belly Band. This is like a ‘boob tube’ for your waist. It is supposed to help keep pants up when you can’t do up the buttons and zips (and hide the fact your duds are undone), and cover your belly and your plumber’s when your tops get too short. In other words it extends the life of your pre-preggers clothes (as long as you can still fit into them otherwise!) It also helps keep loose maternity wear from falling off.
Borrow maternity wear. If you’re lucky enough to know someone who has maternity wear lying around in the cupboard then borrowing it is a no cost alternative.
Buy second hand. This can be at charity stores or some specialty maternity wear stores that buy and sell second hand maternity clothes.
EBay. This is a popular suggestion. I’ve bought clothes off eBay before, but browsing through the maternity wear, I didn’t find it all that cheap. There seemed to be high demand for maternity wear and therefore more bids and higher costs (something to keep in mind for later!)
Buy Online. Depending on your budget and what you’re looking for, buying online can be cheaper. I found a nice pair of pants for $38AUD which I guess is reasonable (but beyond my current budget).
Raid hubby’s wardrobe. Particularly for the in between period where your clothes are too small and maternity wear is too big.
Buy bigger ‘normal’ clothes. Again for the in between period.

If you have any other ideas or you would like to share what you did for clothes during pregnancy, I would love you to share your thoughts in the comments section.

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