This is my post for the Gallery at Sticky Fingers. Head over there and have a look!
My little boy turns eighteen months old next week.
He’s no longer a baby, he’s a toddler, a little boy, a kid. He has an independent streak a mile long. He’s big enough to choose his own clothes: he utterly refuses to entertain the concept of trousers. He barrels around everywhere at ninety miles an hour, stopping occasionally for a second or two to pick a daisy, examine the pattern on the bricks, pick up gravel from the drive. He talks in sentences. ”Mummy, go car now? Go car? VROOOM!”. He’s obsessed with cars, like his dad: he can name most of the marques we see when we’re out in the car. He loves to read.
I adore watching him run off to discover new things. I also love that he comes running back for a cuddle, or to take my hand and show me what he’s discovered. I love the closeness we have when I feed him, or when he’s snuggled next to my chest in the sling. I can’t bear to hear him cry: when he cries for me I run to him.
He knows that he’s secure, that he’s loved, and with that he can find his feet at his own pace and know that he can come running back to me.
The quote that sums it up for me, I think, is ”It is the nature of the child to be dependent, and it is the nature of dependence to be outgrown. Begrudging dependency because it is not independence is like begrudging winter because it is not yet spring. Dependency blossoms into independence in its own time.”
I just hope it won’t be too soon.
I am in love.
For months we’ve tried and failed to find an overnight nappy that doesn’t leak. Over the last few weeks, David has been soaking through his Bumgenius and itti bitti nappies during his morning nap, too. We tried terries: ha! Terry nappies and wriggly toddlers don’t work well AT ALL. The only time that one stayed on for more than five minutes was the time that Grandma fitted it.
…and then I found this.
It’s FUZZY!
It’s spotty!
And best of all? It’s the reason we don’t need overnight disposables any more.
It’s a two-part nappy made from an inner, absorbent bamboo bit and a wrap around the outside. For naptime and night use, you can add extra boosters. We use two- one attaches to the nappy and is folded into three for extra front absorbency, and a second booster goes on top. I haven’t tried as we haven’t needed to, but I reckon we could add another booster on top of that and still not bulk it out too much.
Bamboo fibre is wonderfully absorbent. So absorbent, in fact, that it lasted three and a half hours (two of which were a nap) without leaking, and without pre-washing. Now that they’ve been washed, they happily last twelve or thirteen hours overnight, and I have a feeling they’d last longer if David slept for longer.
After four washes, they’re still beautifully soft. I wash them on a normal wash cycle at 60 degrees, followed by an extra rinse. Because we’ve only got two and both need to be washed and dried in the space of about four hours, I’ve been really bad and tumble-dried them on low: this takes about an hour and a half to get them completely dry. When a couple more arrive in the post tomorrow and I’m not quite so pressed for time, they’ll dry overnight on the Aga.
Although you can use any wrap with the nappy, the Tots Bots wraps are particularly good. They’re soft and breathable, and they come in lots of pretty colours. The elastic around the leg-holes is soft and doesn’t dig in at all. You can use one wrap over and over again, or if you’re a little paranoid about germs (like me) you can change it every time.
This is honestly the best overnight nappy we’ve ever tried. David is comfortable in them, they don’t leak, and they’re pretty. I’m not sure I’d use them as an everyday nappy: it’s hard enough to find nice clothes that fit over slimmer cloth ones. However, they’re brilliant at what we use them for, and I can’t recommend them highly enough!
While I don’t currently have time to write (work and toddlers and cats interrupt computer time, I’ve found), I do have time to take pictures.
David is now old enough that people have mostly stopped buying him clothes, so he’s wearing things I love. We like bright colours and big spots and stripes and lots of colour contrasts, and we like little delicate details. We’re also moving into trying different types of cloth nappy, all of which are adorable! Here are a few of my favourites:
A Tots Bots Bamboozle with a spotty wrap:
Two Bitti D’lish nappies: an all-in-one and a limited edition Bitti Brite.
A striped long-sleeve vest from Green Baby, but he also has a hoodie in this pattern:
Spotty pyjamas! He hasn’t worn these yet as they’re 18-24 months and I’m saving them.
A beautiful striped vest from Green Baby’s Spring Summer 2010 collection:
And more Bumgenius V3 nappies:
I’m not sure what I’m going to do when he hits his teens and I have to stop buying cute things!