E-C-ing in the great outdoors

Of course this is easier when there isn't anyone around, somehow.

However, after five months of this, I've now become so accustomed to it that I don't hesitate anymore to quickly whip off Umi's nappy in public parks, friends' gardens, and any other green space, and let her relieve herself. Baby wee (and even, usually, baby poo) is so innocuous - I can't imagine anyone being offended. However I suppose there ought to be some kind of social protocol around it; asking if it's OK to E-C while there are people standing around. Any ideas?

Dug out from 'drafts'

I had these photos of things I got ready for Umi when she arrived in our family. But then she really arrived, and I never published the post :(










A kind lady in my craft group made this cat from fuzzy handmade felt. And I sewed the little doll. Afterwards, I realised it is a really good idea to put a little bell inside, if the doll is going to compete with noisy commercial toys for my baby's attention. I'm going to do that now.



Easy nappy covers made from soft fleece.







This one didn't stretch widthways- I made that silly mistake of cutting the fleece with the stretch going the wrong way. So we've put it on Wibble Wobble the doll.

The Cargo Bike - great way to get around

Our house is just a little bit too far from the village for Torsten to comfortably walk. However, it's too close really to justify using the car to take him shopping. And the stroller is now Umi's property.
Enter....











The Cargo Bike! With room for two kids and the shopping, plus a great rain cover - there is no longer any excuse for not getting exercise!
Andrew has been going on about this for a long time now - maybe a year?
Now that we finally have it, I really wish I let him buy it earlier. He is finally getting on top of that post-baby flab (it's not only female bodies that undergo a change during pregnancy), and Torsten loves it. He can even read mini-books on the hop (see photo).
I get a good amount of exercise too, trying to keep up on foot with the stroller...

Dry baby skin rash and blistered nipples

This is another post on the miracle properties of calendula balm.

Umi had a terrible dry, peeling rash on both cheeks, that developed at around one month.
I didn't put anything on it, until, as last resort, I dabbed on some calendula-infused olive oil. I had been keeping it to make bottom balm, according to my earlier post.

The rash looked better immediately, and had totally disappeared in two days. This was after weeks of having it.

I also never got around to posting about this at the time, but the same calendula balm for the nappy rash was magic for my blistered nipples during the early weeks of breastfeeding. I stumbled on this after trying pretty much everything else. What I did was, I put lanolin on the nipples before each feed. This made the nipples soft and the feeding easier. Then after finishing feeding on each side, I slathered on the calendula balm. Those persistent and excrutiating blisters soon cleared up! Calendula is an edible flower, so no need to wash it off before feeding again.

For the balm, just put freshly picked or alternatively dried calendula petals in olive/sunflower/almond oil and leave, covered tightly, for three weeks, shaking the jar daily. Make sure there is no water on the petals and no air pockets in the oil. Strain and voila! You have calendula-infused oil. Heat this with beeswax to melt the wax, and cool to solidify.

Practical Parenting

I forgot to mention this (so much other stuff on my mind...like pondering how my tiny newborn got suddenly so substantial), but I started a monthly column in Practical Parenting magazine.
The November issue has the first column - but I think the December issue is already on sale! I never even got to see the November one.
December's has ideas for a more sustainable gift list (and one that won't break the bank).
I must admit, I inspired myself! :)

deconstructing conventional wisdom

I was recently visiting my Dad who had been reading a book by his favourite biologist, Desmond Morris - Illustrated Babywatching. I read it while I was there for the weekend. It's absolutely fascinating, full of baby-related trivia such as why babies are called babies, why they cry, and how quickly they learn to recognise the smell of their own mother's breastmilk.

But one section I thought could be amended. The section on toilet training averred that, among other things, baby chimpanzees start to hold themselves away from their mothers when weeing only once they are about two years old. Until then they urinated on their mothers. This was the sole piece of biological evidence Morris gave for saying that human babies had no control of their elimination processes (or sphincters).

However, Umi is now nine weeks old, and I have held her over a pot to do wees and poos from her first day of life. At the beginning I would undo her nappy, which would often be dry, and straight away she would wee, stimulated by the cool air. But from about six weeks on, she had enough control to wait until I held her over the pot. At night she would keep her nappy dry between feeds. At other times, she'd make a special noise so that I would give her a 'potty opportunity'.

I think human babies are born having the awareness of when they eliminate. EC is about recognising small signs of this awareness and acting on them. It's not the same as toilet training.
Morris says you can't 'teach' an infant how to toilet. Of course - neither can you teach a baby to cook and use a knife and fork. However, you can help a baby to eliminate hygienically and comfortably, just as you can help a baby to access milk.

Seems a no-brainer, really.

Flannel Fings nappy

Do you like the sassy denim nappy Umi is modelling here on my mum's lap?














Tricia, who has a wonderful blog, sent this to Umi for her birth-day. Look, Tricia, it still JUST fits! The design of the all-in-one interior is really clever and fantastic for fast drying (though I didn't photograph that as Tricia tells me the current design is a bit different.)

But best of all I think is that this beautiful nappy is made entirely from reclaimed fabric - denim and flannel. Lovely and soft!

It arrived in a bag made of jeans (I'm going to sew a strap on and call it a shoulder bag) inside a compostable plastic wrapping (lucky, as it arrived in the rain), and included a pile of lovely soft face flannels made of reclaimed fabric, that reminded me of a simpler, prettier life. Tor loves these flannels - he sucks them in the bath. So much nicer than cheap terry towelling.

A box-full of 'new' toys, without spending a cent!

Do you know how to provide your small child with a whole lot of fresh toys without having to go out and buy them?

Just do as I did this morning and have a big toy-cleanout. Whether you are putting them away for the next child or taking them to another family or a charity (I was planning all three), pack up your child's most neglected toys and put them in a big box or bag. Or just get them out of their old dusty hiding-place and shine some daylight on them.

If your child is like my three year old (and I suspect they are), they will immediately grab the toys and start avidly playing with them. They will declare undying attachment to the said toys, and absolutely veto your taking them away :)

I had one particular pull-along wagon of unpainted blocks, of strange shapes which didn't really lend themselves to any particular building task, that I picked up at a charity stall. Torsten has never ONCE played with it. Today, 'rescuing' it from the throwaway heap, he found it fascinating!

Anyone else witnessed this phenomenon?

It kind of shows that it's not the toys, but the child's interaction with them (depending on his stage of development) that makes the play.

Elimination Communication

I didn't blog about this or write about it much in the book. The reason was simply that I didn't have any first-hand experience with it. But elimination communication (a fancy way of saying holding the baby over a container or toilet when you think or she signals that she's about to 'go') is my latest news in bringing baby up more sustainably.

I am proud and happy to announce to everyone who may not already know it, that EC is possible and easy and really fun - right from the birth of your baby!

Read about EC at Wikipedia or on Ingrid Bauer's site.

I guarantee it to be thought-provoking!

There's a limit to how much I can blog with one hand while delicately balancing a sleeping baby on the other, so I'll have to be expanding on this later!

Umi's birth

Our baby girl, Umi, was born Monday evening in the water at home. A lovely, undisturbed, instinctive birth.












I am all the more passionately persuaded of the wonder of home birth - I want Umi to have one herself!