Taking time off

Due to health issues this fledgling blog will be on hiatus till further notice. Thanks to all those who have left comments and have supported me :)

Did someone say free??

I thought I would just mention 2 competitions running at the moment where you can win free *swoons* mcn's!

At MyGreenNappy.org there is 'The 100 Green Promise Nappies Initiative' lasting from now till mid July. The competition is designed to create awareness of mcn's and then also give you the opportunity for freebies - woo! Simply find the answer to the questions found on each sponsors site and submit them, too easy. Just click here to register to play http://www.mygreennappy.org/my-green-promise-nappy/register-to-enter-the-green-promise-nappy-initiative/.

Also at My Green Nappy is the Win an Ice-Breaker nappy competition. Click on this link http://www.mygreennappy.org/my-green-promise-nappy/how-to-win-a-green-nappy-kit/and it will take you to their site which will explain how you can try to win some more free nappies.

Every time I see new competitions for mcn's I will post them here to share the fluffy love. Good luck.

Now how to find the perfect nappy.

I bet there is a number of you out there who are just aching to know the magical equation that will help you find the perfect mcn! And guess what? There isn't one! I would love to wave the nappy wand and make the perfect choice for you but unfortunately there isn't a nappy wand and I am sure if I did have one and started waving it around I would be committed.

But let's start with the basics, what do you (as the mcn applicator and washer) want in a mcn? Do you want it to be as simple as a disposable? Do mind stuffing boosters into the nappies? Do you want a slim, trim booty cover or just want something that works? Do you want the mcn to be water proof or would you prefer separate covers? ARGH! So many questions ....... but believe me doing your home work on what is available will save you time and money. For me, I spent ages looking at the the different mcn's before deciding what I liked and didn't like and then I set off to buy some.

But before I even had a chance to buy some I started talking to friends about cloth and *gasp* they offered me some to try. Best advice ever - talk to friends! You could easily spend thousands of dollars buying and trialling mcn's or just ask your Mummy friends and borrow them. I borrowed Babybehinds (BBH) and Itti Bitti's (IB) and instantly knew BBH's were for me. I was set on having natural fibres against my daughters alabaster bottom and BBH fitted nappies are great for this. They offer Bamboo or Hemp fitted nappies - I have an assortment of both as even though bamboo are more absorbent they can be a pain to dry in winter.

My next piece of advice is to try a 'Nappy Library'. These ingenious little libraries have started popping up online over the past year and it is a brilliant way too get your hands on many different types of mcn's. I hear some of you go 'ewww second hand nappies' but really when your kids are toilet trained you aren't exactly going to throw your mcn's away and as long as you wash them well I don't see the harm. Which leads onto another valuable resource - second hand nappies. Seriously in Face Book there are a number of these pages with nappies going at great prices so you are bound to snaffle up some bargains but please make sure you do some thorough correspondence with whom you are buying from. Most sellers are legit but it pays to suss everything out first. You can sell most second hand mcn's at a good price too so keep that in mind for later down the road.

My last piece of advice is never pay full price on big brand mcn's - NEVER! It is so easy to find discount codes on the net so you would be nuts to pay full price. Even if their isn't a discount code available at the time, unless you are desperate for more nappies just wait it out as there will be some available soon enough. I hope these little tid bits of info has helped you in some small way and please stay tuned for my next post which will be about night nappies. My Miss M (17 months) is a very big nocturnal wetter and I struggled through so many night nappies before I found a clear winner.

Until next time, stay fluffy :)

Say what??

The funniest thing about starting the mcn journey is working out the lingo. I can remember guessing what some of the abbreviations meant only to feel like a proper idiot when realising that MCN did not in fact mean 'my child's nappy'. What drives me crazy is when modern cloth nappy websites use the abbreviations and fancy pants words without explaining what the heck it all means. So here is a quick run down on all that confusing stuff.

MCN - Modern Cloth Nappy (well duh)
AIO - All in one, so basically a nappy that can be used just like a disposable - don't throw it away though! Easy on , easy off and water proof.
AI2 - All in 2, the sister of the AIO. The difference is the AI2 has a water proof shell that you attach 'boosters' too.
OSFA or OSFM - One size fits all or most. The latter description is far more appropriate when talking about mcn's because I have some OSFA nappies that do not fit all!!
SIO - Now this means Snap In One and is used with Itti Bitti nappies but it's still a AI2 really.
PUL - Polyurethane Laminate, this is the water proof stuff on the inside of the nappy.

Now all this is well and good but what about things like pocket nappies and boosters and what on earth is a tri fold??
Pocket Nappies are usually like an AIO so it has a waterproof shell with a thin layer of absorbent material in the gusset. The nappy has a pocket, usually at the back which you stuff boosters into. Simple right? But what's a booster?
Boosters are more absorbent material for your mcn's. It can either be for pockets nappies or AI2 where they snap into the inside of the nappy. You can also buy extra boosters for big wetters for most brands.

Oh here's a good one - fitted nappies. Now you would think that all mcn's would be fitted and you'd be pretty much right but 'fitted' is a term used for nappies made from multiple layers of an absorbent material and sewn together into a the shape of a baby's backside. I use these predominately as the ones I have are OSFM (yeah see how I slipped that in there?) and are made from natural fibres. They do need a separate PUL cover but really it's an individual preference.

And then there are Flats and Tri Folds. Flats are like the old style nappies - big, square pieces of absorbent material that you found into a paper crane :P Kidding. There are so many ways to fold these nappys (mainly made from cotton so are super quick drying but need a separate PUL cover and pins or snappi's to hold in place). Tri folds are very similar to flats but usually have stitching to highlight where to fold it so it becomes a tri fold. These also need a cover but no pins.

So have I bored you yet? I know this probably is old turf to many of you but some newbies need a bit of a mcn-ducation so that's just a little snippet. Over the next few posts I will be discussing the trials and tribulations of finding the perfect mcn for your little munchkins so stay tuned. Oh and for those who want to try some mcn's for free sign up to the My Green Nappy Initiative! It's a simple hunt where by you look for the answers to questions found on sponsors sites. Look here http://www.mygreennappy.org/my-green-promise-nappy/register-to-enter-the-green-promise-nappy-initiative/ to register and play. Good luck!

And so it begins .....

So what possesses a Mum to try Modern Cloth Nappies (mcn's)? Well for me it was primarily to try and save money - the cost of disposables made my eyes water! And then once I bought I a few I wanted more and then I found different ones and wanted those too! It's now gotten so far out of control I have a stash of well over 60 mcn's for one child! Crazy huh? And really my obsession with all things fluffy has prompted me to start a blog to share all the mcn related shenanigans I have gone through and am yet to get up to.

But don't think this blog will just be about all those fluffy bum covers, it will also include mcn accessories and any other random thoughts that happen to roam through my mind. Sit back, chillax and hopefully you will be entertained or educated by my ramblings :)