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January 19, 2010

Make your own baby wipes

It's so easy! It's cheap and involves less chemicals, processing and packaging and is therefore gentler on baby's bum and on the earth. I'm hooked. Google it and you'll find plenty of variations on the theme, here's what works for me.

What you need:
1 roll of kitchen towel (recycled paper if they exist)
2 plastic containers with lids (big enough to fit half a roll of kitchen wipes, mine are 1.25 litres)
3 cups water
2 Tbs baby and earth friendly soap ( I use envirocare body and hair cleanser, which is cheap, locally made, available online and can be used as shampoo and soap for the whole family)
4 Tbsp oil (I use sesame, but for nappy rash I'd switch to coconut)
4 drops of lavender oil (for it's antibacterial qualities)
What to do:
  1. Cut the paper towel in half with a knifes (not a serated knife as this will leave jaggedy edges) and remove the cardboard roll inside.
  2. Boil and cool the water and then mix with soap and oils.
  3. Put half the kitchen towel in each container and cover with half the liquid each.
  4. Close the lids tightly and leave on container of wipes at your change station and the other in the fridge for later.
You can pull a few wipes off the roll and store them in a small snap lock bag to take them in your nappy bag with you.

My main concern at the moment is that I can't find recycled paper kitchen towels, but I'll keep looking. One alternative if your really keen to be green is the keep the solution in a spray bottle and spray it onto reusable cloth wipes.

January 05, 2010

Third trimester

I missed a post over the silly season. I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and New Year. I had a lovely time in Melbourne with my husbands family.

Week 30 and I've finally cracked the 60 kg mark. Neither my midwife nor my Ayurvedic doctor are worried about my low weight. I am healthy and strong and energetic and my rate of gain is steady. Low weight in pregnancy only seems to be a problem if you are malnutritioned or if you suddenly stop putting on weight.

I had a few sleepless nights due to intense calf cramps and hip ache. I woke D up crying out in pain. I spent the next day doing down dog at every spare opportunity and much as it hurt at the time it really, really helps me get through the night. Can't recommend it highly enough.

My milestone of this week is colostrum. I woke up D in the night (again poor thing!) cause I was so excited. My colostrum actually let down and squirted on the bed. Only a few drops, but it makes me feel like a woman, like a mother. I had let down for a few nights in a row and now it's calmed down again, so I think my body must have just been doing a test run.

I really am feeling great, I suspect that for thin women (Vata) early pregnancy is the hardest bit, where as bigger women (Kapha) struggle later on. But maybe I am speaking too soon!