Better Caring

Bettercaring is here to support anyone who is seeking help answering questions related to care for either themselves or their loved ones. Their easy to navigate website has an abundance of information on your care options & care homes. With just a couple of clicks you can obtain fact sheets on important topics like care at home, residential care, care assessments, complaints & finance. If you have any questions about social care they have covered them in their frequently asked questions area.

Visit their News & Views tab to access daily care news or receive tips to living a happy & full life in their healthy living section. If you want to chat to other users to express your point of view & previous experiences or find out theirs click on the Have a Say section to enter their forum or feel free to email your views directly to them. Last but not least visit Memory Lane where you can share your memories with other readers or peruse theirs.

Bettercaring - dedicated to answering your questions about care!

Pray for our safe return...

lol! Rocky, Jet & I are leaving tomorrow to go "adventure camping". What does that entail? Well...you take everything you need, including water & food for 10 days & a boat drops you off on an island that is totally deserted out in the middle of the ocean. So its just you, the national park your standing on & a hell of a lot of water.

The good news is its the beginning of the stinger season to so we cant even take jet in the water, yay! & we only get 5 litres of water per person per day so I'm not sure how we will go giving him a bath either - not that we are taking a bucket because we are only allowed 40kg of luggage between all of us flying up there. At least we will be using cloth nappies so we wont be carting 10 days worth of stinky grows sposies around with us (you have to take all your rubbish with you).

For the past couple of weeks people have been telling us all the wonderful stories of things that can go wrong, the best one is a friend of a friend getting dropped out on an island by a boat, then the guy that dropped them out there had a heart attack through the week & didn't tell anyone he was meant to pick them back up & they were stranded there for an extra 2 weeks with no food or water - fantastic!

Rocky's friend lent us this little dovalacki called an EPROM or something, its some emergency response thing that you set off & it notifies all the military, police, air force (& anyone else in the area) that you need urgent assistance you know, just in case we get bitten by a brown snake, stung by a box jelly fish, attacked by a shark or all of the above.

I might just mention at this point that i have a phobia of sharks. I started watching Jaws when i was 3 (that doesn't have anything to do with it though...noooooo). I'm absolutely fascinated by them but i respect their awesome killing power way to much to go anywhere near their domain. Rocky is taking us to that island because of the awesome snorkeling you can do at the reefs, but cause jets with us only one of us can go out at a time & there is no way on earth I'm going out to be shark bait all by my self!

anyway, wish us luck (rocky always has to drag me kicking & screaming to these things but i normally have a fantastic time).

Hopefully ill be back in 10 days to tell you all about it.

Picky Pants in Action

Here's a couple of shocking action shots of the picky pants i knitted jet. The were taken on my phone camera cause we are going on hols in a couple of days & rocky has already packed the camera & i cant find it! Sorry, they are a little blurry where it counts.

This is jets funny crawling technique by the way:

I just thought this one was cute & you can see the picot edging in it too (kinda):That's it! Sorry the pics are so shocking!!!

Ta Da...

I finished my mystery project - lol! Its my very first attempt at a pair of Picky Pants & i think i did ok. The crotch is a bit funny. If anyone can enlighten me - the whole bit where it says cast on two stitches when you are doing the leg bit, does that mean do that thing where you stick the needle in between the first & second stitch on your other needle then wrap the yarn around, pull it through & stick it back on your needle then do it again between the new stitch & the first old one (hope you can comprehend some of that?), cause that's what i did & it looked a bit funny. But who is going to be looking between his legs anyway!

I did the picot edging on the leg hem to give it that ship recked angel look (really I'm just trying to justify a girly edging by giving it a more masculine identity). Its got quite allot of colours jammed in there, which I'm not really sure about but i guess it looks ok. You might need to click on the pics to get a better look cause its hard to see them well at this size, but here they are: Ill get some action pics (i know i still have to stick action pics up of my last project too - ill get round to that as well). They are quite big on jet at the moment, but he'll grow into them. They have the drawstring anyway though so he can still wear them at the moment. They are meant to be Capri length but they look more like pants.

All in all I'm pretty happy with them! think I'm going to attempt one of those cute toys you can knit next. I really like Joe the Worm so i might give him a go.

First Paid Post Purchase

I just received the very first thing ive bought with my paid posts money!!! Its a Wild Child Dreamy Night Nappy & it is absolutely divine!

Ive wanted one for ages but they are around $41 each which is quite allot (they are meant to be fantastic though) but since i earned the money through paid posts i figured what the heck. There was a stocking of them 2 nights ago & i was lucky enough to nab one. Jets actually wearing it right now (very naughty - hasn't been washed yet *slaps wrist*) cause all his other night nappies are wet (rained today & all my washing was still out), im not sure how it will go cause bamboo needs a couple of washes to reach its max absorbency level.

So for all you MCN addicts out there here it is:

cant wait to see how it goes!!!

Just Beautiful

Did you know that initiating breastfeeding within an hour of birth can prevent 22% of all deaths among babies below one month in developing countries?

Every newborn, when placed on the mother’s abdomen, soon after birth, has the ability to find its mother’s breast on its own and to decide when to take the first breastfeed. This is called the ‘Breast Crawl’.

The Breast Crawl organisation has made a fantastic video showing a newborn attach all by itself for the very first time - just beautiful!!! If you want to see the vid Click Here (i did have it embeded on here but it started automatically & i think thats a pain in the arse so now you have to click on the link).

Pink Dyson Vacuum Cleaner Giveaway

OK, don't gasp when i say this, but we don't currently own a vacuum cleaner, shocking i know! We only have tiles though & i figured we wouldn't need one so i bought a steam mop instead. But you know what, we do need one & id absolutely love a Dyson. Ive been eyeing them off for years. I really like the whole bag less concept.

Anyway, The Domestic Diva has a competition on at the moment to win a Pink Dyson Vacuum Cleaner!!! All you have to do is write a post on your blog like this one & link back to her site (of if you don't have a blog you can email 10 friends about it). So if your interested click on the button below:


Wish me luck!!!

New Project

I still haven't posted an action shot of my last knitting project (the ribbed soaker) - sorry bout that! ill get around to it one day. I think i made the leg holes a little big but apart from that its working really well.

Im about 60% through my next project already. I was just going to do something small but i just had to attempt this pattern because ive had it sitting here a while! Heres a sneak peak:

The yarn is called 4 seasons or something, i got it on sale at lincraft a little while ago, im not 100% sure about all the colours in there together but we will see how it looks when its all finished. So far its actually going pretty well, i haven't had to undo to many rows or made any major mistakes (yet). Hopefully ill have them finished in a couple of days - wish me luck!

Sleep Issues

Whoever made up the term "sleeping like a baby" obviously didn't have kids!!!

Jet is going through such a rough patch with sleep at the moment. He is sleeping in with us because as soon as you lean over to put him into his cot he starts screaming. It wasn't always this way, he even went through a stage where he would put himself off to sleep without so much as a squeak, but that was really only for a couple of weeks. Now i either have to hold him or lie down next to him to get him to go off & he screams bloody murder the whole time! & if i try & put him down or get off the bed he wakes up & we start all over again.

Maybe its just a phase, he has 3 teeth on the bottom & 3 on the top so I'm sure there are two teeth that are going to come through soon & he has a really snotty nose at the moment so maybe its just that but its driving me up the wall!

Oh well, there's no quick fix. I have the no cry sleep solution book which i read when jet was only a couple of weeks old so i should get that out & read it again. I'm off to start another sleepless night - at least it will be full of cuddles!

This pic is for Rocky:

not because he isnt funny but because im one of those people thats always laughing at their own jokes when no one else is. Im sure he would love to have this pic on a card he could flash at me multiple times a day ;)

Adding a Rolling List (or Marquee)

I thought i would share some tips & tricks that ive learned over time. Not sure how often ill get around to it but here is my first one.

How to put a rolling list on your blog:
I just stuck a list in my side bar thats called 100 things about me (granted there is only 40 of them in there at the moment but you have to start somewhere!). It looks like this:

• 1. I am a mum to a beautiful, energetic, happy baby that hates sleep.
• 2. I am the wife of a very wonderful man
• 3. My hubby is better than me at both cooking and cleaning (yep...he got a raw deal!)
• 4. I LOVE being a SAHM
• 5. My favorite colour is purple but i love green to at the moment
• 6. Im afraid of sharks
• 7. I dont remember the last time i went in the ocean
• 8. i love watching jaws - started watching it when i was 3
• 9. I spend way to much time on the computer
• 10. I love buying books
• 11. I havent read at least half of the books i own
• 12. I need more books
• 13. I tend to pick up at least 2 new hobbies a year
• 14. My newest hobbies are knitting and sewing
• 15. My favorite food is mangos
• 16. We have two mango trees in our back yard!
• 17. I eat to much chocolate
• 18. My chocolate to exercise ratio is way out of wack
• 19. I weigh 15 kilos more than i did before i got pregnant with jet
• 20. I am a pisces
• 21. My rising sign is aquarius and my moon is in sag
• 22. I love astrology (that was last years hobby!)
• 23. I am an only child
• 24. I havent had an alcoholic drink since just before i got pregers with jet
• 25. I dont smoke
• 26. I dont do drugs
• 27. I always feel like a bit of an outsider
• 28. I winge way to much
• 29. Some of the best adventures ive had my hubby had to drag me kicking and screaming too
• 30. I always try to do everything the natural way
• 31. I hate going to see the doctor
• 32. I hate going to the dentist too!
• 33. Im very indecisive
• 34. I cant spell
• 35. A couple of years ago i decided to learn the violin. I played for 1.5 years and havent touched it since jet was born
• 36. I spend to much money online
• 37. I am veyr concerned about saving water, but somehow i just cant stick to 4 mins in the shower, its my relax time
• 38. I put things off
• 39. Im a little bit lazy!
• 40. this list is hard to write - think ill finish it later

Im going to show you how to do a 10 things about me list. First off you'll have to click 'add a page element' on the page elements tab & choose HTML/Java Script. Then you need to paste this code into the box that comes up:

<div class="'widget-content'"><marquee direction="up" width="250" scrollamount="1" height="100"> <ul><span> <li>1. Enter Text Here</li> <li>2. Enter Text Here</li> <li>3. Enter Text Here</li> <li>4. Enter Text Here</li> <li>5. Enter Text Here</li> <li>6. Enter Text Here</li> <li>7. Enter Text Here</li> <li>8. Enter Text Here</li> <li>9. Enter Text Here</li> <li>10. Enter Text Here</li> </span> </ul></marquee></div>

Replace the 'Enter Text Here' parts with your own text. Give it the title '10 things about me (or whatever you like) and thats it! This is what the above code will look like before you put your own text in & add the header:

• 1. Enter Text Here
• 2. Enter Text Here
• 3. Enter Text Here
• 4. Enter Text Here
• 5. Enter Text Here
• 6. Enter Text Here
• 7. Enter Text Here
• 8. Enter Text Here
• 9. Enter Text Here
• 10. Enter Text Here

If anyone has any probs just let me know & ill attempt to try and figure out whats going wrong.

Gym Junkie In The Making - lol

I joined a gym yesterday! i wasn't planing on joining but rocky & i went down to one of the local gyms & got suckerd in by all the 'special deals' they had that were only valid for that day (what a coincidence!!!). Anyway, im really glad i joined up.

I have a confession(which is already on my blog somewhere), I currently weigh 15 kilos more than i did when i got pregnant with jet (insert blushing smiley here) which is totally shocking. i initially lost about 5-7 kilos then somehow (nothing to do with my chocolate to exercise ratio) managed to put it back on. I haven't been to worried about it because i am still breastfeeding & jets nutrition is more important but he is on solids now & its time i start thinking about my health.

Anyway, Rocky decided to do some gardening late yesterday afternoon so i handed him the sling & the baby & told him i was off to the gym! i got there just as a class was about to start - it was called body attack, not an appealing name for my very first class but i figured id give it a go.

I couldn't wipe the smile off my face while i was waiting for the class to start (it got wiped of pretty quickly once it started though, hard to pant & smile at the same time). its just so nice to do something just for me, something that pre-baby would have seemed like a chore now feels like a treat for me. The class was very punishing, i lasted until about 1/2 way through going full ball then just fudged the rest.

Im well aware that i look like a blob running around in unfashionable gym wear with a bright red face, very unappealing especially next to the highly toned & defined bodies of the gym junkies, but you know what, i dont care! im just happy to be doing something for me & i have plenty of denial to get me past the image issues for now ;)

What i really love about this gym is that they have a steam room. I didnt even know steam rooms existed, i love saunas (which they have also) so i was excited about being able to use that regularly, but i think ill be living in the steam room. i dont even feel sore after yesterdays thrashing. They have an aromatherapy relaxation room too - cool!

The down side is that ive been up since 2.30 am, i was buggered so i went to bed at 8.30 which is unheard of for me, normally i cant get to sleep till 12ish. But my body just isnt programmed for sleep anymore so 2.30 rolled around & i was wide awake. Guess i should be getting some housework done instead of playing on the computer!

Blog Action Day Is Here

Its Blog Action Day so to do my bit im going to share with you two things i do to try to help mother nature out.

1. Breastfeeding
You might think that its odd that ive listed breastfeeding as good for the environment, but it is! Breastmilk is naturally produced by the mother, it does not require any paper, plastic or tin packaging, it doesn't need to be fed in bottles with teats & lids that need to be sterilised. It doesn't require our forests to be cleared to provide cattle feed or trees to be felled to produce labels & advertising material or mountains to be mined to produce the tin cans & definitely doesn't require the burning of fossil fuels to support the complex cycle of producing, transporting & storing it. (taken from the article Breastmilk environment friendly too)

Breastmilk is the most ecological food available to humans!!!

2. Cloth Nappies
* Every disposable nappy ever dumped still exists today as they take centuries to break down.
* 1.375 Billion disposable nappies used annually in Australia and New Zealand.
* 3.75 Million disposable nappies dumped every single day in these 2 nations alone.
* 3 Million trees felled every year to make disposable nappies for Australia / New Zealand.
* 100 intestinal viruses leach from untreated human waste at rubbish dumps, contaminating ground water at land fill and creating risks to sanitation workers.
* 50% of total household waste will be disposable nappies, in a household with 1 baby using disposable nappies full time.
* 2 Tonnes of landfill created by each baby in disposable nappies full time.
* 3.5 Litres of water needed to make each disposable nappy.
* 1 Litre of water required to wash a cloth nappy (depending on machine, and how many nappies are washed in one load).
* 1 cup of crude oil used to make the plastic components of each disposable nappy.
(these figures were taken from the Australian nappy network website)

These are just some of the facts & figures on disposable nappies. Modern Cloth Nappies are easy to use, shaped just like a disposable so there are no nasty pins to struggle with or funky folds to get your head around. You simply toss them in a bucket when they are dirty (with no water in it - no need to soak) then chuck them in the washing machine once you have a full load of them. You only use 1/2 the regular strength of detergent & no fabric softener. You can even just stick them in with your regular washing - thats what i do, i just do a rinse first then stick all my clothes in too. Then stick them on the line to dry. Much better for the environment all round! Yes it does take water to wash them, but the production of disposables uses water as well.

Even if you just had a couple of cloth nappies that you used during the day at home it would benefit your hip pocket & the environment immensely! So i say give cloth a go!!!

Heres a couple of great websites:
153 Ways To Go Green
Be Climate Clever
Tree Hugger
Australian Nappy Network
Green Family Values (on breastfeeding & the environment)

Kanga I Am

I saw this quiz over at the organising junkie blog so i thought id give it a shot. Glad i didnt come back as eeyore!

Take the 100 Acre Personality Quiz!

so who are you?

New .com Address

Update your links - ive got a .com URL now!

My new URL is www.melinanutshell.com although the old one will still redirect here. If you want to link to me on your blog/site or you are currently linking to me this is the new code:

<br/><a href=" http://www.melinanutshell.com/"><img src="http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a170/DreaWd/TouchedPhotography/melbutton.jpg" /></a><br/><br/>

Ribbed Soaker Finished At Last

Ok, ive finally finished that ribbed soaker i was knitting. My last attempt was a total disaster so i frogged it back about 3/4, stuck about 4 short rows in (1 every 6 rows) & knitted an extra 3 inches. I made the leg holes bigger aswell & picked up more stitches. The result looks ok. I kindof used the 1932 soaker pattern but i modified it a bit.

The pic to the right is the soaker on jet before i put the legs on it or did the draw string. The pics below are of the finished soaker. ill get action shots tommorow.

Blog Action Day - Get Involved

What would happen if every blog published posts discussing the same issue, on the same day?

One issue. One day. Thousands of voices.

On October 15th, bloggers around the web will unite to put a single important issue on everyone’s mind - the environment. Every blogger will post about the environment in their own way and relating to their own topic. Our aim is to get everyone talking towards a better future. Blog Action Day is about MASS participation. That means everyone is needed!

Here are 3 ways to participate:
Post on your blog relating to the environment on Blog Action Day
Donate your day’s earnings to an environmental charity
Promote Blog Action Day around the web

First Ever Longies Finally Complete

I finally got around to finishing the longies pattern i started ages ago. I actually finished the knitting side of it when we were on our trip to byron a couple of months ago but i lost my yarn needle (lame excuse i know) & couldn't sew up all the little bits & pieces. So i finally got around to buying another yarn needle & here they are! I was going to do a little picture thingy on the legs (embellishment or something are they called?) but that would have probably taken me another couple of months & as it is i think they are only going to fit jet for about 5 minutes anyway.

Originally i was going to attempt the picky pants pattern from little turtle knits but somehow i got the longies one. I now have the picky pants one too though so i might give that one a go next. I think one of the legs is slightly shorter than the other but apart from that they look pretty good for a first attempt.

i just looked over at jet while I'm typing this & saw him pull the needle out of the latest project - oh joy! how do they get to be so quick!!! Anyway, here's some action shots: They still need to be lanolised but apart from that they are good to go. If anyone has any suggestions for little projects that are still interesting but don't take to long to do id love to hear them. I need a couple of quick projects to motivate me!

More on Breastfeeding

I found this site ages ago & bookmarked it then forgot all about it, i was doing one of my "got to sort out all the crap in my links folder because i cant find anything" clean ups & came across it again so thought id share:

A Natural Deodorant That Actually Works!

Don't believe it? well neither did i!!! While we were on our honeymoon in November 05 we went to a local market up in cairns somewhere. There was a stand there that sold crystal deodorant rocks. I had tried a crystal deodorant stick once before but it didn't work for me at all so i was very sceptical but they were pretty cheap so i thought id give one a go & I've never used anything else since. They don't stop you sweating but they do stop the sweat having any smell. The biggest problem i use to have with regular deodorant was that whatever brand i used seemed to leave this smell & residue embedded in my clothes - yuk! not to mention all the bad stuff in there like aluminium.

Anyway, I've just recently ordered another stick as the original one i got has pretty much been all used up. I found that it stopped being as effective a month or so ago but gave it a good scrub & it seemed to work ok again, not bad getting a year & a half out of it anyway! The one i just received works perfectly again though - i can work up a real sweat & no smell at all!!!!

I'm just putting this info up here because i looked for a natural deodorant that actually worked for years & all the ones i tried failed miserably. I always reorder them from the same place just because i know they work. they come as an actual rock with a string through it so you can hang it up. Apparently they work because they leave invisible residue of minerals on your skin which prevent the formation of bacteria (which causes the unpleasant smell). All you have to do is wet the rock & gently rub it on your underarms & that's it.

The place i get mine from are called Kato Crystals - PO Box 444, Herberton QLD 4487, Australia. Their contact phone number is 07 4096 2548 & email: saltrock55@hotmail.com

Photos & Saturday Stuff

Its been way to long since ive put any new pics up so here are just a couple. First off, i thought this was a funny pic of jet, not quite sure what he is doing with his face & he is wearing a shirt rocky made for him which says "i love boobies"
These are some pics of Rocky's dream property. The little shack on it is so cute, even has its own tank, its only about 4m x 2m though, very small:
Saturday was quite a day for me. I love ikea but i never get to go there because its so far away & rocky hates it, so since we were staying in Sydney & i had the day to myself i just had to go. I had jet in the ergo sling & i bought way to much stuff so on my way out i was carrying a huge heavy bag full of ikea goodies. i thought id stop for a smoothie because i didnt eat breakfast, Jet grabbed the straw out of my cup as i was walking away from boost juice though & while trying to ressle it back from him i stuck my finger through the foam cup & managed to spill smoothie all over both of us. Then i completely lost the car, i just couldn't find the entry i came in, i tried two & they looked totally different but i walked around looking for the car anyway, eventually i stuck the heavy ikea stuff in a trolley & stopped to calm my nerves, then realised that i came up the escalator - doh! I was so happy to get all the stuff in the car, i almost drove off with what was left of my smoothie on the roof though, just one of those times where everything totally overwhelms you!

Anyway, after that i went to the parenting Australia expo. I had a bit of a fight with the GPS on the way, she (my parents named her Evon) gets confused sometimes & tries to send you down one way streets etc. The expo was ok, nothing special & there weren't any cloth nappies there! All in all i had a great day, its always nice spending a day in the city - just one though, im always happy to get back home!

Property Hunting

Today we went & checked out two beautiful acreage's. One 25 acres that is zoned as conservation land, It was really just 25acres down hill full of aussie bush & i doubt you could get a building permit through on it, pitty because it was beautiful. The other was 40acres & you need a boat to get there, its right on the river front, a little more cleared land than the other one although it is still hilly. Plenty of water around & solar power probably wouldn't be a problem there, its facing north. Rocky is totally in love with the second property, its only about 300k out of our price range! better go & buy a lotto ticket!!!

I think we really need to be clear about what we want. If we are looking at an acreage we would need to build a house on it (definitely cant afford one with a house already there!). Or we could get just a block with a beat up house on it & renovate (both our dads are builders - lucky them!). lots to think about! ill upload pics of the second property in a couple of days, we are staying down in Sydney tonight at a friends house so i haven't hooked the camera up.

I'm off to the Parenting Australia expo tomorrow, hope there's some cloth nappies there!!!

We're Up!

Jet has just started pulling to stand as of yesterday, hes only done it a couple of times so far, he has to be in the right position to get up there, he still isn't crawling yet although he does do a commando type crawl & a bit of a but shuffle.

Heres a little vid of jet pulling up for the second time ever on his own. Its pretty crappy footage because it was filmed from my mobile & just as a warning turn the sound down because i get a bit excited when he stands up & it gets very loud very quickly.

Do you like my new look?

My blog has recently had a makeover thanks to Drea. Ive still been fiddling with the template here & there so if anyone has any comments or suggestions on how you think i could improve it please let me know. Im soooooo happy to have a functional nav bar that doesnt look totally out of place!

Im pretty new to all this HTML stuff but im getting there, if anyone wants help with a blogger template or anything let me know & ill see what i can do :)

If you want to show me some love you can copy the code from the box below onto the side bar of your blog. You will get this cute little button that links back to me.

<br/><a href=" http://www.rockmel.blogspot.com/"><img src="http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a170/DreaWd/TouchedPhotography/melbutton.jpg" /></a><br/><br/>

Thanks for visiting!

Mel :)

What a Crock!

Have you seen the recent article on breastfeeding & increased allergies? Articles like this really make my blood boil! You have to wonder who is funding them! Why is it that when positive research to support breastfeeding comes out it is squashed & doesn't arouse so much as a yawn from the media but when one study comes out with something negative to say its plastered everywhere.

There are so many fantastic benefits of breastfeeding! Its free, its easy, it gives your baby immunity they desperately need in their first 6 months & beyond, it helps protect from illness & infection, it helps establish good gut bacteria, it aids in the development of baby's eyesight, speech and intelligence, it helps mum & bub bond, its better for the environment & your babies poo doesn't stink while they are exclusively breastfeed - what more could you possibly ask for! I just wish that the media would stop giving new mums reasons to use formula & start supporting the best option for everyone except the formula companies! BREAST IS BEST!!!

Travelling With Cloth Nappies

We have been on 4 trips since Jet was born & we have used cloth for each & every one of them. I thought id share what we did since i know this can be a struggle for some.

Trip #1 - Camping a couple of hours north for 3 days.

On this trip i took mainly fitteds, flats & pockets. I took plenty of nappies so i would only have to use each one once. We rinsed the dirty nappies & hung them over a line attached to the back of the tent, it was quite a wet camping trip though so most of the fitteds stayed wet. We then stuck all the used nappies in our nappy bucket, took them home & washed them.

This was our first experience travelling with cloth & by far our worst, some of my fitted nappies went mouldy due to the warmth of the tent/car while still being wet.

Trip #2 - Staying with friends in Sydney for one night.

This one was easy, i just took my regular nappies & kept them all in a wet bag then came home & washed them at the end of the trip, luckily none went mouldy. None were rinsed.

Trip #3 - Travelled up to Byron & back (6hrs north) for 12 days.

We splashed out on this trip & stayed in self contained apartments that had a washing machine & dryer, so cloth wasn't hard on this trip at all.

Trip #4 - Rockys parents farm for 2 nights.

This was our best experience travelling with cloth ever & i think im always going to follow this routine. For the 4 hour car trip i used Bubblebubs because i know i can leave them on for up to 6 hours without a leak (i try not to leave them that long but its good to know that you wont have to change bubs clothes because of a blowout). Once we got to the farm basically we just used flats & covers, i did also take some bamboo baby beehinds (BBB's) & boosters for night nappies. Flats are fantastic to use while your travelling through the day because you can just rinse them out after they have been used & stick them on the line, they dry in no time. After they had been rinsed & dried we re-used them then just gave them a good wash in the machine when we got back. That only goes for the ones that just got wee'd in, the pooped on ones got soaked in a bucket for a while, then i gave them a bit of a hand wash & hung them out. When they dried i stuck them in the laundry bag for when we got home. The baby beehinds worked well at night, i took 3 just in case they didnt dry in time but the weather was really hot so i just used the same one both nights in the end.

We have an adventure camping trip coming up (dont ask me what that means, rocky planned it & im trying not to think to much about it!) & im planning on doing the same thing as the farm trip, just flats, covers, snappies, BBB's & boosters. They take up much less room than modern cloth, none of my fab nappies will go mouldy, they are easy to rinse & they dry quickly!

So anyway, thats my travel experience with cloth so far - im still committed to just having cloth on jets bum. Im not sure how i would go travelling through Europe for a month or anything but if that bridge comes ill figure out how to cross it then. If anyone else has any posts on travelling with cloth let me know & ill stick a link to it here, id love to hear how everyone else does it!

Kangaroodle Comp

I just entered a fab comp on DE Reviews to win a $50 voucher at Kangaroodle.