Thursday 11 October 2018

eco nursery style

It’s official - my baby’s bed is better than mine...



My favourite part is his lovingly handmade quilt, created by his great Aunt in Indiana. It’s just gorgeous - thank you Sharon!

Coming in a close second is his luxurious cot sheet set. Yes that’s right, luxurious. We were gifted a set of Elkie & Ark Fairtrade and organic cotton sheets, they are seriously silky smooth, and I will be buying myself a grown up set soon. See the following photos to see them without the quilt (though not too close up as they are slightly wrinkled from the laundry - busy Mama, not gonna iron sheets for an Instagram post 😂).



Of course he has a little lovey in his bed, also made with organic Fairtrade cotton, Kippins bunny named River - he was a lifesaver when we moved him into his own room a couple months ago!

Hidden from view is a wool mattress protector and a 100% natural latex mattress - both purchased from Nature Baby.

And you can see the top of his Oeuf cot, which will transform into a toddler bed, that I found secondhand from Gumtree. So great to be able to find sustainable wood  products secondhand.



I created the artwork on the walls, and framed them in frames made of reclaimed timber from Mulbury.

Oh yeah- and the paint on the walls is Bio Natural Paints that I bought from Eco at Home last year - the walls used to be a bright yellow - yikes! It’s now a soothing grey. I was so happy to be able to create exactly the colour I wanted from a natural, VOC-free paint, thanks to the colour-mixing experts at Eco at Home.

I did the best I could to create a sustainable nursery, this is just a snapshot from one corner. I’ll show you another corner another day, this nap time is almost over and I'll be chasing my little explorer all over the place before I know it!

Have a fabulous day!

xxLisa


Thursday 23 August 2018

sustainable fashion baby


I love dressing my baby everyday (surprise, surprise). I'd change his outfit multiple times a day if he didn't scream bloody murder every time I pulled sleeves on or off him (it's been a looonnnng winter, folks). And I'm happy to say that I have found it super easy to dress him sustainably - much easier than I find dressing myself, even. 

Since I've decided not to show his crazy adorable face on public websites or social media outlets I haven't been posting photos of his looks as often as I'd like, but then I realised, I can just use the magic of cropping to chop that cute mug out of the photos (baby brain is real...).  So here are a few photos, but more importantly, my tips on dressing the crazy adorable little ones in your life.

Love pre-loved
This is by far the best and easiest way to dress a baby sustainably. Before my little guy was born I was gifted four huge bags of gender neutral baby clothes from a friend whose two little ones had outgrown them. Once he was here, a couple other friends gifted me their sons' clothing. These bundles, in particular the large number of basic singlets, onesies and tees, were by and far the best gift I could have received. THANK YOU dear friends, you know who you are.

I've also topped up his secondhand stash with some fabulous purchases from:
  • eBay - including a few "bundles" and specific searches for a winter coat and pants
  • My Kids Market NSW - I have been twice now and picked up quality pre-loved clothing for a bargain, but you can also find prams, furniture, car seats and lots of toys
  • Op Shops - though I admit I haven't found much in the local Op Shops, they seem to be filled with girls' clothes
  • Clothes Swaps - there are plenty of kids clothing swaps popping up, there have been two in my general neighbourhood over the past month alone!
Because babies grow so quickly, you are likely to find near-new (and often never worn!) clothing in these places, so keep your eye out for the great bargains to be had, and avoid buying new from the shops as much as possible.

Both of us in our secondhand fashion enjoying a winter day at the beach.

Score from the My Mids NSW markets!

Sweet Nature Baby cardi with secondhand tops and pants

Clothes from an eBay Baby Boy Bundle

Chats with his Kenana Down Under fair trade bear
in his secondhand clothes
(on a preloved playmat with a preloved ball)


Made with Love
If you're as lucky as I am, you will receive some items that were lovingly handcrafted. Many of my son's socks were made by his grandma, my mother-in-law, as well as some jumpers and overalls. A neighbour's mother also knit him a gorgeous cardigan, and used naturally dyed yarn and coconut shell buttons because she knew my passion for sustainable fashion. These are all treasured heirlooms and I'm so happy to be able to include these in his wardrobe.

Created with Love by his Lolly! (aka, grandma)

Preloved bib, top and pants with hand made booties
(they are little elephants - thanks Lolly!) and preloved toys on
his organic cotton playmat, found on Etsy

This sweet cardigan was made by our neighbour's mother
(and is paired with all secondhand clothes).

Sustainable labels & shops
Thank goodness for internet search engines, because this is how I've found some truly beautiful baby clothing made of organic cotton, wool and natural dyes. Some of my favourite labels so far include:
  • Aster & Oak - local Australian label creating funky baby clothes from organic cotton
  • Carlie Ballard - that's right, our favourite ikat designer has baby wear, including nappy covers, harem pants, and gorgeous dresses made of the same beautiful, handwoven fabrics
  • Sapling - the first piece of baby clothing I bought was from Sapling, just divine little pieces
  • Finn & Emma - this is a US-based label and I received a number of lovely gifts from friends and family from this heavenly label
  • Never Working Mondays - adorable (and cool!) swim nappies/swimsuits made from wetsuit/rash guard offcuts
  • Toshi Organic - Toshi are well known in my mother's group for their hats, but did you know they have an organic range? Hats, cardigans, mittens, booties, blankets and overalls, too, in luxurious organic cotton
  • Weave & Wing - created the cutest overalls out of soft cotton, made to last a long time and produced ethically in small batches
  • Ergopouch - a fabulous label that makes pyjamas, sleepsuits and sleeping bags with organic cotton
  • Target - a woman from my mother's group let me in on the secret of Target selling affordable organic cotton baby clothes - yes, Target!
  • Burts Bees Baby - another one from the US, my mother has bought some delightful pieces from Burts Bees, pioneers in low-tox living
  • Nature Baby - this online store has fantastic organic cotton clothing as well as a range of other eco-friendly and non-toxic goodies for mums and bubs (plus a gift registry!)
  • Eco Child - another delightful online shop with a fantastic collection of clothes, toys and more
  • Etsy - it's always great to support handmade pieces, and I found a fantastic beanie from Belle Birdy Design on Etsy, which allowed me to choose the yarn colour and bobble colour to get my little one a unique winter head piece (I love it so much that when we lost it on holiday I ordered another one to be made exactly as before!)
Aster & Oak onesie, and bright organic cotton bib from eBay



Carlie Ballard pants with Target shirt
Weave & Wing overalls

Ergopouch PJs

In his Belle Birdy Designs hat (the original, haha)

Ask the questions
I know it's not always possible to buy from a sustainable clothing label or find what you need secondhand - especially when you're adjusting to new parenthood! (And I suspect even when you've been a parent for a few years, I'm quickly learning that time disappears with this little creatures in your life). So if you need to buy something and can't find it secondhand or via a speciality eco-label, keep these questions in mind:
  • How will it wear? As in, is it made of good quality fabrics and stitched well? You don't need to be an expert to look at the seams, check for loose threads or feel for overly thin fabric. Although kids grow quickly, they are also messy little things and you want items that will wash and wear well.
  • Will Bubba wear this enough to make it worthwhile? I know those adorable rompers with dragon spikes or bunny ears are super cute, and who doesn't love a baby in a suit vest and bow tie? But ask yourself how often you will dress your little one in any outfit before buying new. 
  • Do the colours suit my little one? Yes, even babies have certain colours that look better on them based on their skin tone and hair and eye colour. Make sure the colours bring out the best in your little one, or put it back on the rack.
  • What is the material, and who made this garment? Check out the tags to see what fabrics are used - with children's clothing it is often cotton, but there are some poly-blends out there you may wish to avoid (to steer clear of those pesky microfibres). See what information you can find online about the working conditions of who made the clothing, and if you don't see any information, email or social media message the brand to ask them for the details. It's your right to know what you are buying.

Have fun!
The old adage is true, kids grow up fast, so enjoy this time when you still have some element of control in what they wear (before identity and peer pressure start to take over!), and who knows, you may even instil some ethical consumption habits into them from an early age.


Do you have any questions or brands you'd like me to follow up on? Leave a comment here or message me on any of my social media accounts and I'll get back to you. Or, do you have any suggestions for great sustainable kids labels or other secondhand shops to share?

xLisa

PS A follow up to the the cloth nappy conundrum: 
We have continued our subscription with Lavenderia for the time being, and are very happy with this decision. Overnight we use a disposable nappy (Tooshies) to avoid leaks and nappy rash.

We have also started slowly toilet training our baby using elimination communication. We have a teeny tiny eco baby loo and have had great success with his poos (yay!). The idea is to learn your baby's cues about when they need to go to the bathroom - poos are easier to tell than wees - and simply take them to the toilet and use sounds to encourage them to go. We are going on 7 days straight of all poos in the toilet, and about two wees per day in the toilet. There are some great resources at Nurturer's Care if you want to learn more or buy an eco baby loo (this is the one we have!). I have friends who had great sucess with this method and I hope to report back the same next year!

Saturday 2 June 2018

adventures in baby wholefoods

I simply cannot believe my little one is 5 months old - where has the time gone?! (Utters every parent around the globe...)

I've been very lucky that breastfeeding has gone so well and my little guy has packed on the pounds quite well, and quite quickly. But lately he's been showing signs that he may be ready for more variety in his diet, so today he had first taste of food. Exciting!

So I turned to this book, "Wholefood for Children," which a friend gave me a couple of months ago. I have a feeling this book will be a treasured resource for years to come.


It has a chapter on first foods and gives great insights into the importance of cooking as much of the baby's food as possible, the types of foods to start feeding to baby, why we should use the oven or steamer as opposed to the microwave, and includes many recipes to keep things interesting as well as healthy for the bub. The book also suggests some of the best nutrient-dense first foods are egg yolk, liver and lamb's brains (!). I love that throughout this chapter are ideas for how to make food for baby out of what you are cooking for yourself so you don't have to double up on cooking.

As the book (and the Early Childhood Centre) suggest, my son's first food was a root vegetable. I decided to start with sweet potato because, hello, sweet potatoes are amazing. But assuming he continues to enjoy his first veggies I'll work some egg yolk into the veggies soon.

Picking up sweet potato from the Manly Food Co-op.

The author also suggests enriching the foods with ghee or coconut oil in order for the baby to better assimilate the vitamins and minerals. I opted for just a tiny amount of coconut oil so as not to worry about dairy for now.


I roasted a sweet potato rubbed with coconut oil (both from the Manly Food Co-op) in the oven until a fork went easily through it. After it was cooled I scooped the flesh into a small saucepan (and ate the delicious skins myself - yum!) and pureed with a drop of coconut oil and a bit of cooled boiled water using a stick blender.


By all accounts I'd call it a success. He certainly made the initial, "What is this?!" face of confusion-slash-disgust, but soon enough was grabbing for the spoon to chew on and lick himself.

The experience was as delightfully messy as you could imagine!
Though you can't see it all that well, he is wearing a cardigan that was
hand-knit by our neighbour's mother - so kind and gorgeous and warm!
And his bib is a fabulous secondhand item from our dear friends. 

Only time will tell if I continue to make all his meals - I quickly learned how full my days are caring for this little munchkin - but I certainly think this book will give me the necessary guidance and recipes as I get started.

Does your little one have any favourite foods that I should try?

In my excitement I forgot to photograph this with the food in it - part of
the adorable Love Mae bamboo dining set that hubby bought when I was
pregnant. I cannot believe we are already using it.

xxLisa

Friday 13 April 2018

cloth nappy conundrum

Today's blog post is not so much a lesson on the ins and outs of cloth nappies, but a tale of my experience learning the ropes of a new eco-habit.

When I last wrote I had a big belly full of baby. I welcomed my beautiful son into the world on Boxing Day: as a colleague of mine so eloquently put it, life with a newborn is full and exhausting. Now that I have rounded the corner on my son's first three months of life I feel I can finally come up for air (from time to time, anyway).




Before I had my baby I assumed I'd use cloth nappies (that's diapers for my American readers!). Why in the world would I, a so-called sustainable living expert, even consider using disposables? A friend gave me her collection of cloth nappies so I didn't have to fork out the cash for new ones, and then my husband's colleagues gifted us a month of a cloth nappy service so we wouldn't have to deal with the laundry as we adjusted to life with a newborn. Too easy!

Then baby arrived.

The adjustment to being a parent was larger than I ever could have imagined. Besides my own physical recovery (which was longer and harder than I realised it would be), and the all encompassing exhaustion in the earliest weeks, there was so much to do, learn and understand. When he first came home my son's meals needed to be supplemented by formula and I had to connect myself to a breast pump after each feeding to get my supply up. This meant lots of time washing and sterilising bottles and pump equipment on top of the feeding time itself, which was nearly an hour when he was brand new. Then an endless stream of questions and decisions arose: why is he crying? How is best to bathe him? How to dress him in the stinking hot Sydney summer? How can I help his reflux? Is it too hot to go for a walk? Is he overstimulated? Is he under stimulated? How can I help him sleep?! Etc, etc, etc.

As it turns out I couldn't even fathom cloth nappies for the first couple weeks of his life. We have, however, used reusable cloth wipes his entire life - just small cotton or bamboo clothes and water, soak the used ones in a bucket of pre-soak, and wash a bundle once a week. They always come clean (somehow!) without bleach, and dry quickly on the line. Super easy.

Then we started using the gifted nappy service - Lavenderia. It's a cloth nappy system consisting of cloth inserts and a (mostly) waterproof outer cover. When my son was tiny, though, there were a number of leaks, even on the smallest sizing of the cover, and he got nappy rash quite quickly. After a few leaks that led to changing bassinet sheets at 2 in the morning and a persistent nappy rash, I told my hubby I needed a break until I at least felt more confident in other areas of being a mum. I was surprised that I gave up so quickly given my passion for the environment, but it seemed like one of the quickest changes to make my life as a new mum a bit easier (and I am one of the incredibly lucky ones who had a lot of support from my husband and relatives who visited from the US.).

So, fast forward to the 3 month stage, my beautiful boy has some seriously healthy (read: chubby) thighs so leaks should not be an issue, and so we started up with Lavenderia again. The kind owner of the business has been incredibly helpful at showing us how to adjust the snaps to get the right size for our son (key tip here, make the leg and waist holes even smaller than you may think). I was impressed with the personal attention and felt grateful for the support.

Look at those gorgeous chubby legs!

Now my main gripe with cloth nappies is aesthetic. They are very bulky in comparison to disposables (I have been using Tooshies by TOM as an environmentally-friendly version of disposables) and look enormous. I don't love the look of just having the cloth outer covers as his bottoms (hello, fashion lover here!) and they do not fit well under most of the 3-6 month clothes I have for my little guy.  I tried using just one cloth insert to make them less bulky, but it wasn't enough to absorb all the wee from my wee little boy and I had some leakage through the outer cover.

I have managed to squeeze them under this adorable Carlie Ballard nappy cover.

I am also dealing with nappy rash again. He hasn't had it using the disposables, but now is getting a little bit now that we're on the cloth. Lavenderia suggest changing the nappy every 2-3 hours to prevent it, but (blissfully) I have a great nighttime sleeper on my hands and he is wearing the nappy for long stretches at night.

And, finally, they are less convenient than disposables. There's no denying it. Even with this easiest introduction into cloth nappies with the use of a service, it takes just a little bit longer to change him than using disposables, and requires a little bit more organisation if you're going to be out and about (not to mention space), and time is severely limited with a new bub (and not something you want to squander at that 3am feed and nappy change).

So between the bulkiness, the occasional leak, the nappy rash and (slight) inconvenience, I'm questioning the use of cloth nappies. And I am not even doing the laundry! I have even found myself researching life cycle analysis of cloth versus disposable nappies (there are many conflicting reports, so I am going to keep researching, but common sense suggests reusable is always better than a single-use disposable item, right?).

Once again I am surprised at how quick I am to consider giving up cloth nappies. I don't want to beat myself up - adjusting to being a full time mum is major, and there are so many new aspects to my life that take up time and energy - and yet, what kind of environmentalist am I if I am willing to ditch the cloth nappies so easily? I feel incredibly conflicted, and yet still find myself drawn to the ease of disposables (even as I picture overflowing landfills and depleting natural resources).

I love to write blog posts that give my readers advice or expertise, but for this first post of my new role as a mum, I thought I'd just be honest about an environmental dilemma I am facing. It's an important reminder to me (and other environmentalists) about the significance of individuals' everyday realities when it comes to adopting pro-environmental behaviour. Of course it all sounds so straightforward - here, use this cloth nappy service, it's better for the environment (or recycle, avoid fast fashion, buy organic food, use renewable energy, etc). But in reality, there are multiple facets to everyone's lives that either support or preclude pro-environmental behaviour. And it turns out that even I am not immune.

I will stick with Lavenderia for now, except on days when I am out and about (they really are bulky and would take up a lot of room in the nappy bag!). And I may move over to DIY-laundry cloth nappies in the future. But I'm not loving the experience or finding it as easy as I thought I would, and I'm seriously not happy about them not fitting under most of his clothes (the majority of which are secondhand, but more on that in a later post). I have always tried to be honest with my readers about my adoption of sustainable lifestyle activities, so I thank you for indulging me in this rant.

Have you used cloth nappies? Do you have tips for me?

Take care until next time.
xxLisa

PS - my husband and I also had a lesson in toileting your baby, as in toilet-training from infancy, to avoid this whole conundrum altogether. Sounding like a pretty great idea to me right now....