Tuesday, 19 August 2014

CJs BUTTer is here!

I have been a long time lover of a product called CJ's Butter. With two babies who have sensitive skin, having had eczema my whole life and an avid cloth nappy user, CJ's BUTTer was the perfect fit for our family.

We are so lucky here at Baby Bare to have gotten the privilege of distributing CJ's BUTTer for Australia & New Zealand. I am working really hard to make this product a part of every parents must have items. This is because its a product I believe in. It's reasonably affordable compared to other nappy creams and body butters, PLUS it is multi use. One tub for skin care and nappy cream.

I also love that CJ's has a full range of natural, beautiful and unique products. A gorgeous smelling cleaner for the house (think of mopping with a product that smells like vanilla cake!), a body wash that can be used to wash the body, hair or as a foamy wash on your cloth wipes, lip balm, water based moisturising cream and laundry products for your woollens. CJ's BUTTer is a one stop shop for your family.

When it comes to choosing your favourite butter products there are plenty of options. The most economical is the large size tub, the small convenient sample size is still great value and portable. The stick is great for nappy changes and goes on hands free. The spritz is a lovely way to lightly apply to the whole body.

So how do you choose a scent? It's hard just reading about them isnt it. So here is my guide as I see the CJ's scents.

If you like sweet smelling go for the Vanilla Cake. A bit more sweet and intense is the Blueberry Crumble. Sweet but subtle is Pink Sugar. If you like sweet with a hint of cherry and nuts go Pixie Pie.

If you love citrus try the Sweet Orange. If you like that tropical smell try Monkey Farts. A bit fresher and less sweet and 'banana' like is the mango, sugar and mint.  A floral lover would have to go with Lavender and Teatree, and along the same lines is Narwhals and Unicorns - quite floral and herby with bergamot scents.

For the Blokes try the Green Irish Tweed which smells a lot like one of the colognes my husband wears. Its definitely masculine and strong.

If you like the typical baby lotion or more typical soapy smells try Lullaby Baby or Oatmeal, Milk & Honey.

The unscented is great for newborn babies who have really sensitive skin and this is the most natural and pure you can get. The PLUS formula is recommended for fungal rash as a natural alternative to some of the medicated creams.

But whatever you do, make sure you grab some CJ's BUTTer. You won't regret it.


Friday, 25 April 2014

Baby Bare Cloth Training Pants

Yesterday we released our cloth training pants! These gorgeous pants were an instant hit. You can check them out here.

I spent a lot of time evaluating what parents and kids want in training pants. I knew having gone through toilet training with our eldest, that kids want something that is attractive to them (so colourful and a cute image), but most importantly, it cannot look like a nappy.

Parents want a pair of pants that their  child is willing to wear. They also want reliability, the cute factor and something that is transitioning their child to underpants.

Our Baby Bare training pants look like undies. The outside is made from stretchy cotton, just like undies. The outside is laminated to help reduce leakage. The pants are lined with french bamboo terry. In the crotch is a layer of microfibre. These pants can absorb small - medium accidents. If you need more absorbency, you may want to try putting in a booster to make the pants hold more.

Our training pants also help your child identify when they have wet. Disposable nappies and many cloth nappies are designed so your child doesn't feel wet. Feeling the wet sensation allows young children to better understand why they need to use the toilet.

Our training pants are very stretchy. The large size should take your child through to school age (kindy to first class). As these fit more snuggly on bigger kids, children with special needs or those who are still prone to the odd accident can wear these and feel more confident in themselves. No need for a nappy when they need the confidence to believe in themselves and avoid cruelty from other kids.

6 years and still fitting. 





Saturday, 12 April 2014

Cloth Nappies in Winter & Wet Weather

It's been raining all week in Sydney. Not only is this causing issues for building our new house, it is proving difficult to get our nappies dry.

Today we have launched our April promotion giving parents a spare soaker set with each nappy bought. This will give you the opportunity to reuse your covers with dry inserts while the first set dry. Effectively you are getting double the nappy changes for the same cost.

Cloth nappies need to be dried thoroughly to work effectively. There are many options for drying them out, you just need to find one that works for you.

1. Lay them on a clothes horse and take any opportunities for drying time outside. A clothes horse allows you to move nappies quickly, avoiding flash rain.

2. Use a fan. A low cost option is putting their nappies under or in front of a fan. The circulation of air will help dry them out if its wet outside. This option is good in Spring/Autumn where its too warm for heaters, but may be not warm enough outside to dry thoroughly.

3. As it cools down, take advantage of heaters. Bring nappies in and place them in front of heating vents. Even in the living room where its warmer can help your nappies dry out. Baking a roast dinner? Pop your clothes horse in the warm kitchen for an hour - the point being take advantage of what you have in your home to dry your nappies.

4. Finish them off in the dryer. If you have one, use the dryer after a day of drying. Take advantage of the days sunlight, wind and heating, then get the final dryness in the dryer.

Monday, 24 March 2014

Best modern cloth nappy for your heavy wetter

Do you have a heavy wetting baby? Do you need a super absorbent modern cloth nappy solution?

Our nappies are designed to be very absorbent. They should get you 3+ hours through the day time before needing to be changed.

If you find your child is leaking out of the normal cloth nappy (without additional boosting to what is provided on purchase of a single nappy) you may need to consider your boosting options.

My first question however is always - Is the Nappy full? The nappy should feel heavy and the inserts be visibly wet. If this isn't the case you need to address reasons why the nappy is not absorbing all the wetness before leaking. We have not dealt with that in this post.

Boosting

First Recommendation:
We have two boosting options at Baby Bare. Our trifold booster, and our invisible booster. Both are heavy weight bamboo fleece and are quite similar in absorbency. My favourite option is the invisible booster. It is trim, and it allows you to custom more absorbency where you need it most. This booster is 50cm long, so it can be folded in a way to put more padding in the front to absorb more liquid.

Baby Bare invisible booster


If you know your child is heavy wetter, I also recommend PUL covers. PUL is less likely to wick on a soaked nappy. Minky works really well at this too, but PUL is just that bit more effective which is important if you have a big wetter on your hands. Our Silky Bare range is the perfect solution for super heavy wetters. With PUL outer, 2 full bamboo inserts included and a pocket for extra boosting, they offer plenty of absorbency.

Second Recommendation:
Try a Trifold booster. You could try this in addition to an invisible if your child is out wetting everything you try. To use both you would really need to be using our All in two cloth nappies, as this allows boosting in the pocket. Access to the lining of the nappy allows more boosting as there is more space to utilise.

You can use our Baby Bare boosters in any nappies. They are a great way to boost the absorbency of any nappy. The invisible booster fits really well in any nappy, even and all in one. The trifold gives great absorbency in pocket nappies - for a great result, team one of our bamboo boosters with microfibre inserts (which work best in combination with bamboo).





Cloth Nappy Help?

About 12 months ago I set about writing a full website dedicated to helping Aussie parents find the information they need about cloth nappies.

Whether it is the right nappy choice, washing instruction, dealing with smells, understanding how nappies work - we had it covered.

Modern Cloth Nappies Central is the Aussie site for everything cloth nappies. This site is broken up into two parts.

The Cloth Nappies Help deals with those totally new to cloth nappies and helps guide you through the decisions involved in choosing a nappy.

The second section deals with those already using nappies. It covers washing, troubleshooting and answers all those confusing questions.

Head over to our page, share it with your friends and get the information from a trustworthy source. I have spent hours testing the info on the site and researching from nappy brands worldwide. Afterall, it is the brands who have years of experience, professional testing and mountains of customer feedback to work from!


Introducing Silly Bare silicone teething jewellery!

Have you seen our new business, Silly Bare Jewellery?

We have designed a new range of jewellery, aimed at mothers and carers with young babies. Our jewellery is made from food grade silicone. It is designed to be worn by mum and chewed on by Baby.

As a mum, I have had too many pieces destroyed by little teeth marks. This left me with no jewellery options. When I found silicone jewellery, I was relived I could finally wear some funky pieces, while allowing our youngest baby to safely chew and play with them.

We have a full range of necklaces, pendants and bangles. We will have these on display at the Baby & Toddler Show in Melbourne along with our nappy range.

You can find out more about this new range, its benefits and all our jewellery here.

Wednesday, 19 March 2014

Choosing the right cloth nappy

Have you been looking for the right cloth nappy? Have you searched dozens of websites and still cannot work out what to do? Would you like a pack that is affordable, shows off different options, different fabrics and will be a valuable edition to your stash?

I recommend our Baby Bare Trial Pack.

This cloth nappy pack ticks so many boxes.

Cost
At only $36, you are paying only $18 a nappy, with a free booster. A total saving of $13.

Variety of Style
You can trial both an all in one style (AIO) and an all in two style (AI2). You can also get a feel for stuffing pockets by boosting our all in two style.

Variety of Materials
You get to trial materials. The AI2 is fully bamboo. The AIO combines microfibre and bamboo. You can also choose to get your AI2 as a Silky Bare and trial both minky and bamboo cover fabrics.

You also receive a trifold booster so you can customise the absorbency in the nappies.

Cute
You can pick from over 25 different colours and patterns. You choose what you'd you would like from our range. Minky, PUL, patterns or plain!

OSFM
Our nappies are one size fits most. So you can use the nappies from soon after birth until toilet training. Experiment with adjusting rise snaps to fit your child through their first few years.