It all started when….

Actually, I don’t know when it all started. I can look back and identify a few points in my life that show me that this all shouldn’t be a great shock. I remember being a teenager, sitting in my dads car, with a headache. But I didn’t want to take anything for it. For some reason, I decided that I didn’t want to take any more pills. I have no objection to modern medicine (generally – I do know over-reliance on them can be dangerous though). I know that modern medicine kept me alive as a child. I think a part of me decided that growing up in & out of hospital, and needing daily meds to keep me alive meant that I had had my share of pills, thank you very much. I don’t need to add to my collection for a silly little headache. I have no idea how long that personal crusade lasted…. or even if I ever told anyone until now?

I do, however, know when this current path I’m on started. I worked my way back, and it all started with re-usable wet wipes. I was pregnant with baby no. 2, and decided that I was sick of buying wetwipes. I hated the way you needed half a packet for a really bad nappy. I hated how you got half a dozen out when you only needed one. They are slimy, and wet, and by the time you are potty training – expensive! So, I decided it was time to try something new. I invested in re-usable wetwipes. Now, I understand that £40 or whatever it was for a started kit was way more than £1 for a packet of wipes, but that’s why I said “investment”. Sometimes, you need to be willing to take a chance. To take the “risk” and try something. Did it pay off? Well, 4 years later, even though I have added to my collection, I am still using the same wipes. At a packet a week (and to be honest, I don’t remember how many I got through), I’ve not bought £200 of wet wipes. I’ve had another baby since then, so add on a bit more.

But it’s not just the money. It’s fewer chemicals on my babies skin and less nappy rash. Even though these days most wipes are marked as “suitable for newborns”, midwives still recommend just cotton and water for the first few weeks. I’ve just extended it to just cotton & water as often as I can get away with it. (Side bar – I always use cotton wipes at home. But with baby no. 3 I tend to use disposables when I’m out because life it too crazy to remember everything. I’m not perfect. Sorry about that..) . Then, we see in the news in the last few months, we learn that wet wipes have plastic, and they’re in the ocean, and they’re in the fatbergs, and they are bad for the planet. (I haven’t really looked into. I’m sorry if any of that was exaggerated…) But still. I’ve saved a ton of wipes from going to landfill (exaggerating again, sorry), and that makes me pretty happy with my “crazy” decision to use re-usable wipes.

When I decided to go for it, I bought a starter kit. Often the best way when trying something new. It came with perfect sized terry cotton wipes, a “fresh” box, a “mucky box”, some essential oils, and instructions. These two little bottles, (one for the fresh wipes & one for the mucky wipes) were the first essential oils to enter my home. And I did not know a thing about them…

Back to the wipes themselves. The theory is, you take an amount, and put them beautifully in the fresh box with some clean water and a drop or so of the corresponding oil. When it comes to changing your little angel, you open the box, take out a wipe (one at a time!!!!!), squeeze if it needs, and use. And 90% of the time, you just need one! Miracle! Then, you dump it in the mucky box, which has a net bag lining, cold water, and a drop or two of the corresponding oil. Every day or so, you take out the net & add to a load of laundry. Easy! Of course, we never do anything properly in this house. We have a designated cloth drawer, and when we need one we take it out, walk to a tap, wet & squeeze. Then, when we’re done, we have a bucket for wet laundry that the cloth goes into. This way works for us. Even the kids know where to get a cloth (they get used for so much more than baby bums), and where to put anything that gets wet. As I’m still figuring out what works, I still add a scoop of nappy sanitiser to the load if there are cloths in there, but I’m not even convinced it’s needed. [My proof reader, who does 80% of the laundry, just informed me he rarely adds a scoop. As we’ve never encountered a problem, I will take this as evidence that it isn’t needed. See, we keep learning more!]

I bought some colourful ones for weaning, so white for bums & colours for hands & faces, but that didn’t last long. Yes, that means that you never know where that cloth has been! I’m not telling you this to gross you out, but to share that they are cleaned in between. That after 4 years of constant use I’m happy to pull out a random cloth to wipe a mucky face because I know I can trust it. If you have ever been tempted to try reusables, don’t be put off by the squeamish bits. As they say, it all comes out in the wash.

Just a sweet story to end (sweet to me, because it makes me smile. Probably weird to you.). One day I was doing painting with my girls, and it was one of those fun happy days. They were getting colourful, and masterpieces were being created. One of those times you think you’re doing good at this parenting thing. Of course, paint brushes need cleaning, so I got some water, and a random cloth to wipe the pant brush. It happened to be yellow. Every time a colour change was needed (we were short on brushes), it would be dipped then wiped on the cloth. The cloth was multi coloured by the end! But I still remember it was yellow. Because every time I pull out that cloth, i can see a bit of the paint stains. They are growing fainter now , and i fear the day will come when I will no longer recognise it, but every time I wipe a face, or hand, or wipe up a spill (or a bum!), I remember that perfect moment. I holding my hand tangible evidence of it, and it makes me smile. (Obviously any memory of fighting over brushes, spills or other dramas were not preserved by that cloth 😉 )

Where to from there? I’ll tell you next week 😉