Monday 28 April 2014

A Celebrity on the Case | Guest Post


Alicia Silverstone has caused a stir in the last week with her book the Kind Mama, in which among other things she advocates Elimination Communication (EC).

 
Many journalists are having a field day describing her as “batty”, dismissing the concept without a second thought. And why not? On the face of it, it sounds insane, but actually thinking about it, nappies haven’t been around forever. How was it dealt with 1,2 or 3 generations ago?

 
In a nurse’s handbook dated 1952 from the Great Ormond Street Hospital in London, the first chapter describes and teaches nurses that “babies know what is expected of them from a very young age and if held above a potty at regular intervals very few dirty napkins will result”.

 
So how and why has society changed so dramatically in 60 odd years? From toileting being dealt with naturally and as a matter of fact, to celebrities and normal people alike who dare talk about EC, being openly ridiculed?

Popular belief is that parents should wait for a set of readiness signals before which toilet training should not be attempted. This of course also works for many and I am not here to judge anyone.

 
But there is an alternative way to go about it which also deserves to be recognised and considered– without mockery.

 
Elimination Communication, better described as baby-led potty training – whereby using the techniques of old, achieving a nappy independent lifestyle is possible even in modern day life:

 

·         Listen and become in tune with your baby’s body language

·         Use cue words/ sounds and or sign language for action association

 

What needs to be remembered is that to practice EC does not mean going nappy free all the time. Nor does it mean an instantaneously potty trained child.

 
EC is about working together with your child and respecting their biological instincts and capabilities.

 
This week is the EC awareness week where we hope to put the EC alternative in front of parents and prospective parents for them to make their own decisions.

 

There is free information and useful and relevant prizes to be won by signing up to the WEBSITE

 
To help spread the word about EC please tweet or facebook #happynonappy

This post was submitted by Caroline Williams from Happy No Nappy

Real Nappy Week Mythbuster #1 - washable nappies are too expensive

You don't have to spend lots of money when you start using real nappies.  Whether you are starting with a new born or at 6 weeks, 6 months or later you can find reusable nappies to meet your budget.

Our advice: work out how much money you will/do spend on disposable nappies per week.  If it's £10 then if you spend £100 on reusable nappies you will be saving money within 12 weeks (to allow for cost of disposable liners, detergent and power for the washing machine).

Plus in some London boroughs you can get a voucher worth up to £54.15 or a real nappy starter pack.  To find out more visit www.realnappiesforlondon.org.uk

Pre-folds are cheap and can often be picked up FREE at NCT sales and on Freecycle.  They really should be the backbone of any nappy stash.  To find out why click here

Monday 14 April 2014

The Real Nappies for London Vision


We need to make a transition to low impact lives.  This doesn’t mean ‘eating lettuce in caves’.  Our vision of a low impact world is one with cleaner air, more fertile soil, fewer deaths and injuries from traffic accidents. 

We can develop technologies that work with nature rather than exploit and degrade the environment.
Would these products reach the market if they were invented today? 
  • Cars that only travel 18mpg? 
  • Diesel?
  • Detergents that damage bio-diversity? 
  • Single-use (misleadingly called disposable) nappies?

Would we send superabsorbent polymers (SAPS) in single-use nappies to landfill when we know they take 100s of years to break down?