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By beansproutbubba, January 18, 2010 3:58 pm

Here’s a quick look at what i have coming into the store in January 2010:

2010 Bubba J Basics Pocket Nappy Colours

itti bitti d'lish all in ones

Baby Beehinds Nappies

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By beansproutmumma, December 17, 2009 12:22 am

Do people really use wool as a nappy cover?

How does it work?

Wouldn’t it be too hot for the baby?

What on earth is lanolising? Sounds hard…

Some of you know exactly what it entails and are nodding furiously. But I can guarantee most of you may not have even heard of lanolising, let alone use wool as a very effective nappy cover.

If I mention about using wool as a cover over an absorbant cloth nappy, people would look at me quizzically, and wonder what I’m going on about. It works extremely well as a nappy cover, due to the properties of the wool fibre itself, plus the added lanolin (‘wool fat’) in the wool.

Wool absorbs up to 30% its weight in moisture without feeling wet. Great for heavywetters at night, they won’t feel wet unless they outwee the nappy and completely saturate the cover.

Lanolin neutralises odours and protects the wool fibre from the wetness. It makes wool a very low maintenance nappying item: it only needs a wash and lanolising (replenishing lanolin) every 2-3 weeks or if whiffy. In between uses it just needs to be aired like all wool items should be stored.

The fibres are also hydrophobic (‘water-repelling’) due to the lanolin, a bit of an oxymoron hey… therefore whatever moisture it touches and absorbs would be transferred to the area of lesser moisture. In nappy terms, a wool cover would absorb moisture from an absorbant fitted nappy yet not feel wet, then transfer whatever moisture that is touching the inner surface of the cover to the drier outer part of the cover.

This property of wool, plus the inherent breathability of wool due to the structure of the fabric makes wool covers a cool option, even in summer. In fact, from experience, on a hot day the nappy under a wool cover dries out really quickly and keeps baby’s bottom dry.

Alright, so now we’re full bottle on wool nappy covers and how it works with nappies.

How do we care for them? Simple.

Hand wash with a little wool wash and warm water, gently squeezing the solution through the cover.
Let soak for 15-30min, then rinse in clean water until it runs clear.
Next step is to lanolise: melt a little lanolin in hot water, dilute this with cool water to make a warm lanolin soaking solution. Squeeze through and soak your cover in it for at least 30min, then remove excess water by rolling in a towel and dry flat in the shade.

A visual learner? Here’s a video I made a few months ago, washing and lanolising a handknit wool soaker.

On the shop front: Currently I still have some Bubba J wool nappy covers in medium and in small. The large size is sold out, and I intend to make them again after tweaking the pattern a bit following feedback from previous customers (especially around the legs). If you are after any wool covers and can’t find the size you are after in the shop, simply contact me and I will do my best to make you one or two or three.

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By beansproutmumma, December 15, 2009 10:17 am

I made another video the other day, with a bit of help from my three-year-old.

One of our best-selling products is the Bubba J Pocket nappy. They dry quickly as the absorbancy unfolds to a maximum of 2-3 layers, and are easy to use and care for.

Pocket nappies are a really easy concept to understand, but if you’re new to modern cloth nappies it may seem difficult to understand from words on a webpage. Which is why the video was produced to provide this information visually.

Here’s the video. It is a bit rough around the edges, and I am thinking of getting it redone when I get some spare time around Christmas time.

Check out the feedback on the Bean Sprout Bubba Facebook page. Thank you ladies for your valuable feedback, not just on the video but on product issues, requests for nappy prints and of course the positive encouragement that you give.

If you have anything to say about the video, please join in the Facebook discussion on the wall, or shoot me an email on the shop contact page.

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By beansproutbubba, September 22, 2009 12:59 pm

Yes, it’s been busy in the Bean Sprout Bubba house. I need to get some more pics up, but thought you’d like this news.

Size 2: The three-snap configuration allows the wings to be rotated upwards for increased leg room

Size 1 on the smallest setting with front flap folded down: to fit really young babies from 3kg onwards.

A shipment of hemp fleece and bamboo fleece has arrived, meaning I can start cutting and sewing up some of the sought after Bubba J fitteds. I loved how the size 1 fitted fit my daughter when she was a tiny baby, and I’m sure you may have heard some other recommendations from others as well. Now at almost 1 year old and 8kg, the same fitted nappy still fits her! I think this is what value for money is all about.

The fitteds come on two sizes, size 1 for the little bubbas (3-6kg), and size 2 for a bigger, older bubbas (6-12kg).

Both sizes contain at least 7 thirsty layers of either hemp or bamboo fleece, and close with snaps. Size 1 has a fold down flap to fit longer, and size 2 has a unique snapping configuration to allow you to rotate the snaps upwards to give more leg room.

Another package of printed PUL (polyurethrane laminate) fabric also landed on my doorstep. PUL is the high tech material I use in my pocket nappies to keep the wetness in, whilst allowing for breathability/evaporation of moisture to keep baby’s bottom cooler. The prints are cute and modern and are either cotton or polyester prints. I usually prefer polyester PUL fabric due to its resistance to wicking, but the cotton PUL fabrics were too funaky and modern to resist! There are pink circles, bright florals, muted pastel flowers & birds, frogs, flames and giraffes, when I put the pics up you’ll see what I mean.

Mamapatch Designer Pocket RS - Orange Ditte / Rimba Pocket

Mamapatch Pastel Raw Silk RS - Spring Colourway

Mamapatch Pastel Raw Silk RS - Cool Winter Colourway

I’m also happy to bring to you Mamapatch luxury ringslings, first time in Australia! I had the first 5 slings wing their way from Malaysia (2 have already been claimed). Out of the 5, two are plain cotton slings with a print fabric pocket on the tail, and the other 3 are single layer raw silk slings. They look and feel gorgeous!

These baby carriers are made at home by an artisan in Malaysia. The quality of the stitching is professional, with unique stitching embellishments I haven’t seen before in other ring slings.

The cotton slings feature a padded shoulder, while the silk slings feature a pleated shoulder. I haven’t listed them in the shop yet as I am finalising prices.

What else have I got to share?

Ah yes, the event (or non-event) of last week: my domain beansproutbubba .com . au was offline for about 36 hours on weekdays from 16 September to 18 September due to server downtime.It was incredibly frustrating, I hope I did not lose any emails during that time.

Also, my domain does not show up in google searches for Bean Sprout Bubba anymore (why so? I have no idea!). So if anyone can give me some tips on these two issues I will be eternally grateful.

Last saturday, we were invited to two birthday milestone parties (a 1st and a 50th) and a wedding! We only managed to travel to the wedding though. Sunday was another busy day, with serving duties at church in the morning for both my husband and I, plus a leadership lunch meeting in the afternoon, and finishing off with home group in the evening. We had a blast and finished the weekend on a high. Guess I’m getting the hang of having people over instead of hiding behind my introverted self.

Other than having a pretty full on week last week, I’ll be plowing through the cutting and sewing for Bubba J in earnest this week.

Oh and if you haven’t noticed, Bean Sprout Bubba now has a group on facebook. You should be able to see the Facebook widget on the right hand sidebar of this page. If you join up as a fan, you will get up to date news and announcements from Bean Sprout Bubba.

All sling pics are owned by Mamapatch and used on this blog and the Bean Sprout Bubba shop with permission.

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By beansproutmumma, September 15, 2009 9:49 pm

I made this slideshow in response to people wondering what Bubba J nappies are, how they look like and how they fit etc.

It’s not too long at 3 1/2 minutes, and it will show the current range of nappies as of early September 2009.
The video is hosted on Bean Sprout Bubba’s Facebook page, so do join up if you wish to get updated about the latest at BSB.

A few action shots of bubs in Bubba J pocket nappies, fitted nappies and cuddlefleece cover (over a fitted) are included.

Let me know what you think

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By beansproutmumma, September 14, 2009 8:43 am

Since the last market and subsequent pocket nappy stocking, the Bean Sprout girls and I have been busy taking long car trips. One day trip was to Perth for passport-y admin things on Tuesday, the other was to Busselton for church camp on Saturday.

The younger of the two usually does not travel very well, but she did quite alright.

Suffice to say we are quite tired out, hence Bubba J-wise not much has been done around here.

Next week though I intend to cut out some Bubba J Hemp size 1 fitted nappies.
I might make 1-2 special ones with quilters cotton outers if I can bear to cut into my fabric stash.

I really loved the fit of these nappies on BSBubba when she was in between small/medium sizes (when I got the nappy), when she was a few months old.
She needed the fold down front for about a week before not requiring the fold down.

Now, at 11 months and 8kg, the nappy still fits like a glove on larger snap settings, albeit a little more low cut.
The size 2 seems a little looser for her but gives ample coverage over her hips.

I have some funky printed fabrics coming in the next month or so, so stay tuned for more news.

I’ll also be testing my email newsletter system, if you see some strange test messages please don’t mind me!
Hopefully it’ll all be up and running by the end of the week.

EDITTED TO ADD: Looks like another busy night last night. Had a little baby health scare at 4.30am involving unknown pain, bouts of screaming, and high temps, so I had to rush my little one to the emergency dept. She’s fine now, but I’m dead tired.

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By beansproutmumma, September 8, 2009 8:42 am

Anatomy of a Bubba J pocket nappy

Last night’s pocket nappy stocking is finished.

Features (see photo above):

- Hip snaps instead of front snaps: 2 rows / 3 settings allows the adjustment of waistband and leg openings independent of each other.

- Sized S, M, L: gives a snug and trim fit for a growing baby, fits from approximately 3kg to 16kg.

- Size S pockets can fit up to 8 layers of absorbancy (bamboo) with no gaping around the legs to cause leaks.

- M & L sizes have a pocket that can fit up to 12-14 layers of absorbancy (bamboo trifolds and boosters), while still maintaining a trim fit around the crotch, and leave no gapes around the legs.

Bamboo inserts and boosters are going at low prices too ($6 & $3), until the designs are finalised.

I also have plenty of hemp fleece and microfibre terry to make more inserts in the coming month.
If you wish to use hemp or microfibre instead of bamboo, contact me and we can work something out.

Cheers

Rebecca

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By beansproutmumma, September 7, 2009 4:30 pm

Bean Sprout Toddla checking out the new prints

I will be stocking 14 print PUL pocket nappies today.

They are distributed rather evenly between small, medium and large sizes, with a number of gender neutral patterns as seen on my last blog post.

Bubba J pocket nappies hanging on the line

I will be listing the inserts separately, there is a choice of a trifold or a booster.

The bamboo insert is a double layer

bamboo fleece square that can be folded into third to make 6 layers of bamboo absorbancy, while the bamboo booster is a double layer bamboo fleece strip that is added on to increase absorbancy by another 2 layers of bamboo.

Bamboo fleece insert, to be trifolded and used to stuff Bubba J pocket nappies

Bamboo booster to give an extra 2 layers of bamboo absorbancy

An average baby would probably need 7-8 layers of bamboo fleece for day time and 8-12 layers for night time, depending on how long the baby will be changed.

Newborns could get away with less absorbancy with 4-6 layers of bamboo fleece, as they tend to poo more frequently and hence be changed frequently.

If heavy gauge bamboo is too bulky for your newborn, choose hemp for trimness, or microfibre for super trimness and softness. Please note that microfibre should not touch babies skin directly as it is so absorbent, it has been said to dry out babies skin.
I will be overlocking hemp and microfibre inserts and boosters in the coming days for those who prefer these to bamboo.

Anyhow, do check out the new stock which should land in the shop by tonight (girlies are out of whack today, BSToddla not having her usual nap, and BSBubba’s nap rhythm is a bit disrupted).

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By beansproutmumma, September 2, 2009 2:09 pm

Markets are on this Saturday at the Stirling Street Art Centre, Bunbury.
I will be there with cuddlefleece covers and pocket nappies.
I might also prepare a little inexpensive bit o’ fun for all ages, more craft-related than nappy related.

Alongside the usual Arts & Craft market there will be a Father’s Day Garage Sale/Bric-a-Brac/White Elephant Sale.

I’m looking forward to this weekend, simply because I think there will be many more people coming this time.

And on the shop front: the online shop is now live!
After 4 months of a huge learning curve on all things web- and e-commerce-related, I can finally breathe a sigh of relief as the framework for the shop is all done.
I’m grateful to my husband for being supportive of my endeavours and helping out with the girls and some housework while the shop was being set up.

There’s still a few more bits and pieces to be done so this blog will be rather quiet until I fully sort out the shop website.

Also check out the Great Down Under Nappy Hunt!
There was such a huge response from sponsors that I didn’t get my head in to be part of it this time.
Hopefully I will be all ready once the next one rolls along.

Ahhh too many ideas in my head sometimes Best get back to sewing…

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By beansproutmumma, August 26, 2009 11:26 am

Found in the Bubba J archives (emphasis is mine):

Dry Pailing

We recommend dry pailing for the easiest management of your cloth nappying system. This means that nappies are placed straight in the nappy bucket (after disposing of any solid matter in an appropriate manner) without the addition of any bleaches or sanitising agents. Use of these agents may affect the longevity of the elastic in your Bubba J products, and can be harmful to sensitive skins.

When your nappy bucket is full simply place the contents in your washing machine and wash as per your usual method. We choose to run a prewash rinse cycle followed by a normal wash cycle, and only use a half of the recommended detergent amount. We also add vinegar during the final rinse cycle which acts as a natural fabric softener, (BSB note: not too sure about that one!) and recommend line drying whenever possible as the sun will aid in naturally bleaching and sanitising your nappies. (Please note wool covers should not be hung in direct sunlight).

Would you try cloth nappies if you knew about dry-pailing?