Natural Nursery Blog

Washing the Wonderoos reusable nappies is super easy.

1. Remove the Wonderoos and put it to one side. Clean your baby and put a fresh nappy on.

2. If the reusable nappy is soiled, hold it (waterproof side up) over the toilet and stretch the fleece. Most of the solids will drop into the toilet. If need be, hold the nappy by one corner tightly and flush the toilet to remove the rest of the solids.

3. Shake the insert out of the reusable nappy and into your nappy bucket. Then drop in the nappy too. (If you wish, you can give them a quick rinse beforehand.)

4. On wash day, rinse the nappies in your machine to remove soiling and urine. Wash and rinse using a 40C cycle. Using half the recommended amount of non-biological detergent is sufficient.

5. Hang your Wonderoos reusable nappies outside or inside in a warm place. They will be dry in a few hours. You can tumble dry Wonderoos on a low heat setting. To ensure your nappies last as long as possible, avoid tumble drying on a regular basis. Avoid drying your nappies directly on the radiator.

6. Ready! Store your clean Wonderoos nappies ready-stuffed with a fresh insert so that they are ready to use.

That’s all! Washing your Wonderoos nappies in 6 easy steps.

A few more tips:

• Only use non-biological washing powder. Make sure it doesn’t contain chlorine bleach.

• Washing your reusable nappies at 40C is sufficient. If your baby has diarrhoea or nappy rash, wash them at 60C to ensure all bacteria are killed off.

• You can wash your Wonderoos set at any height setting to save time, no need to undo all the poppers.

• Don’t use fabric softener, it leaves residue on the fabric which will affect your nappy’s absorbency.

• Wash your reusable nappies at least once before using. Hemp boosters should be washed at least 3 times before using. It will take up to 8 washes and possibly one tumble dry for them to reach their maximum absorbency.

At Natural Nursery, we choose carefully the products we select for you and your baby.

We work closely with our suppliers to make sure that our natural baby products contain no nasty chemicals, no SLS and no paraben in particular.

Here is an email we received this morning from a customer about her order.

Thank you for sending my order so quickly. It arrived very well packaged, the items well wrapped so nothing was damaged in transport. I like that you reuse packaging (it came in good condition so I’ll be able to reuse it again!)

“Thank you very much for the Earth Friendly Baby natural baby products. They are absolutely lovely. I chose the minty lavender organic bubblebath and the natural baby shampoo. The scent is delicate, not too strong. Since the bubblebath doesn’t contain SLS, I thought it wouldn’t create much bubble foam in the bath but it did. The kids love it, there is enough bubble to hide under, or to make pretend Santa’s beards. The trick is to pour the bubblebath right under the stream of water. Then I topped up the bath with the shower head. It stirred the water and created lots of bubble. My kids love bubbles! The only thing you have to watch is that it’s easy to use too much, the bottle opening is quite big. Only a 3 or 4 tablespoons were enough for our big bathtub.

I liked that the natural baby shampoo doubles up as bodywash. It’s one less thing to worry about in the bath when you have to keep a constant eye on the children, help them and try to stay dry all at the same time! The children can learn to shampoo themselves and wash themselves, a very independent step towards autonomy.

At £2.99, it’s a very good price. I’m very impressed and will be ordering more in your natural baby products sale. Thanks a lot.”

As a new mother, washing your baby’s hair can feel a bit daunting. Some babies don’t like being naked. It involves holding them with one hand, and you might be worried about shampoo stinging their eyes.

Here are a few tips to make washing your baby’s hair easier.

• Choose baby natural shampoo. Baby natural shampoo should be paraben free and SLS free. It will soft on your baby’s skin and won’t sting her eyes should a little bit of lather get in.

• If you’re unsure, you can ask your midwife to show you how to wash your baby’s hair.

• Make sure you have everything handy (baby natural shampoo, flannels, towel, warm water, baby thermometer) and that the room is warm and cosy.

• It is just as easy to bathe a newborn in the sink or a baby bath. Cradle your baby into your arm, supporting her firmly. With the other hand, wet your baby’s hair with a soft flannel and gently rub a little bit of baby natural shampoo on the scalp. Be very gentle but there’s no need to avoid the soft spots. Use another clean flannel to rinse her hair. Rub her scalp gently to make sure there is no lather appearing.

• Once she’s dry, use a soft-bristled brush to brush your baby’s hair.

Remember, you don’t have to wash your child’s hair every day. Most health professionals agree that two to three times a week is sufficient.

Next week, we’ll look at tips for washing toddlers’ hair.

organic baby shampoo

Children can get nervous about bath time at times. It doesn’t have to be that way, bath time shouldn’t be a chore for mum or a tense moment for baby. It can be a relaxing moment for everyone, full of giggle and laughter.

Here are our top 10 tips to make bath time fun for babies and toddlers.

1. Bath time is an ideal moment for fathers to bond with their children. Why not leave it up to daddy?
2. Warm up the bathroom. Especially in winter, make sure the room feels nice and cosy.
3. Check the water temperature and stir it to even out the temperature. Ensure that you have everything you need within reach so you never have to leave your child. Babies can drown in very little water.
4. Bath toys! Choose bath toys that can easily be cleaned and preferably from natural material. Bath toys don’t have to be purposely bought. An empty bottle of organic baby shampoo, a plastic hammer or bowl can be lots of fun. When the bath is over, put the toys away in a plastic bucket or net to keep the bathroom tidy and easily to clean.
5. Start teaching your children to undress themselves. Autonomy is learnt one step at a time. As a game, you can also name each item as you remove it. For toddler, you can play how quickly can you get undressed?
6. It’s never too early to teach children to pop dirty clothes in the laundry basket (keep those handy), the old basketball hoop trick works every time!
7. Bubbles! Lots of bubbles! Not the SLS nasty kind of bubbles. Paraben free bubbles. Soft organic baby bubble bath.
8. Make it a game to wet your child’s hair. A gentle organic baby shampoo won’t sting his eyes. You can use an empty organic baby shampoo bottle to rinse his hair.
9. Dry baby quickly so he doesn’t get cold. For babies, we love a hooded towel as you can wrap them up quickly. For toddlers, bath robes and ponchos are ideal.
10. If your baby enjoys it, a gentle baby massage with olive oil or organic baby care cream is a lovely way to end a relaxing routine.

Remember, babies don’t need to have a bath every day. Many health professionals advise 2 to 4 times a week being enough and avoids drying their delicate skin.

natural baby shampoo

Your baby’s skin is extremely delicate so choosing the softest natural baby shampoo is essential to make bath time fun and enjoyable.

The natural baby shampoo should be gentle on the skin and on the eyes should it come into contact with them. It should not contain any soap which would dry the skin and be free from nasty chemicals including sodium lauryl sulfate or paraben.

Sodium Lauryl Sulfate (SLS) is the foaming agent in many body care products like shampoo, toothpaste and detergents. Many studies have now shown that Sodium Lauryl Sulfate has a degenerative effect on the cell membranes because it denatures protein. Even low level concentration may penetrate the skin. Concentrations as low as 0.5% could cause irritation.¹ This means that even tiny amounts could have a lasting effect on the child. Other studies have indicated that Sodium Lauryl Sulfate enters and maintains residual levels in the heart, the liver, the lungs and the brain from skin contact. Yet SLS is still found in body care products, including those for babies, because it’s cheap. Paraben is another chemical to avoid as studies have shown its risks include premature skin aging, an increase in oestrogens which affect the male and female reproductive organs and breast cancer.

At Natural Nursery, we’ve selected some gentle organic baby care products, free from SLS and Paraben, made from natural ingredients. They will be suitable for the sensitive skin of babies and even adults. Remember, you only need to use a tiny dot of natural baby shampoo.

Our children seem to be particularly fond of the Weleda natural baby shampoo, with organic calendula. Natural baby shampoo used to be expensive but Earth Friendly Baby range of organic baby care products offer fantastic value for money at £3.99

They are all specially made for baby’s sensitive skin but many parents will also enjoy using them for themselves.

¹JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN COLLEGE OF TOXICOLOGY Volume 2. Number 7, 1983

Ethical gifts for Christmas

It is easy to fill the children’s Advent calendars and the Christmas stockings full junk, plastic toys which will discarded tomorrow, with of chocolate and sweets. I love looking for special ideas, little toys that will challenge their creativity and their skills. Toys that will give them hours of play for several months.

First on my list are definitely the Hama Beads, especially now that they are on special! The Hama beads stimulate children creativity with the various designs and colourful patterns. Hama beads also helps them develop finger dexterity, preparing them for writing. Children place the little beads on the peg board, then an adult irons them out, securing them in a lovely pattern.

The Lifecycle Layer Puzzle is an other adorable toy that your child will enjoy for hours. Each educational puzzle is built up in layers showing the different stages in the development of the creature, from egg through to adult. It challenges the child’s manipulation and problem solving skills.

The box of magnetic letters can be given as a whole or place a couple of letters in each day of the Advent calendar. The colourful letters are easy for toddlers to manipulate and an introduction to reading through play. They are made from sustainable wood to strict fair labour standards.

Stocking fillers can be a chance to make bath time fun, naturally! Wrap your baby in a blanket of bubbles with this natural baby bubble bath from Burt’s Bees is a mild, with soft vanilla extract scent.

Wooden Toy Fruit

Our kids also loved the wooden toy fruit, we placed a couple of fruit for a week in each day of the Advent calendar. They seemed excited to try to guess what the next day would bring. The wooden toy fruit are chunky enough for toddlers to handle. It was sweet to see big sister and little brother play together with these wooden toy fruit.

organic products

A baby’s skin is so delicate, it is important to use only the most gentle, organic products. To give you a chance to discover these beautifully hand crafted organic products, we are pleased to offer you 10% off the Natalia range of natural skin care organic products for pregnancy, labour and new babies.

I like supporting UK business and the fact that Natalia organic products are handmade in Devon is a plus. Natalia only choose the highest quality organic and wild crafted ingredients to make their wonderful pregnancy, new baby and new parent products for mind, body and soul. They are guaranteed free from paraben, SLS, mineral oils and petrochemicals. No product has been tested on animals and they are suitable for vegetarians and vegans.

These beautiful boxes make wonderful, thoughtful gifts for parents-to-be, new mummies and daddies and new babies.

I particularly love the Blissful Baby Box as a new baby gift. Babies receive a lot of presents when they’re born but supporting a new mum in anyway I can is something important to me.

wooden toy: eco friendly jigsaws

First up in our pick of Favourite Ethical Gifts for Christmas is this lovely wooden toy collection of children jigsaws.

Your child will be attracted to the cheerful colours and the friendly animal shapes of the Lanka Kade jigsaws. I particularly like the fact that they’re not ‘just’ a rectangle flat board. The 3-D puzzles are more challenging than traditional jigsaws. You can either use the letters to guide the child or do it back to front with the letters hidden. You can use the letters as building blocks to prepare for reading. The chunky wooden toy pieces are easy for children of all ages to handle.

If  you are careful about what toys come into your house, you can’t go wrong with a Lanka Kade wooden toy. These eco friendly products are all handmade by seven family-based companies with whom Lanka Kade has long term working commitments. Toys are designed in the UK and allow each supplier to use their individual knowledge and skills. Lanka Kade’s aims to provide continual employment throughout the year for each company, their families and their employees. Many of the Lanka Kade wooden toys are made from rubberwood sourced from exhausted rubber plantations that are replanted every 10 – 15 years.

The Lanka Kade jigsaws are currently on special at Natural Nursery, like this gorgeous wooden toy train is only £4.16.