Friday 18 March 2016

What if Health Visitors modelled 'catching' in Baby Clinics?

We know that babies tend to pee and poo when the nappy is taken off, right?  It frequently happens when baby is weighed at the baby clinic.  Parent is embarrassed, mess has to be cleaned up?

Why not have a small pottry or even a yoghurt pot or ice-cream/margarine container and the health visitor could demonstrate how to catch a baby's pee and/or poo?



Want to know more about catching?  Most babies will let you 'catch' until around 6-9 months.  For most success offer the pot at specific times when your baby is likely to have a poo or pee waiting.  Your baby is an individual so watch and find out his/her pattern.  As a rule it's often after a feed and also on waking (the sensation of a poo or pee waiting may be what has woken your baby.)  If you catch a poo and/or pee the next nappy stays clean and dry for longer.  It saves you money too if you're using disposable nappies.

Some people say babies who have had pees and poos caught in the early months are more relaxed about using the potty/toilet when pottry training happens.  We need more research, but this is certainly what happens in parts of the world where nappies are not used.  What's important is to ensure parents know the difference between catching - a reflex, stimulated by fresh air from the nappy being off and being held vertically - and potty training, which is the child being given the opportunity to develop bladder and bowel control.

See Born Ready's 30 sec cartoon on You Tube about catching here.

Read more here.

Wednesday 16 March 2016

Why should #CCGs spend money on #nappies?

As you may have heard, on 10 March, The White House (yes, the office of the President of the USA) launched a project about nappies #diapergap.  In the USA, 1 in 3 children are not having their nappies changed frequently enough.  This is a public health issue.  Babies and toddlers are experiencing severe nappy rash, UTIs (single-use nappies are being dried out and used again) and constipation (parents restrict fruit and veg in the diet so there are fewer soiled nappies) because they can't afford an adequate number of disposable nappy changes.

I'm not aware of any data on this in the UK but anecdotally we have been aware of this for many years.  It's one of the reasons why health visitors have welcomed Real Nappies for London and been willing to distribute our leaflets.  What we do is promote the use of washable nappies.  These nappies have an upfront cost but once bought there is no financial incentive to change infrequently.  They just need to go in the wash.  We are aware of course that some households, those in most need, may not have a washing machine or adequate drying space.  Affordable nappy laundry services could meet this need.

But there's another benefit to cotton nappies; they can help children gain toiletting independence.  This is not automatic, but it tends to help.  Again this is a public health and education issue.  We don't have national data for children arriving at school in nappies but Public Health England has made children being able to take themselves to the toilet 1 of 10 indicators of school readiness.  More shocking was a report on Channel 4 news in December 2015 in which a Stoke primary school teacher said that 35% of chilren arriving for school in September were still in nappies.

The promotion of washable nappies in the UK started 20 years ago with the first Real Nappy Week.  At that time disposable nappies enjoyed 95% of the market.  Over the last two decades there has been an incremental growth in the use of cloth nappies.  Most users are motivated by reducing waste.  Local authority recycling and waste prevention departments have funded schemes to make expectant parents aware that there are alternatives to disposable nappies.  In some parts of the UK this work is done by volunteers who have set up 'nappy libraries' so people can try before they buy.  The main thing for public health is that we talk about the need for a positive attitude to changing baby and potty training, the need for frequent changes and a healthy diet.

Nappy changing culture is a public health issues.  What's important is that something is happening in your area.  It doesn't have to cost much.  It's all about spreading word of mouth about the need for frequent nappy changing, where to get affordable cloth nappies (yes, some are very expensive) and good potty training information ie not "wait until your child is three and a half your child will potty train her/himself."

We are working with June Rogers, founder of the charity PromoCon to give parents the best information on how and when to potty train, based on the latest research and data.   This advice for parents has been edited by June.   Creative Homes, a social enterprise based in Lewisham, supported by the Design Council, is doing innovative public health work with families including potty training.

If you are a member of a CCG and want to talk about what needs to happen in your area to decrease the negative impacts of infrequent nappy changes and children arriving for school in nappies in your area please get in touch with Real Nappies for London.  We have a lot of experience of different things working in specific circumstances at a very low cost.
My email address: hilary@lcrn.org.uk


Monday 14 March 2016

Real Nappy Week 2016 - Writing Competition

Today we launch our RNW2016 writing competition. 

Please email us your story about why you use real nappies, or how you came to use them or anything about reducing disposable nappy waste.  We know that expectant and new parents love to read about your experiences.  If you can provide some photos to illustrate your story all the better.  It doesn't have to be long. You may just want to put a very simple point across. 

We will publish your story on our blog as a guest post.  The one which has had the most views at 12 noon on 9 May (2 weeks after the end of RNW) will be the winner.  The winner/s will get a 1.3kg bag of eco-friendly Rockin Green laundry detergent donated by Nappy Ever After

As you can see from the Real Nappies for London blog, our guest posts are the most popular.  Please send them in as soon as you can.   We will be promoting on Twitter and Facebook and encourage you to share within your networks to get the most views - especially Mumsnet, Baby Centre etc.

Please send your entries to realnappiesforlondon@lcrn.org.uk

We look forward to receiving your stories!

Terms & conditions:  Please ensure this is an original piece of writing by yourself written for the purpose of this competition and has not been published anywhere before.  Copyright of any photos must be with you.  Max length is 300 words.