It is cloth diaper Review & Giveaway time again! Moms & Tots Store offered me a sample of its cloth diaper (listed price: RM75 / S$32 / US$23) to review and even hand-delivered it. I was keen to try it out on Vee because of the unique back-fastening designed for active babies and toddlers who would rather crawl or run away than lay still for a diaper change.
Background: I found out a bit more about Moms & Tots Store via email with one of the owners:
- Moms & Tots Store was started in September 2009 by 3 mothers with babies in cloth diapers. They found a product gap in the cloth diaper market and decided to design their own diaper.
- The outer PUL layer is 2 mil breathable.
- The cloth diapers are manufactured in China. Moms & Tots Store requested its manufacturer to make samples accordingly to its design. Three samples were tested before production began.
First impressions: A snap button is mis-aligned and some threads are a little too near the edge. Then I touched the two uber-soft bamboo-lined microfibre inserts which almost tempted me to rub them on my face!
Bamboo-lined insert: Soft, trim & absorbent
Prewash: I hand-washed the new Moms & Tots Cloth Diaper on its own once and then machine-washed it with the usual laundry twice. (Laundry tip: Wash new garments separately for hygiene purpose and in case of colour-run and lint problems.)
Putting it on: It took a bit of learning to fasten the Velcro tabs at the back instead of front. Subsequently, it became easy to put the diaper on Vee since he could roll to his side or onto his tummy during diaper changes. This is a welcomed change because he does not like lying still on his back, even when asleep. With the Velcro tabs at the back, Vee cannot undo his diapers. Yeah!
Fit: Vee is on the maximum rise, so we did not need to use the snap buttons. Anyway, I tried snapping the buttons on and off, and they seemed fine. I LOVE the high-cut design at the thighs (now I understand the benefit of the narrow waist tabs) because they accommodate Vee’s chunky thighs very well and leave absolutely no red marks. The diaper with the bamboo-lined insert provides a very trim fit and even Vee’s Daddy complimented his “tight bums”.
Functionality: The insert is very absorbent and one was enough to last Vee four hours in the morning. Even though the insert was soaked when I changed him, there was no leak. (We tested the sample several times over the week and there was not a single leak.) Personally, I would prefer the pocket opening to be at the back instead of front, so that I can check if the insert is saturated.
What we like about it:
- bamboo-lined microfibre insert is soft, trim & absorbent
- high-cut design accommodates chubby thighs, leaving no red marks
- diaper provides a trim-fit
- no leaks even when insert is soaked
- child cannot undo Velcro tabs at the back
- diaper washes well
What can be improved:
- sewing skills — one snap button mis-aligned and some sewing too near the edge (from the perspective of a sewing-perfectionist!)
- offer more colours and prints (to fulfil Mummy’s vanity)
- more sturdy Aplix tabs (so that they can last through multiple babies)
—
Get Your Own (with Discount!)
Visit Moms & Tots Store for the promotion on its cloth diapers for the whole of February 2010!
—
Win Your Own
TWO (2) lucky subscribers will win a Moms & Tots Cloth Diaper worth S$32 (or RM75) each! This is how to participate:
- Subscribe to Mummys Reviews in a reader or via email (existing subscribers counted)
- Become Moms & Tots Store’s fan on Facebook (Important!)
- Send an email to me with the following information:
- Your name
- Facebook nickname
- Choice of favourite Moms & Tots Cloth Diaper colour (Visit here)
- Blog / Website URL, if any
- To get EXTRA entries:
- 1 extra entry: First 3 participants (Hurry!)
- 1 extra entry: Become Mummys Reviews fan on Facebook (existing fans counted)
- 5 extra entries: Share this Giveaway on your blog / website and link it back to Mummy’s Reviews
Other Information
- This Giveaway is open to subscribers with a mailing address in Singapore or West Malaysia.
- It will run until 28 February 2010.
- The usual Giveaway Terms apply.
Send in your entries now and good luck!
PrettyMums.com is started by a pretty mum in Singapore for pretty mums, and is the generous sponsor for this review and giveaway.
In conjunction with a guest article to Today’s Motherhood on “Introducing Solid Foods to Babies” (to be published in February 2010 issue), I selected the Naforye Multi-Function Baby Bib (usual price S$13.20) to review (sponsored by PrettyMums.com). There are five yummy-licious designs and I zoomed in on ”Love Letter” since I love postage stamps and parcels.
After handwashing the bib once, I tried it on Vee during his meal. The bib provides wide coverage across his entire shoulders, and I love its softness. The terry top layer is relatively absorbent and the waterproof lining at the back keeps wetness away from his clothes.
The front pocket is cute and holds the teether that comes with the bib. The pocket and teether keep Vee’s little hands busy while I prepare to feed him. The cleverest part of the bib’s design is the strap with snaps closure, which can be used to hold a teether, pacifier or toy. As Vee loves to bite things, I always bring a teether for him on the go; the bib ensures that he cannot throw the teether away.
The attached teether is made from TPR (ThermoPlastic Rubber), which I read from here that it is BPA-free. Now I can rest my mind while Vee bites on the teether.
The bib is so lovely that I cannot bear to see Vee dirty it. Anyway, it has been easy to wash by hand. (The instructions on the packaging recommend handwashing using mild detergent. Naforye products are from Taiwan, and the instructions are written in Chinese.)
On the whole, this is a truly multi-functional bib that we like.
What we like about it:
- Wide coverge
- Soft and comfortable material
- Absorbent terry layer
- Strap with snaps closure to hold teether, pacifier or toy
- Cute designs
What can be improved:
- Would be perfect if it can be machine-washed
—
Get Your Own (with Discount!)
Visit PrettyMums.com for its wide range of Naforye and other baby products, including Moo Moo Kow™ One-Size Cloth Diapers (reviewed here). There are also lingeries, maternity wear, nursing accessories, nursing wear and post-natal wear.
Details:
- Special Treat: 10% discount
- Discount Code: MR2010
- Validity Period : 1 February to 31 March 2010
—
Win Your Own
FIVE (5) lucky subscribers will win a Naforye Multi-Function Baby Bib worth S$13.20 each! This is how to participate:
- Subscribe to Mummy’s Reviews in a reader or via email (existing subscribers counted)
- Send an email to me with the following information:
- Your name
- Facebook nickname, if any
- Choice of favourite Naforye Multi-Function Baby Bib design (Visit here)
- Blog / Website URL, if any
- To get EXTRA entries:
- 1 extra entry: First 3 participants (Hurry!)
- 1 extra entry: Become Mummy’s Reviews fan on Facebook (existing fans counted)
- 5 extra entries: Share this Giveaway on your blog / website and link it back to Mummy’s Reviews
Other Information
- This Giveaway is open to subscribers with a mailing address in Singapore or West Malaysia.
- It will run until 28 February 2010.
- The usual Giveaway Terms apply.
Send in your entries now and good luck!
Hope you have enjoyed reading the book review on The No-Cry Sleep Solution by Elizabeth Pantley. The author is generously sponsoring Mummy’s Reviews’ Giveaway #2!
You stand to win TWO books of your choice from the “No-Cry” series, a wonderful way to help you in your parenting journey.
How to Participate
- Subscribe to Mummy’s Reviews in a reader or via email (existing subscribers counted)
- Send an email to me with the following information:
- Your name
- Facebook nickname, if any
- Titles of TWO “No-Cry” books you’d love to have (Visit here)
- Blog URL, if any
- To get EXTRA entries:
- 1 extra entry: First 3 participants (Hurry!)
- 1 extra entry: Become Mummy’s Reviews fan on Facebook (existing fans counted)
- 5 extra entries: Blog about this Giveaway and link it back to Mummy’s Reviews
- Unlimited number of extra entries
Other Information
- This Giveaway is open to subscribers with a mailing address in the U.S. or Canada.
- It will run until 15 Feb 2010.
- Winner will be chosen randomly, his/her name or nickname posted on Mummy’s Reviews in February 2010. (Check your Reader or email to see if you are the winner.)
- Winner needs to send his/her shipping details to me via email.
- If winner does not respond in 7 days, another winner will be selected randomly.
- The usual Giveaway Terms apply.
Send in your entries now and good luck!
—
Note to Mummy’s Reviews’ readers who stay outside of the U.S. or Canada:
If you have a relative or friend staying in the U.S. or Canada who can help bring / send your prize over, feel free to participate in this Giveaway too. The No-Cry books provide very valuable knowledge for parents.
My guest article on “Introducing Solid Foods to Your Baby” to Today’s Motherhood has been published! View the write-up in the Feb/Mar 2010 issue, pages 16-17.
Read these reviews on some of our favourite feeding ‘tools’:
- Fisher-Price Healthy Care™ Deluxe Booster Seat
- Munchkin Stay-Put Bowls
- Combi Mug (Step 4 – Standard Mug)
- Wet bags
Also, join in Giveaway #3 to win a gorgeous bib for your baby.
What problems have you faced on introducing solid foods to your baby?
What tips would you like to share on overcoming these problems?
As MummysReviews.com is in the midst of changing host, please visit http://mummysreviews.wordpress.com/ in the meantime. MummysReviews.com is estimated to be ready in one week.
Thank you very much for your support and welcome back again.
Cheers,
MieVee
There is a l…o…n…g queue of reviews to write yet so little time.
Poor Vee has been down with a flu since last Friday. He had a high 39-degrees Celsius fever that went away after 2 doses of paracetamol. We waited 1.5 hours at the clinic before finally seeing the pediatrician. The boy has been clinging on to me like super-glue; his fussiness went up ten-folds due to his runny nose and husky voice. Thanks to my beloved Beco carrier, I managed to get chores done and use the toilet!
I am very inexperienced dealing with a flu-ish baby because this is the FIRST time that Vee is down with flu, at almost one year old. He had a runny nose at two weeks old (no fever, recovered without medication), and two short episodes of slight fever (probably due to teething). I believe breastfeeding has built his strong immunity, so I would be weaning him off breastmilk sometime around his second birthday.
Interestingly, he slept very well last night — nursed till drowsy, unlatched by himself to fall asleep on my shoulder and stayed asleep for a l…o…n…g time. I think he nursed only twice in the night and I had the best sleep in months. This morning, he woke up, saw my eyes closed (I was pretending to be asleep again) and went back to sleep BY HIMSELF!!! It is the first time this happened and I hope Vee would be able to repeat the feat every day.
Please bear with this busy Mummy for now and more Reviews and Giveaways would be on the way.
By the way, the Giveaway for “No-Cry” books is here.
Vee is only one month away from his first birthday and I am pretty excited about it. He has been a darling this month and such a joy to have around every day.
His mini achievements:
- He has picked up quite a number of new hand signs:
- initially I thought he was doing the ‘milk’ sign with both hands; then it appeared that he was signing for the song “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star”!- finally learnt how to clap his hands! He does this when we sing “If you’re happy and you know…” and when he is excited
- managed the “Gong Xi Gong Xi” (恭喜恭喜）sign, just in time for Lunar New Year next month. It was hilarious the way he had to clap his hands, in order to grasp his own hands, then bob his fists up and down for the sign.
- He woke up one morning while I pretended to be asleep. Then he crawled right up to my face and said “Ma-ma”, my eyes opened big with surprise STRAIGHTAWAY!
- When he fusses at night, I pretend to be asleep for a while more. On several occasions, he changed positions, sometimes crawling across me, then fell asleep on my tummy / thighs / chest / pillow ON HIS OWN! Without nursing! Gosh, I am soooooo… glad whenever this happens.
How did you or how do you plan to celebrate your kid’s FIRST birthday? Any special traditions in your family?
Many new parents are bothered by their newborn babies’ frequent night awakenings to nurse or crankiness at night. The lack of sleep adversely affects these parents, especially those who are working.
Recently, one parent asked in a forum whether it is appropriate to add baby cereal to his newborn’s milk feed to help him sleep longer at night. Another asked whether she should try the Cry-It-Out method on her baby.
It is time to share this long overdue review on The No-Cry Sleep Solution by Elizabeth Pantley, which I read shortly after The No-Cry Nap Solution.
Sleeping Problems We Faced at Night
- At four months old, Vee suddenly started waking up about every 1 to 2 hours at night. Previously, he woke up for night feeds at about 3.5 hours apart. We ruled out growth spurt as this lasted more than a week and suspected discomforts from teething and minor gastrointestinal reflux.
- Vee started waking up to cry within 30 to 45 minutes after falling asleep at night. Previously, he would sleep for a few hours until his next feed. When I carried him upright, he felt more comfortable.
- It took 1 hour or more to feed, burp and settle Vee back to sleep in his cot at night. He kept fussing and sometimes I had to try up to FIVE times to get him to sleep soundly in his cot. Before I could sleep for long, he was up for the next feed.
- There were times when Vee was asleep after a night feed but I could not get back to sleep because I was stretching out my hand into the cot to rest it on his chest. Sometimes, I was so sure he would awake anytime to fuss that I unintentionally kept myself awake.
I was utterly convinced that Vee was a high-needs baby and a super-light-sleeper who woke up at the end of EVERY sleep cycle. My night-time sleep was extremely disrupted, and I felt tired and miserable. Fortunately, being a Stay-At-Home-Mum, I could take naps with Vee. (The nap problems were solved more easily.)
How The Book Saved Our Sleep
The No-Cry Sleep Solution explains why caregivers should not allow baby to ‘cry it out’ and offers a suite of gentle solutions to help baby sleep through the night. Some of the areas that I found most useful in our circumstances:
- How to co-sleep in a safe manner. Safe co-sleeping allowed me to continue nursing Vee on demand, with both of us falling back to sleep easily. In short, WE FINALLY GAVE UP USING THE COT.
- Ways to create a bedtime routine and condusive sleeping environment. Many sleeping aids that we tried were ideas from the book.
- How to gently wean him off from bouncing or sucking to sleep. The high-needs baby still needs either kind of help to fall asleep, but there were a few occasions when I could go through the bedtime routine and pat him gently to sleep. He is progressing, albeit at a slow rate.
- Observing him during his brief awakenings at night and giving him opportunities to learn falling back to sleep by himself. If he seriously needs help, then I would carry or nurse him. Recently, on several occasions, he managed to shift his sleeping position and continued sleeping (erm… on my tummy / chest / pillow) while I pretended to sleep. Another major improvement!
Although I have implemented only some of Pantley’s ideas, Vee has been progressing. Even though he is not sleeping through the night yet (i.e. 5 hours straight), we are getting sufficient rest at night, he hardly cries at night, and he is sleeping for stretches of up to 4 hours. My new ‘problem’: there are times when I wake up in the middle of the night while he is sleeping soundly! I am absolutely pleased with the results.
What I like about the book:
- Clarifies common misconceptions about baby’s sleep and related problems
- Offers a suite of gentle solutions to help baby sleep through the night
- Solutions produce visible results; timing of success depends on caregivers’ consistency and baby’s adaptability
As this is the first book in the ‘No-Cry’ series, there are less ideas in some areas than the newer books. If you have an older child, you may consider reading The No-Cry Sleep Solution for Toddlers and Preschoolers.
Has your baby slept through the night? Or are you struggling through sleepless nights? Do share your experiences and tips on helping your baby sleep better.
Wet bags never seem to be enough because they serve a million purposes. I bought a small Planet Wise wet bag from Babe Hause (listed price: S$15) to store cloth pads.
Since my menses have yet to return, I ended up using the wet bag to store cutlery for Vee’s meal, when I want to travel light. Being small (8″ x 11″), it can store a small bowl, a couple of spoons and a spare cloth wipe.
Planet Wise wet bags come in such a wide variety of attractive prints that I took a long time to decide which one to get. (Yes, it was hard restricting myself to just ONE!)
The actual wet bag looks as great as its picture; the outer fabric is very smooth and I like that the inner laminate layer is black, which is a much more stylish than white laminate in the other wet bags I own.
The zip is also well-sewn, minimizing any leak from contents in the wet bag. (As a daughter of a seamstress, I am VERY particular about sewing quality.)
I am satisfied with my purchase and would consider going back to Planet Wise when I need (or more like want) another wet bag. Right, I do need one — for the cloth pads!
Pros:
- Attractive prints
- Well-sewn
- Inner laminate is black — I find it stylish
Cons: Cannot think of any!
Image sourced from www.moomookow.com
Thank you very much to all participants of Mummy’s Reviews’ First Giveaway which closed on 31 Dec 2009! Your support is very encouraging indeed.
Wanna know which Moo Moo Kow™ One-Size Cloth Diapers are the top favourites?
Snaps: 53% of participants
Favourite colours:
Candy Pink and Red (tied #1)
Butter
The winner a Moo Moo Kow™ One-Size Cloth Diaper of choice has been chosen using the True Random Number Generator at Random.org and he/she is…
…
…
…
…
…
Siti Zahiraini (Aini)
Congratulations to you, Aini!
To claim your Moo Moo Kow™ One-Size Snap Cloth Diaper in Sage, please notify me of your shipping address within 7 days of this post via email.
Thank you again for your support and let us look forward to the next Giveaway!
