Blogs

Barefoot Magazine With Spring weather starting, and all the activity that goes with longer, sunny days, now is the time to enjoy a relaxing read and a hot chocolate while you still can. And we can help by giving you a free magazine!

Well it’s that time again! We are proud to announce our sponsorship of the ninth semi-annual Cloth Nappy Hunt!

How does the CNH work? It’s simple! You register, for FREE, at http://www.clothnappyhunt.com/ from now until the end of September, 2010. Then you visit all the participating sponsor sites and hunt for the Diaper Decisions™ nappy, to earn entries to win some of the $8000 in prizes, including Three Grand Prizes worth approx $500 each!

For more details about this great event, please visit the Rules and FAQ pages at http://www.clothnappyhunt.com/ or read on for more tips to help you find those icons and improve your chances of winning a prize...

Barefoot Spring 2010  I've just received the new issue of Barefoot magazine, a fabulous Australian magazine with a focus on eco-friendly, gentle parenting. And I've had an article published! Changing nappies for climate change is a feature article on cloth nappy choices, written for parents who are new to the world of cloth nappies. Perfect timing, too - the Great Cloth Nappy Hunt starts on Wednesday 1 September.

The prize pool for the September 2010 Great Cloth Nappy Hunt is valued at over $8,500, and there's prize categories that give both hard-core treasure hunters and occasional browsers a chance at winning something. Don't forget to enter your Hunter Code in Order Comments to get a bonus Bunny Nugget toy free with any Cambodia Knits toys order (excluding finger puppets). I'll also have another free goodies offer advertised in the Great Cloth Nappy Hunt newsletter later in September, so make sure you register as a hunter by 1 September 2010 to hear about it!

It's Children's Book Week from 21 to 27 August 2010, and the winners of the Book of the Year 2010 have been announced by the Children's Book Council of Australia. There's the return of some popular authors, and lots of new discoveries too. I was also pleased to see that CSIRO published Polar Eyes by Tanya Patrick, honoured as a runner-up in the Eve Pownall award, for an outstanding book documenting factual information. And Alison Lester, author of one of our favourite children's travel books, was also honoured as a runner-up in the Younger Readers category for Running With The Horses.

Bling Sling

I do love a bit of bling in my slings. And I've been over at Baby Carriers Downunder, blogging about the many ways to get some glam into your babywearing stash. Come on over and tell me what you do to feel absolutely fabulous when you've got a baby tied onto you! Whether it's silk or sequins, embroidery or feature panels, brocade or beading... there's a million ways to wear a baby that don't involve boring navy blue cotton and nylon padded straps.

Run, run, as fast as you can, book your kids in to make gingerbread men! Kreative Kids at Rodney's Nursery are making gingerbread men on Thursday at 10am. Kreative Kids provide all the supplies and help the kids make gingerbread men (parents do need to be there too), and there's a yummy and healthy morning tea for the kids while they wait for their creations to bake. Only $7.50 per child - bargain! It won't matter if it rains, as Kreative Kids activities are held in a heated log cabin. And with a coffee and cake special for mum, plus discounts for Kreative Kids shoppers at MissChief Maker and Brindabella Baby on the day, it's a fun morning out for mums and kids.

Newborn baby breastfeeding - image by Veronica at True Image Portraits It's World Breastfeeding Week from 1 to 7 August 2010. Whether you have a breastfed baby or not, it's a great time to consider how important it is to support women in doing the best they can for their babies. For many women, this means they need better support in the basics to establish breastfeeding. You can find out more about the theme for World Breastfeeding Week - 10 steps to successful breastfeeding - and watch online videos at the World Breastfeeding Week website.

I've been doing some guest blogging over at Baby Carriers Downunder on how babywearing can make breastfeeding a more positive experience.

Ready for some fun? It's time for another clearance sale at Brindabella Baby! We need to clear shelf space to make way for incoming summer shoes and toys. That means big savings for you - up to 40% off winter shoes, and 20% off organic skincare! But it's for one night only - Monday 2 August 2010. Read on for details...

Got a toddler or pre-schooler who wants to eat nothing but macaroni cheese and biscuits? You're not the only one! Here's some tips to get them trying new foods:

• Get involved: toddlers can stir a pot (even if it doesn't really need stirring), add ingredients to the mix, mash spuds, shell peas, get ingredients from the pantry or fridge... If they've got a sense of ownership over their food, they might even try actually eating some!
• Camouflage: add pureed carrot or mashed pumpkin to tomato-based pasta sauces (especially easy to hide in lasagne), pureed cauliflower or mashed potato to bread mix, or just pour cheese sauce or tomato sauce on the offending vegies.
• Perfect partnerships: put a small amount of something new on the plate next to an old favourite, and do the same with your own plate. Without making a fuss about it, let your toddler see that you're eating the new food and the old favourite. Perhaps they'll do the same... and if it doesn't work this time, keep trying it without making a big deal about it.

One downside to getting toddlers to shell peas is the difficulty in buying garden peas at the shops - it seems nobody sells them anymore! Growing your own is the best way to get fresh vegies, and like cooking it can foster a sense of the child's ownership of the food. Join in the Kreative Kids herb potting activity at Rodney's Nursery this week (with morning tea provided too) and you'll be on your way to kids eating their summer salads.

Looking for a bargain this Saturday 24 July? Stop by the Brindabella Baby stall at the Baby & Kids Market at EPIC in Canberra from 9am til 12pm. Pam will be there with discounted Monk N Bear and MiniLaLa nappies, and a ton of gorgeous hand-knit fair trade Cambodia Knits toy monsters. Stop in on your way to/from the Farmer's Markets for a fun morning out - there's coffee available, and usually fun activities for children too.