NEC Baby Show 2012

This weekend I shared my weekend with a bunch of wonderful people spreading the word of cloth nappies at the Baby Show in Birmingham. It has been a jam packed few days, making lots of sales and generally spreading the fluffy love. I got to meet some of my lovely Gurus again and some new ones too, especially good to see Asta and her baby twins and also Michelle over at Fluffy Mummy! 

Smartipants EU

 It was great to see all of the other nappy retailers doing so well this weekend too, with the familiar favourites, Bambino Mio, Close Parent, G-Nappies and the infamous Tots Bots!

 On Saturday, Hannah came to our house to park her car and drive the rest of the way with us. It was so lovely to see her again and I think she was pleased that she got to meet Mr Bee. He seemed to quite take to her! Thankyou so much Hannah for helping us, I know you will be reading!

Big thanks to the beautiful Susie for helping us too!

 And this was the most wonderful surprise. The thoughtful Michelle was kind enough to bring us a big box of gorgeous looking cupcakes!! I managed to scoff one on my lunch break but sharing the stand with a Vegan and a dairy-free lady, I was left with the whole box to myself! Of course I am not that greedy, they will be shared around!
One more day of my long working stint, its been a long week but totally worth it to spread the fluffy word.

G-Nappy Review

I have been aware of the 'G-Diaper' for quite some time now, as I believe that it is quite a popular system in the states. However, it has only recently landed in the UK. I did have the opportunity to see them at the UKAware show that I was at earlier in the year, however I didn't take the plunge then.

They were brought to my attention again recently, so I thought that I would get some of the basics so that I could try them for myself. I bought one G-Pant which comes with a waterproof G-Pouch, a pack of 6 G-Cloth inserts and 6 extra G-Pouches.

When my package arrived, I must admit, I was rather excited. I opened the package to a surprise. The G-Pant is just like a jersey cotton, just like normal pants. This is wholly unlike any other reusable nappies that I have come across. Inside the pant is a snapped in G-Pouch, which is the waterproof layer. Then you just lay the insert of your choice (cloth is my choice obviously!) and away you go. I actually really like the G-Cloth insert as it is a hemp/cotton mix, which means that it is a perfect absorbency and it has a fleece top so you don't need to worry about adding a fleecey liner as this will keep your baby dry.

What is rather unsual about the G-Nappy is the rear fastening. Where nappies usually fasten either around the waist or with side snaps, this fastens with velcro at the back. I did worry that it would be slighly fiddley to get it done up, but it is actually a godsend when you have a wriggly toddler. Mr Bee finds it quite fun when I ask him to wriggle one way then the other to fasten it. We also have great success getting the nappy on standing up, which is a bonus when your toddler is running away...! I do wonder whether it would be slighly more difficult to fasten on a smaller baby, but I don't think it would be a problem at all.

After a few trial runs with the G-Nappy at home, I decided to take it for a plunge on our trip to London. It was the main nappy that Nana used all weekend. She is a big fan, especially because the pant is just so soft and comfortable. All weekend we had no leaks using this system. The cloth inserts are very reliable and the G-Pouch is fantastic. I changed one nappy that was very saturated, and the pouch was retaining all of the moisture leaving the pant dry. I was impressed.

As Mr Bee had been poorly all weekend and on medicine, his nappies weren't his usual. I am happy to say that the G-Pouch held in even the most yucky of poos, which with other nappies may have not dealt with so well. All it meant was a quick change of the pouch and the pant was clean and dry.

Whilst I was at the Baby Show I visited the G-Nappy stand to pick up a packet of the disposable inserts. I was also enticed into another G-Pant, a Rugby shirt style one, with red and blue stripes. Lovely!

The disposable inserts are a lovely quality, very similar to the BumGenius ones, and decidedly better all round than the Smart Nappy inserts. What also is very handy about these inserts is that you can rip the outer casing and flush the middle, which is degradable in water. The inserts are also fully compostable.

We tested the G-Pant and the G-Pouch with other cloth inserts such as the Flip Stay Dry and Weehugger inserts and got on really well. The M/L pouch fits both inserts in just fine, which means that they will work well even if your stash is made up of other nappies already.

Overall I am really impressed with this nappy, I think it looks pretty trim and is really easy to use. It definately cuts down washing thanks to the G-Pouch, which is more effective than other two part nappies. My only misgiving for the G-Nappy is that it is a sized option, which inevitably means that it will work out more expensive in the long run. Mr Bee is currently in the Large option, although he is only at the bottom of the weight advisories and I know it will fit him better when he is a bit bigger, but this doesn't affect the usefulness of the nappy whatsoever.
The G-Nappies are available in such a wide range of beautiful colours and every now and then, some beautiful limited prints. I am so happy with my lovely little g-nappies, they are perfect for us.

The Baby Show

To draw a close to Real Nappy Week 2011, I spent my weekend converting lots of people to cloth nappies! Smartipants in particular!

Ready and waiting for the doors to open!

Fill Your Pants had a stand at the Baby Show, NEC as the brand Smartipants, this weekend. So of course, every morning I was there bright and early, raring to go!

Friday was quite manic as there were only two of us manning the stand, and we did get some rather busy moments, which meant neither of us managed to have a sit down for some lunch. We managed to get a decent amount of orders though, and thanks to the Competition Trail we took part in, managed to target people who would never even thought about cloth nappies.

On the Saturday, we were joined by Hannah and Sarah, two of our Nappy Gurus, who volunteered to help  us for the day. Saturday was so busy, we barely stopped to breathe! But at least having 4 of us on the stand meant that we all managed to get a sit down.

Sunday was surprisingly the quietest day, and we had Nappy Gurus Faatima and Asta, to help us out. We managed to send home quite a few 24 packs with people, so we did end up getting quite low by the end of trade! Which was brilliant!

We met some really lovely people at the show. We were opposite a lady who very bravely manned her own stand all by her self for two days. She had a really innovative product, a teething necklace worn by Mum for baby to chew. Definitely worth a look if you have a teething little one! Her website is http://www.gumigem.co.uk/ so check it out!

Very bravely, Helen from Cheeky Wipes attended with her very tiny newborn daughter! We managed to have a bit of a chat, and I picked up some new style Cheeky Wipes for my best bud Anna, who is due a month tomorrow! (YIKES!) You can read my blog about Cheeky Wipes here, I think I am head over heels in love with them to be honest, so again, something to check out!

On the Friday, Nana and Louie had a lovely day at the baby show, charming all the ladies so much that I had people coming to the stand especially to tell me how gorgeous he was! But I think he really did bag himself a girlfriend; one of the ladies from the Mamascarf stand! She came to see me on the Sunday asking where my gorgeous boy was. Bless her! The Mamascarf is a fantastic idea, you tie it around your neck and allows you to discreetly breastfeed. It is something I will definitely be recommending when I am doing my rounds as a Breastfeeding Peer Supporter once I qualify in June. I think I even saw Helen from Cheeky Wipes modeling the 'Retro Leaf' one on her stand ;)

Some last minute sales on the Sunday!

Although I was away from my darling boy for 5 days in a row, got barely any sleep, barely ate and talked my voice away (yes, I sound very much like a man now!) it was all worth it and I had a wonderful time. I can't wait to do it again at the Earls Court show in October. Maybe I will see you there?

I would just like to thank Hannah, Sarah, Faatima and Asta on behalf of Laura and myself again, for helping us out so much! It is duly appreciated!