Fife
Name: Olive Jones
Role: Real Nappy Agent
Contact: olivej@live.co.uk, 01383 735619 or 07511357407
Products I sell: All Screaming Green products
Areas covered: Dunfermline, Fife.
Services offered: A free no-obligation demo of how real nappies work
All about Olive....
Children: 2 Daughters - Olivia born August 2006 and Jessica born February 2010
Location: Dunfermline
Occupation: Screaming Green Real Nappy Agent
To keep ‘sane’: Just started Zumba and really enjoying it, Wii Dance (I dance like an elephant !!)
My top eco-family tip: Grow your own veg. So easy to do either in pots if you don’t have a garden or have a veg plot in your garden. I use my border to grow Raspberries, Blackberries, Apples, Peas and many other easy to grow fruit/veg. I am no greenfingers, I just plant and hope for the best!
Favourite simple activity to do with your baby: Dancing and giggles
Favourite activity to do with your baby: Swimming and massage
Best baby buy: Leapfrog Learn and Groove Activity Station - £10 off ebay and have used it for Olivia, my niece and now Jessica loves it
Worst baby buy: Oh there are many - you want everything with your first baby but worst ever would have to be Fisherprice opentop swing, takes up too much room and Olivia wasnt keen on it though to be fair I think she may have been a bit too old for it when I bought it. Another would be when Olivia was breastfed she refused to take a bottle – I bought nearly every bottle on the market to try her and she still was not interested – I spent about £24 on one bottle called Adiri Breast Shaped bottle – still didn’t convince her to take it!
Real Nappy Experience: I used disposables for Olivia because I thought 'Real Nappies' would be hard work - I just kept picturing the terry towelling nappies and pins -boil wash, stirring with a wooden spoon! When I went to baby massage with Jessica I seemed to be one of very few using disposables. Jess had really nappy rash from newborn which would not shift and I decided to try cloth nappies. After seeing all the different colours and makes at massage and finding out how easy it was to use them, I was very impressed. At first I thought it was a lot of money to hand out at once, but once I worked out how much I would be saving in the long run my mind was made up! I am using All in One Pocket nappies, shaped just the same as disposables and love them. They are birth to potty, I wash them every 3 days and on wet days hang them on a 18 peg hanging airer in my airing cupboard - only take a few hours to dry. Jessica’s nappy rash did disappear when I started using them – may have been the nappies that helped or just coincidence as I had just started weaning her too so a change in diet.
Potty Training Experience: Olivia was potty trained a few weeks after her 2nd birthday, though I cant take all the credit for it. She was at private nursery 3 days a week and she watched all the other kids using the toilet regularly. One of the carers suggested I take her in her pants and supply them with a large amount of extra's and within the 3 days that was it. Might be a bit different for Jess as I have been told that kids in cloth nappies are toilet trained earlier - watch this space!
Top tip for new parents: I agree with Heather - make friends with as many new parents as possible. Go to baby groups, massage, swimming, invite them to yours for coffee - It can sometimes be very lonely at home with a baby. Mums and Dads need to communicate regularly with each other too. Tell each other how you are feeling. There have been many of cross words in my house when both girls were young just because we were all tired.
Olive x