Stroller

We've got oil-fired central heating here, which I'd really like to swap out for a heat pump at some point. We'd probably need a lottery win to afford it though. And yes, I know it'd do some air conditioning as well. For us it's a race between rising sea levels and baking heat - which is going to get us first? I'm hoping old age will trump the both of them...

We've been OK in the heatwaves here really. There's a stream at the bottom of the garden, so the back lawn's stayed green. The house is old, brick-built and provides plenty of insulation. If it gets too hot outside it's still OK inside. We close the bedroom curtains in the middle of the afternoon if it's hot so the sun doesn't heat the room up too much. I wouldn't go near aircon - electricity costs are high enough as it is. And I've grown globe artichokes from seed this year. Doesn't mean I'm in favour of global warming though - we ain't seen nothing yet.

First Concert: Beatles, 1964. My Dad took me and my little brother. We couldn't hear a thing but the screams. Best Concert: Too many to identify the best. Up there somewhere are the Incredible String Band performing U at the Roundhouse in 1970. Melanie playing Glastonbury at dawn on mid-summer's day in 1971. Ry Cooder with Flaco Jimenez in Manchester. The Cramps at the Hacienda in Manchester. The Fall every time I saw them. Worst Concert: Caravan at York University in the early 70s. So loud I had to leave. Glad I got to see: The Byrds, Captain Beefheart, Shonen Knife. Wish I could see: Gus Cannon, Minnie Wallace, or any of the early jug bands. Next concert: No idea. But there'll be one...

1. Don't leave your used nappies for too long before washing them. I wash every other day. 2. Take notice of oznl's recommendations - he generally knows what he's talking about. 3. The plastic in your plastic pants doesn't need much washing, as it doesn't absorb anything. The elastic does, so that needs a through rinse through daily. My regime is to have 2 pairs on the go, rinsing out in the sink each morning and hanging to dry until the next morning. 4. Avoid multi-layer nappies and soakers, unless you want to spend your life trying to get them dry again. I fold up terry baby nappies for soakers. 5. Line-drying is cheaper than using a spin-dryer, and is great for killing bacteria. It's not as discreet though, and doesn't work in the rain. 6. Snappis are great, but there are imitations around that probably aren't. I've not used the imitations but there are some poor reviews out there. True Snappis have the name on them and are made (I believe) in South Africa. Here in the UK they aren't currently on Amazon, but the Nappy Lady has got them. Get the larger size. 7. Make sure your nappy is closed up round the waist and each thigh so that you output has no free path to the outside world. It needs to have no other option but to soak into the fabric of your nappy. I use a Snappi at the waist and a pin at each thigh. 8. Make sure your nappy is always tucked into your plastic pants, so it can't wick into your clothes and onto the sofa or bedding. That means you've got to find pants that are wide enough in the crotch and rise, but with elastic that stays tight enough round your waist and thigh. That's a trial and error thing, so don't expect success straight off. For what it's worth I wear Gary Euroflex pants from Llmedico - high waist and wide crotch. You'll be a different shape though. 9. Nine? that's more than enough... Good luck with it!

Happy birthday! I can barely remember my 60th, but it will have involved significant alcohol.

Btw Euroflex is the German manufacturer of the polyurethane used in the sheet Gary makes their pants from, or so I would assume from their use of the Euroflex name. There used to be a small company here in the UK (Arizona Healthcare) who made pants from a thinner grade of Euroflex, and I think they bought the plastic sheet direct from the manufacturer. They were flimsy pants so you had to careful not to damage them, but they also lasted a long time and were completely silent. I guess someone's manufacturing PU sheet in China now as well, like everything else.

Love it - thanks for posting!

I get mine from Llmedico - Gary brand- & I'm in them all day every day. They last a lot longer than PVC.

Brings back Glastonbury music Fayre 1971. Trenches with 3 scaffolding poles above them - a lower one each side to sit on and a higher middle one to lean back on. Then sacking zigzagging across to give illusion of privacy - for no reason whatsoever really. That's not me in the picture, but it could have been. I was there. The photo is from the booklet included with the triple album of the Fayre.

I'm always wet by the time I get up. Usually I'll have a mug of tea and some toast, check DD, and by that time my bowels are telling me I need to get myself into the bathroom. I sometimes take Mummy a mug of tea first - depends on whether she's awake and my degree of urgency. Occasionally it's a close thing. Once in a while I'll go out in the car to do a bit of shopping as soon as I get up. I did that this morning - just threw shorts and a T-shirt on over my soggy overnight terry nappy and plastic pants and headed out at 7am. Now I'm back, checking DD, and my bowels are calling me upstairs. So it's shower and change time.

Keep it up oznl! So much of what you post applies so very closely to me as well, but you manage to express it a lot better than I could. A lot more entertaining too. So I'll stick to chipping in the occasional thought from the side. I don't ever think of going without a nappy though, so no measures of dread in this parish. And I don't do lie-ins, so I'm off for an early morning heatwave walk along the riverbank. Nappied as ever.

Gosh, does oznl mean me? I think he must. I'd better chip in my tuppence then. Firstly, I'm relatively quiet these days because my AB/nappy activities have settled down to a stable lifestyle with little new to report. Yes, I'm permanently in cloth nappies, with some exceptions such as holidays and longer walks, when I need to be in disposables. Secondly, yes I did put my AB side into the closet for 20 years to raise a family, and I did it willingly. It was worth it to avoid my wife worrying it could affect the kids. And I always knew things would have to change when the kids left home. My wife knew I was an AB from the outset, but I still had to play the long game to get to her accepting my 24/7 nappy wearing. We got there though, and it works well for both of us now. Mistakes? Actually, not really. Incidents along the way, of course. Regrets, none. OK, down to giving my response to nappybum's questions, with your leave assumed, oznl: Probably about 10 4ft terry squares, and maybe 8 velcro-fastening washables from Dotty Diapers. I've also got about 20 terry soakers 20 inches square that I fold into thirds. Typically I'll use 3 of these in the day, & a couple at night. I try to use just 2 nappies per 24 hours. I tend to wear the Dotty nappies in the winter months during the day, and terry in the day in the summer months. Nights are all in terry. I'm normally rotating 5 nappies: washing every other day. I never use powder. Sudocrem for a day or two after I've shaved down there to hold off nappy rash, but only sparingly. The Chinese/butterfly fold works well for me, and it's all I ever use. I fasten them with a Snappi at the waist and a pin at each thigh. Similarly to oznl really. Every morning it's just before my shower, on the toilet, and I usually operate pretty regularly. I've had some close calls, as I don't have the level of control I used to have. I don't relish the clean-up so generally avoid it. I just wanted the lack of control of my toilet functions, to go back to being as helpless as a baby. As far as I'm aware I've little control of my wetting these days, but then I haven't made any attempt to control it for a few years now. And I love wearing a nappy too. And plastic pants, for that matter. Yep. If you're sure you want it, and it sounds like you do, go for it, take your partner along with you all the way, and never look back. Who dares wets.

Hope you have a great time. I've done a bit of nappied backpacking in the past - due to physical problems my backpacking days are now over. I think the longest trip without a car was 3 days, & I was really out in the wilderness in the Scottish highlands. No problems with changing a nappy in the great outdoors as there was nobody else around, and my dummy was in my mouth apart from the uphill bits. Carrying out heavy used nappies was the main downside. I used to wear high capacity pullups as they're easy to change and have low chafing risk (in my experience). And polyurethane plastic pants. I used a down sleeping bag, which I really really didn't want to wet, as washing a down bag is not a good thing to do - they're never the same afterwards. But down bags are warmer than artificial fibre, and they're lighter and pack down a lot better.

They are identical to the ones I've been using for years. I've not actually tried any of my new batch yet, as I'm still waiting for the ones I'm wearing now to give up the ghost. To recap, they're 3" long, the pin part is strong stainless steel, and the locking cap is painted thin pressed steel plate. Eventually the paint wears off and the cap rusts away, but that takes a long time and they fail gracefully. I've never had one fail unexpectedly, either by bending or breaking.

There's a lot about how to fold nappies on the Nappy Lady's site here in the UK. It's mainly a site for real babies, but she caters for ABs too. Here are her instructions for the kite fold: 'Lay the terry flat, so that a corner is nearest to you. Fold the left and right corners into the middle to create a kite shape. Fold the top point down so you have a flat horizontal back edge. Fold the bottom corner up as far as needed, adjust to suit your baby's size. Add the baby. Fold up the bottom, bring each side wing around the baby and fasten with a nippa. Tuck up any excess fabric on the legs.' There are simple diagrams as well, which are easy enough to follow, unless you're visually impaired of course. Personally I use the bat/Chinese/butterfly/origami fold. No idea why it goes by so many different names, but it works perfectly for me. Good luck.