A few of cding must haves

Yesterday when I was picking up Emma from daycare, one of the parents asked me about the cloth diaper she was wearing. I got the usual question, “You do what?” accompanied by the perplexed look. Yes, I use cloth diapers. I have to admit, I was pretty turned off on the idea of them at first. It wasn’t until I sat up one night googling anything and everything cloth related. I soon discovered they weren’t that much different from the disposables we were using but without the nasty chemicals.

After pondering the idea for weeks I stumbled upon a local children’s boutique that was having a Cloth Diaper 101 class the next morning. I was hooked after that class! I purchased my first 5 diapers. I bought a variety. Some hook and loop (velcro) and some snaps. I bought a few all in ones (AIO) and the rest pockets. Through my research I knew prefolds and flats would be too much of a hassle for a wiggly 9 month old . Snaps and pockets quickly became the diapers I found myself using the most.

My first cloth diapers were 2 Fuzzibunz, Bumkins pocket and aio, and a Happy heinys. I don’t own any of these anymore and all for different reasons. Emma broke out in a rash every time  I put the Fuzzibunz on her. I’m not sure why. It could have been a fabric sensitivity but I’ve used other diapers with the same inner material and haven’t had an issue. The bumkins aio I bought was too small. I grabbed the wrong size and it wasn’t until I washed it and was about to put it on her that I realized this. The pocket survived in my stash the longest amount of time but it just wasn’t one of my favorites and the multicolored butterfly print was annoying me. The happy heinys was a great diaper, fit well in the legs and was well made but I HATED the velcro. No matter how tight I did them there was always a gap at her stomach. Needless to say that one was passed along too. We’ve come along way since then and I’ve learned so much

Cloth diapering has become a hobby to me. I started a Facebook group called Fluffy Babies with an awesome mama. I wanted to make a place for people to ask questions and get advice about cloth. I also call myself a Cloth Diaper Addict though I have slowed down quite a bit on purchasing them. I can’t help it, they are so darn cute!!!

I’m sure this will be the first of many posts about cding. I think my next cd post will be a favorites. That could be pretty fun to write! My one piece of advice for now, Just do it. You won’t know if you’ll like something until you give it a shot. Google cloth diapers. Read your booty off! There are tons and tons of options. Yes you’ll deal with poop. (get a diaper sprayer) It’s a learning process but I think it’s totally worth it!
Until next time…

Good finds are:
-organic towels
-Pocoyo clothes and slippers
-Next 9 diaper inserts (P300 for 3)

Cutlery

Towels

Pocoyo clothes

sippy cups, training underpants, mittens and booties

Other noticeable goods:
-foam bib
-sippy cups
-breast pump
-wide range of cutlery set for baby (ranging from P80-P180)
-toothbrushes
-toilettries and detergents for babies

For now, they only have one branch which is at Market! Market! They will soon open in Festivall Mall, Alabang. Ku Ku Duckbill is a Taiwanese brand of baby and children’s products.

Noah really enjoyed being outside. He loves the flowers, even though in pic #3 you can only see one flower lol. I liked how their shadows looked too. My shadow looked too crazy to photograph. Noah & Rashard had a nice time though. Too bad i’m better at taking pictures of people than being in them myself (Ugghh). I looked a mess, but oh well. Oh, and by the way I didn’t get the vinegar. Our corner store is wayyy to high. So no vinegar for us, but we did get apple juice as you can see in pic #6. Lol

The entire pregnancy with my son, I was obsessed with the idea of cloth diapering. It’s good for the Earth, it’s good for baby’s skin, it’s good for your wallet, EVERYTHING points towards cloth diapering just being the better choice.  It’s few and far between that you find someone in the modern world, in my age range, that is using cloth diapers. After finding nobody to relate to in my cloth diapering journey, I sort of gave up on my cloth diaper dream, which, now that I have invested in my Fuzzibunz stash and started using them, I now regret. I should be a leader, not give up on something so wonderful because I don’t have someone to relate to on the topic.

When I found out I was pregnant with number 2, all I could think was “Why did I not invest in cloth diapers?!” If I had a stash of One Size, I would be set for both. It would be so much more wallet friendly having 2 kids in diapers with cloth diapers.  I knew the thing to do was to go out, and just get them!

I did a lot of research on modern day cloth diapers during my first pregnancy, and decide that Fuzzibunz One Size Pocket Diapers were the choice for me.  They come in great colors, there’s no need for diaper covers, and they fit babies from the time they’re a newborn all the way up until potty training. They have a super soft comfy inside, and they don’t have a million snaps all over the front like other newborn-toddler cloth diapers. When you adjust the size, there’s no extra bulk like others I’ve read about, and seen pictures of.  So, I set out to buy my Fuzzibunz

I decided to purchase a gender neutral color scheme.  I only purchased 25 for now, to get me started with my son, but I wanted to make sure I could use these diapers if I do happen to have a daughter, though if I do have a daughter, I’m sure I’ll buy so many frilly pink diapers I won’t know what to do with myself! We got white, yellow, mint green, and a few bright lime green diapers for those time that we’re feeling crazy! I LOVE the lime green, and am now set on going to get more bright colors, and prints!

The one bad thing that I’ve run into is the size adjustment.  They have 3 elastic bands that have slots for buttons ranging from 1-7. Depending on your child’s size, you can change the number on the elastic. This is great, because if your child has a small waist and chubby legs, you have no issues with leaks or red marks, however, it can take a while to adjust all of your diapers.  When I got mine, they were all sized to a newborn, so I had to let them all out quite a bit, and that meant 6 buttons on 25 diapers! I did a few at a time over the course of a couple days, because I had a 1 year old that wasn’t so interested in me spending my time on this.  In the future, I think I’ll just adjust one at a time prior to diaper changes when his size changes.  It’s an up, and a down, all in one. It keeps the sizing custom, but it takes longer than other size changes would. But, it’s not a deal-breaker for me, I still love my Fuzzibunz.
I purchased my diapers on the 15th of August, so it’s been a little over 2 weeks now that I’ve been using them. My son:

1) Has not had a diaper rash, which he got ALL THE TIME when we would use Pampers, Luvs, or anything besides Target brand or Huggies (even some Huggies have that horrid blue dye in them that instantly puts a rash on his poor, sensitive skin.

2) Has not leaked on himself, except for the first few overnight uses. But, I doubled up the inserts for nighttime, and it hasn’t been an issue since. This is the most important to me, because I was skeptical about the whole cloth diapering thing, thinking that we’d be more prone to leaks.

3) Has gotten so many compliments on his cute little butt! This is great to me, because it sparks up conversation of the cloth diapering topic with people that would otherwise not think about cloth diapers!

Basically, if you’ve ever thought about switching over to cloth diapers, or starting with cloth diapers on your future children, I highly recommend Fuzzibunz because of how comfortable they feel, the lack of diaper rash, the leak free nature of the diaper, and the simplicity of not needing diaper covers.  Whether you choose the One Size, which is so great that you need 1 diaper for the whole diaper lifetime, or you choose the Perfect Fit, I still say go with Fuzzibunz.These are top notch modern cloth diapers

If you’ve never given cloth diapering a thought, think about it! And go for it! It’s a great choice all around! I promise, you won’t regret it.
<3Alyssa

P.S. Invest in a diaper sprayer!

JUST DO IT. lol

Tristan in his new BumGenius 4.0, Albert print.

After taking a break with cloth diapering my daughter, we are back at full force! With two under two and potty-training on the horizon, cloth seemed like the most affordable method, and I’ve always preferred using cloth to disposables. With working part time, the extra load of laundry doesn’t cause much stress and I usually throw them in with hard-worn work clothes or towels and do an extra rinse.

When I was pregnant with my daughter I did a lot of research on cloth diapers, both the more convenient kinds like All-In-Ones (AIO’s) and the old fashioned prefolds with covers. I settled on a one-day stash of both. I went with KangaCare’s One Size Rumparooz for my pocket diapers (they had seconds available at the time, which made their price lower than normally cheaper brands like BumGenius and FuzziBunz) and Thirsties Duo Wraps with cotton prefolds for my at-home prefold and cover diapers. One size cloth diapers have been my absolute favorite, most fit from 8-35 pounds and range from $7-25 depending on the brand and quality. This allows me to use the same diapers on my 2 month old son and my 22 month old daughter, completely eliminating the need to buy two different sizes of disposables. Now, the Thirsties Duo Wraps aren’t a true one size diaper. Instead of having one size or five (Newborn, small, medium, large, extra-large), they have two sizes available: one that fits 6-18 pounds and one that fits 18-40 pounds. This allows their diapers to fit tiny newborns better than most one size diapers, and also lets them fit larger toddlers (like my daughter, who is 37 pounds at 22 months) without being too tight.

For those of you who aren’t familiar with this generation’s cloth diapers, there are many different kinds to choose from and benefits to each. Prefolds and covers are much like the cloth diapers that our parents used and are cheaper than the more convenient kinds, though they require a little more time for changes. However, safety pins aren’t needed for these diapers anymore: there are some products like Snappis that can be used with one hand and without the fear of accidentally sticking your baby! Pocket diapers and AIO’s run a bit more expensive than prefolds, but are worth it for the easy no-hassle changes. These diapers are put on as one piece. Some of them, like AIOs, are always one piece and some, like pockets, have absorbent inserts that are stuffed in the diaper before you change the baby. I usually stuff my diapers as soon as they cool from the dryer, allowing me to have diapers on hand that can be used just as quickly as a disposable would.

I am in the process of trying more brands of cloth diapers (I just bought a BumGenius one size pocket diaper last week and I’m really liking it), but I haven’t really run into any trouble with a diaper not working the way it should. Different kinds have their advantages and disadvantages, leaks happen (often due to user error as I’ve never really had to think about which direction my baby is peeing before…), and different brands do seem to fit differently. Though I haven’t had much time with my new BumGenius diaper yet, I like the way it fits my 2 month old better than the way the Rumparooz do.

Over the course of the next few weeks, I’ll be getting three new brands of diapers in the mail: Sunbaby pockets, Pororo covers, and a Thirsties all-in-one, in addition to trying out home-made cloth baby wipes. I’ll make sure to keep you all updated on the way that each fit, their absorbency on each of the kiddos, and do an overall comparison as well.

I am not being compensated in any form for this review, all opinions written here are my own.

As a mother of 2 children still in their diapers, our consumption of disposable diapers is at 50% per child – only using diapers at night – which means 1 pack of 42 (more or less) per month per child. Yet, with all this flooding, I want to lessen our usage of disposables to 20 pieces of disposables in a month per child. Not only will this lessen our expense in the long run, I believe it will do our country good.

So how much will it cost me initially? Cloth diaper prices range from about Php 270 – 550. This normally includes the insert which you put inside the diaper to absorb the wetness.  You would need about 8 pieces if you intend to use it for daytime only – 4 a day and another 4 for alternate. For night time use, you would probably need6-8 more. Cloth diapers available here in the Philippines are of the pocket diaper type. See below:

Here is an updated list of online suppliers that I know sell these:

• The  Spoiled Girl: sells BabyLeaf Cloth diaper for Php 350 each, inserts for Php 150 each and wet bags

My favorite print from Baby Leaf – Pink Flamingo

• Choochoobaby: has 2 brands of cloth diaper. The Babyland solid colors diaper for Php350 and the Luvable Friends printed diaper for Php399. They have a wholesale promo for the Babyland diaper: buy 3 for php 1000;5pcs, get 1 free; buy 10pcs, get 3.

Another favorite print – Owls

• Baby Chic Boutique sells the following brands: Kawaii (Heavy Duty, Bamboo Minky, Happy Leak-free diaper cover, Goodnight Heavey Wetter,  Snazzy Minky), Sunbaby (size 1 and size 2), Baby Wizard (3D Leaking Guard Snap, Supreme velcro, Double row snaps, Three dots snap, Beauty Hook and Loop, Duo Wrap, Groovy Aplix, Bamboo inserts). Baby Wizard diapers cost Php 350 a piece and Php 1000 for 3 pcs. The Kawaii Goodnight Heavy Wetter is Php 450

This is the Double Row snap.
I absolutely love owl prints!

• Wholesale Washable diaper  sells Alvababy cloth diapers solids for Php 290, printed for Php 310, the double gusset for Php 380,Papoose and Babyland cloth diapers for Php 290. They also have bibs and wet bags

Alva baby cloth diaper in blue animal print. Thank goodness they have cuter prints from 2 years ago.

We found out that the condo we were renting sold in a cash deal, so we had to find a place to live very quickly.

Then the deal fell through. We didn’t have to move, our place was going off the market.

Then the kids and I got hand, foot and mouth disease, aka COOTIES FROM HELL.

Then there was another cash offer on our condo. We had to move again. And find a place. In June. At the Jersey Shore. With a small budget. And two kids. And the real estate agent harassed us to be out in 2 weeks. (Right lady. Dream on. Thanks for your complete lack of help with that.) My landlord/friend was absolutely wonderful though, so she constantly sent us listings in the area and was supportive and helpful. In the end, after dragging the kids through countless rainstorms, many apartments, condos and townhouses, we found a wonderful little townhouse in our price range, with a washer and dryer, parking, and a POOL.  Yea. We win.

The week after we moved in we had about 50 of our friends and family over for the baby’s first birthday. It was a great celebration and despite oppressive and horrible heat, I think everyone had fun.

Then the step kids came to visit for a week. This is always challenging because I have no idea what I’m doing ever, which is made worse by the fact that I’m now caring for kids I see maybe twice a year and I lose my mind every singe time.

After that I took on the task of changing out my hard drive and fixing my busted up old computer. It went surprisingly well and I am typing to you from a fully functional (though still only held together by wires) laptop. I’m forever grateful for the assistance of the friends who helped me get it done.

Shortly thereafter we all came down with an awful stomach plague, which took me out for about a week. For the record, I’ll choose violent vomiting for 12 hours over a week of terrible stomach pain, dizziness and utter fatigue every time. This time, I lost.

That pretty much brings us current. Somewhere in there the baby went from crawling to running (it was instant, there was no breaking the parents in phase like the first time around) and I have new levels of crazy to contend with on a daily basis. Today I’m caring for additional children, as DDa acquired two imaginary friends over night.

I better go. There are loud noises behind me and I’m fairly certain it’s about to get ugly in here.

Type to you soon!

Occasionally I get asked about cloth diapers. I know people see me out and about during changes, or even see them on my kid and think “Wonder how that works? Ugh, bet it’s a pain. Seems gross. What does she do with the poop?” Rest assured everyone, the poop is dealt with accordingly. People almost never ask me the fun questions out loud. I sincerely wish they would, I’m always up for a poo talk. But no, when I get asked about cloth, it’s most often from new or expecting moms who are considering cloth and want to know “what are your favorite brands, and why?” I first became aware of modern cloth diapering when my boy was 7 months. I was going through my mommy message board phase and saw a topic labeled “Cloth Diapering”. Like most people who went through infancy in the late 70′s/early 80′s, I myself was cloth diapered. These flat pieces, safety pins, and plastic pants are usually what spring to mind when society thinks of cloth diapers. I thought, “Those are still being used?” Out of curiosity, I started researching online. The first image I got looked something like this:

Turns out good old cloth diapers are being used, only somebody’s put them on steroids.

I spent the next 2 weeks soaking up everything related to cloth diapers. It can be majorly overwhelming at the research stage. I didn’t feel like I had a good grasp on exactly what does what until I had done a couple evenings’ worth of reading. Maybe I’m slow, but this was an entire sub-culture of baby stuff that I had no idea even existed. I eventually learned the difference between Pockets, All-in-Ones, Prefolds, Flats, One-Size, Hybrids, Fitteds, and which ones do and do not need a separate cover.  If you simply can’t live another minute without knowing what those differences are, rest assured, I will tell you.

Pockets – A waterproof cover is sewn to a moisture-wicking fabric, creating a “pocket” where you can stuff an absorbent piece of material (usually called an insert). At wash time, the insert is pulled out and they’re washed separately. We have a lot of pockets and I love them, but stuffing those inserts back in after washing tends to make me stabby. In fact, I see bumGenius has now developed a diaper dubbed the “Freetime”, which does not need to be stuffed. So named, I assume, for all the free time you’ll have when you no longer have to stuff inserts day and night. I imagine women flocking carefree with their children in a meadow. “Can we stay longer Mom?” “Sure honey, we have nowhere to be! The diapers are stuffed!”

Wilson at 7 months in a bumGenius 3.0 Pocket

AIO (All-in-Ones) – The green diaper in the picture above is an AIO. It’s just like it sounds. No stuffing (yay!). Easy to use, especially for a care giver who’s not used to CDing. Super absorbent. These rock stars can go all night with no leaks. The down side? Twice the dry time. These suckers take 2 dry cycles to get all the way dry, or a whole day of drying outside. They’re also pretty much the most expensive diapers on the market.  We have three bumGenius AIOs and I usually save them for church on Sundays, when someone else will be changing my little one’s diaper.

One-Size – Diapers with adjustment snaps all the way across and down the front, so you can adjust as your kid grows. We’ve used one-size diapers all the way from 3 months to potty training. In my opinion, OS is the only way to go. Course, even at their smallest setting, they won’t fit perfectly until around 3 months, unless you happen to have a baby on the bigger side. I don’t birth big babies (score!), so three months was the golden cloth wearing age.

A word about Newborn cloth diapers: Honestly, don’t blow a bunch of money on newborn cloth diapers. From my experience they don’t ever fit right, and even if they do, newborns grow out of stuff in about a minute. Get one or two for a picture shoot if you want, but cut yourself some slack and use disposables for the first month. Plus I don’t know for sure, but think the stuff that comes out of a newborn those first few weeks would just burn a hole right through microfiber.

Hybrid Diapers – Another longtime favorite. We use GroVia (used to be called GroBaby back when I bought mine). These consist of two parts. The waterproof cover (the “shell”), and the absorbent piece (the “soaker pad”). The shell and the soaker have snap components that match up and allow them to attach together. At changing time, provided your child hasn’t gifted you with a blow-out that has covered the shell in poo, you can just unsnap the wet soaker and snap a clean one into the same shell. Bam! Less diaper laundry. These are usually the first diapers I reach for. These are handy for people who don’t know if they want to go all out and do full time cloth. You can purchase disposable absorbent pads (this company calls them “BioSoakers”) that can be thrown away when they’re dirty. They are biodegradable, compostable, and plastic-free. I’ve used this method on vacation before, and it works well. Just a word to the wise, lay the BioSoaker in the shell and don’t use the peel off sticky parts on the back. They’ll leave a tacky film on your shell that won’t ever come off. Ever.

A GroBaby (GroVia) Shell and Soaker Pad. Notice how ratty and slightly stained it looks? That’s two kids’ worth of excrement, people!

Fitted Diapers – I actually don’t have any fitteds, but they are insanely popular. They do require the use use of a cover which would have to be purchased separately. I guess that’s why I never got any. They’re not nearly as cheap as prefolds and you still have to use a cover. But like I said, lots of people love ‘em, so they must be worth it.

Prefolds/Flats – Old skool crunchy cloth diapering, just like Mom used to make! Ultra granola & budget friendly! These are great for when you forgot to do diaper laundry and they’re all you have until you can do a wash real quick. You can get a dozen prefolds or flats for about $20, and a cover for about $10 or less if you hit a sale. This makes them the most economical cloth diapers you can find, but they can also  be the trickiest. Prefolds are so named because they are folded to maximize absorbency in the middle, and sewn that way. Flats are just flat, and you have to fold them around the baby in a precise way. I only have prefolds. Sometimes I use a snappi (I don’t need to be poking any holes in my baby with safety pins), and sometimes I’ll just fold the prefold in thirds and lay it in the cover. Again, these don’t win the awesome award but they’re cheap and they work.

Juliette in a prefold and Thirsties cover, 3 months

Cloth Wipes – Some people are reluctant to use cloth wipes at first. I was too. I thought they would push me over the edge in terms of just too much hassle. So I continued to use disposable wipes with my cloth diapers. It took me about a month to realize they were actually making things harder. Instead of throwing everything into the pail after a change, I would have to take the disposable wipe to the bathroom trash, creating an extra step in the process. Then I tried just throwing them into the pail with everything else, washing them with the diapers, and throwing them away right after that. Makes no sense when I look back on it now, but this is how we learn, right? Trial and error. And more error. I finally relented and switched to cloth wipes. I use these beauties from an online store called Small Wonders Wipes . They are sherpa on one side and velour on the other, and I love them. There’s no mess they can’t handle! Use the sherpa side for cleaning the mess and the velour buffs to a shine! For the solution, I make my own. 2 and a half cups of water, 1/4 cup of baby wash, 1/4 cup of coconut oil (is there anything coconut oil can’t do?!) I used to use EVOO, but it was leaving a film on the wipes. I store the solution in those peri bottles they give you at the hospital. When I’m ready to use a wipe,  I squirt the solution onto the wipe and go at it. I tried carrying the solution and wipes around with me for out of the house changes, but it’s kind of a beating to deal with all of that. I was always running out of solution in my bag and forgetting to replace it before I left again. Then one time a peri bottle leaked inside my bag and I was like “I’m so done with this”. Now I just carry disposable wipes and throw them away after I use them.

My Cloth Wipes

Snaps versus Hook & Loop (Velcro) – Ah, the ever present conundrum. Which do I choose? Well, they both have their positives and their negatives. H&L is easier to fasten around a squirmy baby, but after awhile that Velcro will start to pill on the loop side and all kinds of odds and ends will get stuck in the hook side, making the whole thing less effective. Also, an older baby will delight in the ability to strip off his own diaper and smear poo on your walls. Bonus  for the cool ripping sound! I’m a snaps girl. Often I dream of converting my entire diaper stash to snaps. Yes, it can be challenging to get them snapped correctly around a wiggly baby, but once you get the hang of it, it’s easy peasy. I’ve yet to have a baby rip off a snaps diaper by his or herself. Another plus I’m finding now that I have a girl – I can use a snaps diaper under a dress for which I have no bloomers. I couldn’t do that with a H&L, she would tear it off instantly. So there you go. It all comes down to personal preference (butsnapsarebetter).

Ok. Now we know what everything is. Here’s a quick word about poo, since I know you’re thinking about it. If you have a mostly solid poo, flop the poo into the toilet, toss the diaper in the pail, and thank your baby for her kind consideration. Exclusively breast fed babies, sick babies, and babies who may have had too much prune juice that morning will not be so kind. When a mess strikes, you will NEED a diaper sprayer. These handy gadgets resemble the sprayer that you probably have at your kitchen sink. It attaches to your water line and hangs at the side of your toilet. Spray the poo off the diaper downward into the toilet and say goodbye. If you have an older baby, it’s required that you have the child stand nearby and actually say “bye poo” and wave. Seriously, I’ve heard it aids in earlier potty training because they connect the poo with the toilet. At the very least it’s adorable, so just do it.

Cloth Diapers and Day Care – Many people think this can’t be done, but it can. If your eyes haven’t shriveled up from boredom while reading this, check out another post I wrote as a guest blogger for the Kelly’s Closet blog: Cloth Diaper Academy

Ok, almost done. Washing and drying. Another question I hear a lot is “do you wash them yourself or do you use a service?”. I’ve always washed my diapers myself, and I think most other cloth diapering moms do too. To me it kind of defeats the purpose financially, if you’re going to pay someone to do your washing. Unless you’re renting your diapers from the service, and washing them is a part of the whole agreement. That’s a whole different thing and I have no experience with that. Each brand of diaper will come with its own washing and drying instructions, but I don’t think anybody does their diapers separately according to brand. I sure don’t. Here’s what I do. I take the pail into the laundry room and plop it on top of the cat’s litter box, which makes it the perfect height. This is the only positive contribution our cat gives to the family. I set the washer on rinse and start throwing everything in, removing inserts from the pocket diapers and unsnapping soaker pads from shells. Once everything is in, I throw in the pail liner too. After the rinse is done, do a hot wash, with the hottest water your washer is capable of. Here’s where you add your detergent. The good news is cloth diapers don’t need a lot of detergent, so it will last you forever. I use Rockin’ Green Cloth Diaper Detergent, but there are tons on the market. So after you do your hot wash, do one more rinse at the end, and you’re ready to dry.  Generally you don’t want to dry your covers in the dryer, because it makes them wear out much faster. The heat will weaken the elastic, big time. I have a bunch of covers that my mom has had to redo the elastic for me because I got lazy and threw them into the dryer one too many times. So I will throw all the inserts and wipes and prefolds into the dryer, and lay the covers outside. If I’m feeling ambitious, or if I have a lot of diapers with stains, I’ll hang everything outside. The sun is the only safe and effective way to bleach cloth.

Drying and bleaching!

Now it bears mentioning that my zeal for cloth diapering has taken some dents and scratches over the years. After 4 years of the stuffing, wiping, spraying, cleaning, drying process, some of the shine has flaked off. There have been days when we’re late and I just want to change the baby quickly before we leave, we run into the room, and the wipes solution bottles are empty. Or there’s only prefolds with ill-fitting grey covers left. And sometimes I just want to THROW THE POOP AWAY.  Gah! But mostly, if I stay on top of the whole thing, it’s so worth it.  I have no idea how much money we’ve saved over the years, or how many diapers we’ve prevented from sitting in a landfill, but it’s got to be a lot. I know I’ll miss the whole thing once its over and I’ll be glad I stuck it out.

No joke, Juliette just had a huge blowout. Right here on my lap. Maybe I’ll take a picture of myself using the diaper sprayer on a messy poo. Would that be helpful? No?

UPDATE: I now make my own homemade cloth diaper detergent out of equal parts oxy clean, washing soda, and baking soda. It’s working well!

Breastfeeding

Baby2 continues to eat well – she’s gained another five ounces since Friday’s pediatrician appointment, bringing her back up to her birth weight already (which is a week two milestone – she’s an overachiever already!)! We went to the pediatrician’s office to weigh her yesterday for my own sanity. I think every breastfeeding mama wonders if her baby is eating enough. You just can’t see the milk going in! But we can see what’s coming out of her, and if Baby2′s diaper actions are any indication I’d say she’s eating like a champ. I probably didn’t need to go weigh her, but I was curious!

Milk Drunk

What is interesting about her feedings is that she tends to eat in five minute increments. After five minutes are up, she loses interest. I can normally burp her and put her back on, or change her diaper and start again, but I could almost set my watch by her cadence. I’ve also noticed that the ducts on the underside of my breasts tend to get really full so after her first five minute time block I’ll spend the second five minutes massaging those ducts to give her a little more milk.

I’ve also been experimenting with only using one breast per feeding instead of switching back and forth. I know that the more empty the breast becomes, the more fatty hindmilk she’s getting (which is good!). So the focus right now is a full feeding and an empty breast. We’ll see how that effects my supply since one breast will be fully emptied every 3-6 hours as opposed to being maybe half emptied every 1.5-3 hours. I want to research this topic more…

Speaking of timing, she’s still eating every 1.5-3 hours. I won’t let her go longer than three hours between feedings. The other day I had to wake her out of a dead sleep because time was up. We struggled through that feeding but I did get a good 10 minutes out of her! In two five minute increments, of course.

Nights are working well. I always put her down in her crib about 30 minutes after her 8:00 PM feeding. If she wakes up after that I’ll feed her and put her right back down. If she wakes up after I’ve gone to bed (which has been late lately! 10 or 11 o’clock!) I’ll keep her in bed with me so I can get some sleep (just pull out a boob when she stirs! So much easier than getting out of bed). She wakes up a lot until I pull her in bed with me, then she sleeps a ton. I’m slightly worried that she’s preferring our bed over her crib, so she may start getting a lot more crib time soon. We’ll see.

For the first few days, I didn’t keep track of night feedings at all. Now I’m trying to a least glance at the clock when she stirs so I can keep track of how long she’s going between feedings completely on her own (there’s no way I’m setting an alarm or something to make sure she’s eating every three hours at night!). So far she’s keeping a rhythm of eating at 12, 2:30, 5 and 7:30 AM. Whoa. Self-regulating is amazing!

Sometimes she stirs but doesn’t really want to eat – she’s wet and needs changing. So I’m trying to watch out for that more. I don’t think she’s at all ready to drop a feeding, but I’m also not sure if five minutes every 2.5 hours is really much of a feeding… Monitoring is on-going.

Cloth Diapering

Still loving cloth diapers! We’ve modified our prefolds a little though. Since the size one Osocozies are still a little long for her, we’ve been folding them down in front so they’ll fit into the covers. But since Baby2 is a girl, she wets more in the back than the front so we started folding the prefold down in the back. That has helped to not only absorb more but also makes securing the prefold with the Snappi that much easier because there’s more fabric to pull around her legs. Ah, discovery.

Baby2 had a bit of a diaper rash earlier this week which really freaked me out! Kiddo1 had the nastiest of nasty and persistent diaper rashes when he was a baby. I fear diaper rashes like some people fear tight spaces. Or the dark. Or commitment. Anyway… Luckily the diaper rash is gone now, probably because I attacked it and killed it! I took Baby2 outside and sunned her bottom twice a day for a couple days, about five minutes in direct sunlight each time (I did shade her upper half from the sun). I also started using Earth Mama Angel Baby’s Bottom Balm on her with each diaper change. Worked like a charm. For one final nail in the coffin, I’m adding an extra cold rise (that’s two cold rinses) at the end of our diaper laundry routine, just to make sure all the soap gets out. Now I’m monitoring the absorbancy of the prefolds to see if I need to strip them because of the Bottom Balm build-up (although Bottom Balm is cloth diaper-safe!).

Baby2′s Disposition

Still quite awesome. I know she’s in the easy-going newborn phase, but if she’s anything like her brother she’ll continue to be content and mellow. She still doesn’t cry at much, just when she’s hungry or needs a new diaper. Our barking dog doesn’t even make her flinch. I’m sure she’s been used to that sound since well before she was born!

Mr. Handsome swears that she smiles. He “knows” that she’s just working her facial muscles, easing out gas, what have you, but he likes to say that she smiles. I gotta say, though, when she does start smiling for real it’s going to be freaking awesome!

Dress up!

Finally, can I just say how much fun it is to dress her?! Oh, super fun. Dressing a boy was nice and all, but little dresses are quite nice. Baby2 has been in a dress every day of her life. Come to think of it, I’ve been in a dress this whole week too! (I just haven’t been feeling jeans yet. Maybe this weekend.)

Adjusting

Life in general is slowly getting back to normal. Mr. Handsome’s family (his parents and two older brothers) are currently in town until Monday. Once the family visitor traffic slows I think everyone will be able to relax a bit more. Two of my dear friends from college are flying in from the Midwest in mid-August. I’m super excited about that!

Kiddo1 has been super talkative lately! He’s probably a little more chatty because his uncles are in town (he loves to bend their ears) but lately he’s been talking-it-up to anyone who will listen!

Kiddo1 wanted to be swaddled too!

He seems to be getting back to his normal, silly self. Perhaps he’s realizing that we will still take time to listen to him and hang with him. He has been awfully sweet… most of the time. For some time now (a year?) he’s loved to disagree with almost everything we say. What’s that all about? He’s back to doing that lately so things must be normalizing with him.

Mr. Handsome is, of course, still freaking awesome. He even took his whole family to the coast the other day so Baby2 and I could have a whole day to relax. He’s making sure that I get enough rest and don’t try to push myself too hard (because I do/will push myself, see below). I’m not sure if he is getting enough rest, as he seems tired and perhaps a bit stressed by all the visitors. He’s sweet to try not to concern me with these things. I’m still concerned though! I think we’re both just excited for things to get back to normal. The “new normal,” he calls it!

Mr. Handsome practicing some baby wearing!

Max (our dog) seems to be used to the new human-to-dog ratio in the house. He loves to sniff Baby2 and give her light little kisses. He isn’t as sensitive to her cry anymore, but the other day we heard a distant sound of a neighbor’s baby crying and he was quite concerned. He kept looking at our silent, sleeping baby and seemed very confused.

As for me, things are going pretty damn great. Let’s get the gross stuff out of the way in this paragraph, shall we? As soon as my milk came in on Saturday, some bodily functions have returned to normal. Most notably, I poop every day now! And in the mornings just like my old pre-pregnancy self. It’s funny how elated this makes me feel. I can sit down without having to be slow and careful, too. Just plopping myself down on hard chairs, no big deal! The lochia, or hell, let’s just call it bleeding, has slowed to spotting and I’m down to just wearing panty liners and, get this, regular bikini underpants! Sure they’re the same one-size-up ones that I wore in third tri but at least they aren’t the hospital mesh granny panties that I wore for a week (I took four pair home with me!). I’m not sure if all this success is due to the placenta pills or not, but I can tell you that I feel better at 1.3 weeks postpartum from this pregnancy than I did with my first pregnancy. Of course that birth was a bit more difficult, too. Anyway, I do think the pills are helping, at least a little. I’ve tapered off to one or two pills per day because there aren’t that many and I’m supposed to save some for three, six and nine months postpartum. Speaking of pills, though, I’m completely off the ibuprofen now! It’s been three days since I took any so I’d say that need is dead for sure. Yay!

Okay, the squeamish ones can open their eyes now! (Who can really stay away from the gross stuff anyway, right?)

Baby2 and I are ready for the public!

I’ve been getting out of the house more. Wednesday Mr. Handsome took his family to the coast and Baby2 and I got a lot of rest. That evening I finally got to walk around a whole two blocks (which really is like walking six blocks right?) and I felt really great when I got home, like I could do another two blocks! So on Thursday, yesterday, I probably overdid it a little. We took Baby2 to the pediatrician, then had lunch out, then went on a registry-completion spree at Target. First postpartum Target visit -big deal!! Then we only stopped at home for only about an hour before taking Kiddo1 to a late doctor’s appointment and finally going to dinner with Mr. Handsome’s family. Whew.

At dinner, Baby2 and I were pretty spent. It didn’t help that Baby2 was hungry, the restaurant was noisy (she seems to have trouble nursing in noisy environments) and we were hot. I ended up taking off her dress it was so hot! So she let out some loud cries at dinner and even though I ushered her out to calm her down, I still felt bad about 1) having a crying baby in a restaurant and 2) most importantly, not being able to get her fed! I tried a few times but she was just not having it. She ended up going five hours between afternoon feedings. I felt awful!! I talked it out with Mr. Handsome on the way home and I have agreed to take it down a notch. Today we still went out (I’ve got to do something with the in-laws!) but only to the Big Bookstore and lunch. Then Kiddo1 and I are going to watch the Olympics Opening Ceremonies (I’ve got to jet off to that here in a second!). He is super excited about that!

Physically I feel ready to do full days out but I don’t think Baby2 is quite ready and I might not be mentally ready to handle it either! I’m still in kind of a foggy state, although it is lifting a bit. It’s a super happy fog though! Happy baby drunk. I don’t really mind that not being back to normal!

A few “normal” things that have happened this week and I do like very much:

• I drove for the first time in over a week! I was telling Mr. Handsome it felt like the first time you return home from college and get to drive the car you haven’t driven in months. He had a car in college though so he couldn’t really relate.
• I cooked myself a meal! It was eggs and toast, not difficult, but I was proud enough!
• I painted my nails, strategically timing polish removal, nail trimming and two coats of paint after the start of each of Baby2′s naps on Wednesday (when the fam was at the coast).

Slowly shrinking!

A couple not-quite-normal things:

• I feel great and so much smaller but I’ve only lost 12 pounds. I suppose the boobies have gain a pound or two though! Honestly I just weighed myself for the first time today, so I’m really trying not to focus on it. Feeling great and taking care of myself are definitely prioritized over losing weight. I am excited to get back to exercising, though. Hopefully I’ll get clearance for some light yoga after my two-week check-up. No water aerobics until the six-week mark though. Sad face.
• So far I don’t really miss being pregnant which is great because I thought I’d miss it a lot. Maybe those four overdue days helped get that out of my system. I do feel a little, well, empty, for lack of a better word to explain it. Something was there that isn’t there anymore and my body notices it. I don’t miss being pregnant but I do miss that something extra. I have to get used to being just one person in this body again! Weird huh?

Well that was, once again, quite a massive brain dump. Off to get ready for our early afternoon out! Thanks for reading!!

Your best friend can’t help it if all they’ve ever heard is someone thinking about doing it but then never going through with it.

I think it might be a chain reaction: one mom starts considering cloth then she mentions it to her husband or family and they think she’s crazy, maybe she is stuck on the idea and later changes her mind when she finds everyone thinks its too difficult, thereby discouraging her. The cycle of negativity may continue on and on.

I realized early on that the only person I needed to get on board was my husband, since we’d be doing the majority, if not all, of the diaper changes. When I told him I was considering cloth diapers and I reminded him how bad our daughter’s rashes were as a baby, he was pretty hip to the idea.

I mentioned to my mom who said “oh really? I didn’t know people used them anymore”. Being the well meaning mom that she is, She came back from a trip to El Salvador with some funky looking fabric for diapers to which I had to explain that the type of cloth diapers I was looking at are a little more modern.

As I kept on in my research, I then mentioned to a few family members about my idea. I got responses like “yeah right, that’s what I said and it never happened” or “well here’s a huge box of disposables for when you change your mind”. I also heard “I have a friend who said she was going to and never did…” Eventually I realized I would “not talk about it, just be about it”. I didn’t bring it up anymore. I bought my first set and shared them only with my mom who commented on how cute they were and how they didn’t look like she had expected.

It took me a few weeks to get into the groove of using nothing but cloth. Once I had made the switch 100% I never looked back. Now I stalk online diaper stores, cloth diaper Facebook groups and message rooms… I can’t get enough!

Don’t be discouraged in your decision to cloth diaper even if those around you are not supportive. Join one of the many cloth diaper groups online and surround yourself with like minded mommies and you’ll soon erase any doubts about your decision from your mind. It will feel great to know you proved the naysayers wrong.

Who needs pants when you have cute diapers?!

Breastfeeding

Baby2 took to breastfeeding like a natural. She ate for a solid hour after she was born. I couldn’t believe it! It didn’t take much to get her latched on and going.

The rest of that first day I attempted to feed her a dozen times, but she just wanted to sleep. The nurses and lactation consultant all assured us that sleeping the first whole day is completely normal. She ate wonderfully all night and the next morning, but she ended up losing eight ounces in the hospital.

She has continued to eat like champ since we arrived home Thursday at noon. She gained three ounces back by the time we saw the pediatrician on Friday morning! I had been anticipating that weigh-in for sure!

So far she’s eating about every 1-1/2 to 3 hours, but she has enjoyed some cluster feeding around dinner time. I’m not thinking at all about a schedule yet, just working her into an easy eat, play, sleep routine (more on that in a couple weeks).

My milk came in Saturday morning. I have felt very full but not painfully engorged. Mr. Handsome says my boobs are twice as big as Baby2′s head. I say they’re only one and a half times as big. I did have to bust out my pump on Saturday afternoon to get some relief, as Baby2′s 20-minute feedings just weren’t cutting it (I get a good 30-minute feeding a couple times a day). I got a solid two ounces in five minutes which was enough to feel some relief. Time to start building a breastmilk stash! I pumped again this morning for another two ounces. If I can continue to get just two ounces a day I’ll have 112 ounces saved by the time I go back to work!

Nights are honestly not bad. We put Baby2 down in her crib, but once she starts eating at night we keep her in our bed. That way I still get some sleep and Mr. Handsome doesn’t have to be too disturbed either. I’ve been taking a daily nap and so far keeping my energy at a good level.

Cloth Diapering

Oh my goodness we are loving cloth diapers! Baby2 was in disposables for her first day, but we put a prefold and cover on her on Thursday morning and haven’t looked back. We’re using Osocozy size one prefolds with Snapis and covers by Kissaluvs, Thirsties, Bummis and Rumparoos (one of each brand, two newborn sized and two one-sized, two Velcro and two snaps). We haven’t picked a favorite yet, but we’ll get to that I’m sure.

So far we’ve done CD laundry once a day and OMG it is so easy! I literally empty the big wet bag into the machine, do a cold rinse then add my Nellie’s detergent to a hot wash with a cold rinse cycle. Pop in the dryer (we need a clothesline-type device!) and we’re done! We used flushable liners for two days to catch the newborn tar poop, but on Saturday she gave us nice liquid breastmilk poo so we ditched the liners. The diapers clean up just like new – even the ones that got tar poop on them!

We’re using cloth wipes too. So far we’ve just used water on the wipes. We keep a little bottle of water on the dresser and wet each wipe before use. Of course we haven’t had to clean too many colossal poos yet, but this method is working well so far!

Baby2′s Disposition

She is such an amazing baby! She rarely cries and when she does it is so easy to soothe her (thank goodness for The Happiest Baby on the Block!). She’s had fantastic periods of active alertness after feedings. It’s so wonderful to stare into her eyes and interact with her. I can tell that she knows her family’s voices already.

She sleeps great, usually nodding off 30-45 minutes after eating (but sometimes staying awake to just after her next feeding). I like to put her down while she’s still awake for at least one nap per day and at night (more on my sleep philosophies later). She does a great job conking herself out. I’ve been able to shower every day (that’s a big deal!) and even dry my hair and dress myself because of her ability to sleep (plus Mr. Handsome is all over holding her all the time).

She makes the best little faces, she smells fantastic (even her poop smells good! Really!), she seems to be trying to lift her head already (tummy time starts as soon as the cord stump falls off!), her skin is so soft, her eyes are so deep and intense, her toes and fingers are so long like her brother’s and her little nose is adorable. I’m so in love.

Adjusting

Life in general is on hold as I recover and we adjust. It’s wonderful having no outside-the-house responsibilities. My parents have been here since Wednesday afternoon. My dad is busy building a desk for/with Kiddo1 (he cut the pieces back in Phoenix and they put it together; they finished last night). My mom has been cooking and baking. All in all they’ve been great to have around. They leave tomorrow morning and Mr. Handsome’s parents and two older brothers arrive Tuesday afternoon. Lots of visitors in the house!

Kiddo1 is handling all of this very well. The kid has basically had his only-child life turned upside down: Dad is distracted with visitors and my requests (even though I try not to bother him, sometimes I just can’t get up from a feeding!), Mom is just straight-up different (I can’t go out much, I can’t walk far, I’m always breastfeeding), other people are constantly in our house and there’s a baby who everyone says looks just like him but he doesn’t see it.

Kiddo1 (left) and Baby2 (right), both at about six hours old

He’s also been cooped up in the house ever since we got home on Thursday, which doesn’t help. He’s gotten out with one of my parents at least once a day, but it isn’t the family outings that he’s used to. We can’t have kids over for playdates like normal just yet either.

Since he’s got some extra energy he’s been a tad more sensitive, a little more short with his responses and a bit less responsive in general. He spends his time reading, playing video games, watching TV and occasionally helping my mom cook/bake or my dad build a desk for him.

The finished desk he built with my dad

Despite these things, he’s doing amazing. For the last couple nights, I’ve made a point to put Baby2 to bed around 8 so he and I can read together before he goes to bed. I try to sit with him and talk for a minute after tucking him in. He’s a fantastic child – so interested in big things right now like ships, planes, movies and books. He loves to bend someone’s ear about these things. I’ve tried to give him my full attention whenever he talks, but I admit I’ve had to dismiss him once or twice and it kind of breaks my heart to do so.

We’ve been talking about when he can expect things to return to normal, when the visitors will trail off and when he can have friends over again. I know he’ll pull through this transition time with flying colors.

Mr. Handsome is my freaking hero. He has dealt with everyone in the house tugging at him from every direction. My dad needs tools and miscellaneous items for the desk he’s building (they couldn’t bring his whole shop from Phoenix with them!) so Mr. Handsome tracks things down from neighbors. My mom needs to find stuff in the kitchen so he helps her and lets her talk to him about all kinds of stuff. Kiddo1 tells him everything, all day long, and he dutifully listens and tries to play with him as much as he can. Max bothers him to go outside, go to the park and toss the ball, plus he has been barking a lot more and Mr. Handsome meets most of his demands but always without complaint. I have tried to limit my own demands on him as much as possible but, like I said, sometimes I just can’t get up in the middle of a feeding. I don’t know how he’s handling all this, but he gets it done.

We don’t get a lot of alone time right now, which super sucks. I love talking to my husband, even if it’s about boring, day-to-day stuff. I don’t know if he’s noticed, but I’ve been trying to sneak in some time with him when he takes Max out back or to sit with him when he’s holding Baby2. Soon we will have time together again. In the meantime I just hope he’s staying sane with everyone’s constant demands!

Max (our dog) has been a joy to watch adjust. On Thursday when we brought Baby2 home, I think Max was a little scared of her. He didn’t get too close to her and wouldn’t turn his back on her. Thursday night, though, she made some little coo noises while in her crib and he shot up in bed and booked it over to her to check things out. He slept in front of her crib. From then on out he’s been very curious about her and gives her lots of sniffs. He’s sensitive to her noises and will come right over to check her out.

He’s obviously jealous of her when Mr. Handsome holds her, though. He rushes right over to Mr. Handsome and tries to distract him. I find this amusing but I believe Mr. Handsome is getting a little annoyed.

Max has been barking a bit more and displaying other protective behaviors, but he is very gentle with Baby2 and has even given her a few little kisses! My camera isn’t quite fast enough to get a clear shot though.

As for me, there are only two words to describe my current mental state: baby drunk. My mind is in a happy fog in which I don’t feel too forgetful or “dumbed down” (for lack of a better phrase) but I do feel a little tipsy, if you will. I’m pretty much super happy in general!

Out for breakfast – our first real outing as a foursome!

Today has been the first day that I’ve felt annoyed that I can’t do much yet. We ventured out to the neighborhood breakfast joint, a short four block walk away. Baby2 was snug in the wrap which was awesome – I can’t wait to start writing about our no stroller experiment! But even after four blocks there, a whole lot of sitting and four blocks back, I was spent when we got home. My body let me know that I needed to rest now. Luckily my parents had an outing planned with Kiddo1 so I took Baby2 to bed for her feeding and relaxed all afternoon.

An evening walk around the neighborhood on Friday night

Otherwise, I’ve been pretty good physically. Sure, things are sore “down there,” but not “sit on an inflatable donut” sore, so that’s nice. We started taking an evening walk around the block on Friday night. After Saturday’s walk I vowed to walk two blocks tonight, although after this morning I might stick to just one block again. No need to push it. I’m just happy to get out of the house for a bit and Baby2 seems to love the fresh air.

Here are the gross parts of my postpartum period, so skip this paragraph if you’re queasy. My lifesavers for healing “down there” have been Earth Mama Angel Baby’s New Mama Bottom Spray and, what some like to call Peri Pops (pads doused with witch hazel and frozen – freaking heaven). I had used both every time I peed up until today, now I just use them when needed. I’m trying to wean myself. I’m also trying to cut back on the ibuprofen; I’m taking two or three doses a day, down from four or five 800 mg doses. I was super nervous about pooping for the first time because after my first pregnancy/delivery (with a third degree tear) pooping hurt more than anything ever had in my whole life. I had to scream and hold on to Mr. Handsome while I pooped. I shit you not (ha!). This time I started to get nervous because I hadn’t gone since Wednesday morning. But I finally pooped this morning and it went so well and I was so happy about it that I told Mr. Handsome! He was happy for me. One more gross thing, we took the placenta home and had it encapsulated. I’ve been taking placenta pills and I just drank some placenta tea since last night. Whoa. Too early to tell if it is having an impact, but the whole process was interesting to watch!

Enough gross stuff. And, I think, enough in general. That was quite a brain dump there (that I wrote over a few days) so I think I’ll go rest with my sleeping husband and baby. Yay!!

I took this fiber -

spun it into this yarn -

wound it into this ball -

and then knit it into this pair of capris for The Fraggle -

Every single stitch was incredibly thrilling. I am so in love with this yarn! So, here are some more pictures!

Three things about this knit -

1. The yarn – I already gushed quite a bit, I know. So here are the details. The fiber came from Dear Husband and is a superfine merino dyed in the Norway Girl colorway. It has more brown that was intended, so I got a great deal on it. I spun it on my new wheel (my first yarn on the Elizabeth I). I learned how to chain ply on this yarn and am so thrilled with the results.

2. The pattern – I totally wing baby pants and soakers, now. If you are interested in the details, I used my Ravelry project page to remind myself what I was doing, so it is all here.

3. The plan – I made this a bit larger than I needed. My hope is that they will still fit come winter, and then I will add legs to it with snaps. (More on that in the months to come, I am sure).

I literally enjoyed every inch of this project twice – first in the spinning and then in the knitting. It was an incredibly satisfying spin/knit.

And I have three feet of yarn left over!

As I finish up last minute things before baby comes, i had the chance to look at all the diapers I have to try with our little man.  I thought i would give a quick rundown of what we have, and as promised get reviews up as we use them.  We had early on decided that we wanted to use pockets as much as possible because they seem pretty easy.  The options seemed endless and quite frankly very overwhelming!  From etsy to ebay, instore options and online we didnt know what we wanted.  I looked at countless reviews and decided to get a few of a couple different brands to test and then go from there.  We have recieved diapers as gifts so we will take those into account as well.

• First off we have the Alva Baby Diaper.  Retailing online for about $6 shipped it is an “Onesize”(os) Pocket Diaper that comes with one microfiber insert. They come in snaps only  We have 5 total, 4 were shower gifts one we purchased.
• Then we have the AMP diaper.  They are an All in Two diaper, which means that a natural fiber insert is placed in the diaper next to baby’s skin, and not stuffed in a pocket.  They retail approx $17 a piece.  We purchased hemp inserts to go with these.
• Next is Babyland this again is a OS Pocket diaper that is sold in retail stores, ebay and online retailers.  We have 2 of these that cost us $3.5 a piece shipped.  They also came with one microfiber each, and can be snaps or velco
• Then we have 2 BumGenius 4.0 diapers in Aplix.  They are a OS diaper that comes with one insert and a doubler.  They are sold online and instore and retail for about $18 + shipping.
• Then there is Coolababy These are a bamboo charcoal diaper that is said to have healing proporties and reduced staining.  We received 8 in total as gifts.  They are sold online and in independent cloth diaper stores from about $4-$8 a piece.  They come with one microfiber insert and are available in snaps or velcro, we have all snaps!
• Up next is the Kawaii Pure and Natural Diaper of which we were given 3. This is the “newborn” option fron Kawaii Baby.  They are a 2 step rise diaper that fits from 6-15 lbs and comes with 2 microfiber inserts.  These retail from $7-8 an can be purchased online at various cloth diaper stores. These are velcro only diapers.
• Finally we have Sunbaby Diapers They are a 2 size diaper and we have a fair # of these in both sizes.  They come with one insert and cost $4.5-6 a peice shipped depending on what type of insert you choose; bamboo, microfiber, or blend.

We have a few NB covers and some prefolds for the very begining assuming he doesnt fit into his Pockets.  After He comes I will review each diaper as they are used!!

AiO: All in one, a CD that is all one complete piece and does not require any extra parts. Requires a new diaper each after each change and takes longer to dry.

CD: Cloth Diaper.

Covers: a waterproof (PUL) diaper that is placed over fitteds/contoured/flat/prefold diapers.

Fitted(s): (or contoured) are commonly made of cotton,hemp or bamboo. They are secured with Velcro/Aplix or Snappis and require a cover.

Inserts: Commonly made of microfiber or micro fleece, used to stuff pocket style diapers.

Nappies: the Commonwealth English term for diapers.

One Size (OS): a cloth diaper that has a series of snaps and (sometimes) elastic, that are used to adjust the diaper into multiple sizes as needed. They are designed for use throughout the whole time a child is in diapers.

Pockets: CD style with a “pocket” that needs to be stuffed with an insert order to be absorbent.

Prefolds: (or Flats) old fashioned diapers made of cotton that require a PUL cover.

Prepping: the processing of preparing a CD before first use, usually a series of 4 wash and dry cycles (instructions may vary by manufacturers).

PUL: Polyurethane Lining, the waterproof fabric that makes up the outer layer of most cloth diapers, covers are made of this.

Repelling: when a diaper is coated (often with soap or diaper rash creams) and urine cannot absorb and therefore leaks. See: stripping.

Reuseable diaper: Another term for cloth diaper, used to disassociate from the ‘old fashioned’ idea of cloth diapers.

Snap-ins: a PUL liner that is snapped into a cover. Example: gdiaper brand diapers.

Sprayer: an accessory used to clean CDs, uses a special attachment to the toilet waterline and waste is sprayed into the toilet.

Stripping: the process of ridding CD of residue causing repelling issues. Sometimes done by boiling or a series of extra hot wash cycles or washing with Dawn dish soap.

Wetbag: waterproof bag used for soiled diapers while away from home.

Coconut oil has a very low melting point so it won’t coat cloth diapers causing them to repel. It is a great skin moisturizer and has tons of other uses.

You can cook with it (so delicious for popping corn), moisturize your skin and hair. It is good for treating skin rashes, stretch marks, and eczema. It has antibacterial and antiviral properties and I also good for your metabolism… Amazing! Personally, I used it to treat my baby’s cradle cap: I applied it to his scalp after each bath and brush his head with a cradle cap brush.

Regardless of whether or not you are cloth diapering, after learning so much about the benefits of coconut oil, I believe it’s a good idea to keep a jar of coconut oil handy. With so many possible uses, you’ll be finding yourself using it all the time.

A few tips on purchasing coconut oil:

Look for ‘Organic virgin unrefined coconut oil’. (refined is not recommended as it loses some of its beneficial properties in the process)

Depending on when and where you purchase it (temperature wise) the jar may be filled with a white waxy looking substance, that is coconut oil in its solid state. Otherwise, if it’s warm enough, it will actually look oily.

Beyond all the different types and styles of cloth diapers, there are tons of colors and patterns available. These aren’t you grandma’s diapers…

Bumgenius 4.0 Pockets

Let’s start our “catch up” with the obligatory monthly photos.

“Whoa, twelve months, huh?”

A life-changing twelve months it’s been!

“I don’t have time for photoshoots. Gotta crawl!”

Yet another photo shoot done in multi-parts due to an uncooperative subject. Sometimes you just need to pause for snacks.

“I sit still for strawberries.”

And yes, she held the sign during most of her lunch.

“That berry wasn’t very filling. Must. Eat. Paper.”

Whew. There you have it. I promise to keep posting monthly shots, but I am DONE with the sign-wrestling.

Besides, we’ve moved on to more exciting things…like standing up in bed.

“I did it all by myself!”

And speaking of independence….here’s wishing you all a lovely 4th of July!

I had one pack of newborn size disposables that I had received at our baby shower. My goal was to not buy any disposables. At about three weeks of age, once his umbilical stump fell off and the circumcision had healed, I knew it was time.

My diaper had been prepped and assembled for a while at that point. I began with 4 a day, only during the day. I had based my stash mostly on gDiapers with a two pack of Bumgenius 4.0 one size. The gDiapers are so cute! However, my whole plan on cloth diapers would soon change.

Life with a newborn is hard enough, that lack of sleep and meals can really take its toll on a woman. I was finding myself being too preoccupied with my newborn to take the time to wash and sun dry and clip and double stuff… Etc etc. As cute as they are: gDiapers were too much work. To top it off: we had leak issues.

This led me to trying out the Bumgenius 4.0. I was immediately sold! Once I set the microfiber inserts to the right size, Stuffing the pocket was simple. The fit and absorbency was perfect.

Once I ordered enough BGs to complete my stash I found myself cloth diapering full time… I haven’t touched a disposable since.

Moral of the story: don’t let the fear of getting started stop you. Not everyone is ready to dive in head first the first time. Start off in short spurts if necessary. Most importantly, beware that not every diaper works great for everyone. It’s always best to start off with a little bit of a few brands. There are diaper trials available through a few sites. If you decide to just purchase a few, rest assured that you can always resell the ones you didn’t like on eBay.

Happy cloth diapering!

The not-so-magic ingredients

Cloth diapering is a great way to save money. When I started rounding up my supplies to get started, I ran into the difficult decision of what cloth diaper detergent to use. First, I trekked around the internet looking for reviews from fellow moms on what worked best. Once I’d narrowed it down to a few, I went over to Amazon and searched pricing. Then it dawned on me… having to buy special cloth diaper detergent on top of my regular detergent for clothing isn’t very cost efficient, I thought the whole point of this was to save money. Since then, my friend gave me a recipe for her own homemade detergent. I tweaked it just a little because we have hard water.

Homemade Cloth Diaper Recipe

1 cup Super Washing Soda

1 cup Baking Soda

1 1/4 cup Oxygen cleaner (Oxiclean) {if you do not have hard water, use 1 cup}

Yet another use for the blender!

I put all the ingredients together in my blender until it became a nice fine powder. I use one tablespoon for a small load (6- 10 pocket diapers) and 2 tablespoons for larger loads. It does not bubble up so it is HE machine safe. You may or may not have already developed a washing cycle that works for you, here is mine:

(I have a top load HE machine, Fisher Paykel which is like the Maytag Bravos)

Cold rinse cycle (no soap)

Hot wash cycle (add soap)

Warm/Cold wash cycle (I like to make sure there isn’t any residue left over on the dipes)

I own pocket diapers with microfiber inserts, sometime they still have stains. I’ve found they are easy removed by sunning.

Depending on your washing machine you may have developed your

But is there a right way to shop online?

Here are some tips:

1. Choose a trustworthy supplier. I’ve been shopping online for 2 years now and my first concern naturally was “what if I don’t receive my package?”. Before you start ordering, you have to establish the site’s trustworthiness. For me, I look at the score.  At ebay, its the number beside the seller name. I believe it signifies how many transactions or items the seller has sold. So if the number is 700, it means the seller has sold 700 items. And under the seller’s name there is a feedback score – 100% positive feedback means that all those who left feedback of the transaction gave a positive comment.
2. Number of items being sold and presentation. Another source of online goods is Multiply.com. but multiply does not have a score. So how do you gauge if this is a legit site? I look at the number of items being sold, the comments and the look of the site. If there are a lot of items being sold, it might be a good indication of the site’s business. If a site only sells 10 items of varied interest then I don’t go ahead. Also, most online sellers invest on site appearance so if they have a personalized banner and it looks like there was a lot of work put into the site, I’d give it a try.
3. On hand or preorder. Be careful and ask if the items are on hand or on a pre-order basis if it’s not already inidicated. On hand means it is available and ready to ship. Pre-order means it is not with the seller and they will still have to buy it from the supplier and then shipped to you. Normally, they would require a downpayemnt for the item. I haven’t tried pre-order and it doesn’t mean its a scam. It’s just that most of the items I buy are needed soon so I don’t have time to wait. Waiting is usually anywhere from 2-5 weeks.
4. Contact the seller for availability. Though the items would be categorized on hand, not all suppliers are diligent enough to update their site every time there is a sale. Almost all sellers have their mobiles indicated somewhere, text them for availability.
5. Location and delivery. It would be good to know, but not necessary, where the seller and the item is actually coming from. You will have a gauge of how long and how much the delivery will be. Some delivery companies are Xend, JRS express, Air21. Within Metro Manila, you can get the package the day after they are shipped. So from the time you pay, it might take 2-3 days depending on the seller. I once had to wait for 3 weeks and I got really mad and told the seller. She gave me an extra toy for consolation but I never ordered from her again. Some delivery companies offer insurance for an extra charge in case the package gets lost. Thankfully, this has never happened to me.
6. Payment. Most sellers take payment via bank deposit. This is where the trust issue comes in. Once you’ve given the payment, you just have to trust that the seller will send the package. I have not been scammed in my 2 years of online shopping. You do have to note extra charges. BDO charges Php 50 regional fee if you are depositing to an account residing in another region (e.g. paying in Metro Manila and the account is in the province). Other sellers accept Gcash or Paypal. If with Paypal, sellers require you to shoulder an additional 3% fee, if I’m not mistaken, of the total amount.

So those are my learnings from my online shopping escapades.

Here are my favorite online sellers:

quack_oink  (ebay and multiply) sells cheap Avent products – the cheapest according to my research. They are from Iloilo but is very efficient and easy to transact with. Delivery charge is higher than usual because it’s coming from Iloilo. I usually get my package the next day if I pay in the morning.

• Avent nipples P250
• Avent 40z bottle to cup trainer kit (with rabbit design) P400
• Avent 90z cloudy 2pk P700

Choochoobaby (facebook, multiply and  ebay) sells everything – clothes, toys, furniture – for baby and kids. Kathleen Tanyen is from Davao and she owns several stores and markets her products online as well. She has new items almost every month. Also sells Babyland diapers wholesale – best deal as far as I know.

The Kiddie Closet (multiply and facebook) sells kids and baby clothes and accessories. Easy to transact with.

The Spoiled Girl (facebook and multiply)  sells kids and baby clothes and accessories. Has both onhand and pre-order items.

Mamaway    (multiply and facebook) is the official distributor of Mamaway nursing wear. Sells Lansinoh Breastmilk bag (25pcs) for Php 350 and Honeysuckle Milk bags (50pcs) for Php 650. Has a shop  at Greenhills Town Center, 2 Granada Street, New Manila QC

Mama Baby Love   (multiply) sells  different brands of nursing wear (bra and clothes), has the widest selection of breastmilk bags and accessories, baby carriers and a lot more items for moms and babies.

Hope you have as much fun shopping as I do!

My journey began when I made the decision to cloth diaper. I am inspired by women like my mother in law, she is an adamant recycler and compost user.

The idea behind being green is finding ways to produce less waste and thereby reducing your carbon footprint. The kicker with this is that you’ll often times find yourself saving money as well.

As an interior designer, one of my favorite things is recommending money saving products to my clients. That high efficiency washer you paid a little more for will end up saving you in water bills in the long run. The energy efficient appliances you purchase will do the same for your electricity bill. Replacing your old toilet, upgrading your water heater, or installing weatherproofing around your home are all great things to do. All of these have long term effects on how much you pay in utilities. Even starting small; installing aerating faucet adapters on your faucets is a simple step towards saving water.

Here is a list of “green” starting points:

Using natural household cleaners (behold the power of lemon juice!)

Eating organic

Reusable bags at the grocery store

Recycling

Composting

Limiting large appliance usage during peak hours

Cloth diapering

Using cloth napkins instead of paper

Buying local

Buying used (think thrift or Craigslist)

Glassware instead of Tupperware

Natural makeup products

Using public transportation (or walking!)

Weatherproofing

Aerating faucets

Solar panels

what are ways you live “green”?

Since I’ve written a few posts already about them, here’s a little round up of what I’ve had to say, in case any other parents-to-be are considering it!

Prepping new diapers

Traveling with cloth diapers and more on traveling with cloth

I made a someecard (feel free to share it!)

Cloth diapers and being green

Cloth diapers and saving moolah

Diaper washing routine

Guest post on elimination communication and cloth diapering

Fast forward four years later, we found out we were expecting again! This time I have been extremely lucky to be able to stay home with my baby (I have a wonderful husband!). Having more time on my hands, I researched a lot of things during my pregnancy; prenatal vitamins, options for birth plans, and cloth diapers.

I think, unfortunately, many people still think of cloth diapers as a piece of fabric held together with pins, how antiquated! The truth is there are so many styles and systems of cloth diapering and many of them are oh so cute!

I will go more deeply into brands and types later. For now I just want to add that, so far, we have not seen any diaper rashes on this little one.

TOP REASONS TO USE CLOTH DIAPERS

• Save money: the average family spends $1,600 on disposable diapers (from birth to potty training)
• No diapers ending up in landfills= Less waste: good for the environment, good for our planet!
• Better for baby: there are many facts available regarding chemicals involved in the production of disposables. (please see link below)
• You’ll never ‘run out of diapers’: no midnight runs to the 24 hour pharmacy to pick up diapers last minute.
• Far less (if not at all) ‘blowouts’: I think this depends on your brand but so far I have not had to tackle a blowout in a cloth diaper.
• So many cute possibilities: all cloth diapers aren’t just plain white with a lame ink print across the front, they’re available in so many colors and bright colorful prints!

If you’re considering cloth diapers and maybe aren’t ready to commit 24/7… keep in mind that using only one a day will keep 365 diapers out of a landfill

For cloth diaper facts, please visit http://www.realdiaperassociation.org/diaperfacts.php