Dirty Little Secret

We haven't been cloth diapering since we moved!  Initially it was due to the chaos, not having our washer and dryer hooked up, etc- but since getting settled we have tried to return to the cloth and L gets a horrendous rash after the first diaper.  I have stripped them, sanitized them, tried different soaps- nothing seems to be helping.  We made the decision to put away the cloth and use disposables till the underwear begins.  It's frustrating since one of the many benefits of cloth is the supporting in potty training.  But I have to say I am loving the convenience of disposables- they can hold more pee, L hasn't had a single rash with them, and no washing.  L was in cloth for 15 months of his life and it was especially trying while he was in daycare.  I'm glad we were able to do it and maybe with our next one we will try it again.  

(image via goodmama diapers)

Cloth and Craftiness

Countdown 6 days...

L had his 4 month appt today (a little late, but our original appt was cancelled- he is doing great in all physical/developmental areas btw). Our pediatrician is really sweet and L gave her many smiles and squeels. She commented on L's cloth diaper and how she hopes to use cloth with her next child. I was able to pass along info for Banana Peels, which is an online store that also has a show room near by. Having a show room/store is a huge deal because almost no stores carry a nice selection of cloth diapers. Online is great but it's important to feel them and see them to know what you really like- especially in the beginning.

We also received our wet bag from Monkey Foot Designs. It is absolutely perfect- great quality, adorable pattern (this is it). We needed a good wet bag to lug back and forth from daycare to home. Our daycare is awesome and will gladly cloth diaper as long as we provide the diapers and clean them at home.

Since L is getting close to the 6 month date (we are waiting till then to introduce solids), we picked up a cheap/functional high chair at Ikea (and a new cushion for our poang chair- it's great for nursing in). The high chair is just plastic so I decided to make a cushion out of some cute left over fabric. I was inspired by this design, but wasn't able to find the pattern for free so I improvised my own...it looks great from afar and ok up close...much like most of my sewing projects. So although he wont be eating with us for over a month (except for a breast milk popsicle which I am thinking of trying soon since he is teething so bad), he will be able to sit with us at dinner.

Cloth Diaper Update

 So I must admit that I have not been a devout cloth diaper loving mother.  I thought I would be but having a bunch of disposables on hand (gifted to us before L came) made it extremely easy to resort to sposies (cute name for disposables, ha!).  But we have finally started to increase the types of cloth in our stash which has made me appreciate cloth much more.  Prefolds are great and affordable, but the covers we have aren't very soft and I hated seeing red marks on L during changes.

I have however LOVED cloth wipes.  I don't know why anyone wouldn't use cloth wipes at home.  They make so much sense, clean better, and are easier on the skin.  We simply have a peri bottle of water with a little grapefruitseed extract in it to put on the wipes as needed.  We also just bought cheap gerber wash cloths and use them as wipes.  With many washes, they haven't started to tater yet.  And if you cloth diaper you wash at the same time, no extra work but a lot of less trash/spending!

Back to diapers- maybe I'm lazy, but all in ones/all in twos rock my world.  They are basically like a sposie but you wash them and reuse.  They are just a one piece diaper (or with a simple liner), so really easy and fast to use- plus the ones I have are super soft.  L has worn only cloth, for the last two days, and just one leak (probably due to me not putting a cover on very well- L was being incredible squirmy)!  We haven't actually had any leak issues with cloth yet (we did with huggies for a bit).  Yesterday D's mom took me and my SIL (a veteran cloth diaperer) to an awesome store that sells cloth diapers and other great baby products you rarely see off the internet.  I was able to pick up a couple fitted for night time, a wool cover (my first wool product!), and another grovia- they were perfect christmas presents.  So I now have a pretty good set going and hope to never have to buy a sposie again.

Cloth Diapering Begins

We are finally starting to cloth diaper, we have been slowly collecting what we needed.  Just got our Rockin' Green detergent, and pail liner.  Here is L wearing a prefold and snappi.  We are mainly using  Bummies covers.