What I'm Up To

Hello! It has been way too long (again) since my last post but I'm back! Thankfully my baby has been sleeping for the past few weeks and I'm getting back into the swing of normal life. I have several goals for this month, which are as follows:

Work out regularly. So far so good on this one. I'm still struggling a bit with getting back into my running routine but hopefully I can figure that part out too.

Participate in the 4th Annual Flats Challenge. The challenge starts one week from today and I'm excited to participate for the second time. I did it in 2012 and enjoyed it. Last year, we were getting ready to move and I was 7 months pregnant so I sat that one out. The flats challenge requires that you use flats throughout the day and try to use them at night as well, and that you hand wash all diapers that are used for a week. I adore our Blueberry bamboo flats and use them most of the time on my baby although I tend to use different diapers for overnight. So our night diapers will be a little different than our usual routine. And handwashing will obviously be a little different from our usual routine too. I am excited to participate again, though, as my first experience was very eye-opening! First of all, I was reminded just how versatile flats are for any cloth diapering mama. Second, I discovered that handwashing wasn't nearly as tedious or awful as I somehow imagined. I have no doubt that I will learn new things with this challenge as I will have 1.25 kids in diapers (my oldest is nearly potty trained but he still wears cloth trainers or diapers at nap and nighttime). I will be doing several posts next week on this topic so you will be able to see how it is going :-)

Continue to clean up my diet. I have been working on my diet and tracking calories in an effort to lose weight. I was doing great until I got sick a couple weeks ago. I had even dropped a few pounds and fit into my skinny jeans - woo hoo!! Anyway, the scale has crept a little in the other direction in the past few days but I have continued to watch my calories. What I have discovered is that my diet/calories are great through the week but I just wreck it every weekend. I plan to rectify that going forward. A little cheat/wiggle room here and there is fine, but I am focused on eating better through my weekends as well going forward. I'm hopeful this will help me reach my fitness and size goals.

Finally, I'm thrilled that it is FINALLY spring! I'm excited to get outside more with my kids. We have been taking lots of walks and going to the park but I'm looking forward to doing lots more in the coming weeks as well.

Tiny Fluff

The last bit of pregnancy is long, exhausting and emotional. But the excitement of bringing a tiny baby home is thrilling too. One of the things I'm most excited about is using my newborn cloth diapers. I mixed up our stash a bit from what we used with Andrew and I'm pretty stoked to try the new stuff out. For Allison, I have the following:

24 Diaper Rite newborn prefolds
24 Green Mountain Diaper preemie prefolds
2 Snappis
4 Blueberry Mini Coveralls
2 Bummis Super Brite covers
3 newborn Proraps
2 Thirsties XS covers
4 Swaddlebees Capris, size 1
12 newborn Swaddlebees Simplex

This sounds like a lot (and it is a pretty good-sized stash) but I don't expect these will all fit at once, either. I know there is a lot of size variance in the covers in particular. And I'm not even sure we will use the preemie prefolds. Our newborn prefolds were too big and bulky on Andrew for the first couple weeks so we used more disposables than I liked. I bought the preemie prefolds for a great price since they are seconds (diapers with minor flaws) and figured we would have them on hand in case our newborn diapers are too big for Allison too. The price for the two dozen preemie prefolds was less than the price of one box of newborn Pampers, so why not get them? Seconds sales are awesome!

This is a newborn Swaddlebees Simplex. These didn't exist when Andrew was born but I'm really excited to try them in Allison. I'm planning on bringing her home in a Giraffe one just like this one :-) I am also pretty excited about my first-ever cow-print diaper.

Finally, here are some of our prefolds and covers. Isn't tiny fluff just the sweetest?!

Fabric Softener, Who Needs It?

Growing up and into early adulthood, I thought fabric softener was a necessity. I mean, if I didn't use it, I would surely have crunchy, staticky clothes, right? And it smells so yummy! I had heard of using vinegar as a softener but I hate the smell of vinegar so I certainly didn't want my clothes smelling like it. Well, fast forward to when I was pregnant and researching cloth diapers. Fabric softener is a huge no-no as it keeps the diapers from absorbing properly. Diapers that don't absorb = no bueno. So,  I just wouldn't use softener on my diapers, right? Many things I read recommended not using it at all as it can (supposedly) leave residues which will create problems for diapers even if you just use it on your regular laundry. *sigh* During this time, I also read of numerous other reasons to not use softener, including the following:

• They contain chemicals which are linked to a variety of health issues including neurological disruption, lung irritation, allergies and even cancer. Those wonderful scents I mentioned earlier singlehandedly cause lots of issues for people with allergies and asthma.
• The liquid softeners are known to make clothing more flammable. The manufacturers even warn against using them on children's pajamas for this very reason.
• It makes your towels repel just like diapers and really should never be used on them. This makes sense, I just never really thought about it.
• It just isn't necessary. HUH?? Of course it is, right? Many sources mentioned getting dryer balls to increase dry time and decrease static but they aren't even necessary.

So, I decided to try to eliminate fabric softener from our routine. Guess what, I don't miss it at all! Apart from the strong smell (which really bothers me now), I don't think it ever did anything for my clothes. I have also tried using vinegar in the softener dispenser on my machine (more on why in another post) and it works wonderfully! There is no vinegar smell at all afterward, I promise! Static is a non-issue too, so long as I don't overdry the clothes.

I also purchased some wool dryer balls. These help a bit with static (again, I only have issues with it when I overdry clothes). And they definitely help things to dry faster. But they're noisy and our laundry area is next to A's room so I don't use them too often. You can also buy dryer balls which are scented with natural oils if you really wanted clothes and linens that smell yummy.

I am thrilled with this little accidental discovery as it is one less thing we have to buy or store. And I am excited to have eliminated a few more chemicals from our home. We have been softener-free for about 18 months and I really don't miss it. I just kick myself for buying it for so long! You should try leaving it out for several loads of laundry as well and see what you think.

Getting Down & Dirty With the Truth About Cloth Diapering

Ever since I was a child, I planned on cloth diapering. My parents cloth diapered me and they always spoke pretty positively of their experiences. Add to that, my desire to live with the fewest chemical exposures realistically possible, especially for my baby, and I was all about exploring cloth diapering. When I found out I was pregnant, I envisioned the old fashioned system my parents used - prefolds and rubber pants. I hoped there were better options but was willing to consider these, especially if I could find a way to stay at home with my baby. I quickly discovered that there were loads of options for diapering my child! And that this would be totally doable. There is a lot of false information about cloth diapers which seems to have permeated our modern culture, though. I'm here dispel some of those false ideas. Here goes...

 1. Today's cloth diapers involve rubber pants and other antiquated supplies. Technically, they can if you want them to. But I don't know of a single mama who chooses to use rubber pants. Options abound and diapering can be as easy as you want, with many diapers functioning as a single piece which is used just like a disposable. And with options as adorable and simple as these, who would ever choose rubber pants? See below for images of the Swaddlebees Capri covers, some of my personal favorites! The Capris, like many covers, can fit for a long time. (I bought these when A was around 9-10 months old and I expect they will fit him through potty-training.)

 2. Cloth diapers are unsanitary. Wrong. Diapers should always (in my opinion) be washed in hot water with the proper amount of detergent. This alone will kill most bacteria. A splash of bleach can also be used sporadically (and should be used if there is yeast or Staph infection) if needed. Beyond that, the dryer or the sun will further sanitize the diapers. Did you know that the sun's rays do that? They also help to make stains disappear, which is handy for diapers and kid clothes in general. Cloth diapered kids tend to have fewer rashes and avoid the exposure to controversial toxic chemicals such as dioxins. In recent years, many questions have also been raised regarding the safety of the absorbent gels used in disposables. Furthermore, many cloth diapers are breathable, which is healthier for baby's skin. The chemicals found in disposables are linked to cancer, reproductive problems, chemical burns and skin irritation. 

3. Cloth diapers don't work as well as disposables. Sorry, but this one is wrong too. With any diaper (cloth or disposable), a good fit is imperative! This usually involves trying a few out to find out what works well for your baby. But with the right diaper, the dreaded blowout is rare!. Honestly, my son as yet to have a blowout in cloth. Don't get me wrong, we've had the occasional leak, including poo leaks, but they have been few and far between. Talk to any parent who has used both cloth and disposable diapers and they'll assure you that cloth will win this fight every time.

 4. Cloth diapering is expensive. Did you know that you can expect to spend approximately $2,400 diapering a child from birth to potty training? Please note that this is just the cost of diapers, not including disposable wipes and accessories like the Diaper Genie. Cloth diapering costs vary greatly based on the number of diapers purchased and the brand/type. A baby can be diapered with cloth for as little as $200. There are a plethora of options but a full stash of big brand all-in-ones (one of the most expensive cloth options) only costs $800, so it's still far cheaper than disposables. And the diapers can typically be used through multiple children or sold to recoup some of the original investment - you certainly can't do that with disposables! Many parents (myself included) also use cloth wipes, which saves even more money.

5. I send my child to daycare, so I can't cloth diaper. Not necessarily. From what I've read, laws on this subject vary greatly between states. Some states completely prohibit cloth diapers in childcare facilities (why, I have no idea) while others have little to no regulations on the subject. I've been very pleasantly surprised that every daycare I have used or seriously considered welcomed them. This has shocked me since I live in an area where very few parents use cloth. Plenty of providers will use any diaper you provide but I'm a proponent of using a simple, disposable-like option such as an all-in-one or pocket diaper and always providing a clean wet bag do store them. These aren't the cheapest diapers but they are the simplest to use. I would certainly find out what your daycare's parameters are before buying a stash. Cottonbabies.com offers the full line of BumGenius diapers which are very daycare and babysitter friendly. One of them, the Elemental, is shown below. (Forgive the messy picture, but I wanted to show all the layers, which are sewn to the diaper. Just snap it on baby and go!)

6. Cloth diapering isn't really very Eco-friendly because of the extra electricity and water required for washing. There is certainly extra laundry involved with using cloth but it is only 2-3 extra loads per week, as I wash every 2-3 days. Unless you have multiple children in diapers, you really shouldn't need to way more frequently than this. There are many different scenarios with regard to laundry cost but the actual cost differs greatly based on your cost of utilities. You don't need a fancy washer to use cloth. In fact, the old fashioned top loaders are generally considered the best washers for getting them clean. And most detergents can be used. For us, our utility bill has gone up since having our son but it has only gone up a very small amount (maybe $10-15 a month?). Not all of this increase is related to diapers as he generates plenty of dirty clothes and bedding too. And there is obviously additional wear on your washer (and dryer if you don't line dry). On the flip side, there are never late night diaper runs (which also require fuel and wear on your vehicle). When one considers the paper, water and petroleum products that go into making disposables, shipping them and getting them to and from your home, cloth wins again, hands-down.

Like many things in life (and parenting in particular), there is no right or wrong. Cloth diapering has definitely been good for my family, but I realize it isn't the right solution for everyone. I am obviously passionate about cloth, personally. I just hope that new or soon-to-be parents will consider the issue objectively rather than from assumptions.

Flats Challege - Final Thoughts

First of all, I apologize that this post is painfully late. Still, I really want to write my final thoughts regarding the Flats Challenge, using flats and hand washing diapers. So, onto those thoughts!

I was surprised at how much I actually liked my flats. My son pees a lot when he goes and they certainly aren't our best option as I ended up with a couple leaks during the week. I have to change A every two hours on the dot when using a single large flat or I am tempting fate and risking leaks. Still, I am convinced that my son is a heavy wetter (the term cloth diapering mamas give to kids who pee more than average). We use heavier duty diapers for day-to-day which work great but I believe that flats would work well for most babies, including mine, if I didn't have the resources to buy other diapers. If I used flats daily, I would definitely use something else as a doubler for him, such as small flats, flour sack towels, preemie or newborn prefolds, etc. As I've mentioned before, flats are extremely economical so I was very pleased to discover how versatile and easy they are to use. It excites me to think that many mamas truly could diaper their baby from birth to potty training on a very limited budget!

I was also very surprised that hand washing wasn't that bad. Don't get me wrong, I still use my fancy washing machine and I have a whole new appreciation for it. (I know I'm a spoiled mama!) But hand washing in my camp bucket was very doable. I think it could be done long-term but one would really have to be dedicated. And it did take me 20-30 minutes a day to hand-wash the diapers and covers and hang them to dry. Finding the time for hand washing was certainly the toughest part of the challenge. It also was physical work to wash the diapers. If I did this all the time, I would definitely have some buff arms! I frequently hang my machine-washed diapers to dry, inside or out so the time spent hanging them and taking them down didn't faze me. Line-drying is a great way to decrease your utility bill and, when dried outside, the sun keeps your diapers fresher, helps sanitize them and gets rid of many stains.

There were several things I learned from hand-washing, which included the following:

• Flats truly are the easiest diapers to wash by hand. They are very thin and you can really move water through them, which is important for getting a diaper clean. They will also dry very quickly since they're thin. Thicker diapers can also be hand-washed and it isn't the end of the world (I hand washed Flip organic inserts during the challenge without any issue). Sure they require a little more work (which would, admittedly, get old if I were doing this every day with no known respite). Yet, it wasn't a big deal for just one overnight diaper a day. If I were hand washing every day, flats would certainly be my diaper of choice, though. They're so thin that it's easy to move water through them and really get them clean. Plus, they dry super-fast! I definitely can't argue the drying point with my Flip organics, which took 3-4 times as long to dry.
• The camp-style washer was/is worth it's weight in gold. It got the diapers so much cleaner than I expected and I didn't have to touch them while washing! The fact I didn't literally wash them by hand meant that I could use our hottest water too, which I prefer to do when washing diapers. 
• I only needed a teeny bit of detergent to wash. I used my regular detergent (original liquid Tide) and I quickly learned that I was using way too much. Rinse, rinse, rinse. We also have soft water, so I really should have known better. Still, lesson learned.
• Again, it really wasn't that bad! If I didn't have power or my washer was out of commission for a few days, I wouldn't hesitate to grab my flats and use this system for diapering. 

All in all, I am very glad I completed the Flats Challenge! It gave me great insight into the most basic forms of cloth diapering and really made me think about how things used to be done before modern cloth diapers and washing machines.  I would love to use my experiences to help others, in particular, less fortunate mamas looking for economical diapering solutions.

Flats Challenge: Day 4

We're 4* days into the Flats Challenge and going strong! Truthfully, it's going significantly better than I ever expected.  We've still had just one leak (we're still not using flats overnight, either).  I've been pleasantly surprised at how well they are working for us. And I am thinking I just may leave them out and continue using them, for around the house if nothing else. Also, the hand-washing isn't nearly as bad as I'd expected it would be.  Sure, it's time-consuming and I'm doing it every day, but it really isn't bad. I have plenty of diapers but washing a day's worth of diapers and covers takes about 20 or so minutes. And washing and rinsing IS work. I definitely feel like I'm getting a good workout for my arms.  But it is all manageable.  I've been fortunate that I've been able to put everything outside to dry the past few days, too.  I have a clothesline in my laundry room for indoor drying too, but I really love to dry diapers outside.  The sun bleaches stains and UV rays work to help sanitize them - both of these things amaze me.  A clothesline is a cloth diapering mama's best friend! I've been shocked at how quickly the flats dry, too. They are completely dry after a couple hours in the sun on these breezy days. The covers dry very quickly as well.

I have discovered that not everything is rosy about hand-washing. Namely, pocket diapers are definitely harder to get clean than flats and covers. But they have still come cleaner than I expected they would. I may have a couple more stains than I would normally have they look pretty darn good.  I also have to work on them a little more, though. I'm also finding that it takes our overnight diapers a long time to dry (we use a Flip organic insert and a Flip stay-dry insert).  They seem heavier than normal when I hang them up to dry, so I assume I'm just not getting the extra water out of them like my washer does. If I were doing this long-term, I'd probably try rolling these in a clean, dry towel to get the extra water out. But I'm too lazy to do anything else at this point...they're just taking a couple hours longer to dry than they usually would.

All in all, I'm feeling much more confident about recommending and using flats. We'll see how I feel after another couple days ;-)

*If you've read the official challenge information, you've seen that it just started yesterday and goes through next Sunday. Since we have plans for the long weekend, I opted to start two days earlier and will stop the  challenge this Friday. I'm still getting my full week in, but didn't want to mess with the project while traveling and enjoying the holiday.

Flats Challenge: Day 2, Laundry

Today's the day that I've been anxious about - laundry day.  In general, laundry has always been the scariest part of cloth diapering.  Buying cute little diapers and putting them on my baby is easy! Most people who have never tried them are terrified of the poop, but even that isn't bad. (Really, cleaning it off the baby is almost always the worst part.) Anyway, I digress. The host blog for the Flats Challenge is Dirty Diaper Laundry. This is the second time they hosted this event and they have several resources posted on their blog, including a tutorial for building a camp style washer. After watching their YouTube tutorial, I was convinced that the bucket washer was definitely worth the $12 or so it would cost me.  So off I went to buy a 5-gallon bucket with a lid and a toilet plunger. Basically, you drill a hole in the lid of your bucket which will allow the handle of the plunger to fit through it. Then, you can drill holes in the plunger itself but this is considered optional (from everything I've read, this is well worth the time and energy it takes). Apparently, if you don't drill holes in the plunger, it will suction to the bottom of the bucket pretty strongly.  Since I've used a plunger for its intended purpose, I decided to trust the online recommendations to drill the holes.  Here are a few pictures of my finished product:

I think the bucket is pretty self-explanatory - you put the diapers (or whatever you're washing) in it with some soap and water and seal the lid, then plunge away!  I have been taking them out and hand-rinsing once they've agitated and soaked in the soapy water (I'm using our rarely-used, extra bathtub for this project.) . All in all, I've been pretty pleased with how clean the diapers appear to be getting from hand-washing.  Here's an example of a once-poopy pocket diaper after it was cleaned in the bucket washer:

There's a slight stain, but as any mama, cloth diapering or not, would tell you, poop frequently stains.  After they're all washed and rinsed, I hang the diapers on the line outside to dry (please ignore my ugly propane tank in this photo - there are a few things about country living that aren't beautiful and serene and this is one of them).

In my next post, I'll update you all on how this challenge is going, from diapering to the hand-washing.

Flats Challenge: Day 1

Flats Challenge Rules (summarized):

• Use flats for one week
• Doublers or additional inserts can be added
• They can be used in pockets
• The flats and everything used to diaper baby must be hand-washed

Well, we survived our first day of the Flats Challenge! I was sick with allergy issues yesterday, so that made this experiment extra "challenging".  I bought flats and tried them a few months back. They are so economical and easy to care for that I really wanted to love them, but they weren't the right tool for us. Still, they are so cheap and versatile, I hung onto them. They are great for cleaning (mopping, cleaning glass, soaking up messes, etc). They are also much easier to get clean since they're so thin, and they line-dry quickly. And they're cheap! You could, theoretically, diaper a baby from birth to potty-training for less than $200 using these and some basic covers like the Thirsties Duos. These virtues make them ideal for many budget-minded mamas. And many other mamas get them for camping or mission work, where resources are scarce.

Typically, "flats" are simply one big piece of birdseye cotton or flannel. We have a couple dozen Diaper Rite large flats which I'm using this week, which are birdseye cotton. We also have a couple dozen small flats which I have kept for diapering a future baby as a newborn.  I bought ours at Diaper Junction for $22 per dozen (the small flats are cheaper). I originally purchased flats thinking I could stuff our pocket diapers with them but they can be used folded in a variety of ways too.  Since they are just cotton, a cover must always be used to create a waterproof barrier.

Here is a picture of a flat and some covers we like:

This is a large flat, completely unfolded and two of our covers. We use Blueberry Coveralls, Flips and Swaddlebees Capri covers but we usually use Flip organic inserts in them. We also use pocket diapers for daycare, grandparents, sitters, etc. I also greatly prefer the pockets when A is having tummy issues...they're much easier to clean poo out of. I like the simplicity of pad-folding the flats and using them in the covers.  So, for this project, we really are just substituting a flat for a Flip organic insert...pretty easy!

Here is a picture of the pad-folded flat in the cover, ready for A to use:

Again, we use these covers with a similar system on a daily basis. I greatly prefer covers with the flaps built into them (our Blueberry Coveralls do not have these but they are great for nighttime).  The flaps just hold the diaper in place nicely.

As I mentioned before, you can also fold flats in a variety of different ways and put them on the baby in that way. Here's an example of the flat folded into an origami fold:

This fold (and most others besides the pad-folded flat) require using pins or a snappi to attach the diaper to the baby. Truthfully, I don't have the time and patience to fold diapers like this all day, nor to master the skill of getting them on my squirmy, active baby. But I have to say that they look pretty cool!

Anyway, our first day was fairly uneventful.  Flats aren't as absorbent as our standby, the Flip organic inserts, so I have to change A every 2 hours or we're risking a leak.  A seems to pee more than the average kid, though and these really work great for many kiddos.  I'm finding that these work better now than they were a few months ago (likely b/c A is eating more solids and drinking less milk than he was).  We made it through with one little leak (mama pushed over the 2 hour mark). Otherwise, they worked better than I'd remembered from a few months back.  I also did not use them overnight (which I'm supposed to do). My plan was to use our usual Flip organic insert with a flat (we usually use a Flip Stay-Dry), all in a cover.  But the flat was bulkier than the Stay-Dry and I just couldn't get a good fit. I knew we were destined for a crying kid with wet sheets. And sleep is worth more to me than this project. So, he got his usual solution, but I'm hand-washing it with our flats and other daytime solutions.

Tomorrow, we'll talk about the scary part of this experiment - the whole hand-washing thing.

Living green - things we're already doing

I first started thinking about going more "green" when I planned to get pregnant. My first goal was to create a healthier home for my family, but I also enjoy saving money and am all about helping the earth where I can too. I started contemplating ways to create a healthier home.  After a bit of research, I realized that we were already on the right path with several things we were doing in our home. Since that time, we've  tried some new ideas as well. These are some things that our family is already doing which are healthy and green and most of them save money too.

• Use a steam mop. These mops simply use steam to clean and sanitize floors. Since most of our home is hardwood or tile and we have a little rugrat, ours gets plenty of use. I love, love, LOVE our steam mop for a variety of reasons - there's no bucket to haul around, it's faster  than traditional mopping and, best of all, there's no chemicals! The only maintenance is washing the microfiber pad after each use. We have the Bissell Steam Mop (shown below) which I would highly recommend to anyone.

• Minimize paper towel usage. I've recently seen lots of buzz about "unpaper towels" such as these.  All of this buzz has made me wonder how many paper towels most people use and for what purposes?  We've always used lots of reusable alternatives in our home.  Some of these include the following:
• Kitchen towels and hand towels for hand-washing and drying dishes
• Flour sack towels for washing/drying produce and covering yeast breads
• Shop towels and old t-shirts for general cleaning
• Old bath towels for cleaning spills
• Microfiber towels for cleaning glass
• Baby washcloths for cleaning A's hands and face (especially after mealtimes)

We still use paper towels for a few things in our home, but they are pretty much relegated to really icky chores like cleaning up large pet messes, cleaning the toilets and cooking bacon.  We currently use less than 8 rolls a year which seems reasonable to me.

• Skip the dryer when you can. Get a basic clothesline (or make one) and dry your clothes outside.  The sun will work to sanitize and freshen your clothes and you'll save a little money.

• Eliminate unnecessary toxic chemicals from the home. We don't use air fresheners and don't burn candles very often. Sadly, these things bother my allergies too much to be used in our home  (I have to cheat with the occasional candle, though, because I genuinely enjoy them).  But in general, they are just unnecessary chemicals which compromise air quality. A far bigger elimination for us was no longer using fabric softeners. My original reason for eliminating fabric softener from our laundry routine was related to cloth diapering (see next bullet) and the fact that softeners can create problems with the diapers. After a bit more research, I was far more concerned about eliminating it for health reasons.  Commercial fabric softeners and dryer sheets contain chemicals which are linked to a growing list of health concerns from asthma and lung irritation to cancer. This was enough for us to go softener-free.  Oddly, we don't miss it at all as our clothes are just as soft without it. 
• We use cloth diapers. Cloth diapering means that our baby isn't exposed to the toxic chemicals in commercial disposables and he rarely gets rashes or has blowouts.  Plus, they're cute and they're very easy to use. We use a variety of brands and types, but the BumGenius 4.0 (shown below) diapers are among our favorites.

 





We still have a long way to go but I feel like we have a nice start.  My current focus (and the subject of a future post or two) is detoxifying our cleaning routine, which I know is completely unhealthy as it is. What is your family doing to be greener that works well?