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Posts Tagged ‘cloth diaper’Mom Guilt?Tuesday, July 13th, 2010I was reading some articles this morning, mostly about parenting-type subjects. One that I came across particularly caught my attention. It essentially was saying that the introduction of modern cloth diapers into the mainstream was adding yet another decision for mothers, thus perpetuating the potential for mom-guilt. Huh? As if Pampers saved our lives back in the 60’s when they came out with disposable diapers? I don’t know about everyone else, but I have some friends that use cloth and some that don’t. To the best of my knowledge both groups are happy with their decisions. If I had a friend that felt guilty for not trying cloth, I would probably suggest she give it a try! (Novel idea, I know!) Why feel guilty about something that is so easy and accessible to all? I have admitted in the past to having friends who will approach someone about not having their child correctly buckled in their car seat or hanging loosely in a sling and on a few occasions in the past I have seen a new mother with a very young baby timidly breastfeeding in public amongst negative onlookers and have grabbed my toddler, sat down next to her and whipped out a boob in solidarity. BUT – I can’t say I have ever been witness to or been involved in a conversation where mothers who used disposable diapers have been looked down upon or made to feel guilty, sounds like another excuse to say something negative about cloth diapering to me. If using Pampers makes you feel guilty…DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT! Big News at bumGenius!!Monday, June 28th, 2010The big news arrived last week via blog from Cotton Babies – they are coming out with something new, exciting and special…BUT that means the retirement of the ever popular and loved bumGenius 3.0 One-size cloth diaper. I was a bit stunned because although they aren’t my favorite, I know many, many people who cloth diaper and use ONLY these. My tall girl grew out of them before she turned 2 in the rise and I ended up needing a whole new stash – so my guess is something that might last a *bit* longer? Here’s a snippet from their entry: “Something fun and new is coming. But that usually means that we have to say goodbye to something else. So, it is with slightly heavy hearts that we have to announce that we have discontinued our highly acclaimed bumGenius 3.0 One-Size Cloth Diapers.“ We still have a limited supply of these at Maine Cloth Diaper, so if you are freaking out or need a gift, get over to the site and put in your order right away or give us a call. Cotton Babies goes on to say how excited they are about their new diaper and are confident that we all will be too. They are planning to unveil the new diaper TOMORROW… So Stay tuned! Happy Earth Day!Thursday, April 22nd, 2010Greetings earth lovers! We wanted to extend a Happy Earth Day to all our readers – its ironic how people have been asking all day long what we are doing for Earth Day. As users of cloth diapers, recyclers, conservationists and more – everyday is earth day for us and as it should be. Without our mother earth where would we be? Its amazing how much can be wasted when you don’t think about the things that are consumed in the average everyday life – things like food packaging, disposable diapers and wipes, excessive paper towels and napkins…..toilet paper even. In observance of Earth Day, if each of us can find one thing that we are used to using and throwing away and replace that with a reusable alternative, think of how much less trash there would be. If each of us could plant a tree or a plant or clean up some trash from an area near us – just for this one day a year. Unfortunately in most communities Earth Day is not a major holiday, we can all change that for the future. You don’t have to be an activist if you do not choose, but do be active and help preserve our mother earth for generations to come. Happy cloth diapering and happy Earth Day everyone! Dry Max….huh?Friday, April 2nd, 2010So has everyone heard about the buzz surrounding the new Pamper’s Dry Max Diaper? We were talking about it around the store – definitely not in a good way though. Supposedly they have been able to improve upon the “core” of the diaper so that it absorbs so well that they were able to remove all of the wood pulp and a few of the extra cushiony layers, including the mesh. After having a few conversations with other cloth diapering moms, I decided to surf around the net to find out exactly what they did to this “magic core”. Well to my surprise, but I am not sure why….I can hardly find a thing!! They have definitely done a great job of saturating the google organic search results with mommy bloggers that they have either paid or offered free product to who are doing so-called “reviews” and “giveaways”……after scrolling through 15+ pages of search results I still had not found one thing that talked about exactly how they improved the absorbancy. I can only image some crazy souped-up version of those toxic polyacrylate gel pieces – making these beasts even more toxic then the rest of the disposable diapers on the market. The only negative things that I could find were irrate parents who were mad that the first batches of this new diaper were marketed in the same packaging as their old diapers as well as an overwhelming number of parents claiming that their child had gotten terrible diaper rash and blisters from these “miracle diapers”. How sad… Many parents said that they came to realize that what appeared to be their same old pampers had changed, when their child developed the rash and they took a closer look at their most recent pack of diapers and contacted Pampers. The other note from many of the blog comments I read was the overwhelming chemical scent, which only makes me think my original theory is probably correct. I hate to judge, but if something smells THAT bad, do you really put it on your baby? I certainly wouldn’t and think its tragic that people have come to trust big business so much that they would. Every day I read or hear something that makes me even more proud to say that I cloth diapered my daughter – I only hope to be able to encourage others see the light. We welcome your comments and thoughts! Stripping Recap…Monday, March 1st, 2010I know the title sounds a bit suggestive – but here in cloth diaper world it means something completely different!! As a seasoned cloth diaperer will tell you, it’s almost impossible to keep your diapers 100% build-up free no matter what laundry detergent you use. The more additives and chemicals in your detergent, the more you will probably have to strip them, that is the general rule. Ways to know that you might need to strip your diapers -
The best and easiest way is to use a good squirt of the original Dawn dish liquid in your SUPER hot wash. This probably means you might have to turn up your hot water heater’s mixing valve for a little while – depending on the size of your water tank, doing this an hr before you wash should do the trick. After the hot wash (or 2 if you want) make sure to run the rinse cycle until there are no bubbles as it is agitating. The other way that I have found will really kill the nasties especially if you think you might have reoccuring yeast or something else (or you just cannot find the original Dawn liquid) is to boil. It sounds daunting, but trust me it really does the trick. I use my largest lobster pot and a big pair of tongs and do them in batches. Be careful with any diaper with PUL in it, I usually only boil those for a few mins and I stir the whole time (you probably don’t have to bother with your covers if you don’t want to), but other diapers especially my prefolds and inserts, I just boil the crap out of them. Next I take them from the boiling water with the tongs, put them straight into a sink full of cold water and then wring them out well. You can also put them into the washer and run a spin cycle if you don’t want to wring by hand. Follow either of these methods with a good hot dry and voila – clean, build up and nasty-free diapers. They will be like new. If anyone has questions or suggestions, please feel free to leave them in the comments! Happy stripping everyone! A Great Mom ReviewThursday, February 18th, 2010A close friend and cloth diaperer of one (and soon to be two!) called me the other day asking my WHY I hadn’t told her she needed a diaper sprayer a year and a half ago when I helped her choose her newborn stash! I guess my asnwer should have been because I’m crazy, but the fact of the matter is that my daughter just wasn’t the super pooper that her son is. Her husband had actually just recently told her that the poop scraping and the dunking were really getting to him. I told her that she didn’t have to dunk but she insists that this poop is…well….you get the point. Anyway, with their second on the way and the prospect of having two under the age of two in cloth and all that poop was really daunting for him and he was thinking about switching to disposables <<gasp>>. Well diaper sprayer to the rescue. They got one, installed it in a jiffy and presto – one more family saved from disposable diapers. She tells me its her new best friend Just thought I would share, another happy cloth diaperer! Rash Trouble-shooting…Wednesday, January 20th, 2010 We hear so many Moms and Dads talk about different types of diaper rashes and we give out lots of advice as well as having the unique opportunity to learn lots of great things from our friends and customers as well. We thought we would share some of that insight and hopefully at the same time get our readers to give their advice or ask questions at the same time.First thing is first, figure out what is causing the rash – then you can treat accordingly. Here are the things we usually find are the culprits. 1. It’s yeast. There are lots of ways to treat this – prescription, over the counter and homeopathically. Talk to your health care provider if you suspect your baby has a yeast rash. It’s also important to make sure your diapers aren’t re-infecting your baby with yeast after they are being treated. Usually a couple of really hot washes and a hot dry will do the trick – but some stubborn yeast will take a boiling to be gone for good. 2. It’s an allergy. This could be due to the material of your diaper, your detergent or both (don’t forget about your wipes and/or wipes solution as a culprit too). It also could be that your diapers have a build up. Not all inexpensive detergents that you buy at the grocery store are bad if your baby isn’t very sensitive, but they do tend to build up quicker on the diaper and require boiling or stripping more often. If you suspect that your baby might be allergic to certain materials, start by cutting those diapers out of your rotation that are made of man made fibers – microfiber, suede cloth, non organic fleece, etc. 3. You are leaving the diaper on too long between changes. This happens usually if you are lucky enough to have a baby that sleeps through the night, or takes long naps. If you are lucky enough to have this problem, your baby’s rash could be from prolonged contact with urine or what some people call an “amonia burn”. If you suspect this is the culprit of your baby’s rash, try using a paper, silk or fleece liner between the diaper and your baby’s skin. These liners will often help wick the moisture away from his/her skin well enough to last them through the night or a longer nap before starting to irritate that delicate area. 4. It’s a food allergy. Lots of parents don’t consider this, but it is definitely something to mention to you baby’s practitioner if all else fails and the rash still persists. 5. Baby’s bum needs a little airing out each day! It may sound messy, but its true and works like a charm. It’s amazing what a little air time each day can do for the health of a little one’s diaper area. Try putting down a large beach towel and even a trash bag underneath if you have a heavy wetter! This is also a great opportunity to start learning your child’s elimination cues and perhaps get a head start on potty learning. There are definitely many other types of rash out there, these ideas are just the most popular reasons that we find as the cause for diaper rashes. If you suspect that your baby may have some other problem or a more serious rash, please see your pediatrician or homeopath. We welcome all comments, questions and suggestions – have a great day and Happy Diapering! Come on, we know everyone LOVES Facebook!Monday, October 19th, 2009Well so do we, and we would LOVE to get some good conversations started over there. Right now we are pretty much using it to let people know when we update the blog, have a sale, posted some pics, etc but we would love for everyone to feel like its a fun page to visit each time you log into FB to share funny stories, tag us in pics of your kids, whether cloth diapered, extended rear facing, using eco friendly products or toy, anything! Who doesn’t love to look at cute pictures of kiddies anyway? It also would be a great place to ask questions or get opinions, as you would not only get the worldly wisedom of MCDC (lol) but of other like minded parents. Something driving you batty?? Did someone make a comment about your *huge* bulky diaper bag full of fluff, or your sling (poor baby doesn’t have a stroller), or *gasp* ask you why you can’t just use a bottle when you leave the house? I bet lots of us have been in the same boat atleast once as well. Did you see a new type or brand of diaper and want to know if we have it, have tried it or are planning to carry it? We have some great new proucts – hats, boots, adorable Halloween babylegs. We also now have in the new biodegradable liners for the Gro Baby diapers, so if you use G-diapers or sposies and want to try something new, we have that too. I personally think these are a much better all around design then the G-diaper inserts. Have a great day, happy diapering….oh and see you over on Facebook! No Changing Table?Thursday, August 6th, 2009I was talking to a friend this morning, both of us have a youngster in diapers (cloth to be exact!) She has had a few annoying experiences lately with being at a place that didn’t have a changing station and we were talking about alternatives and generally griping about how we can’t imagine why a business wouldn’t think to install one in their restrooms. Additionally we were talking about how annoying it is that larger places such as malls and amusement parks don’t provide anywhere for a nursing mother to nurse her child although they don’t mind giving us a dirty look when we do it out in the open (I supposed that is a whole other topic though…) Both she and I are on the lower maintenance side to how we change our kids I would say; out on the grass, back of the car, in mid air, you name it I think we have tried it. It gets trickier when your child gets heavier (my case) or squirmier (her case!) – you need a safe, clean place to lay your child when out and about and you need to change a diaper. The car is hot and cramped, there isn’t always a nice grassy piece of land and you don’t always have a friend with you or one that wants to hold your child in the air while you unfasten, wipe and re-fasten! Several times in the past 2.5 yrs when I have been at places with no changing facilities I say something. I am not typically rude, but try to be as firm as I can when mentioning to an owner or manager how inconvenient it is for a parent. Sometimes, if my comments seem to be going unheard I will even add that the inconvenience does stick in my mind and most definitely influences my decision as to whether or not to return or to choose another more family friendly establishment. Typically though, I feel like the suggestion is usually heard and hopefully considered. Other than helping to raise awareness for those in charge of these public establishments, the only other advice I can think of to offer would be to invest in a traveling changing system. We have a nice one at the store made by Ergo that holds all the components needed for an impromptu change and can be laid on the floor, the beach, someones bed or couch and even right on top of the typical plastic changing table we all hope to find in the ladies/gentleman’s room! The Ergo changing pad works either with your current ergo carrier/backpack system or on its own with a convenient shoulder strap. Good luck everyone – oh and happy diapering! The Good, the Bad and the Ugly…Thursday, July 9th, 2009In my 2+ yrs experience with cloth diapers, I can think of 3 main types of poop – the Good the Bad and the Ugly! How, might you ask, can poop be Good? Well once you have read the Bad and the Ugly, it will totally make sense! Good poop is that poop that your baby makes in his/her first 6ish months, mainly breast milk poop. On a cloth diaper, this poop is just left as it is and the diaper is then thrown into the pail and washed right in your washing machine. No, your washer won’t have poop in it, it won’t even smell like poop, it all will wash right down the drain with the water. This early poop is totally washable – so easy! The second type is the poop that your baby starts to have that more resembles regular old poop, once they start eating more solid foods. This is what I call the Ugly! Sure its gross, but Ugly poop will roll right off your diaper and into the toilet, so no matter how ugly it is, it’s easy to be rid of – right into the toilet and flush it down! The last type is the Bad poop, this poop needs to be flushed yet it does not just roll off the diaper and drop in the toilet, it sticks to the cloth! The first few times you find this poop in your child’s diaper, you might really question your desire to cloth diaper, thinking to yourself, or even out-loud to your partner “What were we thinking????” In my experience there are 3 viable option for dealing with this, if your child is one of those that frequently produces this “Bad” poop – like mine! 1. A paper diaper liner. These typically are made from rice paper or similar and resemble toilet paper, although much stronger. The way these work is that you lay them in the cloth diaper on the top closest to your child’s skin and they usually catch the bulk of the poop that would need flushing. Then you just lift the liner and the poop out and flush the whole thing. Additionally, most of these are made so that the ones that are just peed on can be washed and dried with your diapers and reused – they are also great for protecting your cloth diapers from diaper cream. 2. A rubber scraper or spatula, something designated just for scraping poop from cloth, washed off in the sink and stored in your bathroom. This is my personal method – yes we do have a small rubber scraper labeled “poop” in our bathroom. I usually keep it on the back of the toilet, but if we have *special* company coming, I store it under the sink! 3. A diaper sprayer. This is a great gadget that I have heard RAVE reviews about. It is easily installed on your existing toilet, hooked to the toilet’s water supply and its high pressure spray allows you to spray the poop from the diaper directly into the toilet. Parents also say its great for rinsing out the potty chair during potty learning! Please feel free to comment and share your experiences and tips! Happy diapering |
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