Archive for the ‘Cloth Diaper & E.C.’ Category

Putting It All on the Line

Posted in Cloth Diaper & E.C., tagged Castile soap, cloth diaper care, cloth diapering, cloth diapers, Diaper, Laundry detergent, Vinegar, Washing, washing cloth diapers, Wool on July 8, 2011 | 6 Comments »

Welcome to the First Annual Freedom of Cloth Carnival

This post was written for inclusion in the Freedom of Cloth Carnival hosted at Natural Parents Network by Melissa of The New Mommy Files and Shannon of The Artful Mama. This year’s carnival will run from Sunday, July 3rd through Saturday, July 9th. Participants are sharing everything they know and love about cloth diapering, including how cloth has inspired them.

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Occam’s Razor Cloth Diaper Washing

Cloth Diaper Prayer Flags

When I first started, I used a complex system of swishing in the toilet, wet pails, and expensive, but Rocking, laundry soap. Things have changed for the better over the last 5 years. I’ve found the simplest way is the best way to keep our diapers clean and odor-free, while still being economical and environmentally friendly.

I have a variety of diapers in our stash: prefolds, all in ones, fitteds, pockets, wool and PUL covers. With the exception of the wool, which I’ll go into later, I treat all of the rest of the diapers the same.

I shake off any poo into the toilet. Then I toss all of the diapers in a Diaper Champ. I try to wash a full load which is every 3 to 4 days.

I use homemade detergent and I fill the fabric softener container in my washer with white vinegar. If it is an especially smelly load, I’ll fill a downy ball with white vinegar as well. About once a month, I wash a load two times with vinegar only (no detergent) to strip off any possible detergent residue.

I hang everything up on the line outside and let the free sunlight and breeze do the job of drying, bleaching out any stains, and removing any smells for me. My colorfully dyed diapers, are hung on the line under the porch roof so that they don’t fade. I still have very little issue with staining even though they are not in the direct sunshine.

Image by JPL via Flickr

Wool covers are turned inside out and hung in the sunshine instead of washed. This takes the smell out surprisingly well and I only find the need to wash wool covers if I notice an odor when wet. Approximately every 2 months, I hand wash the wool by hand with a couple of drops of Castile soap, then hang to dry. I re-lanolize after every other wash (so, about every 4 months.) First, I rinse out the castile soap. Then, I melt 1 Tbspn Lasinoh by placing it in a cup of very hot water, then stirring it into a sink filled halfway with slightly warm water. I swish the wool covers until they feel well lanolized. And finally, I rinse and hang them on the line to dry.

Have you tried hanging your cloth diapers on the line to remove stains and smells? I’d love to hear from you.

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Visit The Natural Parents Network for the most up-to-date news on the Freedom of Cloth Carniva!

Please take time to read the submissions by the other carnival participants on the following themes. Articles will go live on the scheduled theme day :

Sunday, July 3rd, 2011: Cloth Related Recipes — Writers share their best cloth-related recipes and tutorials.
Monday, July 4th, 2011: Choosing Your Cloth Style — Today’s posts discuss parents’ individual journeys to finding the cloth diapering “style” that best suits their family.
Tuesday, July 5th, 2011: Cloth Diapering Must Haves — Parents talk about the most important items in their diapering “stash” and why they love them.
Wednesday, July 6th, 2011: Wordless Wednesday, Inspired by Cloth — We asked parents to share their favorite cloth-related photo with us and turned them into a fluffy Wordless Wednesday photo montage on the Natural Parents Network. Link up with your own Wordless Wednesday post!
Thursday, July 7th, 2011: Cloth Through the Stages: From Infancy to Potty Independence — Today’s participants explain how cloth diapering has served their family throughout one or more stages of their children’s lives.
Friday, July 8th, 2011: Cloth Troubleshooting and Laundry Day — Seasoned cloth diapering parents share their best tips and tricks for handling common cloth problems and tackling the diaper laundry.
Saturday, July 9th, 2011: Inspired by Cloth — For today’s theme, we’ve asked writers to explore the ways cloth diapering has inspired them to become “greener” overall.

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Guest Post at Natural Parents Network

Posted in Cloth Diaper & E.C., Guest Post, tagged Babies, cloth diaper care, cloth diapering, cloth diapers, Diaper, diaperfree, e.c., elimination communication, Family, freedom of cloth week, guest post, natural parents network on July 7, 2011 | Leave a Comment »

Welcome to the First Annual Freedom of Cloth Carnival

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This Post is Brought to You by the Letters E and C

Today, I am honored to have a guest post on Natural Parents Network entitled: How I Found Elimination and Communication in EC. Please stop by and give it a read.

(corrected link)

And please leave some comment love on the other participants’ posts today while you’re at it. Namaste

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Visit The Natural Parents Network for the most up-to-date news on the Freedom of Cloth Carniva!

Please take time to read the submissions by the other carnival participants on the following themes. Articles will go live on the scheduled theme day :

Sunday, July 3rd, 2011: Cloth Related Recipes — Writers share their best cloth-related recipes and tutorials.
Monday, July 4th, 2011: Choosing Your Cloth Style — Today’s posts discuss parents’ individual journeys to finding the cloth diapering “style” that best suits their family.
Tuesday, July 5th, 2011: Cloth Diapering Must Haves — Parents talk about the most important items in their diapering “stash” and why they love them.
Wednesday, July 6th, 2011: Wordless Wednesday, Inspired by Cloth — We asked parents to share their favorite cloth-related photo with us and turned them into a fluffy Wordless Wednesday photo montage on the Natural Parents Network. Link up with your own Wordless Wednesday post!
Thursday, July 7th, 2011: Cloth Through the Stages: From Infancy to Potty Independence — Today’s participants explain how cloth diapering has served their family throughout one or more stages of their children’s lives.
Friday, July 8th, 2011: Cloth Troubleshooting and Laundry Day — Seasoned cloth diapering parents share their best tips and tricks for handling common cloth problems and tackling the diaper laundry.
Saturday, July 9th, 2011: Inspired by Cloth — For today’s theme, we’ve asked writers to explore the ways cloth diapering has inspired them to become “greener” overall.

Read Full Post »

Wordless Wedneday: Freedom of Cloth

Posted in Cloth Diaper & E.C., Green, Wordless, tagged Babies, cloth diaper care, cloth diapering, cloth diapers, Diaper, diaperfree, e.c., elimination communication, Family, freedom of cloth week, natural parents network, wordless wednesday on July 6, 2011 | 8 Comments »

Welcome to the First Annual Freedom of Cloth Carnival

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My Three Sons in Cloth

Nat: Don't Fall! Cloth in the Clouds 1week old

Gan: Smiling in his Cloth Diaper 11mos old

Bud: Mellow Cloth in Clouds 1 week old

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Visit Natural Parents Network for the most up-to-date news on the Freedom of Cloth Carnival!

Please take time to read the submissions by the other carnival participants on the following themes. Articles will go live on the scheduled theme day:

Sunday, July 3rd, 2011: Cloth Related Recipes — Writers share their best cloth-related recipes and tutorials.
Monday, July 4th, 2011: Choosing Your Cloth Style — Today’s posts discuss parents’ individual journeys to finding the cloth diapering “style” that best suits their families.
Tuesday, July 5th, 2011: Cloth Diapering Must Haves — Parents talk about the most important items in their diapering “stash” and why they love them.
Wednesday, July 6th, 2011: Wordless Wednesday, Inspired by Cloth — We asked parents to share their favorite cloth-related photo with us and turned them into a fluffy Wordless Wednesday photo montage on Natural Parents Network. Link up your own Wordless Wednesday post there!
Thursday, July 7th, 2011: Cloth Through the Stages: From Infancy to Potty Independence — Today’s participants explain how cloth diapering has served their families throughout one or more stages of their children’s lives.
Friday, July 8th, 2011: Cloth Troubleshooting and Laundry Day — Seasoned cloth diapering parents share their best tips and tricks for handling common cloth problems and tackling the diaper laundry.
Saturday, July 9th, 2011: Inspired by Cloth — For today’s theme, we’ve asked writers to explore the ways cloth diapering has inspired them to become “greener” overall.

Read Full Post »

100 Yard Stash

Posted in Cloth Diaper & E.C., tagged Baby, Bumgenius, Bumkins, Bummis, Children, cloth diapering, cloth diapers, Diaper, diaper stash, e.c., elimination communication, Fuzzy Bunz, Motherease, prefolds, Wool, wool longies, wool shorties on July 4, 2011 | 11 Comments »

Welcome to the First Annual Freedom of Cloth Carnival

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Finding Our Cloth Diaper Groove

Trapped under the Stash

For a family that practices elimination communication, I find it amusing that we have tried so many types of cloth diapers. We began with a diaper service and the good old combination of prefolds and flats, snappy clips and belts, with some plastic pants and Velcro closing Prowraps and Thirsties covers. This system worked beautifully for us with our first son, Nat, as it was a good compromise between my urge for eco-friendly options and my husband’s fear of poop (first time parents, you know.) I’ll share more about our E.C. journey in Friday’s post.

A friend gave us some Bum Genius pocket diapers, which I really like for when we were out of the house. Pulling back the Velcro is far easier when pottying while out than managing a prefold with snappy clip on a squirming baby. We cosleep and sometimes I will miss a cue while sleepily breastfeeding. Those overnight wetting seem to happen in groups, and it becomes exhausting to strip, wash, and remake our king sized bed almost daily. In addition, when we do diaper at night, the Velcro on the covers makes enough noise that it would wake up the baby(ies).

Overnight Double Stuff Cloth Diaper

I purchased a stash of Fuzzy Bunz pocket diapersfor overnight because they have snaps and our experience has been that they contain leaks beautifully. I can even double stuff them for wet overnights.

When I was pregnant with our second son, Gan, I trolled Diaperswappers for some used all in one and fitted cloth diapers. I also couldn’t resist some of the fitteds and covers from Etsy. I registered for more cute pocket diapers like Happy Heinies. But, I ended up not liking the Happy Heinies very much because, while cute, they did not keep wetness against the skin for awareness and they had a tendency to leak if the lining was not meticulously aligned. I also added some wool longies and wool shorties from WAHM stores.

EC from birth (held over a prefold)

After Gan was born, we practiced elimination communicationfrom birth, which was a wonderful experience for us all. Post partum depression made part time e.c. a better option, as we relied on our cloth diapers primarily. I was already washing our diaper stash and felt it was foolish to continue using the cloth diaper service to wash our prefolds when most of those were dirty from wiping up misses. We switched to washing our own diapers and have never missed the diaper service.

I was feeling less comfortable with the chemicals in PUL covers and switched to using wool shorties and wool longies more often. I chanced upon a hand-dyed stash of Motherease bamboo terrycloth fitteds that I really liked. They are soft, absorbent, and easy to take on and off.

Pottying Together

When our third son, Bud, was born, I felt much more at ease being flexible with the combination of cloth diapering and e.c.ing.

Choosing from all of these different styles of diapers comes down to several factors:

Ease of putting on and removing
Whether the diapers allow baby to still feel wetness (important for maintaining awareness)
Leak Containment
Durability
Affordability

After almost five years of cloth diapering, this is the system that meets all of the needs above:

At home and out: Motherease bamboo terry cloth fitted diapers without covers or with wool or Bummis cover.
While out: Pocket diaper (Bumgenius or WAHM) or AIO (Bummis or WAHM)
Overnight: Fuzzy Bunz pocket diaper, sometimes double stuffed with microfiber and bamboo cotton inserts.

Do you use a little bit of everything or one style of diaper exclusively? I’d love to hear about your experience with cloth diapering and/or elimination communication.

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Visit The Natural Parents Network for the most up-to-date news on the Freedom of Cloth Carniva!

Please take time to read the submissions by the other carnival participants on the following themes. Articles will go live on the scheduled theme day :

Sunday, July 3rd, 2011: Cloth Related Recipes — Writers share their best cloth-related recipes and tutorials.
Monday, July 4th, 2011: Choosing Your Cloth Style — Today’s posts discuss parents’ individual journeys to finding the cloth diapering “style” that best suits their family.
Tuesday, July 5th, 2011: Cloth Diapering Must Haves — Parents talk about the most important items in their diapering “stash” and why they love them.
Wednesday, July 6th, 2011: Wordless Wednesday, Inspired by Cloth — We asked parents to share their favorite cloth-related photo with us and turned them into a fluffy Wordless Wednesday photo montage on the Natural Parents Network. Link up with your own Wordless Wednesday post!
Thursday, July 7th, 2011: Cloth Through the Stages: From Infancy to Potty Independence — Today’s participants explain how cloth diapering has served their family throughout one or more stages of their children’s lives.
Friday, July 8th, 2011: Cloth Troubleshooting and Laundry Day — Seasoned cloth diapering parents share their best tips and tricks for handling common cloth problems and tackling the diaper laundry.
Saturday, July 9th, 2011: Inspired by Cloth — For today’s theme, we’ve asked writers to explore the ways cloth diapering has inspired them to become “greener” overall.

Read Full Post »

Stir It Together

Posted in Cloth Diaper & E.C., Green, tagged baby wipes, cloth diapers, cloth wipes, Detergent, Diaper, diy detergent, diy wipe washe, homemade detergent, homemade wipe wash, make your own detergent, make your own wipe wash, OxiClean, Sodium bicarbonate, Vinegar, washing cloth diapers, Wet wipe on July 3, 2011 | 8 Comments »

Welcome to the First Annual Freedom of Cloth Carnival

Freedom of Cloth

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My Favorite Cloth Diaper and Cloth Wipe Wash Recipes

I have been cloth diapering since the birth of my first son almost five years ago. We began practicing elimination communication when he was about six months old, sometimes part time and sometimes full time. Cloth has been consistently used either on or under a baby’s bum or to clean up misses. I have 3 sons, each about 2 years apart, but have never had more than one wearing diapers at a time. Even so, a lot of cloth diaper and cloth wipe laundry is created. Over the years, I have developed a few recipes that have worked best for us for effective cleaning, environmental impact, and ease of use. Also, I like to ask my kids to help me make these recipes. The powder detergent gets hot and off gasses, so we usually mix it outside with the kids mastering the art of the slow pour while I stir.

Cloth Wipe Solution Recipe

1 cup of water

1 Tbsp of sweet almond oil, or coconut oil

1 Tbsp of Dr. Bronner’s Baby Mild

Mix ingredients and either a) pour into a spray bottle or b) pour over a stack of wipes in a reused plastic wipe container, Tupperware or wipe warmer.

The spray bottle method worked well for us until babies became too squirmy. Since I was gifted with a relatively useless wipe warmer, I found it had a dispenser hole large enough to accommodate cloth wipes and was leak-free. I just never plugged it in. While out and about, a flat Tupperware container worked well for wet wipes. I also use Seventh Generation wipes when we’re out. I toss them in the wash with the diapers then reuse them until they fall apart. I would assume you could do the same with any sturdy commercially available baby wipe.

Powder Detergent for Cloth Diapers Recipe

Image via Wikipedia

1 cup White Vinegar

1 cup Baking Soda

1 cup Washing Soda (and/or 1 cup Oxyclean, if you choose)

1/4 cup liquid castile soap

I find it easiest to pour the liquid soap into the bowl first, add the washing soda while stirring, then baking soda while stirring. This keeps it from clumping up too much. Next, I add the vinegar in small batches at a time. The mixture foams up and gets pretty warm (a great teaching moment about exothermic reactions if you are making this with help from the kids) The mixture is a thick paste at first that will break down into a heavy powdered detergent as you stir and stir and stir. If I’m doing this with the kids, we distract ourselves by singing “Stir It Up” by Bob Marley or chanting “Just keep stirring” by Dory from Nemo. There may be some hard lumps, try to break them down when stirring. I add 1-2 Tbspn to a front loading washer. Once the detergent has cooled completely, store in a glass jar with a lid to keep out moisture.

When I wash diapers, I add white vinegar into the fabric softener section of the washer for odor control (you could also fill a Downey ball with white vinegar) Our water is mildly acidic and mildly soft. So adjust the amount, according to your experience. I use this recipe for all of our family’s laundry, but I often wash loads with white vinegar alone.

I suggest doubling this recipe, but I do not recommend mixing more than a double batch at a time because of the exothermic reaction.

To dry both wipes and dipes, I hang in the sun. This also will remove any lingering stains or odors.

Have you ever made your own detergent? If so, what was your experience? I’d love to hear from you.

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Visit Natural Parents Network for the most up-to-date news on the Freedom of Cloth Carnival!

Please take time to read the submissions by the other carnival participants on the following themes. Articles will go live on the scheduled theme day:

Sunday, July 3rd, 2011: Cloth Related Recipes — Writers share their best cloth-related recipes and tutorials.
Monday, July 4th, 2011: Choosing Your Cloth Style — Today’s posts discuss parents’ individual journeys to finding the cloth diapering “style” that best suits their families.
Tuesday, July 5th, 2011: Cloth Diapering Must Haves — Parents talk about the most important items in their diapering “stash” and why they love them.
Wednesday, July 6th, 2011: Wordless Wednesday, Inspired by Cloth — We asked parents to share their favorite cloth-related photo with us and turned them into a fluffy Wordless Wednesday photo montage on Natural Parents Network. Link up your own Wordless Wednesday post there!
Thursday, July 7th, 2011: Cloth Through the Stages: From Infancy to Potty Independence — Today’s participants explain how cloth diapering has served their families throughout one or more stages of their children’s lives.
Friday, July 8th, 2011: Cloth Troubleshooting and Laundry Day — Seasoned cloth diapering parents share their best tips and tricks for handling common cloth problems and tackling the diaper laundry.
Saturday, July 9th, 2011: Inspired by Cloth — For today’s theme, we’ve asked writers to explore the ways cloth diapering has inspired them to become “greener” overall.

Read Full Post »

Wordless: Can you tell the TV is on?

Posted in Cloth Diaper & E.C., Wordless, tagged elimination communication, wordless wednesday on June 8, 2011 | 7 Comments »

Elimination Communication Together

Posted with WordPress on my BlackBerry while NAK in the dark (enjoy the typos

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Wordless: Prayer Flags

Posted in Cloth Diaper & E.C., Wordless, tagged cloth diapers, Diaper, elimination communication, wordless wednesday on May 25, 2011 | 7 Comments »

One of the reasons we chose to cloth diaper and practice elimination communication was to reduce our environmental impact. Every time the prefolds are hanging in the sun, I think of them as my own personal prayer flags for the Earth.

How about your family? What did you decide was best for your beliefs? Cloth, disposables, ec or a combination? I’d love to hear from you.

Posted with WordPress on my BlackBerry while NAK in the dark (enjoy the typos

Wordless: Puzzled by Breakfast? (touchstonez.com)
Kid-Dyed Silk Scarves (touchstonez.com)

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Wordless: Two To Go

Posted in Cloth Diaper & E.C., Wordless, tagged diaperfree, elimination communication, potty learning on May 4, 2011 | 8 Comments »

Big Brothers help Little Brothers learn to Potty

Gan is long finished with elimination communication at 2years 8months, but he’s passing on the tradition in this house of big brothers helping little brothers to learn about the potty.