Yay for Cloth Diapers

When you tell someone who is not familiar with cloth diapers that you are going to CD your child, they are going to tell you you're crazy. I had people talk about me like I was the worst mom ever. What was I thinking using these old fashioned pins and clotheslines when we have "new and better" technology?

Well, friends, I don't use pins and I only use a clothesline when I want to and I am extremely happy with my decision to cloth diaper. This post is for the mamas that are interested, but overwhelmed and are hearing (or saying) the same negative things I heard.

There are several different reasons we decided to CD. The main one was financial, but I also like the fact that I am not putting thousands of diapers into a landfill every year. I would also like to mention the fact that my littles are not being exposed to chemicals found in disposable diapers, but that's another story. You can read more about it here. I also like that cloth is said to make potty training easier and the fact that I don't have to run out to the store at 9pm when we have one diaper left.

First, let me go through some diaper types with you, because if you start reading a CD blog, you are going to get overwhelmed trying to figure out what the heck they are talking about.

As with many aspects of being a mama, you will have to figure out what you like best. Personally, this is my favorite. I use one of these covers (the green part- mine are Flip) until it gets dirty or stinky, wiping it out after each change, and a prefold or liner (the white part). Both the prefold and the liner are good options for these. You just have to pick what works for you. What I like about this is the fact that I am only changing and washing prefolds and not an entire diaper every time.

 

 

 

 

Something else to look at is if the diaper is sized or one size. Another reason I like these Flip covers is because they are adjustable, using snaps, to grow with my baby. We did use newborn size covers and smaller prefolds at first, but after about ten pounds. these started working great for us.

My second favorite option is the pocket diaper. This is a diaper that has a pocket where you can place a prefold or liner. These don't have to have a cover over them, so once they are stuffed you are ready to wear.

The all-in-one diaper (AIO) is similar, but it is already put together for you so you just put it on and take it off when it's wet or dirty- just like you would a disposable diaper. Here is a huge selection from Diaper Parties.

The all-in-two (AI2) is only slightly different from the AIO in that the liner is snapped in or is sewn in at either end. This is a more detailed description from Diaper Parties.

Other than just trying to understand what the different types of diapers are, I also get questioned about how my diapers are stored and how to organize the extra amount of stuff.

I have a very inexpensive three-drawer cart stored in the nursery. I didn't straighten them up before I took these pictures, so this messiness is how they look everyday!

The top drawer is for my covers and inserts (and also assorted socks and baby legs).

 

The second drawer is for my prefolds.

And the bottom drawer is for my pockets, AIOs, etc.

 

I have a diaper can with an extra large wet bag in it where dirty diapers go. I also use cloth wipes, so they go in there as well. Expect a post about making these in the near future. :)

When I have a full can, I just take the bag to my laundry room and dump it in. I use a quarter cup of my homemade laundry detergent and dry everything except the covers, which I hang to dry.

I have loved this cloth diaper journey so far and hope you will too! Comment or message me with any questions or suggestions.

Mommy's Mother's Day craft

I am always doing projects with my boys, but this one was a mommy project. I love to give semi-homemade gifts. Gifts that don't require a ton of effort, but have a personal touch. We have a couple people in our lives that, though they aren't technically "mothers" to us, feel more like it sometimes than our family. I like to do something special for them for Mother's Day, just so they know how much they mean to us. This project was for those people. It honestly cost me less than $6, about an hour including drying time and turned out great!

I bought a can of Krylon spray paint. Whatever you buy, just make sure it says ok for glass. I had a couple extra jars laying around the house so I wanted to use those, but I wanted something special for Carter's Sunday School teacher, so I found a pretty round vase for $2.97 at Walmart. I used Goo Gone to get the price sticker off and then cleaned the vase well with dish soap.

 

 

Then I spray painted the jars. Literally. It was that easy.

 

Then I added the flower I purchased (and one from last year's garden). Aaaaand, this is how they turned out.

 Not bad if I do say so myself!

Happy Mother's Day!

Adventures in Preschool: Earth Day

I love to use Earth Day as an opportunity to teach my little ones about the world around us and ways we can take care of it. We actually made a week of Earth Day and did Reduce, Reuse, Recycle and Repurpose projects.

Reduce: We are committed to reducing our environmental impact by growing some of our own food. I will have more gardening posts throughout the summer, but we got gardening season started by planting some seeds. This planter from the Lowe's Build and Grow clinic came at a perfect time.

Reuse: We reused pine cones from our yard to make bird feeders. This was a fun project and was age-appropriate for my three year old with a little help. I gave them plastic knives and a plastic cup of peanut butter and I attached a string to the top of the pine cones for hanging. They used the knife to spread the peanut butter on the pine cone. I then poured birdseed onto newspaper and they rolled their pinecones in it.

 

Recycle: I save our newspapers and cardboard to take to our local recycling center and my preschooler loves to help me. He really enjoys tossing our items into the appropriate bins and he understands that we take our used items there so people can make them into something new.

Repurpose: I save lids from Coca-Cola products for My Coke Rewards to get fun prizes for my boys and me, but those lids sometimes seem to take over my house! I am always trying to think of something to do with them and for our Earth Day (week) celebration, I thought it would be fun to use them to make caterpillars. I had my husband drill a hole in each of the lids. I then let the little ones decorate them with paint and string them together. If we did this again, I would probably use markers and glitter glue instead of the paint, but it made a fun little project and saved a few of those lids from going into a landfill.

Always remember, "We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our children."  -Native American Proverb

Happy Earth Day!

Adventures in Preschool: Shaving Cream!

I read this article not too long ago and it made me really want to try and work more sensory play into our days. You can read about our first experiment here.

Our sensory experiment today was playing in shaving cream. I used his little picnic table and just squirted the cream directly on it. After we were done, he loved spraying himself and the table off with the water hose, so this was a completely mom-free experiment. I have oodles of shaving cream in my coupon stash, so this was like a 25 cent project and he played with it for over an hour. I got to mop my floor, people! For 25 cents! Anyway, he really loved it and it was tons of fun to hear him giggling while I mopped.

How I am a SAHM: Homemade Laundry Detergent

When I wanted to stay home, we took a really close look at our finances to see what we spent the most on, what could be eliminated, etc. and realized that even with coupons, we still spent quite a bit of money on laundry detergent. We then decided to try making our own and it has worked out great! This post is to show you how we do it!

Recipe:

2 quarts water (boiling)

4 cups bar soap (grated) (We use Fels-Naptha, Zote or Ivory.)

4 cups borax

4 cups washing soda

 

You can find all of these ingredients in the laundry detergent aisle at your store. The soap is around $1 and the Borax and washing soda are $2-$4 each (in East Tennessee, anyway!).

 

1. Finely grate the bar soap. Add the soap to the boiling water and stir until it is melted.

 

You have to be patient during this step. This takes a while! I would also recommend having utensils just for making your detergent. You probably don't want to grate your cheese with your soap grater or make chicken noodle in this pot:

 

 

2. Pour the soap water into a five gallon bucket and add the borax and washing soda. Stir well until all is dissolved.

3. Add 4 gallons of water, stir until well mixed.

 

We went to Lowe's and bought this 5-Gallon Paint and Compound Mixer for $5. It attaches to my husband's drill and makes mixing very easy.

 

 

4. Cover pail and use 1/4 cup for each load of laundry.

 

After mixing, I put some of my laundry detergent in a juice bottle. This way, when I need to wash, I can just shake it up, pour into my measuring cup and into my washing machine.

 

Also, you can dissolve a bottle of Downy Unstoppables (add when you are dissolving the bar soap) or your favorite oil to give your detergent a scent if you would like.

For all the cloth diaper mommies, know that this recipe has worked great for us. I have to do an occasional sunning for the EBF poop, but my diapers stay very clean and I have had no trouble with build-up.

 

Please know that this detergent is different from what you are used to. It does not make foamy bubbles. It is not smooth and beautiful blue. The liquids and solids separate so you have to shake it up before you use it. That being said, we really have learned to love it and our clothes are clean, so overall, we are happy!

 

 

Ten Reasons Not to NOT Breastfeed

I hear stories from moms almost daily about why they are choosing not to breastfeed. Some are legitimate reasons. Most are not. This post is intended to debunk some of the misconceptions I often hear and hopefully provide some truth about breastfeeding.

Ten Reasons not to NOT Breastfeed:

1. "I have to go back to work."

Many moms are able to successfully go back to work and breastfeed. Being away from your baby obviously requires a little more effort at breastfeeding than having her right with you does, but it can be done- fairly easily even, in most cases! There are also laws in most states protecting your right to breastfeed at work, so that can be a great advantage to you.

2. "My mom didn't make milk."

Every breastfeeding situation must be addressed individually. The lack, abundance or just the right amount of milk is determined by many, many factors. And generally, what your mama had or did won't effect you.

3. "Everybody I know uses formula."

Though it may seem like formula is prevalent in our country, there are lots of breastfeeders out there! More than you think! You never know who or where you may find a breastfeeding advocate. And, most importantly, regardless of what others are doing, be confident that you are doing what's best for your baby.

4. "Nobody else can feed him if I breastfeed. I will have to do all the work!"

Let me be honest with you. Breastfeeding is a commitment. That does not mean, however, that you can never have help. There are many ways that you can be helped as a breastfeeding mother. If you choose, you can pump milk and have a helper feed the baby. My husband and I tag-teamed night feedings and he would change the diaper and I would do the feeding. I, personally, loved being the only one able to comfort and feed my child, especially in those first few days when everyone seems to want their hands on them. This is not true for everyone, however, but just know you do have options!

5. "My doctor, grandma, mother, friend, sister... told me formula is just as good."

I hate to argue with your grandma, but she's just plain wrong on this one. There are a zillion reasons that breastmilk is the best food for your baby. You can read more about some of them here.

6. "Breastfeeding isn't really cheaper for me. I'll just get WIC to buy me formula."

I hear this all the time and it is a huge misconception. WIC is an amazing program for people that need it. BUT, it is a supplemental program. Moms only get 25% of the formula they use through the WIC program. That leaves 75% that will be bought from YOUR money. Seriously $1,000- $3,000+ per year out of your pocket. That is not to mention additional healthcare costs of babies fed formula as mentioned here or here.

I also hear that the amount not covered by WIC can just be bought with food stamps. That might be true, but would you not rather buy food for yourself than baby formula? I would personally rather be eating lasagna than spending my food money on formula. Do your research before you assume you will have help in buying formula.

7. "If I did it, I would only do it for a few weeks anyway."

Any breast milk is better than none at all, so go ahead and try! And, once you have gotten through the first few weeks, you have gotten through the hardest part, so you can make goals that work for your baby and you as time progresses.

8. "My boobs, nipples, body... are too big, small, flat..."

There is no perfect body for breastfeeding. Your parts are perfectly made to feed your baby. No matter what size or shape. If there is an actual medical condition, there are many times that it can be easily corrected to ensure breastfeeding will work, but don't worry unless it is determined by a medical professional that there actually is a problem.

9. "I read this article that said if I breastfeed, my baby is going to get BPA through my milk."

Unfortunately, BPA is all around us. There have been some studies linking BPA to mother's milk, however, formula feeding mothers also face this challenge in the bottles that they choose to use and other environmental factors. I can promise you that the benefits of breastmilk are HUGE and we need to do lots more research before we start worrying about BPA in mother's milk.

10. "My diet is not good enough to give her all the nutrients she needs."

What you eat does not determine what your baby eats. Your milk is perfect for your baby no matter what your diet is. Though there are some suggestions for maintaining a healthy diet and lifestyle while breastfeeding, your baby will still benefit greatly from your milk, no matter what your diet.

Be confident in knowing that breast milk is the best thing for your baby, no matter what your circumstances are. Your body was made to feed your baby and I can't promise that it will be easy, but I can promise it will be worth it.

Toddler lunches- what will these little humans eat?

I have been blessed to always have babies that are really good eaters. However, within the last several months, I have begun watching a couple kids in my home while their mommies live busy lives and these kids are not quite as willing to try different foods. So, I have found myself getting creative to keep these babies eating well and I wanted to share some ideas with you.

My first tip for getting your little one to try new things is to get them involved. My little one loves to pick fresh veggies from the garden and snack on them right there in the yard. He loves watching the plants grow and is delighted to pick the fruits of our labor. Secondly, let them cook with you. In this picture, my toddler is simply sprinkling cheese on top of baked whole wheat spaghetti, but he couldn't wait to tell his dad that he helped with dinner and was also happy to eat two servings!

 

 

The next suggestion I have for you is to play with their food! If it looks fun, they are more likely to eat it! Even simple things like using fun plates makes my little one want to eat to get to the picture at the bottom.

 

 

I would also encourage you to change up your venue. My little ones love to eat snacks on the porch or on a picnic blanket at the park. Packing a lunch and taking it somewhere fun gives me kids willing to eat.

 

 

 

Lastly, I would encourage you to take foods and make them kid-friendly. My toddler will not eat a whole sweet potato or a slice of ham, but when I cut them into bite-size pieces, he can use his toddler-size fork and will devour an entire plate. I love foods like this, too, because I can use my food mill to make them into puree or "baby-led weaning size" pieces for my littlest one.

 



 

What are your suggestions for getting toddlers to eat healthy foods?