Yikes! Yeast!

It's been difficult to get on the computer to blog lately because I've been battling a baby who is in love with his new found mobility and into everything. Even worse, I've been battling an even bigger demon- YEAST!

For a while I thought that it was just eczema because it was just red, dry and almost scaly. I'm embarrassed to say that we ignored it for a couple of weeks if not longer because we thought it was nothing. Within the past week it definitely started to get worse and my aunt commented on how bad it looked (I didn't know that it wasn't normal dry skin) I looked into it and called my pediatrician. They didn't see us but from what I said over the phone, they agreed that it was a yeast rash and recommended using ointment usually used to jock itch and apply it three times a day.

I looked online and saw that yeast stays in diapers so I had to disinfect the diapers. I had a load of dirty diapers so I washed those normally and then when all the diapers were clean, I did a few disinfecting loads (eeek- 1 regular diaper laundry load and then 4 disinfecting loads... don't tell hubby that we don't need ANY more diapers). I put the water on as hot as it would go and then threw in three capfuls of bleach, a quarter size drop of blue Dawn, about 20 drops of tea tree oil and then three BIG squirts of Bac-Out in each load. I set the wash to do an extra rinse and then when that was over I set it back to extra rinse AGAIN so it did two extra rinses. Hopefully it works.

In the meantime we used G-diapers with the disposable inserts and 7th Generation disposable diapers. Honestly, I was surprised with how much I liked the 7th Generation diapers. I liked that they listed some of the ingredients on the panel and I loved that they were unbleached so they don't contain dioxin, one of the most toxic ingredients. Obviously, I'd rather use cloth every day to avoid all the other health hazards in disposable diapers but if cloth is absolutely not available, I would use these again. The G-diapers are okay and great for days like this when cloth just isn't feasible but for everyday use the three part system is just sort of tedious. Honestly, I think that regular cloth diapers, even prefolds are less work. When the baby goes poop, sometimes the insert bunches up and the plastic part that makes the diaper waterproof gets dirty as well. The plastic part is pretty difficult to spray clean too. My biggest complaint with the G-diapers is that with continued use, he gets nasty looking red marks on his hips from the snaps. The rash looked less painful!

Between using diapers that didn't have yeast built up in them and the cream the doctor recommended, we noticed a difference in his rash after the very first diaper! It has been about 2 and a half days now and the rash is completely gone. I also read online somewhere that both vinegar and tea tree oil kill yeast so I threw about an ounce of white vinegar and about 20 drops of tea tree oil in his bath (we use a big garden tub to bathe him, so if you use a regular tub, I would probably use less) to help kill anything that was still on his skin. I will continue to use disposable diapers during the night for a few more days and I think that I will gradually switch back to cloth this afternoon.

To combat yeast in the future, I will do my intense clean with the Bac-out, bleach and tea tree about once a month or once every other month. I will use Bac-Out in every wash like I used to (I stopped doing this shortly before the rash started... I hope I didn't cause the rash). I will use a fleece insert in his night diapers to keep him dry during the night since he will be in those wet diapers so long. Also, I think I might put tea tree oil in his bathwater every so often to kill any yeast that might be stewing on his body.

My Breastfeeding Story

I know, I know... another booby post!

I thought I'd let you in on some of the good things and bad things I've had to deal with through my short experience so far with breastfeeding.

The bad. Nolan was born via emergency c-section that I had to be sedated for. I didn't get to nurse him until about 2 hours after he was born, probably longer. We had latch problems because of my inverted nipples and we struggled for a couple days to find the correct size nipple shield and a comfortable nursing hold where my HUGE breasts wouldn't suffocate him. We settled on a larger than normal size nipple shield (not quite sure of the size) and the football hold worked wonders in the beginning. We eventually were able to utilize other holds like the cradle hold but that took a few months to get used to. Also we used the shield for an entire 4 months.

The shield was annoying, yes, but I couldn't imagine life any other way than nursing my baby so I stuck it out. It was tedious washing it before every feeding, struggling to get it on while he is screaming, readjusting every few minutes when it slipped off, worrying if he was getting enough milk because sometimes the shield doesn't allow the baby to adequately drain the breast... I just kept telling myself that there was no other way. Sure, I could pump and feed that to him but that was even more tedious to take the time to pump and then the time to feed him. Sure, I could pump a bit to get my nipples out and then feed him but again it took too much time and even then my nipples would only come out for a few seconds so if he didn't quickly latch on, I was stuck with an even more upset, frustrated and hungry child. Sure, I could feed him formula but I knew the benefits of breastfeeding outweighed my selfish annoyance with the shield so I stuck it out. I routinely tried to get him to latch without the shield but he would just get more and more frustrated so I eventually gave up and was content with the fact that we would always need the shield. At least I could still breastfeed and I'm thankful that shields exist to facilitate breastfeeding for woman like myself.

One day while latching on, Nolan kept pulling away from the breast immediately after latching on. The shield fell off and as I was messing with it in an attempt to get it back on, he latched on all by himself, without the shield! I was exhilarated but tried to be calm because I thought "hey this could just be a one time thing." Well, it wasn't. Although I kept the shields on my beside table for about a month afterwards, he NEVER used the shield again. Yay!

More problems. The shield made it difficult for me to breastfeed in public because my nipple had to be out in plain view for quite a while in order for me to attach the shield. Even now, without the shield, I am too shy (okay I'm not shy but I'm terrified of what people might say) to nurse where people might see. I've nursed in my car in the back of a parking lot a few times, in changing rooms a few times and my most public has been at our neighborhood pool with a blanket over us. I just started nursing in public recently and I feel a little bit liberated every time I do. I want to sing "I am woman hear me roar..."

I do think it would be so much easier to just be able to pop out a bottle of water, mix a little powder in and feed him where ever we are. Its annoying sometimes to have to go to the car or find a dressing room or walk to a more private place at the pool and throw a blanket over a wiggling baby. I'm terrified that some parent will come up to me at the pool and scream that they don't want their child to see something so private. Now as Nolan is getting older, I'm starting to hear things about when I should stop- some people even saying that I should've stopped already- so I'm terrified that people may think of me as one of those "freaks" who is going to be giving my child an after school snack of cookies and mama's milk. I know I shouldn't worry about people judging me when I KNOW that it is best for my child to be breastfeed for at least a year, but I can't help but feel a little insecure about it.

Even worse. Once we got rid of the shield, I experienced what most brand new moms experience. Painful, red, blistered, sometimes even bloody nipples! Ouch!

I still never questioned my commitment to breastfeeding because I knew that this would quickly pass. The pain was worst when he was latching on, so as soon as I got through the first minute or so of nursing, I was fine. When the blisters were at their worst, I pumped that side for a few feedings because it seemed to feel a little better with pumping. I applied lanolin like a crazy person before and after each nursing and the pain lasted maybe a week. It did come back a week or so later for another few days because I got lax with my lanolin and proper latch and positioning but we haven't had problems since the first shield-free month (knock on wood).

The wonderful. I feel proud every day of my commitment to breastfeeding. I know it is best for him and I know it is best for me. I am 100% sure that the benefits outweigh the downsides of breastfeeding. I weigh less now (about 30 lbs less!) than I did pre-baby. I KNOW that part of this is because of the breastfeeding (the other part is chasing him around the house, being able to walk with him as much as possible since I'm not working, and being able to cook as healthy as possible and eating out less).

I plan to breastfeed Nolan for at least a year and a half and maybe up to two years. I plan to pump and give him my milk in a sippy cup as he gets older (probably up to around 2 years) and nurse him to sleep as long as he wants (again... probably up to around 2 years). I love the bonding time we have because of it and I love just looking at him while he eats. He is changing so much, so quickly that it is nice to just have the quiet time with just him and I to relax and enjoy THIS moment.

If you are thinking about breastfeeding, give it a try. You never know how it is going to be until you try it yourself. Don't listen to others tell you how painful it is or all the downfalls of nursing- it could be different for you and even if you do experience some pain, it will pass. One great piece of advice I heard once regarding breastfeeding is "don't quit on your worst day." Its a great piece of advice that can apply for so many things in life but certainly for breastfeeding.

Breastfeeding Troubleshooting

Okay so I promised I'd let you in on some of the cool facts I'd learned about breastfeeding from my breastfeeding class that I took before Nolan was born. It was almost a year ago so bear with me but here are some of the big ones I remember.





1. Your milk doesn't come in until 3-4 days after you give birth. I thought everyone knew this but I'm including it because no one in my class knew this and almost every mother who I've spoken with who have "failed" at breastfeeding "didn't make enough milk" and quit before they even left the hospital.

2. Speaking of the "not making enough milk" excuse... Pumping after feedings will tell your body that your baby needs more milk at each feeding and will increase your supply. You will want to do this if you want to create a supply, particularly if you are going back to work. If you don't really need a supply, it's not recommended to do this because then you will create an oversupply and your letdown will be too strong.

3. Letdown is when your milk starts to come out a little faster for your baby. You will notice that your baby sucks really fast when he or she latches on and then after about a minute his or her sucks starts to become slower and stronger- this is when your baby have achieved letdown and the milk is coming faster so he or she doesn't need to suck as fast to get it.

4. Cluster feeding is when the baby eats a lot- sometimes only getting off the breast for a few minutes per hour and then right back on. This usually happens at night and during growth spurts. Cluster feeds help tell your body that it needs to make more milk for the growing baby. Growth spurts usually happen at 2 weeks, 3 weeks, 6 weeks, 3 months and 6 months. There are a few other "smaller" spurts that I hear mentioned usually (3 days, 7 days, 9 months are ones that come to mind) but these are the BIG ones. Our instructor told us not to get frustrated during these cluster feeds because you are providing the best nutrition possible for your growing baby. For me, understanding WHY it was happening really did make me feel so much better about having a baby hanging off my sore nipples 24/7.

5. Although it may be (IS) frustrating at times to be waking up in the middle of the night (multiple times!) with your newborn (or 6 month old), it actually helps to protect them from SIDS. Since breastfeed babies wake up so often at night, it is said that they sleep lighter and therefore are less likely to die from SIDS. This definately helped me MANY a night. I just try to remind myself as much as possible that I should be happy that he is waking up in the night because its just another way that my nursing him is protecting him from some of the horrible things that can happen to babies.

6. Our instructor taught us that the little whitehead looking things that develop on your breast during pregnancy actually secrete an oily substance that not only lubricates the breast to facilitate breastfeeding, but it is also similar enough to your amniotic fluid that it helps the baby to find the breast immediately after birth. Our instructor therefore noted that we should ask the staff at the hospital to NOT fully wash the baby until after the baby has had a chance to latch and eat. This actually came in handy for us because I remember telling DH (or screaming at him in between contractions) to not let them wash him off if I have to have a C-section (which I did).

7. One thing that I did not learn in the class but learned the hard way is that sometimes you may get a fever when your milk comes in. I seriously thought I was dying! I kept telling my husband that we needed to go back to the hospital (I think we JUST walked in the door and I started to feel like I was going to pass out, my boobs got rock hard in what seemed like 10 minutes, they felt HOT to the touch, and my temperature was like 102*). Thankfully my husband is proficient in his use of Google (OMGEEEE how did we live before the internet).

8. Kellymom.com has been another great source of information for me. One big myth about breastfeeding is that you can't drink. Kellymom's site debunks that myth for moms that just can't get off the bottle. WHAT?! I was drink-free for 9 FREAKING months... our anniversary trip to Sonoma/Napa... DRY for me- I deserve a little something. But key word- LITTLE. Just because Kellymom says its okay to have a drink or two, doesn't mean you can get wasted at your college roomate's wedding and then go home and feed the baby- probably not the best idea.

9. There are things that you can do and take to increase your supply. Whenever I feel my supply going down I take fenugreek for a few days (3 or 4 pills twice a day for about 3 to 4 days). I read somewhere that if you start to smell like maple syrup, you know you are taking enough. I bought my bottle of fenugreek at GNC. I also pump after every feeding, just for a few minutes so that it lets my body know that the baby needs more milk. Finally I drink some Mother's Milk Tea. Mine is from Traditional Medicinals and I get it at my local Kroger. It was hard to get used to the taste at first because it has a black licorace taste but I'm used to it now and actually enjoy it. If none of this works, I have heard there is a prescription medicine you can get from your doctor that might help as well.

10. Help is out there! Lactation consultants are usually available at every hospital so request that they come to your room to help you with latching, even if you think you don't need help. Also, check out La Leche League International and see if they have a local chapter where you can meet up with other breastfeeding moms for help and encouragement.

I'm sure there are more but again, it was almost a year ago so I'll edit and add more as I think of them. Happy World Breastfeeding Week!

World Breastfeeding Week: 10 Steps

World Breastfeeding Week is this week- August 1 through the 7th- and this year is the 20th anniversary. Yay!!! The theme of this year is "Breastfeeding: Just 10 Steps." Here are the 10 steps and how the hospital where I gave birth failed. Hopefully this year's theme will change the way my local hopsital sees breastfeeding so that more mothers in my area will be able to breastfeed.

1. Have a written breastfeeding policy that is rountinely communicated to all healthcare staff. In all honestly I can't fairly grade this because I don't know if they had a written policy or not but I can tell you that they surely didn't seem to because there were a lot of very different opinions on breastfeeding from each nurse that came into the room.

2. Train all healthcare staff in skills necessary to implement this policy. Again, I can't fairly grade this because maybe they did, maybe they didn't. There was one nurse in particular that was very helpful in facilitating our nursing but honestly I feel like the lactation consultants weren't even particularly helpful.

3. Inform all pregnant mothers about the benefits and management of breastfeeding. F. I honestly don't think that my OB mentioned breastfeeding even once in all my appointments. Even during the hospital tour it was not mentioned AT ALL. My husband and I took a breastfeeding class at another nearby hospital that we LOVED. They taught us information that really, really helped (I'll let you know some of their tips/tricks in another post) and some of the things we even had to tell OUR hospital about.

4. Help mothers initiate breastfeeding within a half hour of birth. D. I was knocked out for my c-section because the epidural didn't work so I didn't wake up until an hour after he was born and even then I feel that they didn't bring him to me fast enough (it was probably another 1/2 hour later). I tried to breastfeed as soon as he was brought into the room and the nurse noticed there were latch problems (I have/had inverted nipples). She helped out by getting us a nipple shield (which I had to use for the first four months).

5. Show mothers how to breastfeed, and how to maintain lactation even if they should be seperated from their infant. D. I was shown how to breastfeed but they seemed to want to give up because of my inverted nipples and having to use the nipple shield. I had to keep requesting help. In regards to te maintaining lactation, I had to ask about pumps and I personally researched ways to naturally increase my milk production through power pumping, fenugreek, mother's milk tea, massage and feeding/pumping throughout the day. Even the simplest way to make more milk- putting baby to breast as often as possible- wasn't even discussed at our local hospital.

6. Give newborn infants no food or drink other than breastmilk unless medically indicated. F. They did give our son sugar water on a pacifier when I was still under from the surgery. They also recommended that we give him formula more than once before we even left the hospital.

7. Practive rooming in- allow mothers and infants to remain together- 24 hours day. D. They did allow rooming in at our hospital but STRONGLY recommened putting baby in the nursery at night. 2 nights while we were there they recommened this SO strongly that I felt that I couldn't say no (dumb move, I know) but I requested that they bring him back AS SOON AS he started to wake so that I could feed him. Both nights the nurse on duty mentioned that she could feed him.

8. Encourage breastfeeding on demand. D. They were helpful when asked but I definately wouldn't say that they were encouraging since I had to always ask for the help. Our local hospital never explained to me how breastfeeding on demand will help your milk come in and helps to establish how much milk your body makes for your infant. Thank goodness we took that class at another hopsital!

9. Give no artificial teats or pacifiers to breastfeeding infants. F. Obviously they gave him both but in their defense I needed the nipple shield (artificial teat) and we agreed with the nurse that he could have a pacifier since it is proven to reduce the risk of SIDS.

10. Foster the establishment of breastfeeding support groups and refer mothers to them on discharge from the hospital or clinic. D. Through my own research I have found that our birthing hospital does have a breastfeeding support group but I doubt that anyone ever goes to it because it was never mentioned the entire 4 day stay despite my obvious breastfeeding issues and my obvious want to breastfeed my baby.

I think that one of the main reasons that breastfeeding is so taboo and not really seen in my area is the poor education of mothers in the hospital. I trust my doctors, nurses and local hospital to tell me what to do. They are the experts, or so I thought. I was, and still am, extremely disappointed by their lack of support and seeming lack of knowledge about breastfeeding.

More than once during my stay I was told to give him formula because he wasn't getting enough and was maybe jaundice (even though his counts ALL came back normal). My milk didn't come in until the day I was released. I knew that milk doesn't come in until 3-4 days after the birth from my own research, but this was NEVER mentioned at the hospital. I have friends who gave birth at the same hospital who didn't do their own research and were foolishly led to believe that they don't make enough milk for their baby because they weren't making enough on the very first day! They are now formula feeding because of bad advice from medical professionals!

If you are pregnant, please find a local breastfeeding class to find out as much as possible about breastfeeding. I'll fill you in on some of the things we learned in our class tomorrow!

Meal Planning

I always love reading other bloggers posts about their meals for the week because it gives me ideas to make for us so I thought I'd copy the idea. I'm so original!

Tonight: Slow Cooker Green Chili Pork Tacos and Spanish Rice
Tomorrow: DH works
Sunday: parents house for dinner
Monday: chicken tikka masala with naan
Tuesday: DH works
Wednesday: spicy orange garlic shrimp with broccoli and rice
Thursday: no cook fresh pasta sauce and pasta with bread and a nice salad

As you can see I LOVE the Pioneer Woman site and her Tasty Kitchen site. I would say 98% of what I make is from those two sites. It just makes cooking and meal planning for the week so easy.

We've had the pork tacos and the chicken tikka masala both before and obviously liked both enough to make them again. The chicken tikka masala is seriously to die for. I feel like a million bucks when I make such a delicious meal- it makes me feel like I can do anything!

The Dirty Laundry

I promise I'm going to do posts on each type of diaper, what I have of each, what I like and so on but I want to take pictures of each type in my stash first but I keep forgetting to do that while he is sleeping. In the meantime I thought I would go into my laundry routine.

Cause that is fun (cue moans and groans).

Honestly its not that bad though.

Step 1- When diaper is dirty throw it in the pail. We use a big kitchen trash can with a pail liner in our bathroom. We keep it in our bathroom because our diaper sprayer is there (cue angels singing). No seriously! That thing is amazing!

Step 2- When pail is filled throw the diapers and liner into the washing machine. I usually try to flip the liner so that the shiney side is on the outside so it gets a little more clean. Then I make sure the controls on the washer now read SUPER for load size, COLD for water temperature, and YES for extra rinse. Keep the lid of the washer up so that once you flip the knob to YES for extra rinse the water will start filling the tub but you don't want it to run yet. I usually do this overnight so the diapers soak overnight. Sometimes I do throw a scoop of detergent into the soak or a few squirts of BAC-OUT. Bac-out is a natural enzyme cleaner that will help get rid of bacteria, stains, and stinkies.



Step 3- When I wake up, I just close the lid to start the cycle on my way to Nolan's room to get him out of bed.

Step 4- By the time he is changed and fed, the rinse cycle is usually finished so I start the actual wash of the diapers. I flip the water temperature knob to HOT and then turn the cycle knob to the heaviest cycle. Put in your diaper safe detergent. You must use either a detergent specifically made for diapers OR use 1/2 of the manufacturers recommended amount of a DIAPER SAFE detergent. Here is a list of diaper safe detergents. Currently I use Crunchy Clean because I love the scents but I have also used Rockin' Green and Purex Free and Clear in the past.


Step 5- Throw the diapers into the dryer. I don't dry PUL so I pull out the covers and the pocket or AIO diapers. Usually I do the timed dry for as long as it will go (I think ours is 70 minutes) and then when that is finished throw on another 1/2 hour because they don't ever seem to be quite done after just one run through the dryer.

Step 6- Put the laundry away. Isn't that always the worst part of doing laundry?!

To make a long story short:

You want to have a pail to store the dirties and when it is full, you want to do a cold soak, hot wash with the proper detergent and then an extra rinse at the end. Easy peasy! Don't make it harder than it has to be :)

Note to Self

I feel SO much better when I put lotion on. It makes my day. It's amazing how you appriciate the little things so much more once you become a mother.

My Husband's Favorite Part of Cloth Diapers

AKA...

Saving money!

Cloth diaper companies usually say that you are saving a butt load (pun intended because I'm super cheesy like that) on cloth because their calculations say that disposable diaper users spend $.30 per diaper and change around 8 times a day. We all know that isn't true. I'll agree on the $.30 part but people I've talked to say they change their older babies (ages 1 and up) about 5 times a day.

Let's say that a disposable diaper user changes their newborn (up to 3 months) 10 times a day. Let's say that for the remaining 9 months of that first year they are changing the baby 7 times a day. Now let's say that they change the baby 6 times a day for the remaining 2 years of the child's diapering life (because really... 5 times a day... you need to change a LITTLE more than that!)


So we have:

cost of diaper x number of times a day changing x number of days

.30 x 10 x 90 = $270 for the first 3 months

.30 x 7 x 275 = $577.5 for the remainder of the first year

.30 x 6 x 730 = $1314 for the 2nd and 3rd year

For a grand total of $2161.5 for just diapers.

Lets add wipes:

While on vacation we used a pack of wipes in a week and a half. Just to make the math easier let's say that you use a pack of wipes in 2 weeks.

156 weeks in 3 years divided by 2 (since we are saying it takes 2 weeks to use a pack) is 78.

Each pack costs about $3.25 so

3.25 x 78 = $253.5

So we have a grand total of $253.5 + 2161.5 = $2415

$2415 for 3 years of disposable diapers and wipes! $2415 that you will throw away...




On the flip side... This is where it gets fun! To make things easier I will do my calculations without talking about trial programs which can be especially great for the newborn period when your baby grows so fast. To find more about trial programs for newborns, click here.

Newborn Diapers:


Prefolds are great if you are trying to budget yourself. We purchased at least a dozen prefolds in each size because I wanted an array of diapers to choose from when diapering him. For the preemie/infant size, a lot of moms think they are a must because they grow out of the newborn diapers so quickly that it is almost silly to have an entire stash of $20 fitteds or pockets for just a few short months. You should, however, have a few of these "easier" diapers for outings, family, and ease of use in the middle of the night or on a particularly frustrating day.

Plan on changing a newborn around 12 times a day and if you do diaper laundry every other day or every third day, you should need about 36 diapers to feel comfortable. Personally, I think the more the merrier but we are talking about the cost benefits of cloth diapering here so I'll keep this hypothetical stash simple yet more than enough for every day diapering.

12 preemie prefolds from Little Lions (some people don't need preemie size but I was glad we had them when Nolan came home weighing less than 7 lbs. He fit into the infant size folded down but it was just easier to use the preemie size ones. When he got a little older, we used them as doublers in his larger diapers so they are very useful even if you don't use them as prefolds on a bitty baby)...

Ok so...

12 preemie prefolds from Little Lions: $10

24 infant prefolds from Little Lions: $35.90

4 Thirsties Duo Size 1 Covers: 12.25 x 4 = $49

4 newborn wool covers you made from old wool sweaters: $2 for the sweater from Goodwill

4 small wool covers you made from old wool sweaters: $2 for the sweater from Goodwill

4 Goodmama newborn fitted diapers: $21 x 4 = $84

6 Bumgenius size x-small diapers: $15.95 each but if you buy 6 or more on Jillians drawers they are $15.45 each so 15.45 x 6 = $92.70

That will give you MORE than enough to diaper for 3 days plus laundry- That gives you 46 diapers for $275.6. That's just a bit more than disposables would cost for the first three months but you have the diapers in the end that you can resell on diaper sites like diaperswappers.com or have for your next child (hello additional savings!) Plus you will still have the Thirsties Duo size 1 covers fitting for quite some time.

Other Diapers:

12 Premium Prefolds from Little Lions: $23

6 Sustainable Babyish Pinable One Size Diapers for Night (love these!): $19 x 6 = $114

12 Bumgenius 4.0 One Size Pocket Diapers: $203.40

1 Flip Day Pack (2 covers, 6 inserts): $49.95

3 Thirsties Duo Size 2 Covers: $12.25 x 3 = $36.75

4 Size Medium Wool Covers you make= $4 for the sweaters from Goodwill

4 Size Large Wool Covers you make= $4 for the sweaters from Goodwill

That will give you 36 diapers for just $435.10! You can obviously add more if needed (you won't need more but I promise you will want more :) )

Let's add wipes and miscellaneous diapering stuff you will want/need:

12 pack of Kissaluvs Wipes: $15.00

12 pack of Bumgenius wipes: $11.95

15 pack of Flannel wipes: $8.50

2 pail liners for diapers (one in use, one in wash): $16.5 x 2 = $33

Diaper Sprayer (you WILL want this so much it is a NEED): $44.95

3 Snappis: $3.95 x 3 = $11.85

(Each Sustainable Babyish Pinable Diaper comes with a pin so you will have 6 pins as well)

Accessories Total: $125.25

Grand Total for Diapering Birth to Potty INCLUDING Accessories: $835.96!!!!!

Savings: $1579.04 YOWZA!

And you have all those diapers and no trash. AND you can use those diapers for your next baby or babies and save even more money!

I can tell you that we spent quite a bit more than that because it is an obsession of mine!

One thing I do want to advise is to buy QUALITY cloth diapers. DO NOT try to be cheap to save even more money and buy Gerber prefolds or cheap EBAY pocket diapers because all diapers are NOT the same. You will be disappointed, not use cloth and then end up spending even more money switching to disposables.

To save even more money, check for sales on Facebook. Become a fan of diaper companies like Happy Baby Company on Facebook and they will let you know when sales are coming up. Quite often I see diaper companies do 10% off for holidays so keep an eye out. Goodmama doesn't frequently do discounts but some of the diaper stores that sell her diapers do- check those out (Gen-Y Diapers particularly does a lot of discounts).

Another way to save money is to get the diapers for free! I have won so many diapers from Facebook giveaways or entering Giveaways on Blogs. I find blogs that tend to do a lot of giveaways and add them to my favorites or follow them so that I can enter all their giveaways. Also, like I said before, "like" diaper companies on Facebook. A lot do giveaways weekly and some are as simple as "Post below if you want a free diaper cover, we'll randomly choose a winner tomorrow at 12." Easy Peasy!

The Cuteness Factor of Cloth

I'm not going to lie- part of the reason that I was (still am) interested in cloth is the cuteness of it all. Come on, how cute is a wee little baby is a baby pink diaper? Even prefolds look so adorable on a baby. I can't stand when you see someone's professional pictures of their baby in disposable diapers- it looks so trashy to me. Especially when its those disposable diapers where the yellow stripe turns blue when the baby has peed and here is a picture that you will have forever that shows you baby in an obviously dirty diaper- gross!!!



How can you not love playing dress up with your baby every diaper change? Its so fun for me to decide between a yellow diaper, or a blue one, or diaper with fire trucks on it. Better yet, will I pick the fire truck pocket diaper, the fitted diaper with gnomes and a wool cover, a blue prefold and a PUL cover, a blue pocket diaper, or a white all-in-one? I love my diaper stash and I get so happy every time I get a new diaper. I tell my husband I don't ask for diamonds or fancy things, just diapers.

Destroying Sweaters

So I just destroyed a $150 Polo sweater and a $60 J Crew sweater to make diaper covers for Nolan. Hehe!

Alright so I only paid like $2 for each at Goodwill but it still makes me giggle a bit. Making soakers and longies has become my new obsession. The wool is a great cover because it is breathable, naturally antibacterial, and hold something like 40 times is weight in liquid. I started using wool at night a few months ago and love it- we haven't had a leak yet. His pants are dry in the morning even if his diaper is soaked. And the really nice thing (with it being a hot, hot South Carolina summer) is that it breathes so the heat of his body isn't trapped in the PUL with his pee. Gross, I know, but when I used to change his diapers with PUL covers, the wet diaper would be hot to the touch. Now, with the wool, it is cool.

Making the soakers and longies is super easy- I've never sewn before and I do each one by hand (hint hint to husband- I would love a sewing machine). A pair of longies usually takes about one nap (1-2 hours)and a soaker usually takes about 2-3 naps (3-6 hours). Here are the steps:

1- I find a cheap wool sweater from Goodwill. Cut off the arms and felt it if you like. Felting (nice way of saying shrinking the sweater) will make the wool fibers closer together so the longies or soaker will be thicker and more bulletproof but it will stretch less. I felted the first few sweaters but I found it to be kind of a pain so I won't do it anymore.

1a-To felt you stick the sweater in the washing machine on hot and do a wash or two.

1b- Throw the sweater in the dryer.

1c- This is the part I hate and will not do again. Wash all the annoying lint out of the washer.

1d- Pick all the annoying lint balls off of your now clean and shrunken sweaters.

1e- Clean the annoying lint out of your dryer.

1f- Clean all the annoying lint off of your floor.

1g- Take the trash out because the annoying lint is now overflowing out of the laundry room trash.


2- To make the longies just sew the arms together. What?! Okay here's a really good tutorial. One thing I have noticed though that this tutorial doesn't really show is that you need to cut a little width off the top of the arms. This picture kind of shows what I mean by that.

See the little curve at the top- you need to cut just a bit out of the arms to make the pants fit a bit better because otherwise the butt will be pretty baggy and the legs a little more tight and it looks a little sloppy. The hardest part is probably adding the waist. I usually use elastic and save the waistband of the sweater for the waistband of the soakers (see below). I just grab some elastic and cut it to the desired length (use a little less elastic than is in the waist of the pants you are modeling after to make the pants- somehow when you sew it in, if you use the exact size you think you need it will always be too big). Fold the top of the wool pants over and sew a pocket for the elastic that is a little bigger than the width of the elastic. Sew almost all the way but leave enough room for you to thread your elastic through. Then thread your elastic through. Sew the ends of the elastic together and then finish up the pant. Hooray!



3- I use the rest of the sweater to make soakers. I use the Katrina pattern for soakers and I LOVE it. They come out looking so professional (If I do say so myself). It seems a little daunting at first but honestly you just trace the pattern onto your sweater, cut it out, sew up the sides and then sew on the waist and legs. I usually use the waist of the sweater for the waistband of the soakers. I then use scraps for the legs. For one of the pairs today I found a long scrap and then just folded it in half lengthwise so that the bottom edge wasn't all frayed and loose. You could always just hem the edge though if you didn't want your legs to be so thick.



4- T0 make them ready for use, you still need to lanolize them. Lanolizing the wool will make it waterproof so that it won't wick moisture. There are many ways to lanolize. Here is what I do.

4a-Fill a sink with cool water.

4b- Add a bit of wool wash.

4c- Throw in your beautiful soakers and longies and wash, wash, wash.

4d- Soak for about 1/2 hour.

4e- Empty the sink.

4f- Gently wring out some of the water in the wool.

4g- Refill the sink with cool water.

4h-In a baby food jar or some small jar put a nickel size amount of lanolin. I use the same stuff I use for breastfeeding, just make sure it is 100% lanolin (it's the one in the purple tube- Lansinoh I think). Add to that a nickel size amount of baby wash. This helps break up the lanolin and will keep away the dreaded lanolin spots. Fill the rest of the jar with hot water. Shake shake shake until you don't see any more lanolin.

4i- Throw your lanolin mixture into the sink.

4j- Mix it around.

4k- Throw in your beautiful soakers and longies and mix, mix, mix.

4l- Soak for at least a 1/2 hour but I usually forget and leave it overnight.

4m- Empty the sink.

4n- Gently wring out some of the water in the wool.

4o- (whoa I am getting up there in the steps of this tutorial!) Lay the wool on a towel and then roll up the towel and sit on it to get out as much water as possible.

4p- Let the wool dry- it usually takes about a day and a half.



5- Use the wool. When the wool gets damp, simply hang or lay it out to dry. Wash the wool in wool wash about every other week or when it starts to smell like urine when dry. You really only need to relanolize it once a month or less. You'll see when it starts to seem less waterproof.



Ta da!




I wish I had a better picture but here is the very first soaker I made for N.

Back to the Diapers!

Obviously a big benefit of cloth diapering is the environmental appeal.

Cloth diapers don't end up in landfills where it takes 500 years for a disposable diaper to break down. Did you know that disposable diapers are the third largest consumer item in landfills (behind paper products and plastic). In a 1991 report on disposable diapers, it was found that to diaper ONE baby for just ONE year it takes over 300 pounds of wood, 50 pounds of petroleum feedstocks, and 20 pounds of chlorine. Eeeek! Seriously?!

That's about all I'll say about that for now because the little one is being so darn cute right now I can't stand to be behind this computer one second longer :)

Another Winner in the Kitchen!

I'm kind a big deal in the kitchen...

I can really follow a recipe well- especially when there are step by step instructions with PICTURES! I seriously never learned how to cook until N was born almost 8 months ago. And even then I didn't really start until DH went back to work a month later. So I've only been cooking for 7 months and I'm getting pretty good. Okay, okay I follow a recipe well. Whatever. I like to say I'm a pretty good cook.

Anyway... tonight I made this. OMG sooo yummy. The only time consuming part of this recipe is getting it prepped, cutting the corn, zuchinni, garlic and tomatoes, and peeling the shrimp. Other than that its completely easy-peasy. I used about a 1/2 lb of shrimp (I try to stretch a 2 lb bag of shrimp into at least 3-4 meals... thats my way of budgeting), a little more corn (corn was on sale this week 4 for a dollar... I couldn't bring myself to just buy two), and then threw in a pinch of cayenne and a bunch of fresh basil in the end.



Okay the basil wasn't fresh. It was this tube kind that you get in the produce section that I bought once a few weeks ago and now will never go without a tube of basil and a tube of cilantro in my fridge. It tastes just like fresh and lasts a LOT longer. Don't you hate when cilantro goes bad in your fridge after just one meal? Even worse is having to chop up all that cilantro. But I digress...

Wow! This is my new favorite summer meal- so light and fresh. I actually like the extra corn in it. It kind of tricks me into thinking its rice or some kind of carb. I can't wait to make this again soon... like tomorrow.

Cloth is Healthier than Disposables

When I found out I was pregnant I was the typical first time preggo mama- super strict about not drinking, taking my prenatal vitamins DAILY, not eating certain things like unpasteurized cheese or raw tuna (super hard for this die-hard sushi lover), eating what I was supposed to (with the occasional McDonalds... I'm so embarrassed!)- I wanted to do everything possible to make sure this little baby would be as healthy as possible. At the time a few Internet friends were cloth diapering so I was introduced to the idea via pictures of adorable baby butts in blue and pink diapers. How could you not love that? I began to research a little more and found out some possible health benefits of cloth diapering and decided if I was going to try and make sure this baby was as healthy as possible in utero, I can't really ignore the claims (facts in my mind but I'll say claims so as to avoid upsetting people) that disposable diapers are harmful to babies.

Facts/Claims/Opinions...

1- Cloth diapered babies get less diaper rashes. The only time N has ever had a diaper rash was when he first came home from the hospital and it was because he was in disposables in the hospital and for a little of the first two days. The chemicals in disposable diapers (more on that later) causing babies to bleed from chemical burns now too. Pamper's new Dry Max has caused what some pediatricians are diagnosing as chemical burns on poor babies! I can't even imagine what the increase in these chemicals will do to these poor children in the long run if they will cause welts in just a day of using these diapers.

2- The chemicals in disposable diapers cause cancer and even infertility.

Sodium polyacrylate is the gel in diapers that swells up with the liquid. It causes allergic reactions and/or SEVERE skin irritations (we're talking oozing blood, vomiting, and staph infections) in some people, babies have died from ingesting as little as 5 grams of it (a nickel is 5 grams), and was banned in tampons in 1985 because it was found to cause Toxic Shock Syndrome. This REALLY bothered me- how can something that is BANNED from adult products still be used (in large amounts) to make baby products. That just doesn't sit right with me.

Dioxin is the by-product that is produced through bleaching the disposable diapers. Not only is it a carcinogenic, but it is listed as the MOST toxic of all cancer-liked chemicals by the EPA. Most countries have banned it, but not the US. Again, disgusting!

Tributyl Tin is also found in disposable diapers. It is highly toxic and impairs both the hormonal and immune system and is thought to cause sterility in boys.

3- Disposable diapers don't let the baby's skin breathe. This is part of the reason that babies get more diaper rash with disposables but also part of the reason that disposable diapers are thought to make boys sterile. Let me explain. The reason that testicles are outside of the body is that the body temperature of 98* is too hot for the delicate sperm and sperm making facilities. When a baby is diagnosed with undescended testes, it is almost immediately rectified because of the long term effects that the extra degrees of heat could cause- sterility and increased risk of testicular cancer. Because disposable diapers do not allow the baby's skin to breath enough, they heat up the babies' testicles to such a degree that it can cause infertility and/or testicular cancer. There has been a sharp increase in infertility amoung males in the last 25 years... hmm... how long has it been since disposable diapers have become the seemingly only choice for parents?

I really had a hard time turning away from the idea of cloth diapers at that point. Knowing that cloth diapers could harm my child, how could I possibly put them on him/her? How could I knowingly put chemicals KNOWN to cause cancer on my baby's delicate skin? How could I use something on my baby that wouldn't be safe to use on myself?

And just because... here is N's first cloth diaper :)

And the e-mail became a blog...

A few months ago, shortly after the cutest baby alive was born (aka my son), a pregnant friend asked me for infomartion on cloth diapering. I'm a little obsessed with cloth diapers so her quick inquiry prompted me to write and write and write. Three hours and six pages later an e-mail arrived in her in-box. I'm sure she probably never read it (although she did end up cloth diapering) but it inspired me to help out others. Well.... thats not really true.

Just this week another friend e-mailed me asking about cloth diapers and I had to rewrite the e-mail for her (plus a few pages) and the hawtness that is my husband suggested I start a blog. I figured why not? I'm a stay at home mom with not much to do (although I may describe my life in future posts as glorious and non-stop fun but you will know the truth) and no one will read it anyway- it'll be an outlet for me of sorts.

My posts will be on everything I'm obsessed with (which could change day to day) from the Pioneer Woman to cloth diapers to how stinking adorable my son is.