Fluffy butt

Having her lunch...or second breakfast. ;-)

Doing well!

So far so good with cloth! We have had a couple of blowouts, but that was because I didn't put the cover on tight enough. Lesson learned.

Kathryn's bottom is clearing up quite quickly since the official change. I don't know if I mentioned it before, but the creases of her legs were terribly red and raw from the Pampers.

I like prefolds a lot since I've gotten better with the folding. I showed K how to do it, so maybe he'll try to change her soon. He changes her using the KaWaii HeavyWetters, but has yet to try the prefolds.

So glad I took the chance and went with cloth. :-)

Back to sposies, but...

Only temporarily, thank goodness.

I decided to go back to Pampers Swaddlers Sensitives because Kathryn's umbilical cord was being rubbed by the cloth covers and looked goopy and smelled a little funny. So, we bought out first and only pack of disposable dipes.

The funny thing is, they weren't even necessary, because her umbilical cord fell off the very next day (@ 5 days old), doesn't smell and looks great. I worried for nothing. Apparently the new "do nothing to them" method is more effective than the old alcohol method. It took 2 weeks for my boys to lose theirs the old way.

I'll be glad to get her out of these dipes, because she is getting red and when she pees, it really smells. That doesn't happen with cloth.

She is doing great otherwise! I can't wait to get her little bottom back in some fluff!  :) I'll post a pic this week for sure.

They say using your non-dominate hand is good for brain synapses...if so, this whole nursing while blogging with my left hand is helping me. LOL.
I don't do it much, because I love  interacting with her, but occasionally it is good.

First days

So my beautiful daughter was born on Monday afternoon and we got to start cloth on Wednesday, because her poop switched to the signature yellow, seedy breast milk poop. 

You don't have to wait for the yellow poop, but I wanted to, so I just used the Pampered Swaddlers that the hospital gave to us.

So far, so good with cloth. No leaks and at this point I'm only using prefolds. Covers aren't even necessary because she's not soaking diapers yet.

I washed a load and a few of them stained. This surprised me. I didn't expect it with brewer milk poop. I even washed them twice and then did an extra rinse. They say you don't have to soak them, but I think I will anyway.

Overall, a good experience. I'm still not 100% on the snapee thing. One diaper fell off! Lol! I even feel awkward doing the snaps on the KaWaiis. I'm sure this will get better with practice. I'm not stressed about it. So far I really love the KaWaii Heavywetters. I'd love to get more of them.

I've also used the Gdiapers with the disposable inserts. They work ok now, but I have a feeling when she is older, they will leak. Glad I only bought two of them to try. The disposables can be used in my other covers, so no biggie there.

I need to get a fluff butt pic of her, but she's sleeping and being so young, I prefer to keep her swaddled and cozy. I'll post pics soon.

Here's a pic of her from her very first day. She had fallen asleep in my arms. As a matter of fact, this is how we spent our only night at the hospital. It was great.

Diaper timelines

Here's a link to a cloth diaper timeline for your reading pleasure.

Cloth Diaper Timeline

Here's one about disposable diapers.

The Politics of Diapers

It seems people have known about the effects disposable diapers have on the environment for a long time, but nothing has been done to reduce the use of them. This really pisses me off, because we only have ONE EARTH...we all share it, regardless of the borders in which we live.

To me, it is shameful that we put convenience before consciousness.

Addicted? Could I be?

So I wanted to have at least a couple more newborn sized "nappies" for my little sweetie, so I had a bit more left on a Babies R Us card...I know, patronizing the corporate monster, but hey. It's a gift card. So anyway, I decided I'd give the G Diapers a try, even though I've heard bad things about them. I've heard they leak quite a bit, but I'm willing to try them and besides, in the beginning the baby won't have full-on peeing moments like later and I have great diapers for later.

I also got a pack of the disposable inserts. These can be flushed in the toilet or used in the garden as compost (when wet ONLY, of course). So I figured my hubby might like that rather than fooling with cloth...although he is supportive of the entire idea. Yay.

So anyway, I love buying new dipes! I swear, I might be addicted to it...I've heard of this, but I swore it would never happen to me. I'd be careful in my diaper buying. I'd not overdo it. I could control myself! I had will power dammit and I was not going to go over the edge!! Really!

Then I searched cloth diapers and oh my goodness, there are some super cute ones out there. Plus, there is a super cute store within walking distance of my house. It's like having a dealer right outside any time I want to get something! Except on Monday. they are closed on Monday.

I also discovered Bumble Bees on Facebook....

http://www.facebook.com/BumbleBeesClothNappies

A friend of mine is having a diaper made for me and I'm her first US customer! :) I can't wait to see it! She makes some BEAUTIFUL and adorable nappies! :)

Anyway, I just can't get enough of the cuteness of cloth. How could anyone ever consider them boring? I mean, shopping for them is like shopping for a cute outfit every time! lol


So my new adventure of late is: 

I want to make a wetbag for the nursery. I could go to the cute boutique just down the street, but I really want to make one of my own, using fabric of my choice. I did fine a good tutorial online after speaking with other women who have made them themselves.

http://thediymommy.com/sew-a-wet-bag/

This is for a small bag, but I can modify it for a larger one. We'll see if I have time to get to it. If not, I can always visit Lollibeans Boutique to pick one up. No biggie.

The reason I may not have time is because I'm decoupaging a table this week...Decoupage is great for anyone who, as a child, enjoyed covering her hand in glue just so it could dry and be pulled off...yeah, I was that weirdo. ;-) I remember spending time with my cousin one summer evening sitting on the porch, trying to pull a big swath of glue from my 6 year old hand.

Some things never get old.

DIY Burp Cloths, Semi-Crunchy? and a cute baby gift!

I guess you might label me semi-crunchy. I actually came across that label yesterday in a forum and as I was listening to the ladies talk about their "crunchy" status, I realized I fell in the semi-crunchy realm of the eco-friendly lifestyle.

Anyway...from what I've read, this is all about living eco-friendly and I have been striving to do that for a number of years. Let's say since my boys were about 4 & 5.

I never thought of it as a choice of anything except trying to live by what is right...trying to live as a responsible human and not take part in systematically destroying my own habitat (as well as the habitat of other important animals) like so many of us blindly do. I'm not going to formally label myself "semi-crunchy." I hate labels...they are so limiting, but it might give you an idea of where I'm coming from.

So my choosing to cloth diaper and breastfeed just falls into this type of lifestyle. I mean...it's strange to me that people look at breastfeeding the way they do: negatively, although thankfully things have changed even since my boys were babies and society is becoming more open about it. Haha, society has become more open about human mothers feeding their human babies milk from their human bodies, that was naturally formulated for their offspring.

Yet we drink milk from a cow that was naturally formulated for calves and don't blink an eye...

Strange mentality.

So anyway, how did I get on this topic?

Oh yeah, today I'm going to be sewing! Yay! I love sewing and creating, especially sewing and creating useful things.

I'm going to make burp cloths today instead of buying them at the store. Why buy them at the store, when I can make super cute ones with patterns I love right here at home?

I have a friend who is expecting at the beginning of October, another at the end of October and yet another in early September like me. In addition to that, my step-brother & his wife are expecting their first in December AND my step-sister just had twins this month!

Can you say BABY BOOM?! So funny....we've gone YEARS with no babies in our family and now this explosion. It's nuts, but delightful lunacy and Christmas is going to be awesome this year.

So I'm having a baby shower tomorrow, but my friend who is expecting in September will also be there and she says, "I need nothing. I have J's stuff from when he was a baby and my sister is giving us all of her stuff from my niece." Well, I have to get her SOMETHING and you can never have too many burp cloths, so I'm making her a few and also giving her some organic bath essentials as a gift. Something simple, but useful.

I may end up doing this for everyone I know who is having babies this year. Otherwise, I'd be totally broke by Christmas and I can't let that happen! lol Plus, it's super fun to give something you actually put your energy into.

For those who are interested and who may be new to sewing, I've found a link with a great tutorial for burp cloths. They are simple to make, but this site has great photos and it's a good step-by-step tutorial for newbies.

It's called The Hazel Bloom. You can even pin her on Pinterest or follow her on Facebook. She has recipes and all sorts of goodies.

http://www.thehazelbloom.com/2012/02/diy-burp-cloths-from-fabric-scraps/

DIY BURP CLOTHS: 

Here are some pictures of the burp cloths I made. I  made my first two based on the size mentioned in the post above, but I like mine a little bigger, so I made the last two about  9.5 x 14.

The sewing set-up! Random fabrics, 2 receiving blankets (great because they are already nice and soft and flannel is a great burp cloth fabric, plus they have cute designs, scissors, thread, pins, pencil. 

Using sewing machine or you an hand sew...sew right side to right side of each fabric. Be sure to remove your pins as you go so you don't bend/break your sewing needle (if using machine)! 

Turn right side out, being sure to pull out corners. 

(below)

One complete! I love the green plaid with the cool bird print. 

Four complete. I like using fabrics that aren't necessarily "baby." Two of these are your average quilter's cotton and two are from the artist's group in the quilting section. I love them.

BABY SHOWER GIFT USING DIY BURP CLOTHS

So the next step in this gift is to create two Peas in a Pod with washcloths and cute ribbon!

To begin...find cute washcloths. Contrary to what I was thinking when I went shopping today, you don't NEED a green washcloth, but if you find one, that'll be super cute too. :) I saw a pink set and this yellow and white set. Pink isn't my favorite, so I went with this one.

Fold the "pod" cloth as shown above and set aside. 

As shown in the next three photos, roll each of the "pea" washcloths. 

Roll from one end, being sure you roll in the direction where the loose corner was on your first roll. This will secure it. 

Tack with needle and thread.

 Ta-da!

Two perfect peas. ;-) 

Place in folded "pod" washcloth. You may need to adjust the fold of the "pod," so that it fits around the peas securely. 

Tie each end with ribbon and voila! 

Two peas in a pod washcloth set. 

I wrapped ribbon around the burp cloths, with a cute little tag. 

I added a few other goodies...natural bath shampoo and lotion, pacifiers and a rubber ducky that lets mama know if the water is a good temperature for the baby. The washcloth set I bought had a cute froggy with it, so he's tucked in under the burp cloths. 

I couldn't resist this cute box to wrap it all in. 

Now, to make burp cloths for my own baby!