Cloth Considerations for the Crawler

You may remember my post on cloth diapers and their benefits including the financial, environmental, and health considerations. Now that my baby is active and mobile, I have a few more things to ponder when choosing a diaper.

I chose a type of cloth diaper that was the cheapest, basically. I found the covers and prefolds option to be easy enough and the financial savings is significant. However, now that I have a very active ten month old who can hardly sit still, I find myself longing for an All-In-One or pocket diaper as opposed to prefolds and covers. My baby absolutely will not lie on her back ever since she started crawling. I'm sure diaper changes become a problem for many parents of nine month olds; my neighbor's daughter screams through every diaper change now! But it is especially hard to get a prefold to sit in a cover, arrange the prefold and snap the cover around all while my baby is trying to roll over and crawl away. An All-In-One or a pre-stuffed pocket diaper would cut out the extra step of arranging a prefold, thus, hopefully, becoming a little easier to strap the thing on the little wiggle worm.

I'm pretty sure I'm going to go ahead and invest in three pocket diapers just for night time. Her night time diaper is extremely bulky and the wiggling makes it darn near impossible to put on. I'm hoping it will also cut down on the bulk.

So my advice - cloth diapers still rock! But if I could do it over again, and had the money, I'd get pocket diapers for sure.

Charlie's Soap

“If you want flowers, go pick some.” - Charlie’s Soap

We started using Charlie’s Soap last summer when we started washing all of our new baby clothes. I was talking to a friend who uses cloth diapers and she was telling me how important it is to use a laundry detergent that is free of all additives for cloth diapers. If there is any residue left from the detergent, it makes the diapers less absorbent. There is a list of approved laundry detergents on several cloth diapering websites I was visiting, but she told me about Charlie’s Soap and now we use it exclusively.

Most name brand detergents (ok, all name brand detergents) have additives on top of additives. These are chemicals to make your clothes smell good, look brighter, and remove stains. These chemicals get mixed into the fibers of the clothes and remain there. Have you ever been somewhere there was a black light and noticed splashes and streaks all over everyone’s clothes? Those are optical brighteners. They deposit into clothes to make the colors brighter. Not good for babies’ skin, clothes, cloth diapers, or the environment for that matter. Charlie's Soap is free of all of these additives.

With Charlie’s Soap you do not even need to use fabric softener. The reason fabric softener is necessary to have soft clothes is because of all the chemical additives in regular laundry detergent. These additives would make clothes stiff and crunchy so along comes the fabric softener (or dryer sheets) to deposit even more additives to now make your clothes soft. Charlie’s Soap cleans clothes effectively without depositing residues on them, so it does not produce the crunchy clothes effect.*

Because the chemical additives in regular laundry detergents are not good for babies’ clothing and bedding, most people I know separate their babies’ laundry from their laundry so they can use the “sensitive” or “free” types of laundry detergent. There is no need to do this with Charlie’s Soap. We wash everything with it. That is a major advantage because Mary Abilene only has a few dark colored clothes. I can’t imagine running a load for a couple of onsies; they just get thrown in with our dark clothes.

Plus, Charlie’s Soap is actually cheaper than regular laundry detergent! I get the 80 load laundry powder locally at my herb shop (they also have it at a retailer that sells cloth diapers) for $11. 80 loads for $11 plus I do not have to buy any fabric softener! I’m pretty sure we are saving money there.

Advantages:
Better for the environment
Hypoallergenic
Cheaper – no fabric softener, do not have to separate baby’s clothes, so fewer washes.
Just clean – no fragrances or optical brighteners
Good for cloth diapers

Disadvantages:
Clothes come out a little rough if you have hard water
Some static in the winter

*Our laundry actually does come out a bit rough. This is because of the limestone in our water. The limestone is depositing on our clothes, not the detergent. I think I’ve gotten used to it, but I didn’t like it for awhile. I can either use more Charlie’s Soap to combat the limestone and wash it away, or Charlie’s Soap says they are coming out with an additive to combat the hard water. Not sure about this since it is not out yet. Even with the slightly rougher clothes, I wouldn’t go back to Tide. I’ve gotten used to the scent of clean instead of fragrances.

Baby Carriers Review

I have four baby carriers/slings.  So here is a review of my personal favorite and a bit of information about each.

1) Seven Sling
I got this sling after Mary Abilene was born because I got a great promotion on one (free)!  I thought the patterns were adorable and my other sling (The Peanut Shell) was a bit big.  I was only able to use this sling while Mary Abilene was very small.  I ordered my size based on their sizing chart (actually a 1/2 size up because I was between sizes) and it was way too tight.  I could stuff my baby in it, but she didn't seem comfortable, and when she was only 2 months old, I could not stuff her with her cloth diaper in it anymore.  She also seemed to get stuck when I tried to pull her out.
Positives:  Cute patterns
Negatives:  Everything else
I do not recommend the Seven Sling


2) Peanut Shell
My friend Michelle gave me her Peanut Shell while I was pregnant.  I really enjoyed it while Mary Abilene was very small.  As she got older, she did not like to lay down in the "newborn cradle" position.  Another friend has one who has used hers since her little girl was born, and her baby is now 3, and she still uses it to hold her on her hip. I have not tried other positions besides the newborn cradle, like sitting her up in it like a little kangaroo because Mary Abilene enjoys the next two baby carriers quite a bit...
Positives:  Easy to put on and take off
                Cute fabrics and patterns
                Good for short trips like to the grocery store
Negatives:  Starts to hurt your back
                  Not very versatile


3)  Baby K'tan
My friend Amiee is letting me borrow this baby carrier.  The one I have is a tad big, so I think I would like it more if it were a size down.  I do like this sling.  It allows a newborn cradle or an upright position that can face in or out, which is Mary Abilene's preferred way to sit.
Positives:  Can be quickly put on
                Fairly comfortable
Negatives:  Sized, Patrick can't wear it
                  Two pieces, more to keep track of, and requires the carrier to reach around her back and take her hands off her baby to tie it, or requires a partner.

4) Moby Wrap 
My friend Laura gave this to me.  I was thinking "Oh, another baby carrier" but as soon as I found the position both Mary Abilene and I like, it quickly became my favorite baby carrier!  It is versatile, Mary Abilene loves it, it is comfortable, and anyone can wear it! It securely holds Mary Abilene in her favorite position (upright, facing in or out).  This wrap is gigantic straight out of the box, which I thought "This is absurd!"  But it shrinks feet after its first wash.
Positives:  Comfortable
                Patrick can wear it too
                Versatile
                Great for wearing around the house or on longer outings
Negatives:  Confusing straight out of the box
                  Have to make your baby wait to wrap it around yourself

One Happy Rump

We have been cloth diapering Mary Abilene since about two weeks after birth.  We CD for a variety of reasons; its 70% economics, 20% health, and 10% environmental.  We love it!

Economics:  By far the cheapest option in cloth diapering is prefolds with covers.  I have spent a total of $174.92 on cloth diapering, including 25 prefolds and 5 covers.  I will have to buy more prefolds when she is about 18 pounds, at $1.50 a piece.  Those "regular" size prefolds will last until she is potty trained.  There is a comparison at www.diaperdecisions.com for all kinds of cloth diapers vs. disposables.  The chart shows that for prefolds and covers, over the time a child is in diapers, on average you would spend $381.00 (Yes, this even takes energy cost for washing and drying into account).  For disposables, you would spend $2577.35!!  Clearly, the savings of cloth diapering are astronomical and can not even compare to disposables.
(I would post the charts, but they just don't fit on my blog.. so check it out)

Health:  Have you ever thought about what's in a diaper?  Obviously there are dyes, since they mostly come with some sort of cartoon character on them (like the baby even sees it).  There is some sort of thing inside to make it gel, and there is a generous amount of chlorine to make them nice and white.  There are dye free, chlorine free diapers.. but they come with a cost.  So just add another couple hundred to the $2577.35.  But what is that stuff to make them gel?  A few months ago millions of Pampers Swaddlers with "Dry Max" technology were recalled because babies were getting narly diaper rash and chemical burn.  CHEMICAL BURN!  Pampers denied it up and down.. but you can't argue with burned hinies.

Environmental: I don't have to explain the diaper/landfill problem.  Think about how many diapers a child goes through in their life, then multiply that by how many children are in America.. in the world.  That's a lot of poo!

It was a little tough cloth diapering a newborn.  At first the bulk just looked ridiculous, and we didn't put her in cloths until she was about two weeks old.  That is when I ordered preemie prefolds to use instead of the infant prefolds.  It was $10 for 10 of them, and they were so small and thin, they worked perfectly.  She started to pee through them at about 6 weeks, then we switched to the infant.  We never looked back at the disposables!  Cloth diapered children are also potty trained faster and easier.. what a bonus!

Also, if you are going to cloth diaper, the next logical step is cloth wipes.  I use BumGenius flannel wipes in a wipes warmer, and make my own solution.  If you can sew at all, you can just get flannel, cut it into little squares, and sew the ends.  I use the Prince Lionheart cloth wipe warmer.  The warmer is great, but their wipes are terrible.  I then make a solution of water, coconut oil (anti-microbial), and baby wash, and pour all over the rolled up wipes in the warmer.  Its a snap!  Using disposable wipes with cloth diapers just doesn't make much sense, and trust me, the flannel wipes are so cozy, Patrick says we should replace our toilet paper with them!  (And the wipes and supplies were factored into my dollar quote above).

Resources:
I got all of mine from www.cottonbabies.com
There is a great cloth diapering website:  www.pinstripesandpolkadots.com that has a wonderful "Cloth diapering basics" page.  It explains all the different types of cloth diapers so you can choose what is right for you.  She also has a great page on dispelling the myths of cloth diapering like "I don't have time." or "That's too much laundry".  She explains how to wash, types of detergent (which is important for absorbency), etc.  I would encourage everyone to check it out!

Tummy Tub!

This is the first baby product for which I am going to sing praises. I saw these on The Today Show about a year and a half ago and I thought it was the cutest thing. Check out the Today Show story

So, this past summer I bought our own Tummy Tub, thinking it a way better idea than the traditional infant bath tubs that require baby to be flat on their back and half out of the water. It seemed a better way to keep baby warm and comfortable. And it does!
Mary Abilene getting a sponge bath. None too happy.

Mary Abilene in her tummy tub. Quite happy!

The only downfall I see to the tummy tub is until baby can hold her head up on her own, it seems to require four hands. Two to hold her head, two to wash. Instructions for the Tummy Tub show a one handed chin hold, while the other hand washes, but Mary Abilene is so tiny that her little body slides down in the tub. Maybe as she gets bigger, or with a bigger baby, if they didn't slide, you could use only one hand to hold her head.