If you have to sniff your diapers you don't have them. You know ammonia buildup by the burning of your nose hairs. Ammonia is a powerful thing and it will haunt you until you get rid of the culprit. Urine breaks down to urea with a by product of ammonia. There are several things you can do to prevent ammonia and keep it in check.
1. Keep an open diaper pail without a cover.
2. Keep your diaper pail away from heat.
3. Wash diapers every 2-3 days.
4. Rinse heavily wet diapers in water before putting in the pail.
Once ammonia sets in you must strip, strip, strip and strip some more. My favorite wash routine for stripping ammonia is the following:
1. Do a cold wash with original blue Dawn dish soap. (I squirt the bottle for 8 seconds)
2. During the rinse add a 1/2 cup of vinegar.
3. Run a 2nd wash in HOT water with your regular diaper detergent.
4. If you see bubbles in the rinse run another HOT wash without detergent.
Once you dry your diapers there should be absolutely no smells coming from your diapers.
Tuesday, August 30, 2011
Thursday, August 25, 2011
Flips Hybrid
Flips are in that middle area of part cloth diaper, part disposable diaper. This diaper is great for parents with cloth resistant daycares. While at home you can use the included microfiber insert or an insert of your choice. Changing the diaper is pretty easy since you can reuse the shell and place a clean insert into the same shell. Most parents order 2-3 inserts per shell.
When it comes to daycare you can send along disposable inserts. Daycare providers can just lift the insert and dispose of it. Replace the disposable insert with a new one and you're off and running again. This is great diaper if you want to stick with one system while sending your little one off to daycare. Some daycares won't reuse a shell and will just send it home in your wet bag. If that is the case I'd send 6-7 shells pre filled with a disposable insert in each one. Then you'll only have shells to clean up that night.
Flips are also great for travel if you don't have access to laundry facilities while on vacation or holidays with the family. If you want to clean your shells on the go just pack up a spray bottle with a diaper friendly solution and you can reuse your same shells during the trip.
When it comes to daycare you can send along disposable inserts. Daycare providers can just lift the insert and dispose of it. Replace the disposable insert with a new one and you're off and running again. This is great diaper if you want to stick with one system while sending your little one off to daycare. Some daycares won't reuse a shell and will just send it home in your wet bag. If that is the case I'd send 6-7 shells pre filled with a disposable insert in each one. Then you'll only have shells to clean up that night.
Flips are also great for travel if you don't have access to laundry facilities while on vacation or holidays with the family. If you want to clean your shells on the go just pack up a spray bottle with a diaper friendly solution and you can reuse your same shells during the trip.
Tuesday, August 23, 2011
Wipes~Wet and Dry
There seems to be two camps in the cloth diapering world when it comes to making your own wipes. Some believe in soaking the wipes in a homemade concoction of coconut oil, baby wash and water while keeping them warm in a warmer. Others believe in the dry method with using a diaper spray and cleaning with a dry cloth. I use my newborn inserts as wipes since my daughter is no longer using them. I don't like keeping a bucket with water near the changing area so I am a dry wipe user. I use California Baby diaper spray to spray directly on the bottom while wiping with the clean insert. The inserts can be cut into smaller strips. It's economical since the newborn inserts come with bumGenius 4.0's.
Monday, August 22, 2011
Bamboozled by a Bamboozle diaper by Bummis
Received a sample diaper of Bamboozle from Comfy Bummy today. It is a fitted diaper using rayon sourced from bamboo which makes it 70% more absorbent. It's super absorbent and the outside is extremely soft. Dear daughter gave it a thumbs up after a 45 minute nap. This diaper does require a waterproof cover but the fit is great around the leg with comfortable super stretchy elastic.
This is my first experience with Bamboozle from Tot Bots out of Scotland and I can't say enough great things about this diaper. It seems to be perfect for a heavy wetter at nap time or night time when paired with a cover.
This is my first experience with Bamboozle from Tot Bots out of Scotland and I can't say enough great things about this diaper. It seems to be perfect for a heavy wetter at nap time or night time when paired with a cover.
Sunday, August 21, 2011
Compostable Diapers
Rumparooz's are made with the ideology of composting them. They will biodegrade in 5 years.
Flour Sack Towels
Flour sack towels available at Walmart and Target can be used just like inserts. A 4 pack runs about $4.00 at Target. Fold into a rectangle and use in place of a microfiber insert. The cloth is extremely soft and similar to muslin. One hot wash and they are fully prepped.
Changing Diapers, Changing the Ecology, One Diaper At a Time
The typical disposable diaper can hold up to 10 pees and hold up to a pound of liquid. Just because a diaper can hold that much liquid do you really want dampness and the potential for bacteria that close to your baby's skin? Probably not. Cloth diapers usually need to be changed every 2-3 hours. Cloth diapers are made from microfiber terry cloth, hemp, wool and bamboo; all of which are renewable resources. Bamboo can hold 3x's its weight in liquid and provides less bulk than cotton. Whatever insert you decide on you can feel confident that your child's bottom isn't coming into contact with dioxin (a by product of the paper bleaching process and a known carcinogen). Dioxin and crude oil are used in the production of plastic disposable diapers and won't degrade until 200-300 years has passed. Disposable diapers are also the #1 source of solid raw waste in landfills. The raw waste bundled up in disposable diapers goes untreated and works its way into ground water. Is the convenience really worth it?
Saturday, August 20, 2011
MYTH: Cloth Diapers waste water and energy
If this myth was true we'd all be eating off of paper plates and tossing them everyday. There's a reason most of us have dishwashers and wash the same dishes that we've own for a couple of years. In the same way cloth diapering is cost effective and good for the environment. The average cloth diapering household does diaper laundry 2-3 times a week. Furthermore moms tend to line dry diapers to sun out stains, save drying costs and to make elastic and PUL last longer.
Your typical mom owns 24-30 diapers per child that can be reused over and over again for the first three years of the child's life. Economically that breaks down to $3,100 over those 3 years of disposable diapering. The initial cost of cloth diapering is around $400 with one size diapers that fit from small babies up to toddlerhood. Washing costs are about $50 over the course of a year. Over 3 years cloth diapering costs $550 while disposable diapering will cost $3,100.
Your typical mom owns 24-30 diapers per child that can be reused over and over again for the first three years of the child's life. Economically that breaks down to $3,100 over those 3 years of disposable diapering. The initial cost of cloth diapering is around $400 with one size diapers that fit from small babies up to toddlerhood. Washing costs are about $50 over the course of a year. Over 3 years cloth diapering costs $550 while disposable diapering will cost $3,100.
Friday, August 19, 2011
Happy Heinies~Discontinued
I was just informed today that Happy Heinies are being discontinued. In lieu of showing Happy Heinies in the Cloth Diapering 101 class I'll be showing a Tot Bots fitted bamboo diaper instead. Bamboo is super absorbent and eco friendly since it is a renewable resource.
What the Soap?
You mean I can't wash in Tide or throw in a Downey ball? Hell no! Babies have delicate heinies and regular soap is the enemy. What does soap do? It repels urine and causes ammonia stinkies. Nobody wants that. It's like having a quiet Gremlin before midnight then feeding him and getting him wet. Voila! You have a serious mess on your hands.
Steer clear of anything with added phosphates, scents, brighteners, whiteners, bleach and other such nasties. Great brands to try are Rock n Green, Ecos, Charlie's Soap and my all time favorite...Tiny Bubbles. Best of all Diapers.com will ship it to your house for free if you throw in a few extra small baby items to get the cost over $25. It's not that difficult.
Steer clear of anything with added phosphates, scents, brighteners, whiteners, bleach and other such nasties. Great brands to try are Rock n Green, Ecos, Charlie's Soap and my all time favorite...Tiny Bubbles. Best of all Diapers.com will ship it to your house for free if you throw in a few extra small baby items to get the cost over $25. It's not that difficult.
Cloth Diapering 101 Class
Putting together a class for Class Diapering 101. I'll have Happy Heinies, Hemp Babies, Kissaluvs, Babykicks, bumGenius and Gro Via's available to touch, feel and get to know the pros and cons. An introduction to diaper prep will be gone over as well as a question and answer session.
Thursday, August 18, 2011
Cloth Diapers~The Good, The Bad, The Poopy
What keeps moms away from cloth diapering? It's the poop. Everyone is afraid of poop whether it is the poop of their own child or their own poop. No one wants to touch it, feel it, smell it or even acknowledge that poop happens. Poop is inevitable and diapering has come a long way towards making any mom braver against the brown enemy.
Two items are the forerunners in poop progress, diaper sprayers and diaper liners. Diaper sprayers can be installed on any toilet and as a post partum mom you can always use it as your personal bidet. Sprayers range in cost from $20 to $100 for the high end models but they keep you away from the time honored dunk and swish that moms used to do over their toilets. If you really dislike touching diapers get a pair of dish washing gloves to keep in the bathroom. They'll protect you from any spray poops.
Liners are a new item. They're made out of viscose fabrics and are as sheer as a dryer sheet. Place this thin item into the bottom of the diaper and put the diaper on the baby. When poop happens simply lift and flush. If you have a septic system there are special liners just for that.
Now that poop has been covered and handled successfully you can go about your day without making the nasty Mr. Yuck face.
Two items are the forerunners in poop progress, diaper sprayers and diaper liners. Diaper sprayers can be installed on any toilet and as a post partum mom you can always use it as your personal bidet. Sprayers range in cost from $20 to $100 for the high end models but they keep you away from the time honored dunk and swish that moms used to do over their toilets. If you really dislike touching diapers get a pair of dish washing gloves to keep in the bathroom. They'll protect you from any spray poops.
Liners are a new item. They're made out of viscose fabrics and are as sheer as a dryer sheet. Place this thin item into the bottom of the diaper and put the diaper on the baby. When poop happens simply lift and flush. If you have a septic system there are special liners just for that.
Now that poop has been covered and handled successfully you can go about your day without making the nasty Mr. Yuck face.
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