Wednesday, October 9, 2013

Pink Fur

Madison wanted a pink furry bear hat. So we started something which looks more like a wig than a hat.

Jace thought it was so funny playing under it.

Tuesday, October 8, 2013

BumGenius Elemental Organic Cloth Diapers

If anyone had ever said you will be one of those moms who cloth diaper, water would've came out of my nose from laughter.

We did not cloth diaper my daughter. I tried the G diapers when she was first born and that was a complete disaster. You can imagine my skepticism when I was told that my son was allergic to the disposable diapers. We discovered the diapers were causing a lot of his problems because he is highly allergic to Polyester.

The BumGenius Elemental Organic Cloth diapers are lined with a polyester liner but the inner piece is 100% organic cotton.

I dove head first into a world of cloth diapering. I ordered enough to get started and not be confined to washing diapers everyday. We started with 32 diapers.

I do laundry every other day sometimes every day. The biggest challenge was getting the sitter on board with cloth diapers. I still haven't adjusted to washing poop off the diaper opposed to discarding it in the trash. However, I LOVE the fact that I never have to buy diapers again. I cannot tell you what a relief it is to know that I don't have to make a diaper run every other weekend. It's not as if you can go into Target or Walmart or even Babies R US and just buy one thing even if it is diapers.

Washing Instructions are available on the BumGenius website. (BUT don't do what I did with the soap)
#1 - use Soap correctly (BumGenius Cloth Diaper Brand)
When washing cloth diapers there are special soaps designed for the diapers. I bought the Rockin Green which was very expensive and didn't last very long. I think bought the BumGenius soap. The soap comes in a powder with a scooper. Had I used powder soap before maybe I would've known. I put the two scoops of powder soap into the liquid dispenser. Let's just say I spent a ton of money and hours running Afresh through my machine until the grim left behind was cleaned. I wish someone would've told me that the powder soap goes in the basin not the dispenser.

#2 - DO NOT SOAK the diapers.
This is something I would've done had I not read the directions. It seems like it would help, but the directions say do not soak cloth diapers so do not soak them.

#3 - Remove solids from diaper
This means rinse the diaper before washing it. In other words, wash off the poop before putting the diaper not the diaper pail. This sounds simple or easy enough, but it can be difficult. I have a sick child and diarrhea and partially digested food cover every diaper. These need to be washed right away otherwise they stain.

I have found the best way for me to wash them is to run them under the facet in the bathroom rubbing the inner liner together until everything is completely removed. Yes, it is disgusting and yes my daughter swears she will never use the sink to the left of the toilet ever again, but it works. I leave the diaper pretty wet squeezing out most of the water and then place it into the pail. I have found this method leaves little to no stains. If the diaper isn't rinsed immediately, I have noticed stains will occur.

There is a cool sprayer that you can hook up to the toilet water supply. Perhaps in time we will decide to purchase one of these. I still find that I would migrate to the sink to rub them under the facet. I do of course use cleaning wipes to go over the skin facet and counters after I am finished.

#4 - Rinse cycle
We rinse all the diapers in cold water with no soap prior to starting a load. This takes 24 minutes on our rinse cycle. This is very important. I have found they smell if they are not rinsed properly.

#5 - Wash cycle
2 scoops of BumGenius Soap with Hot water. We do the 'whites' cycle which is about 1 hour and 14 minutes which also includes an extra rinse to clean off any residue left behind.

#6 - Drying
I dry the diapers in the dryer warm/medium. Generally I run the cycle twice to make sure they are dry. I have yet to hang them out to dry in the sun or outside. The reason they say to do this is because the sun can act as a natural bleach and remove any poop stains.

#7 - Bleach
Once per month it is recommended to use 1/4 cup of bleach in the wash cycle.
Yes this to me is very important. We have not had any instances with ammonia or buildup on our diapers. Although I have read stories about this. A friend of mine has been cloth diapering for 4 years now. She has two children. Her first child she did not want to use bleach. Unfortunately her daughter go the worst diaper rash and had to be given some heavy duty medicine due to a bacteria build up. Learn from the mistakes of others... use the bleach as recommended.

#8 - No additives such as vinegar, baking soda, fabric softeners)
The vinegar can mess with the PH Balance and cause your diapers to no longer be absorbent. I do not understand fabric softeners to begin with. They are simply toxic chemicals that people add to their clothing to breath in every day all day.

#9 - Dawn soap
Occasionally they say that your diapers will get a build up and require a stripping. I have also read that Ammonia can build up and cause a pretty foul smell. Dawn soap is supposed to help rid your diapers of these. However, I have been doing this for the last 5 months and have yet to encounter these problems. I did however buy a large bottle of Dawn soap to keep in my cabinet if needed. They do say if your diapers become less absorbent or you notice a ton of leaks. My friend adds a small amount of Grapefruit seed extract to assist in killing all the germs and bacteria. I have yet to try that.

#10 - Diaper Creams
DO NOT USE any diaper creams, diaper rash ointments, lotions or pastes while using cloth diapers. The idea behind the diaper creams is that they create a barrier between your child's bottom and the diaper to repel water. If you place this onto your cloth diaper it will absorb the diaper ointment to now repel water including urine and they will be ruined. OPTIONS: they have disposable liners you can purchase if cream is necessary. Otherwise disposable diapers might be the best option until the diaper cream is no longer necessary.

#11 - Diaper Pail
We purchased a simple plastic trashcan with a lid and lined it with the wet bag. We purchased 2 wet bags, one for use while the other is being washed. However I would recommend buying 3.

#12 - Wet bags
We purchased 3 large wet bags from Planet World and 2 small bags. These aren't the best purchase we've made. To be honest they gross me out. They stink and don't do well when bleach is used. One of our bags was black with flames. Let's just say it is no longer black.

They are made of a cotton bag lined with the same liner that you will find on the diapers and wet bag for the pail liner. I haven't figured out if they leak or not. They always feel damp not so much as wet, but then again they are holding a sack full of wet diapers. The wet bags with out the strap to carry are annoying, but cheaper. There are a ton of brands out there. I have considered trying a few others to see if they are comparative to what we currently use.

Keep in mind you will need a few small bags for the diaper bag aside from the large bags that are taken to the caretaker. I am a member of a cloth diapering site. I also read the cloth diapering blogs. It seems like the majority of moms who decide to cloth diaper are stay at home moms. I can see why, but I hope that doesn't discourage any working moms. It isn't that hard, the biggest change is the amount of laundry that is done. It is not as if you would want to wash your clothes with the diapers so it does take some time each night.

There are a number of different brands out there. I have heard BumGenius 4.0 is the best. However I do know they are made of 100% polyester. Before we realized my son was allergic to polyester I had no idea what it was. Now knowing what I know, I wouldn't be able to use anything other than the 100% organic cotton. It is quite disturbing. I have yet to figure out if polyester is even safer or better than the disposables. I know it is better for the environment, but I am not a hippie or tree hugger mommy. I am only after what is best for my child and sometimes that doesn't always coincide with what's best for the environment. Polyester breaks down with every wash so it will still be in the water supply. I have yet to determine what is worse... Either way at least I know my child's bum is resting comfortably against 100% organic cotton. NO telling what happens to polyester when it's wet especially with urine.

Diaper Bag

Skip Hop City Chic Diaper Bag - Columbus Circle

This is by far the best bag I own. I am shocked at the reviews about it too. I used this for 2 years with my daughter and it is still in great shape.

Every mom has to have a diaper bag. Now if they are like me they have one in every color every brand and are still in the market for another bag.

I bought 3 fancy Coach diaper bags. I love their purses so figured why not. (perfect condition maybe they were used once). They may know purses but their diaper bags aren't the best.

I will say the Kate Spade bag I have used quite often but it's bright red and spills things when you bend over. However this simple SkipHop bag is our go to diaper bag.

I think mostly because it's light weight and still holds a ton. My Coach bag is so cramped and holds very little yet is bigger than this bag. I have a few other brands as well but nothing that I'd recommend. I like the loose compartments of this bag. For some reason all the other bags have everything squished together. With this bag it's easy to get bottles into the sides especially with the larger glass bottles. Plus the option to attach a clutch purse is the main reason I bought it.

It comes in pink or blue too. Now that I have another baby perhaps I can justify buying it in blue. Not as if I need another bag but it's just one of those things we do. I cannot explain why I need 10 bags because I'm not sure myself. It just is what it is. Just like how come my husband must have every version of the same video game... something's we just shouldn't question.

Glass Baby Bottles

With the crazy hype about BPA and how toxic plastic is I am shocked more mothers don't use glass.

I used glass bottles with my daughter and now with my son. We haven't had a problem breaking them if that was your first question. I tried every glass bottle that Target, Walmart and Babies R Us carried and then I found Born Free. A lot of bottles later we found what worked best for us.

You can buy this Born Free in packs of 3 (financially the best option). I found Walmart has sales online, but be careful. It must say GLASS otherwise you will get plastic. Walmart does not carry these in the store by my house.

I found TJ Max had a few and they were half the price. You can buy them in 5oz bottles or 8oz bottles. I bought enough to go a week without washing them. I know that sounds crazy especially because individually they are $9.99 a bottle.

I have limited time between dinner, kid time, cleaning, me time and bed time. I don't want to add bottle washing every night to the list of things I need to do.

I purchased 15 bottles. 3 bottles per day at the sitters, 5 days a week. On Saturday or Sunday we wash them and sanitize them. If my husband decides he wants to do dishes, (usually he does every night) that's up to him but at least I know we will have clean bottles if he doesn't.

These bottles come with a wide top makes it easy to fill and put together. (The Dr Brown bottles were a nightmare putting together).

There is a compartment that goes between the nipple and the bottle. maybe it works and does something cool maybe it doesn't... but I can say (including my 4 year old daughter) neither of them have ever had an ear infection or thrush. That's gotta account for something.

Maybe it is the glass itself. Maybe it's the bottle. Maybe it's a combination or everything I do. I can tell you most kids get their first ear infection before they turn 1. At least according to my PEDs Doctor.

Bottle Sanitizer

This seems like a luxury item to first time moms especially on a budget. Technically one could boil water and sanitize bottles. However I would advise against doing so in the sink. The dirtiest place in the average house is the kitchen which includes the sink. So we clean ours regularly with a vinegar spray in addition to bleach and water. I don't want those chemicals on my baby's bottles so we bought a sanitizer.

The first Sanitizer I had was a Safety First Brand. It worked well. This time I bought the Phillips Avent bottle Sanitizer.

The reason I switched was because of the size. The old sanitizer had a huge dome lid that was awkward and annoying. Plus we only used Glass Bottles so that does make a difference.

This sanitizer has three compartments. Below it has all levels stacked. I liked this because I could use the different compartments individually if needed.

This is the top compartment where I clean mostly nipples bottle kids and breast pump parts.

You can see the different levels below. Lets face it with two babies and being a working mom who has time to organize anything in the kitchen. I love this because I can store clean parts in the top and still run a load of bottles in the base if needed.

Mine also came with a storage or organizing case that has come in handy as well.

Perfect Swing

FisherPrice Swing

Fisher-Price Cradle Swing is one expensive item I would recommend. The biggest feature I liked about this swing is that it shifted from a side to side swing to a front to back motion.

My son has no problem sleeping or sitting and playing but with my daughter that was an entirely different story. There were many days she fell asleep in this swing. The top lit up and played a delicate song that calmed her if she was ever freaking out. We had the natural one with leaves and animals that moved up top.

The biggest thing was she couldn't climb out if it or roll it over. I found with the bouncer chairs she and my son do just that. We have a low to the ground swing now that he can't wait to wiggle his way out of.

I had 4 different bouncer chairs with my daughter and I have 3 different bouncer chairs and 2 new swings for my son. I would trade them all for this swing. It was at my parents house for a long time after y daughter grew out of it. They sold it for $25 at a garage sale. Ever see one at a garage sale it's a must buy item. I noticed Walmart has them the cheapest. However I've noticed the cheapest at Walmart is just that... the cheapest and usually missing a few features.

Monday, October 7, 2013

Must have Chair

Mamas & Papas Baby Snug and Activity Tray

This oversized version of the Famous Bumbo chair is one item I highly recommend. I use this daily even more so than the actual high chair.

With my daughter we had a Bumbo chair and LOVED it. With my son we have a Bumbo chair that sits in the garage because we have the Mamas and Papas chair. The base on this chair is wider than the Bumbo chair which creates more stability. I really like that the tray snaps on easily. I smashed my fingers numerous times on the Bumbo chairs add on tray.

This isn't a chair you can stick your child in and walk away but it does help stabilize them at the dinner table (more like on the dinner table). Yes they do NOT recommend placing this on top of anything but we don't leave him in the chair and walk away. (COMMON SENSE when using the products is of course recommended.)

I had actually wanted another Bumbo chair when I was pregnant. Two weeks before my shower the Bumbo chair was recalled and all the items had to be removed from the shelves. We had one with my daughter so I knew the risks. I was so upset because I had given my daughters to a friend and she moved across the country.

My parents bought us this instead. At first I was bitter because it wasn't the same. It was bigger and took up more space. Now after using it feels more stable, sturdy and safer. Plus I was given a used Bumbo chair and sadly it is sitting in the garage.

Unfortunately they didn't have the activity tray when we had gotten ours. To me this is definitely worth every penny. It seems $$$ for a chair but if it's something you'll use everyday it's worth it.

Little Brother