Cloth Diapers

I've been meaning to write this post for some time now. We've been really busy. I'm SO OVER DH working 60+ hours a week, but that's a whole other post.

So cloth diapers. We decided to use them to save money. We definitely have- as long as I stop buying them! It can easily become an addiction because they are so cute. I started with a few BumGenius 4.0s and some Kawaiis. My mom also got my $200 worth of gift certificates to spend on Bumkins (thanks, mom!), so we ordered some Bumkins fitteds (these need a cover to be waterproof) and some AIOs (all-in-ones). All of the above claim to start at around 8-9 lbs, but they were way too big for Sadie at that point. They didn't fit her until she was around 10-11 lbs. We didn't start using cloth exclusively until she was almost 3 months old.

Getting them clean
 I had a really hard time getting started. If you cloth diaper, you know that the wash routine can be tricky. What works for one person will probably not work for another because washers and water makeup are different everywhere.You can't use a lot of soap, and you must make sure there are absolutely no suds left- that can lead to bad things such as buildup or ammonia issues, which may cause a rash for your baby. I started with All Free & Clear because we used that on our other laundry and this worked well for a friend of mine. No matter how many times I rinsed, there were still suds in the water! It was so frustrating. I had to use vinegar in every rinse and I still saw some soap bubbles. We have really soft water, so I think that may have been a factor. I switch to Rockin Green Soft Rock, which is more expensive and I had to order it from Amazon. I didn't want to use this on our regular laundry because of the expense, and it annoyed me having 2 detergents. I read that many people have good luck with Tide powder, so I decided to try that. The first time I tried it I was convinced it was giving Sadie a rash. She seems to have sensitive skin. However, I was using Tide on all our other clothing and she had no problem with it, so it was all in my head or I wasn't rinsing enough. After much experimentation (and frustration- I almost gave up many times because I felt like I was wasting soooo much water!) we found what works for us. We wash every other day. I have enough diapers to last a little longer, but they get too stinky and gross if left more than that. Here is my routine.

1. Cold rinse to get off any yuckys
2. A full hot wash with 2 tablespoons of Tide 
3. Another full hot wash with no detergent. If I remember, I peek in during the rinse cycle to make sure all of the suds are gone.
4. Dry in dryer for 5-10 minutes. I found my natural fibers get crunchy if they go straight to the drying rack. Hang on drying rack overnight. Back in dryer for another 5-10 minutes. Snap up the rise if needed and ready to use!

I was really nervous to get my first water bill after we started cloth, but it only went up $5!

Finding what diaper works best 
This was also a bit of a challenge. I mentioned above that we started with 4.0s and Kawaiis. These are both pocket diapers. The 4.0s have a suede cloth lining to wick away moisture. Sadie's bottom would get red each time I would put her in cloth. I thought it was a washing issue- until a friend pointed out that suede cloth allergies are fairly common. I had already ordered some Bumkins AIOs, which are bamboo and cotton, so I used those exclusively for a few days and figured out it was the suede cloth. Thankfully, cloth diapers have an excellent resale value so I sold my 4.0s. I also ended up selling the Kawaiis because I found I wasn't a fan of pockets. I hated stuffing them after the wash. We used Bumkins AIOs most of the time after that. I used the fitteds some, but at first I wasn't a fan of the separate diaper and cover. A friend then told me I should try BumGenius Elementals (BGEs). They are AIO and made of organic cotton. When I got my first one I thought it was bulky, but it is actually very trim once on the bum. These quickly became another favorite. I like them because I only had to snap/unsnap the rise, and with the Bumkins I had to unsnap the fold out flap for washing (which is gross when covered with poop) and snap it back in once they were clean.

Fast forward a month or so. A friend introduced me to sustainablebabyish (sbish) and wool. We got some sbish OBFs (organic bamboo fitteds) and snapless (fitteds you need a pin with). I thought wool and snapless was going to be our nighttime solution (we still used disposables at night). I quickly discovered that wool didn't work great for us either, and I actually prefer a disposable on her at night. She is a heavy wetter at night so we still do this. I guess technically I don't cloth diaper "exclusively" but this is what works for us. I usually buy a small pack of L.uvs, and it will last us over a month. Thankfully wool is another easy resell so I sold our 2 pairs of wool longies and my snapless (I found I also wasn't a fan of the pin and DH couldn't do it). I kept my cover because it's adorable and I can use it under clothes if needed.

Fast forward a couple more months. By now we were using a combo of Bumkins AIOs, sbish and Bumkins fitteds, and BGEs. Sadie started leaking through the Bumkins every day at the babysitter. These were the least absorbant of all my diapers. I knew my sitter changed her often enough because I saw how many diapers she went through. We discovered Bumkins no longer worked for us, so I sold most of those and bought more BGEs and sbish OBFs. I never sent Sadie to the sitter with fitteds because I thought my sitter would find the cover a pain, but when we were transitioning out of the Bumkins I sent them and she now prefers fitteds and covers! I am so thankful she is willing to cloth diaper for me. Now that Sadie is eating solids, I prefer the fitteds also because they are the easiest to spray. There are also no rise snaps so there is no prep after washing. The one thing I don't like is that some of them are sized, so we will have to size up eventually. Since cloth diapers sell so well I'm not worried about that.

Our cloth diaper adventure has been rocky. I almost gave up several times, but I am so glad I stuck with it because they work extremely well for us now. I just need to stop buying them! I bought an elephant fitted on Etsy a few weeks ago and I vowed to be done. We have still spent less than $500 on a stash of 31 diapers and 6 covers. Here is my stash:

• 8 Bumkins fitteds (4 size small and 4 size large)
• 9 sbish OBFs (all purchased used so I got great deals)
• 2 sbish Happy Little Clouds
• 1 homemade elephant fitted
• 11 BGEs (most purchased as seconds from Cotton Babies, or a sale from Mom's Milk Boutique)
• 3 Flip covers
• 2 Bumkins covers
• 1 sbish wool cover

This is a large stash. A stash of 15-20 is plenty if you plan to cloth diaper. I like having this many because I can line dry what I've just washed, and I still have plenty of clean ones to pack for the sitter. I purchased many of my diapers used from Face.book swap pages (a bit of bleach and they're good to go). If you check out Cotton Babies they have "seconds" often, which means somewhere there is a minor flaw on the diaper but I've never been able to tell the difference between my seconds and new dipes. I also love SewCrafy Baby and Mom's Milk Boutique. MMB is great because of their reward program. I was able to get one of my sbish for half off after buying a nursing bra from there. Here are some fluff shots:

An adorable Bumkins AIO (she looks so tiny there!)

Cuteness in a wool cover

Our elephant fitted

You can see how this cuteness can lead to an addiction. I love talking about cloth, so if anyone out there in blogger land is interested in hearing more, let me know. I'll be back in a couple days with a 7 month post. How is my baby 7 months old??!!

Half a Year Already

You know that Kenny Chesney song, Don't Blink? He's so right. It feels like just yesterday I was in the hospital having my sweet girl, and now she's 6 months old already.

Age: 6 Months

Weight: 15 lbs 11 oz

Length: 25 inches

Size: in 6-9 month and 9 month clothes. I packed away the 6 month stuff ::sniffle::

Hair: Brown, and starting to get really long on the top too. She still has her side wings. DH wants to cut them but I think they're cute. She is really into shaking her head while she's laying down right now, so she's getting little bald spot in the back. It's so funny to look at her newborn pics. I didn't realize how bald she really was on top until I compare it to now.

Eyes: brown with tiny hint of green (although I'm the only one who seems to see this)
Teeth: None yet. The drooling has slowed a little, or she's just learning to swallow it. A friend from my nursing group has a son who is just a week older than Sadie, and he already has 2 teeth! It's funny how babies are so different.

Sleeping: She is doing okay, but not great. She is in her crib full time and goes to sleep very easily. I nurse her in her room with her Jewel lullaby CD (thanks, Shauna!) and then lay her down drowsy and she will go to sleep. We started putting her down with an A.den and Anais security blanket. It made me nervous at first to put something in her crib with her, but it's just a 16x16 inch piece of breathable gauze bordered with satin. She loves it, and I'm so glad it's breathable because she will chew on it and a couple of times it's been completely over her face! When I was a baby I liked have a small heart shaped pillow over my face to go to sleep (somehow I survived it...lol). She is still waking up 2-3 times a night. I've tried various things, and mostly haven't been consistent with what I've tried, which is my fault. I usually end up nursing her back to sleep. I talked to the pediatrician about it at her 6 month appointment. I know all pedis have different opinions on sleep and sleep training, but he said that since she's not rolling back to belly freely yet, she may not be able to get herself into a comfortable sleeping position on her own. He said she is big enough not to "need" to eat at night, but it's my choice and if I'm comfortable with nursing her than just nurse her. He basically just said make my own plan and stick to it. I'm really hoping that crib gnomes will come help her magically sleep through the night. Until then we will just figure it out.

Eating: still 100% breast milk, but she has started some solids! The pedi wasn't too concerned about all of my allergies, he just said wait a bit between foods. We started with bananas, and she has also tried green beans, sweet potato, carrots, pears, and cucumber. She wasn't too excited about any of it, except the sweet potato puffs she has. She gets excited when she sees the container and opens her mouth wide for them (probably because they taste like sugary cereal!). We are doing a mixture of purees and baby led weaning. I found the BLW book very informative, but I didn't like how it is so against spoon feeding. I think babies need to get used to a spoon too. I dislike anything that says there is a right or wrong way to do things with babies, because they are all so different. Right now I have some apples and squash in the oven to mash for her. She has also had water in a sippy cup. We noticed her becoming very interested in our bottles and cups as we were drinking. If you are holding her and take a drink of something, she tries to grab it! She will hold the sippy and put the spout in her mouth, but she needs some help tipping it up. She will act frantic like she is dying of thirst. It's so funny to watch.

Movement: I have not seen her roll from back to belly, but twice now I've gone to get her out of her crib and found her on her belly. She tolerates tummy time now. She has a little F.isher Price beauty salon and if we put it in front of her when she's only her belly she can see herself in the mirror. DH did a good job picking out that toy. She grabs everything- hair, earrings (no more hoops for mommy for awhile), toys, papers, Shorty. The first time she grabbed Shorty, Shorty turned around and looked at her all bug eyed, then she ran away. She was back about 5 seconds later wagging her tail. If Sadie is laying on the floor, she will reach her hands out so Shorty can lick them. I know it's gross- we tried to keep her from doing it but at this point I'm sure she's had lots of things in her mouth that are dirtier than a little dog drool. I think once Sadie starts crawling Shorty will learn to jump up on things to get away! She has also starting sitting a little on her own. She lasts about 10 seconds before she wobbles over. She loves doing her "Irish dancing" with her feet if you hold her up. 

Milestones: Sitting some on her own, her first overnight trip to Uncle Lo's and Aunt Val's (she's been to Boston- so not her first trip, just her first one to Columbus), taking her 6 month shots like a champ (we've been lucky- she hasn't had any issues with shots), starting solids, sitting in a big girl high chair at a restaurant, celebrating her first New Year. She also outgrew some of her cloth diapers (I'm still planning to do a post on those). She celebrated mommy's birthday (my best birthday ever!) and when we were at the restaurant with my family she was very happy until all the food came, so we put her in her seat with a bottle of mommy's milk and she held it herself! DH had to help a little. She just wanted to eat while everyone else was eating!

Favorite Toys/Activities: She still loves listening to daddy and just watching people. She will be a little fussy and DH will start talking and she just lights up. She loves the boys at the babysitter and is very entertained all day. When I come to nurse her at lunch she is super quick now and wants to get right back to watching them. She is really loving her Exersaucer and is big enough to spin and get to all the toys. It's funny to watch her try to pull all of them into her mouth. She loves her beauty salon and is very into books right now. She looks at each page carefully as you read, until she decides to grab the book and put it in her mouth! She still loves baths and has started to kick her feet and splash a lot.

Dislikes: She still isn't a huge fan of tummy time (she tolerates it), but overall there isn't much she doesn't like. She isn't a fan of being strapped in her car seat, but usually once she's in she will be fine. We are very lucky to have such a happy, easygoing baby.

Words & Sounds: She is really into squealing. It's like one day she just figured out that she could do it and then she didn't stop. She does a little fake laugh that cracks us up. She will also giggle if you tickle under her neck.

Now, if I can just figure out a way to slow time down a bit. I'm sure the next 6 months will be just as fast as the past. We are so incredibly blessed.

If someone can explain how to rotate this, please do. It wasn't sideways when I uploaded!

Trying a pear

6 month photo shoot

What? They taste good.

Just chillin with Shorty

Sitting!

Whatdya mean 2012 is almost over?? (taken on NYE 2012)

My baby is growing too fast!

Age: 5 Months

Weight: about 14 and a half pounds. I haven't weighed her in a few weeks.

Length: 24 inches at her 4 month appointment

Size: in 6 month and 6-9 month clothes. Soon she will be in Carter's 9 month, but that is basically 6-9 in Carter's language.

Hair: Her hair is all filled in, but she's starting to get a bald spot on the back from where she rubs her head while laying down. She also has these two long pieces around her ears. They look like wings and they are adorable.

Eyes: brow, but not dark brown like mine. They have a hint of green.
Teeth: None.Still drooling like crazy and she puts EVERYTHING in her mouth.

Sleeping:We've had a bit of trouble in this department. After trying to move her to her crib at 4 months left us both exhausted, I put her back in the RnP (rock n play) and she slept great for a couple weeks. Then she started waking every 3 hours. Nothing would calm her except nursing. I thought maybe it was a growth spurt, but those usually last a week or so and this is still going on. I'm on Christmas break right now, so we are doing the crib transition again. It's going much better this time. I think I am more committed to it, and she was sleeping like crap in the RnP anyway so I can't move her back into it. Plus she is just getting to big for it. She is still waking every 3-4 hours in the crib, but most of the time I can calm her down with just patting her and giving her the paci. I've also been letting her fuss for 5-10 minutes before I go to her, and sometimes she will just go back to sleep. Don't judge me- I used to think letting them cry was cruel but I wasn't doing her any favors by running to her at her first cry! We moved her bedtime up also so she is getting 12 hours of sleep (with wake ups) but she wakes up happy and smiley rather than cranky like she did during the first crib transition. I still nurse her once or twice at night, depending on how long it's been since she last ate. She will sleep through the night eventually. I'm not really worried about it because she is a happy, well adjusted, growing baby.

Eating: still 100% breast milk. For awhile I was getting away with pumping once a day (lucky, I know!) but I had to add another session after school. Next month we are going to start vegetables. I'm so excited to watch her try new foods. I'm hoping to read the book Baby Led Weaning and just skip purees. I'm not excited about solid poops in diapers. I haven't had to rinse her cloth diapers because she is exclusively breastfed, but once she starts solids I will have to. Yuck. I'm planning to do a whole post about cloth diapers soon. We LOVE them!

Movement: She is so strong! She still does her "stomach crunches" often. In fact, she was doing them in the RnP which was a sign that she was getting too big for it! She enjoys her exersaucer but we have to prop her with a towel. She loves her S.ummer Infant seat (similar to a B.umbo) and will sit in it for quite awhile. I'll post a pic of that below. My mom has a jumper (that hangs from a door frame) and she can't jump in it yet, but she enjoyed spinning and playing in it for awhile on Christmas. She doesn't hate tummy time anymore, I think because she has great head control and can easily lift her head and shoulders. She rolls from tummy to back like a champ. We've been practicing back to belly (I will roll her on a blanket, which is fun!). She follows people a lot with her eyes, and definitely knows who mommy and daddy are. When DH talks she will just stare at him and smile. One day I went to nurse her at lunch and she kept fighting to get out from under the nursing cover. She just wanted to sit and watch the boys at the sitter and grin at them. She also smiles and Shorty as she walks around. She is definitely very aware of her surroundings.

Milestones: She got her first cold, but it never fazed her. She just smiled through the snot and coughing. She sounded pitiful, but it never affected her demeanor. She celebrated her first Christmas! She got lots of cool new toys and enjoyed all the excitement. She is sleeping in her crib like a big girl. Oh, and she had her first fall. I set her on the couch for a minute while I went to start the washer, and DH was right there- but she rolled off. She cried for about a minute and then was back to grinning. Oops. Write that down in her baby book ;). She was also baptized in December. She found her feet this month too! When I'm changing her she will grab at her feet until she gets one in her mouth. It's so cute to watch. She grabs everything. We were at Cracker Barrel last week and she grabbed some green beans off my plate!

Favorite Toys/Activities: She loves listening to daddy and just watching people. She enjoys her seat and sometimes her exersaucer. Her changing table is still one of her happy places, and she still loves baths. She is also big enough for the E.rgo and she tolerates me wearing her for awhile. She likes her Sophie toy that she got from her friend Sam, a doll that has wooden rings on the hands the my friend Shauna gave her. Really she likes anything she can put in her mouth!

Dislikes: Waking up at night and being tired. Sometimes she dislikes the car (mostly when it's dark), but as long as she's not in her seat too long she's okay. Overall she's a happy baby and we are very lucky.

Words & Sounds: She babbles a lot. They've started to sound like squeals and sometimes like a cat! She laughs easily now and is very ticklish around her neck and armpits. She also loves making spitting noises and blowing bubbles.

Daddy making her laugh

Sitting with Papaw on Christmas day

Calling her boyfriend(s)

Loving her seat

Santa did not clear this present with Mommy first

Our Christmas card picture

Can I have some privacy while I eat my feet, please?

One Year Ago

I meant to post this on Monday, which was the anniversary of the day we found out about Sadie. Revisit it here. I never dreamed we would be so blessed!

November 26, 2011

4 months old

Here we are again. I can't believe my baby is getting so big!

Age: 4 months

Weight: 13 pounds 12 ounces

Length: 24 inches

Size: in 6 month and 6-9 month clothes. There are a few 3-6 things that fit her, but not many.

Hair: It's definitely filling in up top, and she no longer has male patterned baldness. It's so long on the sides that it goes over her ears. It's still dark and just adorable.

Teeth: None. The pedi felt her mouth at her 4 month appointment Monday and said he didn't feel anything. She is still drooling like crazy and putting everything in her mouth!

Sleeping: Ugh. I was off all week for Thanksgiving break so I thought it would be a good time to transition her to her crib. The first night she only woke up twice! Well, she fooled me. The past 3 nights she has been up multiple times, and last night it was every 15 minutes until she finally gave me a 3 hour stretch at midnight. I really wish I had transitioned her sooner. I love the rock-n-play, but I think it made her so used to sleeping all snuggled and at an incline that she's having trouble getting used to being flat on her back in such a big space. She can also roll onto her side, so I think all the rolling wakes her up. It's been 4 nights now, so I'm hoping after another few it will get better. She was down to 1 wake up or sleeping all night in the rock-n-play so I'm hoping we will get back to that. She also takes very short naps now unless she's on my lap. She takes great naps at the sitter, go figure. My doctor said sometimes babies will just stay awake to be with mommy. All of those short naps make her have little tired "fits" though and it takes a bit to calm her down.

Eating: still 100% breast milk. The pedi said we can skip cereal and go straight to vegetables at 6 months. My supply has gone down just a bit and I've had to add in an extra pumping session here and there, but otherwise I am keeping up with her eating. Most days I can nurse her during lunch which really helps.

Movement: She has great head and body control. The pedi commented on how well she was doing developmentally, and my doctor said she has great muscle tone. She can roll onto her side from her back and still rolls from belly to back during tummy time. She does her "stomach crunches" often, meaning she lifts her head off the ground from a laying position. She does it often in her carseat, because it's not her favorite place and she's trying to find a way out. We've tried putting her in her exersaucer but she doesn't quite have the strength to hold her whole body up yet.

Milestones: Taking her 4 month shots like a champ, moving to her crib, rolling from back to side, celebrating her first Thanksgiving, laughing. I was changing her and I tickled her armpit and she giggled. She is also ticklish under her neck. My mom can make her laugh during peek-a-boo. It's the best sound in the world. She also joined the paint club (an inside joke in my family).

Favorite Toys/Activities: She still LOVES nursing. This week when I was off I felt like we constantly nursed. Most of the time I didn't mind though- it gave me a chance to cuddle and catch up on some tv! She loves her taggies blanket, or any little blankie/burp cloth. She also has a blanket with a monkey head attached. She loves to talk to it and hold it in her carseat. She also loves baths. If she is really upset I know I can give her a bath to calm her down.

Dislikes: Apparently she dislikes long naps now, but she also dislikes being tired. Makes sense....;). She also hates being in her carseat for long periods of time and wants to sit at the table with us if we go out to eat.

Words & Sounds: She will "talk" for long periods of time now and will laugh. She still does her fake cry that sounds kind of like a siren. I love hearing it all!

Holding her "baby" in the car

Leg lifts

Love those chubby thighs!

3 Month Pics

I told DH not to argue with me- we are having pics taken at the 1,3,6,9, and 12 month marks. He thought it was excessive at first, until he got to pick out one of her outfits for the most recent ones. I'll let you guess which one he picked. We didn't print all of these poses, but some were too cute not to share.

For some reason this one make her look so much chubbier than she is, but it's still cute!

I have Timberland boots like Daddy

I don't like this tummy time stuff

3 Months Old

Well, time continues to fly. I wish I could put things in slow motion. I'm enjoying every single second with my precious girl, but not I really know what people mean when they say "they grow up so fast." It feels like Sadie was just born. 

Age: 3 months

Weight: about 12 and a half pounds

Length: 23 inches at her 2 month appointment

Size: 3 months and some 3-6 clothing. She is still wearing a few 0-3 things but they are getting snug. We are also using cloth diapers now! It was a bit of a production trying to figure out my wash routine and she ended up being allergic to the fabric on one kind of diapers so I had to rethink my stash, but we have it figured out now and things are going well. I'm so glad I didn't give up (I wanted to several times.)

Hair: Dark and getting pretty long around her ears. DH said we should cut it and "even it out." He is CRAZY. She's adorable even with a little top baldness and no one is going near my baby with scissors yet. Her eyes seem like they are turning hazel. DH has hazel eyes, mine are brown.

Teeth: None, just loads of drool. We go through 2-3 bibs a day.

Sleeping: She usually wakes up once per night. She goes to bed with us, around 9:30, and she will wake up any time between 2-4 am for a short feeding. Most of the time I have to wake her at 7 to get her ready for the sitter. She's been taking long naps there, and will still catnap in the evenings. I can usually lay her down semi awake at night and she will go to sleep on her own. She is still in the rock-in-play by our bed. I will probably transition to her crib over my Christmas break. I really don't want her to leave my side though. I love being able to reach over to her during the night if needed.

Eating: still 100% breast milk. I feel very lucky that breast feeding has gone so well for us. Since returning to work I've been able to pump plenty of milk for her during the day. She really doesn't eat much when she's away from me and seems to wait and nurse more in the evenings. Her middle of the night feedings are only about 10-15 minutes now. We've come a long way from the hours and hours she would nurse at night during those first few weeks. I have to admit it makes me a little sad. I love the extra sleep, but it's just another sign that she's growing too fast. Such a bittersweet feeling.

Movement: She looks less like a bobble head and can hold her head up very well. She has started to grab onto things. If I cover her up while she's in her carseat she has learned how to grab the blanket. She sucks on it sometimes. She also seemed to have figured out that her hand is attached to her body. I catch her just lifting her fist and staring at it, almost making herself go cross eyed. It's so fun to watch. She sucks on her hand a lot now too. That usually wakes me up before her whimpers in the middle of the night. I hear a loud "suck suck suck" and she almost has her whole hand in her mouth, so I know she is ready to eat.

Milestones: Oh, the baby babbles. They are so stinking cute. I love hearing her "talk." She almost laughs, but we have yet to hear it. I can't wait for that! She responds to raspberries on her tummy and we are able to make her smile easily now. She has also been going to her sitter for two weeks now and has been doing great. They love her and I'm so glad. My sitter's 3 year old son said to me, "I wish your baby was our baby." She's gone to storytime at the library twice now with them and the boys read to her all the time during the day. I am so incredibly fortunate to take her there.

Favorite Toys/Activities: She still loves the ceiling fans. She is starting to respond more to toys, especially ones with faces, but she really doesn't love any toys yet. I think her favorite thing is just sitting and looking around. She will sit happily on my lap and I usually hold her while we eat dinner. She just likes to take in her surroundings.

Dislikes: She is still not a fan of tummy time, and she fights her naps if she gets overtired. Honestly we are lucky she is such a happy girl. There isn't much that she truly dislikes.

Words & Sounds: The baby babbles mentioned above. I love them so much. She still does her fake cry which cracks us up.

Hey woman, stop taking my picture!

Tomorrow we are having some 3 month professional pictures taken. I will share some soon!