Progressive Pioneer

The Great Diaper Debate

I've had a few inquiries about my diaper routine lately and thought I might touch on the subject again.  Dishing about cloth diapers is always fun!  We used BumGenius with Sam and really liked them, probably would have stuck with them had I not eaten away the waterproofing on the covers by adding vinegar to the wash water.  Always a good idea to read the fine print...  So, for Vivian I decided to try Bummis.  I liked the idea of not having to wash the covers every time, and eliminating the one tiny step of stuffing the pockets of the one-sizers was appealing too.  Oh, and I can't say I wasn't swayed by the dang adorable prints either!  We also have some froggie ones:)

Turns out I LOVE the Bummis!  Seriously, these are my favorite system yet.  I think it really helps that we're ECing and Vivian never actually poops in her diaper.  If she did, we'd need a lot more covers.  As it is, I only have four and that's plenty.  She's already getting ready to move into the larger size (I'm so proud of my delightfully chubby girl!), so we'll get four more soon.  Altogether that's less than a hundred dollars!  I've been using the old BumGenius inserts, which makes it so easy, but if I ever run out of those I love the birdseye weave flatfolds .  They're so much less bulky, but surprisingly absorbent.  And they're super cheap.  So, you could easily get away with diapering your baby for just over $100 total if you EC'd and used those pre-folds.  That's a heck of a lot better than $100 a month!

For laundering I just use a gentle, unscented soap and occassionally throw in a little bleach if they're getting funky.  I double rinse and line dry in the summer (this is great for getting stains out too) and dry on extra high in the dryer in the winter.  One trick I started doing with Vivian is putting a few drops of tea tree oil on a cloth wipe and tossing it in the bottom of the pail (I get the cheap kind for diapers).  It does wonders for keeping it from getting stinky; I think it makes it an unfriendly place for bacteria to live. 

For wipes I use flannel squares and a homemade wipe concentrate or LuSa's Wipe Juice.  Coconut oil and cornstarch work wonders for keeping bums soft and rash-free.  I often use LuSa's booty balm too; it's a little thicker and provides a better barrier than coconut oil if I suspect a rash is coming on.  I also use the Booty Balm for any little irritation on her skin; dry scalp, chafing etc.

Every mama develops her own best routine and tricks; what are your tried and true diapering secrets?

PS I was just on Euphoria Baby for some links (this is where we got the Bummis) and saw that they're having a big diaper sale!  Lots of great deals if you're in the market for some new ones...

PPS Those leggings Vivian has on are ones I made for Sam when he was tiny; it's a great upcycling project that takes all of thirty seconds.

Crazy, but True...

I'm just amazed at how much body awareness tiny babies have.  We started EC with Vivian and it's just so fun!  It's one of those things that you just don't know how fun it is until you actually experience it.  But sitting a teeny, tiny baby on the potty and having them go is so exciting!  Or maybe we're just lacking in excitement around here... :) 

We did ECing or infant pottying with Sam, but didn't start until he was about two or three months old because of all the time he spent in the hospital.  Vivian, on the other hand, started at about two or three weeks!

It seems like such a crazy thing because we don't really see it done in our culture, but for so many other cultures it's completely normal.  I think it can seem a little intimidating too, like it might be too hard to incorporate into your routine, but especially if you're using cloth diapers, it only makes life easier. With Sam I would get a little hung up on how long we could go with a dry diaper and whatnot.  But with Vivian it's really just been about her comfort and doing what's convenient for me.  We've been using Bummis with the old BumGenius inserts or regular prefolds since the waterproofing is worn out on the BGs.  So, I think she feels it more when she's wet and really doesn't like it.  Consequently, she's started holding it and if I give her enough opportunities we can go through several "changes" using the same diaper because she goes on the potty instead of in the diaper.  The other day I took Sam to a friend's house, went grocery shopping, came home, nursed Viv and then put her on the potty, where she went immediately and her diaper was still dry!

I swear, if it seems intimidating, just trust me on this one; it's not.  All you need is one or two of those little potties (we love the Baby Bjorn ).  Keep it where you change your baby.  And then just put them on it whenever it makes sense for you.  For us it's after naps and nursing. 

The other element is making some sort of "cue-ing" noise.  Though I find that after awhile just sitting on the potty is the cue; they know what to do.  The noise comes in handy when you're out hiking or something and what them to go somewhere unfamiliar.  From the first day I would make the sound (I make a ch-ch-ch sound) whenever I was holding her and could tell she went, such that she'd associate the sound with going to the bathroom.  At some point (maybe around two weeks?) I thought, "I wonder if she'd go if I put her on the potty?"  So, I put her on, made the sound, and hooray!  She went!  It really is a fun thing.  And I think babies love it.  They really are born preferring to be dry and simply grow accustomed to being wet and tolerating it.  Potty time is also one of my favorite times because it positions Vivian right in front of me with her face looking up at me.  We talk and smile and have a grand old time, just some of those silly, little things that make mamas grin all over. 

PS Here are a few good resources:

The Diaper-Free Baby

Diaper Free

Tiny training pants (18mo.); it's often hard to find them small enough.  Another great source for all things related to baby pottying is EC Wear.

Good luck!

Make Your Own Carseat Pad

This isn't the loveliest or most exciting project, but I just thought I would share it in case there are any other parents out there that loathe the idea of dismantling the car seat to wash the cover.  It is such a pain!  It only took one accident in the car seat for me to start religiously grabbing an old felted wool sweater to tuck under Sam on road trips.  We've only had two accidents in the car (not bad for a newly potty trained two year old, bless his heart!) and the one with the felted wool was definitely WAY less of a big deal.  However, I knew I could come up with a better looking solution.  So, one quite afternoon while Sam was napping I headed out to the car with some paper, scotch tape and scissors and made a really rough template of the shape a car seat pad would need to be.

If you do this, don't worry about being super accurate or fancy.  Just tuck the paper in, trim and tape it to the shape you want and make sure to include things like slits for the straps.  Mine was basically a rectangle with little triangle pieces that I folded up and sewed so that it was curved to fit the seat.  And I made sure to mark a T where the lower strap would need to fit through.

After that I just found my thickest felted wool sweater scrap, trimmed it to the right shape and sewed up those two corners and that was it!  Now there's a nice, little pad in there that actually fits instead of a haphazardly stuffed in piece of cloth.  I will never cease to be amazed at all the useful things you can do with felted wool.  It is really one of my very favorite materials to work with.  And this simple little 5 minute project has given me much more peace of mind about traveling with a tiny, diaper-less person. 

What to Do With All Those Scraps of Felted Wool

As you may or may not know, I have something of a love affair with felted wool. It's one of my very things to craft and sew with.  Consequently I have a (very) large basket overflowing with felted sweaters and scrap bits.  A few months ago, Sam stopped using diapers altogether.  We still had him in something absorbent at night though.  However, since he was waking up dry every morning, we decided to just go for it and make it baby boxers all the time.  Buuuut, not without a teeny little bit of back up, just in case.

I love the idea of those felted wool pads for toddlers' beds (or nursing and/or cosleeping parents), but they're kind of expensive.  That's when I realized I could put all those small and oddly shaped scraps of felted wool to work!  I gathered up a big pile and fit them together like a jigsaw puzzle, then pinned the seams together.  This required a bit of finagling and trimming, but wool is a forgiving fabric. 

Once it was all pinned I just zipped all those seams together on the sewing machine and that was that.  I had to go back over a few spots that turned out kind of wonky or lumpy.  It was a pretty imprecise project, but it didn't need to be perfect, just water resistant.  And, were I so inclined, I could have sewed a cute binding around the edge or something.  But, as it was, I just tossed it on his bed, where it's been ever since.  And I must add, where it's remained perfectly dry.  Have to give credit where credit is due!

 

Here's Sam modeling the comfiness of the pad.  This is how he normally looks in the morning, covers tossed off, hair a fuzzy halo, but with eyes closed:)  Now that it's gotten warmer I've just layered a light cotton over it so he's not right on the wool.  Although, wool actually stays pretty cool in the summer if you're just laying on it, not wrapping up in it, of course.  Unfortunately (or not...), this only made the slightest dent in my wool stash, which means there are more felted wool projects to come!

Make Your Own Toddler Undies

Like mom and dad, Sam is a little string bean.  There's pretty much no hope of this kid ever becoming a linebacker (thank goodness!), maybe a great runner or rock climber, but not so much anything that requires some serious bulk, including fitting into any training pants available in regular stores.  Sam's been using the potty since he was quite small, and we've had more or less success, depending on my diligence.  
As long as I remind him to go, we're pretty good at avoiding accidents.  But, I decided it was time to step it up a notch and have him start taking responsibility for it.  We were waiting for warmer weather, so I wouldn't feel like a bad mother letting him run around with no pants on.  Pants are a serious hindrance when you're under two and have to pee.  Unfortunately, when we went to the store, I could see at a glance that the training pants would be around his ankles and no use to us whatsoever.  So, besides 24/7 nakedness (which would be just fine with Sam!), what's a mother to do?  Stock up on tiny, cotton baby pants at the thrift store and turn them into wee toddler boxers, that's what!
The first pair ended up looking a bit more boxer brief-ish, but he still seemed to think they were quite the thing.  After figuring out the right length, I just lopped off the legs on the rest and sent them through the wash, no need for hemming or anything that labor-intensive.  We've got about a dozen or so pairs now. 
Is there anything cuter than teeny, tiny baby buns in teeny, tiny baby boxers?  I think not.  And so far, he seems to be doing a little better each day taking himself to the potty and not needing to be reminded.  Though I'm very open to any tips or tricks from experienced moms out there!  All the good books on potty training were checked out at the library, so I've just been winging it. We do have a sticker chart though... 

Diaper Dance

As I was loading a few diapers into the wash today, I looked down and realized I'd empty the whole pail without coming across one poopy one!  Now perhaps this would not be cause for a celebratory dance in everyone's books, but I was over the moon!  This summer, without even realizing and without really trying, we've found ourselves using less and less diapers as it's become easier to simply let Sam go diaperless and use the potty.  He's so great at holding it now and on the rare occasion that he does have an accident, it's usually only a little tiny bit.  He'll say "uh-oh, Mama!" and I'll whisk him onto the potty to finish. 

Starting around two or three months we started putting Sam on the potty.  And depending on my diligence we had more or less success.  The name Elimination Communication sounds too dorky for me, the abbreviation EC, as most people call it, is a little better. I don't like infant potty training either, because that's really not what it's about at all.  For us it was simply the idea that, hey, I wouldn't want to sit in poop or pee either!  Out of respect for Sam, I've tried to give him the chance to go on the potty as much as was feasible given constraints of time, energy and mama's sanity (some days, I just wasn't up to it).  And in spite of all those times when I wasn't "on" and we went through periods of being kind of lazy about it, he still seemed to "get it."  He much prefers going in the potty (wouldn't you?) and now that he's mobile and can communicate more and more we're seeing less and less dirty diapers.  In the next month or two I may give baby undies a try.  Maybe for his 1 and 1/2 year birthday:)  Definitely a cause for celebration!

We find that an unsnapped onesie makes for the perfect loin cloth-style, summer outfit.  Prevents flashing the neighbors and provides quick access to the potty. 

 

Diaperless Days

Without my even noticing we've gotten down to using only a couple diapers a day.  It's so hot that Sam is happy to run around naked all day long.  As long as I'm relatively aware and am keeping an eye out for his cues that he needs to use the potty we rarely have an accident.

We haven't really been focusing on getting him potty trained and I wouldn't even say that's what we're doing.  It's more that he likes to run around in the buff and I dislike washing diapers.  Once he's able to tell me with words that he needs to go to the bathroom and is able to get in and out of pants on his own, we'll think about potty training for real.  Until then it's working really well to use the potty at home and diapers when we go out.

This recent increase in potty use came at the perfect time as it seems I messed up the waterproofing in Sam's diapers by adding vinegar to the rinse water (to remove soap buildup).  Apparently that's a no-no.  When I called Bum Genius for advice, they suggested a waterproofing spray, which I purchased and applied.  So far so good; the waterproof-i-ness of the diapers seems to be back and if it wears out again I can always reapply.

For more info on diaperfree babies and infant pottying see here, here, and here.

Easy Breezy Summer

I've been anticipating the hot summer months not just for the usual reasons, but because I can finally let Sam run around diaperless!  He's been using the potty with a certain degere of regularity since he was about two months old.  Though I was never dedicated enough to have him completely diaper free.  However, it did mean I washed significantly less diapers and we haven't had to deal with acclimating him to the potty.  He's really good about it and knows exactly what to do.
Now that it's so warm out, Sam spends 90% of his waking hours outside and I just let him go commando.  We have a little potty out there, although it gets used less than I'd like.  In the house, however, we're a bit more strict and he's generally really good about holding it until I put him on the potty.  And luckily all our floors are wood or stone, so mistakes are no big thing.  I've got my fingers crossed that we emerge from the summer completely potty trained!

Diaper-Free Babes

We got some cloth diapers from the midwives today, which will surely come in handy. Although, we plan to use diapers pretty minimally. My friend Christi just had a baby and they're trying the diaper free method.  I'm glad her baby is a few months older so she can give it a whirl and let me know how it goes!