Wednesday, May 30, 2012

Welcoming...

Elizabeth Florence, born on my birthday, 8 lbs 7 oz and 20in long :-) (a surprising three days early as I did not expect to see her until after her due date). After days of wondering if I was starting labor my labor finally kicked in on Wednesday afternoon and I had my sweet Beth in my arms a short 8 hours later. I had a totally natural birth (at a birthing center) with no medication in a birthing tub and would recommend the experience to anyone interested. We have been home now for 5 days and are starting to learn about life with two kids. :-D I feel like I still have a lot to learn. :-P 

Cloth diapering is going rather well! Both of my kids right now are in prefolds with Thirsties Duo wrap covers and they fit well and clean easily, so we will probably just use those for a few weeks until I get my energy back. The one thing I realized this week was folding a prefold for an infant and folding a prefold for a toddler are very different. I am going to do a post just on folding prefolds and how I do it sometime in the next couple of weeks to give an idea of what I mean. :-)

Well this is enough of my rambling, I just wanted to make sure that people know I am still alive and doing well. :-) Have a blessed day!
This is a picture of my sweet Beth at 5 days old. :-)

~ Kym

Todays Verse: 2 Thessalonians 3:3

Tuesday, May 15, 2012

New babies and cloth diapers

Sorry about my posts becoming less frequent. I currently am getting ready for my new baby who is due to arrive any day! Because of this I thought I would do a short post about what I am getting to cloth diaper her and what my thoughts are on cloth diapering from the start.

I currently am planning on doing part time cloth diapering with my newborn simply for my sanity sake. :-)  The plan is for the first few weeks to cloth diaper during the day and to use the paper diapers I have been given at night so that if and when I am crazy tired I wont be fumbling with cloth. My idea is since I am  having my two year old and the newborn at home with me all the time I wont be too tired to keep my two year old busy and happy, my newborn peaceful, and me calm. The cloth diapering I will be doing will consist of several types of diapers to better decide what works for me and my newborn. I will start by using prefolds and the Thirsties Duo Wrap in size one, the reason I have chosen this particular diaper cover is because of the size. Thirsties Duo Wrap supposedly fits babies from about 6lbs to about 18lbs and I want a cover that will work longer than just a few weeks. I am also working on ordering ALVA Baby diapers in the 4.0 style or it is also called the Color Snap, the reason I chose this particular style of ALVA Baby is because it is a pocket diaper with double gussets and with an extra small snap setting. I do not know about the quality because I have never used ALVA Baby before, but I will do a review on them once I get them and understand more about the diapers. :-) Pocket diapers are something I have not really looked into doing full time before simply because of how expensive they are and the fact that the ones I have I (personally) find hard to clean by dunking in the toilet. But, I found the ALVA pocket diapers made in Hong Kong for about $7 a diaper and I recently bought a diaper sprayer attachment for my toilet so pocket diapers should not be as difficult for me now. So to start my pocket diaper stash I am going to get some of those. :-)

Well I think this about wraps up my thoughts and what I am going to try to use with my newborn. I do hope to keep up the blog in the next few weeks, but it might not be exactly all I hope to post because of the new baby. :-D You all be blessed until the next post!

~ Kym

Todays Bible verse: Psalm 139:13-14

Thursday, May 3, 2012

Weekly Wipe Recipe!

Here is another wipe recipe! I am just loving some of these ones I am putting up here, they are so nice to use! As with all of these, remember that not every one is going to work perfectly for your baby or for your diapers, so test them on a couple of days worth of wipes before using one for too long. :-) 

Anti-Fungal

(Omit vinegar if baby has a raw rash.)

1/4 cup white vinegar
1 tablespoon calendula oil
A few drops lavender oil
A few drops tea tree oil
1/4 cup 100% aloe vera gel
1 cup water

Just mix up your wipe solution and enjoy the smell! :-)

One trick I have recently been really happy with is putting the solution in a squirt bottle and then spraying my wipes with it when I am putting a couple of days worth into the wipe warmer. Not only is this easy, but it cuts down on the time it takes to "soak" the wipes before I put them into the wipe warmer!

As always if you have any questions please ask! I am more than happy to answer. :-) Have a fun Thursday!

~ Kym

Today Bible verse: 1 Corinthians 15:58

Tuesday, May 1, 2012

What You Need to Cloth Diaper

As I have previously said I am expecting another baby here in a few weeks and so I thought I would write up a post about what is needed to cloth diaper an infant. What I use with my toddler works well for us, prefold with a cover during the day, pockets or a doubled prefold at night, and then Flip diapers while we are out and about. However, with my newborn since I plan on cloth diapering from the beginning I am getting some different things to try and see what all I like, and I will write about what I get to cloth diaper my little one as I get it and put it to use. :-) What I have learned though is that cloth diapering does not have  to be expensive or a gross mess, with the right tools it can be a simple and extremely cost effective way to diaper your child from newborn to potty training. Here is a list of what you would need to cloth diaper if you were just doing prefolds and diaper covers, I have also put down some prices and my thoughts on why you would want these items. 



For babies smaller that 8lbs.
This is not always an easy stage to cloth diaper, and some people choose to just wait to start cloth diapering until their baby is older and a little bigger. For me, my first baby was 9lbs at birth, so I am not worried about size with newborn cloth diapering. :-)
18-24 Premie Prefolds
2-3 Diaper Covers in a small size


For 8-15lbs

24 Infant Prefolds:
I would get the Indian Cotton Prefold from Cotton Babies ($1.50 each). They have the best price for what you get and have free shipping too.

3-4 Diaper Covers:
I only say 3-4 because if your baby has two blowouts then you only have one cover to use until you wash. So I say 3-4 just to be on the safe side!!

For 15-30lbs

24 Premium Prefolds:
I would also choose to get the Indian Cotton Prefold from Cotton Babies ($2 each). Why so many prefolds? Well, I find that you want have enough for at least two days (I know that most older babies do not use as many diapers in a day as little ones so this might seem like a lot) or if your baby suddenly get sick and goes more than usual, than you are sure not to run out of prefolds.

3-4 Diaper Covers:
Also for the same reason. With diaper covers they can wear out, so get what you think is going to best suit you. I am personally fond of getting snapped diaper covers because they look better longer, but I do have some velcro and those are really convient for a quick diaper change.

Everything Else:

2 Snappis:
These do wear out in about 6 months or so ($7.95 for a 3 pack from Amazon).

3-4 doublers:
I have not done much with any other than the stay dry insert from Cotton Babies, but their are several types out there that are great for doubling up at night so there are fewer leaks and diaper changes.

2 Wet Bags or Diaper Pail Liners:
I use the Planet Wise Diaper Pail Liner ($16.50 from Cotton Babies or Amazon) and it is very nice and simple to use.

Covered Trash Can:
Plastic ones work ($10-15 at Walmart or Target), but if you are worried about the stench go with a metal or stainless steel. Also for the stench you can put baking soda in the bottom of your can. I am currently using Arm and Hammer Lavender Deodorizers in the bottom of the can outside of the pail liner ($6.60 for a 5 pack from amazon)

25-30 Cloth Wipes:
These you can make yourself with flannel if you have scraps (I love my homemade ones!), or you can just use baby washcloths from a place like Wal-mart or Target ($1 or less a washcloth depending on the type you get). The different cloth diaper manufacturers make wipes too, but if you do not want to spend a lot of money on wipes it works to just use washcloths. Also, Etsy.com has lots of people who make cloth wipes for very reasonable prices.

Wipes Warmer:
This is not a necessity, but it makes it so that you can moisten your wipes and they are warm and ready to use on baby’s tender bottom (Prince Lionheart Wipes Warmer $19.17 on Amazon).

Wipes Solution:
I have lots and lots of ideas for that, so make your own. It is very inexpensive to do so and you will use stuff you have around the house. Just check back every week for a new recipe!

Diaper Sprayer:
Not a necessity, but f you are serious about cloth diapering I would get one. It will save you a lot of sweat and tears and makes the $45 you will spend on it totally worth it!

Diaper Laundry Detergent:
After reading about all of the different types of detergent and looking at the reviews, I have come up with two that look like they get stuff clean and work well. Rockin' Green Detergent and Nellies All Natural Laundry Soda. These are not totally cloth diaper specific, but they are exactly what cloth diapers need. Rockin' Green is about 18 cents a load and Nellies is about 11 cents a load if you buy it from Cotton Babies (again because they have the best price). Right now I use Nellies, but I do plan on trying Rockin' Green once I use up all of the Nellies that I have right now.

Also if you have the option you will want clothes pins for hanging diapers in the sun. You can just dry them in the dryer most of the time, but stains come out so well if put in the sun for a few hours.

Good Support Team:
Sadly enough this cannot be bought; but, you can go online to any cloth diapering forum or ask questions on my blog and I will be willing to give you advice, encourage you when problems occur (because this is not a science and problems do happen!) and be happy with you when things are corrected again! Also it is extremely helpful to have your partner on board with cloth diapering, someone who is always there to help out. :-)


This is everything I could think of for starting out with cloth diapering on the cheap. But please do realize this is not the only way to cloth diaper, it is simply cheaper than other ways out there. I look forward to getting the rest of the items on my list for my new baby on the way and I will keep you posted as to what I am buying and trying and my thoughts on them! 

Have a wonderful first day of May! 
~ Kym

Todays Bible Verse: Proverbs 9:10