Sunday, December 11, 2011
Blogging Opportunity for Cloth Diapering Mamas!
Midnight Mommy is looking for cloth diapering and blogging moms to host some reviews and giveaways! Just go HERE to check out the requirements and fill out the form for entry into this awesome event. I can attest first hand that the mommy behind this site is great to work with. She's also a lot of fun. I hope you get to participate in this great event!
SmartiPants One Size Diaper Review
SmartiPants One-Size Diaper Review
I have been using the SmartiPants diaper in my cloth diaper
rotation for about 2 weeks now. So far I really like it. It is designed to fit
babies from 7 to 35 pounds, and fits my 23-pound Fuss quite well. The snaps are
AWESOME! They are very, very strong and tough for little fingers to pry apart.
Of course, this can also be a problem for Mommy given the short length of the
tab past the snap. That is my only complaint with this diaper! I would like to
have a little bit of “grip room” at the end of the tabs. There are also hip
snaps to prevent "wing droop" when the little one is running around.
The hip snaps even add an extra layer of protection to keep quick fingers from
completely removing the diaper.
Next: The interior. This is an extremely soft stay-dry
lining with an unusual pocket style for this type of diaper. The pocket opening
is open on both ends! Why is that? It is to allow the insert to remain inside
when soiled and then agitate out in the wash. I was skeptical about how well
that would actually work, and was pleasantly surprised when it lived up to its
claim! The other bonus to having an opening at both ends is that my husband,
who wears a size 13 wedding band, was able to stuff the pocket by pushing it
halfway through and finishing by pulling it through the other side. His hands
are too wide to stuff most pocket diapers. Despite the fact that there is an
opening at both ends, the pocket “center” actually covers the entire insert. This
means none of the insert touching a sensitive bottom and causing irritation. It
also doesn’t shift or bunch with physical activity.
The insert is microfiber
(polyester-nylon blend according to SmartiPants.com).
It is soft and fluffy and VERY absorbent. I have no problem going 3-4 hours
without a change while out and about and still have no leakage with this diaper
insert. Overnight, I used 2 inserts and had NO leaks! The inserts seemed
completely saturated, but when I took them out (I wanted to rinse them because
of nighttime use) and rinsed them with my sprayer, they still HELD MORE! I am
impressed! Fuss even woke up with a nice dry bum thanks to the layer of
stay-dry material that the pocket is made out of.
Overall, the SmartiPants Pocket diaper is a very well-made and well thought out diaper. I would happily recommend this diaper to anyone looking to try an easy pocket diaper. Honestly, the most complicated part of this entire diaper would be the rise snaps which, as long as you pay attention to the row you're working on, aren't hard to master either!
Questions? Comments? Feel free to leave me your feedback! Here are a few "action shots" of my Fuss wearing her SmartiPants diaper!
Overall, the SmartiPants Pocket diaper is a very well-made and well thought out diaper. I would happily recommend this diaper to anyone looking to try an easy pocket diaper. Honestly, the most complicated part of this entire diaper would be the rise snaps which, as long as you pay attention to the row you're working on, aren't hard to master either!
Questions? Comments? Feel free to leave me your feedback! Here are a few "action shots" of my Fuss wearing her SmartiPants diaper!
**Originally posted August 9, 2011 over on Bunny Berry Blog. Thanks to BunnyBuryBaby for providing me with this diaper to review!
Friday, December 9, 2011
Presents Wrapped!
I finally wrapped Fuss's Christmas presents in her Dora paper. Now I understand why our parents never wanted to get up at 6 a.m.! They were up all night!
Tuesday, December 6, 2011
Stripping...Your Diapers!
This question gets asked a lot on cloth diaper advice boards: "How do I strip my diapers?" As a favor to one of my new followers, I am posting this short tutorial on stripping. I hope it helps!
What is stripping?
- Stripping (diapers, not the kind involving a pole and dollar bills) is simply the process of getting all the "gunk" out of the fibers. Sometimes the gunk is merely detergent residue from using too much detergent. *Guilty* Other times, the gunk is from the diapers not getting clean in the wash cycle. Either you're not using enough soap or the soap you are using isn't working with your type of water. *Also guilty* Either one of these situations is not good.
How do I know I need to strip?
- You will know it's time to strip when 1 of 2 things happens:
1. Your baby gets a rash. The rash will be pretty solid and be in the shape of your diaper. If your baby wears a fitted, baby will have a rash everywhere the diaper touches from back to front. If you use a diaper with inserts like a Flip your baby will have a nice square rash in the diaper area. *I found that out personally*
2. The instant your baby's diaper is soiled you know it because it smells like stinky gym shoes/swampy. Sometimes you can tell BEFORE you put the diaper on your baby because it smells like this as it comes out of the washer and/or dryer. *The time this happened to me, I was using a new wash routine with a different soap and the diapers smelled gross the second I took them out of the washer.*
- If neither of these is the case, but your baby is getting a rash that is splotchy OR you are switching from one brand of soap to another, it's a good idea to strip just in case. Oftentimes switching brands will cause issues due to the different compositions of the soaps conflicting with one another.
How do I strip?
- First, you get a pole...Oh, wait! Wrong strip! ;-)
- Go out and buy some plain blue Dawn dish liquid. "Original" formula. Anything with lotions, moisturizers, scents, etc. is a no-go.
- Wash your diapers with your regular wash routine. Seem crazy? If you start with "clean" diapers, the Dawn has less work to do overall.
- Fill your washer with hot water. The hotter the better! I have heard a lot of people actually turn the heat level up on their water heater specifically for this purpose then turn it back down as soon as they're finished.
- Add your Dawn. This amount will vary from person to person and article to article, anywhere from 1 Tbsp to 1/4C. I, personally, take the bottle and squeeze for a count of 3-5 seconds...probably somewhere close to a Tbsp. Just remember: The more soap you add now, the more you have to WASH OUT later!
- Run your diapers through the wash cycle.
- Rinse. Rinse. Rinse. Rinse. Rinse. *Note: This may or may not be the amount of rinses you will need. I put it that way to illustrate the point.* Keep tabs on your diapers and check to see if there are still suds in the water. If you can't tell, pull a diaper/insert out and rub it together. If it sounds "soapy", rinse some more.
- Once you are certain you have run your water bill up a sufficient amount and wasted enough time staring at the washing machine AND your diapers have no more suds, you can finally dry them in your preferred manner.
- If you only have a couple of inserts or other non-PUL-lined diapers that may need stripped (say you bought them off a swap), you can do the alternative method: Boil them. Take your inserts and put them in a large pot of boiling water. DO NOT LEAVE THE POT. EVER. Any residue will make bubbles and could cause the pot to boil over. Each "batch" should be boiled approximately 10-15 minutes. Then rinse under cold water. If the water is clear, you're good to go. If it's cloudy, dump the "diaper soup" and boil again for another 10-15 minutes. This method is not safe for PUL.
As a side note, be sure that if you have a new washer you check your manual. Some manufacturers will not honor your warranty if you use something other than laundry detergent in their machine. In this case, you will want to use something like RLR and follow their specific instructions for stripping. The hoses on front loading machines have also been known to melt with extreme heat, so be careful there too. *Makes me glad I have an old top loading washer!
What is stripping?
- Stripping (diapers, not the kind involving a pole and dollar bills) is simply the process of getting all the "gunk" out of the fibers. Sometimes the gunk is merely detergent residue from using too much detergent. *Guilty* Other times, the gunk is from the diapers not getting clean in the wash cycle. Either you're not using enough soap or the soap you are using isn't working with your type of water. *Also guilty* Either one of these situations is not good.
How do I know I need to strip?
- You will know it's time to strip when 1 of 2 things happens:
1. Your baby gets a rash. The rash will be pretty solid and be in the shape of your diaper. If your baby wears a fitted, baby will have a rash everywhere the diaper touches from back to front. If you use a diaper with inserts like a Flip your baby will have a nice square rash in the diaper area. *I found that out personally*
2. The instant your baby's diaper is soiled you know it because it smells like stinky gym shoes/swampy. Sometimes you can tell BEFORE you put the diaper on your baby because it smells like this as it comes out of the washer and/or dryer. *The time this happened to me, I was using a new wash routine with a different soap and the diapers smelled gross the second I took them out of the washer.*
- If neither of these is the case, but your baby is getting a rash that is splotchy OR you are switching from one brand of soap to another, it's a good idea to strip just in case. Oftentimes switching brands will cause issues due to the different compositions of the soaps conflicting with one another.
How do I strip?
- First, you get a pole...Oh, wait! Wrong strip! ;-)
- Go out and buy some plain blue Dawn dish liquid. "Original" formula. Anything with lotions, moisturizers, scents, etc. is a no-go.
- Wash your diapers with your regular wash routine. Seem crazy? If you start with "clean" diapers, the Dawn has less work to do overall.
- Fill your washer with hot water. The hotter the better! I have heard a lot of people actually turn the heat level up on their water heater specifically for this purpose then turn it back down as soon as they're finished.
- Add your Dawn. This amount will vary from person to person and article to article, anywhere from 1 Tbsp to 1/4C. I, personally, take the bottle and squeeze for a count of 3-5 seconds...probably somewhere close to a Tbsp. Just remember: The more soap you add now, the more you have to WASH OUT later!
- Run your diapers through the wash cycle.
- Rinse. Rinse. Rinse. Rinse. Rinse. *Note: This may or may not be the amount of rinses you will need. I put it that way to illustrate the point.* Keep tabs on your diapers and check to see if there are still suds in the water. If you can't tell, pull a diaper/insert out and rub it together. If it sounds "soapy", rinse some more.
- Once you are certain you have run your water bill up a sufficient amount and wasted enough time staring at the washing machine AND your diapers have no more suds, you can finally dry them in your preferred manner.
- If you only have a couple of inserts or other non-PUL-lined diapers that may need stripped (say you bought them off a swap), you can do the alternative method: Boil them. Take your inserts and put them in a large pot of boiling water. DO NOT LEAVE THE POT. EVER. Any residue will make bubbles and could cause the pot to boil over. Each "batch" should be boiled approximately 10-15 minutes. Then rinse under cold water. If the water is clear, you're good to go. If it's cloudy, dump the "diaper soup" and boil again for another 10-15 minutes. This method is not safe for PUL.
As a side note, be sure that if you have a new washer you check your manual. Some manufacturers will not honor your warranty if you use something other than laundry detergent in their machine. In this case, you will want to use something like RLR and follow their specific instructions for stripping. The hoses on front loading machines have also been known to melt with extreme heat, so be careful there too. *Makes me glad I have an old top loading washer!
Monday, December 5, 2011
Nursing in Public Equivalent to Urinating in Public?!
I was trying to decide what to write my blog post on today, when I came across THIS post by The Gnome's Mom. I was mortified by the comparison of nursing in public - even when nursing an INFANT - is considered by Savannah Guthrie and Star Jones to be equivalent to urinating in public! What!? In case you missed it, you can see the video HERE as well as in the video embedded in TGM's post. Her post includes a transcript as well.
First, I nursed in public when it was necessary. If I could find a private place to nurse, for my own comfort, I did it. However, that isn't always possible. Second, for someone to say that you should just "nurse in the bathroom" is ridiculous! A lot of public restrooms don't even have a changing table, let alone a place to sit down so you can nurse! This mother was on a bus. She didn't have a choice of where/when to nurse. Her baby was hungry, so she fed him. (You can read the original article HERE) Third, it's a sad thing to say about our society when the breast has become so oversexualized that it is impossible for people to see them as anything other than sexual playthings. For those who don't know: Humans are mammals. Mammals feed their babies milk from mammary glads. In humans the mammary glands are our breasts. Simple enough, right?
The state of Rhode Island has recently placed a ban on hospitals giving out formula sample packs immediately after birth. Why? The state has the lowest rate of breastfeeding attempts in the U.S. and they want that to change. The state medical board realizes the benefits of breastfeeding are worth the extra effort to educate new mothers about how to nurse and give them the support they need to succeed. If more states were like RI, Ms. Moon wouldn't have had the problem of an ignorant bus driver. The bus driver would have known that she was giving her baby the perfect food for him, tailored to his needs, and left her alone!
I understand that not everyone can breastfeed. In fact, I have a very dear friend who had tried desperately to breastfeed her son and couldn't. She ended up getting donor milk so he could continue to get breast milk instead of formula. Sadly, I know too many who choose to not even attempt it. Each ounce of breast milk is packed with antibodies and stem cells that are beneficial to baby. So, even attempting for a day is better than none at all! That is where the state of RI is coming from. If mom can't continue with breastfeeding, has supply or latch issues, the hospital WILL give them formula. And, really, breastfeeding isn't hard to *try*. Plus, it's FREE! But with attitudes like those of Star Jones and Savannah Guthrie, it's no wonder women don't even want to try.
What is your opinion? Is it wrong to nurse in public?
First, I nursed in public when it was necessary. If I could find a private place to nurse, for my own comfort, I did it. However, that isn't always possible. Second, for someone to say that you should just "nurse in the bathroom" is ridiculous! A lot of public restrooms don't even have a changing table, let alone a place to sit down so you can nurse! This mother was on a bus. She didn't have a choice of where/when to nurse. Her baby was hungry, so she fed him. (You can read the original article HERE) Third, it's a sad thing to say about our society when the breast has become so oversexualized that it is impossible for people to see them as anything other than sexual playthings. For those who don't know: Humans are mammals. Mammals feed their babies milk from mammary glads. In humans the mammary glands are our breasts. Simple enough, right?
The state of Rhode Island has recently placed a ban on hospitals giving out formula sample packs immediately after birth. Why? The state has the lowest rate of breastfeeding attempts in the U.S. and they want that to change. The state medical board realizes the benefits of breastfeeding are worth the extra effort to educate new mothers about how to nurse and give them the support they need to succeed. If more states were like RI, Ms. Moon wouldn't have had the problem of an ignorant bus driver. The bus driver would have known that she was giving her baby the perfect food for him, tailored to his needs, and left her alone!
I understand that not everyone can breastfeed. In fact, I have a very dear friend who had tried desperately to breastfeed her son and couldn't. She ended up getting donor milk so he could continue to get breast milk instead of formula. Sadly, I know too many who choose to not even attempt it. Each ounce of breast milk is packed with antibodies and stem cells that are beneficial to baby. So, even attempting for a day is better than none at all! That is where the state of RI is coming from. If mom can't continue with breastfeeding, has supply or latch issues, the hospital WILL give them formula. And, really, breastfeeding isn't hard to *try*. Plus, it's FREE! But with attitudes like those of Star Jones and Savannah Guthrie, it's no wonder women don't even want to try.
What is your opinion? Is it wrong to nurse in public?
Saturday, December 3, 2011
Baby Rabies' Elf on a Shelf
I was perusing my Facebook yesterday and came across a post by Jill over at Baby Rabies about the "Elf on a Shelf" phenomenon. I haven't yet subscribed to the elf fever, but I thought this post was hilarious! Check out Jill's post on the crazy things she decided her elf decided to do...
5 Highly Inappropriate Traumatizing Elf on a Shelf Ideas
And while you're there, make sure to enter the "Inappropriate Elf" contest she's setting up! Get your thinking caps on!!
5 Highly Inappropriate Traumatizing Elf on a Shelf Ideas
And while you're there, make sure to enter the "Inappropriate Elf" contest she's setting up! Get your thinking caps on!!
Friday, December 2, 2011
Little Twig Leave-In Conditioning Detangler
I received a sample of the Little Twig leave-in conditioning detangler a while back from Little Twig and Bunny Bury Baby. I have been pleased with their other products, so I was eager to try this one. Since I have very tangle-prone hair, I decided to test it myself instead of on Fuss. After all, her hair is barely long enough to put up in the first place! LOL.
To test I used regular Suave shampoo without my normal conditioner. Since hair absorbs more when wet, I put a quarter sized drop of the LT on my hair, spreading evenly from tips to roots, immediately following my shower. I let it sit for approximately 5 minutes, then brushed my still-wet hair. With a little natural curl to my hair, it's hard to get a brush or detangling comb through my hair when it is wet. I had NO problems at all! My brush slid through my hair easily. I then proceeded to blow dry my hair and brush again. No tangles. I really LOVE this stuff! My hair was so soft and manageable after using this conditioner, even after sleeping!
Little Twig is organic and made with very light scents, so it's perfect for the sensitive one in your family. Click HERE to find out more about their list of ingredients. Oh, and for those who are curious, LT is certified cruelty free by PETA. Great for you and great for your furry friends!
To test I used regular Suave shampoo without my normal conditioner. Since hair absorbs more when wet, I put a quarter sized drop of the LT on my hair, spreading evenly from tips to roots, immediately following my shower. I let it sit for approximately 5 minutes, then brushed my still-wet hair. With a little natural curl to my hair, it's hard to get a brush or detangling comb through my hair when it is wet. I had NO problems at all! My brush slid through my hair easily. I then proceeded to blow dry my hair and brush again. No tangles. I really LOVE this stuff! My hair was so soft and manageable after using this conditioner, even after sleeping!
Little Twig is organic and made with very light scents, so it's perfect for the sensitive one in your family. Click HERE to find out more about their list of ingredients. Oh, and for those who are curious, LT is certified cruelty free by PETA. Great for you and great for your furry friends!
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