Flats Challenge Day 6/ Memorial Weekend

Today is day six of the Flats Challenge.  Julia made it through the entire night in one diaper, no leaks or messes.  She only woke me up once to eat, too.  I'm so pleased I could river dance around the living room!

By 9:00 a.m. I already had yesterday's diapers washed and hanging outside on the line and drying rack.  I am loving this routine.  The bucket gets so heavy when filled with dirty diapers and water that lifting it up and down to drain/add water has become a nice upper body workout.  That isn't taking into consideration the fanatical plunging I do, also.  My next task is to have my husband drill holes in the plunger.  It gets suctioned to the bottom of the bucket mid-plunge and I sometimes end up across the room with plunger whiplash.

Today is our first social outing of many this weekend wearing flats.  I know inevitably I will be grilled on why I am using receiving blankets and flats as diapers instead of "the throw aways".  Just that connotation alone makes my skin crawl.  My goal is to take the opportunity, each time I am asked, to educate and enlighten them on the benefits of cloth.  Most of our friends are still childless so hopefully I can instill some knowledge before the become set in their ways with disposables.  When friends have seen me using pocket diapers on Julia they are always stunned as to how cute and easy it appears to them to cloth diaper.  A pocket diaper resembles a Huggies diaper in its shape and function (snaps/velcro instead of sticky tabs), so my feeling is that they can relate the two together and it is not a foreign idea.  I am quite sure a few eyebrows will be raised when they see the diaper pins today, though.  Sometimes the unknown is scary to people and instead of being open to change it is met with judgement.  My goal is to breakdown those barriers and show people how easy and normal it is to cloth diaper.

Flats Challenge Day 5

By 10:00 a.m. this morning, I could already tell that today was going to be a scorcher.  I rushed downstairs once Julia was napping and I hand washed the flats from yesterday.  I have become a regular pro at this hand washing thing and I may never machine wash her diapers again.  Once they were washed, I ran them outside and hung them on the line.

After reading Kim's blog on ECing, I am excited for my daughter to learn how to sit up so we can try it out.  Already, as a result of this challenge, I am more aware of her body's routine.  For example, I know that right after she nurses she wets, and right after she eats solids... well, you get the idea.  I am learning the difference between each grunt, squeal and coo.  Prior to this challenge, in her pocket diapers, I was not aware of her routine.  She was just wet or just soiled and I changed her blindly.  Now, I can almost sense it coming, listen to her grunt, and then confirm it immediately with a diaper change.  My goal, once she can sit, is to bring her to the bathroom as soon as I first sense it coming.

I can honestly say that participating in this challenge was one of the greatest things I could have done for myself and my daughter.  I feel like I have grown and matured lightyears as a mom, and as a natural mamma too.  If I can do this, what else can I do??

This challenge has done the impossible by bonding me even closer to my baby as I am more keenly aware of her needs.  Also, I'm not sure if it is simply a coincidence, but Julia has been the happiest of babies this week; nary a cry was heard in this house. I like to think that it is because I am understanding her more and responding to her needs way before she has to cry and get my attention.  For that, I will be eternally grateful to Kim.

~A

Flats Challenge Day 4

Today is the fourth day of the Flats Challenge.  We had another successful night last night.  I had to change her halfway through the night.  I think mostly it is for my peace of mind than as a result of her discomfort.  She wasn't really that wet, but I don't like her sitting in even a slightly wet diaper.  My daughter has never had an issue with diaper rash, and I tend to think that is why.

While she napped in the morning I grabbed all the dirty diapers and did a quick but efficient plunger wash. It was overcast this morning but I hung them out on the line anyway.  Provided it didn't start raining they would dry faster outside than in my basement.  Three hours later, the sun fought it's way through the clouds and it has turned into yet another marvelous day.  The diapers were still a little damp a few hours later, but once the sun came out the drying process sped up.  Only the cover has seemed to take a little longer than usual to dry.

Once the diapers come in off the line I fold them all in an origami fold and I fold another flat in the pad fold and then stack them on top of each other so they are handy and easy to grab during a change.  This has worked out really well for us.

I cannot express how grateful I am to have participated in this challenge.  I've washed diapers by hand 3 out of 4 days this week, and I used zero electricity to do this and most likely less water in all four buckets than one load of laundry in my HE washer.  Also, I am now a convert to flat diapers and it couldn't have come at a better time.  My daughter was just starting to outgrow her size small pocket diapers and I was stressing about spending money on new, larger ones.  Now I know that, at most, I will have to buy a few more covers, which are a fraction of the cost of pocket diapers.

I couldn't be more pleased.

~A

Day Three of the Flats Challenge

We are now roughly halfway through the Flats Challenge and I am amazed at how much better I have become at diapering my daughter in flats alone. In a way, it was a baptism by fire; if I was ever going to more fully incorporate flats into my diapering routine, this was the catalyst. By not having a choice to opt for a pocket diaper or prefold, I was forced to get the hang of flats. And as it turns out, I much prefer using flats! It is beyond my understanding why anyone would even consider using disposables -- cloth diapering is just that easy! All you need is the little extra love and patience required to maintain a clean stash. This challenge has also made me much more attune to my daughters needs and has bonded me to her even more. The benefits of cloth diapering are astounding, not to mention the hundreds, if not thousands, I will save by not purchasing another disposable!

The weathermen were wrong today, but this time in my favor. The sun was bright and shining today and there was just a touch of a breeze. It was perfect conditions for hanging damp diapers out to dry, along with all our other laundry.

My fold of choice for my daughter is an origami folded receiving blanket with a pad folded Gerber flat/burp rag for extra absorbing power. She has yet to complain with all my redo's on her pinning. I am getting better at it. My biggest fear is getting too close to her skin with the sharp end of the safety pin, so I am careful not to rush.

Tonight will probably be my night off from bucket washing her flats. I have enough lined up ready to go for the rest of the day. I can always wash them tomorrow during one of her naps.

~A

First Night with Flats and Day Two of Challenge

At around 8:00 pm last night, I realized that it would behoove me to wash my baby's flats in the bucket so that they could have all night to air dry.  The sun is not forecasted for the rest of the week, so line drying during the day is out of the question.  It took about 5-10 minutes of vigorous plunging, rinsing, plunging, rinsing and finally wringing them out.  They came out fantastic!  I left the last rinse cycle water in the bucket to use as a soak for today's diapers.

Last night was our first attempt wearing flats to bed.  My daughter tends to be a heavy wetter. Normally at night I use a pocket diaper with 2 to 3 inserts.  Even then, I frequently have to change her in the middle of the night which upsets her to no end. It isn't the most ideal routine, but we are making it work.

Last night I had her in an origami folded Gerber flat with a pad folded flat as a doubler, with a Bumkins shell. Around 3:00 a.m. she woke up to eat as usual and I noticed her diaper was cold and damp, so I changed her.  I had to change her again at 7:00 a.m when she woke up again for her breakfast.  As I said in a previous post, I have a new appreciation for just how often and how much my daughter wets.

For her first two diapers this morning I had to dip into the receiving blanket stash because the Gerber flats were still slightly damp from the wash last night.  Boy, am I glad I did.  I realize now why the Gerber flats are not considered true flats.  The receiving blanket made such a nicer fold, fit her fanny better, and it didn't look nearly as ugly as some of my diapers yesterday.  It was also softer on her skin.  For the rest of the day I used the Gerber flat and a receiving blanket in conjunction.  I pad folded the Gerber flat and placed it inside an origami folded receiving blanket as a doubler under her Bumkins shell.

The sun finally came out in the afternoon today so I was able to line dry the flats that were still damp from last nights washing.  I just plunger-washed my second load of blankets and flats and have them drying on the rack overnight again.  I have a feeling I will be washing something every night this week because of how many diapers she soils during the day.

Tonight, we are experimenting with an origami folded receiving blanket with a pad folded Gerber flat as a doubler.  If anyone has any nighttime diaper suggestions otherwise, I am open to them as well.

I am truly enjoying myself with this challenge.  In a way it is bringing me closer to my daughter because we are, in a sense, doing this challenge together.  And she is a fantastic teammate.

~A

Day 1 of the Flats Challenge

My first day of the Flats Challenge started at 7:00 am with my daughter waking me up in her usual way: babbling and cooing to herself in her crib.  It is the worlds greatest alarm clock.  She is always so happy to see me come around the crib and lift her out.  She gets so excited she shakes with joy.

I expected my first attempt pinning a flat on her that early would have taken at least five minutes and involve me sticking myself with the safety pins and missing a leg in the fold.  Amazingly, she cooperated and in about one minute she was pinned and covered in her lavender Thirsties shell -- no pin pricking!  While it wasn't the most gorgeous diaper in the world, it stayed on her and she was happy to be dry. I instantly became optimistic about the rest of the weeks challenge.

80 minutes later, my daughter looked at me with her sleepy eyes and gave me her "I am not comfy" grunt.  I took her into  her room and put on her second flat diaper of the day.  She totally soaked through the first Gerber flat, so I grabbed a receiving blanket and used it as a second liner.  She fell asleep for her morning nap soon after this change.

The third diaper at 10:00 am was by far the ugliest.  She was squirming and I rushed to get it on her. Good thing there are no beauty contests for flat diaper applications.

I have to admit that when wearing pocket diapers or even the occasional disposable, I never really realized just how often my daughter wet her diaper.  I am more conscious of this now!  I lost track of how many changes she had after five diapers. 

The weather forecast for this week is wet and gloomy, so my hopes of a line dried diaper stash is not looking good.  Tomorrow will be my first hand washing experience.  I'm starting small with just a day's worth of dirty diapers to see how I do.

Enjoying myself so far!

~A

Gearing up for the Challenge

The Flats and Hand Washing Challenge is in less than one week.  While I am excited to test myself and my ability to hand wash my daughters diapers, I am also quite intimidated.  As of right now, I use flats to supplement my stash when the 'fancy' diapers are being laundered.  I don't mind using them occasionally as fill-in diapers, but there is the possibility that  the novelty of pad-folding and pinning these huge squares of cloth onto my squirmy girl will wear off when it is all I am using.  I am hoping by the end of next week to be a pro at it.  My goal is to rid myself of the intimidation of flats and pins and incorporate them more into my stash.  Plus, as my daughter gets bigger and grows out of her small sized fancy diapers, I wont have to expense the cost to replace them with larger sizes for her.  We are living on only my husband's salary right now, so funds are limited.

To prepare, I purchased a huge rubber bucket and new plunger from a discount store for less than $10.00.  My initial plan was to take the "green" aspect of cloth diapering even further by leaving the bucket outside to catch the rainwater to use as my first wash cycle with the diapers.  Unfortunately, the bucket also caught a ton of drowned bugs, dirt and leaves, which made washing fabric that was going to touch my daughter's skin nearly impossible.

For Plan B, I have developed a two part wash routine.  In my basement I have a huge utility sink that the bucket fits into to fill with hot and cold water for each wash cycle.  I plan on doing the actual plunger-washing on the floor, where there is no danger of my vigorous agitation actually ripping the sink off the wall.  It will be a nice strength training exercise bending and lifting the heavy diaper bucket up and down from sink to floor.

I purchased Biokleen Bac-Out Stain and Odor Eliminator that works so well with the dirty diapers. In between washes I will soak the dirty diapers in the Biokleen and cold water in preparation for hand washing.  I also use Biokleen All Temperature laundry detergent.  For roughly $12.00 I can get 128 loads in my HE washer.  I use it for the diapers and for our normal laundry cycles as well.  It is fantastic detergent.

Once the diapers are washed and ready to dry, I plan on line drying them on the nice days outside and drying them indoors on a rack when it is rainy out.  I am hoping for sunny and warm days next week.  Line drying is so much more efficient and they come in smelling so much better.

In my stash I have 12 premium (not birdseye) flats by Gerber.  I purchased them for around $10 before I discovered they are not considered "true" cloth diapers by the CD community due to their size and shape.  As I cannot afford to purchase new cloth diapers, I plan on using them anyway.  I was given more receiving blankets for my daughter than I ever plan on using, so in a pinch I will use the not so pretty ones as diapers as well. I may end up using them as doublers as well if I find the Gerber flats aren't absorbent enough for her.

I have five covers for the diapers.  Two are running on the small side for her now, so I may just end up using three.  In a pinch I will use old tee shirts as a wrap.

This is unchartered territory for me, so I will be learning as I go what works and what does not.

More to come...

~A

A Natural Beginning

Every good idea can find its roots in a single thought or inspiration. My goal is to create a space where I can share my thoughts, experiences and ideas on natural parenting as I stumble upon them. I also hope to learn from others at the same time.

For me, my inspiration comes from my four and a half month old daughter, Julia. From the moment I first learned I was expecting, I vowed ito make the next nine months the most healthy and natural for the both of us as I possibly could. It occurred to me that society as a whole has taken something as natural as pregnancy and made it more complicated than it had to be.

I started to research cloth diapering midway through my pregnancy. I knew money was going to be tight once I stopped working when the baby came and I couldn't rationalize spending hundreds of dollars on something that would end up sitting in a landfill for hundreds of years. My research left me feeling lost and overwhelmed, not knowing which style of fluff would be the best for me.

Luckily, I was blessed with a very supportive and informative sister-in-law who guided me along my cloth journey to where I am today: a moderately confident cloth diapering mamma. This confidence is allowing me to tip toe my way further into natural parenting challenges.

This brings me to a challenge proposed by Dirty Diaper Laundry. For one week in May, I will be diapering my daughter exclusively  flats and also handwashing them in a bucket with a plunger. I am excited for this challenge.  I think there is something very refreshing about stripping down to bare basics in life.  I also see this challenge as a way for me to contribute to the household expenses by not wasting electricity used in washing and drying the diapers.  While being a stay-at-home mom is not a paid position, by chipping away at the household expenses, I can contribute to our bottom line.

I urge you to follow me on my journey on cloth diapering like our grandpaents and great-grandparents did.

~ A