Cloth Diapering - Where to Buy

I keep getting asked "where do I buy cloth diapers?"

Here's my answer:

If you have a local store that carries the brands you like - shop there. Yes, they may cost a little bit more, but, chances are, the store is owned by a local mom. You can ask questions to a real person who will help you find the right fit and style for your baby. In Calgary, our awesome shop is Babes in Arms.

If you don't have a local store, look at buying from an online store that is local. For Canadian parents, look at buying from a Canadian online store. Each province/ city seems to have one. I haven't ordered from one, so I can't/ won't recommend one.

Another great option is Kijiji for Canadians. I started my stash from consignment diapers from BIA and used diapers from Kijiji. I highly recommend that you see what the diaper looks like new before buying used. People will claim the diaper is in EUC, when it is falling apart. I fell victim to that whole thing. I paid $80 for 8 Flip inserts, 2 prefolds and 6 covers (2 were terrible, 2 were okay, 2 were GUC) - was told everything was in EUC. 

I'd avoid Ebay unless diapers are being sold by an official eBay seller for that brand. It sounds silly, but there are counterfeit diapers. 

Happy stash building!

Family Mountain Trip

A week ago, we went as a family to Lake Louise and Banff. We stayed in a great room at the Fox in Banff - they have a grotto hot tub! We put Juniper in her bathing suit and headed down there, she hung out on the pool deck while daddy soaked. 

Fox

D surprised me with a mani-pedi at the spa at Chateau Lake Louise. I promptly ruined it by putting on my socks and boots too soon, but it was still nice to soak my feet for a while. We had a great lunch before my appointment and D got to spend some quality alone time with Juniper.

Juniper having lunch at Chateau Lake Louise

It was a bit of a foggy, drizzly couple of days in the mountains, but we still were able to get a few decent photos.

Lake Louise

Bug & Mommy

Daddy & Bug

Family self portrait

Thanksgiving

So much to be thankful for this year. 

Last year, my brother and his little family joined us for Thanksgiving weekend. My niece, Livia was 8 months old. I was pregnant. I looked at Livia and though "one year from now, I will have a baby just like you!" 

My mom joined us for Thanksgiving this year. She had a great visit with her grand-daughter. She fed Juniper a whole lot of frozen pumpkin. They laughed and cuddled. We took Juniper to the Farmer's Market. I always get so sad to see my mom go. Living 3 hours south of your parents is hard.

Juniper started crawling forward on Saturday after a couple weeks of going backwards. She sits up from crawling, spins herself around and launches herself at things she wants. She started drinking from a straw cup too! It is so amazing to see what she can do and how much she has grown.

We feasted too! Unlike a lot of my IG and facebook friends, I didn't take 50 pictures of my dinner. I was too busy cooking and eating. Our Thanksgiving menu was:

• herb crusted turkey
• sausage, mushroom and leek stuffing (the best I've made)
• lemon butter brussel sprouts (my favourite!)
• roasted root veggies
• smashed potatoes
• herb gravy
• pumpkin tiramisu

What are you thankful for this year?

Cloth Diapering - Washing Part 2

You've looked online at all the cute patterns. You've weighed the pros and cons of AIOs vs. pockets. You've committed to cloth diapers. Now, how the heck to you wash these stinky things. 

These are the steps I take:

1. Put diapers in washer. Make sure velcro is attached to itself or wash tabs.
2. Do a cold rinse. I run my delicates cycle.
3. Do a long hot wash with detergent with a cold rinse.
4. Do an extra cold rinse.
5. Hang covers to dry. Hang or toss prefolds and inserts in the dryer. 

That easy, folks.

Tips:

• sun bleach stains.
•  use extra detergent with hard water, less with soft water.
• use vinegar in the first rinse cycle with soft water. No vinegar in hard water.
• get your water as hot as possible.
• use as much water as possible in a wash.

Cloth Diapering - Washing Part 1

Thinking of cloth diapering, but worried about the burden of laundry? I get ya. Having a baby means you are having to do about 100 loads a week of receiving blankets, bibs, tiny clothes, sheets... for me, adding 1 extra load every 2-3 days wasn't even noticeable. I found it easier than reaching for a diaper at 3 am and realizing we only had 2 left and the nearest store didn't open until 8am. 

Don't:

• use a wet pail. Lots of old school cloth diaper moms will tell you to put your diapers in a pail with water to avoid staining. Gross. Don't do it. It leads to mould and a much stinkier mess. If you are washing on a regular basis, you are golden.
• bleach diapers. Again with the old school advice. 'The only way to kill the germs is bleach." Not true. Bleach is a nasty chemical. I don't want it near my daughter's bottom.
• use dryer sheets. Even in other laundry. They use beef tallow to soften laundry (that is gross on it's own) and leave build-up in your dryer. The scents and chemicals also really effect air quality in your home and can aggravate allergies and asthma. You can google how to clean the residue out of a dryer. Wool dryer balls are a great alternative.
• use diaper cream. It leaves a residue in diapers that takes a lot of effort to remove. A natural oil like coconut oil or All Things Jill diaper cream is an alternative. Even when using safe cream, only use if a rash is present, use sparingly and pop in a liner.

 Do:

• find a great diaper pail. We use the Motherease pail because it has a charcoal filter. It sits in the middle of our living room and no one smells anything. We line it with an Applecheeks wetbag so that I never have to wipe it out.
• wash every 2-3 days. Don't push it any longer or you will have mouldy diapers.
• use a diaper safe detergent. No dyes, no scents, no optical brighteners. Stick to something natural. We like Nellie's, but there are a lot of options. I won't list them all because if you are reading this, you can google. 
• use natural germ killers. Washing regularly, hot water, the sun, baking soda, and vinegar will kill bacteria. Don't use vinegar if you have hard water or you will have ammonia smelling diapers.
• sun bleach. I thought this was a crock - until I did it. My really badly stained prefold was spotless within one round of sun bleaching. Lay your diapers still wet in the sun. As they dry, the sun bleaches out the stains. You may need to do a couple rounds, but it really works.
• hang to dry. If you want your covers to last, hang to dry. I hang to dry all my covers and put prefolds in the dryer. Pop your covers in the dryer every 5th wash to reseal.
• strip your diapers. If they aren't absorbing well, they stink after one pee, you kid gets a rash - you need to strip those diapers. More on adventures in stripping later. 

  Washing instructions to follow.

Cloth Diapering - The 'P' Word

Here's the skinny on the dreaded POOP. 

When considering cloth diapers, this always seems to be the thing that scares new parents most. I never understood it. Babies poop. They poop a lot. Juniper pooped with every feeding in the beginning - every 2 hours. You will get poop on your hands, clothes, sheets, furniture, floor... You will scrub poop from tiny onsies. That's being a parent. If you don't want to touch poop, don't get knocked up or get a dog. 

So, poop and cloth diapers. It is no worst than disposables. Actually, it is much better. We have had 2 'poop explosions' since switching to cloth full-time. I got blowouts at least once a week with disposables. You can scrub a tiny expensive outit, or you can dump cloth diapers in the wash without ever touching the dirty poop with your bare hands - which sounds smarter? 

With cloth, I take off the diaper and toss it into a diaper bin lined with a big wet bag. Come laundry day, I pull out the wet bag and dump everything into the wash. NO POOP TOUCHING! You don't need to get a diaper sprayer or use liners if your baby isn't eating solids. Exclusively breastfed babies have water soluble poop. Most formula poop is also water soluble. Once your kid starts eating solids, you can use a thin disposable liner or a diaper sprayer. We opt for the disposable liner. These are advertised as 'flushable' but I've put more than a few through the wash and they don't break down quickly. I hate a clogged toilet, so I toss in the trash.

And, that folks, is poop with cloth diapers.