Lemme Tell Ya' about Our Day

We experienced many firsts today.  First sidewalk chalk, first point-to-something-and-Mama-carries-you-there excursion, first tornado sirens of our trip.  Oh wait, back up, forgot the exciting part.  Yes, first I-can-open-my-diaper-and-poop-in-the-crib adventure too.

It's been a gorgeous day all day today, a bit windy but a great day for outdoor play.  So play we did.  We explored so many nooks and crannies in the yard that it required a bath before afternoon nap.  Well, it's been so comfortably warm in the house and baby Bird's napped in just a diaper before, so I opted to give her little body some air time while she slept.  She snuggled down into her crib; I tucked her all 'round with her blanket and softly closed the door, blowing a kiss on the way out.

I didn't hear a peep for probably an hour and a half.  Now baby Bird typically naps about 2 hours in the afternoon, so the early wake-up should have been a clue.  She wasn't fussing though, just talking, so I gave her about another 30 minutes while I finished up some work on the computer.  Hmm.  How much you wanna' bet I should have gone in right when I heard those first little peeps?

Baby Bird did start fussing a little so I went in to rescue her from her nap.  I cracked the door open just a hair so we could play peek-a-boo on my way in.  It took a minute to click that something didn't look right.  Baby Bird was sitting a bit lower in the crib than normal (actually a mesh-sided pack-n-play) and the colors were off.  Even if I can't see her clearly through the mesh, I can usually see the bold swatch of color that's her cloth diaper.  Huh.  No swatch of color.  That's odd.

I peeked over the side and that's when it dawned on me, "You look like you're missing something!"

She peered up at me with her still-sleepy eyes, looking a bit confused.  It took me another few seconds to realize that she wasn't alone in her crib.  Flashbacks to friends' posts about their kids' diaperless naps blazed before my eyes.  How bad was this going to be?!

Well, thank God for solid foods.  It wasn't that bad.  Not that I'd care for a repeat.  Or to try that while pregnant.  Or in a hurry.  Or like ever again.  But ya' know, all things considered, it wasn't that bad.  The poop stayed on the blanket, the diaper was bone dry (phew, because she'd launched it out of the crib!), and since she was already stark naked she just went straight to bath #2 for the day.

Did I mention this was going on at the exact same time we had storms rolling in and the dog was begging to eat and dinner was supposed to be getting worked on?

No sooner did I get baby Bird hosed off and back into a diaper (with clothes over it this time), I heard the tornado sirens going off.  Back into the bathroom we go!

Hmm.  Never a dull moment.

Cloth Diapering on a Tight Budget

Cloth diapering can be expensive.  It doesn't have to be, but it can be.  With the current trendiness of cute cloth dipes, I think people new to or exploring cloth diapers can easily be turned off by the outrageous list prices of some modern cloth diapers - many go for $30 and up... each.  So what do you do if you don't have or aren't willing to spend major bucks to diaper your cute baby's bum?  This article has some of the best and most affordable options I've seen gathered into one resource.  I sincerely hope people hesitant to try cloth take note and take the plunge.  Budgets AND babies can be healthier with cloth diapering :).

Jenn's Thoughts: Almost Free Diapers - How to diaper your baby when you can't afford disposable diapers or cloth diapers

Yes, I'm Crazy

I'd like to try having our daughter go diaper-free part time and use elimination communication for pottying but... our entire house (with the exception of the kitchen and bathroom) are carpeted.  Hmmm.  We shall see.

Our Stash

I think cloth diapering has grown to a cult-like obsession!  Eesh!

The cloth diapers of yesteryear are being swallowed up by the hundreds, maybe THOUSANDS, of new, modern, funky, recycled, cute, weird, practical, crunchy, fantastic diapers and diapering products available from one corner of the earth to the other corner of the web these days.  I have spent DAYS researching, bookmarking, highlighting, and comparing more diaper options than I ever realized existed before we had our little one.

I've decided something.

I don't NEED all those crazy options that are out there!  Don't get me wrong, many of them look great, but they just don't fit with our priorities.  My amazing husband didn't even bat an eye when I told him I wanted to consider cloth diapering our kiddos (current and future).  His only request (as it usually is) was that if there were going to be options, please limit them as much as possible.  No prob.  I googled, I searched, I read, I sifted, I consulted, I scoured, I skimmed till my eyes crossed.  I had some great pointers from one CDing mama in particular - to whom I am eternally grateful :)!  I finally came up with a list of priorities (in order):

1. Health.  My family historically has sensitive skin, and I've seen the nasty rashes kids can get from unhealthy diapering practices.
2. Cost.  Did you know some diaper covers can run you upwards of $80.... each?
3. Ease of use.  I don't know any parent that can actually use all her brain cells when she is up for the 4th time that night with a squeaky, hungry, drooly, poopy baby.
4. Fast-drying.  Our dryer sucks.  Welcome to Japan.
5. Longevity.  The whole point of using cloth dipes is to be able to REUSE them.  Why would I want to buy a new set every time we have another kid?

Following these parameters and a bit of experimenting during our little one's newborn stage, here's what we've settled on:

• GMD's Cloth-eez sized organic unbleached 100% cotton prefolds
• Thirsties covers (sized until I discovered the Duos - love the Duos :) )
• Snappies (we've tried tri-folding the prefolds - we prefer the fit and containment of a snappied prefold)

That's it.  Nothing special, nothing fancy.  Affordable (yes, it was an investment to begin with, but not nearly as large of an investment as most other diapering options out there), multipurpose (those dipes make great burp rags, doublers, etc.!), and cute to boot :).  We tried some of the other "easier" options such as fitteds and All-In-Ones (AIOs), but as my (did I tell you how amazing he is?) dear husband pointed out, they're really not any more or less complicated than prefolds, snappies, and covers.  I love that man!

The only concession we are making to more "simple" diapers is a half-dozen Thirsties Duo Diapers we have in the mail.  Changing diapers in Japan can be interesting on occasion.  We've been using disposables while out and about because we thought it might make life simpler (changing a prefold does require a smidge more time and room than changing a disposable).  Problem? No trash bins in the bathrooms.  Now if we have to carry around the dirty diaper anyway, then why on earth are we wasting the money, health benefits, and land-fill space on disposables in the first place?

Challenges: our dryer can't handle anything thicker than a prefold and I am not thrilled at the idea of unstuffing dirty pocket diapers.  Solution? The Duo dipes are "sleeve" diapers - every review I've read says the inserts no kidding wash out of the diapers in the washing machine.  Hallelujah!  Diaper changes as fast as a disposable, healthy as cloth dipes, AND I don't have to get my hands dirty?  I'm all there :D.  We'll see how it goes - the trial run will be while we're visiting in the States.

I suppose I also ought to share what we use to round out our cloth diapering system:

• Cloth wipes (purchased and cut up from old receiving blankets)
• Wipes spray (don't have a strong opinion on this, but we've been satisfied with these so far)
• Country Save powder detergent (we can use it on ALL our laundry - it gets my husband's mechanic's uniforms clean yet is so gentle on our baby's skin we've never had any residue problems or irritation due to laundry)
• Wet bags and pail liners - can't live without 'em!

Well that's it.  That's our stash.  It might not look as fancy as some other people's, or it might look more expensive than others', but we like it - it works for us.  Feel free to pester us with questions or just shake your head and think we're crazy! :)

Diaper Bag: Update

Yay for free stuff that rocks!

After many (way too many) hours searching the web and scouring the sparse selection at the BX, I gave up on trying to find the perfect diaper bag and just made one.  Note - I am NOT a seamstress.  I actually had to go through and watch some online video tutorials so I could run the sewing maching without killing anything...

So, long story short, here's the bag!

• filled with sposies at the moment, but designed to fit up to 8 cloth dipes (so probably 4 cloth dipes plus change of clothes, toy etc. - enough for half a day out or so)
• cell phone, small notepad, and pens are easy-access on the side :)
• Wipes, bibs, paci, bags, and mama's stuff fit in the outside pockets so no rummaging in the bag for what we need
• side pocket fits a water bottle or baby bottle - heck yeah!
• 100% machine washable

Used an old pair of my husband's ABUs, a shirt I found free at Airman's Attic on base, and the strap from a bag I also found for free at Airman's Attic.  The only thing I bought was thread.  Wahoo!

Mission Accomplished :D

On a Mission

I am on the lookout for the perfect diaper bag - either purchased or a pattern to sew my own.  An easy task I (erroneously) thought this would be!  Most diaper bags are made for disposables diapers and formula feeding - neither meet our family's description.  My perfect diaper bag would include these features:

1. Wide enough to handle a day's worth of cloth diapers.
2. Short enough to stash in our stroller's storage basket.
3. Washable or wipe-clean.
4. Outside pockets for mama's stuff, pacifier, and extra bib or rag (gotta grab those suckers quick!)
5. Inside pockets for change of clothes and wipes.
6. Neutral so my husband will carry it (right now we're using my purse - he's not thrilled... ;p)
7. Long enough strap to wear crossed over my body (bending down while holding baby and carrying bag on 1 shoulder just doen't work).
8. Outside pocket for water bottle or sippy cup.

Open to suggestions! :)