my favorite things:: cloth diaper edition

I decided to explore the world of cloth diapers before baby #2 while I still have some time to experiment and figure it out. I can’t say I really had a strong passion or desire to get into it, but after toying with the idea in my head for some time and talking to several friends who absolutely love it, I figured I’d give it a shot and see what I could learn.

While cloth diapers are significantly cheaper over time, cost was not my primary driving force to get into it. The idea of being able to have diapers without all the useless waste seemed quite appealing as I HATE changing a diaper only to find out 5 minutes later that it’s dirty and has to get changed again! The other factor was the fact my son has horrible allergies and eczema and can only wear Pampers Sensitive diapers or he will get a rash. This is fine and good except he’s a big kid and pees a lot which means that 1) the largest size they make may not fit him by the time he’s potty trained and 2) he’s soaking through them at night and waking up.  Not cool.  If cloth could give me more options for him then I figured it’s worth a shot. Not to mention any reusable diapers I get now will be around for baby #2 which makes them very economical!

So I started ordering some fun things to play around with it all, and here are a few of my favorites:

1) my favorite for everyday use so far is the BumGenius4.0 snap pocket diapers. I also tried a few of the Kawaii which seem great for the price, but I love the fact that when I use a BumGenius with the right inserts he still feels dry even when the diaper is soaked! I’m sure there are a ton of other great ones out there, but I didn’t want to bother trying them all since I found one pretty quickly that I really like.

2) my favorite insert is to use one of the BumGenius microfibers along with the BabyKicks Joey-Bunz (or Hemp babies are good too) hemp inserts. These really absorb well and keep everything away from his skin….and they don’t leak!

3) the other dilemma I hit was diaper rash cream. I heard you can only use certain ones with cloth and was NOT excited about trying any new creams or products on my son’s SUPER sensitive skin. After hearing rave reviews on pure coconut oil I figured I’d start there since it was only 1 ingredient and I would be able to easily tell if he had an allergic reaction to it.  To my delight, he did not react to the oil and in fact his dry eczema patches were better than ever! I was able to stop using his medication daily and can now save it for flare-ups which is big progress for him! It also helps to keep the diaper rash at bay and seems to work well with the cloth diapers.  The only down side to it is that it has oil stained a few shirts so we have to be careful when applying it and we learned not to lather his whole body in it and send him outside on one of the hottest days of the year (can you say heat rash? ouch). I LOVE the fact we can put it on his dry hands and I don’t have to worry about him ingesting harsh chemicals when he decides he needs to stick his fingers in his mouth. It’s organic, all natural and safe to eat!

4) the last fun find of the past few weeks are my wool dryer balls. I have not been able to use any type of dryer sheet or fabric softener with Evan’s skin condition so I was curious when I heard these not only cut your drying time significantly, but also work to soften clothes and reduce static. I bought one Bouncing Woolies brand and love it, but it was a bit pricey considering you really need several in the dryer at one time to do the trick. I then found a set of 4 on Etsy that are all natural colors and though they are a little bit smaller than the Bouncing Woolies ball seem to work just as well (and were 1/2 the price).  I now have all 5 in the dryer and they really do seem to cut way down on the drying time! I’ll be able to tell more about the static reduction once winter hits, but these are a fun addition to the laundry time no matter what.

Who would have thought laundry and diaper products could be so much fun? Not me, but I have really enjoyed all of this and just put in an order for more diapers! I sort of like doing the laundry and using all of this stuff (I’m sure that feeling won’t be around with 2 kids, mountains of laundry and more sleep deprivation) but for now it’s been a fun experiment AND we’re doing our part to reduce waste and be more eco-friendly!

*photos from http://www.sweetbottomsbaby.com and http://www.etsy.com

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7,000 miles

Since my last post in March there’s not much in our lives that has not changed. What a great reminder that we are never in control (especially true when you are in the military). We received a 3 week notice that my husband was going to be deployed and frantically packed up the entire house and moved everything we owned into storage. Seeing as how I am going to have little boy #2 while he is away there was no option then to move back across the country so that I would be with my family for help and support.

Nothing about the past 3 months has been easy, but we are still very blessed that I have the ability to live with family and be surrounded by help during these times. Not a day goes by that little Evan isn’t changing and growing – he is so advanced for his age and despite his food allergy challenges is a very healthy strong little boy. I wish his daddy could see him right now since every day he is doing something new and entertaining. He misses his daddy so much and prays for him every night that Jesus would keep him ‘safe’.

I am coasting along with 5-ish weeks to go before we’re a family of 4 and our new little boy makes his way into the world. This has obviously been the hardest part of the entire deployment for me.  I know that the life we live calls us to sacrifice and that sometimes we have to be apart, but no father should have to miss being a part of his own baby coming into the world. Hoping it will only be a few months into his life before his daddy can come home to meet him.

So we continue day in and day out with over 7,000 miles separating us, but look forward to huge blessings ahead and a new little one joining us on the journey very soon!

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