All the little things (cloth diapering accessories)

Well, friends, I am about to wrap up the big posts on cloth diapering. We have talked about each of the major cloth diapering systems, so I thought I would conclude with talking about some of the little accessories that have proved to be useful in making the switch to cloth.

If you are using prefolds, prefitteds (prefolds that have been "converted" into fitteds), or flats, you need to fasten them closed somehow. My (very strong) personal preference is to use Dritz pins. I tried and TRIED to get the very popular Snappi to work for us, to no avail. I don't know if I never got it good and stretched out or what . . . just didn't happen. And to tell you the truth, I don't like the way Snappis look. *dodging tomatoes flying at my head* My deepest apologies to loyal Snappi users . . . I just prefer the clean, classic look of a pinned prefold over one that has been Snappi'ed. Plus, D can unsnap a Fuzzi Bunz with no problem, so I feel quite sure she could pull a Snappi right off, and those Snappi claws are SHARP. I personally would rather risk pricking myself with a pin than take the chance that D could get a Snappi off and harm herself in some way. And she would - have no doubt. She hurts herself daily in ways I never dreamed possible!

Additionally, you need some way to store dirty dipes. This can be done in all sorts of ways. I suppose you could do the wet pail method, but I have no idea how that works, so I won't speak to that. Most CDers use a wet bag/dry pail system. The idea with a dry pail is to get some kind of tall diaper pail (or large trash can) and line it with a washable, reuseable liner. Something like a Wahmies Diaper Pail Liner would work nicely. Or you could go the hanging wet bag route which is what I do. There are, oh, a TON of WAHMs making wet bags these days. I mentioned earlier that we have one by Nappsacks, but I have heard good things about or like the looks of: The Good Mama, SMJAE, Trillium Baby, and Happy Tushies.

I mentioned in my comments on the last post that I adore using cloth wipes. Honestly, if something happened and we had to switch back to sposies full-time, I would never give up my cloth wipes. The difference in messy clean-up is phenomenal! Plus, the harsh chemicals in sposie wipes always upset D's delicate skin. I mostly just use water with our cloth wipes, although I do sometimes use a homemade wipes solution as well. There are a kajillion people who make wipes. You can either look at the Pin's Cloth Wipes reviews page or run a search at Hyena Cart to see who has some in-stock. OR, you can just make your own! Most of our wipes are just cut-up hemp fleece and flannel. Or some cheapie washclothes from your local Mart work fine, too.

Some people like to buy pre-made cloth wipe solution, and there are plenty of delicious ones to purchase if you want to. Again, the Pin's Wipes Solution Review page is a good place to start looking.

Finally (I think!), if you want to add wool covers, shorts, or longies to your stash, you will need special wool care. If you remember from the Wool is Cool page, the lanolin in wool is what helps it to be effective in diapering. So in caring for your wool cloth diapering pieces, you need a lanolin rich wash and most of the time you will also need some kind of additional lanolin product to put on the dry wool to keep it effective. My personal FAVE that I just love, love, love is the Sheep Soap from Ignite the Senses. Ours is the Lavender Mint scent. Yum! I like a wool wash bar because if you have an active child who can manage to get wool stained with things like sidewalk chalk, macaroni and cheese, and just plain ol' diry, the bar can be rubbed directly on the wool for maximum stain fighting power. We also have the Sheep Balm from ITS - I believe in some kind of Rose scent. Very nice, extremely effective. Sudz 'n Dudz and Naturally Luxe (formerly Monkey Sudz) are also popular choices for wool care products.

Questions? Comments?

All together now!

Thanks Julie and Jill for the great discussion topics! This is one of the last posts I will do on cloth diapering systems and I am quite ready to talk about something else!

So finally, the last CDing system to discuss is the All in One/All in Two. A true is All in One is just that - a diaper where the cover and inner soaker and material make up the diaper altogether. Does that make sense? It's just one piece - like a disposable diaper. No stuffing, nothing to snap in on the inside. An All in Two, on the other hand, has a waterproof outer shell, an inner lining, then a soaker that snaps in to the inner lining. The theory behind the AI2 is that you can trade out soakers during the day so you can keep the same outer shell on longer. That's the theory, anyway. If you have a heavy wetter like D, I can assure this won't work. The soaker gets pretty soaked and then there is leakage on to the outer shell, rendering it unusable even with a clean soaker. But I have a dear friend (Amanda) who primarily uses AI2s because her sweet daughter is not the high volume pee-er that D is!

By way of disclaimer, I am going to say that this is my least favorite system of CDing. Yes, it is by far the easiest in terms of not having to do much to get the diaper on. If you have a partner or day care provider who is hesitant to use/change cloth diapers, I think AIOs/2s can be great. These are just not diapers that work for us . . . or maybe we just never have found the right one. Every true AIO I have tried takes far too long to dry. There is a lot of material sewn into a true AIO - there has to be for it to be effective. But this can be a drawback to true AIOs because the increased dryer drying time can be hard on the life of the PUL outer. And as I mentioned above, the AI2 design is a marvelous idea and I know it works gorgeously for many, just not for us. Also, I have found AIO/2s to be some of the most expensive on the market. Again, if you find an AI2 that you can snap clean soakers into, then that cuts down on the cost for sure.

Because we have had trouble with AIO/2s, I don't have a ton of recommendations to make. I will tell you some of the ones we have tried and others I have heard mamas rave about.

Wonder Works Magic All is one that we have tried. I really like the design of this diaper, but again, the long drying time was a concern to me. Plus, the elastic left red marks on D's chunko thighs. I know many mamas are very happy with these, though.
My friend Amanda is a huge fan of BeccaBottom All in Twos.
Bum-Ware are very popular diapers that can be either true AIO or an AI2.
We have tried Daisy Doodles and I wanted these to work SO bad for us! But alas, not meant to be. I think her design is outrageously trim and she uses the most darling fabrics.

In the world of "hard to get" WAHM made dipes, several come to mind:
Mudpie Babies are well-made and usually have darling embroidery.
If you want REALLY hard to find, Bottom Bumpers are among the most hyena of AIOs (actually an AI2).
An up-and-coming WAHM that I hear many raves about is . . . and such is life. Definitely someone to watch and stalk.

I will do one more "official" CDing entry. Thanks for hanging with me through this!

Don't forget to tell me your favorites to add to the We Love It list! Doesn't have to be cloth diapering stuff only. Just Natural Family Living books, products, or sites we want to share.

Quickly . . .

Quick note to say I figured out a way to post on non-Beta blogs! If the blog allows comments from non-Bloggers, I can just sign in as other which allows me to leave comments. So excited about this (fairly obvious) solution!!

Only one blog I stalk doesn't allow non-Blogger comments . . . but that won't stop me from reading. :)

More diaper talk to come.

And that reminds me - after we finish off talking about different diapering systems, I am not sure what else I will say about CDing. Any other Natural Family Living topics anyone wants to discuss? If I don't get suggestions, I will just start blathering on about whatever comes to mind.

We don't need no stinking covers . . .

(Just so ya know, still feeling quite miffed about not being able to comment on non-Beta blogs. Seriously considering opening another Blogger Basic account to get around this nonsense!)

Okay, so we have talked about flats, prefolds, and fitteds -- all diapers which in order to be "waterproof" (for lack of a better word), need some kind of cover. We talked about nylon, PUL, and wool covers for these diapers. So now let's talk diapers which already have a cover in place for you!

POCKETS
I have a special affinity for pockets. I really love a great pocket diaper! We use these for out and about, and when we use cloth at night, we use pockets.

A pocket diaper is a diaper which is made of a waterproof outer (usually PUL, but also could be fleece), a stay-dry inner (generally microfleece or suedecloth), and in-between the inner and outer layer, there is an open space - a pocket. The pocket opening is generally at the back of the diaper where the inner and outer materials meet, or there is a slit in the inner material to get to the pocket. When you are using a pocket diaper, you must have some kind of an insert which you stuff into the pocket. Inserts can be made of cotton, microfiber, or hemp. These close with snaps (front snap or side snap) or aplix/velcro. No need for pins or Snappis!

I think the reason I love pockets so much is you can customize the amount and kind of "stuffers" you put in there to meet the needs of your child.

Some people don't like pockets because they need to be stuffed; this, however, has never bothered me. I like to stuff all of my pockets when they come through the laundry so they are ready to grab a minute's notice (usually as D is running off, diaperless, to things far more interesting than a complete diaper change!).

By far, the most popular (in terms of brand recognition) type of pocket diaper is Fuzzi Bunz. These were my first pocket diapers. They are easy to use, WIDELY available, and easy to care for. Fuzzi Buns are often referred to as "the gateway drug" of cloth diapering because most people get their feet wet in the cloth world with these and then move on to more exciting dipes to add to the stash. Then again, some people use FBs exclusively to diaper each of their children! These are front-snapping, sized diapers. This means as your baby grows, you will have to buy/use different-sized diapers.

I have already shared my love for CottonBabies' bumGenius One Size Pocket Diapers. I find I get a much better fit for D in these than with FBs, but that may be because she is between sizes in FBs right now. These one-size diapers have aplix closures and work beautifully with the Cottonbabies microfiber insert that CB includes with each dipe.

Other pocket diapers that I have tried and like OR have heard great things about:
Happy Heiny's Great aplix closing pocket that comes in DARLING prints!

Superstars (used to be called Wonderoos) I haven't tried the newest incarnation of Wonderoos, but I hear they are great.

Swaddlebees are said to be some of the trimmest fitting diapers on the market. We tried one, but these are not great for the heavy-wetting crowd. Too skimpy through the crotch to catch a fast stream of pee, these are definitely for light to moderate wetters. VERY trim though - look just like a disposable under clothes. Available in snaps or aplix.

I'm not just totally sure if Drybees are mass-produced or if they are made by a team of seamstresses employed by this WAHM, but these are really great aplix closing pockets. I had a Drybee that the elastic along the pocket closure went bad on. I contacted Lisa and she had me send the diaper back to her so she could replace the elastic, and she even re-stitched the front of the diaper, too. She has wonderful customer service, and Drybees last a LONG time.

If you don't like mass-produced and would rather go with Work At Home Mom diapers, here are some good bets:

I have had many Baby Blanket pockets in our stash, but that was when they made by the original Baby Blanket WAHM. This company is under new ownership, but I am sure the design hasn't changed. Great fitting dipes - we had all aplix, but I think you can get these with snaps.

Green Acre Designs are fabulously made. Highly recommend!

Snap-EZ are the Cadillacs of pocket diapers, in my opinion. Amazing construction and design. You cannot go wrong with anything from this WAHM company! Snap-EZ pockets have a unique "hip snapping" design - not quite front-snap, not quite side-snap . . . definitely just right.

Finally, I know a WAHM diaper with a huge following in the CD world is Fuzzi Fannies. We have tried one of these, but it just wasn't a great match for us. However, like I said these are very popular and that wouldn't be the case if these were anything less than top-notch!

Now, there are quite a few parents in the CD world who don't like to use PUL covered diapers at all for their children. The primary reason for this is that PUL doesn't allow baby's bum to "breathe." I rarely use pockets in the summer for this reason; the main reasons D would be in a pocket from April to October is that it's nighttime or we are running a quick errand (or if she has diarrhea!). For parents who want a breathable option with pockets there are pockets with fleece outers. These fleece outers will help hold moisture in, but in my experience, these do not hold up between changing as long as a PUL pocket will.

Popular fleece pockets include:
Little Rain Dancers and Ella's Breathable fleece pockets.

So that should get you started on what you need to know about pocket diapers. Next time we will talk about All-in-One diapers, which are nearly self-explanatory!

Dear non-Beta Blogger friends

I am so frustrated that I am not able to post on ANYONE'S non-Beta Blogger sites right now. It won't let me be anonymous, it won't let me sign in with my Google account and do it, it won't let me sign in with my Blogger identity . . . so ARGH! Until I get it figured out, please know I am still reading. Just can't share my two cents with ya right now!

What the heck . . .

was I even going to write about next?

I know we have been talking diaper systems. I got kind of side-tracked in the wool department. Does anyone want to hear anything else about wool? If not, we can just move on. . .

When my in-laws were here for the weekend, I whipped up some wonderful things from my Feeding the Whole Family book. They were okay with the Sunny Millet with Peaches (which I thought was delicious), but they really seemed to like the Tempeh Tacos. I was quite impressed with how they turned out. And they absolutely flipped over mangoes, kiwis, and raisins drizzled with honey. That wasn't a recipe, it just sound good! God did all the hard work on that one. :)

We love it! New list added.

Since I am in the talking cloth groove, I am adding a list to my page with links to cloth diapering related products that I and my readers love. If you have any you want added at any time, just leave it in the comments, or I think you can email me from my profile page.

Probably won't be around much as Kyle's parents are coming in to town tomorrow. Hope everyone has a wonderful holiday weekend!

GO BOBCATS!

*shaking an angry fist at Time Warner*

UGH! I hate our ISP! It's a stupid, dumb story, but basically everytime someone moves into our building, OUR cable gets disconnected. Big, BIG spankings to Time Warner - and that's a lot coming from a Gentle Discipline mama.

Anyway, I have a TON of stuff to catch up on, not to mention desperately trying to get the hacienda ready for the in-laws rolling into town this weekend, so I will try so very hard to get more about wool, et al., up soon.

In the meantime, my long-awaited and much-anticipated new cookbook Feeding the Whole Family: Whole Foods Recipes for Babies, Young Children and Their Parents arrived yesterday. I am so thrilled! I have been reading it like it's a novel. Great book! Can't wait to try some new recipes!

let's discuss

Great question from Jill in yesterday's comments . . . how does one dress a child in cloth diapers? I will get to that in a second. First I wanted to talk about why prefolds hold up better for us than most fitteds . . .

I did not start really liking prefolds on D until she was about 15 or 16 months old. I never could get a good fit or a great fold to work for us when she was smaller and not mobile. I know some of my readers have used prefolds on babies since they were, well, babies, and I would love to hear how they found prefold success with infants!

When I put a prefold on D, I use a modified version of the Angel Wing Fold. I basically tri-fold the prefold, bring it up through the legs, then pull the "wings" from the back forward, fold the excess OUT, and pin. When I do this with a premium (4x8x4) prefold, I basically have 16 layers of cotton in the wet zone. That stands the test of time (for us) far better than any fitted I have tried so far. Well, except for maybe Olive Branch Baby's Very Simply Nights, but those aren't easy to come by.

Now - dressing the Cloth Diapered Child. I will admit, when I first put D in a Bummi wrap with a trifolded premium prefold in it and then tried to snap her onesie around it, I just cried. Then laughed. It was ridiculous. I wish I had taken pictures! The truth is, there are modification that need to be made when you use cloth. Here's the thing - disposable diapers are filled with chemicals that both absorb and hold on to pee. Because disposables use chemicals rather than absorbent materials, they are very trim fitting. That's just how it is. And *most* baby and toddler clothes are cut to go over disposable diapers.

So what's a mom (or dad) to do?

1) Buy clothes with stretch. I have found The Children's Place to have clothes that accomodate cloth diapers quite nicely. I hear the same about Gymboree, but I can't afford those lovelies, so I have to take my fellow CDers word on that. I will admit that I have only found ONE cloth diaper I can put on D under jeans - Cloth Thoughts. At one time, we had a medium side snapping Cloth Thoughts that worked gorgeously under jeans. It has since gone on to another home. I personally don't dress D in jeans that much. It's rarely cool enough here and I just think they look uncomfortable on her. Maybe it's because of her thunder thighs (and I mean that lovingly!). I just prefer knits on her and I find those work nicely with cloth.

2) Size up. As Jill mentioned, sizing up is an option. You may have to roll up the cuffs, and once your babe is toddling/walking/running, this could get tricky. It works nicely with a baby though, or at least it did for my baby.

3) Wool as clothing! This is what I have done with D most all summer long. Her wool shorts and soakers are part of her outfit. Beautiful. Cool. Darling.
I will say that if and when the weather cools down here, we will probably go back to primarily pockets under regular clothes. As much as I would love, love, love to dress her in the darling "longies" I see out there ( as in Mango Flamingo's Fancy Flares, Llamajama's pink cargos,
Kool Sheep Soakers ANYTHING from her!, Mosaic Moon again - ANYTHING!, or the always darling Sissy Crabapple), I just can't afford it! I really couldn't afford one pair, let alone several to switch in and out of during the day. So alas, back to our functional pockets which work great under cute clothes from the store.

Anyone come up with any other great sites about wool for us?

In honor of Back To School - you have homework!

Yep - the ol high school teacher in me gets kind of itchy when school is back in session. I truly LOVE being at home with Dacey, yet I miss those wonderful, giddy, scary, exciting, NEW first days of school. So in preparation for our discussion on wool, you have some homework to do!

There is so much to say about why wool is a wonderful way to cover cloth diapers, and I don't want to simply regurgitate information from the comprehensive resources already out there. So here's your homework:

1) Read this article on Why Wool is Cool so you have a great basic background on wool use in cloth diapering.

2) See if you can find and post in the comments any other helpful resources on wool. Save your shopping links! We will do that next time.


On another note, we are currently on a cloth hiatus at our house. D has a urinary tract infection and the antibiodics she has to take do major damage to the tummy. (Yes, I have her on acidophilus as well . . .) Anyway, the revolting clean-up and inevitable staining of our precious dipes just aren't worth it to me, so she is in 'sposies for the time being. Since everything in the stash is clean and organized, I took a few minutes to take pictures of it all to share!

Here are our lovely woolens - from top left: Blue Purlz soaker, Llamajama soaker, Luxe Baby pull-on cover, KYBaby knit cargo shorts, Ah May Designs interlock shorts, Celtic Wolf Creations side snapping wool cover, Ewe Baby Designs side snap cover (wool jersey, I think!), Becca Bottoms Ultra Trim side snap wool cover
This is our changing area with my basket of wipes, liners, and spray:

Our hanging wet bag for the dirties:

Bird's-eye view of the stash:

And where the stash "lives" - D's hardly used baby bassinette:

Thoughts on fitteds and covers

First of all - SO good to be posting again. Something funky happened with the blog, but once I switched over to the Blogger Beta, I was back online. Funny how that works, huh?

Anyway, to pick up where I left off - we need to talk covers. But I can't do that until we discuss one more type of diaper that also needs a cover - the beautiful, fun, lovely fitted diaper.

Fitteds are diapers that are made from natural materials, but there is no folding or pinning required. They generally close with snaps or aplix. Most every fitted on the market has some kind of darling fabric on the outside, generally a cotton weave, knit, or flannel (although there are many other possibilities). Some people question why have such cute material on the outside when this diaper has to be covered (it's not waterproof). Well, many mamas like to let their babes go around the house or out in the yard in a fitted with no cover. Again, these are all-natural materials so an uncovered fitted provides a lovely amount of breathability for baby's bum.

Personally, I do LOVE fitteds, but I find I am clearing most of ours out of the stash. They are fairly expensive to buy new (compared to prefolds) . . . or maybe that's just because I like to buy fitteds made from organic cottons. Anyway, I have only come across a very FEW brands of fitteds that can hold up the way a prefold can. It's so important to remember as you read about my personal tastes that D is an ultra-heavy wetter. So prefolds under covers are the workhorses of our stash, but fitteds are so nice for days when she wants to rollie-pollie away from a diaper change.

Some of my fave fitteds are:

Clothmopolitan (so wonderfully trim, extremely well-made, very abosorbent - kind of hard to get. Have to watch for stockings)
Laughing Lion (very similiar to Clothmo in my opinion - equally well-made, very trim, great fit)
Keester Kovers (she doesn't stock a lot of fitteds, but she made us an all organic velour one that was so scrumptious! I bet she would do a custom fitted for anyone who is interested. Super sweet mama!)
Blackbird Lane (also fairly hard to get, but AWESOMELY absorbent for heavy-wetting babes!)
El Bee Baby (dang near impossible to get - as in, two-year waiting list! Basically, if you want brand new El Bees, you put your name on the list for a child you hope to concieve in the future. I have two I scored off of For Sale Or Trade boards)
Dream Eze (the only fitted I am listing that is not Work At Home Mom made - I love Kim at Montana Diapers and she worked very hard to design this awesome diaper. Super, super absorbent and gorgeous trim cut)

So, that's about all I can think to say about fitteds. Oh yeah - there are lots of choices on fitteds: turned and topstitched edges or serged edges; soaker style - sewn-in, snap in, internal . . .; snaps or aplix; front-snapping or side-snapping . . . Everyone will have their own personal taste on those choices. As for me and my household, we like a side-snapping, snap-in or sewn on external soaker with either turned and topstitched edges or serged edges that aren't TOO ruffly. But to each their own!

Okay . . .

COVERS!

There are three basic kinds of covers: nylon, PUL, and wool.

Let me cover the first two today, because I want to devote an entirely new entry to wool.

NYLON
The plastic pants that our parents used on us are not so much used these days. A very basic, very easy, very cheap way to cover a cloth diaper that needs a cover (flats, prefolds, fitteds) is with nylon. I hear great things about the Dappi cover. I personally have two Bummi Whisper Pant in our stash that I use from time to time. If you want top of the line nylon covering, you must have the Snap-EZ snapping nylon cover. These are all great choices, and nylon tends to breathe a bit better than PUL.

PUL
First of all, what is PUL? PUL stands for Polyurethane Laminate. It is a synthetic, waterproof material that you will find used in diaper covers, pocket diapers, All-in-One diapers, and diaper wet bags. Because of its synthetic nature, it is generally not breathable - but still highly functional and useful for all kinds of diapering needs.
By far the most popular (in terms of number of users) of PUL cover is the Bummi Super Whisper Wrap . It comes in basic white, but also has a few cute prints. Highly effective and user-friendly, these were an important part of our beginning stash. Many people also like the Imse Vimse Bumpy cover. I have tried Wiggle Worm Bottoms but they have got to be some of the most DARLING covers I have seen yet! There are a plethora of choices for PUL covers -- check out some for yourself at the Diaper Pin Covers Review Page.

Well, I have a sick chick who needs my attention. I can't wait to share with you all why I love WOOL in my next entry!

Gosh, really?

Has it been almost a week since I posted anything? I have written about five entries in my head, but then I am too tired to get it from my head to the screen. Huh - must be the constant, consistent, never-ending days of 100+ degree temps. My brain is as dried out as the parched earth outside my front door. *sigh*

So, I thought I better take a minute to go through the different types of cloth diapers before I go on to share my personal picks. You will notice I tend to link to my favorite stores. There is, however, a vast, amazing array of cloth diapering shops online and I have yet to have a bad experience with any of them. Most of the people who run diaper shops are passionate about cloth diapering and natural family living and are truly wonderful people!

Okay, so let's start BASIC.

The very first kind of cloth diaper is a basic flat. This is the kind of diaper Mary probably used to diaper the baby Jesus. Many CDing moms are a bit intimidated by the flat because it's, well, flat. It requires folding to get into the shape it needs to be in to diaper sufficiently. Fortunately, you don't have to know origami to fold a flat (although there is an "origami fold!"). I like the flat folding instructions at Gumbush. Since D is a toddler, I find I use the flats in our collection a little differently than I plan to with little babies in the future. I like to take one, fold it into a kind of folded-up tri-fold and just lay it in a Bummi Original Cover. It's just easier since she is bigger. I think a standard sized flat in any flat fold would work nicely on a little baby though.

So, what do you get when someone else does the folding for you? A prefold! There are several varieties of the basic prefold. The two most popular, widely-used prefolds are Indian and Chinese. Indian prefolds (like the ones I linked to) are made from unbleached cotton. Some people swear up and down these are softer than the Chinese prefolds. I don't know - I have both and can't really tell the difference in texture. Because they are unbleached, they will have a natural color to them. The "classic" white cloth diaper you may have seen is the Chinese prefold. It is bleached cotton and has colored serging that tells what size it is. Prefolds come these sizes: preemie, standard infant, infant, regular, premium, and toddler. (It is very important to note that the most reliable, effective prefolds are generally NOT the ones you can buy at your local Super Store. You want to make sure you are purchasing Diaper Service Quality - DSQ - prefolds.) This chart at The Stork Warehouse explains the sizing. Note that the "ply" column - the higher the middle number, the more absorbent the diaper is. A younger baby doesn't generally let loose with the quantities of pee that an older baby and toddler can, so diapers designed to fit younger babies generally have less "oomph" in the middle.

Finally, you should know that a flat or prefold is not waterproof on its own. These all-cotton diapers are wonderfully breathable, and as we sweat through the Texas summer, I will often let D run around with just a prefold on and change her when she wets. This, however, freaks out her Dad - he sort of flips out at the thought of touching pee. (Why are men so squeamish about pee? I don't get it. I would think their hands interact with pee more than most women on an average bathroom visit.) Anyway, when her Dad is home, I make sure she the dipe is covered.

Ah, covers. There is so much to talk about here. And D is waking up. So covers will be, ahem, covered in the next post.

Oh, hey . . . keep forgetting . . .

I changed my settings so anyone can post comments (for now), whether you have a blogger account or not. So any super-stealth lurkers (Julie!) can leave comments if ya want.

Stripping . . .

is not as sexy as it sounds, particularly when what is being stripped are cloth diapers. Good question from the comments about what stripping involves. Sometimes cloth diapers will collect a build-up for detergent residue. This can happen when you use a bit too much detergent in your regular wash, or sometimes, it just happens. No big deal, really. One way to strip is to just wash the diapers several times on hot water with absolutely no soap or detergent. Generally, if there is detergent residue, when you open your washer lid after the load has been through the agitation (with no detergent) you will see bubbles. This is the residue that is being lifted. Keep washing until no bubbles can be seen in the rinse cycle. Or, even better, here are some instructions from Cottonbabies on how to do it. Note that they also mention the Dawn Original - apparently, it helps break down the detergent so no residue is left behind. So far, I have never stripped my diapers, though I did buy some used that needed to have their hemp inserts stripped. As a side note - I hear hemp is much worse about detergent build-up. I have mostly gotten rid of my hemp inserts (for the pocket diapers) because the ones I had did tend to get detergent build-up.

So, that's it for stripping! Pretty painless, but a little time-consuming.

Speaking of stripping - it is so insanely hot I have allowed D to strip down and run naked for the moment. Even in our air-conditioned townhouse, it's hot. With the fans on. We are headed to the pool in a minute (for that she cannot go naked!).

And speaking of pools, we had a lovely time at the swim play date yesterday! I really hit it off with the two of the mamas who have little boys near D's age. I am glad I went and hope to get together with them again soon! You never know who you might meet at library storytime . . .

Random natterings

Just some random things:

1) I feel I should expand a bit on my last post. It may have sounded like I hated prefolds entirely and now use pockets exclusively . . . and that was the case until last spring. Once D started walking, her body shape changed quite a bit. It was at that time I also discovered I really liked pinning prefolds on her - they are SO absorbent and I can get them on her in a really trim fold. (Ask if you want details!) Also last spring, I discovered the beauty of wool covers, and that led to the purchase of tons of fitted diapers to go under the lovely wool. I promise at one point I will do a whole entry (with links!) on the diapers I love to use, but that's going to be an undertaking. Right now in our stash, we have prefolds, flats (basically a prefold that hasn't been, well, prefolded for you!), fitteds, pockets, and one lonely All-In-Two. (Julie, if you are reading, I SWEAR I will also do an entry on what all these categories are!)

2) Good question, Rece, in the comments. (I need Rece's mama to show me how to get D to do the diaper laundry around here! LOL!) I actually don't dry everything. I usually don't dry my pockets - I let them air dry which happens fairly quickly, even in the muggy summer air.

And yes - getting that laundry routine down can be frustrating. We have really hard water here, so I tend to use a bit more detergent than others, but that's just one of those little quirks that each person has to figure out for their situation.

3) Non CD related . . . Today D and I went to the library for toddler storytime.

(Sidebar gripe - the librarian who does the toddler storytime stresses me out! She is all about "now make sure you are sitting down . . . let's everyone stay sitting on our bottoms . . . okay, make sure to sit really still . . ." UGH! D wants to walk around and explore and flirt and check things out. So half the time I take her outside the room until it gets to the part where everyone gets in a circle and sings songs. She LOVES that! But she always turns to me and starts doing "Itsy Bitsy Spider" and signing "please!" And I have to tell her, "No, dear - she doesn't take requests." Anyway, it really bothers me that amazingly the majority of the other toddlers there DO sit still and listen quietly. I don't know - maybe she is gifted and bored easily. :) I actually think the others there are either younger than her and therefore not mobile enough to roam, or are older than her and have an attention span that lasts longer than, say, 10 seconds . . . but I have digressed badly.)

So at storytime, I met this really nice mama who has a little boy about D's age. When he started getting cranky, she just took him the back of the room and nursed him! Oh how I wish D weren't way too easily distracted to still go for that! Anyway, after storytime we were talking about signing - her son is really good at it. So then she invited me to join her and some other mommy friends and their kiddos for swimming tomorrow. I am kind of nervous because I barely know her and won't know anyone else and I sometimes have mild Social Anxiety Disorder in such situations, but I figure - what the heck? Worse case scenario - they are all gorgeous, model-thin mamas in bikinis and not a stretch mark to be seen (ahem, Meghan) with perfectly behaved children who don't even splash in the pool and at some point one of them politely tells me that my broken-out face (which, by the way, can only be described as GROSS) and ill-behaved nose-picker of a child won't be asked back to any more swim dates. What will I have lost, really, except perhaps a little dignity?