Testing out some mommy made Cloth diapers!

I have been cloth diapering my son since he was big enough to fit in the tinniest little cloth diapers I could find. There are so many reasons to use cloth, but here are mine:

1. Its very economical. A package of diapers cost roughly $11. This is referring to Seventh Generation brand which I LOVE for its lack of harsh chemicals. My son would go through a package once a week. That is $44 a month I was spending just on diapers! Now that I do cloth I have saved a ton of money, the start up cost can be scary but it evens out in the end.

2. The chemicals. Disposable diapers contain traces of Dioxin, TBT, and sodium polyacrylate. Dioxin is banned in most countries because of its carcinogenic properties. However it is not banned in the USA. All of these chemicals are being absorbed in to your babies skin when they wear a disposable diaper. No judgement here though! I disposable diapered my first! But, that is why research and knowledge are wonderful things :)

3. Its GREEN! Disposable diapers will sit in landfills for hundreds of years. On average each baby will produce a total of 6,000 diapers in the first 2 years of life. These will be sitting in the landfills anywhere from 250 years to 500 years from now.

4. Adorable-ness... Okay, so I made that word up, but its true! Cloth diapers now are easy to use and come in so many different colors, prints and styles its rediculous!

That brings me to the entire point of this blog. I am reviewing two AI2 diapers that were made by a work at home mommy. We have been using them for roughly 2 weeks now and just absolutely love them! They came in a size medium, brown outer PUL and Minky inner, one green, one yellow. Each diaper came with 2 snap in inserts.

First we used these as an AI2 (all in two) meaning you could snap in the insert and when it got wet, just switch out the insert and put in a new clean one. This works really well for wet diapers, but not dirty (which is the case with most covers and inserts anyway). I loved this option because I could leave my house for several hours with just 2 diapers and the inserts which left more room in the diaper bag. Generally I have the bag stuffed with atlest 4 or 5 diapers, the wet bag, toys, extra outfit ect... But this new option was great.

The minky inner is also very soft and im sure that is nice for my son. He hasnt had a single diaper rash while wearing these dipes as the micro terry fleece inner really pulls the moisture away from his skin.

These dipes have held up very well in the wash as well. They have been through 2 dryer cycles but are generally hung to dry on the line. There has been no pilling, no fraying, no ripes ect... And they also stood up really well to my son scooting across the sidewalk the other day when we were out drawing with chalk lol

One of my favorite options on this diaper were the adjustable leg gussets. Inside the diaper there is a strip of elastic on each leg that can be adjusted with snaps for different sizes. This is great for babies in medium diapers that may have thinner or wider thighs and need a different fit but also I feel that my son would be able to stay in these diapers until potty training age. He is currently quite the chunker and they fit him well on the 2nd leg gusset setting. If I put it on the largest setting he could easily wear these longer.

I would absolutely love to see these diapers come in one size, to allow the adjustable leg gussets to change the size of the diaper to fit from newborn until potty training age. It would also be nice if they came in snaps instead of velcrow. So far the velcrow holds up very well but I prefer snaps personally and that also would allow for size adjustment. Otherwise, I really have no complaints for these dipes! I love them, they are adorable, soft, absorbant and the snap in inserts are very convenient for use as an AI2. I was also able to stuff the back pocket of the dipe with a different insert as the inserts that came with the dipe were too long for stuffing. However, I could stuff the pocket and use the snap in insert for extra absorbancy at night which is nice for heavy wetters!

All around I would deffinately recommend these diapers to other mommas out there cloth diapering their babes. Her diapers will be available on her website after their testing is over, but also be sure to check out her other adorable items like apliqued onesies and cute printed burp cloths: http://www.jillybeanshop.com/

RainReserve Rain Barrel Diverter Kit/Rain Diverter Kit

This is a neat way to utilize all that rain water coming through your drainage pipes (and for me, inevitably collecting in your basement). Give the dog water, water your plants, fill the kiddie pool, wash the car! Without ever turning on a hose! What could be more green?

RainReserve Rain Barrel Diverter Kit/Rain Diverter Kit

My right to breastfeed, your right to turn away.

This blog and most likely several more future blogs will be surrounding an incident I recently experienced at a local swimming pool.

I have never had a problem nursing in public in the past. For 8 solid months I enjoyed hassel free, comfortable, wonderful public nursing. Until of course, June 1st 2010. On this day I took my family to swim for the first time that season. My 8 month old son is under the assumption that me being in a swimsuit equals him being able to nurse 24/7.

While I was enjoying the cool water on this extremely hot day lazying about in the zero depth pool my son decided once again it was time to nurse. I was enjoying the fact that I was not sweating despite the 85 degree temperature, severe humidity, and sun beating down on us. So, I decided to just cradle him right then and there and nurse away. For a good 5 minutes we went un noticed. My suit was covering most of my "goods" and my son was wearing a very large brimmed sun hat. To people around me it just looked as though I was cradeling my sleeping babe. Apparently however, from the perspective of a lifeguard tower, the view shows otherwise.

This lifeguard begins to violently blow his whistle at me. I turn to him and he motions for me to exit the pool immediately. I calmly explain that I am just nursing my son and have every right to be there. He tells me that I can not do "that" there... When I continue to refuse to leave he runs off to the lifegaurd house to tattle on me.

Now that he has brought attention to me with his whistle blowing and yelling, I have everyone in the pool staring at me. Not only is everyone staring but about 20 men and teens of varied ages are now aware that some woman (GASP) has her breast out! So they all start swarming around me, pretty closely, trying to get a peak. At first I was just floored that people were so brass and bold to just crowd a single woman and her small baby and then they got closer and closer and I was starting to feel uncomfortable and fearful. I looked over at the lifeguard post and the evil man that blew his whistle at me was so overly concerned with my breastfeeding that he had completely abandoned his post and now left me totally alone and vulnerable to these harassing crazy horny men.

Thankfully I have a brother that can tower several feet over most other men when standing and also has the amazing ability of well, being a complete asshole :) He yelled at them all and made enough room for me to get out of the pool. I went over to a bench and continued to feed my son.

Since I am located in the state of Illinois, I am thankfully very protected by the Civil Liabilities Right to Breastfeed Act. Wich clearly states:

(740 ILCS 137/10)

Sec. 10. Breastfeeding Location. A mother may breastfeed her baby in any location, public or private, where the mother is otherwise authorized to be, irrespective of whether the nipple of the mother's breast is uncovered during or incidental to the breastfeeding; however, a mother considering whether to breastfeed her baby in a place of worship shall comport her behavior with the norms appropriate in that place of worship.

(Source: P.A. 93‑942, eff. 8‑16‑04.)

So far I have taken action against this incident by writing a strongly worded letter to the towns parks and rec department. Further updates, I promise :)

In the meantime please comment below and tell me, when have you ever felt violated of your right to breastfeed? Have you ever been asked to leave an establishment? What actions did you take? I would love to hear of other moms experiences in this area since this is a new ballpark for me.

Unpaper Towels

Here is a super neat and very thrifty way to be green. Forget about purchasing paper towels. They are wasteful, cost alot of money over time, and are deffinately not earth friendly.

Since I had made the switch from disposable sponges for the dishes to knit washclothes I decided to make the switch from paper towels to UN-paper towels.

The concept is not new, but surprisingly few people actually think of it. You can purchase Un-paper towels that are WAHM made with snaps and they can snap together and can be rolled up around your paper towel holder! But also if you want to be just as thrifty as eco friendly you can cut up scraps of any cotton fabric and use those, or what I chose to do, purchase those bundles of white or colored wash clothes (i found a dozen for $3.50 at walmart) and the next time you go to wipe off your counters, instead use your UNpaper towels.

The trees thank you :)

Be your babies Breast friend!

Why is it that in todays society, breastfeeding is still looked down upon? How on earth can giving your baby or child what is best, what was intended for them to eat, be taboo?

There was a lot of controversy back in 2009 when Salma Hyak visited a hospital in war torn Sierra Leone. She selflessly comforts and breastfeeds a one week old baby who was malnourished. His mothers milk had dried up and Selma felt she had plenty to share as she was currently weaning her 1 year old daughter. Watch the video below:


When I saw this video I was immediately impressed with her willingness to step up and feed this hungry little person. I would absolutely do the same thing in such a situation. I have in the past donated my milk to mothers who were having supply issues and did not want to give formula.

Why is this considered so taboo to others? We willingly, by the millions, feed our children cows milk and formula (which is man made chemicals with cows milk) on a daily basis. Cows milk and any other milk that isn't human breastmilk was not intended for humans. Cows milk was designed to be the perfect food to help sustain a baby calf. Human breastmilk was designed to be the perfect food to help sustain a baby human.

In our worlds History, it has been documented that wet nurses were a common solution to a mothers lactation complications. If a mother was unable to sustain her child with her own milk, a lactating mother would be brought in to help feed that child. Even more importantly, if a mother had died during childbirth it was crucial to have a wet nurse come in to feed the child until it was weaned.

This of course, is before breast pumps and formula and all that jazz. But its the very basic concept that a human child needs human milk and that, regardless of circumstance, should be what that child receives to be as healthy as possible.
Sure, people will cry and say that formula is the second best option. But this is not true. According to the WHO (World Health Organization) infant feeding is ranked by,
1.Breast milk from the breast
2. Pumped breast milk from the baby's own mother
3. Donated breast milk
4. Infant formula
 
Why is it that most mother immediately gravitate towards formula when needing to supplement?

I believe that it because formula has been made readily available without a prescription. You can purchase it at any grocery store, even some gas stations and County Health Departments hand it out like free candy. Formula is not sterile like breastmilk. It is overly processed, is made from cows milk, has high fructose corn syrup and sugars sweetening it up just so babies will drink it, and if you have ever read the ingredients on the back of a can, you would be floored.

Most parents are pretty health conscious about the foods their toddlers and children eat, I know I am. We stay away from overly processed foods, preservatives, non organic produce and milk... But why are there parents who still immediately gravitate towards formula when they hit a small bump in the road of breastfeeding (and believe me, I've been through those bumps!). My son has never had a single drop of formula. Ive been through a gall bladder removal surgery when he was just 2 months old, I pumped like a mad woman for WEEKS before I had it taken out. My mom bottle fed him the pumped milk while I was away. Once I was home I writhed in pain, only taking 2 doses of my Tylenol with codeine and then throwing it out so I could breastfeed him. Later on we suffered through a week of pain with a clogged duct that finally was relieved when I developed a nipple blister I was able to pop. It was painful to feed him for the next few weeks but we got over that hump too. He's now 7 months old and still breastfeeds for 90% of his nutrition. He takes a bit of yogurt or pureed veggies and fruits here and there but that's it.

So, while it seems this blog is going no where fast, I just wanted to say, no SCREAM out there to all the mommas. Breastfeeding is the best, most natural, amazingly healthy thing you can do for you babies!

The WHO recommends exclusive breastfeeding to 6 months, and then breastfeeding until at least a year and after that up until age 2 or beyond with child led weaning... I would like to see more mommas out there boobing their babies on the playground, in the mall, at the restaurant, at the pool, anywhere- ANYTIME. Who's with me? I know I don't mind publicly announcing that I will do what is best for my baby :)