Showing posts with label cloth diapers. Show all posts
Showing posts with label cloth diapers. Show all posts
Monday, December 31, 2012
Cloth Diapers in Earnshaws Magazine
This month's issue of Earnshaw's magazine - a magazine for retailers - has a 2-page spread about cloth diapers and how great they are! The article points out that cloth diapers are a great choice for parents who want to save money - and the planet. Cloth diaper parents are also likely to try to convert their friends to cloth. (guilty!) It's great to know that cloth diapers are becoming more mainstream and even trendy! They included a bunch of fun facts about cloth diapers that I thought I would pass along to you.
*Babies require approximately 6,000 diaper changes in the first two years.
*Approximately 27.4 billion disposable diapers are used in the United States annually.
*Disposable diapers are the third largest single consumer item in landfills; they comprise 50 percent of household waste in homes with children.
*While waste is supposed to be deposited in the toilet before discarding diapers, less than 0.5 percent of waste from single-use diapers goes into the sewer system.
*Disposable diapers contain a super-absorbent polymer that has been linked to toxic-shock syndrome.
*It is estimated that disposable diapers take between 250 and 300 years to decompose.
*More than 300 pounds of wood, 50 pounds of petroleum feedstocks, and 20 pounds of chlorine are used to produce disposables for one baby for a year.
*The manufacturing and use of disposable diapers amounts to 2.3 times more waste than cloth.
*Based on calculations in the San Francisco Bay Area, disposable diapers will cost $1600 while cloth diapering will cost between $300 - $1000.
Thirsties Cloth Diapers at Green Baby Green Mama
[caption id="attachment_50" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Thirsties cloth diapers"]
[/caption]Thirsty for an alternative to disposable diapers? We have the solution – Thirsties cloth diapers! Let Thirsties put you at ease whether you are worried about waste, chemicals, or finances. Thirsties has the perfect cloth diaper for you whether you are looking for the simplicity of fitted cloth diapers, the convenience of all-in-one cloth diapers, or a cloth diaper cover that really WORKS. You never have to worry about leaks with Thirsties cloth diaper covers because of the exclusive leg gussets. Similar to conventional diapers, the leg gussets ensure a perfect fit to your baby’s legs creating a leak-proof shell. Be sure to check out Thirsties cloth diapers at Green Baby Green Mama!
[/caption]Thirsty for an alternative to disposable diapers? We have the solution – Thirsties cloth diapers! Let Thirsties put you at ease whether you are worried about waste, chemicals, or finances. Thirsties has the perfect cloth diaper for you whether you are looking for the simplicity of fitted cloth diapers, the convenience of all-in-one cloth diapers, or a cloth diaper cover that really WORKS. You never have to worry about leaks with Thirsties cloth diaper covers because of the exclusive leg gussets. Similar to conventional diapers, the leg gussets ensure a perfect fit to your baby’s legs creating a leak-proof shell. Be sure to check out Thirsties cloth diapers at Green Baby Green Mama!
How Do You Wash Your Babies Cloth Diapers?
Mention the word “cloth diaper” around anyone who uses disposables and you are bombarded with reactions ranging from curiosity to mild disgust. (This scenario also works the other way around – but that’s a different post!)
“You actually touch and wash the…dirty ones?”
The reality of using cloth diapers is that you are not really exposed to anything more than you would be while using disposable diapers. I won’t go into any more detail but you catch my drift. The trickiest part is figuring out how to wash them. I wash all of my Thirsties cloth diapers (fitteds, AIOs, inserts, and covers) together using Caldrea Sweet Pea laundry detergent. First I dump any solids into the toilet immediately and then store the cloth diapers in a metal bucket in my laundry room. About every 2 days, I throw them all in the washing machine and run a cold rinse first with no detergent. Then I add detergent and run a hot wash, then another cold rinse. Whenever my diapers start to smell a little funky I wash them with Calgon water softener because I have well water and the mineral deposits build-up just a little bit.
The best part of fluffy laundry? No folding!
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Sunday, November 8, 2009
Have you missed us?
So sorry we have been MIA lately! I have been working my buns off of a new venture that I am so excited to share with you! My love of green baby products and practices combined with the lack of options in my town has led me to start a store featuring all of my favorites! Each product has been personally tested and approved by L and I. Needless to say, my new store and blog take up the majority of my time and I do not have enough time right now to write for two blogs. The Green Baby Green Mama blog is an extension of Lil Green Baby and I would be delighted if you checked it out! I look forward to reading your comments and responses on my new blog!
Wednesday, June 3, 2009
Baby Myspace
It might be something like this:Name: L
Age: 10 months... going on 10 months
Status: Single
Looking for: Playdates
School: Not Yet
Job: Learning about Life
Likes: Earth's Best Vegetable Dinner, my Mom's homemade carrots, drops of sweet tea, Pinky Poo, Ariel, Franklin, getting my way, chewing on Mom's keys, baths, crawling army-style, drinking out of a straw, brushing my teeth, taking things out (of anything), books, and blanket.
Dislikes: Nose picking, lotion, cold bottles, going to sleep, sippy cups, being alone, eye drops, teething, when stuff gets taken from me, people eating in front of me, being bored.
* What would your baby's page look like? Leave it in the comments section!
Thursday, April 23, 2009
Adventures in Cloth-DiaperLand
Check out my guest post for The Shopping Mama:
http://www.theshoppingmama.com/2009/04/guest-post-shopping-for-cloth-diapers.html
http://www.theshoppingmama.com/2009/04/guest-post-shopping-for-cloth-diapers.html
Monday, April 6, 2009
Make your own cloth diapers!
Lil Green Baby is excited to introduce our first guest-blogger, Jennifer Monroe! Jennifer is a doula, childbirth educator, and professional cloth diaperer. (That's not really a title, but she deserves it after cd'ing her own babes!) Here she shares her tips on her favorite cloth diapers, the ones you can make yourself!
Hi, and welcome to another exciting episode of “I can get addicted to anything, including cloth diapering!” That’s right, ladies (I’d say “and gents,” but we all know I’d mostly be kidding) – cloth diapering can be fun, especially for the crafty or the cheap. I happen to be both, so it’s double the pleasure for me. I have a huge stash of cloth diapers, including everything from old-fashioned pre-folds and thrifty tee shirt diapers to fancy pants all in ones (also known as AIO’s). But I’ll tell you a secret: I made a lot of them myself!
Lil Green Mama asked me to pop over and talk about making and using cloth, and I’m happy to oblige. I’ve got skills from using cloth dipes for two of my three children, and herein I will lead you into diapering your tot for almost nothing, or point you in the right direction if you want it to require getting a second mortgage on your home.
The real reason I cloth diaper is simple. No, it’s not an environmental issue, although it does eliminate all that landfill over-filling and the leaching of, um, stuff into our groundwater. And it’s not even really a cost issue, although it does save money. In fact, it can save the average family quite a bit of money. If you use a very conservative five diapers a day (believe me, you will use WAY more than this) then you will likely use around 1800 per year. That’s probably going to mean 3600-4500 diapers used before that tot can use the pot. Even if you took the low end and bought the cheapest diapers possible, that’s like $400-$500 worth of diapers. You can have all the bells and whistles you want in cloth for that much dough, you can use them again for the next kid, and you can even resell them on diaperswappers.com! Talk about a bargain.
But alas, the real reason I use cloth is this: I don’t have to remember to buy anything. In this house, we routinely run out of napkins, paper towels, and toilet paper. You know – all the disposable things. It’s not too hard to come up with alternatives for those things, but diapers? Forget it. This way, we cover our tushies, if you know what I mean.
Let’s get into some simple ways to make a cloth diaper, and then we’ll talk about some of the extras that can be fun.
The basics are this: absorbency, a fastener, and a wetness barrier. That’s all you need. You can use a pre-fold, which is what most people associate with the term cloth diaper. To fasten it you can use pins or a Snappi (http://www.snappibaby.com/products/snappidiaperfastener.html), which is a nifty plastic thing with teeth that grip the fabric to hold it in place. But something much cheaper, and sometimes even fun, is a tee shirt tie diaper. It goes a little something like this:
Go down to your local thrift store, and rifle around in their dollar tee shirt bin until you find something so incredibly cool you just have to have it. Like, say, a tie-dye with the phrase “Herban Legend” on it. Not that I have one like that. I’m just saying. Then you take it home and perform some easy magic with the scissors, and you’ve got yourself a diaper! I have posted a tutorial on my website (http://barelyknittogether.com/make-and-do-tutorials-and-ideas-and-maybe-some-free-patterns/how-to-make-a-tee-shirt-tie-diaper/), but if you have trouble with the instructions, join the Wool Soaker Group on Yahoo, and there’s a great tutorial in the files, along with other help with making your own cloth diapers and using wool as a diaper cover.
Another pattern I have found invaluable and incredibly flexible is the Rita’s Rump Pocket pattern (http://handmadebyrita.blogspot.com/2007/10/classic-rrp-ritas-rump-pocket-pattern.html). She has it posted for free and puts no restrictions on how you use it, but does ask that credit be given to her. Her pattern is intended to be a pocket diaper, but I have cut it slightly smaller, sewn the edges using a three-step zigzag, and made contour diapers instead. These diapers can be made from almost anything: tee shirts, flannel, or any 100% cotton fabric you have lying around. You can sew a soaker pad of three to four layers the same way and attach it right down the middle, or at one end, so the diaper will dry faster. If used as a pocket diaper, she gives excellent instructions for sewing the elastic. You could also add elastic at the front if desired for a more snug fit. To stuff it, simply use a pre-fold, a microfiber or hemp insert, or a bamboo insert. Bamboo straddles the fence as a sustainable, eco-friendly fiber. While the tree grows quite quickly and abundantly and is easy to replace, making fabric from it is an involved process that uses some chemicals that are not easy on the environment. But the fabric is more absorbent than cotton (I have heard varying reports on this, from 50% more to four times more), is very soft, and it keeps a really wonderful drape wash after wash, unlike cotton terry that grows stiff over time.
Let’s get into some simple ways to make a cloth diaper, and then we’ll talk about some of the extras that can be fun.
The basics are this: absorbency, a fastener, and a wetness barrier. That’s all you need. You can use a pre-fold, which is what most people associate with the term cloth diaper. To fasten it you can use pins or a Snappi (http://www.snappibaby.com/products/snappidiaperfastener.html), which is a nifty plastic thing with teeth that grip the fabric to hold it in place. But something much cheaper, and sometimes even fun, is a tee shirt tie diaper. It goes a little something like this:
Go down to your local thrift store, and rifle around in their dollar tee shirt bin until you find something so incredibly cool you just have to have it. Like, say, a tie-dye with the phrase “Herban Legend” on it. Not that I have one like that. I’m just saying. Then you take it home and perform some easy magic with the scissors, and you’ve got yourself a diaper! I have posted a tutorial on my website (http://barelyknittogether.com/make-and-do-tutorials-and-ideas-and-maybe-some-free-patterns/how-to-make-a-tee-shirt-tie-diaper/), but if you have trouble with the instructions, join the Wool Soaker Group on Yahoo, and there’s a great tutorial in the files, along with other help with making your own cloth diapers and using wool as a diaper cover.
Another pattern I have found invaluable and incredibly flexible is the Rita’s Rump Pocket pattern (http://handmadebyrita.blogspot.com/2007/10/classic-rrp-ritas-rump-pocket-pattern.html). She has it posted for free and puts no restrictions on how you use it, but does ask that credit be given to her. Her pattern is intended to be a pocket diaper, but I have cut it slightly smaller, sewn the edges using a three-step zigzag, and made contour diapers instead. These diapers can be made from almost anything: tee shirts, flannel, or any 100% cotton fabric you have lying around. You can sew a soaker pad of three to four layers the same way and attach it right down the middle, or at one end, so the diaper will dry faster. If used as a pocket diaper, she gives excellent instructions for sewing the elastic. You could also add elastic at the front if desired for a more snug fit. To stuff it, simply use a pre-fold, a microfiber or hemp insert, or a bamboo insert. Bamboo straddles the fence as a sustainable, eco-friendly fiber. While the tree grows quite quickly and abundantly and is easy to replace, making fabric from it is an involved process that uses some chemicals that are not easy on the environment. But the fabric is more absorbent than cotton (I have heard varying reports on this, from 50% more to four times more), is very soft, and it keeps a really wonderful drape wash after wash, unlike cotton terry that grows stiff over time.
As far as options go, some mamas prefer having a “stay-dry” barrier between baby and the absorbent layers. This can be ultrasuede, microfleece, velvet – anything made of polyester, which does not hold moisture. The urine passes through it and into the diaper beneath. Fasteners can be hook and loop tape (like the brand name Velcro), snaps, or even bathing suit hooks. If you don’t want to worry about using a cover, you can make or buy all in ones that have a waterproof barrier, like polyurethane laminate (PUL for short). Or you can just buy adorable covers like wool or fleece, or do what I do and make them yourself from recycled sweaters!
This is barely scratching the surface of cloth diapering, so you can see the possibilities are nearly endless. Use your imagination, and try to stick with cast off clothing as a resource and you’ll be putting a double whammy on your carbon footprint.
Thursday, February 26, 2009
Throw a green baby shower!
The next time you throw a baby shower, make it green!
1. Invitations- Go paperless! Sites like evites offer thousands of adorable templates or you can design you own. Another idea is to use recycled invitations or plantable paper invitations. You could even get a pretty pack of pea seeds with the details of the party written on it. It's really cute to use a "little seed", "pea in a pod", or "something's growing" theme.
2. Give green gifts - Limit plastic toys. Buy organic baby clothing for the mom-to-be. If you make a diaper cake, use chlorine-free diapers. Who knows, your green gift may just be the nudge she needs.
3. Use reusable giftwrap - Wrap your gift in a colorful reusable tote bag, baby blanket, or cloth diaper. Cloth diapers can be used for diapering, burp cloths, cleaning pads, etc., and you can never have too many!
4. Decorations- Decorate with fresh locally grown flowers and baby items that will be given to the new Mom when the shower is over. String twine along a wall and clothespin organic cotton onesies. Place bottles and bowls on the table with candy in them. Place votive candles in clean baby food jars.
5. Games- Buy containers of stage 1 organic baby food and remove the labels. Make sure to number the jars and list the fruit or vegetable on a sheet of paper. Pass around the jars and let guests guess what is in the jar. Whoever gets the most correct wins! And Mom-to-be gets to take home the jars to use with her little bundle.
6. Use real silverware, glasses, china, and cloth napkins. Come on, what are you saving it for anyway?
1. Invitations- Go paperless! Sites like evites offer thousands of adorable templates or you can design you own. Another idea is to use recycled invitations or plantable paper invitations. You could even get a pretty pack of pea seeds with the details of the party written on it. It's really cute to use a "little seed", "pea in a pod", or "something's growing" theme.
2. Give green gifts - Limit plastic toys. Buy organic baby clothing for the mom-to-be. If you make a diaper cake, use chlorine-free diapers. Who knows, your green gift may just be the nudge she needs.
3. Use reusable giftwrap - Wrap your gift in a colorful reusable tote bag, baby blanket, or cloth diaper. Cloth diapers can be used for diapering, burp cloths, cleaning pads, etc., and you can never have too many!
4. Decorations- Decorate with fresh locally grown flowers and baby items that will be given to the new Mom when the shower is over. String twine along a wall and clothespin organic cotton onesies. Place bottles and bowls on the table with candy in them. Place votive candles in clean baby food jars.
5. Games- Buy containers of stage 1 organic baby food and remove the labels. Make sure to number the jars and list the fruit or vegetable on a sheet of paper. Pass around the jars and let guests guess what is in the jar. Whoever gets the most correct wins! And Mom-to-be gets to take home the jars to use with her little bundle.
6. Use real silverware, glasses, china, and cloth napkins. Come on, what are you saving it for anyway?
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