Eco Chic Baby

The other day I was searching around for an eco-minded baby shop in my area and stumbled across THIS little gem: Eco Chic Baby. I am always on the prowl for quality baby and kid products that are unique, eco-friendly and affordable. Why not just hit up the local Babies 'R Us you ask? I hate to break it to you if you haven't discovered this for yourself already: Babies 'R Us is more about quantity over quality. They'll carry that snazzy looking umbrella stroller that will fall apart on you 6 months later while trudging through Disneyland with a 25 lb. toddler that you now have to carry because they are tired of walking. Oh my goodness. Bet you haven't heard of too many City Mini strollers falling apart now have you? Oh and how about getting a Boba carrier for those places where strollers aren't an option like a hike by the ocean? These carriers will take baby from birth all the way through 45 lbs. or so unlike the few options at most chain baby stores which only hold babies up to 6 months. It's all about withstanding the test of time people, and that's exactly why I've found throughout my momma journey that it's really all about the off the beaten path companies like Eco Chic Baby that get me excited!

 The Eco Chic Baby store is located at 318 Main Street in downtown Vacaville and also has an awesome online store for those of us who are married to our couch lately... They also have a great variety of my favorite cloth diapers such as Bum Genius, Gro Via, Blueberry and Rockin Green laundry soap- (Bet you've never tried an all natural laundry soap that comes in scents like Smashing Watermelons have you? Well get on it! It's AMAZING stuff!)

They also carry green toys, shoes, clothes, Reese Li diaper bags and bento- style lunch boxes oh my! And get this: the store actually hosts classes such as various childbirth and pregnancy courses, newborn care and breastfeeding, prenatal and post-partum yoga, cloth diapering 101, baby wearing, baby signs, tummy time, baby-food making, and a few free groups like breastfeeding support, story time, clothing exchanges, mommy and me play date. They also show documentaries such as Vaccine Nation and The Business of Being Born and then afterwards there is a certified Midwife available for Q & A time! There's also a Maternity and Baby fashion show- (sign Aiden up!)... it just keeps on getting better! I absolutely LOVE it! If there was an organic cafe inside one could almost LIVE at this store. I will definitely be venturing out to Vacaville more often now that I know this awesome store exists! Nothing but the best for my baby!

The Great Cloth Diaper Change in Lafayette, CA!

hosted by the Nurture Center in Lafayette, CA

This morning, Aiden and I participated in an international event, the Great Cloth Diaper Change. The first goal of this event was to change perceptions about cloth diapers and raise awareness about the benefits of cloth diapers among the mainstream parenting community. The second goal was to become a part of the Guinness World Records for the most cloth diapers changed simultaneously.
At exactly 9:30am PST this morning, parents in over 400 different locations around the globe from Lafayette, CA to Hong Kong and Malaysia gathered together to change their children into clean cloth diapers in attempt to set the world record. Organizers were trying to get over 10,000 babies and parents to participate worldwide. The results are currently being calculated!
I was excited to be a part of this event not only for the goals I mentioned, but also to meet some other green parents in my local community. As a member of the estimated 5% subculture of cloth diapering parents here in the United States, it is not too often you come across parents who use cloth, let alone even know how far cloth diapers have come in the past few years. (I hadn't learned about them until right before my son was born.) It was fun to talk with other parents who use cloth, their methods of laundering the diapers and also learning of diaper services such as Tiny Tots Diaper Service who will take care of the laundry for you!
After talking with one cloth diapering mama, I was surprised to learn that more mama's in San Francisco used cloth diapers in her social circles than in her current residence in Danville. Hmmmm, being that the San Franciscans are some of the biggest trend-setters of the world, hopefully the message catches on. Being green, (in the case of cloth diapers) is better for baby's skin, the environment and your wallet.

On our way to set a world record!

9:30am PST changing cloth diapers with thousands of parents across the globe!

The Great Cloth Diaper Change

As a parent who used to buy disposable diapers for the first 2 months of my son's life, I know how quickly babies can go through them and how costly they are. Not only are they expensive, but they are also extremely rough on our environment piling up in landfills all over the globe. When I first decided to explore the option of using cloth I became excited about all the benefits, (which I wrote about here) but most of all of how much money we would be saving throughout the years our children would be in diapers!
I was also happy to discover that cloth diapers have come a long way in the last 10 years! More people should know about these super-cute, money-saving and environmentally friendly diapers! Luckily a dedicated group of cloth diapering mamas read my mind and created this Guinness World Record event where these amazing diapers will be put on display in honor of Earth Day 2011! This year my son and I, (along with thousands of other parents and babies across the world) will be celebrating Earth Day 2011 with The Great Cloth Diaper Change. The goal of this event is to set the world record for the most cloth diapers changed simultaneously. What a creative way to celebrate being green and also get the word out about how easy and beneficial cloth diapers are to use! You can visit their website through the link above or their Facebook page for information on locations or offer to host a location of your own. Don't shy away either if you don't cloth diaper yet but plan to in the future. I am bringing a friend with me who is doing just that and borrowing one of our diapers so that she can participate with her toddler. Or, maybe you're pregnant and thinking of cloth diapering your baby. Come to an event near you and check out all the great diaper options! The more babies participating the better, so every cloth diapered booty counts! I'm excited to be a part of this epic event and hopefully meet some other cloth diapering mamas in my own community, other than my blogging and long-distance Facebook friends! (So far in my small circle of friends in town I am the only one but I'm sure that soon will change...)
Join us at our local event for the East Bay area on Saturday April 23 at 9am PST. We are being hosted by the lovely Nurture Center in Lafayette, CA. Due to a high number of people interested in this event, it will be taking place at Our Savior Lutheran Church at 1035 Carol Lane, Lafayette CA 94549. 
My son and his baby doll are excited too! He is going with us and will be sporting a cute robot Rumparooz Doll Diaper at the event! Aiden hasn't decided which of his 40 diapers he will be wearing yet but it will be a theme-related one for sure! :)
There are 394 locations world wide and counting! Which location will you be attending? Leave your comment below! We are excited to put cloth diapers on the record books! Watch the short video below for more details and please let me know if you are interested in joining us at our local event here in the East Bay the more the merrier!

Nighttime Cloth Diapering for Toddlers

Somewhere around my son's 16 month birthday,  our cloth diapers began leaking at night. At this point I was only using a regular insert paired with a newborn insert in my pocket diapers and I knew this method wasn't going to last forever.
My first solution was to take a hemp pre-fold such as the Econobum prefold that I once received as my free promotional diaper from Kelly's Closet (click on the icon on my right sidebar!) and fold it in thirds paired with a one-size microterry insert then stuff it into one of my pocket diapers such as my Bum Genius 4.0 or my Happy Heiny One Size Diaper. This worked beautifully and kept my son dry all 12 hours of his nighttime slumber. The only problem was that I only owned one pre fold diaper, (because this isn't 1952 people, we use pocket diapers now) so I either needed to buy a few more just for nighttime use or shop for something similar that would do the job.
I found some Knickernappies Super Do Pre Washed Inserts and they looked like just what I needed to solve the problem. They had 6 layers of hemp terry combined with 2 layers of microfiber. They were all once piece and appeared less bulky than the pre fold I had been using. I ordered 3 to start with. The large size fit perfect into all of my one-size pocket diapers, Bum Genius, Smartipants, Happy Heiny, Fuzzi Bunz and Kissaluvs. They were a lot less bulky than double stuffing the diapers and one insert lasted 11+ hours through the night for my toddler. SCORE!!!

Knickernappies Super Do inserts will fit any of these diapers! 

I am still using them today as my 23 month old son nears his two year old birthday. He is dry and happy all through the night as long as you sing him, "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" first and his three favorite friends are smooshed around his head :)

3 Things

 1- I am now an affiliate of Kelly's Closet, the web's premier cloth diaper store! This means that on every sale I refer to Kelly's Closet I will earn 5% of it! You can just go to the right sidebar of my blog and click on the Kelly's Closet icon to make your order! Thank you for helping a mama out! :)
2- My favorite magazine now has what may become my favorite blog- All Things Mothering, check it out!!!
3- See my beautiful little niece Emma in the picture below? See what kind of diaper she has on? She's sporting the new 4.0 Bum Genius! Her 'sposie-using mama just couldn't resist ordering one for her to use, "When I want her to look cute in her diaper..." Maybe I'll have another cloth-convert to add to my running list of 7 mamas...maybe. She's already said she wants to order a few more :)

I Vacationed With Cloth Diapers and I Liked It!

While planning our annual Lake Tahoe vacation, I had a hard time at first deciding if I was going to use cloth or disposable diapers for the duration of our stay. Many cloth- diapering mamas opt for disposables because dealing with cloth on vacation can seem like a daunting task. The cabin where we were staying was not equipped with laundry facilities so if I decided to bring my cloth along there would have to be a trip to the laundry mat involved which at first I thought would be crazy! Going to the laundry mat on MY one and only VACATION!!??? You’ve got to be out of your mind, I told myself. But then I thought about how much better our cloth diapers work for our son, how they never leak, zero diaper rash, all the money we would save not buying disposables for two weeks, (which equals more vacation money for shopping and food!) the environmental impact of course-(Keep Tahoe Blue!) and well, how could we possibly let him be seen in a disposable diaper for all of our cherished vacation pictures!? The cloth is just too cute to leave at home on vacation. That would be like leaving all my cutest outfits at home and only bringing my dingy old housewife sweats on vacation. After I realized that, it was a no-brainer! I decided that our cloth diapers would indeed be vacationing with us, featured in the family pictures on our adorable child’s little bum.

Here is what I packed from our cloth diaper stash:

·      30 pre-stuffed cloth diapers

·      My Planet Wise Hanging Travel wet-bag- (for dirty diaper storage in between washings, zips shut to contain odors)

·      1 Bum Essentials travel wet-bag (smaller wet-bag for short outings, used in diaper bag)

·      1 roll of Kushies Biodegradable Flushable liners- (these little poop-catchers keep the mess out of the diaper and flush away in one easy step)

·      My Charlie’s Soap laundry powder

All of the supplies fit neatly into our large duffle bag and everything stayed organized and in its place.

When we arrived at the cabin, I set up a changing station on our bed with wipes, a waterproof changing pad, and I placed all the diapers into one dresser drawer for easy access.

A few days later it was time for a visit to the laundry mat. Pick a time to go when everyone is in “veg-out” mode so you don’t feel like you are missing out on any of the action. Luckily, this happens frequently on vacation. :) I washed my diapers, (along with both wet-bags) on their normal cold cycle, then hot cycle for disinfecting. The whole process just took an hour. And really, I was happy to do it for my son because I know that these are the softest and best diapers on the market. If you had to wear diapers all day which do you think would feel better, paper or super-soft snugglie fleece? During the washes I walked over to a nearby grass roots grocery store to buy some new and exotic teas I had never heard of, making great use out of my laundry mat trip. (Find a laundry mat that’s in a cool shopping center so you’ll have something to do other than sitting there in the mat waiting for the cycle to be complete)

 After the diapers were clean again, I bypassed the drying stage and took them back to the cabin where I hung them out to dry in the sun on a spiffy drying rack that someone had brought for beach towels. There you have it! My simple cloth diaper vacation routine! I challenge you to try it, as it turned out to be a breeze!

On this post, I will be doing my first ever blog giveaway. First you must sign up to follow my blog either through Google or Facebook, (the icons live on the right sidebar of my blog). Then, leave a comment on this post telling me if you would consider trying cloth diapering on vacation or if you think I am just plain crazy, just let me know! :) Leave your email and I will draw a random winner who will receive a One Size Econobum cloth diaper! (Brand new of course) Good Luck!!!

 I leave you with a pic of two cloth diapered cousins Mason on the left and Aiden on the right :)

"I Want to Cloth Diaper But..."

Awesome blog post about cloth diapering hang-ups :)

Hello, My Name is Laura and I Am a Clothoholic

Hello, my name is Laura. I am a clothoholic. I am in LOVE with cloth diapers. So much that I make sure to match the diaper color to Aiden's outfit for that day. But never match the dominant color, you match the lesser dominant color with the diaper if you really want to be hip, you know to offset it. Like painting an accent wall in your house. Well,  I accent his outfit with the appropriate color because that is exactly how big of an addict I am. And my baby will have the cutest bum around that's for sure!
I also faithfully suscribe to the Cloth Diaper Whisperer blog which is a wonderful tutorial for entering the world of cloth. They have fantastic giveaways every Friday where you can enter to win free diapers and stuff. They also have a contest every month where you send in a creative photo of your baby in their cloth, or "fluff" as it's called for more chances to win free diapers. Then they make these adorable videos of all the contestants with these tear-jerking mother-love baby songs in that backround and... omg then I just loose it when I see all the cute babies saving the Earth one cute, fluffy bottom at a time. (I know, this is getting really freaky but bear with me it's late and well I'm a woman.)
About once a week I visit my favorite cloth diaper store, Kelly's Closet just to see if there's any new cloth diaper or accessory that I don't already have or maybe a new diaper is out that I don't even know about. This week the "need" is a swim diaper. (Aiden's swim class starts in June!) Oh and a travel wetbag so I can finally start using cloth when we're out and about during the day. (I usually cheat when away from home doing errands and use disposables) But no more, no I'm going all the way now baby! I'm taking the plunge into true-hippie-mama-hood. Never again will I purchase another bag of toxic, chemical-laden plastic nasties disposable diapers which by the way are seriously polluting our Earth. I will be using cloth even when we go on a quick trip to Target and his diaper unexpectedly needs a 'changin! I'll just pull out my handy-dandy wet bag and dispose of the soiled diaper there and put a fresh, new cloth diaper on him. Wa-la! (A wet-bag is a waterproof, anti-bacterial, odor-proof bag which fully seals shut for storing soiled cloth diapers in until you get home) They are also great for storing wet swimsuits in and other nasty, soiled baby-messed clothing. :)
Traveling with cloth is not all that bad. As long as your host has a washer and dryer, (and you ask in advance if they are ok with you washing your diapers in their machine making sure to explain that the poopy ones get throughly washed out before going into the washing machine.) Unless it's your cloth diaper-phobic friend from college who freaks out at the thought of something once poopy going into her washer. Even though her baby poops on her clothes all the time because disposables LEAK! In this case just bring a few Kushies Flushable Liners along to use in your diapers when you anticipate a poop from your little one. These are great to use when on the go and you just flush them away in the toilet just like toilet paper. It's very do-able and very nice to know how much money you are saving by using re-usable cloth diapers, even when traveling. And now since I've saved so much money using cloth, maybe I'll join you at the mall my friend and buy myself a new dress :)

Cloth Diaper Instructional Videos

Here's a GREAT resource for learning about the different cloth diaper options!

Cloth Diaper Fix for the Heavy Wetting Toddler

Around Aiden's 10 month birthday or so my lovely cloth diapers began to leak! Which ones you ask? All of them! My Bum Genius,  Fuzzi Bunz and my Smartipants. At first I was shocked because these diapers have never leaked on me, not even with the WORST of blowouts! Then I realized that for a while now Aiden had been drinking water throughout the day in addition to breastmilk and solids. I realized that as he got older he would obviously have to pee more. So then I started doubling up each diaper with the regular micro-terry insert and combining it with the newborn diaper-doubler insert. This worked great and solved the problem. The doubled up diapers are of course a LOT bulkier than just a diaper with just one insert and I wondered how this might be too uncomfortable for Aiden in the hot summer months.
After browsing on Kelly's Closet one day during nap-time, I discovered Babykicks Hemparoo inserts and decided to give them a shot. They have SIX layers of hemp/cotton jersey that are only 1/8 of an inch thick! They are designed to be thin and highly absorbent as well. I ordered 5 just to start and after trying them loved them! They fit all my different types of cloth diapers perfectly and they sure are highly absorbent, more than even 2 layers of the traditional inserts! Here's a fun fact: Hemp holds 10 times it's weight in fluid. Which in Aiden's case I'm sure he tested that to the limit because those hemp inserts are HEAVY with pee after their soiled :) (I make sure to rinse them out too before throwing them into the diaper pail to avoid any lingering odors after they have been washed.) And one last side note-these hemp inserts arrive looking very long, maybe even too long to fit in the diapers without folding. But they shrink significantly after washing and drying so make sure to order the appropriate size.
Happy cloth diapering!

Fluff and Stuff

We interrupt this blog to bring you an exclusive first look at an adorable baby debuting his newest fluff!

It's the FuzziBunz One size diaper! They are by far the softest fluff on the market. So soft and fuzzi in fact that I'll secretly admit to contemplating trying one on myself...don't worry I resisted the urge :)

This is the 3rd Fuzzibunz diaper in our collection. We love the snaps because he cannot pull them off like the velcro. And like all my other diapers this one snaps to adjust from newborn all the way to 35 lbs. They are by far the most trim-fitting and come in so many cute colors they are hard to resist! They make my cloth diaper addiction that much more...well, addicting! :)

Why I Chose Cloth Diapers

• Seriously? The first thing that caught my attention is that they looked sooooo cute! Oh the myriad of colors, patterns, textures! I was in baby-fashion heaven when I first discovered the new cloth diapers! 
• No diaper rash! GONE! Never again! 
• Cost of disposables- around $3,000 from birth until child is potty trained! Cost of cloth-about $800 total! 
• Sodium Polyacrelate is just one of the harsh chemicals used in disposable diapers. This is a substance that was banned in 1985 for it's use in tampons for it's link to Toxic Shock Syndrome. Seriously. Google it. 
• Disposable diapers contain another chemical called dioxin which is listed by the EPA as the most toxic of all cancer-linked chemicals. 
• Have you felt the soft fleece that lines these amazing diapers?! I have and I know they feel sooooo much comfier on my baby's heiney than a paper diaper. We don't wear paper underwear so why should our babies? 
• Consider the environmental issue: Over 27 billion disposable diapers are sold and then put into landfills in the U.S. No one knows how long it takes for a disposable diaper to decompose, but it is estimated to be about 250-500 years under optimal circumstances! CRAZY! 
• Disposable diapers use twice as much water as cotton diapers, mostly in the manufacturing process.
• I've kissed blowouts goodbye! Cloth hasn't leaked on me yet in the 21 months I've used them. And just to make sure, I double the inserts for night time. 
• They allow me to be, "GREEN" and this just FEELS GOOD! :)
• Using cloth will help facilitate quicker potty training! During potty training time, children who have been in cloth will recognize when they are wet sooner than those children in disposables.
• My husband loves that he is not dragging two, huge garbage bags full of smelly diapers to the curb each week for trash pickup! 

Cloth Diapering is No Messier Than Teaching Pre-School!

So the LAST thing I thought I'd do when I had a baby was cloth diapering! Cloth diapers!!??? ARE YOU KIDDING ME? Cleaning messy baby poop off myself,  all the extra laundry and what about traveling? And who knew what they even entailed-diaper pins and rubber pants was all that I could remember of cloth diapers back in my baby days.
But then, THEN I started researching the costs of cloth vs. disposables and found that cloth diapering is waaaay cheaper. And THEN I saw how CUTE the new cloth diapers are and how easy they looked to use, (along with the wonderful world of matching diapers to outfits!) And THEN, I noticed how my friend's baby didn't have any diaper rash using cloth while my poor little guy's bum was always red and irritated. And not to mention they haven't leaked once on me! And of course there's the Earth issue. Who can forget about the EARTH!!!???? I sure can't. I've been trying to go green ever since I saw how cute Reese Witherspoon looked in US Weekly carrying her canvas bag with the green peace sign to the supermarket. So posh. Oh and the Whole Foods bag that Sheryl Crow designed-yeah I got that one too. Most of my household cleaning products are earth-friendly...ect. you get the idea. So why not give it a whirl? I knew I'd have a better conscience knowing I wasn't one of the people contributing to the estimated 27 BILLION disposable diapers being put in our landfills here in the U.S., which by the way we have no idea how LONG they take to decompose. So instead of being drowned in a black hole by millions of diapers full of baby poop, I chose cloth.
The best website I've found so far for cloth diapers of all kinds, the "creme de la creme", is called Kellys Closet. Kelly also writes an entire blog devoted to her love of cloth diapers! An entire BLOG???? When I first came across this I think I almost choked on the carrot I was chomping, "How can you devote an entire blog to cloth diapers and WHO in their right mind would read such a thing???!!!!!" Well, aaahhh-hem, I just happened to check it out and became hooked. There's good advice for caring for your diapers, weekly giveaways, stories of closet cloth diaper freaks who choose their entire baby's outfit depending on which colors of cloth diapers are available that day....it's hilarious! I never knew there could be such a love, such a cloth diaper cult in our society. Oh but it's there. For some moms they even seem to be a status symbol. Designer patterns...oh my!
So here's a quick tutorial of MY cloth diaper pickings and how I care for them. I chose the Bum Genius One Size Cloth diaper. It fits babies from 8lbs up to 35 lbs! It adjusts through snaps and secures itself with velcro. There is a pocket where you stuff the insert liner which absorbs the moisture. These awesome diapers have never leaked once and keep Aiden's little tushie completely rash free. They also keep moisture away from baby's skin and come in a wide variety of colors. Apparently they are the best because the Cloth Diaper Whisperer said so in one of her postings so now I have confirmation from the best critic!

My laundry routine is not that much more work either. I thought I'd be doing loads and loads of extra laundry each day. As if I do not have enough as it is with a new baby! But really it works out to two extra loads a week and to me that's not bad considering all the benefits that cloth bring to the changing table :)
So as I continued my research on cloth diaper care and found out a few helpful hints:
1) First, the best soap to use is Charlie's Soap. It gently and effectively removes all the yucky stuff leaving diapers soft and fresh without all the harsh chemicals and waxy buildup that most other detergents can leave. Most other detergents are not good to use on cloth diapers because they leave a waxy buildup over time which can clog the "pores" of the diaper which prevent them from absorbing moisture over time and may cause them to leak as a result.
2) Washing-First cold cycle with a half teaspoon of Charlie's Soap, then hot cycle with another half teaspoon of the soap. Line dry the diaper and put the inserts in the dryer if you wish but the best way to dry them is on the line. The sun happens to be the best disinfectant and stain remover around!
3) Get a Planet Wise diaper pail liner which is made from the same material as the diapers so it will hold all moisture in and keep odors at bay. Use this to store the dirty diapers in until they are ready to be thrown in the wash.

There you have it! My shortened cloth diaper story! More to come as questions arise :) I am now a converted cloth diaper hippie. And my baby hippie has the happiest heiney on the block! :)