Green Project for a Green Day--Cloth Wipes & Solution

I posted this last St. Patty's day and thought I'd bring it back out from the archives...enjoy!

Lula's cloth wipes have been mysteriously disappearing and the ones that are left are getting a little nasty.  So, I decided it was time to make a fresh batch!  I found some flannel in fun colors on sale and cut them into a bunch of rectangles.  I just used an old wipes container as a guide and cut my flannel so that it will fit nicely in the container.  

I used a blanket stitch to sew two pieces of flannel together so that they are fairly thick and durable. Notice I did not worry about making them perfect! Once you wash them, the edges will fray a bit and they are being used to wipe a baby's butt after all, so no need being a perfectionist on this project!

Once I was done, I had a nice new stack that fit perfectly in our cute wipes container!

And now for my  homemade wipe solution: 

Basically you just need about 1 tsp of Dr. Bronner's soap and about 2-3 drops of tea tree oil. Mix it with a few cups of water and pour over the wipes.  Tea tree oil is naturally anti-bacterial and smells great! Much better than the store bought wipe smell.  Some people prefer to put the solution in a spray bottle and spray it on a dry wipe before using.  I prefer the other method just because it's one less step! Either way works, though!

There is your green project for St. Patty's day! Enjoy!

Baby Food + Dirty Diapers = Yuck

I've been doing some of this lately...

Homemade baby food is really so simple. 

Jane is loving the sweet potatoes...

But it makes her diapers extra nasty.

Which is a problem when your baby wears cloth diapers. You can't exactly just throw the diaper away...and you can't really dump the contents in the toilet either. 

Sorry if this is getting graphic, but the consistency is a little difficult.

That is why I just broke out these:

These Imse Vimse flushable diaper liners are a lifesaver for cloth diaper wearing kiddos.

This is still a huge stack leftover from Lula. It's super affordable and they last forever!

Just put one inside the diaper...

Flush it down if its dirty, Or, if its just wet, just wash it along with your diapers. You can reuse them about 3 times before they break down.

I'm a fan of anything that makes cloth diapering even easier than it already is!

Don't forget, there is still time to enter the giveaway!

Another Reason to Use Cloth Diapers

In about 3 months, I will have two children in cloth diapers. Although it's becoming more popular,  I'm sure there are people think I am absolutely crazy.  In fact, when I was pregnant with Lula, I did not choose to share the fact that we were doing cloth diapers with many people because I didn't want to constantly defend myself.  However, even 2 years later,  it is so much more common. I probably hang out with more of a "granola" crowd than most people, but I would say a good 30% of my friends who have children use cloth diapers. That is pretty good!

If you are not familiar with cloth diapering, you are probably wondering why anyone would choose them, especially for 2 kids. I can't get into all the reasons, but here are a few:

First off, I just found this new article that proves another reason to choose cloth. 

I was going to write a few huge paragraphs about why you should consider cloth diapers, but this article and this article pretty much say it all.

The basic reasons are:
1. It saves money.
2. It's healthier for your child. 
3. It's better for the environment.
4. They are really cute!!

Now, if I was a full time working mom, I would not do cloth diapers. I also never expect anyone else to change Lula's cloth diaper. She wears a disposable when someone else watches her. She also wears one at night. So I am not here to judge anyone who uses disposables on their child . It's not morally wrong. And I don't even think about it for a second when I see a kid in a disposable diaper.  To each their own! 

Which diapers do we use you might ask?

We have the Fuzzi Bunz perfect fit diapers and love them.  They work great for us. We bought set of size smalls and a set of size mediums. Lula is in the mediums and our size smalls are all set for baby #2.  We love them because they are slim, not terribly bulky like some other cloth diapers. Lula is really skinny, so this is a must for her! Also, we love that they have snaps as opposed to velcro which might not hold up as well and also snags easily.

We will be registering for some more size small diapers for the new baby because we only have 12, and would like to have about 6 more to make life a little easier.  And, I'm so excited that Fuzzi Bunz has come out with some new colors!! Woohooo!! Here are the new ones as well as the oldies

There are tons of other great diapers out there besides Fuzzi Bunz. Just to name a few:
BumGenius
Swaddlebees
Happy Heinys
Pre-Folds  (these are like the ones I wore as a baby and are the cheapest option!)
gDiaper (a hybrid between cloth and disposable)


I also use cloth wipes which is actually easier than doing disposable wipes.  Here is a little tutorial I posted a while back for making your own!

If you are from the KC area, here are two great local reasources for cloth diapers:

Teeny Greeny  My friend, Heather owns this business and I will be registering online here for more diapers for baby #2.
Happybottomus  A great cloth diaper store in Lee's Summit. It's so important to go and see all your diaper options in person before deciding on which one works for you!