Congrats to the soaker winner-stocking announcement

Congrats to Rebecca C. who was the winner of the custom Monkey Bunns soaker!  She has 48 hours to respond to the email I sent or I will pick another winner.  If you didn't win but want to get an awesome Monkey Bunns soaker I'm having a big stocking on Wednesday.  I normally only do customs but have some super cute things stocking.  I'm also participating in the Great Cloth Diaper Hunt AND another awesome WAHM item giveaway.  Check both of those out :)

Real Cloth Diaper Week Day 5: Night time diapering

This post is part of the Real Diaper Week Blog Hop.

Today I'm going to give some tips on night time diapering.  This seems to cause big issues for newbies to cloth.  I feel very confident in our night solution after trying just about everything at night.

Everyone has their different answer at night.  Some really like pocket diapers for the wicking ability to help baby sleep longer by not feeling wet.  Some really like prefolds or flats day and night.  Many others seem to go the fitted and wool route.  Some others wake baby during the night to change them-but honestly I've always thought that was a bit silly because I REALLY like my sleep :).  I've tried everything at night and different things have worked for each kid.

We started cloth diapering Monkey when he was 2.5 months and I pretty much jumped right in.  He was ALWAYS a super soaker and would even soak through a disposable at night.  I started out by just using pockets with both the one size insert and a doubler.  Eventually that didn't work anymore so I started using 2 full inserts.  Eventually I tried a hemp insert with a microfiber one.  Occasionally I'd use a fitted but I didn't really like them on him all that much-honestly I don't know why!  I started using wool on him when he was about 6 months old (upcycled from old sweaters that I'd find).  I would sometimes put him in a prefold or fitted with wool over but the pattern I originally used didn't really fit over fitteds well.  When his urine issues started we switched exclusively to prefolds and wool and didn't look back.  At night I'd lay a hemp insert in his prefold before putting it on.  I eventually had to switch to toddler prefolds not really for size as much as for the extra absorbency.  I would always lay a microfleece liner on top to help wick the moisture away.  We eventually switched to Gerber style undies (thick panel in the center) with a Monkey Bunns overnight wool soaker over top and sometimes we'd even double the undies up so that he'd feel like he was in underwear but not cause a huge puddle in the bed (have I mentioned Monkey is a SUPER deep sleeper?).

Kangaroo was in mostly fitteds when we started cloth diapering him as a newborn.  I made his stash of fitteds except for the few Kissaluvs I had.  I made them to have a microfleece layer against him so they'd work as night diapers too.  I would change him every time he woke up.  I normally would put a PUL cover over top because I ran out of time before he was born to make him some overnight covers which REALLY make a big difference if you have a heavy wetter due to oversupply and overactive letdown.  When he grew out of his newborn diapers I decided to switch to fitteds at night.  We only had a few one size fitteds and a Kissaluvs 1 from when Monkey was a newborn.  We stretched the 0s as far as we possibly could.  Eventually I heard about Pooters contours.  As of writing this they are out of stock again but they are well worth the wait especially for the price!  They are only 2 layers of fabric so you will want to add something else inside (a flat, a hemp insert, a hemp preflat, whatever floats your boat) and may want to lay a microfleece liner over top.  They are SO soft though and very easy to Snappi, pin, or Boigo. I also was a tester for Fancy Cloth Baby (awesome WAHM!) and her one size fitted diapers.  I did a trade with her a couple months ago to get another one size fitted I love them so much!  When Kangaroo was a few months old he started to fit in the medium wool covers I made for Monkey so we started to use those while I started making a couple overnights.  Now he has several he can wear overnight now that he's in a size Large (I made him 3 upcycled for overnight, bought a Baby Beehinds used, and made him a linen stitch soaker and an overnight one-all are AWESOME for night, nap, and under jeans in a carseat).  We do wool day and night most of the time now.

Some tips for Night-time diapering

• Whatever you use during the day you will need more absorbency at night.  You'll want to add an extra insert regardless of what you try.  If you do prefolds or flats consider trying hemp instead or a hemp insert on top of or try laying a flat inside of the prefold or flat.
• Don't be afraid to try wool!  Night wool is fairly inexpensive-especially for only a few covers.  It's really easy to wash-it pretty much involves soaking it for a bit and gently wringing out and laying out to dry.  You could even try wool over a pocket diaper if you want to be super sure it won't leak.
• Night diapers are usually bulky.  It is what it is.  To get the best absorbency you're likely going to end up bulky.  I've found using stretchy PJs or going up a size in some footie PJs is best.  OR you could always just get a couple pairs of wool longies and pair with a t-shirt at night.  One other option is a wool sleep sack or wool gown (Monkey Bunns offers wool night gowns for babies with a bottom that closes).
• Every baby is different and every phase is different.  What works now might not work later or what doesn't work now doesn't mean it won't work later.
• Consider adding a microfleece or suedecloth liner to the diaper.  These can be really easy to make at home if you don't want to buy any.  You can even cut up a thin dollar store fleece blanket to make rectangular liners.  When your baby feels dry it helps them sleep longer.  Not all babies have issues with this though-it totally depends on your baby.  I have noticed that poop is easier to remove on these types of liners though so that's a plus.
• You don't HAVE to wake your baby up to change them.  Experiment with different options.  It is a good idea if baby is already awake to change them so always plan on 1-2 spares if you don't want to use disposables.  When you have a sick baby you aren't going to want to run to the store at 2 AM to hurry and get another diaper they can wear at night and you probably won't want to start a load of laundry either.
• You may want to be sure to have an extra couple for naps too.  Night diapers work very well during nap time if your little one takes a regular nap.

Sweet dreams little one!

Don't forget to enter my giveaway for a custom Monkey Bunns wool soaker!

*The Amazon links link through my referral program.  I receive a small portion of the sales.  The money helps us to buy homeschooling books for Monkey and Kangaroo.  Thanks in advance for your support!  I will also note that I am the owner of Monkey Bunns so I do talk about my products sometimes.  I also talk about other products I like because in developing my product I have tried many other things too.*

Day 4 Real Diaper Week-Health Benefits for REAL babies

This post is part of the Real Diaper Week Blog Hop.

I've mentioned before that Monkey has a weird medical condition that his urine literally burns his skin.  Well that's not the only issue he's had when it comes to diapering.  As a newborn disposable diapers and wipes hurt his bum.  He eventually developed an allergy to disposables.  Kangaroo was allergic to all baby wipes from birth-the plan was to get through meconium in disposables.  Fortunately he got through meconium quick and we were able to use cloth intermittently until the disposables were gone from the hospital (using cloth wipes all the time).

Back to Monkey-I noticed by the time he was a year he was totally sensitive and allergic to disposables-whenever he wore one he'd get big bumps all over his bum.  By the time he was about 15 months he developed his weird medical condition.  I knew all along it was something in his urine (my husband who is a chemist agreed and knew when he smelled his urine something was up).  The ER doctor (had to take him to get his bladder emptied with a catheter) said he just had yeast and a staph infection.  3 different doctors at the Pediatrician's office recommended various elimination diets and to see an allergist.  They also recommended switching to disposables because "cloth holds urine next to their skin" though one said that disposables do too and recommended just keeping with potty training.  The allergist was boggled by the condition.  Eventually he ended up going to a urologist because (TMI ALERT!) he would scab over and couldn't urinate.  Right before we went we had to try yet another catheter-granted this time was about a year later.  The urologist gave him a steroid cream to try and take down the swelling on the outside to see if that would help.  It didn't.  Monkey ended up having a scope to see what was going on after a kidney ultrasound (THAT was fun pregnant, super sick, and trying to wrangle a not-quite-2 1/2-year-old while they did that).  He also had a meatomy (TMI again-basically they made the opening larger) and was re-circumcised because in the urologist's words the job they did when he was a newborn looked like they didn't really do anything at all and that extra skin they didn't remove was swelling up and pinching his urethra off.  This helped a lot but didn't take care of the root of the problem.  He then saw a genetic specialist and she was also stumped but said she knew it was genetic and likely his baby brother would have issues and highly recommended making sure he was circumcised and even said we should keep him in cloth because it seemed to be a lot more breathable and kept the problems down a lot more than in disposables.

So after MUCH experimentation during all of this we found that prefolds (didn't know about flats back then) and wool were our best and most breathable options when he wasn't wearing underwear.  I started making wool because of this-learned to knit even.  After trying MANY diaper rash creams and detergents (which it wasn't a detergent issue but he is allergic to many of them) we found that Northern Essence Diaper Rash Salve and Better "Butt"er cream are the very best creams plus they don't cause any cloth diaper issues (no build up on pockets, no stains).

Cloth diapers are the REAL solution to help my REAL babies when they have mega sensitivity issues.  If you have a sensitive baby I recommend trying at least a few diapers and giving them a few weeks.  The very best would be to jump in full time to give baby a break from the disposables (see my last post on how to do this on a tight budget).  I know that many families see a big difference-I know it was a huge difference with both of my boys!

***In your comments I WILL NOT accept any debate on our decision or other's decisions to circumcise.  This is NOT a post that is open to this kind of debate.  We made our decision together and for our second son it was especially based off of Monkey's issues.***


Don't forget to enter my giveaway for a custom Monkey Bunns wool soaker!

Real Diaper Week Day 3: Cloth Diapering on a Budget

This post is part of the Real Diaper Week Blog Hop.

Do you remember the Flat's Challenge?  If not I will remind you about it a little.  It was a challenge (last year) that Kim from Dirty Diaper Laundry challenged people to because of this article.  Basically families that were feeling the pinch would dump out disposable diapers or even rinse them out and reuse them over and over.  This is NOT healthy for any baby.  It's not healthy to NOT change baby's diapers and disposable diapers are meant to be thrown away.




I felt inspired so I joined.  I wanted to join to show to myself and others that it is possible to cloth diaper inexpensive and easily even if you don't have access to a washer.  As long as you have clean water and even detergent from the store in a pinch you're good to go.  Here's my first post about joining.  This is about why we cloth diaper and our newborn stash.  We still have basically the same set up but pretty much use flats and prefolds exclusively (with wool and sometimes PUL).  If you're looking for organization ideas I think you'll find that post to be very helpful.  It's very easy to keep diapering simple if you have a great way to organize them on the changing table.

This post is wonderfully written by Cotton Babies.  It links to several different ways to cloth diaper when you have nothing or very little.  Here's how I addressed the issue last year.  This is a collection of my pre-flats challenge posts.  This is from another blogger-everything she used for the challenge came from Walmart.   

Here's the nitty-gritty though.  This is a link back to the original post written last year. 

We've been in a situation in our VERY recent past (during my pregnancy with Baby K) that we wouldn't have been able to buy diapers period.  No cloth, no nothing.  We could barely buy groceries.  Ok, let's be honest-we had to have help to even buy groceries.  We made "too much" to qualify for any assistance but had too much going out in medical bills and everything else to be able to afford anything really.  I sat home other than my appointments with my midwife.  Monkey and I went to the library every so often but we couldn't go on any playdates or see other people.  It got to the point we could only drive to church and to see family once in a while.  It was rough and super embarrassing.  I cried a lot.  I didn't feel like doing much including blogging.  I still made sure Monkey was reading books often but that's about all we did!  We had already canceled everything we possibly could that we weren't under contract for (stupid satellite-we couldn't afford to break the contract though!).  Our A/C broke and we couldn't afford to have anyone look at it.  We sat here burning up in the heat and trying to save money by keeping stuff off.  It sucked.  I was SUPER grateful we used cloth diapers because Monkey needed something to keep him dry at bed and nap (he's been day trained since 18 months).  I'm not saying this to get sympathy or anything-it is what it is.  We learned a lot and I learned how to help us eat super cheap and we learned to be grateful for VERY small blessings.  I didn't think at all to wash laundry by hand though or anything like that.

The flats challenge opened up my mind to washing something by hand besides wool diaper covers or some of those things you have to hand wash.  Hubby lived in Brazil for 2 years (while serving his LDS mission) and had to wash his laundry by hand.  He was fortunate to have a clothesline-I don't have that "luxury" nor am I allowed to with my HOA.  I did find out about this: $5 indoor clothes line and we plan to make one once we move.  I do have a small drying rack but it's just enough to hang dry the kids clothes (we have a high heat only drier so I hang dry most of my clothes and the boys' clothes-I have one little shelf in my laundry room plus this drying rack and use our towel rack in our bathroom and our banisters for diapers, clothes, etc).  I also found out about this: Breathable Washer (I also learned about this but didn't think it will suit our needs of washing laundry for our whole family while hubby is in graduate school).  Learning about these from links from Dirty Diaper Laundry and other ladies doing the challenge I decided that I *CAN* do our laundry by hand if I need to.  We won't be able to afford laundry facilities and we possibly won't be able to get an apartment or rent a home with washer and drier hookups.  I wasn't even open to this a few weeks ago.  I guess I can sit here and say I'm open to doing it with the luxury of a working washer and drier but I do feel like I can do it if that's what I need to do.

I'm super grateful that Kim started this.  Yet another small blessing.  Also, we were able to get some stuff paid off and got some SUPER good news when it came to insurance so I decided with the little extra we have to help a couple other mamas out by buying their flats for the challenge.  I offered to pay the mama back that bought ours (I'm still VERY grateful for her help-I didn't think we were going to be able to do it but we got really good news and were able to pay for things that we didn't think we could!) but she said to buy them for another mom instead.  I put out the offer and had two respond fairly quickly.  I wish I could have helped a third but I can't.  I hope the two mamas I'm helping will be able to use the diapers for a long time to come.  I know we'll be able to use them on Baby K's tushie and any other babies that we will welcome while hubby is in grad school or after.

 It sucks to not have and not be able to get diapers.  It is possible to use towels and even cut and do minimal sewing to make your own diapers if you're in a pinch.  Hopefully someone has found this post informative.  It's very possible to cloth diaper when you don't have much money.  There's also cloth diapering banks that serve poor families and help them to keep babies in cloth or help them to free up money to purchase their own diapers.  Kim from Dirty Diaper Laundry did an excellent post recently on diaper banks and included info on several.  Diaperswappers is a great place to find inexpensive or sometimes even free for shipping diapers.  Many mamas would love to help a family in need too!


Don't forget to enter my giveaway for a custom Monkey Bunns wool soaker!

EDIT:

This morning the Second Flat's challenge was revealed.  While I do not plan on participating due to my baby's medical issues (my diapers didn't get clean enough) and my out of control asthma (I know there's no way I could handle the washing right now) I highly recommend participating.  Here's more info.

Real Diaper Week Day 2: Elimination Communication-ish?

This post is part of the Real Diaper Week Blog Hop.

Using cloth diapers eliminates A TON of waste that goes into the landfill.  If you also use cloth wipes you reduce your impact even more.  Another way to really reduce your impact is to do Elimination Communication-or diaper-free baby.  This CERTAINLY isn't for everyone and it isn't for us for the first little while however we introduced the potty really early to Monkey.  We followed the Diaper Free Before 3 method (see link below). 

  

This is Monkey ripping in to his first birthday cake in underwear.   He was mostly trained by his first birthday because we introduced the potty at about 10.5 months when he started following me to the bathroom.  He quickly picked it up and started holding it until the regular times I would put him on the potty.  He was mostly trained by a year and then had a little bit of a regression at 15 months when he started having his urine issues.  He was fully trained by 18 months-during the day.  He still bedwets at night sometimes but we figure that's likely genetic and he is a SUPER DEEP sleeper.

Kangaroo is a different story. 

This is his first time on the potty.  He has never actually GONE on the potty.  Ok I take that back-I caught half of a poop on the potty.  We've just been so sick all winter I haven't gone with it but probably will this summer.

What do I recommend when early potty training?

• Patience!
• Undies or nakey bum-putting kiddos in waterproof trainers doesn't help you know when they go and doesn't help them feel the trickle down their leg.  Not much different than a diaper.  If you aren't comfortable with them running around naked then a regular pair of undies or if they're a super heavy wetter the Gerber or Carter's style undies that have a thick panel in the center are great.
• STAY HOME for at least a few days.
• Watch the clock-the first day or two take them every 10-15 minutes and help them sit there for a few minutes.  If they go great.  If not say "Let me know if you need to go and I'll help you."  Remind them to say "Potty" or sign potty.

 If they don't get it at first just keep sitting them on the potty before and after meals, before and after a bath, etc.  All kids get it on their own time but I really believe in the benefits of introducing the potty early! 







This is an Amazon affiliate link.  Clicking this link and purchasing through this link helps us to buy homeschooling books for our boys.  Thanks in advance!



Don't forget to enter my giveaway for a custom Monkey Bunns wool soaker! 

Real Diaper Week and the Great Cloth Diaper Hunt (GCDH)

It's that time again for hunters to register for the GCDH (Great Cloth Diaper Hunt) for May.  Monkey Bunns (my business) is one of many sponsors-it's my 4th time being a sponsor.  This week I'm going to be busily working on finishing Kangaroo's second pair of spring/summer convertible pants (here's a picture of his first pair) so I can get a few fun things stocked for the hunt.  I normally don't stock because I like to knit custom measurements, colors, etc so you get exactly what you want but I think the things I'm working on now are going to be super fun :).

Never heard of the GCDH before?  It's been on a hiatus for the last year and a half.  It's under new management now but should have the same awesome hunt goodness.  It's like a scavenger hunt on different websites for the infamous "owl diaper" that you click on.  Each day you hunt you're eligible to win a prize, each diaper you get gets you closer to winning a Grand prize, 1st place, 2nd place, and so on.  It's free to hunt so why not?  Be careful though-it's addicting!  Here's where you can sign up and don't forget to tell them that I sent you (Monkey Bunns).  The extra cool thing-it's not ALL cloth diapers so even if you're expecting or your kiddo is out of diapers it's still fun to play!  For that reason Monkey Bunns donated an extra cool-non-cloth-diapering prize. 

Many sponsors also offer a special discount code-the same code is good for all the sponsors that offer it.  Monkey Bunns is offering the code again-10% off anything!  If you want a cute spring or summer romper for your baby, or a diaper cover, or convertible shorties/longies, or a dress for your baby girl, or a skirtie, or a crayon roll, or a hat, or an outfit to bring your baby home from the hospital, or in-stock leggins (or even knit ones), or anything else your heart desires you can get 10% off the total :).

Just a quick reminder about my giveaway going on right now for an awesome custom wool soaker-knit to your measurements or my approximate size-measurements.  In winner's choice of overnight or normal and winner's choice of colors.  Can't get much better than that!  If you can't wait to win you can purchase one (custom) here.  I could even do an awesome linen stitch one for you if you'd like-they're awesome under pants and overnight.

Happy Birthday Monkey and Giveaway!

Yesterday was Monkey's 4th birthday!

In celebration of his birthday I am giving away 1 Monkey Bunns soaker in the winners choice of size and color (from what I can get locally-I will be happy to work this out with the winner).  It can be a regular day soaker or an overnight soaker-winner's choice!  If you can't wait to win you can purchase one through my custom listing on my website here.  Don't forget to "Spot" an item on Hyena Cart :).  Enter to win in the Rafflecopter below!  Be sure to fill out all fields including your @ name on Twitter (I'm @monkeybunns so in the box I'd put @monkeybunns) so that I can verify.  Also be sure when you Tweet to copy the actual URL of the Tweet so I can verify-any entries missing this will be deleted.

Rockin Green REMIX Review

This was supposed to post long ago.  UGH!

Rockin Green released a Remix of their former formula early fall.  I had the opportunity to sample and test it.  Here's the awesome package they sent!

I immediately used it!  They released a new scent just before-Earth, Wind, and Orchid.  I was able to try it out in the new formula and I was amazed.

I have super hard water in Utah-as in I normally strip every month with Calgon.  You can see more about my routine in a previous post and on Rockin Green's blog :).  Anyways I added 2 Tbs in the wash after doing a cold rinse-it's better if you remove the diapers first but I found with Remix you don't necessarily have to-it dissolves even better in the water than the previous formula.

 

I ended up stripping the load of diapers to get off old detergent.  After using it for a month (I wash about once a week) I noticed I didn't need to strip off the stink!  The Remix helps me go longer between strippings which saves me time and money!

You can find Rockin Green here or also at your favorite diaper retailer.  We use it and love it on ALL of our laundry. 

Rockin Green provided me with samples free of charge to write an honest review of the product.

The opinions in this post are my honest opinions, not that of Rockin Green.

Wordless Wednesday a day late-First time hand dyeing!!! Plus a surprise

And Monday's surprise...

Shameless Promotion :)

Shameless promotion of my business!  You've been warned :)!

I've just posted my first listing for YYMN (Your Yarn My Needles) anything-goes customs.  This is good for absolutely anything.  Here's some pictures of my work.  It's obviously not everything I've done but some of my customs and things for my kiddos.  I'm currently working on an Ian Polo romper I'm naming "Hello Robot!" in 3-6 month that I'll be stocking this month and just got done dyeing my first batch of wool to do a tester Onesie pattern and another romper for Baby K in a 6-9 month size.  I'm currently trying to gather funds to dye more yarn to make a Hootie Who for Baby K for winter :).  I'm also trying to help fund our move!  Feel free to share my info with your friends or if you are thinking about something for your kid(s) or a baby shower I'd love to help with cloth diaper mamas or disposable diaper mamas.  I can make all my patterns to accommodate either and have lots of fun things I can make for all babies and kiddos!  Just wanted to share :)

Sunday-last day of the challenge/Final words

Sunday was the final day. Baby K was in flats as usual all day. No leaks. He went to bed in his last flat for the challenge. Monkey did too. I decided to wash Monday evening for the last time. I spent the whole weekend working on the house and Sunday and Monday I was exhausted. Monday I also dyed yarn to do a tester pattern for a knit onesie (more details to come!). So I did the bucket soak for a bit, pulled out the poopy diaper and plunged it in the rinse water for a minute, dumped them all in to the tub for a hot wash (but I started the water, put the Rockin Green in, and then let them soak for me to feed Baby K). I did the wash but about threw up because of the smell. I'm not going to lie. At that point I took the diapers, squeezed the water out, tossed them in the bucket, then went and threw them in the washer. Even if I would have let them fully dry they would have had to be rewashed and I couldn't sleep with the open bathroom with that awful smell.  I seriously have no idea why we battled such stink!  I used the breathable washer and know it pulled the yuck out but for some reason they just reeked!!!  My washer-cleaned flats smell great though-they have no smell.

So my final thoughts.  Obviously if I was in the situation that I had to handwash I would and I'd figure out a way to make them not stink.  Maybe that would involve Tea Tree Oil or a different detergent for handwashing?  All I know is they smelled awful and the poor baby's bum smelled awful even after he was done with flats because of it!  I would invest in a breathable washer but NOT wash in the bucket unless I were to wash 1-2x per day.  With owning my own business and trying to get the house ready to sell it's not really possible for me to do that-not to mention that hand washing is exhausting.  I would obviously build up muscles doing it after a week or two so it wouldn't be so exhausting but with a baby waking up a couple times a night I'm just pooped so any extra work is very very tiring.

I love love flats!  I wish I owned more fun colors of flats!  If I get extra Paypal someday I'd be seriously tempted by the Swaddlebees ones!  I will keep using my flats after they're fluffy and dry from the drier (but will continue to hang dry after this-I just figured going through my high-heat-only drier once would help kill any bacteria lingering around still).

I was planning to do flats on our trip.  As messy as it is to wash I think it's kind of rude to do since we're staying in someone's home.  So we'll do disposables and cloth diaper covers and I'll wash the covers in the sink.  When we're moving we'll have to see where we're at but I'll probably have to handwash diapers for about a week between getting everything clean to pack up, staying in a hotel for two nights, and who knows when we'll get our washer and drier after we move if they aren't included.  So no flats for the trip to find somewhere to live in July but yes flats (and probably some pockets with hemp preflats trifolded in them) when we're moving.

My thoughts for the poor-I think that they should do cloth diapers.  I think homeless shelters should allow mothers (and fathers) to wash diapers in washers and driers for free.  There is NO reason why ANY baby should sit in any diaper (cloth or disposable) for hours on end.  I personally don't like the idea of dumping tons of money in to disposables for homeless.  Cloth is possible.  Again, I know I can say this sitting with a home but I do know what it's like to not be able to afford diapers.  I also want to do what I can to advocate for those in need to use cloth diapers!  Hopefully I can find something I can do to help when we move because I'd like to be a cloth advocate for those in need and since we'll be one of those super poor families while my hubby is in grad school maybe I'll find a connection through a food bank or something.

Here's the linkup for the final thoughts!  Hopefully most of the people had a better experience than I did!

Day 5 and Day 6 together in one post

Friday was Day 5 and Saturday was Day 6.  Friday brought a blowout and washing covers it also brought a MAJOR issue with Monkey.  He decided to poop in his undies during nap time and it wasn't ummm completely solid!  So hubby cleaned his bum up.  I took the undies and yelled- "DON'T USE THE DIAPER SPRAYER!!!"  Fortunately he just dumped what he could.  I filled up the bucket in the bath tub and put his undies and pants and wipes in to soak.  They soaked for a couple hours.  I took the breathable washer out and plunged for a couple minutes.  I dumped the yucky water out and then put them in warm with 1/2 Tbs Rockin Green and added Baby K's covers and the pail liner and a wetbag.  I plunged for about 10 minutes and got ALL the mess out.  I rinsed once and we were set!

Day 6 was uneventful.  A couple small poops from Baby K and that was it!

Because the rules were clarified I decided I'd just finish off the challenge by doing my final wash on Monday.  I'm EXHAUSTED from trying to get our house ready to sell!  Oh and Baby K is spending his first night in his crib tonight!!!  I also have my button up on the side-figuring out how to show the html code for it so you can steal it for your blog.

Watch for my final notes on Monday.  I have a lot to say on it-let's just say my view on what I'm doing on our trip has changed and I had some major major stink issues and almost threw in the towel...  Wait for the post Monday!

Flats Challenge Day 4-A leak, A wash

A quick link back to the rules.

Day 4 started with a leak. Not much else happened until it was time to wash at night. I gave Monkey a bath early so I could watch So You Think You Can Dance (I'm so lame :) ) and just get him to bed at some point which ended up being right after it got over. Baby K's teeth are bugging him so he didn't nurse much. He kept pulling off and when I'd rub his gums he would be happy.

I tried using the breathable washer and won't go back to washing completely by hand.  I let the diapers soak in a bucket for a couple hours in cold and tried to pull a little water through them.  I then took them all out and rinsed the bucket.  I ran hot water in the tub and added 1 Tbs Rockin Green and scrubbed the poopy diaper against itself.  I then plunged the mobile washer for about 10 minutes.  I squeezed the water out of the diapers and put them in the bucket to the side of the tub.  I drained the tub and rinsed it out well.  Then I ran cold water and put them in.  Plunged for 5 minutes.  Took them out, squeezed them while draining the tub.  Ran cold water again and plunged for 5 minutes.  I took them out and squeezed really well to hang them.

I'll wash covers today.

Day 3 Review, comments about drying

A quick link back to the rules.

Day 3-Wednesday was fairly uneventful.  I washed on Day 2 and busted a bunch of nails (see yesterday's post) but it took well over 12 hours for ANY of our flats to dry.  I posted pictures on Day 1 so make sure to look at those-I hang 3-4 on hangers barely overlapping on my shower rod.  Obviously that doesn't work.  I don't have anywhere else inside I can hang them to spread them out more or that they won't touch the floor.  I tried doing my normal banister hang but they touch the floor and take the same amount of time to dry.  I can't hang outside.  SO now in the search for where we're going to live an outdoor line and being allowed to do a $5 indoor line are musts.  I'm fine with setting our own outdoor line up but we need to be allowed to do one instead of being in an apartment or HOA that doesn't allow hanging anything (GRR!).

No leaks on Day 3.  However I forgot to mention on Day 2 for some reason I scratched one of my fingers up with a snappi and bled and did it AGAIN today.  I'm a Snappi pro-Monkey was in prefolds and wool exclusively for over a year.  Baby K has been using prefolds since the beginning (along with fitteds in newborn stage and pockets when he started in one sized diapers BUT he has gone days upon days at a time with only prefolds).  I did 2 weeks before the challenge that we did mostly flats so I could get used to them and get "kinks" worked out because we're trying to get our house ready to sell so taking time out for leaks wasn't really an option.  Don't know how it happened but it HURT.  It was right next to my nail.

I did wash covers on Day 3 though.  It only took about 5 minutes.  I put the covers in the bucket, added cold water to rinse and scrubbed with my fingers in the spots that were messy.  I put warm in with 1 tsp Rockin Green and agitated for a minute.  Took them out and squeezed them out.  Then I did two rinses in warm and agitated each time to get all the soap out.  I squeezed well but one is still drying.  I did that around 1 PM yesterday. Granted my basement where the drying rack is (in my room) is about 60-65 degrees.  I also did a couple pockets (that we used Sunday afternoon) and those aren't dry yet.

I have to say though I get nervous when I only see 1 cover sitting in my pile-as a newborn Baby K would go through upwards of 7 covers a day when he was wearing prefolds and a few when he would seep out of fitteds (on the leg part).  5 covers scares me.  There's a reason why I have a lot more than that normally (besides only wanting to wash once a week).

Day 4 so far has brought a leak in our overnight fold-did origami and will be going back to my new fold I invented because it's been working great-the accordion fold.  Tried accordion on Monkey overnight but it was hard to get it snappied-it really works best on an infant.  He stayed dry though (YAY!).

Day 4 will also bring another wash. 

Here's a picture of each of the boys yesterday.  Baby K wore his new Ian Polo romper (not as a cover-he wore a PUL cover underneath and wore the Ian Polo as an outfit :) ).  I am a licensed knitter of the pattern and love custom orders (wink wink!) (email me through my site if you want a custom-I don't have them "officially" listed yet because I'm working on an instock one right now but can ALWAYS do customs :) )

Wordless Wednesday:A cute homemade flat

Flats Challenge Day 2-first wash day, Monkey's doctor's appointment, BUSY day!

A quick link back to the rules.

So yesterday I felt like Cinderella with all the scrubbing and today I'm getting it from the diapers.  As I write they're soaking in HOT and I'm waiting for Baby K to be done nursing so he can go to bed and I can finish washing.  I've decided my off wash days I will be scrubbing the house so we can get the pictures done and get the listing finished.

Today was pretty good-neither kid has leaked and both are happy!  Monkey's 3 year checkup was today.  He weighed in at 31.5 lbs and 38 inches.  He had to get a few shots but didn't even cry.  HOWEVER he got up at 6:30 AGAIN (he normally sleeps from 8 or 9 PM to 8 or 9 AM) after not going to sleep until around 11:30 PM.  He was in bed-just didn't go to sleep.  After the doctor (I recruited my mom to  help since Baby K ALWAYS wants to nurse when the doctor comes in the room) we went to the health department to finally get Baby K's birth certificate.  Then we went to get lunch at Quizno's.  Monkey had a BIG accident there-I don't remember him ever having one like that out and about.  He had to ride home in 50 degree weather in undies, socks, and shoes (I had a clean pair of undies but nothing else and even took blankets out so we could move boxes in the trunk of my car).  We got home and he was asleep and he went down for a nap in undies but at some point got dressed in the clothes I got out for him.

Baby K napped in doubled up flats.  We used both Origami with a Twist and Accordion.  He also pooped twice today (better that 5!) and today was the first wash day.  Here's my routine:

-Rinsed out bucket-filled with cold water in the tub.  Added all diapers except the PUL ones from the day before the challenge and covers and wetbags (will wash those separate).  Agitated with my hands a little bit.  Let sit while I gave Monkey a bath and while Baby K ate-about an hour?  I put the bucket by my sink and then moved back to tub for step 2.
-Pulled each diaper out and squeezed.  Rubbed messy parts against each other (wipes included) in the yucky water.  Put each one in the tub in a pile.  Dumped out bucket and rinsed and rinsed the tub a bit so everything would go down the drain.

-Filled the bucket halfway with HOT and added 1 Tbs of Rockin Green Hard Rock (Lavender Mint) and mixed it until it dissolved.  Added diapers and agitated with each addition, especially the messies.  Now they're soaking.  Baby K just finished eating so I'll go finish and finish this post :)

-After soaking I agitated the heck out of those things.  Then I drained what I could out of my bucket.  I squeezed the water out of each.  I checked each one and the ones that had a filmy mess on them I ran under warm water and rubbed the parts of those diapers/wipes against themselves.

-I started warm water (so my hands wouldn't bleed in cold) and then agitated again for about 5 minutes.  I made sure to knead all the diapers well.

-Took them all out to squeeze again.

-Ran warm water again-agitated for about 2 minutes.

-Squeezed each again

-Hung to dry.


So what are my thoughts?  Well I busted a bunch of nails.  I just filed them so they weren't very long to begin with.  I will NEVER do that in a bucket again!  Next time I'll fill the tub with just enough to cover the diapers I think.  The time after that will be the mobile washer.  I plan to wash again on Thursday and again Saturday and then Monday after the challenge is over.

Oh and I noticed that it was VERY hard to squeeze water out of prefolds-don't try!



Now for some Accordion fold tips...
-Do the last fold as pictured but when you bring the front up around the baby make sure to flare the front while leaving the center folded in well.
-Pull the first wing to meet the front then pull the wing on the outside around-snappi on that second wing.  this is probably a better fold for infants than toddlers.

Picture Tutorial for 2 different folds-origami with a twist and accordion and first day report

So we just completed our first day.  We had 5-6 diaper changes with Baby K (I'm tired so I can't count LOL) and doubled up once for nap because he likes to go up to 4 or maybe 5 hours between changes while he sleeps.  We did origami fold all day and used 2 covers.  The diaper after his bath though I invented a new fold which I will call accordion fold-stay tuned in this picture heavy post for a tutorial.  I put him to bed in the accordion fold but trifolded a hemp preflat and laid it on top and then put a microfleece liner on top all of that.  The pictures of the diaper ON him have this so it's not as bulky normally as it looks in the pictures but it does add extra layers in the front where a boy especially needs it!  Baby K did not poop AT ALL so tomorrow should be interesting-I'm betting on at least 3 poopy diapers-all of which will use a cover (and tomorrow is a BUSY out and about day-Monkey's 3 year doctor's appointment, getting Baby K's birth certificate, store...).  Wish me luck!!!  I'll also be doing my first handwash day tomorrow.  I'm still trying to get our house ready to sell-it was supposed to get listed today so I did 5 loads of laundry, put a bunch away, did dishes twice, scrubbed the kitchen floor for 45 minutes after a good sweeping, cleaned the sinks and mirrors of one of the bathrooms...etc.  It was a BUSY day and I'm exhausted-especially since Baby K just BARELY went to bed at 11:35.  Good thing I resized most of the pictures during nap time!!!  Oh and Monkey is also in a flat for bed with a hemp preflat trifolded and a microfleece liner

Now for the origami with a twist tutorial!

This fold is great because it puts a lot of layers along the whole middle.  In our osocozy unbleached diapers I can use this fold on Baby K and Monkey. 

Baby K and K Bear are all ready to show you how we do our Origami with a Twist :)

Start out as usual-diaper in 4ths (as long as it's about 27"x27")

Make sure the 1 fold is on the left side and the two folded flaps are at the top and the 4 loose flaps are at the bottom and pick up the top layer of the diaper)

Open it up and make a triangle

Fold it smooth.  If your diaper is completely square it will all line up-mine aren't quite square but it's not a huge deal

Flip the WHOLE thing over

This is how it looks with the whole thing flipped

Take the left side and fold the two parts over once

Fold it smooth

Fold it over again

And a third time (you can just do twice but there won't be as many layers)

Now get your baby ready-put it so the point of the whole triangle is towards baby's front

Making sure that the back is lined up high enough in the back, bring the front up and around the baby

At this point you can fold the front over like this to make the rise shorter if you need to

OR before laying the baby on the diaper you can fold the back down like this to help hold breastfed poop in

Fold it smooth

With the rise folded down in front, back, or both fit the diaper around the thigh like this and fold it up.

Another view of the wing folded up around the thigh

Now twist the wing

Bring it around and hold it in the front

Repeat with the other side.  Cross the extra wing in front and bring the wing ends down

Snappi one side

Snappi the other side

Bring the snappi down over the cross to secure it in place.  Alternatively you can pin through all the layers in the center

On the baby-notice how it is really skinny in the hip and there are lots of layers in the hip so the Snappi doesn't scratch him

Another view-he's so stinkin cute :).  By the way-he's wearing an Inspired By Finn teething necklace-I highly recommend them!

Last step-add the cover!  With this fold there is VERY minimal tucking but make sure NO part of the diaper is hanging out of the cover-if it is it will leak.  Make sure the cover fits well around the back, belly, and thighs and secure.

This fold is really trim-even under a onesie.  It's not much bigger than a disposable diaper!

All dressed up in overalls!

Monkey wanted to take pictures with Baby K

And now for the new fold I invented today.  I'm sure it's been done before but I've never seen it.  It's similar to a prefold type fold so prefold mamas might really like it.  It's really easy.  I call it accordion fold because you fold back and forth a bit.  This fold would be great for boys.  I think you really need a Snappi for it though-I'll show you why at the end.

Start out with your diaper folded the hot dog way-long and skinny (just fold once)

Now bring one side in towards the middle-you can adjust it later where it needs to go to get the maximum amount of layers in the middle

Fold the edge of that fold back like you did in grade school with a piece of paper when you folded paper accordions

Repeat with other side-bring flap in towards the center

Now fold it back out

At this point you can fold up the rise and put on baby if you want but it will be a bit wide OR...

Fold those edges inside more to make it skinnier and to hold in the breastfed poop

I then put it on Baby K.

Closer picture-note that this is bulkier than normal because he also has a trifolded hemp preflat AND a microfleece liner to stay dry

Here's the issue I mentioned about the Snappi-when you put it on there's an extra little wing you need to secure and I'm not sure that pins will catch it.

Another view of it

It's not perfected yet but I wanted to share.  This was the second time doing this fold.  If you do this fold feel free to comment with your link!  Hopefully this will help some mamas that are having leaking issues with there not being enough layers for boys!