Cloth Diapers: Proud to be American
Written on July 21, 2010 at 10:37 am, by Kathleen
Ironically, I am NOT Made in the USA
We have been getting lots of questions lately regarding which of our brands are Made in the USA. Almost all of them are with a few big exceptions. The very popular Mother-ease, Aristocrat and Bummis diapers and covers are all made way up north in Canada. Imse Vimse (fun fact: Imse Vimse means “Itty Bitty” in Swedish) is a Swedish brand and Snappis, like the amazing World Cup we all just witnessed, come from South Africa.
Here is a list of some of our absolute favorite diapers, covers and accessories proudly Made in the USA.
But I am!
Drybees
Stacinator
The Tyranny of Disposable pads and tampons (Giveaway)
Written on July 11, 2010 at 3:32 pm, by Kathleen
Fussybutt Pads in Berry Colors
Happy 4th of July week! The 4th of July is always the best weekend of they year in Minnesota. It is our reward for putting up with the never-ending, freezing, snowy winters. Glorious weather, cool refreshing lakes sparkling in the sunshine, fireworks lighting up the sky….small town celebrations (sand castle building contests, popsicle socials, bike parades behind the firetruck) at their finest.
I was all set to write my blog post themed on the4th of July. Just as our Founding Father’s freed us from the tyranny of England’s rule I want to free my fellow soccer/baseball/chess club moms and dads from the Tyranny of the Snack. If you have young children involved in any activities, you know about the Tyranny of the Snack. A parenting phenomenon no one tells you about until after you are mired in it (Teletubbies, anyone?), is the snack. It is everywhere and it just won’t go away. Apparantly, Somewhere Very Important, someone Very Important came up with this ridiculous rule that whenever two or more children are gathered together for any type of activity, said activity must conclude with a snack. Is there anything more unnecessary in our obesity-ridden culture than feeding a 6 year old a Ho-Ho at 8:30 at night after a soccer game? Followed by a HFCS, artificial-color laden drink? I HATE it and fight it and rail against and am always defeated by the other parents who say “All the other teams will be doing snack so we must as well.” If their child said “All the other kids are playing with matches, so I must as well” would they do it? And yet, I succumb. I hate myself for it and wonder what happend to the idealistic young adult I once was who protested apartheid and marched on Washington. THAT lady would fight this in ways more direct than a diaper blog and not back down but the mom I have become lets it slide and then hates herself later for doing it. Anyone who has let their child watch Sponge Bob knows the feeling…..
That is what I WAS going to rant and ramble about, until the great ladies of the Cloth Diaper Retailer Cooperative whom I admire so very much, decided that this summer should be the season of Giveaways. Somehow, armed with that knowledge, I was able to tear myself off my soapbox and switch topics to….reusable menstrual products! Yes, a far cry from the Ding Dongs and Cheetos (why doesn’t anyone but me bring apples and bananas?) on which I was going to pen my screed.
So, reusable menstrual products. Free yourself from the Tyranny of the plastic tampon! Yippee! Fun, fun, fun. They don’t have quite the adorable and just too precious for words quality of their cloth diaper counterparts but they are just as important! If you make the decision to use cloth on your child (for environmental, financial or whatever other reason) why not use cloth for yourself? All the nasty chemicals and dangers found in sposies are present in tampons as well. The names have become all too familiar….Bleach. Dioxin. Toxic Shock Syndrome. Plastic. Why put them next to your skin or even inside your body? While disposable tampon applicators and pads are smaller, they fill landfills just the same as diapers and take the same time to decompose. In fact, the average child only uses diapers for 2.5 years. The average woman uses tampons and/or pads for 35-40 years….approximately 500 periods. At 5 tampons or pads a day for 5 days that is 12,500 chemical infused pieces of cotton and plastic next to our bodies and deposited in our landfills. Nasty.
We sell a lot of reusable menstrual products at Cottontail Baby and even more at our sister site, Mamaclothonline. We sell pads, cups, sponges and all the accoutrements that make them easy and fun to use (the Black Calaveras pad bag from Leslie’s Boutique is one of my absolute MUST HAVES).
One of our favorites is the Fussybutt pad. Only someone as supremely cool, ironic and fun as Christy could come up with the name Fussybutt and her personality comes across in her pads. Christy hand dyes, crafts and sews each one of these pads and they are both extremely absorbent and absolutely beautiful. The pads, which come in five sizes (thong, liner, regular, long and Xlarge) are all organic bamboo fleece or organic bamboo velour with an organic wool jersey backing and organic cotton fleece soaker. Not the ugly chemical laden boring white disposable pads you find at Target. These come in gorgeous colors liketurquoise with a lime backing or raspberry with purple backing. Stunning. Who knew something with such a high Ick Factor could be so attractive? Kinda makes you WANT to have your period (I said “kinda”). Plus, besides being beautiful, they are so comfortable and soft and just…dare I say it?…fun to wear.
As part of Giveaway Summer, we will give one Fussybutt pad and one Leslie’s Wet Bag pad bag (winner can choose the size and color of pad and print of wet bag…approximately $40 value). The Giveaway ends on July 24, 2010 so enter early and enter often. There are several ways to enter:
- Follow the Cloth Diaper Retailer Cooperative blog
- Join the Cottontail Baby mailing list
- Fan Cottontail Baby or Mamaclothonline on Facebook
- Leave a comment on this post indicating you did all that
- Double entry for those who link to the Cottontail Baby or Mamaclothonline web site in their comment
Cloth Diapers: A Threat to Women’s Independence?
Written on June 8, 2010 at 1:08 pm, by Kathleen
Am I the Tie That Binds?
I was all set to site down and write a blog post about swim diapers. After the “Poo in the Pool” fiasco of Memorial Day during which our local pool was closed for an hour, in 90 plus degree weather, due to an unfortunate disposable swim diaper that did not work, I was fired up and ready to write. Just buy a reusuable swim diaper. Imse Vimse are good. They work. They don’t inconvenience your neighbors. They are cheaper in the long run and better for the environment. Plus, they are cute! I had it all planned out. Then, I sat down and read the Sunday NYT Styles section…..
In the Sunday NYT section, tucked away behind an article on the gorgeous, classy Iman, the Gore’s marriage implosion, and the tall lady from Glee marrying a woman from my alma mater, was an article about a French Intellectual (their term, not mine) who opines that some of the tools of motherhood that I espouse, cloth diapers, breastfeeding, natural childbirth, are just chains that are keeping women from achieving their full potential. Elisabeth Badinter, as she outlines in Conflict: The Woman and the Mother (Le Conflit: la femme et la mere) believes that the advances of modern times, disposable diapers, the plastic (now BPA-free glass) bottle and epidurals which were designed to help free women and keep them independent and liberated are being discarded in favor of greener, more eco-friendly, and she would say, harder choices. Choices that are rolling back years of feminist advances in favor of a lifestyle that chains women to motherhood.
So, as you can see, not what I wanted to read on a happy, peaceful, Sunday morning. Mommy Wars a la Francais. Unlike the US based Mommy Wars which seem to focus mostly on the Working Mom vs. Stay at Home Mom dynamic, this was all about the movement toward a greener, cleaner lifestyle. She classifies the heightened eco-awareness amongst many of today’s moms (and dads!) as just a passing fad and one, that left unchecked, is going to derail decades of advances for women.
After I got over my initial anger and frustration at what I believe to be this woman’s limited point of view, I guess I understood a bit of what she was saying. Yes, women are making different choices than perhaps their mothers would have made. I can see how the women who blazed the trail for working women (moms or not) would be upset or frustrated that so many who follow are choosing different paths and perhaps not fully appreciating their struggles and sacrifices. But, isn’t this okay? Isnt the beauty of where we are in society that it is okay that we have a choice? Bottles might allow women to return to work sooner but breastfeeding is cheaper and easier for many (not all, as my own experience would attest). Cloth diapers are better for the environment and our pocket books. So many live their lives in a medicated state, isn’t it okay and rather cool that some (once again, not all, as my crash C-section would attest) choose to experience a major life event drug free and clear? Why are these things bad?
I do agree somewhat with one point she makes. That we, as a society, have idealized what the “perfect” mom does (cloth, breastfeed for 12 months or more, natural childbirth) and those who opt to not do these things or, even worse, try and cannot succeed in doing these things are left feeling like a failure. As if they did not check off all the “Good Mommy” boxes and are not as dedicated as the moms who do. So, what do you think? Are women who choose cloth and breastfeeding and natural childbirth rolling back decades of feminist advances? By making these choices are we reducing our freedom and limiting our professional options? Are the women who choose to not incorporate these elements into their parenting portfolio “Imperfect?” Or, in the end, is the “Perfect” mom one who loves her child and does the best she can in her own individual way taking into account her own, individual circumstances?
Disposable Diapers and Landfills
Written on February 24, 2010 at 1:52 pm, by Kathleen
Kissaluvs Marvel in Mocha
Just read an interesting statistic from the Clean Air Council. In America, 570 disposable diapers are thrown away every second. That is 49 million a day. As a country, we pay $350 million annually just to pay for them to be disposed and they will still be essentially intact, in the landfill, polluting ground water 300 years from now. I am not writing this to be depressing, although it undoubtedly is. I am writing this to be encouraging. So, on these cold, snowy days during a winter which has already seemed unnecessarily harsh and long, I know the last thing I want to do is another load of laundry and drying of my diapers. It would be so easy to bundle up and head to Target and get a box of sposies and just be done with it. However, as small as my contribution might be, in the end, it does matter. So, stay strong and keep cloth diapering. It really IS important.
BPA Toxins and their effects on Newborns
Written on February 12, 2010 at 11:20 am, by Kathleen
No BPA or toxins in me!
Interesting article article from the Environmental Working Group about BPA toxins and newborns. A recent study detected an astounding 287 toxic chemicals in newborn cord blood including mercury, fire retardants, pesticides and Teflon chemicals. Of these chemicals, 180 are known to cause cancer, 217 are toxic to brain and nervous systems and 208 cause birth defects or abnormal developments in animal tests. Experts believe rising rates of birth defects, asthma, neuro-developmental disorders and other serious diseases in U.S. children are resulting from these early chemical exposures.
BPA is one of the world’s highest production-volume chemicals and is widely used in the production of:
- Plastic water bottles
- Plastic gallon milk bottles
- Plastic microwavable plates, overware and utensils
- Tooth sealants
- Canned foods and soda cans
- Baby toys, bottles, pacifiers and sippy cups
So, what can you do? Mercola suggests the following:
- Buy and eat organic
- Eat wild-caught and not farm-raised fish
- Eat whole foods and not processed foods
- Use glass rather than plastic food storage containers
- Have your tap water tested and install a water filter if necessary
- Use natural cleaning products
- Use natural toiletry products. Northern Essence is one of our favorites for our kids.
- Avoid using artificial air fresheners, dryer sheets, fabric softeners
- Replace Teflon with ceramic or glass cookware
- Search out and use toxin-free alternatives in all aspects of your home and life (cloth diapers, reusable menstrual products, non-toxic paints and floor coverings.)
- Replace your vinyl shower curtain
Good luck making as many of these changes as possible. Every little bit helps in keeping you and your family healthy.
Bummis Super Whisper Wrap
Written on February 11, 2010 at 1:41 pm, by Kathleen
Bummi Whisper Wrap Froggy Print
We used Bummis Super Whisper Wrap for our daughter with prefolds. We really loved this cover. We had no leaks at all with the whisper wrap and always felt as if they provided superior coverage. The Whisper Wrap was always the cover I would reach for first in my stash. They were very durable and didn’t seem to suffer despite multiple launderings.
In addition to the high quality of the Whisper wrap, I really loved the colors. The frog print was my favorite but I also really loved the Flower print and Star Baby. One of the best parts of cloth diapering over disposables is all the great prints and colors available.
One little known fact of the Whisper Wrap is that it can be used, in a pinch, as a swim diaper. When our normal swim diaper was not clean, we were able to use the Whisper wrap (without a diaper underneath) as a substitute. We just used a size smaller than normal and had no problems.
I really feel as if the Whisper Wrap is the unsung hero of the cloth diapering world.
What Detergent for my Cloth Diapers?
Written on January 28, 2010 at 12:05 pm, by Kathleen
Wash me!
What detergent for my cloth diapers? I get asked that question ALL the time. And I don’t answer. I feel bad for wiffing on this one but the only answer I have is “It depends…..” There are so many variables (type of washer, hard water? soft water?, wash routine? skin sensitivity?) that there is no one size fits all algorithm. I wish there was. Then I would stock only that detergent and sell it far and wide and make lots of money. Sadly, just doesn’t work that way.
Having said that, I wanted to share this article I read in the Wall Street Journal. Who knew the Journal would prove helpful to us CDing parents? The title of the article is “The Great American Soap Overdose” and the gist is that we use too much of the stuff. That we are ruining our clothes and our machines through detergent overkill. We are operating under the typical American assumption of ”If a little of something is good, then a lot of it is better.” The problem is, with detergent, Super Sizing just causes problems.
Compounding an already bad situation, the detergents are becoming concentrated meaning we need even less than before. Additionally, the preponderance of HE washers using less water means we need even less than that. All of this combines to create a situation in which clothes look tired, machines start to smell and, important for us CDing parents, diapers lose absorbency and need to be stripped even more frequently than before.
Too much detergent causes too many suds which lifts all the dirt that has been washed out of the diapers up to the top of the machine (like high tide), above the water level, so it isn’t washed away. This leaves residue on the diapers which cause them to lose absorbency and softness and fades them. How many rinses do you do now to make sure there are no suds left in the machine and than your diapers are truly rinsed? Use less detergent and should be able to cut that down considerably. Not only making your wash routine easier but saving water for the planet and money for your pocketbook.
So, what can be done? First and foremost, use less. Much less. Pay attention to those little lines on the cap of your liquid detergent or the scoop on the dry. The manufacturers don’t make them easy to see as the more you use, the more they can sell. They are not in the business to make this easy for you. So, do it yourself.
The most interesting point of the article was that, really, unless the diapers or clothes are super soiled, you really don’t need to use detergent at all. That the agitation provided by the machine is sufficient to loosen dirt in almost every situation. Not sure if I am ready to go that far in my wash routine, but I am going to try. Detergent is expensive and with three little boys into mud and phenomenally messy eaters, I am ALWAYS doing laundry. ALWAYS.
Great Pocket Diapers
Written on January 26, 2010 at 11:56 am, by Kathleen
A pretty pocket diaper
Pocket diapers seem to be all the rage these days. Pocket Cloth Diapers are cloth diapers that have a waterproof outer with a soft inner that wicks moisture away from babies skin. There is a “pocket” opening where you place a pocket insert or something absorbent. Pocket diapers will not function without an insert or some kind of pocket stuffer. Some people have found that prefold diapers make wonderful pocket inserts. They are economical and superbly absorbent. They may increase bulk, though, so this depends on your personal tastes.
There are many choices in pocket cloth diapers. Among our favorites are the following:
bumGenius in Grasshopper
The bumGenius 3.0 is the work horse of the pocket diaper category. The best selling bum Genius 3.0s have a waterproof exterior, a soft, non-piling inner, natural gussets which contain even the gnarliest messes and stretch to fit tabs just like the disposables have. They come in wonderful colors and are great all-around diapers.
Fire Engine Red Fuzzi Bunz
Fuzzi Bunz makes a terrific pocket diaper. It has a super absobent insert, a soft fleece layer, adjustable snaps, stretchy leg elastic and a soft waterproof exterior. The Fuzzi Bunz comes in multiple sizes as well as one size allowing you to find the perfect option for your child. In addition Fuzzi Bunz are offered in a vast array of colors from gorgeous pastels to vibrant bold hues.
Rocky Mountain Diaper in Berry and Lime
Rocky Mountain Diapers are wonderful pocket diapers proudly made in the USA. Rocky Mountain Diapers innovation is an internal adjustment system that allows for a trim fit tailored to each child’s body type. This system is similar to that of children’s waist bands in their jeans. There is soft suede on the inside next to baby’s skin and fade resistant PUL on the outside to keep them waterproof. The sizing adjustments allow parents to use the same diaper from newborn to potty learning.
Happy Heiny's in Cow Print
Happy Heinys Pocket Diapers use only custom milled fleece. There are no leg casings which allow for better fitting diapers and contain messes better without leaving red marks. The Diapers are available in a variety or solid colors and fun prints. These diapers have been tested for 12 hours or more at night with absolutely no wicking for most babies.
Duo Diaper in Mango
A recent entry into the Pocket Diaper category is the Duo Diaper from Thirsties. This diaper copies the technology of Thirsties best selling Duo Wrap diaper cover. This diaper’s fit technology is such that two sizes should take the average family from newborn to potty learning. Like its competitors, the Duo Diaper combines a waterproof outer with a soft and absorbent inner. These diapers have a microfiber terry and hemp combo insert amounting to 7 layers in all. Like other Thirsties products, these diapers come in simply spectacular colors and are made in the USA.
These are all wonderful diapers that are welcome additions to any cloth diapering parent’s stash. All can be purchased at Cottontail Baby an online natural parenting store run by a committed to organics and all things natural WAHM.
I am so over snacks….
Written on January 21, 2010 at 3:25 pm, by Kathleen
Snacks!
Another non-diaper post. I know, what am I doing? However, I read this in yesterday’s New York Times and it so perfectly encapsulated all my thoughts on the subject, I just had to share. Snacks. I am so over snacks. If you have kids in any type of organized activity, you know what I am saying. Snacks have become more important than the activity itself. Who has not brought their eager child to the first Little League practice of the year. When the coach greets you, does he say, “We are working on catching and throwing the ball today?” Does he (or she) say “What a beautiful day for some exercise?” NO!!! The first thing you are greeted with is the snack sign up sheet. Gotta have snacks.
I have two five year olds who play soccer in the evening. Their games do not end until 7:45 (their bed time is 7:30 by the way). However, even in this situation, it is assumed that the kids need a snack and a sugary drink. Just what any parent of a tired, sleepy child wants….sugar and sugar.
I once suggested to the other parents of childrenon one of my son’s soccer team’s that, if we had to do snacks, we focus only on fresh fruit or cut up vegetables. I got absolutely not one taker. No, rather than cut up oranges or ice cold grapes or carrot sticks, they would prefer to serve their kids (and mine) ho-hos, popcicles and mini-Oreos.
Of course, I could say no and not let my kids eat the junk. I actually did when the snack, at 7:45 at night was a KING SIZED Hershey bar. However, generally I don’t say no. When it is my turn, I do make sure I bring healthy, organic food but I still let my kids drink the Yoohoo and eat the Fruit by the Foot brought by the other parents. I guess, as much as this drives me insane, it isn’t a hill I want to die on.
What do you think? Have snacks just gotten completely out of control?
Favorite books for baby
Written on January 19, 2010 at 2:32 pm, by Kathleen
Hug
While it might seem that our expertise is focused exclusively on the tail end of a baby, we care about the brain too! We do talk about subjects other than diapers, wipes and Snappis. We often get asked by new moms about our favorite children’s books for toddlers. While we are absolutely NOT experts in kiddie lit, we have kids and we know what they (and we) loved. So, in no particular order, here our our Top 10 Toddler Books
1. Hug
2. Goodnight Gorilla
3. You are My I Love You
4. Dear Zoo
5. Chuga Chuga Choo Choo
6. Panda Bear, Panda Bear, What do you See?
7. Wild about Books
8. The Going to Bed Book
9. Hand, Hand, Fingers, Thumb
10. Is Your Mama a Llama?
So, that is our list. What is yours?