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!

All Together

Baby Kicks

Drybees

FussyButt

Happy Heinys

Happy Tushies

Kissaluvs

Leslie’s Boutique

Mommy’s Touch

Rocky Mountain

Sheepish Grins

Stacinator

Swaddlebees

Thirsties

Wahmarama

Wahmies

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?

Another Top 5 List!  I LOVE them.  This one will be all about Accessories.  There are so many options with cloth diapers and everyone has their own thoughts on what you MUST have and what you can do without. This is my list of my favorite accessories.

Northern Essence Diaper Rash Salve

Northern Essence Diaper Rash Salve

I LOVE this stuff.  So do all of my customers. I often have customers buy 5 or 6 tubes of Diaper Salve at once.  This wonderful product from one of our favorite WAHM companies, Northern Essence, is simply out of this world.  The Diaper Salves contain only all natural ingredients and no petroleum or lanolin to clog up cloth diapers.  They come in both sensitive skin as well as normal formula.  I especially love that it comes in both a twist up tube as well as a tub.  I loved tossing a small tube in my diaper bag to have for when we were on the move and kept a tub at home next to the changing table.  This is a simply wonderful product.  LOVE it!

Snappi

Where would I be without my Snappis? They are simply ingenious.  In my newborn diaper days I used a lot of prefolds.  I had skinny tiny little children and simply nothing else would work but a carefully folded (I often joke that I was an Origami Master in those days) prefold attached with a Snappi.  I tried pins at first during the super early newborn days.   However, I kept getting stuck with the pin or I couldn’t find them at 3am and I heard about Snappis and tried them and have never looked back.  They are these

Snappis

great little rubber “T” shaped fasteners with grips on each of the three ends.  The grips attach to the loose weave of a prefold or terry diaper and it is all so very, very easy.  The best part is that they come in a rainbow of colors and are so inexpensive that you can load up on each one and color coordinate with your covers.

Wool Buddies

I use a lot of wool.  I found that wool covers worked best for overnights with my kids.  We also live in Minnesota so we wear a ton of wool as well for a huge portion of the year.  Sweater, socks, scarves, mittens….Wool buddies are these terrific scented little balls of goodness that lanolize my wool.  I used to use them only for my covers but now that my kids are growing and becoming more active outdoors in the winter months, I use them on hats, sweaters and mittens as well.  All I have to do is plop one of  in a sink full of luke warm water. Once it disolves, I soak my wool items and let it lanolize! This is the easiest way to get your wool waterproof.  With three very active little boys, I need easy.

Imse Vimse Liners

I like to travel.  To the store, to the park, to the cabin, to China.  I need to get out and go!  We are bringing up our children to share our wunderlust as well.  Not wanting to stop CDing while we are off on our adventures (hey, going to Target with three toddlers IS an adventure), we often turn to Imse Vimse liners.  These flushable liners can be used between the diaper and the baby’s skin, letting moisture pass through to the diaper while preventing solids to soak into the diaper, which will take the mess out of washing your cloth diapers. Just flush away the mess, and spend more time with your baby instead of finding a laundromat at the beach. These bio-degradable flushable liners are an all natural paper product; they are unbleached and biodegradable which I love.  I have spoken to some moms who also use IV liners when they need to use diaper rash cream on their child.  Some creams can mess with the absorbency of the diaper.  With the liner, that is no longer a concern as it provides a useful barrier.

Northern Essence Foaming Wipe Solution

Foaming Wipes Solution from Northern Essence

Another Northern Essence product.  What can I say, I am hooked.  They really are THAT good.  The foaming wipes solution is an all natural, gentle solution to clean up a baby during diaper changes.  It comes in large bottles for the changing table and a smaller on the go bottle for the diaper bag.  Similar to the Diaper Salve it comes in both normal formula and Tea Tree Oil/Lavender-free for those kids with more sensitive skin.  Wonderul stuff.

So, that is my list.  What are your favorite Cloth Diaper Accessories?

Gro Baby Shell Set

I have a new favorite item…at least as far as cloth diapering goes.  I just discovered the Gro Baby Shell system.  The Gro Baby shell isn’t terribly different from other diapering systems EXCEPT for the fact that, in addition to the organic snap in soakers, Gro Baby offers a biodegradable soaker option.  Perfection.  We LOVE to travel and as much fun as searching out laundry facilities at every destination and washing PUL covers in the hotel room sink might be….it is going to be wonderful to be able to just toss (or compost when available) the used insert, snap in a new one and GO!  Perfection.  It will make travel with a cloth diapered little one much, much easier.  Can’t wait for the next trip.

Snappi Diaper Fasteners

I have been using Snappis since I started cloth diapering.  They make using prefolds a breeze!  I tried using pins, but it was tough to get through the thick prefold diaper and I kept poking myself.  Snappis latch easily onto the prefold fabric and it is almost impossible to poke yourself with them.  I tried using a prefold with out a Snappi but I always had leaks over the sides.  I know some people can do it but not me!  When I use a Snappi, everything stays tightly  contained with no messes.  I love my Snappis!

Nina in her Snappi hanging with Pluto

Northern Essence Better Butt(er) Cream

I am a huge fan of all the Northern Essence products but the Better Butt(er) Cream is a particular favorite.  This stuff rocks.  All their products are wonderful, especially the lip balm and diaper salve, but the BBC has a special place in my heart.  I was one of the lucky ones who gave birth to a kid with sensitive skin.  VERY sensitive skin.  It is what turned us toward the cloth diapering path for which I am very grateful.  This skin issue has forced us to do a great deal of research and we have learned so much.  Without my little Emily, I don’t think I would know nearly as much about being a natural family.  She started us on this journey and I thank her.

Anyway….the BBC.  IT. ROCKS.  Emily sensitive skin left her very prone to rashes.  So, we needed to find something soothing that would help her but would also be safe for cloth diapers (oil build up can make the diapers much less absorbent).  We tried a wide variety of natural creams and salves but she often complained that they made her skin “burn.”  Once we started with the BBB we never received those complaints again.  In fact, she found it so soothing and comfortable (it is triple whipped and so light and fluffy) she used to ask us to put it on!  

The BBC comes in a little pot and is odor free.  I often wish it came in a tube or something easier to apply than a pot (I don’t like things getting under my nails).  Other than that, I have no complaints.  Love the stuff.  Don’t know how we would have gotten through Em’s diapering years without it.