cloth diaper cover tip

We use the traditional tri-fold cloth inserts and started out using the diaper covers sold by the service but while those only cost $8 they are made of polyester and we decided to get the organic cotton covers lined with a waterproof natural coating. They are softer, effective and better for our baby and the environment but they cost $13 each and you need to have 6 at any given time and since they only last for about 5 lbs of growth, they need to be replaced every 8-10 weeks so as a trick to keep 6 covers without having to buy 6 of each size I keep 3 smalls and 3 mediums that way I have extras if my 3 that fit well happen to be dirty I have the mediums which are kinda big but not huge, on hand. When she fits perfectly into the mediums I will buy 3 large covers and so on. So I am saving myself from having to buy 6 of each size but I maintain the convenience of having 6 covers on hand. Next I plan to post instructions and pictures of the folding method I mentioned in the first cloth diaper post. It has prevented leaking so well that most days I am able to use the same cover all day and if one does leak from a huge blowout I rarely have to use any of the medium size and can easily function with just the 3 smalls but it is nice to know that I already have the next size waiting.

baby madi's first concert

We will be taking baby Madeline to her first concert on Saturday night. I have done a lot of research on what to do to protect her little ears and have arrived at this conclusion. It is an outdoor show so first of all we will not use our seats on the floor but will sit far away in the lawn, I have purchased the highest rated ear plugs and trimmed them down to fit her. After inserting the ear plugs I am going to put some cotton in her out ear and use a snug hat that covers the ears to keep it all in place. I don't want to tape it if I can avoid it. I will post after the show about how the experience went, wish us luck!!!!

baby wearing

Americans are one of the only culture that try to nest their infants. Humans aren't nesters, your baby is not happy being put in a car seat and packed around or in a stroller, and if they are it is just because you have conditioned them to be happy there. I wear my daughter almost all day and she is a very mellow baby. We don't force her to nap at certain times and this means that my schedule doesn't revolve around her sleeping, we run errands, visit friends, go to parks, etc and she sleeps when she is tired and wakes when she wants to and I don't feel "trapped" in my house by a napping baby. Also baby wearing means she sleeps through a lot more noise than nested babies.

vaccinations

I am really torn about this topic, been reading a lot and I really want to trust my gut and not give her any vaccinations until she is 2, which is what they do in Japan, as children's brains are developing so much in the first 2 years of life that it is considered bad to inject them with vacs that contain preservatives and trace metals. It's such a small body I can't imagine that it could possibly be safe to inject 6-7 vacs into her every 8 weeks as recommended by the CDC. Also I have learned that the main reason the CDC recommends so many shots in the first 2 years of life is because low income, uneducated american masses are more likely to take their children to the doctor in the first 2 years of life than any other time and this is how the CDC ensures that all vacs are given, they don't trust us as parents to bring our children in on time so they pump as many shots into them as they can starting on day 1. On the day of birth the Hep B vac is given because they don't trust that the mother hasn't obtained a new STD during pregnancy so they vaccinate the innocent child. I can't help but feel that our vac schedule is really just lawsuit prevention for the docs. I want to design my own schedule that I feel is right for my child and I want to be trusted to take the best care of her.

cloth diapers

So we started with the diaper service which was wonderful. We decided to plan a trip to Kentucky to visit family and this prompted me to buy some of our own cloth inserts for travel. This in turn inspired me to cancel the service and wash them myself and save our family the $80/ month the diaper service was charging. I also stopped using the tri-fold method for the inserts and learned to put them around the baby and secure them with something called a snappie, our local birth and beyond store in seattle can show you how to do this and it is worth the effort to learn. No more leaking diapers!!!! Our baby is now almost 4 months old and I am proud to say she still has not worn a disposable diaper. it's worth the effort for the rewarding responsible feeling you get knowing that you aren't contributing to the mass of diapers rotting in landfills, your baby isn't an environmental hazard!!!