Cloth on Your Babies Bum

There are a million cloth diaper systems out there. After finding out we were pregnant with Cap my search began for the right cloth system out there for our family. As I read and read and read online, I eventually came across some info about Infant Potty Training. I am so thankful I did, because it helped me decide on which diapers to go with. 

We stuck to 100% cotton. They make a lot of cloth systems that will pull away the moisture just like a pamper would. We didn't want that. When Cap wet or soiled himself, we wanted him to know it from the beginning. We didn't want him to loose the feeling of relieving himself. We wanted to go with his natural instincts, so we chose cotton. 

It also was a very simple and cost effective decision. Other diapers can cost you $20 per diaper. In the long run, even $20 a diaper is still better than a 2-3 year pamper system. Our diapers estimated to be $30/dozen so $2.50 each. Then we bought 9 covers total (2 different sizes) for about $13 each. It was a great way to do it, and all the way below I break down what we spent total on our diapering system.

We ordered everything we needed from Green Mountain Diapers which you can find online. I will tell you right now, it is an overwhelming site, but very thorough. She has experience and has tried just about it all out there. It is a great resource but don't get overloaded. After reading her suggestions and comments under the things she sales, I was able to make some decisions on what we would use. Every thing I list below can be found on her site. If you have trouble locating it, let me know and I will send a direct link. 

Cloth-eez Prefold Diapers:
We used unbleached and started with 2 dozen and went to 3 dozen shortly after. We mostly did wash every other day with the diapers. There was a time when we had 2 dozen where we did it one morning on day 1 and at night on day 2. So every day in a half kind of. That much wash is only for a season. I had a friend who waited longer sometimes 4-5 days and she just soaked them in water. Soaking is NOT necessary otherwise. We did that WAY later on because we weren't dirtying as much so we just didn't need to wash them, but they smelt so bad so soaking them in plain water helped. 

I would suggest ordering at least 2 dozen in the next size up so you have some ready when they grow out of them. You will be surprised how sometimes they just wake up and something doesn't fit!   

Thirsties Duo Snap Covers:

This in my opinion would be reason enough to use cloth diapers! The covers are so cute. Cap never wore shorts his first summer, and rarely wore pants in the winter. I made him some fleece leg warmers instead. It is WAY easier to EC when you don't have to take off pants, shorts, unbutton outfits, etc. Even on some of his onsies, we would cut the bottoms off and make into shirts. 

Anyways, getting back on track we used the Thristies Duo Snap Covers. I am not a fan of velcro. It sticks to things in the wash and your baby will easily undo velcro one day with possibly dirty diaper! 

They come in 2 sizes. Cap didn't need size 2 until he was 4 months, but he was a big baby. He moved to the medium prefolds then and we used them till the end. Never needed a size bigger since we did early potty training.  

We had 5 covers of size 1. May be 4 on the size 2. Occasionally they will get a little dirty on the elastic edge, but we would just rinse it in the sink and reuse. We only washed covers once a week. These are also nice to have a couple of the next size up on. We needed them when we hit the medium prefolds.  

Wipes:

We used the 2 sided wipes. LOVED LOVED LOVED THESE!!! We never even used a wipe until Kenya when Cap was 14 months old and holy cow what a difference. With these you don't feel like you are touching poop or like your finger is going to pop through at any moment! If you are going to wash some diapers, you might as well wash the wipes too. This will also help keep all the yucky stuff off your sweet babies bum that the wet wipes are covered in. Babies skin can be very sensitive. 

Kissaluvs Diaper Lotion Potion Spray: 

We just sprayed the bum rather than any of the other suggestions and it worked great with us. We used the spray bottles she suggest as well. You mix this stuff with witch hazel, and she said to use less potion than what the bottle calls for. We did what she says and it worked perfect. Not to mention, we only bought one bottle, and still have tons left. Of course, it helped we did most of our poo's in the potty by 7 months old.

Fasteners:

We used the snappis fasteners. Those do eventually break so good to have backups. We didn't know this:) We had some big safety pins made for cloth diapers, but we never once used them. The snappis were just so quick and easy.

The Pail Diaper Sprayer: 

A MUST have in my opinion. We used a gift card. It was our splurge but we LOVED it. They make these whole pail systems, but I don't think they are necessary. The sprayer is awesome though.  

Wet Bags:

You need several of these unless you plan on going through a lot of plastic bags, which in my opinion would kind of go against one of the main reasons of cloth diapering:) You will want a couple of big ones and several diaper bag size ones. In NC, it takes a FULL day to dry out after washing which is why you need multiple bags. Here in CO, things dry must faster, but I would still recommend 2 big ones, and 2-3 small ones. 

We used a Fuzzibunz Large bag that my sweet sister in law gave us when Cap was born. I really could have used 2 of these. Then we had a medium size and a small size of the Thirsties zip bags that we loved!! I would suggest the medium sized ones for your diaper bags. The small was too small but I had ordered it first.

Total Cost Estimate of what we spent:
1 dozen newborn prefolds              $24
3 dozen small prefolds                 $84
2 dozen medium prefolds               $64
5 dozen wipes                            $55
Lotion Potion                             $8
Spray Bottles                            $3
Diaper Sprayer                          $50 (have seen now for $35)
Large Wet Bag                          $20
Medium Wet Bag                        $15
Small Wet Bag                          $12

Total                                $335

We used gift/baby shower money for most of this. We have very sweet family and friends!!! No matter how you pay for your cloth system, you will be saving TONS of money in the long run!!!

Okay, I know this was probably overwhelming but don't let it be! We didn't do pampers until Kenya and we were so glad we didn't! We enjoyed our cloth ones MUCH MORE!!!

Let me know if you have any questions. 

Some EC Start Up Tips

I stood in line with 100s of other people (mostly women) this afternoon for the Just Between Friends Sale. We were in line for over an hour and all we bought were 3 small items. Crazy I know, but sometimes you have time not so much money:) However, I stood in the line with some great ladies. We talked away the wait. During the wait I asked Cap if he needed to go potty..."no"....it had been 2 hours, but I trust him now with letting me know when he needs to go. One of the ladies next to me heard me ask him if he needed to go. She couldn't believe he was only 18 months old and potty trained. This has been the typical reaction of people since the beginning of our EC journey. Than there are a million questions that follow.

I was hoping just to write a short EC Start Up post. Just wanting to list the basics of how this works and how to get started. There are some sites out there, but they can be hard to find. And also hard to find good ones. But in the course of 2 years, which is when I first started looking online, it has changed and grown in popularity. More people are choosing cloth for their babies bums, which tends to lead to earlier potty training, and while shopping for cloth items it is easy to stumble across Infant Potty Training info.

EC stands for Elimination Communication. Also called EC or infant potty training. EC is the natural alternative to diaper dependence. Half of the babies in the world are potty trained by 12 months of age, yet the average age of an American baby is 3 years old. With EC, you are simply helping your baby follow his natural instincts not to soil or wet himself, loved ones, or his space (crib, car seat, carrier, etc.).

Misconceptions:
There are many misconceptions for this lifestyle, and I say lifestyle because it does become part of your every day routine. Changing diapers are a lifestyle  so can EC'ing.

It does not consume all your time. You don't have to sit around staring at your baby waiting for that miraculous cue or sign letting you know it's time. I guess if you wanted to do that and you had the time then go for it??? But I would guess that you and your little one/ones need some time away and some space to explore.

You will not have a house covered in pee or poop. I will admit, we have had a couple of misses on the floor, pees and poops (somehow we had just as many while in Kenya:) but you aren't living in waste. Hard to say much more on that without knowing how this works.

You don't have to EC full time. We chose to never EC at night. Our sleep was important to us, and Cap started sleeping through the night at 2 1/2 months old. There were some times he wasn't sleeping through the night and for us, EC'ing was more of an interruption than what we wanted it to be. You can do this full, part, or the occasional time. No matter what your family choses to do, the communication you gain from EC'ing, saving a diaper, wiping a bum, etc will be worth it!

It is not impossible! You need to remember that half of the world is doing it. We laughed so hard when we first heard about this. The name alone is hilarious. The more we read about it, the more it made sense.

How to get started:
I found 3 basic ways that lead to your baby going potty. Some say 4.
1) Babies signals. Just like your he lets you know when he is hungry, wants to be held, sleepy, he is also letting you know when he needs to relieve himself. This can vary from child to child. Some get squirmy, some will stop playing and start getting upset out of no where, some will even latch off while nursing to let you know he needs to potty. The best way to find out, is to spend a couple of hours one day, learning what your baby tends to do right before he wets himself. This was easy for us since we used 100% cotton pre-folds ( which is what I highly recommend, another post).

2) Natural Timing. There are times you can pretty much count on your baby going potty. It is not natural to go to the bathroom where your 'space' is. Babies won't naturally pee or poop while in the following: crib, car seat, baby carrier, while sleeping, while being held. So when your baby just wakes up, put him over a potty. When he just gets out of a car seat, let him potty, etc. Babies also need to go before/ during/ after eating. Cap would rarely need to go during nursing, but shortly after he would need to go. If your baby is wet, still give the opportunity to go more in a potty. To this day, if Cap happens to have a miss in his undies, he still will go more in the potty if I let him. Natural timing is what worked best for us.

3) Your own instincts. Sometimes I would be holding Cap and all of a sudden I would feel a wetness on me. I would check, I was dry, and then I would put Cap on the potty and he would go. Sometimes you just feel like it is time or that he needs to go. Don't ignore your intuition. Trust it. If he doesn't go, don't take it the wrong way. Trust yourself and your gut!

Hopefully this was helpful to someone out there. Would love for you to comment if it was! Please feel free to ask questions as there is a ton to this thing!!! We had Cap in full time undies minus naps and night time at 12 months. I could have done it sooner if I would have trusted myself a little more. I have definitely had some rough moments in the process where I had to take a step back and refocus the purpose of us doing EC with our son. Overall, I would highly recommend this to anyone.

Here is another good site for some great info. I would have read her book if this would have been out earlier. Since I haven't read it, I can't say much about it, but it looks extremely helpful! It could have helped us through some hard potty pauses since I didn't have any great resources at the time.
http://ecsimplified.com/

Enjoy!

Bye Bye Bullet

I love that we called it his Bullet. Not only are we not really paci or binky kind of parents, but Cap just isn't one of those kind of kids either. It wasn't until Cap was around 8 months old where I finally liked the Bullet. He was already way into sleeping through the night, but it was that darn MIA Bullet at times that would wake him up until we stuck it right back in his mouth. At 8 months, he finally figured out how to find it in the pitch dark and stick it back in himself...then I really started to like that thing.

When he turned 1 we just let him have it during naps and at night. He didn't even notice we took it away during the day. He was too busy exploring and walking by then. During long trip, like to Kenya, he got to have it whenever he wanted. It was a good distraction on those long plane rides. I like the Bullet then too.

Around 16 months, I started to wonder if we could start slowly weaning him off it. Had no clue how to go about it. Heard horror stories of other parents who attempted to do the same with their kiddos. Something about toddlers with bullets in their mouths and full diapers still on just didn't appeal to me at all.

I did no research at all. Talked to a couple of friends, but it was too late to try their methods. (A note for next time, take it away when you go from 2 naps to 1. They are so tired adjusting to 1 nap that they will easily fall asleep without it.) I heard about poking a hole, then slowly snipping some pieces off, until the kid just doesn't want it anymore. That sounded easy enough. I really didn't like ruining a Bullet. We never lost a single one somehow. In my head, it was one less thing to buy next time. But we did it. Poked a little hole...2 actually. Cap was unfazed.

I let it have just the holes for a few days until Bryce said let's snip some off. Well, first off, not that easy. Little Bullet, big scissors. So when I went for the snip, I like really snipped it. Big chunk just gone. Cap was not impressed at all with this. It was time to go to bed. We did our usual routine and then put him in his crib, gave him his bullet and said night night. He pretty much lost it. There isn't a better way to put it...he LOST it. Cried and cried. We didn't even need the monitor on, we could clearly hear his screams from across the house. It was terrible.

On a side note. I started to feel pretty guilty before the snip about taking something away from him that provides such comfort and security. Silly I know, but I mean, he sleeps in a completely dark room, alone on the other side of the house from our room, and I am trying to take away the thing that I taught him to love and rely on. Just seemed wrong all of a sudden. BUT, it didn't stop me from grabbing the scissors now did it!

I went in their to try and console him a little. He was not having any of it. Leave the room, because obviously he didn't need me.

10 more minutes go by and he is still screaming like he lost his best friend. I can no longer handle it at this point and go back in his room and pick him up. Again, he does not want me he is screaming for his Bullet. I tell him he has it. He screams and cries again. I finally cannot take the guilt anymore and trade the snipped Bullet for an untampered with Bullet.

He is still very upset and does not want the new Bullet. He wants his blue one that is half missing. But he wants me to fix it. I realize he is going to have to work this out on his own because I could hold him for hours and it would not do any good. Put him back in his crib, crying, he is, not me, shut the door, and let him be.

Finally falls asleep. Wakes up the next morning incredibly needy for us. He is obviously hurt by the situation and I put the phase out Bullet on hold.

Fast forward a few weeks later. Already have had a hole in the Bullet he has been using. Did not have the heart to snip it and don't know that I ever will. Cap takes a 4-5 foot fall head first off our backyard to our basement deck. Incredibly scary. Bryce and I were both a foot away but couldn't stop it. I screamed we both climb down to bottom deck. Cap is screaming but completely fine except a hurt hand and 2 bloody fingers.

An hour or so later it is time for his nap. I laid him on his belly. His hand was hurting and he was just staring at it. He didn't ask for his Bullet so I didn't give it to him. Walked away. He fell right to sleep. First nap without a Bullet.

That night he asked for it and I gave it to him. The next day for nap he asked for it and I said no may be later. He totally was okay with that and fell right to sleep. Wow!! That night he didn't ask so I didn't give it to him. He hasn't asked for it since then, and of course now I wouldn't give it to him because he is just fine without it.

So there is my VERY long explanation of how we weaned his Bullet. The terrible fall is what did it I think. I am so thankful he was alright and can't believe we were able to pull the no Bullet thing off during it.

Good luck to anyone trying to wean one of those things!!!!

Ain't No Valley Low Enough

We have had many small defeats in our family since Cap was born. I feel like this is one of the reasons my posting has decreased in the last couple of months. Small things are just small things. After time, the small things really start adding up. Eventually they can make a nice full cup.

What I noticed on the internet, or at least what I look at, is you never hear about the bad times during the bad times. You may hear about some rough stories but they are always on the other side of it by the time it hits the web. None of the other blogs I read, friends and other creative artist I blog stalk, write about hard times. I have one friend who wrote in the last couple of months about a bad day with the kids. It sticks out in my head because it is just not what you read online. In fact, the more reading I did at one point, the more depressed I felt because it kind of made me feel like I wasn't doing anything in my life! It made me feel like every other family out there was making beautiful things with their hands, growing in their family, walking in good times, while we were listening and walking with the Lord struggling to make ends meet, new to town once again, and very confused with how the past year has looked.

We are BLESSED. No matter the small or big things that might happen in life, my family is living a FULL life! But as we all know, no where in God's call to follow Him, did he say it will be so easy and so fun. Everyone will be doing it. This will be the easiest thing you will do for the rest of your life. Rather His call was raw, vulnerable, and untamed. It was not a call of safety and security. It was not boring or predictable. There was nothing mundane or dull about His call.

Those who followed Him were greatly persecuted, lived in caves and holes, traveled preaching the message, healed the sick, delivered the possessed, and made disciples throughout all nations. Many were beat, many were crucified and in chains, but they were free. They sang and rejoiced through the beating because they worshiped the One and only God, My Redeemer, My Friend and Comforter, Jesus.

I have learned so much since first moving towards the mountains in 2005. Here are some things I have learned:
Every mountain top is different. Some will take your breath away while others you are just thankful to have made it to the top.

Every trail is different. You can not compare a single trail to another. No matter how close they may be they are still their own trail.

There will always be valleys.

There is beauty in the valleys if you are looking.

If you are looking you will find beauty wherever you are. Don't always look big, look small too.

While going up, some people complain and look forward to the downhill, but downhill is harder on your knees. It is best to try and remain positive, taking one step at a time, to keep moving forward, and to dig deep for some inner strength.

Don't be surprised if at times during the climb upward you are using everything you have to get up, hands, feet, poles and sticks, or a buddy's hand.

You can't stay on top of the mountain forever. I slept on top of Mt. Whitney once. It was one of the most miserable and best nights of camping I have ever had. I slept may be 20 minutes of every hour that night.

Coming down doesn't have to be a bad thing.

Every trail/journey is new and has something to offer and show you.

It is okay to laugh, cry, and scream all in minutes when the trail is kicking your bum.

Sometimes it takes several goes at a mountain to finally reach the top.

You should always be training. You never know when some great chance to climb/hike a mountain might come. So just be ready.

I could go on and way more in depth on those things, but may be one of those might be for one of you out there. I obviously gave no details on really what is going on with us. It was just one more thing really. And we are tired this week.

This is what I encourage you with. During hard times, cling to those truths that God has already given to you. Those things you know to be true, speak them out loud, write them on your walls, and be sure to yell at the devil that you aren't giving up. You are a child of God and He is fighting for you. I know God is good no matter what. I know He loves our family and He is our provider and protector. I know He hurts with us and He is fighting for us. He is fighting for me.

He is reminding me this now...

"I will fight for you Spesh, you need only to be still"
                                   exodus 14:14

18 months

I felt like 6 months was our first big milestone with Cap. Then there was the 1 year which is of course a big one...mostly for the parents I think. Now here we are with the next big one 18 months, 1 1/2 years old. This just always seemed like a big one to me. You hear so many people say this is the start of really fun toddler season. I have really found that each month we enter a new season to parenting as Cap enters into new growth. I don't necessarily find that one stage is easier or harder than the next, just very different. I haven't found one stage to be more fun than the next either, again, just different.

I love watching this boy grow and all the new tricks he comes up with every week. This month has brought a whole new peace for me being a mother that I will share later on. It is an intense job that the Lord has blessed us with, but it is one that cannot be compared with anything else in this life.

What started out as growing a human being in my belly, formed into taking care of every need of an newborn baby, to showing and exploring the world to a crawling boy, which formed into a walking boy learning what he likes and doesn't like and learning to communicate his desires and needs to us with signing and words. So much of who we are, how we act with others, our bad and good habits, how we eat and sleep, our passions and character, etc start forming and start their foundation as soon as we are born and enter this outside world.

Cap came out fresh, not knowing a thing really. We are here to teach, nurture, explore along side, show him love, mercy and compassion and encourage him to do the same for others, to teach him to make good choices, to teach him HOW to make choices, to show him how big the ocean is, show him how to make things grow, teach him to put dirty clothes in his basket and pick up his cars when we are done playing with them for the day, teaching him how to "do" life, then teaching him to go without knowing and any road any cost. This stuff doesn't start when he is 3 or 5 or when he hits middle school age, it started 18 months ago. I must admit, it is exhausting. Some days this mother gig doesn't look so pretty. God has this wonderful plan for Cap. And I say to you my son, "Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid, do not be discouraged. For the Lord your God is with you wherever you go!" Joshua 1:9

Moving on:)
Newest tricks:
- takes his book, the rock, the duck, etc potty and does our "sign" noise with them
- did I mention he got 10 teeth in a matter of 6-8 weeks?? 4 of them are still slowly creeping more out.
- teething champ, you hardly would know he is even teething at all
- wears 24 month, 2t clothes up top, 18-24 pants, and size 5-6 foot
- 31 inches tall, 27.8 lbs, all taken at home
- talks a lot!  he was repeating the last word of everything you would say to him. now he just talks and talks
- loves bikes though never been on one
- really likes to go for rides in his stroller which is great for me so I can run with him
- if you ask him if he wants to go do something such as park, store, grammi and papa's house, he stops what he's doing...gives a head shake and heads straight for the back stairs towards our car
- loves to read books, current top 2 favorite is "brown bear brown bear" and "chicka chicka boom boom"
- he really likes animals, i might have said this one before, but it doesn't matter how big or small he wants to hold or touch it!
- been climbing up to get into his car seat for awhile now, big deal to me
- likes to be around other kids
- loves to play on big rocks, and still loves the small ones!
- no more BULLET!!!!! more on that another time
- still pees during naps and at night time
- has climbed out of his crib numerous times!!! took a bad enough fall that he hasn't done it sense then.
- favorite word right now is "off" he would like the light off, the fan off, the shirt off, the door off etc!
- a couple of days ago i told him bye and that i would be back after my run, he said "kiss, kiss"
- when i tell him i love him he almost always comes in for a kiss
- tries really hard to put on his own shoes
- would like to eat peanut butter 10 times a day, i have to get a video of him saying peanut butter, hilarious!!!
- loves to pick apples off the tree out back and eat them

I am sure I am missing bunches. He is full of personality these days. Full of opinions too! We are proud of our son and looking forward to the days ahead with him!

Cheyenne Mountain Zoo = Awesomeness

Bryce's sister and kiddos just left after being able to spend a week here in the Springs. We have not seen them since June of last year! Way too long when you have little ones. They grow way to fast. Our niece is way past toddler and now in Kindergarten. Our nephew was barely walking and now climbing and running all over the place! So nice to have cousins!!! 

We did lots of fun stuff while here including going to our local zoo. It was a blast! We were so early we got to watch the giraffes come outside which was awesome. The giraffes are just great because there heads are eyeish level with you depending on your size of course. You can feed them lettuce too! They are a hit! The kids loved it and so did us 5 adults too:) 

This is Cap pointing to the Giraffes coming out of the building heading our way.

They get so close to you!

 I don't think this girl was so exciting about sharing her space!

The 7 of us with Bryce taking pictures watching all the giraffes come out.

Then you got to feed them. Cap like doing this too. Very brave I thought.

We could almost be in Africa:)

We fed some chickens thanks to Papa. I think this is always one of Caps favorites

because it reminds him of N.C. and the farm. 

A little bit of water time which he loved and would have done longer!

Potty time in the trees. Cute little bum.

some goat petting

and a little bit of some cousin pics...not easy just so you know!!!

This is something that is a must do with kids around here. You can pack in your lunch and drinks for the day or you can eat at their lodge which is pretty good food with a great variety. We got there early when they first opened and finished up right after lunch. Perfect timing for us though you could spend all day there pretty easily.

Did I mention how awesome Cap has done with staying dry?? I thought with the cousins being here he would be having lots of accidents because of all the stimulation and not wanting to stop and go, but not the case at all. Not only is he staying dry but he is telling us he needs to go instead of us telling him its time. Even if we aren't in the same room he will come get us and tell us. Just very proud of him. We still have some misses here and there, but they are getting farther and farther apart. We haven't figured out how to stay dry during naptime yet, but may be just time will get us there.

Enjoy,

Fresh Start

Our lives have been so different these past few months than what they have been over the past years. Bryce and I worked at camp for 4 out of the 5 summers we have been married. This is the second summer we have had a "normal" non-camp summer. Of course, our first normal summer we hiked over a 1,000 miles off the Pacific Crest Trail. This summer we took our 1 year old to Kenya and moved 2 time zones west. But that normal defines us as a couple and now a family. A road less traveled for sure, kind of like the road to heaven.

In our very different summer, blogging about our family and lives has gotten pushed back quite a bit. You add the camera issue, and then it just got pushed even more! Well, I think it is time for a change. I have lots to share and want to get back to a better routine of this. I know my family and friends who live far off appreciate it, especially pictures of the Captain:)

So here is for a Fresh Start. I won't let pictures be an excuse any longer. To prove it, I am posting this!
Enjoy,