Travel Question

I'm going to Denver in a couple weeks, as are my parents, to visit my brother, sister-in-law, and nephew. Me, a two-year-old, an airplane--two and a half hours. The question is: to bring car seat or not to bring car seat?

I'm thinking it would be easier to strap Anna in and tell her she can't get out, just like in the car, than to have her wiggling everywhere. Last time she slept two hours one flight, which I doubt would happen with no seat. A contained and possibly sleeping child would probably be much nicer for the poor person in our row than Queen Wigglesworth demonstrating her hopping abilities on the seat.

On the other hand, I will have to get the seat, the suitcase, the backpack, and the child from parking to luggage checking by myself. Once I check the suitcase it won't be quite so bad, and thankfully it's a direct flight, so no problems hauling it through another airport. But I'm not sure if it's worth the trouble or not. My sister-in-law can borrow one for Anna to use if I don't want to bring it, so it's not a must.

I'm thinking the deciding factor may be whether or not I can find some way to strap the seat onto my suitcase for the car-to-luggage-check portion of the trip.

What say ye who have traveled solo with toddler?

Our Hair Routine

After my recent hair post Porter asked for the rundown on the how and when of doing Anna's hair. So hair's my report on how we do things around hair. (With a strong punny accent. Sorry.)

I'm pretty much a once-a-week bath-giver. I could claim this is because I heard too much soap and water can dry out her skin and hair, but let's review my motto: above all, I'm lazy. And besides, the dog washes her on average twelve times a day.

I usually use Pantene for Women of Color conditioner. Occasionally I'll use a natural jojoba shampoo I got from Northern Essence (they also have great diaper rash cream safe for cloth diapers and an amazing orange cream lip butter) and/or an Herbal Essences conditioner for curly hair that some random lady in Target told me to get. I prefer the Pantene, though.

Here is her hair shortly after a bath. MUST. SQUEEZE. CURLS.


Here it is later the same day. As you can see, her afro is much bigger than her baby's.


I usually don't put in any leave-in conditioner because it seems like it would build up, although I have used natural oils. But would some product help keep her curls detangled and un-frizzed longer? I may try some Curly Qs hair milk as some of you recommended. But for now I usually let her go the day of her bath with her hair loose and by the time I comb it all out, it's tangled enough that we'd both prefer I not do that every day.

I usually do her hair in the morning when I'm doing a diaper change/getting her dressed. I have her sit on the changing pad facing away from me—it's on a semi-low chest thing so she's sitting around my waist level, looking out the window. I put about five thousand books and things up there for her to play with. They are never enough.

To wet her hair to comb through I have a spray bottle filled with water, light olive oil, a couple drops tea tree oil. I know the olive oil seems weird but it seems to work and be cheaper and less buildup than trying to wet all that hair with a product. It just sucks the moisture so I use a lot, so it seems like I'd go through a lot of detangler-type product—wouldn't I? What do you all use?

I have also used virgin unrefined coconut oil. It's nice because you can use it on hair, scalp, and skin and it's safe for cloth diapers. And it makes her smell like a macaroon.

Mmmmm . . . macaroons . . . What? Oh yes, hair.

Once I have her hair combed out with a wide-tooth comb I start parting with a finer comb and the rat-tail end of it. Be thankful this is not a video or you would fast-forward: I am slow. But getting better. It's actually easier with slightly longer hair. If necessary I'll use alligator clips to hold sections of hair until I get them in puffs/ponytails. I will sometimes spray a leave-in conditioner on the puffs and the part that's left free in back.

I know. I said I don't use a leave-in. Except when I do. I'm a rebel against my own cause.

By now she'll have launched all the books across the room, dropped the combs into the black hole behind the changing table, drooled all over the hair clips, and started shaking her head no no no no no no until she's dizzy—we're pretty much done. On the rare occasion she's up for a little more sitting, I may braid the puffs. Often I'll leave puffs for one day and the next day I just have to comb the back and redo the puffs, which makes it more likely she'll sit long enough for me to braid them.

This is the beauty of having her hair styled: it's much easier to spruce up quickly. Which helps me get out of the house with her in less than the 2.75 hours it seems to take these days. And I am fairly obsessive about her hair looking good in public—I don't want to be that mom with the unkempt child, especially an unkempt black child, and especially especially white mom with unkempt black child. We all have bad hair days, but I'm too aware of how much attention is paid to my child and how people might judge her if her hair looks out of control, unfortunately all the more so for a minority child.

Also, I have a raging ego that feels sad when I appear incompetent and happy when complimented. There, I said it. Now you confess something.

Please leave a comment with your hair product, styling, and maintenance tips! (Especially if you think I could clearly really, really use them . . .) As your reward for reading this ridiculously long post and its excruciating detail useful only for my husband's reference in case of my untimely death (I'll file it with the insurance policy, honey), here is a photo of Anna whining. Yes, Mom, she really does.

Nooooooo more hairdoing!

Eat Your Heart Out: Food Input Requested!

Yesterday a friend said in an email that her 16-month-old has 17 teeth. I replied that wow, she must be able to chew even rocks and tires, while I still have to blend them for Ms. Anna Eight-Tooth. And she said Don't tell me you're still blending food?

And I knew I'd been outed: I am clueless about kid food.

Really, the formula was brutally expensive, but at least it was simple. Now it's all "2 1-ounces servings of this, 4 2-ounce or 2 4-ounce servings of that..." I had a good system worked out with the blended veggie cubes, but my friend is right: it's time for the girl to start chewing more and eating more table food.

She will eat quite a few things we eat, but she is funny about textures. Too chewy or too much of a skin and at least some of it comes back out. So I cop out and feed her the blended slop so I know she's getting her veggies. For example, usually (non-pureed) green beans are rejected although, go figure, peas are fine. Cooked carrots and sweet potatoes, she could eat all day; corn, broccoli, forget it. Lunchmeat, yes; chicken, no (unless it's a McD's Chicken MushNugget--sorry to say that I even know that). She will eat ground beef in spaghetti or Mexican but not in hamburger form. She likes chili beans and the like as well as baked beans (we don't call her Fartypants for nothing). She loves fruit, cheese, crackers, bread any time, any where.

I think perhaps I have been worrying a bit too much about "following the rules," getting her the exact number of servings and such, but obviously she does need her protein and it would be good if she did continue to eat vegetables, not just fruit, and maybe even something other than the ever-popular sweet potato. So my questions to you are:

• What does/did your toddler eat? (Anna is 18 months.)
• What do you suggest for meat and veggies in particular? Cooking tips?
• What are some favorite easy things you give your kid when what you're eating won't work, or a couple favorites for breakfast, lunch, dinner?

And for bonus points:

• Why is a zucchini a fruit, not a vegetable?
• Which one is an avocado, anyway?

Thanks for playing, and stay tuned for future episodes: taking away the nap time bottle and potty training!

Survivor: Airplane

Aaron and the kids made it home from YL camp safe and tired. They arrived early enough that Aaron could throw Anna around giggling for an hour or so before bed. They both slept in today.

I will soon commence the art of packing to survive 271 minutes of flight plus X minutes on runway with an 18-month-old, 23-pound wiggle worm on my lap. For the airports we got her a cute bear backpack with a long tail. Yeah, it's a leash. Cruel, demeaning us. But she loves her "baba," and isn't it actually more freedom than five-point harnessing her to things the entire time? I'm over it.

Some things I have in mind for in-flight entertainment: mini magnadoodle; a couple books (lift-the-flaps are good, I figure, to take as long as possible on each page...); her toy camera with the animal pictures; plastic bead necklace she's enthralled with; snacks like Cheerios, Goldfish crackers, string cheese, yogurt-covered raisins. And Aaron can play VeggieTales and Muppets shows on his Palm Pilot. For me, of course.

Then there is all the other stuff: diapers, wipes, cup, bib, spoon, milk, other food, change of clothes...

And my stuff: laptop (probably), camera, wallet, toothbrush, book I'll never even open, copious amounts of Dramamine...

So what am I forgetting? And the flip side: how can I lighten my load? (Answer: make it your husband's load!)

Aaron says she's going to be on my lap the whole time. But he also takes the aisle seat, so God help the poor soul on my left. I feel more sorry for them than me.

Meanwhile, here on the blog, as you can see I've finally done a little housekeeping. If your blog is not on my blogroll but you know I stalk you and you'd like it to be, let me know. (And if it's on there but you don't want it to be, that's cool too.)

Cloth Diapers Part 4: Fashion Reasons We Use Cloth Diapers

Or, The Aesthetics of Poop-Catchers

Or, My Baby's Bum Is Cuter Than Your Baby's Bum

Having already bored you all to tears with my environmental, financial, and home ec laundry lectures, finally I'm getting to what kind of diapers we use, which are our favorites, and the fashion show!

First of all, as mentioned in comments, cloth wipes are great with cloth diapers because you don't have to throw some things away and some things in the wash; you can just throw the wipes in the pail with the diapers, and they hardly add to the laundry at all. I use the small cheap baby washcloths, although they are not as soft as wipes you can buy or make. I wet them with plain water--warm if I'm feeling kind, but usually I just pre-wet a small stack and keep them in an old plastic container from disposable wipes. You can make or buy solutions or add tea tree oil or scent, but I don't bother (see again: lazy and cheap).

I have a variety of diapers. First we bought the cheapest route: Chinese prefolds and covers. I bought our first diapers with just money we'd saved in change jars and pop cans, by the way; so you could do this quite cheaply. I will admit that at first these seemed really huge and I was no good at different ways of folding to better keep the poop off the covers (it never got on clothes though). But it was mostly a fit issue--once our daughter grew a bit more, a simple fold-in-thirds-lay-it-in-the-cover system starting working fine. This is what I do now most of the time at home and for naps since they're still bulky but very absorbent. Easy to care for since they're 100 percent cotton.

Pins? Nope. I have never even tried using one (though my husband did it with his little brother back in the day!). I did try a Snappi fastener when I was experimenting with folding techniques, but now I just fold in thirds so don't need it. I will keep it, though, because mark my words, a Snappi is THE best thing for cleaning fuzz out of velcro! (Which reminds me to clean my Teva sandals...)

I also have a couple fitted diapers which also need a cover over them (unless you are just chillin' at home and want to let your babe romp in just their cute, breathable diaper). They have nice elastic around the legs which keeps everything in, even with runny newborn poo (or so I hear since we didn't have any of that here). So they're easier and cuter than prefolds but a bit more expensive and take longer to dry.

Covers: I have 3 Bummis Super Whisper Wrap and 1 ProWrap. This is the waterproof layer that holds the prefold on and keeps wetness in. These don't need to be washed after every use unless poop gets on them. So when I throw a wet diaper in the pail, I hang the cover in the bathroom to air out a little bit and use another one next time, just rotating them until they need a wash. That's why you don't need many covers.

When I use prefolds and fitteds I also throw a rectangle of fleece on top of the diaper; that keeps her feeling drier (moisture passes right through fleece) and if she poops, it doesn't stick to the fleece at all. It seriously rolls right off like . . . well, since it's poop I won't give an analogy since most of my analogies usually have to do with food. But it makes everything super easy.

But then we discovered . . . pocket diapers! How can you not love diapers with names like Fuzzi Bunz and bumGenius 3.0? Pocket diapers consist of a waterproof cover-type outside with velcro or snap closure. On the inside is a layer of fleece or suedecloth with an opening at the back to stuff in an absorbent insert. They usually come with a microfiber insert but the beauty of it is that you can stuff whatever you want and however much you want in there--prefold diapers, hemp doublers, an old hand towel, or I hear those microfiber towels sold for washing your car are super absorbent. At night we use two inserts or even really load it up with a prefold and doubler. That's because our girl sleeps 11-12 hours and during that time pees approximately, oh, 11-12 gallons. It's the opposite of what you'd expect, maybe, but we have much more success with cloth than disposables at night.

If you've pre-stuffed your pockets, at changing time you just grab it and put it on like a disposable. The inserts are fairly thin so these do not have the bulkiness of prefolds. The fleece inside keeps your baby feeling dry. And since poop does not stick to the fleece, poop is easy to dump out and doesn't stain them. Ease of use, ease of wear, ease of clean, AND fun cute colors? What more could you ask of a waste containment system?

Now, these diapers may seem expensive at $17-18 each. But keep in mind that you are using them many times, even for more than one child. And the bumGenius 3.0 have an amazing one-size design--they snap down/unsnap to three different sizes so you can use the same diaper throughout your child's diaper years, 8 pounds to 35 pounds. So if they work for you, they're all you need. (Fuzzi Bunz and others come in sizes so you would probably need two or more sets.)

One other kind of diaper: all-in-one. This is exactly what it sounds like--everything sewn together, absorbent part on the inside with waterproof outside, goes on just like a disposable except it's cloth. We have one of these and it's okay, but it takes a long time to dry, and this is an expensive way to go. Really nice for the diaper bag or babysitter, though.

My recommendations: Different people like different diapers and have different budgets (and some have sewing skills to really keep it cheap), but if I were starting over right now, I would probably just buy pockets, and I would recommend the bumGenius one-size. For $400 you (or I) could have an abundance (21) of bumGenius for one child and use those same diapers for the next child to come along because they fit all sizes. If you had two in diapers at once, you might have to wash more often or want buy a few more, but it would be simpler than having a bunch of different kinds/sizes and more cost effective--definitely less painful than buying diapers for two, I'm sure!

I'm telling you, cloth diapers don't have to be big and bulky (though I find no harm in that if it keeps her dry all night). They can be colorful and cute, and I'd much rather see a little bright color sticking out the top of her pants on occasion than a long tail of paper with Mickey Mouse on it. (Must even the pee-catchers be advertisements? She doesn't even watch TV yet but she should be brand-imprinted to like that annoying Elmo?) I'm not going to offer photos here, but my girl frolicking in her pink diaper? Oh yeah, that's off the charts adorableness. My baby's diaper bum is cuter than your baby's diaper bum!

And with that . . . the fashion show! Today's model will be The Cow. Despite her fat tummy and super thin legs, The Cow thinks her diapers fit just moooo-velously!

Here The Cow shows off this year's hot diaper accessory, the Snappi diaper fastener. Pair it with a simple, classic white prefold--instant "Snappi casual"!


For fab fitted fashion, try a Kissaluvs size 1, seen here in a lovely lemony snickety shade.


The Cow is really feeling glamorous in this bumGenius 3.0 one-size pocket diaper, set on medium. Work it, Cow, work it!


If your child has a tail, you can simply stick it out the top.


Ah, freedom of moooo-vement! Doing the splits is a snap in this bold red Fuzzi Bunz pocket diaper.


And in this fun and funky Bummis all-in-one, Cow can even do a headstand!


And . . . that oughta answer the question of What do you do at home when you're not working?

Any tips from you other cloth diaper users? If anyone's thinking of giving cloth diapers a shot, let me know if you want advice--obviously I kind of enjoy this subject!

Cloth Diapers Part 3: Lazy Reasons We're (Still) Using Cloth Diapers

Or, It's Not Actually Quite Easy Being Green

NOTE: Two tips added at end of post.

In my last two posts I talked about reasons to use cloth diapers: environmental friendliness and saving money. If you're like me, you feel good about being good to the earth, but you really feel good about saving money. But you're also busy and practical--things have to work for your life or sorry, we'll find another way to pay for the better way. I hear ya. Whatever our reasons for trying cloth, if it wasn't working for us, we probably wouldn't still be doing it.

And so I'm here to assure you today that cloth diapering is not rocket science. It is a little more work--a load of laundry every few days--but it is not hard. After all, my fancy-schmancy automatic washing machine does most of the work. My mother had to wash my diapers with a ringer washer. And then there's all the African nannies hand-washing for a whole orphanage without running hot water . . . yeah, my laundry routine's not too bad. The hardest part of cloth diapering for me was figuring out what to buy and what detergent to use. Now it's resisting the urge to buy more of our favorite diapers!

Guilt-free note before we go on: Please don't think that I'm one of those Cloth Diaper Nazis who thinks everyone who doesn't use them is so callous to the health of the world and their child that they probably also burn tires in their backyard trash pit and wipe their baby's bum with battery acid. I don't! I realize I'm blessed to be able to work at home where I can throw wash in at odd hours and that this would be harder for those who work full-time/outside the home or for those who don't have easy access to laundry. In those situations maybe I never would have tried it either. But I do think that many people never even think to even try cloth because of misconceptions--that washing uses the same resources (not true), that it's not really cheaper (definitely not true), and that they don't work well and/or are nasty to take care of (read on, my friend).

In a nutshell, here's my diapering routine:

• Put clean diaper on child.
• Child soils diaper either immediately or at least convenient time possible (ready to leave house, ready to fall asleep, ready to thrash like a bucking bronco when placed on changing table).
• Take off dirty diaper, set aside, clean child with baby washcloths wet with water.
• Put clean diaper on child, release child back into the wild.
• Take diaper and wipes into bathroom, drop poop into toilet if any, throw diaper into trash can lined with waterproof fabric wet bag.
• On the third day wash again, in accordance with instructions.
  

My diaper pail is a cheapo plastic trash can with flip lid. It's lined with a wet bag I bought online. When it's laundry time, I pull out the bag, take it to the washer, and dump everything out by turning it inside out and putting the bag right in the wash too, so I don't have to touch the dirty diapers. I make do without an extra bag to alternate or a smaller one to travel with, though those would be nice extras. We do also keep a small trash can with lid in the girl's room for any disposable wipes and dipes we use. I find this smells far worse than the cloth pail (although having to keep the bathroom door closed all the time because of the little girl's toilet obsession is not preferable).

I do laundry about every three days, or whenever all my favorite diapers/the best overnight diapers are used up. Buy more, wash less often, but only up to a certain point or they will get kind of ripe, of course.

I basically wash my diapers twice: (1) cold presoak/cold wash; (2) hot wash on "stain cycle" that has an extra cold rinse. We have a high-efficiency front-load machine so I use very little detergent, about 1 tablespoon on the first wash, and maybe a few drops of tea tree oil which is a natural disinfectant. For the second wash I don't even have to open the washer, just go out and put in half as much detergent as the first time and restart the washer (time elapsed: 30 seconds. Told you this isn't hard.).

When I first started I couldn't find a great detergent and had a tendency to use too much, which can cause it to build up on pocket diapers (will explain in next post) if not rinsed out well enough. Most detergents today are too good in the sense that they have all kinds of whiteners and brighteners and enzymes (and--again--petroleum products!) which actually build up on fabrics, so you want to use a cheapo store brand powder one or something more natural. At our health store I found Country Save, which is recommended for cloth diapers and as a bonus, environmentally friendly/biodegradable. At this rate the box will last me years, but if I ever use up my other stuff, I'll probably start using it on everything.

When I did have build up problems from too much bad detergent and diaper rash cream (oops! a fish-oil kind got on my pocket dipes), I "stripped" my diapers with blue Dawn dish detergent in a hot wash. I had to do a few washes and extra rinses but haven't had problems since. Once in a while I just use a little Dawn in my second wash instead of detergent--I've even heard of people just using it all the time. Who knew the power of Dawn? (Note: I'm told it has to be Dawn and it has to be the original blue kind.)

Okay, while I've been giving y'all too much information, the washer has been doing all the work for a couple hours. I put down the bon-bons, turn off Oprah, and go throw everything in the dryer except the covers (because keeping them out of the heat will make them last longer). I select for "damp dry" on medium-low heat and return to Oprah. By the time Dr. Oz is done lecturing me about healthy eating, I have finished my ice cream and the dryer has stopped. I pull out everything that's dry--wet bag, pocket diaper outsides, fleece liners, washcloths I use as wipes. Basically everything that's colored comes out and whites stay in, so it's easy. What's left is things with thicker materal that need a bit more time on high heat--prefolds, fitted diapers, pocket diaper inserts. (This may make more sense after I describe my diapers, next post.)

When everything is dry, I take it in my daughter's room and leave it in a pile on her toybox for a few hours or days. But eventually I get some organizational urge and go put everything away. I may or may not fold my prefolds but I usually stuff the pocket diapers so they are all ready to go, easy-peasy all one piece just like a disposable.

I am looking forward to line drying more often as the sun returns to these parts, because (did I mention?) I'm cheap, plus sunlight is a miraculous cure for any stains or odors that sneak through.

And really . . . at least when it comes to diapers . . . what could be more satisfying than this?



Stay tuned for our next thrilling installment, in which we will attempt to answer that most burning of questions: What the heck is a pocket diaper?

EDIT: I forgot to mention two things:
1. Plain ol' white vinegar in the rinse cycle helps with detergent buildup.
2. If poop removal scares you, you can get biodegradable/flushable rice paper liners to lay inside the diaper. Then you just grab the paper and throw/flush it all away. (But if you use a piece of fleece or a pocket diaper with fleece inside, it really does just fall right off anyway. Anything that doesn't, I'm not touching, scraping, or dunking. That's what washers are for.)

Cloth Diapers Part 2: Cheapskate Reasons We're Using Cloth Diapers

In my last post I showed the environmental reasons why we're happy to use cloth diapers: keeping waste out of landfills and groundwater, avoiding chemicals, saving transportation costs, saving the water, chemicals, and petroleum used to make disposables.

That's great and all, you say. That's a nice thing to do if you can afford it, but isn't it really more expensive? What about all the energy and water for washing? Well, as I noted yesterday, making disposables also uses resources. Meanwhile, laundry is a surprisingly small part of household energy and water use.

As far as our household energy use and diaper costs, instead of some hypothetical your-child-uses-twelve-billion-diapers-in-two-years scenario, let's run our real numbers.

As far as energy and water, I would say our bills have gone up about $10 a month. Of course, since adding a child we are also doing more dishes, cooking more foods, washing more hands more often, plugging in more gadgets, and heating another room overnight. And we have a new high-efficiency front-load washing machine (best baby homecoming gift ever?!), so laundry alone isn't all that much of the increase. Remember, laundering cloth diapers uses about the same amount of water as a person uses flushing the toilet--so whether we're washing or she's flushing, adding a child has already added water use to our house.

Cost of the diapers and supplies we've purchased? Around $350. Add energy and call it $400 if you want. We got going in October, so we've had about 6 months of use. That's $400 ÷ 6 = $67 per month (at this point--obviously the longer they're used, more the cost per month figure drops).

Cost for disposables over that time? Diapers here run about $.20 each. Anna is using 6 or 7 diapers a day (now--younger babies use more). That's about $1.20 to $1.40 per day of diapers, plus the cost of disposable wipes (I use cloth wipes with cloth dipes, mostly). Let's call it 200 diapers, $40/month. Plus wipes, call it $45. By that conservative estimate, we'd have spent $270 over the 6 months we've been using cloth.

I don't even know how much all that Diaper Genie business costs, nor am I factoring in that newborns need a lot more changes and diapers get more expensive as your child grows (bigger diapers, less in box for same price). I am sure we spent more than $45/month when Anna first joined us and realistically would have spent way more on average over time, but we'll stick with $45 for the sake of argument.

Okay, by that conservative math we haven't broken even yet--but we will in just two more months. By the summer we will be enjoying TOTALLY FREE DIAPERING. For the approximately 12 more months before potty training, we will be enjoying TOTALLY FREE DIAPERING (a savings of $540+) . It already feels like we are now, since I don't have to squeeze diaper costs out of the grocery money; I haven't purchased diapers since October even though we still use disposables from time to time when traveling, etc. But the super duper fantastically greatest thing about this is that should we happen to have another baby in the future, through the wonder of hand-me-downs that child will enjoy . . . TOTALLY FREE DIAPERING! Yep, our cloth diapers cost us $350 for one child; that's $175 each if we have two kids; $116 for three; $87 for four; and we'll just keep on having kids until we're making money. Or something like that. (I'm kidding, Mom. Put the toy catalog down.)

Yeah, you have to lay out some money up front to get into cloth. But to me it hurts a heck of a lot less than dropping $20 on a big box of paper products and every time we use one thinking I just threw away a quarter.

Now if only they could find a way to get that kind of savings out of formula!

Cloth Diapers Part 1: Environmental Reasons We Use Cloth Diapers

Or, Saving the World, One Butt-Wipe at a Time

As I mentioned yesterday, we try to do our part for the earth. Or at least make some half-hearted gestures to relieve a little guilt. We recycle, we combine driving errands, we use those crazy corkscrew lightbulbs even where people can see them, we carry around our tap water in reusable bottles (which now, as it turns out, might also be trying to kill us. Oh well.). And most importantly (because above almost all I'm cheap), we try not to blow large chunks of our budget on things we intend to throw away. Especially if they're not even fun, like, say, paintballs or water balloons, but are simply small receptacles for small-human waste . . . aka diapers.

Well la de frickin' da, you're probably thinking. You can feel good about your earthiness; I'm going to feel good about not sticking my hand into a toilet to scrape poop off of rubber pants while bleeding profusely from twelve diaper pin punctures.

Trust me, I feel good about that too--no pins or dunking or ugly rubber pants here. If cloth diapering were too hard, we might have given up. Too nasty, and we never would have started. But those days are gone. Sure, it's a little more work, but only in the sense that there's a little more laundry. As a parent you're dealing with laundry and poop all the time anyway, though. You really build up an immunity to both quite quickly, don't you?

So first of all, cloth diapering is not that hard, and in another post I'll talk more about my diapers and my routine so you can see what I mean. And second of all, for the bit more work it is, I definitely feel it's worth it in terms of money savings and earth savings. I do feel great about using cloth!

To keep the lecture factor down here, let me hit you with some bullet points (source links at end of post):

• One child in disposables can add 6000 diapers to landfills. Diapers are the 3rd largest consumer item in landfills.
• Diapers in landfills can put groundwater sources at risk of contamination from chemicals and waste. It is technically illegal to throw human waste into the garbage, but do you know anyone who dumps poop out of disposables? Washing reusable diapers results in the waste being treated in a safe wastewater treatment facility, just like your waste is.
• How long does it take diapers to decompose? No one knows--no one's lived long enough! Probably 250–500 years. If the pilgrims had used disposables, you could go to Colonial Williamsburg and visit those diapers.
• The plastic in one disposable diaper uses 1 cup of crude oil. Approximately 7 billion gallons of oil each year are required to feed our disposable-diaper habit today, almost four times as much oil as is estimated to be in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.
• Washing diapers at home about every three days uses about the same amount of water as flushing a regular-flow toilet five times a day. It would be less with high-efficiency washing machines.
• Disposables are full of toxic chemicals. Ever get those weird gel beads left behind on your babe's sensitive areas? Yeah, that stuff was banned from tampons due to toxic shock syndrome.
  

The short answer to "why do you use cloth diapers?" is: for the same reasons we don't use paper plates and cups every day. We instinctively know that buying dishes once and washing them makes more sense than continually making and buying paper and plastic dishes. (And no one's even bothered--I hope!--inventing paper clothes, that idea's so silly.)

The other big reason is cost, and I'll go into that next time. But really, even if it weren't cheaper . . . maybe these environmental reasons would still be enough. It's like driving a hybrid: sure, it might take you a while (although less all the time!) to "pay for it" in gas savings, but that's not the only consideration; you're also using less fuel, putting a lot less emissions into the air, and supporting energy innovation along the way--you're paying it forward even before it pays you back. Maybe things shouldn't be all about me and my break-even point. Maybe some things we can save are worth more than pennies.

Just my $.02.


SOURCES:
The Real Diaper Association facts page.
A Tale of Two Diapers
The Joy of Cloth Diapers
Cloth vs. Disposables: To Cloth or Not to Cloth?
Diaper Information and Research
Health Concerns
Why Use Cloth Diapers?

And for a different angle on the diaper industry, here's an interesting look at how making disposable diapers smaller changed the industry: Smaller: The Disposable Diaper and the Meaning of Progress.

Going Granola

I have been meaning to post for some time on some of our "crunchier" habits--what better day to finally do so than Earth Day?

I am far from a raging environmentalist, but I like green things as much as anyone. I also kind of like living on this earth, raising a healthy kid, and knowing she can enjoy that healthy life on a beautiful and healthy planet (maybe even live on what's currently the coast without having to build an underwater city). Oh, and I like to save money. FunnyWriterMommy and I joke that our life mottos are: (1) Above all else, I'm lazy; and (2) Second only to lazy, I'm cheap.

So I don't think it's because we're those dirty West Coast hippies now that I have occasionally found myself placing organic vegetables into my reusable fabric grocery bag while babywearing my cloth-diaper-clad toddler. Sometimes it's to avoid filling the landfills with packaging I didn't even want in the first place. Sometimes it's to keep the budget alive--organic baby food is occasionally cheaper on sale than regular anyway. But mostly, I think, it's the mommy thing.

Something happens to us when kids come into our lives. We worry about things we never would have cared about before, like whether our plastic bottles and saran wrap are poisoning us and how to avoid food hormones so our daughters don't start puberty before they start kindergarten. We see parking lots where there used to be fields and wonder where will be left for her kids to play.

Actually the biggest thing bothering me about how we're treating the environment right now is plastic. Plastic, plastic, everywhere! Not just for things we need but for so many unnecessary things like excessive packaging that we immediately throw away and so many things we make or treat as disposable. Our consumption is so recklessly out of control. And do you know what most plastic is made from? Petroleum! You know, the non-renewable resource which also happens to be our main source of energy (and global conflict)? We are using finite, increasingly expensive resource to make things we will throw away, and then we use more petroleum to transport these things across the country and around the world so we can pay to own them for a short period of time before we transport them to a big pile in the ground or ocean where they can sit for thousands of years. Oh yeah, I'm sure that system will work indefinitely.

And so in a few small ways we try to reduce our use and maybe do something a little bit healthier for our girl in the process:

• home-mashed rather than pre-jarred baby foods--saves packaging, food transportation costs, and money on my grocery bill. It's easy enough and way cheaper for me to cook a whole bag of frozen green beans or a bunch of sweet potatoes, throw them in the blender, and pour it into ice cube trays. One cube equals 2 tablespoons; 6 mix-n-match cubes a day and she's had her veggie servings. I will say it's harder to achieve good results with meat. And no matter who makes it, there is just nothing appetizing about pureed meat!
• avoid, hand wash, and don't microwave plastics--probably the BPA in plastics thing will never be definitively proven dangerous, but in case those Canadians are proven right, we try to minimize the risk and extend the life of our plastics anyway. I did buy one stainless steel Thermos sippy cup, since my plastic ones were leaky anyway, and it's nice. If we were starting from scratch maybe I'd avoid the plastics, I don't know. (What say ye?)
• fabric grocery bags--I keep a few tote bags in the car to grab when I go in the store. No danger of the bottom busting out, and our local store has started giving $.05 off per reusable bag used.
• organic milk--Anna's whole milk is the only thing I make an effort to buy organic, simply because of all the hormones. This is what our doctor said she does for her kid about the same age.
  
• the biggie and best for us . . . CLOTH DIAPERS!--It was disposables giving us fits last week. I love love love using cloth diapers, and I could go on and on about why and how. And in a follow-up post, I will!

How about you? Do make an extra effort to do certain things for your kids' health or to reduce your environmental impact? Anything "crunchy" that works for you?

Odor Eater?

Okay, I'd like to move on from thoughts and descriptions of doggie deposits on my rug as much as anyone, but I am still dealing with it, and I figure who better to help than the Internets?

The spots are coming out very well, but I think I have an odor problem. I mean the rug has odor. I don't have a very good nose so I'm not sure if it's the smell of dog doo, carpet cleaner, baking soda, or some unholy combination of them all. I wish it would be sunny so I could put the thing outside. What's my best bet for stench removal? Will an Oxy-something product help?

Oh, and while you're at it, what's the answer to the question of life, the universe, and everything?