Mama Cloth

There are many reasons why a woman may want to try re-usable menstrual cycle products. There are several options available, but the focus of this post will be mama cloth. Mama cloth is simply a pad that you re-use. They are made of many different materials, styles, colors, prints, etc. You can buy them from a WAHM, a cloth diaper store, online, or even make your own. Mama cloth comes in all different sizes and absorbency.

What are some reasons a woman might want to switch from disposable products to re-usable?

Chemicals 

Disposable products are full of chemicals. They are bleached, typically with chlorine, are full of plastic, and most have odor neutralizers or fragrances. Because they are considered medical devices, manufacturers do not have to disclose all of the ingredients in your pads and tampons. 

Think about it. You are placing these items up against or IN your lady bits...  

A lot of ladies also discover that using cloth pads has helped them to have lighter periods that are over quicker and they experience less cramps. Anecdotal, yes, but I have also found it to be true for me. 

Cost

I estimate that when I used disposable pads and tampons, I spent $10-15 a month. I started my menstrual cycle when I was age 11. The average age menopause starts is age 51, according to Web M.D. For me, that is 40 years of menstrual  cycle. I have five sons, so take off 45 months of pregnancy and average postpartum cycle started at 4 months, so take off another 20 months. That leaves me with 415 months of having a period. Multiply that by $15 and that is $6225 in disposable menstrual cycle products in my life time!

Luna Pads are a popular brand. Their deluxe kit is $145.89. I decide to buy two kits, spending $291.78. Say they only last 3 years, which is a very low estimate, since they will only be used monthly and not daily. Even purchasing two new deluxe kits every three years, I will only spend $3793.14 in my lifetime. That is a difference of $2431.86! There are so many different cloth pad brands out there and I know some are less expensive. If you make your own, the savings will be even more! I don't know about you, but there is a lot I can do with an extra $2500! 

I rinse my cloth pads and either throw them in with my cloth diapers or I wash them with my towels. I then throw in the dryer on low, so having cloth pads does not increase my utilities at all. 

Environment

Let's face it: anything we can re-use and not throw away helps with landfills and our environmental footprint. 

In conclusion, Mama Cloth for the WIN!!!

Knickernappies. They are stackable for asorbency. 

Postpartum made by me! Snap in inserts, reusable shells, with a sleeve for an ice pack. 

Fuzzibunz, panty liners, medium, and heavy flow sizes.

Pink Daisy, light, heavy, and overnight.

Inserts, inserts, inserts!

Inserts are what you stuff into your pocket diaper or lay in a cover. There several different kinds of inserts.

Microfiber~ this insert cannot go against a baby's delicate little heiney. It will dry it out too much and lead to rash. Microfiber sucks moisture up very quickly and works pretty well for when babies are little. A lot of babies start to experience compression leaks with microfiber as they get bigger and pee more, at a higher output rate.

Microfiber blends~ These are microfiber with another material on top. The one in the picture is bamboo on top and microfiber on the bottom. The bamboo side can go against the skin. 

Bamboo~ this insert can go against a baby's heiney. Bamboo absorbs quickly and can hold more than microfiber. It is also thinner and very trim. Bamboo is naturally anti-bacterial and anti-microbial, so it is great for little heiney's that are prone to rash.

Hemp~ this insert can hold a ton of moisture, but it absorbs super slow, so it is best paired with a microfiber or bamboo insert on top of it. It can also go right against the heiney. Hemp is also anti-bacterial, anti-microbial, and anti-fungal. It is a favorite for overnight since it contains so much urine.

Charcoal Bamboo~ sadly, there is controversy over these inserts as they are so new and use nano-technology in their manufacture. My personal experience is that they work wonderfully and can hold a lot of moisture. I love to use them with my toddler. They can sometimes absorb slower than a child pees. To combat this, I either stuff into a pocket with another type of insert on top of it or I just put the insert right next to the skin. The compression helps it absorb faster. *Note: the controversy is in the online world of cloth. There are many blog posts about it when you Google the inserts. As with anything, they are opinion. Take them with a grain of salt. Many, many people have used the inserts with success. I only spoke of the controversy because it is out there.

Prefolds~ I know several people who tri-fold a prefold and stuff into a pocket diaper. This is a bit bulkier, but absorbs great! They are 100% cotton and you can get them bleached or unbleached. There are many, many different folds and you can use pins, a Snappi, or just tri-fold and lay in a cover. Prefolds can go right up against the skin. They are not stay-dry.

Prefolds, blended~ These are just blends of materials. Bamboo/cotton, hemp/cotton, etc.

Flats~ Like prefolds, these are folded and stuffed in the pocket diaper. The flats will be a little bit trimmer, but still bulkier than the other kinds of inserts. As with prefolds, there are many ways to fold these to use with a cover and either pins or a Snappi, or just lay in the cover.

Family Cloth

Family Cloth. Yes, you read right, family cloth! This is when you use cloth wipes instead of toilet paper. There are multiple reasons to use family cloth. It saves money, gets you a better clean, and doesn't leave behind little pieces. My sons cannot stand dingleberries and neither can my husband. Let's face it, women get them too!

My family keeps toilet paper on hand for guests, so don't be scared when you come visit!

In my personal rest room, I put a size small wetbag, cloth wipes, and a spray bottle with solution.Wipes can be used dry (for pee) and wet (for poop). Unlike baby wipes where you are getting ALL the poo from ALL over their rears, family cloth poo wipes don't really get much on them. In our household, each person is responsible for spraying off their own wipes if it gets, um, "chunks". Then the wipes are put in the small wetbag and I wash them when I wash cloth diapers.

In the restroom our sons use, we have a spray bottle of solution and a wipes container that I have accordion folded wipes into. Once the wipes are sprayed off, they just get put into the diaper pail that is next to the toilet.

I know some people are grossed out about the idea of reusable toilet paper. especially since it isn't just babies it is being used on. I encourage you to keep an open mind and give it a try. You might be surprised and like family cloth. It helps when each person that is old enough can spray off their own wipes. If you are not using cloth diapers, you can just give your wipes a really good rinse and wash with your towels. 

So, give it a try and please come back and comment on how it went (haha)!

Cloth Wipes

In recent news, Huggies disposable wipes are causing skin rashes!

If you or your child are suffering from a rash you just can't kick, it may be your disposable baby wipes. I have yet to find a disposable wipe that I can use. They all break my hands out. Once I started using cloth wipes, my rash on my hands pretty much went away.

I have used many, many wipe solutions in the past. Sometimes, I just use water. I prefer to use something with a little soap in it for this reason: our babies poop typically gets all over their genitals and butt cheeks. I know that we adults do not clean ourselves with a soap solution each time we use the restroom, but I assume that adults are not getting poop up by their penises and vaginas, or all over their butt cheeks.

My test is to smell my baby's heniey. If I smell poop, then poop is still there, even if I can't see it.

I accordion fold my wipes into a wipes container that you can buy at any store for less than $3. I typically get the Huggies containers because they are so cute and just toss the wipes that come with it.

Dirty Diaper Laundry has a great video demonstrating how to accordion fold.

As for wipes solutions, my favorite so far is:
1.75 C water
1 T soap (I like Cetaphil as it is intended to be used wet or dry, and wipes away clean)

I mix and then pour over my wipes that I have accordion folded into the container. I typically pour it over 30-45 wipes and that lasts 2-3 days, so the solution does not have time to mildew.

For wipes used on pee only, I toss into the wetbag with the diaper. For wipes used on poop, I spray clean with my diaper sprayer when I spray off the poopy diaper, then toss in the wetbag. I do like to have two wipes containers. One that is being used and one that is prepared with folded wipes and ready for solution. Then I never run out of wipes and have to scramble.

For wipes on the go, I fold about ten wipes into an on the go container. I bring a spray bottle with some premixed wipes solution in it. When changing a diaper, I spray either the wipe or baby's heiney, wipe, then toss in the wetbag. This way, I never forget about wet wipes in the diaper bag. I used to pre-wet my wipes for the diaper bag and after a couple times of them getting mildew or mold, I started bringing dry wipes and the spray bottle.

There are several wipes solutions out there, as well as bits and concentrations. A lot of people also like to add some essential oils for scent and to prevent mildew. I cannot do this as my sons's heiney is too sensitive. 

Next week, I will have a post about family cloth, so come back soon! 

December 25th

MERRY FLUFF-MAS!!!

Merry Christmas to everyone!

December 23rd and 24th

I fell asleep last night before I could get the blog post up! I blame it on the major cleaning of the house that I did to prepare for Christmas.

The diaper for December 23rd is a diaper I made from Babyville Boutique. It is a size small, trim fit. You can see the lines from where my baby's other diaper sat. I love how trim this diaper is! If I didn't already have enough cloth diapers for three babies, I would make more of these.

Always wiggling and moving now.

He has a present!

Super trim. You can see the elastic line from his other diaper.

I adore this print!

Reaching for the ornaments again!

The second diaper is a Happy Flute named Jolly Holiday. I have been saving this one especially for Christmas Eve. It puts me in the mood to wrap presents. Yes, I seriously procrastinated that... oops!

He must get that ornament.

Almost, so close!

LOVE the colors!

Success!

 And in the mouth it goes!

December 22nd

There is a reason you should not sew when you are tired. I was making a really cute diaper and messed up when I put the leg elastic in the wrong spot. This effectively ruins the PUL in that spot, leading to a potential for leaks and making it so I cannot just move the elastic.

Cue the stand-in rescue my 25 Days of Christmas Fluff diaper! My baby boy is wearing a Green Bee's diaper in wonderful, plain white. What I love about white diapers is that they can be paired with pretty much anything legging and shirt wise. In the end, I am not too sad that I ended up using a Green Bee tonight, simply because it gives me a chance to link to another local mama and show off her business!