Flays Challenge Day Seven

I made it!! One week of handwashing my Son's diapers!  I am glad to be going back to using my washer and dryer, though I feel that I may end up air drying my diapers from time to time to feel as though I'm saving a bit of energy.

How did it go?  It was  not hard, actually.  What was difficult was that, while it didn't take that long to wash and hang up diapers, it seemed to take a large chunk of time to manage to do just that.  My son required a nursing break halfway through washing almost everyday.  He also would holler for a variety of other offenses that needed Mommy fixing and was not very happy about being worn while I was washed most of the time (more movement than he is used to).  So the 20 minutes of washing would take about 45 minutes to an hour out of my day.  Time that is precious to me.  I suppose with time and practice we would workout the kinks and have a streamlined washing routine.

The sweat!  We try to keep our house warmer to save on utilities.  I was washing with hot water in a small bathroom with little ventilation.  Ick!  I felt all grimy after every wash.  Especially on the days that Honey Badger was okay to be worn on my back.  That's an easy fix though, I just didn't feel like setting up a fan every wash.

I feel like this is a valid option for the average family.  Once a routine is established it would not take much time at all.  Even if a family chose not to do cloth full-time, they would be able to save money on part-time cloth or have cloth as an option for tight months when disposables were not in the budget.  Camp-washers would be the method of washing that I would recommend.  I like to think that a camp-washer set up is really simple and can be easy to DIY.

Flats Challenge Day Six

Open topic today.

The almighty flat diaper!

I love my flats.

It really doesn't get much more minimalist than flats in covers, that is unless you do elimination communication.  There is no sizing, no elastic, no special care, etc.

I could have tidy looking white flats, flats dyed any which way I choose, or flats with nifty prints.

I could have a stash of flats for less than $10 by chopping up thrift shop xxl t-shirts and cotton sheets or I could spend $100+ on organic bamboo terry flats.  

My child will not grow out of them.  I my need to fold them differently and double them up as he grows, but they will last him until he is potty trained.

I can explore the many different folds and find the one fold that fits my son perfectly.  Absolute customization.

I can fasten them on with Pins or Snappis or Boingos.  Or I could just pad-fold them and lay in a cover when I'm not up for anything fancy.

Flats can be used as easy to clean stuffers for pocket diapers.

Flats are very trim.

Flats are much easier to hand-wash due to only have one layer of fabric.  They line-dry quickly.  Line-dried flats soften up easily with a little handling.

Flats are easy to get clean in the washing machine without having to do extra washes.  They dry very quickly in the dryer.  Energy efficiency is their game.

Every diapering parent should have flats in their emergency preparedness kit.

My flats will probably see two or more children through their diapering days and then be passed on to another family or find another use in my home.

I get a very Pioneer Woman / Little House on the Prairie / Tree-hugging Hippie vibe when I deviate from my normal pad-folding ways to fold a flat all fancy and pin it on my son.  I can hear my inner Earth Mother roaring... and I like it.

Flats Challenge Day Five

What is working for me? What isn't?

Honestly, I chose one method of washing (camp washer) and one method of drying (drying rack indoors with a fan) and it's been working really well for me.  I may even be getting my diapers and wipes a bit cleaner than my machine as I've noticed that my cloth wipes are absorbing liquid faster.  Perhaps it's that I can tell that I've rinsed all the soap out by the lack of suds in the bucket and my machine is leaving some soapy residue behind.  I don't know for sure, but I may be making adjustments to my machine washing routine after this challenge.

I've tried different methods of softening my flats after they hang to dry.  Twisting and scrunching them as though I'm trying to wring out water works well, but is tiring on the hands.  Holding them by one corner and pulling them through my tightly clenched fist is not so hard on the hands, but I can't help but think of the sweat and skin cells I'm leaving behind on his nice clean diapers.  Beating them against the crib rail a couple times is my favorite way to soften them up.  I hold one side bunched up in my hand and "whip" the rail a few times.  Then I switch to the opposite side and "whip" the rail a few more times.  Now I've got nice soft flats and my hands don't hurt at all.

We haven't deviated much from our normal diapering routine.  Before the Flats Challenge, we used pad-folded flats laid in covers and fastened on during the day and a large prefold with a hemp doubler at night.  These past four nights I've used a pad-folded flat laid in a kite-folded flat and fastened with Boingos.  This has been plenty of absorbency for us, though if he nurses a lot during the night his diaper is pretty darned soaked under the cover.

Flats Challenge Day Four

What are my thoughts on handwashing?

Handwashing isn't incredibly hard when you're doing such small amounts as daily.  It is still time consuming, though.  With a six-month old demanding your attention every five seconds even more so.   I've been feeling as though I have a lot less time in the morning.  I'm sure that with time and practice I could become more efficient.  I feel as though I'm gaining a small appreciation for the efforts of my ancestors.  The amount of work that would go into washing clothing for a large family by hand is a bit overwhelming.

My routine is cold soak with all diapers/covers/wipes in the bucket.  Then I separate into smaller loads and hot wash with soap, hot rinse, and cold rinse each load.  That is a lot of refilling the bucket and using my Mobile Breathing Washer.  The Washer pushes and pulls water through the fabric in the bucket and cleans very effectively.  

This morning there were only seven diapers to be washed along with four diaper covers and several wipes.  A prefold mysteriously ended up in my wash... later I found that my husband had grabbed a prefold accidentally during a crazy poopy incident.  The first load went smoothly, but I had to put Honey Badger up on my back for the second load and hanging them up.  He was very interested in what I was doing and practically crawling up my back to look over my shoulder.  Babywearing has become a lot more challenging as of late.

I think that one of my biggest concerns was how to handle nighttime diapering.  So far my fears were unfounded.  I've been doing a Boingo'd kite fold with a second flat padfolded as a doubler.  A little bulky?  Yes, but it keeps the sheets dry.

Flats Challenge Day Three

This morning was a really good start to my day for handwashing.  I still had three wash-bucket loads due to re-washing some of our camping diapers with the smokey smell to them.  We used ten diapers over the course of a day, two covers, and several wipes.  Washing at home where I can put my wash-bucket in the bathtub and not haul water was wonderful. 

I'm hanging them to dry in the nursery with a fan blowing on them.  I'm really fond of the way my tie dyed flats look all hanging together that way.  To soften them up after hanging dry, I give them a couple wringings as if I was trying to wring out water.

Honey Badger, who generally poops once a week, has pooped three times since I started this challenge.  It's like he's trying to make sure it's really a challenge. ;^)

It's open topic for bloggers today.

After washing my diapers, I feel a sense of accomplishment.  My muscles have been worked and the results are tangible.  It is similar to how I feel when I create something through knitting or sewing or embroidery, though not quite so fun.  I firmly believe that we are hard-wired to need physical work like that.  Physical work and tribal atmosphere.

The average person, living in a developed nation, spends far too much time sedentary and solitary.  We really should get up and get out.  Set aside our smartphones/tablets/computers/television and take a walk with friends.  Start community gardens and enjoy the harvest with our "tribe".  Set up freezer meal groups so that families can work together to lessen each others burdens. 

I can't pretend like I do any of these things. I'm just as lazy and technology addicted as the rest of the developed world.  I will be going back to using my washer and dryer after this challenge.  But I feel inspired, and that's a start.

Flats Challenge Days One and Two

This year I am participating in the Flats and Handwashing Challenge hosted by Dirty Diaper Laundry!

Day One

Why?

I'm doing the Flats and Handwashing Challenge this year because I want to show that cloth diapers are a valid option for just about every family.  There was a lot of negative reactions to my decision to cloth diaper and most of it was about the washing.  I want to show my friends, family, and the world that it's really not bad at all.  Even if one occasionally or frequently has to hand-wash one's own diapers.

Day One started out uneventful since we use flats with covers as our day to day diapers.  Though I'm playing around with folds.  Our first diaper of the day was a Kite folded flat under a Diaper Safari Cover fastened with Boingo fasteners.

 

Our afternoon was spent driving to a campsite.  When we got there I decided that I would do our diaper laundry in the morning.

Day Two

Supplies and Preparation.

I purchased three dozen small flats from Green Mountain Diapers when I was pregnant with my son and am using our regular covers.  For the challenge I purchased a Mobile Breathing Washer for $20 and a five gallon bucket from Lowe's for $2.  Knowing that I was going to take pictures of my flats, I purchased a tie dye kit for $15.  I'm using a sample package of Rockin' Green Diaper Detergent and a couple sample packages of Bumgenius Diaper Detergent for the week, free.  In total, I spent $37 for the challenge and used mostly what I already had available to me.

After an awful night of insanely low temperatures, I washed my diapers and canceled the rest of our trip.  The diapers were not totally dry when we left the campground and have an overwhelming wood smoke odor.  They are hanging to dry the rest of the way in the nursery.  I think I may need to wash them again.

Washing at the campground was difficult due to having to haul the water.  Washing with the Breathing Washer and a five gallon bucket is not difficult aside from that.  For a little over a days worth of changes, I had twelve diapers, four covers, and several wipes.  I can only wash about 5-6 diapers at a time in the bucket, so multiple loads.

So far so good and I'm not too worried about finishing the challenge.

Half a Year with a Honey Badger Baby

I can't believe that Honey Badger Baby has been earthside for six months now.  That I've been a Mom for half a year is bizarre.  It has gone by so fast and yet, at times, it feels as though it's been so much longer.

Shortly after Honey Badger turned three months old, he had to have surgery to repair bilateral inguinal hernias.  The surgery went well, though once inside it became apparent that it was worse than first thought and needed a bit more work than expected.  My little trooper did amazingly!  That first night after surgery was tough, but after just a few days he acted as though hadn't had surgery at all.  We couldn't babywear for a few weeks afterward and that was a major adjustment.  I have become very dependent on my ability to wear my son and he is very much a want-to-be-held type of child.  I have a new respect for those parents that do not know about or use a carrier of some sort.

Our breastfeeding relationship has been evolving.  Few and far between are the long, focused nursing sessions.  Mostly he is just very distracted with this great big world he was ejected into.  So he nurses a bit, looks around a bit, nurses a bit more whilst playing with my shirt, unlatches to smile at my face, and then goes back to nursing.  Other times he just grabs a quick snack and goes back to investigating everything.  I cherish those moments in the middle of the night or right before a nap in which he nurses like a newborn again.  I did not have a chance to appreciate those moments nearly enough in the beginning.

I have now experienced mothering a teething child.  It is not something that I would wish on anyone else in this world.  Witnessing your child's pain, the lack of sleep for both of you, the frustration of not being able to make it better for him.  Awful.  Teething is hell.

Now that he has two teeth he enjoys attempting to tear the flesh from my fingers occasionally.

Our family took a trip to the East coast when he was four months old to attend a dear friend's wedding.  Honey Badger did wonderfully on our flights there and back.  I had so much anxiety over flying with him.  It was not easy, that is for sure.   He wore a tuxedo to the wedding and made friends with just about everyone.    Breastfeeding, co-sleeping, and babywearing made the entire trip much more bearable.

Oh, the noises this little beast makes!  He is developing quite the "vocabulary" of sounds.  Most of these are akin to the sounds made by the Velociraptors in the movie, Jurassic Park.  It can be a bit overwhelming to the ears when he sounds off while being carried.  While playing he will repeatedly screech at the loudest volume he can muster.  I have never loved such obnoxious noises this much, nor expected that a human being could actually make them.  He especially loves to sound off during Papa Bear's sleeping time...

Sitting!  On his own!  Sure, I have to sit him up, but he holds that position like a champ.  Manipulating everything he can reach with his hands and mouth.  I love watching him learn to use his body.  I especially love that this new position allows him to be the little scientist he was born to be and investigate his surroundings more thoroughly than before.  He wants to see what is going on.  He wants to check out everything that is in my hands.  "What is that?"  "Is it food?"  "Is it a friend?"  "Oh this is fun!"

Crawling!  Okay, so we are only scooting around (mostly backward and in circles), but he is no longer confined to the place that I set him.  With quite a bit of effort, he can get elsewhere.  Perhaps not the elsewhere that he was intending to reach, but elsewhere none the less.

Babywearing is still a big part of our lives, though he enjoys floor time and jumper time now.  My skill with my favorite carriers is growing.  I normally use Podeagis at home and a ring sling while out and about for quicker ups and downs.  I have purchased my first "real" wrap, an Ellaroo Kristen and hope that I will eventually be proficient with that as well.  I *heart* babywearing!!

Our first pool adventure was a smashing success and I'm sure that I will be spending far more time in the pool this year than I did last year.

Excited to see how we develop in these next 6 months!
 

The Great Avocado Adventure

Two days ago, Papa Bear and I decided that it was about time that Honey Badger Baby gets to explore solid foods.  Avocado.  Not necessarily for nutritive purposes, but to explore the texture and taste. 
And so I set the little beast on the floor with some prefolds underneath to catch his mess and a plate of chunked, ripe avocado in front of him. 

The plate was quickly abandoned as he chose to dump it's contents into the prefolds beneath.  Then the squishing began.  Because it is super fun to squish avocado with one's hands.  But try as he might, those slippery green nuggets were far to difficult to get to his mouth for a taste. 

Mama Bear and Papa Bear to the rescue.  His first real taste was quite a shock.  Grimacing and shuddering.  Then he came back for more.  Eventually I just held a chunk in the palm of my hand and he would lean over to suck and gnaw on it.  There was a lot of gagging and funny faces made, but he kept going back for more. After quite a bit of smushing and avocado gnawing, we headed for the bathtub to rinse the drying green crustiness from between my little Honey Badger's toes.