Cloth Diaper Retailer Cooperative

Thursday, March 24, 2011

CJ’s All Natural BUTTer, Creamy Lotion, Carcass Cleaner and Deodorant - with a Giveaway!

Hi mommies and daddies! Christy from Gorgeous and Green here. What got me started using natural body care products was going to EWG’s cosmetics database site over a year ago. I was appalled at the horrible ratings of products that I thought were “natural” and “safe”. I was using this stuff on my kids! I was determined NOT to use “mainstream” products again. In my opinion, if you can’t pronounce the ingredients and/or they’re more than 4 syllables long per word, then they can’t be good for you. Ever since I’ve been on a continuous search for natural products and I’ve found several. CJ’s All Natural are by far my favorite! Every single ingredient is listed and reading the label is so simple. It’s refreshing to have products whose ingredients are clear!

CJ’s makes many different products, all of them in over 20 delicious scents, but I limited my review to the ones I used personally.

Let’s start with the Creamy Lotion and the BUTTer. I am in my third trimester of pregnancy so having a good lotion is a must. My kids have sensitive skin, and eczema, so I also needed something that I could use all over on them without worrying about what was in it. Plus, this past winter my skin was a bit dryer than it usually is and I was SO itchy! Needless to say I was pretty excited to get these products and find that they are wonderful! They are both lotions, but the BUTTer is not as thick and from what I’ve experienced (and heard from others) it’s more moisturizing. Because of that I’ve been mostly using the creamy lotion on myself and the BUTTer on my kids (especially since the BUTTer is great for the diaper area too!). I do always have a couple of spots of dry skin right around my eyebrows, so I used the BUTTer there and it worked beautifully! My daughter had a diaper rash from her overnight diaper and for some reason one day several weeks ago she decided to scratch it and gave herself horrific cuts and made the rash worse. This was thankfully right when I started using the BUTTer and I just continued using it. The rash went away very quickly and the scratches she'd given herself healed within a week or so. I was thrilled at how well it worked! The ingredients of the lotion are: Water, shea butter, coconut oil, E-wax (emulsifier), stearlic acid, veg glycerin (moisturizer), cornstarch, phenoxyethanol (preservative), caprylyl glycol (skin conditioning agent) and sorbic acid (preservative) Another great bonus for me is that they aren’t too “smelly” at all. I have an extremely sensitive nose and can’t tolerate too much scent. These smell divine!

Next I’ll move on to the Carcass Cleaner. This product can be used as a body wash and/or hiney cleaner on baby’s bum with your cloth wipes. Right now I’ve been using it in the bath on my two older kids but when the baby’s born I fully intend to use it with my wipes. I tried it first on their bodies and hair but found that it made my daughter’s hair a little too oily. So I just use it on their bodies now. Their skin is now incredibly soft and smooth compared to when we were using products from Johnson&Johnson or any other baby/kid body wash. Even the ones marketed for dry skin and as “natural”. Ingredients are: pure olive oil castile soap, water, shea butter, coconut oil, aloe, castor oil and xanthan gum (corn sugar). Because this cleaner does not contain SLS (sodium lauryl sulfate), it does not lather up like soap or other washes, but still spreads out nicely when you use a washcloth.

Last but not least I’ll talk about the one I’m most excited about. CJ’s All Natural Deodorant! For the last several months I’ve been going deodorant-free because I could not find any alternative but yet I refused to put something on myself that had so many harmful things in it. The ingredients of most common deodorants is pretty scary. I learned that all anti-perspirants contain aluminum so I knew right away that I wasn’t going to have the luxury of those anymore and have since become more than ok with that. Then my mission was to find a deodorant that would make it possible for me to be anywhere close to another person without looks of disgust. I tried several different products including a Thai crystal stone. Nothing worked until I put on CJ’s deodorant for the first time. Fantastic! Now I smell great at the beginning of the day as well as the end! The ingredients are: lemon, lavender, tea tree, and clary sage essential oils, Beeswax, Cocoa Butter, Coconut Oil, Castor Oil, Sodium Bicarbonate and Cornstarch. An incredible combination!

Now for the really fun part! I’ll be doing a giveaway of one of the products mentioned above, or a $10 gift card to my store! To enter, follow the instructions below. Each item is worth one entry and you must comment that you’ve done that item (links must be included when appropriate). Complete every item for up to SIX chances to win! Shipping to US and Canada residents only.

• Mandatory – go to my website and find a product that you like and comment below what the product is.
• Mandatory – like Gorgeous and Green on FB
• Optional - post on Gorgeous and Green’s FB wall introducing yourself or about a fun product you found.
• Optional – go to CDRC’s FB page and “like”.
• Optional – suggest my FB page and/or CDRC’s FB page to your friends(or share on a blog or other fb page you may have) and comment below that you’ve done so.
• Optional – Share this blog post on your FB page, twitter or your blog.

Giveaway will run until Friday April 1st at midnight(EST) when I will do the drawing. The winner will be announced on my fb page as well as CDRC’s fb page. Hope you enjoyed reading my post and have fun!

Saturday, March 19, 2011

Creating a Cloth Diaper Gift Registry

Having a baby or do you have a special event coming up that you would like to create a registry for? Create a cloth diaper gift registry! That’s right, a cloth diaper gift registry. Give your baby shower guests a different option for choosing a gift for your little bundle of joy.

Need some ideas of what to add to your registry?

Here’s a few of our favourite things:

Flip by Cotton Babies: great for traveling.

Pocket Diapers: we love both bumGenius and FuzziBunz. Pocket diapers are the “workhorse” of the cloth diaper system. You can adjust the absorbency which is key in the first year.

Fitted Diapers: Sustainablebabyish Fitteds are amazing. They are made out of a cotton/bamboo blend and are bulletproof when matched up with a wool cover for overnight. They are also great in the summer when it’s just too hot out. These are super breathable and great on their own in the summer when you don’t even want to put a onesie on your little one.

Wool Cover: ultra waterproof amazing cover. Pop one of these over a fitted diaper, or even a pocket diaper for the ultimate nap- or night time leak prevention solution.

Diaper Sprayer: these are worth every single penny. Trust me, you’ll love it, particularly once you start introducing solids or if you use formula.

Wet/Dry Bags: these are so handy when you're out of the house. A pocket in the front to store your clean diapers and a waterproof pocket for the dirty diapers. Also available in a large hanging size for home or travel.

Gift Certificates: perfect for when it’s 6 months down the road and you need an extra wet bag or you want to try out the newest diaper we carry.

If you need any help in setting up your registry or planning your cloth diaper stash, send us an email, we are always happy to help and talk cloth diapers.

Julie
www.littlemonkeystore.com
Blog: www.littlemonkeystore.wordpress.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/LittleMonkeyStore
Twitter: www.twitter.com/LMSDiapers

Friday, March 18, 2011

Teething Troubles - A review of Amber Necklaces

Welcome back Katie and Ayden with another great product review!
Why I wanted to try an Amber Necklace
I had never really thought of what “style” of parenting I would use for my children. I knew I would breast feed my baby and I wanted to cloth diaper, as I am environmentally conscious and wanted to reduce the environmental impact of having a baby. It turns out those characteristics generally classify you as a “natural parent”. Once I discovered the whole world of natural parenting, I was instantly addicted. It fit so well with our lifestyle and how we wanted to raise our children. From breast feeding, to cloth diapering, to baby wearing everything clicked into place for us after my son Ayden was born.
As Ayden neared the four month mark friends started warning me about the next looming stage…. Teething. They regaled stories of sleepless nights, horrible diaper rashes and inconsolable crying babies. “Have the Tylenol and Orajel ready” they said. Now I work in healthcare, so I am not against medication when needed but I also don’t believe in giving medication to babies (or anyone for that matter) if there is another natural way to treat the ailment. So I talked to a couple of other “natural mommies” that I know and all of them highly recommended getting an Amber necklace to help with teething pain.
I am really excited to see how the Amber necklace helps Ayden as he goes through the teething process. I will keep you posted. Wish us luck, and not too many sleepless nights!!!

First week of using the Amber Necklace
There are so many choices when it comes to colours and styles of amber teething necklaces. I selected mixed amber necklace and was so impressed by how beautiful it was when it arrived. The beads were stunning and overall the necklace looked very durable. The clasp is very secure (plastic screw closure) and easy to put on a wiggly baby. When I put the necklace on Ayden I thought he might try to grab it and pull it off (try to keep a hat on this kid), but he didn’t really even notice. I was worried that it would not be comfortable underneath all of his chins (yes Ayden is a chunky monkey), but again he has had no complaints and never any red marks.
Amber necklaces are not to chew on, but rather work via contact with the skin. The necklace fits tight enough that it cannot go above his chin, and lays nicely under Ayden’s clothes and bibs. It looks so cute, and we have received many compliments since he started to wear it.
But of course the biggest question of all is… Does it actually work? And the answer is YES!!!! I was truly amazed at how well the amber necklace seemed to take the edge off Ayden’s teething pain. Prior to getting the necklace Ayden’s hands were his favorite teether, to the point where his thumbs were getting red and raw. After a couple of hours wearing the necklace I could see a difference in how often he was biting down on his hands and toys. If I forgot to put the necklace on him in the morning, I could tell by 10:00 as he was chewing on everything in sight, and overall not a happy baby. Within an hour of putting it back on him he was calm and able to play with his toys without each and everyone going into his mouth. I think the best testament to the amber necklace is that we have not had to break open the Tylenol (or any other medication), had no inconsolable crying or any sleepless nights while Ayden got his first 2 teeth.

If you have a little one that is teething, I would highly recommend getting an Amber teething necklace to help with teething pain. We have had great success using one to help with Ayden’s teething pain and plan on continuing to use it as he gets more teeth.

Wednesday, March 16, 2011

Breastfeeding Necessities

Hi! This is Bayla from Soft and Cozy Baby, a boutique in Baltimore, MD specializing in Cloth Diapers, Babywearing, and Breastfeeding supplies.

My son is now 8 weeks old and I am LOVING breastfeeding my second time around! Breastfeeding should be simple, right. Just you and the baby. No bits and pieces to take along or wash. You're ready to go whenever baby needs with no cleanup required (except for the milk mouth)!

That is true and makes breastfeeding so much nicer than bottle feeding with all its included preparation and clean-up. But I want to share some of the gadgets that I've been using which is turning breastfeeding into almost as much of an obsession as cloth diapering! I just love all these things that I've found to make the experience that much more exciting!

The first is the Undercover Mama. This awesome invention keeps your belly covered while you nurse. Instead of buying an expensive nursing tank or forfeiting your favorite bra, you can keep your bra and save money with this product. It attaches to your own bra and drops down when you release the clasp on your bra! I am living in it these days! I wear it to bed too because my belly always gets cold when I'm nursing in bed at night!

Next is the Milkies Milk Saver which was mentioned in a previous post. This thing is ingenious. All you can think about when you take off your soaking breast pads is how much milk was wasted that is now going to be wa

shed out. Especially when you need to pump and every drop counts! It is a little large and I would love one that I could wear all day long, but it's got a great design. You put it in your bra on the other side than you're nursing on. And it catches all the milk with let-down. I once collected 2 oz using this! It even comes with a heavy-duty case that acts as a stand to hold it upright.

My last ingenious invention is Milk Trays. With my first child, I couldn't believe how expensive those bags are to freeze breastmilk in. Were they really necessary? What's wrong with plain old freezer bags? Of course no one had an answer so I used them - protecting my precious breastmilk for my baby. I'd hate for it to get ruined or freezer burned. Then I saw Milk Tr

ays. They are specially designed, made of medical grade plastic, with 1 oz compartments. You pour the milk into the compartments from the bottle that you pump into. Then you freeze it. When they're frozen, you pop out the one-ounce sticks and store them in a regular freezer bag. Date the bag by the week so you use up old milk first. To defrost just put as many sticks as needed into a bottle and defrost in warm water like you normally would. This way you save every drop and don't defrost more than you need and have to throw it away. Then just rinse out the trays and reuse!

Of course, I would be remiss if I failed to mention My Brest Friend as a true nursing necessity. It provides unbelievable support and comfort, even for the new breastfeeding mama with a tiny newborn. At that early stage you truly don't have enough hands and support to keep everythin

g in place. This pillow wraps around your body and is very adjustable both in how high or low you set it and in how snug it fits around your belly. It has a flat surface so the baby doesn't roll in to you and supports your arms and back. The great thing I've found, even with nursing an older (relatively-speaking) baby, is that it comes in very handy when I'm nursing on one side and pumping on the other. I do that to maximize my pumping, which I need to do for work. The pillow completely supports the baby, so I don't need to use 2 hands to hold him, and I can hold the pump and usually still read a book or type on my laptop. For the modern woman!
My Brest Friend comes in super pattern choices, offers a plush deluxe cover option, has slipcovers that can be switched out, and even has a Twin Pillow!

Speaking of the modern breastfeeding mama, check out the Easy Expression by Medela. It comes as a halter or bustier and holds your pump in place so you're hands-free and can get things done! Truly vital if you're pumping at work. I have even heard first-hand of some women who pump in the car on their long commute. Have to be hands-free for that!

Happy Breastfeeding!

Saturday, March 12, 2011

The Great Cloth Diaper Change

Have you heard of The Great Cloth Diaper Change? If not you will hopefully be hearing more about it as we get closer to spring!

Cloth diaper retailers around the globe have signed on to be hosts for the The Great Cloth Diaper Change! This is a worldwide event dedicated to spreading the word about cloth on Earth Day, April 23rd.

Heather McNamara, of the Real Diaper Association, says that “our local volunteers are finding growing numbers of parents coming to find out about cloth diapers, whether it be for environmental, financial, or health reasons - - or even because these diapers are just plain cute!” It is the hope of the organizers that this event will be an eye opener and an inspiration for expecting and new parents to use cloth diapers.

Here are the details:

· Help set a Guinness World Record™! Follow the challenge on Facebook
http://www.facebook.com/GreatClothDiaperChange and Twitter
www.twitter.com/ClothRecord and, for frequent updates,
greatclothdiaperchange.com.

· Date and Time is Saturday, April 23 at 9AM Pacific / 12PM Eastern ‐
which means that on a global level some CD enthusiasts will gather and
do the diaper change in the middle of the night. Exact information is
available on a local level so that all participants, no matter where
they live, can find the appropriate location and time.

· A multitude of locations will be available for families all over the
U.S and around the globe, across the ocean, in Europe, Australia, and
the list keeps growing. Parents, care givers, educators, retailers,
playgroups, day care centers – anybody can apply to become an
organizer and host a location.

· Each group/location will have a minimum of 25 participants to count
for the record. Each local event will be unique, with many hosts
planning fun family activities for parents, friends and older
siblings, leading up to the specific “change” time. You won't want to
miss the local action!

· This event is part of a larger (and growing) movement. Participants
may contribute $1 (or more) at all North American events to benefit
the Real Diaper Association, the 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization
working to help families across the U.S. and Canada find and use
reusable cloth diapers.

I will be hosting a Great Cloth Diaper Change event in Toledo, and hopefully there is a retailer near you that is participating as well! For more information and to find a location near you visit www.greatclothdiaperchange.com

Here's to a great change!

Amanda
Owner
tlcdiapers.com

Friday, March 11, 2011

Travel with Cloth

We, as a family, love to travel and have since the boys were itty bitty. Asia, the Caribbean, the Rockies, the beach, Grandma's house. It is just what we do as a family and how we spend our discretionary income. Often, I am asked about traveling with cloth. After many years and lots of trial and error, I have distilled my answer down to this: It is all about the washing machine.

Its all about the Machine

If the washing machine is one you trust (that of a family member or close friend), then I say go with it and there are lots of things you can do to make it easier. However, if you are relegated to using a public washing machine, I would say “Proceed with Caution.” While some public washing machine are spotless, top of the line, power houses, many are not. There is nothing worse than washing your diapers in a machine with loads of detergent build up or where the water temperature has been turned down to save money. Coming home from vacation with diapers that need to be stripped and smell as they didn’t get clean enough is no vacation at all. It can make even the most amazing trip memories turn sour quickly.

One issue to be mindful of when using a different washing machine is that the diapers might not smell and feel the same way they do at home. Water quality differs across the country. If you have soft water in your neighborhood but travel somewhere with hard water, there may be detergent build up. Perhaps you generally use the sanitize cycle on your washing machine but the one at your destination is more basic and does not have such a feature. Recognize that you may need to do an extra rinse or two and that is simply part of the adventure of travel. Don't forget to bring your detergent. We are big fans of RockinGreen and really love their sample sizes for travel.

What else do you need?

If you do have a good washer lined up and want to do cloth, there are some things that can make life easier. Invest in a great wet bag or for a longer trip, bring along a pail liner. Toss a citrus circle or diaper buddy in there in order to keep the smells down. One or both of these really are necessary for trips. You need a place to store all the diapers and the ability to keep any smells out of the hotel room or Grandma’s guest room. There are many great ones out there with my favorites being the whimsical prints of Leslie’s Wet Bags and the bright fun colors of the FuzziBunz wet bag.

My next suggestion is to Embrace the Disposable Liner. Disposable liners can be your best friend on trips. Being able to simply flush away the solids and not foul up the diaper too much with those can be wonderful. We know some people bring diaper sprayers along with them and attach to the toilet where they are visiting. That is simply too much work for us so the disposable liners are a great idea.

The diapers you bring with you can determine how much work you do. I am a big fan of the new hybrid diapers such as the Flip by Cottonbabies for travel. They offer several choices of inserts with the disposable being the easiest to use for travel. Just take out and toss the insert and put in a new one. Easy. Even if you choose to use the stay dry or organic insert, they are easy to wash and take up very little space in your luggage. The covers can be rinsed in the sink and hung to dry. So simple it is almost fun.

What not to bring?

Wool covers, while great and when properly lanolized, extremely waterproof, are hard to dry. They must be dried flat and can take a long time, particularly in humid weather. They do not tend to be a great traveling option. In addition, we have found that if being line dried, bamboo diapers can take a bit of time to dry in humid weather.

Whatever you do, have a safe and fun trip. Remember, the most important thing to bring is your senses of humor and adventure.

Happy travels!

Giveaway

Of course we have a Giveaway! We love Flip Diapers for travel and want you to try one too! So, a Flip diaper will be given away on Feb 25th to a randomly selected entrant. In order to enter:

- Fan Cottontail Baby on Facebook

- Join the Cottontail Baby mailing list

- Fan the Cloth Diaper Retailer Cooperative on Facebook

- Fan the Cloth Diaper Retailer Cooperative blog

Good luck!

Thursday, March 10, 2011

Stripping? What's that mean?

I couldn't possibly count the number of times I get this question from cloth diapering families. I remember my first experience with hear this word associated with cloth diapers when my first set of cloth diapers were leaking. I remember standing in the kitchen calling the previous owner of Wee Willie Winks and saying I think my diapers are defective. I had just started using them and they were leaking. Kristy assured me they were not defective, but I need to strip them. I have had the same conversation with many families.

How does build-up happen? First of all it comes from using too much detergent. When you think about washing dirty, stinky diapers you would naturally think to use more detergent, but with cloth diapers using less detergent is more. Using half of the recommended detergent from the label is standard. Secondly, build up can just happen from having hard water. Hard water has more minerals in it than soft water. The minerals trap dirt in the fibers. Lastly, maybe your wash routine is not effective. A wash routine should consist of a cold rinse cycle, a long hot wash cycle, and a cold rinse cycle. That's three complete washing cycles.

What's an effective way to strip diapers? There are many ways to strip diapers. One of the first ways is to add extra rinse cycles at the end of your wash routine. If you are still seeing bubbles in the washer after rinsing the diapers on the last cycle then you need to rinse again. Bubbles indicates detergent still in the material of the diapers. If the material is full of detergent residue then they will leak. If rinsing is not working for you then you may want to first check and see what the manufacturer suggest you do to strip them especially if your diapers are still under warranty. Check on the manufacturer's name below for their recommendations:

bumGenius

Thirsties

Happy Heinys

Bummis

FuzziBunz

AppleCheeks

Knickernappies

All the cloth diaper companies vary slightly in what they recommend for stripping which can make it difficult when your diaper stash is a mixed lot.

My favorite method for getting out detergent build up is to use regular blue Dawn. With this method, wash your diapers first then add 1 Tablespoon (about half with a front loader) to a long wash cycle. You will need to do many rinses until all the bubbles are gone and the water runs clear. This can be a very long process because it's dish detergent and it bubbles up more than laundry detergent, but it's worth it.

If mineral build up is the issue with your diapers, then using RLR Laundry Treatment will help. RLR removes minerals from fabric. It's amazing what it will do for microfiber inserts. To use RLR, do a rinse cycle, then add RLR and a little detergent to a long hot wash, then follow with rinse cycles until bubbles are gone.

Another method is to soak in Rockin' Green Soap. I've soaked my diapers over night in the washing machine with Rockin' Green. Using Rockin' Green fill your washer with hot water and 3 Tbsp* of Rockin’ Green, along with your diapers. Let it soak for approximately 30-60 minutes. Then launder as usual, skipping the soap. If you have a lot of build up you may need to repeat this process a few times. Because Rockin' Green brings all the build up to the surface your diapers may get worse before they get better, but don't give up.

Leaking, stinky diapers are never fun! So if you are in this dilemma don't despair ask your local retailer for help or contact the manufacturer for suggestions.

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