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3/26/2020 1 Comment Cloth Diapering 101: What I Learned with my First Born Twins and What I Got Right the Second Time Around. Everything You’ll need For Cloth Diapering Success.  After choosing to cloth diaper my children, I quickly learned how little I knew about cloth diapering! I didn’t know anyone who used cloth diapers personally, but the choice was right for my family (you can read more about how we came to the decision HERE). I watched a few videos on how to wash diapers properly and how the snaps worked. I thought that was enough to just GO! I was wrong. After many years of trial and error, I have created the ultimate list of things that you need in order to have a successful time with cloth diapering. So check it out, and add whatever you think you’ll need to your Amazon Diaper registry (don’t have one? Sign up here) so you are ready on day one. Disclosure: Us Mama's are busy and we have the gift of home delivery, so for your convenience I have included some links of my favorite things from Amazon. I may receive some commissions for any purchases that you make through those links, making it possible for me to give you more tips to be a healthy and happy mama. Thank you for your support! 
I am not going to lie- having used cloth diapers for roughly two years with my twin sons was exhausting. There’s no way around poop when you use cloth diapers- it’s just one of the con’s that you get used to. You have to plan for poop during car rides, trips to the zoo, staying the weekend with nana and papa, flights across the country. That all might sound like so much extra stress, and especially if you don’t have a good system like I didn’t the first time around. In the beginning it was fine but as the boys got bigger we were out and about more, and I realized quickly I didn’t have the right stuff. I wasted so much energy by not having the right things set up first. Here is how I changed my mindset and my game plan when it came to using cloth diapers with my daughter. Daily Struggles to Cloth Diapering 1. The smell 2. Rising out the poop 3. Diaper bag planning
Will the babies room always smell bad?
I was not prepared for the amount of laundry that would need to be done when we had twins. My husband and I were used to leaving clothes dirty for a week or more, and in the early years of our marriage it wasn’t uncommon for me to just go buy new clothes instead of doing laundry. Becoming a mom certainly forces you to be more disciplined. If you are considering cloth diapers, then laundry is going to be a skill you need to master. Especially if you want to avoid the odors. The best way that we found to deal with the smell is having a plan of how you store the dirty diapers until you’re ready to wash and then working them into a consistent wash schedule. 
Dry/wet diaper pail storage
I highly suggest getting a pail liner wet bag. Wait, I highly recommend getting AT LEAST two (I have four) pail liners. These hold in the smell, prevent mold, and are easy to use. Used diapers without soil go straight into the bag. Everything else gets a quick rinse and then goes in. Once you’re ready to wash you simply grab the bag and dump the contents into the wash. I recommend turning the liner inside out when you throw it in as well to get out any remaining debris. I have found liners with a drawstring to be the best at keeping the smell out, but you want to make sure that the mouth of the bag is large enough to go over whatever pail you are using.
For the pail we have right now we use a liner with elastic, but have drawstrings liners for when we aren’t at home. With the twins I simply put a liner over a common trash can because I had heard that the more air available the less the smell stuck around. I found out later that the twins little hands too easily found their way into the liner though (that’s mom life though).
This time around we converted a traditional flip tip diaper pail to fit our liners so that the lid keeps the smell in and baby hands out, but a flip top trash can could work as well.
Deodorizer
An additional way to help with the smell is to use a deodorizer in your pail. When I first started, I simply used 2tbsp of baking soda about a 2tbsp at the bottom of my liner with a few drops of lemon essential oils, and that worked pretty ok. If you really want to beat the smell though, I found that charcoal deodorizer bags are the best at eliminating orders without harsh chemicals smell. I use Ninja Mama’s because they are eco-friendly and can be used more than once. Two go in my daughters’ room and one goes in my baby bag.
What about the extra dirty diapers?
Whether you use cloth diapers or disposable you are going to deal with poop. It’s just a part of motherhood and that’s ok. But do be scared off of cloth diapering just because you can’t simply throw it away. If I could deal with twin boys in cloth diapers, then you can certainly do it! Two of my biggest mistakes with the twins involved not having the right tools for cleaning out the diapers before the wash. Buying the right tools with my daughter has made such a huge difference in the ease of everything and has really helped my own attitude towards it. Toilet Sprayer Whatever your diaper plans are please please go out and get a toilet sprayer! Whether it’s for spraying out diapers, a onesie that took a blow out, or cleaning up a toddler mess these things are a game changer. We bought the Spray-Pal off of Amazon because it has two modes for pressure, and a control to turn it “off” so the twins would be discouraged to play with it. The alternative to not having a sprayer is dunking the diaper into toilet water and using a brush to clean it off. Which is the kind of horror story that keeps people from trying cloth diapers. I don’t want that for you! Cloth Diapers on the go? You probably already have an idea of what you need to have in your diaper bag. Extra set of clothes, binky, diaper cream, wipes. But here are two things that I found are especially useful to have when you have cloth diapers. Travel wet bags These bags come in so many fun patterns and colors that make them so much fun! It’s another one of those items I suggest getting even if you use disposable diapers because you never know when you’ll have wet or muddy cloths that you need to stash on the go. My personal favorite is on Amazon called Alva baby. These bags have the best deal, really great quality, and they have zippers which I find great at keeping the smell in. Though I still prefer drawstrings for the larger bags. Peri Bottle You might remember these bottles from your postpartum hospital kit. If you didn’t hang on to yours don’t worry you can easily getsome cheap on amazon. I keep an empty one in my diaper bag at all times. When we are out and about and little girl does her thing I don’t want to dunk the diaper in a public restroom so I use these as a makeshift sprayer. This is also what I take with us when we visit family or are flying. The pressure isn’t as strong so you may need to fill it two or three times, but this is way better than having nothing.
So there you have it! My complete list of everything you need for a successful Cloth diapering experience. Any questions? Would you recommend anything else? Leave a comment below!
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3/21/2020 5 Comments Tricks to help with grouchy kids. Stop your children from pouting with these simple tips.
My Daughters showing Good Attitudes thanks to these tips!
Are your kids grouchy, moody, or always pouting? I totally get it. Here are my solutions that have worked time and time again in my own family. As a mom of 2 preschoolers and a baby, I know how real the struggle is to keep spirits high and everyone content. Before I was a mom and worked in the fitness industry (which you can read about here), I worked with students in after school programs and summer camps and I picked up a few tricks along the way. I know how difficult it can be to keep the peace with younger kids, so I wrote up my top tips to keep your kids spirits high while school is out. Disclosure: Us Mama's are busy, and we have the gift of home delivery, so for your convenience I have included some links of my favorite things from Amazon. I may receive some commissions for any purchases that you make through those links, making it possible for me to give you more tips to be a healthy and happy mama. Thank you for your support! Interested in my top ways to help grouchy kids? Keep reading... are your kids thirsty?
When it comes to cranky kids, there is always one thing I check first.
No matter what, the first thing that I check with my kids is if they are dehydrated. When kids are dehydrated, their bodies need to work much harder, which can be exhausting which translates into a grumpy kid. To stop this problem before it begins, I always try to come up with little ways to encourage more water drinking and the most successful method is a Water Challenge. Its a week long challenge to help encourage more water consumption while taking away some stress on me. In fact, the Kids Water Challenge was so successful that I will send it to you for free.
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AuthorHello! I'm Christine. Archives
September 2020
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