Caring for your cloth

While most cloth diapering sites will tell you to use specialty laundry soap, and a complicated laundering system; my experience is different however. Wash your diapers every other day or even better every day. When removing a soiled diaper dump solid waste into the toilet. This will not be neccessary until baby starts solids. This sounds unpleasurable or difficult but in reality the bowl movement rolls right of the  material. When washing diapers use hot water and 1/2 the amout of your normal detergent and dry on a low heat setting. If you noticed any staining on your diapers after washing you can sun bleach your diapers by hanging to dry outside in a sunny location. You do not need a perfect beach day for this to work. Do not add fabric softeners or dryer sheets as these will make your stash less absorbent. You should also avoid typical diaper rash creams.  Cloth diapered children rarely get diaper rash or need cream however if your little one does ; I recommend a specialty cream made specifically for cloth diapering. If baby has been diagnosed with a yeast infection or your diapers begin to smell wash your diapers in hot water with 1 tbsp of dish soap. I personally use dawn. This process is called striping and will renew your diapers.

Is your formula safe?

Do you read ingredient labels? Would you feed your toddler a meal with the first ingredient being corn syrup? Sounds outrageous, right? The sad truth is the first ingredient in baby formula is just that, corn syrup! Highly processed GMO soy is the second even in milk based formulas.

While even organic formula isn't perfect , it does help avoid things like pesticides GMOs and growth hormones. They usually still contain the following ingredients, which should be avoided...

Soy- the majority of soy is genetically modified and provessed with hydrogen-cyanide. Formulas containing soy have high levels of plant derived estrogen. Blood levels of infants who consume this formula show blood levels of 22,000 times greater than natural estrogen levels. While the science is still inconclusive, high estrogen levels are thought to cause premature puberty in girls and possible sterility in boys. Even milk based formula contain soy based fillers!
palm oil- this oil is added to try and replicate a nutrient , palmitic acid, that naturally occurs in breast milk. However, infants can not properly digest palm oil. Children fed formula containing palm oil were found to have decreased bone density.
DHA/ARA- is naturally occuring in breast milk. replicating these healthy oils using fish is extremely expensive because of this formula companies have since began extracting DHA/ARA from algea using toxic chemicals. This type of DHA/ARA has no effect on infant health or developement and should be avoided because it contains toxic residue. These chemicals are even used in the organic formulas!
Carrageenan- is naturally derived from seaweed and is used to stabilize liquid formula. Science suggests consuming carrageenan leads to bowel disease, intestinal inflammation and colon tumors.
Preservatives - are added to keep the oils in formula from spoiling, however the majority of these chemicals are carcinogenic and should therefore be avavoide.
Synthetic nutrients - The FDA tequires formula to contain such high levels of nutrients that it is impossible for them to occur naturally in the ingredients that make up formula. So, sythetic ones are added. Most synthetic nutrients are derived from a toxic process or leave behind a toxic by product.
Sugar- Breast milk is naturally sweet, to mimic this the majority of formula both organic and non organic contain high fructose corn syrup. Which can lead to sugar addiction, obesity, and diabetes. Another popular sugar used is brown rice syrup. Formulas containing BRS contain 6x the safe limit of arsenic. Babies and toddlers should avoid all rice products even ones geared toward babies as high arsenic levels are dangerous.
You can not get a perfect formula in the united states. The best FDA approved option is Baby's only organic. It is not DHA free but it does use a non toxic me method of extracting and it is soy and palm oil free. All FDA approved formulas comtain synthetic nutrients, which make it unavoidable in the US. The sweeteners that are used are lactose (the closest to breast milk) and filtered BRS. The complicated filter used removes arsenic to undetectable levels. While Holle and Hipp are actually safer they are NOT FDA approved. Which means accessing them in the us is difficult and expensive.

Formulas to avoid are The Honest company,Gerber, Enfamil, Similac and most store brands. All contain several of our avoided ingredients.

To truely know what you are feeding your little one always read your ingredient labels and remember to avoid these ingredient when possible,

-Any thing non organic
-Soy especially GMO
-Palm oil
-DHA unless naturally derived
-Carrageenan
-Preservatives
-Synthetic Nutrients
-Plant derived sugars such as corn syrup( look for lactose instead)
-And Always avoid feeding rice to children.

accessories 101

snappi- stretchy rubber diaper closure.
Diaper pins- Giant colored safety pins. Many babies have had their diapers pinned to their flesh. If you do choose this method please use extreme caution.
Soaker- absorbent pad added to pocket diapers such as one size
doubler- extra absorbant padding added for over night and nap absorbancy when baby may not be changed as frequently. Can be added to any diaper when added absorbency is required.
Cover- simply a waterproof material in the shape of a typical diaper with either velcro (not recommended) or snaps ( recommended). These prevent leaks in all diapers that require a cover.
Diaper sprayer- a shower like hose attached to the toilet, I do not recommend these as i have found they contaminate the entire bathroom with fecal matter.
flannel wipes- dry wipes made of a cloth. Some people create their own wet wipes by adding water and baby shampoo or wipe solution but this is not my favorite practice as the wipes begin to mildew and mold with in a day or 2. What I do recommend is...
Wipe spray- especially bum genius or you can make your own. This is a cleansing solution in a spray spray bottle. It can he sprayed on to a wipe or directly on baby.
Diaper pail- weather you use cloth or disposable you will need something to put the dirtys in. I recommend any  kitchen size trash can preferably with a lid.
Wet bag- a reusable, waterproof can liner.
Wet bag mini- a zippered waterproof  bag to use on the go.

Literally Money in The Trash

Cost of cloth
    Utilities $150
   laundry detergent $51
   diapers $500

total- $701

Cost of disposable diapers
diapers $4000

savings $3299

When you know cloth diapers are healthier, more environmentally friendly and extremely economical could you ignore the facts? Could you risk your child's health?