I had someone contact me last week about purchasing some diapers to send with a family who is travelling to Ethiopia after Christmas.  I was very excited about this and contacted the family in order to get some more information about their trip and their needs. 

Here is an excerpt from what Anita wrote to me about their upcoming trip: 

"Our family is travelling with another family to Ethiopia for two weeks just after Christmas. We'll be spending 5 days providing childcare for the children of missionaries during the biannual conference that allows the missionary families from all across Ethiopia to reconnect with each other and be refreshed for their various ministries. While the parents are in their sessions, we will be doing sessions with the children - singing, Bible lessons, games etc. x
Before and after the conference, we will be spending several days at various other ministries in the capital city of Ethiopia, Addis Ababa. One of the places we will visit is the orphanage from which we adopted our two Ethiopian children four years ago. This is one of many orphanages that is not directly connected to (and funded by) a large international agency. They provide the best care that they can, but often their resources are extremely limited. Many times, on previous visits, we have cuddled tiny babies "diapered" with rags held in place with tied-on grocery bags. We would love to be able to provide them with washable diapers and diaper covers!  We would greatly appreciate donations! We'll take as many diapers as you can give us and give them to the orphanage. Smaller ones are probably needed more, and they won't care at all what patterns or colours we bring."

There are always so many great organizations and causes to donate to, especially at Christmas.  This cause has tugged on my heart and we would love to be able to send Anita and her family to the orphanage in Addis Ababa with LOADS of cloth diapers to leave there. 

In order to do this, I'd like to encourage you to consider making a donation.  This can be done by purchasing diapers or by making a small financial contribution that can be added to other donations to make a purchase.  We will be using all proceeds from purchases to buy more diapers to send, so even a little gift on your behalf will be multiplied. 

Anita and her family are leaving on Boxing Day, which means we need to have the diapers to her the week before Christmas so she can pack them up (hopefully she'll need to buy another suitcase to take them all!)  In order to make sure we meet this timeline, I will be ordering all diapers at the end of this week.  

If you have been thinking about where to make a donation this Christmas, please consider purchasing a diaper or two, or making a financial donation to this cause.  If you'd like any more information, don't hesitate to email me at laura@lovablelittletreehuggers.com

Thank you in advance for your generosity! 

Lesson #3: Less IS more!

When it comes to cloth diapering, you need very little detergent.  Whenever I tell people how much to use they look at me like I’m nuts….I’m not.  I’ve learned my lesson in this area. 

Just like using the wrong detergent can cause build-up, skin irritation, and if left long enough, burns on your poor baby’s bum – so can using too much detergent. 

I use Allen’s Naturally with my cloth diapers and I literally use a dime size for a whole load of diapers.  I have a top loader, so if you have a front load, you should be using even less than that.  The detergent is very concentrated and it goes a long way.  This lesson can save you money (because a bottle of detergent will last what seems like forever), time (because you won’t have to be stripping your diapers that have build-up from too much detergent), and even anxiety (if it gets so bad that your sweet baby wakes up with a rash or burn on their bum). 

Lesson #2: Detergent Matters

When I started cloth diapering, I used a "free" detergent.  Scent-free, dye free, etc. and dermatologist tested.  It seemed safe to me.  However, this detergent caused massive build-up on my diapers and lead to many leaks and some skin irritations on my son because of it.  I ended up getting rid of those diapers because the build-up was so thick.

I had absolutely no idea that detergent is so impotant when cloth diapering.   The right detergent means cloth diapering successfully...no rashes, burns, or odours and very few leaks.  Because some detergents don’t rinse well, they end up leaving a residue on the diapers that builds up and causes the diapers to lose absorbency, leak, and even irritate baby’s skin.

When washing cloth diapers, you should be sure to stay away from most baby and natural oil based detergents (this shocked me).  They often leave a residue on the diapers and cause a waxy build-up which will eventually lead to diapers that not only do not absorb, but essentially repel liquids.  You should also stay away from chlorine bleach as it can breakdown the elastics and waterproof layers of some cloth diaper fabrics. You should also never use any fabric softener when drying cloth diapers in the dryer.*

A good detergent should leave your cloth diapers soft, absorbent, and smelling clean.  If your cloth diaper detergent isn’t doing this, maybe it’s time for a change!

                                                             *some information taken from www.ampdiapers.com 

We've been using cloth diapers in our house for almost two years now.  In that time, I've made some mistakes, which have more often than not, resulted in lots of extra laundry.

I'll be posting a different mistake (who knew I made so many?!) for the next few days this week. Hopefully I can save some of you from making those same mistakes.

Lesson #1: Too cheap might mean too good to be true... 

As soon as I was pregnant the first time around, I knew I wanted to do cloth diapers. I started researching online and seeing what I could in stores.  However, I was not able to find many cloth diapers in store and didn't like the idea of spending hundreds of dollars without even touching the diapers first.  Unfortunately, I probably would have been better off spending more money with the diapers I couldn't touch.

The first brand of cloth diapers we bought before our son was born were cheap.  Too cheap.  I was SO excited to start using our diapers and was incredibly disappointed when I had to deal with leaks constantly.  I quickly got sick of washing sheets and clothes, just as often as diapers. Now, don't get me wrong, with cloth, as with disposable, you will have leaks on occassion...you will not hear me telling you otherwise.  However, you should not have a leak every time (or even every second, third or fourth time) you put a diaper on your baby.  This was a problem. To be honest with you, I almost gave up on cloth diapering.  Looking at these cheap diapers, they reminded me of cheap towels that have no absorbancy...no wonder we were having leak issues!

It was around this time that my hubby and I went to a Baby Show, where we discovered AMP diapers, as well as some other brands that were also far better than what we'd been using.  We spent what seemed like the big bucks (because remember, we had paid VERY little for our first set) on a few cute diapers, and headed home, excited to try them out. 

I am happy to say, we were pleasantly surprised!  The diapers were so absorant, so soft (even after washes) and we had next to no leaks.  We quickly purchased more diapers and learned our lesson that sometimes too cheap means too good to be true!

Travelling anywhere with a baby means lots of stuff, whether that's going to the mall for a couple of hours or spending a few nights at the in-laws. 

When we first started cloth diapering, my hubby and I decided we would do cloth at home and disposable when we went out.  I was overwhelmed with the idea of lugging cloth diapers and wetbags with me everywhere I went.  However, I quickly realized, no matter what kind of diapers you use, there are things to lug when you have a baby! Plus, I didn't like using disposable...my baby got rashes, I hated the thought of adding more diapers to the landfills, and the more I used cloth, the more I loved it.  So, after doing the disposable thing a few times while we were out, I took the plunge one day and packed a couple of All-in-One diapers, a wet bag, some bum wipes, and a bum spray in the diaper bag and off I went.  I realized that really, this was not any more difficult than using disposables while out and about.  The wet bag contains the wet and the stink, so it's not a big deal to carry around some dirty diapers. 

After getting used to using cloth full time, we went away to a cottage (on an island, with no washing machine) in the summer.  Now came the real question...could I really do cloth for 3 days out of the house? Because the cottage is a "green" cottage, I felt like I had to give it a shot.  I packed a duffel bag full of diapers, liners, and wipes along with a couple wet bags and gave it a shot.  This long weekend was a success and since then we have done cloth diapering on over night trips and even a week-long holiday!

If you're wondering about using cloth while you're away, there are some things you need to think about. Know what your facilities are.  Will you be there long enough that you need to wash your diapers? If so, are there laundry facilities?  If not, do you have enough diapers to last for your trip or is there a laundromat near by?  I heard of one family who used only cloth diapers while traveling for months at a time (the husband was in a band).  It is definately possible!

Here is a list of what you will need for a few nights away from home. 

* Diapers & inserts/liners

* Cloth baby wipes and diaper spray or your own baby wipe solution

* Wet bags and/or pail liner

* Change Pad

Determine the quantity of diapers, etc.  you'll need according to how long you're going to be away, accessibility to laundry facilities, and the age of your child/how many diaper changes you do each day.  Pack it all up in a duffel bag, or better yet, if you're travelling by car, put it all in a laundry basket!

If you're spending some time away from home this Christmas and contemplating whether or not you will stick with cloth, I encourage you to give it a shot! You'll get the same health, financial, and environmental benefits as you do at home, plus maybe you'll convert someone else to cloth diapering when they see how darn cute cloth diapers can be!