How to Make Your Own Diaper Cream Stick - Cloth Diaper Safe!

We've been using coconut oil for diaper cream since we cloth diaper and it's cloth-safe. We keep a little tupperware bowl of it on the changing table. It works AMAZINGLY well, but every single time I use it, I wish there was an easier way to apply it without getting my hands oily.

I decided to try using an old glue stick or deodorant stick and keeping it in the fridge (so it won't melt and get all runny). It was SO easy to do! I found an old mini-deodorant stick and washed it out.

I mixed a few drops of tea tree oil into the coconut oil as well. Next time I will also add some witch hazel. My coconut oil was semi-soft (not completely liquid). If you use an old deodorant stick, there are holes in the bottom of the base, where the deodorant sits (at least there were in this old Dove mini) so I filled it with softened CO first and let it set up in the freezer until it was firm so the oil wouldn't run into the twisty thing on the bottom.

The "rolled" piece is what fell out of the middle once I twisted it all the way down. I put all the "crumbs" back in and then filled the inside with the coconut oil/tea tree oil mixture all the way to the top. Then made sure to clean up the outside so the lid wouldn't freeze on, put on the lid and stuck it back in the freezer to harden.

Finished product! I think (and hope!) this will be much easier to apply! I'm going to try one on a glue stick base too and see what works best. :)

Stripping Cloth Diapers in a Top Loader

There are a MILLION different ways to strip cloth diapers. Everyone has their own method of what works for them. There is not one set way of stripping that works for everyone. Most people come up with their own routine and see what works for them. This is mine.

We have a top loader and we use Rockin Green detergent. We usually don't have any problems with leaks or ammonia stinkies, but every once in awhile they occur. Especially if we've been travelling or I've gotten lazy and skipped a washing more than once... I usually wash every other day.

To start, I wash everything as normal:
First, a cold rinse to get all the yuckies out. Then, 1/8 cup (2Tbsp) of Rockin' Green Hard Rock in a very HOT wash, followed by 2 cold rinses to make sure all the soap gets out.

I hang dry all of our covers, wetbags, and any velcro AIOs. The rest gets thrown into the dryer with a few dryer balls. On nice, warm, sunny days, I hang everything outside to dry. The sun is fantastic at getting rid of stains and bacteria! The reason I do not dry the covers, wetbags, and velcro in the dryer is because the heat from the dryer can cause the PUL/TPU on the wetbags and covers to wear out faster and the dryer can also cause the velcro to pill up and catch a lot of lint which makes it not as sticky.

While everything is drying, I turn the hot water heater up a bit.

OMG! Please ignore the hideous state of my water heater!

After everything in the dryer is dry, we're ready to begin stripping. I set the water level to the highest level and put everything from the dryer (except the dryer balls ;) ) back in the washer. I leave the covers and wetbags out, but AIOs go back in the washer too.

I start with a HOT, HOT wash and add 1tsp of original blue Dawn dishsoap. A tsp goes a long way and is plenty for what we are trying to do. Sometimes I will even add a pot of boiling water from the stove to my washing machine if I feel like more water needs to be added.

The Dawn helps to get rid of any oils that may be on the diapers. ***If your washing machine is still under warranty, some washing machine manufacturers state that using Dawn in the washing machine will void their warranty, so you may want to research that before using this method.

After the hot wash with Dawn, I do a cold soak with Bi-O-Kleen Bac Out (to get rid of the ammonia stinkies and stains.)

I rinse, rinse, rinse the diapers in a cold rinse until there are no more suds. If you use Bac Out, some babies sensitive skin can be irritated by the ingredients it contains, so you will want to rinse several times to make sure they don't contain any residue. You will be able to tell if your diapers are rinsed thoroughly enough if you do not notice any sudsy bubbles when you open the washer in mid rinse. These diapers are not rinsed enough:

See the sudsy bubbles and notice the water isn't clear.

Still not rinsed enough:

Even though, there aren't suds, there's still residue in the water.

Finally! (It took about 7-8 rinses before I saw crystal clear water.) These diapers are rinsed enough and ready to go into the dryer after this cycle:

Dry as normal. I like to toss dryer balls in with my diapers just to fluff them up a bit and keep the static low.

I've also found this blog to be very helpful in finding stripping solutions. I'd love to hear any other tips on stripping cloth diapers!

Fluffy Friday!

Ok, yes this is posted on Saturday, but it was Fluffy Friday! Yesterday, I we received both Kellan's custom Dr. Seuss diaper from The Giving Tree and his Crawler Covers from Etsy! We had a rough day yesterday (Kellan's fighting a double ear infection), so this was a nice surprise.

I am prepping this diaper like a mad woman so that he can wear it ASAP! I've been wanting a custom from The Giving Tree forever. The Giving Tree is a WAHM shop on Hyena Cart and the owner, Jessica, makes amazing diapers! She has some of the cutest prints around and does a fabulous job on them. She is a former NICU nurse and part of the proceeds from each diaper she sells goes to support The Children's Miracle Network.

I have been on the fence about baby legs for a boy. I love, love, love them on little girls, but boys I wasn't sold on. And then I discovered Crawler Covers thanks to someone mentioning them on one of my parenting forums. They are too cute and I LOVE how they look on Kellan! I don't think they look girly at all, though my dad wasn't a fan when he saw them. I also love that they fit from newborn through 8 years old. (Though, I'm betting they'd be pretty big on a newborn.) It's so hard to find cute accessories and things for boys, so I'm always thrilled when I finally find something fun!

What a week!

What a week! Tuesday I went in to the office for my weekly meeting and we were told that our largest client hasn’t renewed their contract. If they don’t renew by the end of the month, I’ll most likely be laid off. Not. Good. News. I was given the option to take my vacation now and return to work at the end of the month to see if I still have a job, or I could take a severance package and try to find other employment. I chose to stay, but I am scared. I’m on “vacation” until March 28 and then we’ll see what happens… Thursday was of course, St. Patrick’s Day, which is equivalent to Thanksgiving in my family. Every year my mom makes a St. Patrick’s Day feast of corned beef, cabbage, and potatoes. It is my FAVORITE meal of the year, hands down. Kellan got to experience St. Patrick’s Day for the first time this year!

He LOVED it!

Little feet, always crossed.

Liam didn’t get any yummy food, but he rocked his green. Oh, and my boy thinks he can walk. He is sure of it.

He doesn’t crawl and won’t entertain the idea of even trying. He just wants me to stand him next to the couch where he will cruise by himself for a bit until he either loses his balance and falls or else turns and takes off as if he’s been walking his whole life (which also ends in falling.) He then demands to be put back into a standing position and I oblige because he is so proud of himself for taking steps like a big boy.

And I am proud of my big boy.

Side note: I finally tried the back carry in the Boba. Love. It.

My dad and Julie came in to visit for the weekend and see Kellan. They haven't seen him since he was three months old, so it was good to visit with them again. Kellan had a great time with Grandma and Grandpa! Kellan LOVES animals, so we thought a zoo trip would be fun.

He slept through the first half, but woke up in time for the lions.

And the monkeys. He LOVED the monkeys.

We also drove out to Waterloo, Illinois to my great grandparents’ old farm. The new owner was nice enough to let us take a few pictures. I LOVED going to the farm as a kid and I was happy to get some photos of Kellan on the farm. This is the house my great grandfather was born in in 1905. It is still standing on their old farm, though the porch is gone now and it’s in considerably worse shape than I remember. I couldn’t believe it was still there.

I used to love playing with the cistern when I was little.

Here is Kellan’s version of American Gothic.

On the way out, we stopped by St. Patrick Catholic Church in Tipton where my grandmother and my great grandparents are buried. I miss them very much. Especially my grandmother. She was gone too soon. We’re headed for Indiana tomorrow to visit my mom’s side of the family. Better get packing!

A Day In Cloth Diapers...

A thread started on my BabyCenter birth club the other day called "A Day In Cloth". The idea is that you post pictures of each diaper change throughout the day to show others how easy it is to use cloth diapers! I LOVE this idea and thought it would be an interesting blog and maybe helpful to refer a friend to in the future who might be interested in cloth diapering. This post will show the laundry process, different types of diapers, how they work, and how they look on baby, and how the diaper change process goes. I am not a photographer, so these pictures may not be great.

**Warning: This post is about diaper changes, so poop will be involved!**