Making your own cloth baby wipes...

Cloth baby wipes are a great way to clean your baby during diaper changes and also save the waste of using disposable baby wipes. They can be washed along with your cloth diapers.
When Issy was born, I started with one dozen organic cotton baby wipes that I had purchased at www.babyworks.com. I quickly realized that a dozen wipes would not be enough to get me through until the diaper wash was done (every other day). So I started to use baby wash cloths as wipes as well. This still wasn't enough and I figured it would be easy to make my own.
Luckily my mom has a serger that was available for me to use and I found a couple of flannel receiving blankets and baby terry towels that I could cut up and re-purpose as wipes. I cut them in rectangles about 5 inches wide by about 8 inches long. This would fit in my wipes warmer perfectly. I placed the flannel and the terry layer wrong sides together and serged around the edges. That's it. I found them to be easy to make and they worked perfectly to clean up my little one's bum. I think I made about 2 dozen of these. I used these for almost 2 years on a daily basis, before I decided I wanted to make new ones (they weren't worn out, in fact I gave some to another mom to use on her baby). I just wanted to make new wipes with the wonderfully soft bamboo terry and velour that I had purchased. These new wipes inspired me to start making wipes and selling them to others.
Now I have a WAHM (work at home mom) page on www.diaperswappers.com were I can post pictures of my work and other moms can request an order. I have sold several dozen wipes now and I am also making and selling wool diaper covers and cotton print diaper bags. I have fun doing it and it keeps me in the diapering world, since my almost 3 year old is finally potty trained.!Check out my page at: http://diaperswappers.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1136705

Issy is trained!

My daughter is 32 months old and she has finally potty trained just this last week! She is doing so well and is very aware. So much so that she stays up late at night until she has gotten up one last time to go pee pee before falling asleep. While this is a bit annoying for mom, she is waking in the morning totally dry. Only one accident yesterday and its been over a week since I would say the "light when on". Its true that a child needs to be gently guided and not rushed into the potty training and that eventually a with "click". This happened a little later for Issy than for my first child, so I was worried. But each child is unique and I was patient with her. I now the Sandy's diapers that can be pulled up and down helped us greatly as well as the M+M rewards.
Now I am on to my new hobby with is sewing wool diaper covers for other peoples babies. I need to stay involved with this cloth diapering world until I get a newbie to diaper in cloth again :) You never know a girl can hope!!

Potty training sucess!

Issy has been potty learning for several months (with not much commitment on my part). Well recently, after being frustrated with all the accidents in her cotton training pants, I decided to purchase some side snapping cotton fitted diapers. They are great at containing a mess, but can pull up and down like regular underwear. I got Mother-Ease brand Sandy's diapers. I got some in pretty colors and told Issy they were her new pretty "fluffy underwear". She has been doing great with these. I pair them with a pair of wool pants to catch any moister. But to be honest she is having great success with going potty and staying dry. She has even started telling me when she needs to go. This has been a new development in the last few days.
I also purchased a large bag of peanut M+M's which have been a great motivation for her to use the big girl potty. We did this for a couple days until they were gone and now the behavior has continued even without the treats.
Another thing that has helped with the potty training is our "Potty Power" video. She loves watching it and knows the songs.
I am so proud of Issy and we are not longer having issues with night time "ammonia" diapers, because she is going pee on the potty right before bed and is dry until early morning. She is still wetting her diaper at this time, but at least she isn't laying in a urine soaked diaper all night.

Washing and Lanolizing Wool Diaper Covers

How to wash and lanolize your wool diaper covers.

1. Hand wash your soiled wool diaper covers in lukewarm water using a wool-safe wash (like Euculan or Northern Essence). Make sure the water is not too hot or cold. Fill a small sink or basin with lukewarm water; add 1 tsp. of Euculan and then your wool. Swish and soak for 5 minutes. When finished don’t ring out your wool, gently press out the water and roll in a towel. Then lay flat to dry.

2. To spot clean your wool (like for a poo stain, but the whole cover is not dirty). Use a bar of olive oil soap (Kiss my face makes a good one) and apply to the stain with some lukewarm water. Rub gently. Rinse and lay flat to dry.

3. To lanolize add a pea size amount of solid lanolin (like Lansinoh) in a small jar or container. Add some very hot water and 1/2 tsp. of the wool wash or baby shampoo(this helps emulsify the lanolin) swish or shake until well mixed. The mixture will become cloudy and you won't see oil floating. Fill your sink or basin with lukewarm water, add the lanolin mixture. Turn the cover inside out and add it to the basin. Let it soak for 15-30 minutes. Remove the cover and gently roll it in a towel and lay flat to dry. I usually lay my cover to dry on top of the dryer. Do not put your wool in the dryer. This will shrink the wool.

I usually always add lanolin to the wash each time I wash my covers (which in once every 2-3 weeks or sooner if they get a stain or something).

There are a lot of videos on youtube that show the process of washing and lanolizing wool diaper covers.

Cloth Diaper Starter set for sale.....

I have put together a wonderful starter set for an infant. It includes:
One dozen infant size prefolds (Diaper service quality, white prefolds)
Two size small cashmere recycled soakers with interlock wool waistband and cuffs. Both in beautiful gender neutral colors. Orange/cream strip and a pretty ocean blue. These are new and made by me. (pictured on the left)
Ten cloth wipes made by me from recycled flannel receiving blankets and baby towels. One side is flannel and the other side is terry.
Six micro-fleece liners to keep baby dry and for easy clean up of messes.
One size 1 snappi, to secure the prefold to the baby.
I will also include instructions for washing the prefolds and caring for the wool covers.
I would estimate that this package would fit a baby from 10lbs to 18lbs (depending on the build of your baby).
$50 via paypal. Wonderful deal for diapers and covers made from natural fibers. Shipping is extra and will probably be cheapest via a USPS flat rate box. I could get these into a medium size box, which would be around $10. Email me for an exact amount.