#5 All About Cloth Diapers and Slings!

I just received my new Mothering Magazine in the mail yesterday (March/April 2008), what a blessing!! It has two, count them, two articles on cloth diapers. What great timing, as this is one of the great unknowns for me. I have been around cloth diapered children before, my aunt had 5 kids in quick succession who were all CD'd, so I know about dunking dirties in the toilet, but it has been a while and I didn't do a lot of the diapering. Did I mention that was 20 years ago? There are so many new options. I am so excited that I want a couple of all of them! *dancing in my chair*

It looks like I'd like a few of every type, but I want to make sure to mention all-in-ones (AIO), they're a little easier for daddy's and babysitters who haven't figured out the other CD options! Also, if one was so inclined to do some easy internet searching, there are so many websites that offer patterns for making diapers, it may reduce the cost quite a bit.

One of the best things that I learned is that I wont need as many CD's as I thought. I figured I'd need 100 or something. The author of one of the articles said one could easily get away with 30-35 CD's. The over-worrier in me makes me want to ask for a total of 40 or so, but is nice to know that I can definitely get away with less, especially if I'm willing to do an extra load of diapers.

I found this site that carries hemp diapers in a variety of styles. I am a bit of a hemp activist as it is a much more ec0-friendlier product than cotton. It tend to run a little more expensive, but when you start to calculate the ecological and environmental impact of cotton, hemp becomes a lot less expensive!

Oh, my goodness, I just found the cutest site *act like a teenager at the mall*! It's called Happy Tushies, I think I'm in love. I found them through my favorite cloth pad site, Lunapads.com. It has cloth diapers, diaper bags, wipes, everything, *giddy*. I have to admit that I had only thought about diaper bags, once or twice and never while writing in my blog, well everything happens for a reason. I think I know what I want in a diaper bag (diaper bag in Midnight Flowers with solid blue liner and the lg changing pad and reg. wetbag in rainbow batik). I would love to have a wonderbag with snaptab (in ocean stripe batik pattern subject to change once Daddy looks through the patterns) that Daddy can carry and not feel silly. I want a pail liner, which almost makes a diaper pail unnecessary. Of course, I want almost everything HT offers, but I have to keep in mind that I'm trying to parent with as little as possible, *nodding very seriously*. Oh, the pattern options for cloth wipes, I can't choose, I want all the Asian patterns, but then all the cute batiks they have, oh the agony...(it would be nice to have at least two patterns, one for butts and one for faces or to wipe off Mama's shirt). I'm lost in wish-list land, like a 5yr old with the toy section of the new Sears catalog.

SLINGS! Oh, boy (or girl), I love 'em, but of course, I've not had a baby so haven't used one. I am going to make one for myself and one for Rob, in the pattern seen here. However, to avoid pain from repetitive positioning, I'd like 3-4 other styles for myself and at least 1 more for Rob (if he needs another, we'll buck up and get it ourselves!). I'm going list the type of sling with a link to a specific site, but you may find a better price elsewhere and I encourage that! I found a great site for Mei Tai baby slings and it has become my favorite!! They have so many options, I know that I want a black strap base, but beyond that, I can't narrow the pattern(s) down just now, maybe a gift certificate for this one is a better idea. I do know that I want to "make it zippy", adjustable, and add a snap tab extender! That's an extra $38, on top of the initial cost, if you want to get this for me, I'd be happy to contribute to the extra cost, I'm just so excited by this product! I'd like a Moby Wrap in indigo or a neutral color, chocolate, olive, moss, or sand. Another that I like is the Maya with padded shoulder, in solid ivory. I think that covers it for now as that would land me with 4 slings. Daddy can maybe borrow one of mine if the color suit him, or maybe someone will pick one of these in his own color. He does like oranges, brighter greens, his eyes are a beautiful bright blue that pop when he wears a like color, or you can ask him his preference! I've been told that daddies like carriers like the Baby Bjorn, but I'd just as soon wait until Rob asked for one of those, I'll let you know if he shows an interest!