The Battle of Stinky Cloth Diapers - How to Solve Ammonia Issues

Cloth diapers are better for your baby, right? Right? A few weeks ago I was changing my daughter and noticed a foul ammonia smell coming from her diaper. Honestly, my first thought was that the kitty saw an opening for the 2 minutes I was gathering dirties and decided the girl's pile of dirty laundry looked like a litter box so I threw it back in the wash. The next day my other daughter's diaper smelled the same way. This was a strong cleaning product smell that burned your nose! I tried taking all the diapers at once into the laundry and ran the water super hot with an extra rinse cycle. The next day my daughters developed ammonia burns and the cloth diapers, for now, had to go! I temporarily switched to paper Nature Babycare diapers. 

I went online and discovered that cloth diapers, even when washed properly, can build up stink. When the urine mixes with what the diaper is holding it creates ammonia. Different sites had different tricks, here are some that I came across and tried...

1. Soak overnight in Bac-Out. This product is by Biokleen and is a natural safe stain and stink remover. Good product but it didn't work.

2. Sun dry. Ya, like I have time with twins to wait for the sun to appear in my coastal beach town! However, did try it and it failed.

3. Boil for 30 minutes then wash with a special detergent for my very hard water. This sort of worked but I had to do it after every use...also will not work with twins!

After trying all these and finding no solution that was manageable with twin 5 month old babies I started asking locally for advice. I finally found a diaper guru who explained that the hemp in my gDiaper inserts holds on to stink strongly and suggested changing to an all cotton or a cotton/wool combo. Finally I did not feel crazy anymore!

So here is what I learned...

1. Cloth diapers are great but make sure you always start with a diaper detergent that is formulated for your type of water. Our hard water here hastened the process of developing a stink problem. In this process I tried 3 different brands and fell in love with Hard Rock by Rockin Green. The have formulas for soft water and middle of the road water as well as an Ammonia Bouncer (which I wanted to try but everyone was sold out, it must work!)

2. Hemp = Bad! For cloth diapering stay away from hemp. Anything that holds on to stink is your worst enemy! 

3. It may be a good idea to "strip" your diapers clean every now and then, that means boil for 30 minutes. Sometimes detergent becomes lodged in the fabric causing diaper rash and ammonia issues. A good test is to take a diaper and immerse in water, if it does not absorb evenly right away or has patches that do not seem to absorb then you need to strip it clean. 

4. When laundering your diapers pick the hot water setting, add an extra rinse cycle and only use half of the amount of detergent you would normally unless you have the Rockin Green, they got it down so follow their directions. 

5. Pick cloth diapers that are "All in Ones". When I became frustrated and thought it might be the gDiapers I started to check out other systems. I fell in love with the Grovia hybrid system for a few reasons. First I love that you can still "cheat" with flushable inserts when needed. Second, they are all organic cotton with NO hemp! And third, their shells fit from infancy to potty training with a series of Velcro and snaps. They fit my little ones really well and I am very happy with that system and prefer it over the gDiapers. We were already growing out of our small sized gDiapers and had to upgrade anyway so I chose to upgrade now to Grovia so we do not have to buy a whole other set of larger diapers later!

Resources

Rockin Green: http://rockingreensoap.3dcartstores.com/Hard-Rock-4590-Loads-Remix-_p_74.html

Grovia: http://gro-via.com/

The Safe Way to Seed a Pomegranate!

Do you love pomegranates but hate seeding the fruit? I have a fool proof method for getting those amazing pink seeds out of the shell with out ruining your shirt. 

Step #1 - make a shallow cut down half of the fruit.

Step #2 - get a large bowl, big enough for you to immerse both hands, then fill with water.

Step #3 - place the fruit in the water and pull the sides apart. Slowly pull at each bunch of seeds under water, they will come off the peel and sink to the bottom. The peel is light and will float in the water.

Step #4 - hand scoop the peelings off the top of the water and drain the seeds.

I hope this helps you enjoy one of my favorite fall fruits!

The Importance of Momma Care

Before I begin let me just say that I am one of the worst people ever at taking care of myself, this was a hard lesson to learn. It took a really wicked flu for me to realize I had to take better care of myself. I felt compelled to share my experience in momma care.

Finding Time to Eat

I am constantly feeding the twins. They eat a total of about 30 ounces of momma milk a day but divided into feedings every 2-3 hours. It feels like as soon as a feeding ends you are prepping for the next one. They eat so much but finding the time for myself to eat is hard. Some days I have a single cup of coffee until 2 or 3 in the afternoon when I finally get to eat. This is not good. Our bodies need food to create energy. Even though I joke with people that having twins is the best diet plan out there I did need to find time to eat. So my solution? Force myself to take a few minutes when I am feeding the girls to eat something myself. They are now getting so close to being ready for solids that they watch me with wide eyed wonder as I eat often making smacking noises. The day they can finally sit in a high chair and eat at the same time I will say a prayer of thanks!

Pretty Momma

I read a blog post not to long ago about how a mom of two kids rarely gets the time to shower, get dressed and make herself pretty. She and other commenter's talked about how they will wear their pj's all day and when their husbands come home they look the same as when they left. My first thought was "how sad". Even with twins taking 20 minutes to shower, dress, run a brush through my hair and put on a little make-up is possible. I just bring them into the bathroom with me in bouncy chairs and sing them loud goofy songs while I get ready. I want to teach my girls through my actions that taking care of yourself is important. I refuse to be "that mom" at Target in her pj's who has not showered and looks frazzled, what is that teaching my daughters?

Guilt Free Exercise

The girls are too young to be left in the day care at the gym but even if they were old enough I would think that I may end up feeling guilty during my work out for leaving them in care. In the end I decided to join Stroller Strides. All the mommas bring the babes bundled up in their strollers with bottles, snacks and toys. We all work out while tickling babies and singing goofy songs to keep them happy and engaged. It is a really intense work out, this is no walking momma group! We are running suicides, working out arms with resistance tubes and hopping up and down stairs. We joke that you know you have been to Stroller Strides when it is hard to stand up off the toilet!

Hubby Time

After baby comes home you switch into a momma role and the hot sex-pot your husband fell in love with is snoring in bed at 9pm while holding a nursing baby! Daddy goes through many changes just like mom. It is important that we find the time to just be husband and wife again. About 1 or 2 times a month my mom comes over to have baby time and my husband and I run away like goofy teenagers. It is essential to find time for just us so we can reconnect. On a daily basis we let the girls fall asleep early and spend some time each night just enjoying each others company.

Connecting With Other Mommas

During the first few years it is SO important that we normalize our situation. Having time to talk with other mommas helps us feel like our lives have a sense of normalcy. Even though I have Stroller Strides I find that we can only talk so much, most of the time we are trying to catch our breath! So one day a week the girls and I go to a parent's group at Parent's Place in PG. In this group mommas sit in a warm quiet room, nurse their babies and have a guided conversation. It really helps me feel sane!

A Few Concluding Thoughts

As with all my advice and sharing remember that the best thing to do is what works for your family! Now go forth and continue to be SuperMom!

What Not to Say to a Parent of Preemie Multiples - Funny Post

Oh boy do I get attention! Not only are my girls adorable, I have two of them and I dress them in super cute clothes so naturally I get a ton of smiles and stares from others everywhere we go. The smiles I love but the comments that follow sometimes annoy me or just plain make me laugh! Here is a list I put together (with humor in my heart) of all the things we hear on a daily basis that you should just not say!

1. "Wow, you must have your hands full!" - okay seriously? Duh! Of course I do, but that was the 2 seconds when I forgot and was enjoying life. 

2. "Awe, a boy and a girl!" - nope wrong! Why do you assume I have one of each when both my girls are dressed in pink? One time I had giant bows on their heads too, I turned to the woman and said, "Yes, I put a orange bow on my son's head!"

3. "They are SO small!" - if you only knew how small they were before you would never say that!

4. "My baby can..." - that's nice but my babies are preemies so I am giving them more time to meet those milestones.

5. "I know, I am SO tired from parenting a newborn." - unless you also have twins, have more then 3 kids or are in a wheel chair I really do not want to hear how tired you are with one baby. Honestly, you have no idea!

6. "You are so brave to be out." - why? I have babies not little monsters!

On the other hand, here are the comments that really make my day.

1. "Wow, you are a supermom!" - yes I am, thanks for noticing.

2. "I don't know how you do it, you are amazing" - thank you for recognizing that my two babies are harder then your singleton.

3.  "A double blessing!" - that is exactly how I see it!

Cleaning Home for Baby

With twins I have only tiny moments here and there to clean (or do anything, right now I am doing the one handed typing while holding one and bouncing the other with my foot in a bouncy chair!). When I can clean I make sure that I am not doing more harm then good. Traditional cleaning products contain allergy triggers, anti-bacterial agents that cause super bugs or irritating fragrances. 

Here is how I have simplified green cleaning!

Basic Cleaning

For a green switch to cleaning all you need is baking soda, vinegar, lemons and essential oils. I buy baking soda and vinegar in ridiculously large packages from Costco. I have a glass bowl and scrub brush designated just for the purpose of cleaning. Into the bowl goes the baking soda, next pour some vinegar and watch the fun volcanic eruption of foam (be warned that this foam will be about twice the height of baking soda). Don’t worry about the smell of the vinegar, it will disappear after a few minutes and will not leave your bathroom smelling of a tossed salad. To create a better smell you can add lemon or essential oils to the baking soda. I like tea tree oil because of it’s antiseptic qualities, eucalyptus has a nice fresh smell and lavender smells pretty and calming. That mixture will work for kitchen, bathroom, floors and even laundry (see more on that below). A side note, make sure you buy biodegradable sponges so we do not add to landfills in our green cleaning process! There are natural sponges that work just as well as their evil counterparts. Old rags work wonderfully instead of paper towels.

Laundry and Cloth Diapers

Okay, confession time. I use my washer and dryer for cloth diapers. With twins I just have to go with electricity. Big time kudos to the mommas of twins who have the time and energy to line dry but this gal sure does not! So if you are a momma of multiple children like myself here is how I do laundry in the most eco-friendly way as possible. I like the Biokleen product, you only need a tablespoon measurement for a full load and for diapers I always add about a cup of baking soda and run the cycle on hot. To get that yummy out of the dryer smell I use Nellie's dryer balls with lavender essential oils. For whites add some vinegar into the bleach deposit in your washer, but don’t do that for colors because it does act like bleach and will fade your clothes. Ta Da! Clean clothes that are cost effective, earth friendly and clean!

Carpet

I hate carpet! It traps allergens, tracks the outside inside and gives dust mites a place to hide. Other then a warm floor in the morning when I get out of bed I have no positives to this invention. Sadly, our house has carpet in the living room and all the rooms upstairs so I had to learn to call a truce. Baking soda and vinegar will also work for carpet stains such as coffee, red wine, oil and grease. Just scrub the mixture into the carpet and rinse with water, after it dries vacuum a few times over the spot going in different directions. To get rid of carpet smells dust baking soda on the carpet, leave for a few seconds and vacuum. If your carpet is a darker color make sure you wash out the baking soda and vinegar or it may fade your colors. You can use this same combination in your carpet cleaning machines instead of the chemical filled cleaners at the store. I have a whole post on how to clean your carpets with a carpet cleaner!

Dishes

After the girls came home I graduated to a dish washer. It has been such a help when it comes to cleaning all those bottles! We use the Seventh Generation soup but I add a little vinegar to it because we have really hard water here. I make sure to only run full loads to cut down on our water use. For spot-free clean dishes from the sink I like Mrs. Myers products. For heavy grease you can use...YEP, baking soda and vinegar! Make sure to skip the lemons or anything with citrus for dishes, it can break down the metal on your silverware. I fill one side of my sink with about two inches of warm water, 1/2 cup of baking soda and a splash of vinegar. The nice part about using vinegar is it makes all of your glass spot free and shiny.

Resources

For more information on cleaning green for a happy baby home check out my favorites, no new mom should be with out these books!

Green Babies, Sage Moms by Linda Fassa

Ecoholic by Adria Vasil

Healthy Child Healthy World by Christopher Gavigan

Donate Milk = Donate Life

Our wonderful milk sharing story. 

A mother's nightmare, two amazing babies are screaming in pain everyday. No matter what I tried the colic reigned supreme in our household. We did the gripe water, probiotics, ruteri and formula changes...and all for nothing. Finally our last doctor's appointment confirmed what I have been thinking for a while, the girls have a formula intolerance. Who knows what is causing it but if you have ever looked at the ingredients to baby formula you will see several common allergy triggers like sunflower oil, soy, and coconut. 


Since coming home from the hospital I tried to lactate but nothing would work. Last week my doctor said that switching to breast milk is a medical necessity since the girls are not absorbing enough nutrients. So if they cannot have my milk then I had to give them milk from someone else. He wrote us a perspiration for the local milk bank explaining the medical need and urgency in his notes and sent me home with two very upset little girls.


Then the journey began. I called the bank and even with a prescription the milk costs $3 an ounce. I paniced and quickly did the math, $3 an ounce times 30 ounces a day times two babies = $180 A DAY! So that's $5,400 a month plus the cost of overnight shipping. Needless to say this was not an option, I do not know of any parents who could afford that cost! To add to the frustration the milk bank is not covered by insurance.

I took this before I organized it :)

The momma bear in me became a fierce protector of my children and began to take over the Internet. I discovered a whole subculture called Milksharing. Wonderful mommas with an oversupply post that they can help a baby in need with a donation or mommas like myself post that they have a need. This began one of the most amazing experiences of my life outside of marriage and the arrival of my babies. Mother after mother came forward offering to help my girls, they told their friends which led to more mothers and with in a week I had a full freezer of milk and two happy babies. 


I am beginning to cry as I write this and recall what I change I saw in the girls this week. They went from screaming, scrunching up their legs and constant constipation to happy smiley girls who now sleep soundly and only cry when they see that the other twin is getting more attention! It was a complete turn around in my household and it saved my sanity. I am so incredibly thankful to everyone who helped us. It was more then just giving us milk, it was giving us life.


It is my hope that sending this blog post out into the vast space of the Internet will inspire more mommas to donate their oversupply and bring hope to other families like ours who are struggling with feeding. 


Human Milk for Human Babies - http://www.facebook.com/HM4HBCA
Eats on Feets - http://www.facebook.com/pages/Eats-On-Feets-Northern-California/184156834960174

My Favorite Baby Must-Haves!

These are the items that I cannot live with out that make life with twins possible! 

This is only a small list, I will add more later.

Baby Carriers

Daddy and Grace in her Ergo

We have two, and not just because we have two babies. I have the organic versions of the Moby wrap and Ergo. Baby carriers have got a bad rap recently in the news. If worn properly they are not a danger so just make sure to follow simple guidelines like not allowing your baby’s chin to rest on their chest and make sure that their face is not against your chest but to the side. Carriers range from wraps to packs like the Ergo to slings. It is really up to you and your back, pick something that feels comfortable. I love the Moby but the first time I tried to put my fussy baby in it for a walk I ended up throwing it across the room yelling “Who makes these things?”. It took a patient and loving friend of mine to show me how to wrap it on MY BODY! If you decide to go for a Moby make sure you find a friend who has one and have her show you how to wear it, youtube videos and written instructions are not enough!
For the simple fool-proof carrier I love the Ergo and so does Daddy! If you are looking for a carrier that Dad will not mind wearing buy an Ergo. Every man I have talked to says it is their favorite and it keeps getting voted as a "Daddy Favorite". It is great for mommas too, it distributes the weight of the baby to my hips making my back nice and happy. I also love the front zipper pocket for my cell and keys so I can run into the grocery store as fast as possible with two little ones. It also has a fabric portion that comes up and snaps on your shoulders to shield baby from the sun. It can be worn on your front, side and back all of which are comfortable. I cannot say enough good things about this carrier, every parent should have one!

Diaper Bags

There is more to being out on the town then just car seats and strollers. Diaper bags and baby carriers are also items to buy. Many diaper bags are waterproof which is a great idea in theory but make sure that you read the label to find out what they are using to waterproof the material. The manufacturer must print BPA or PVC free on the label, if you do not see that do not buy the item. I prefer bags you can throw in the washing machine over ones that are waterproof. Diaper bags that are chemical free cost more, but there are a few brands that are really great. Ergo makes both a back pack and a front pack that attaches to their carrier, these are chemical free. I am in love with my Ergo backpack! It has just the right amount of pockets and it can be worn as a backpack or it can attach to the Ergo carrier creating one rockin’ baby carrier!

Baby Legs - Leg Warmers

Photo from babylegs.com

Remember those awesome leg warmers we all wore in the 80’s and early 90’s? Well they are out of the ballet studio and back in a very cool way. Baby Legs makes these amazing and adorable baby leg warmers which are helpful in more ways then fashion. These are great when you have baby in the carrier because they do not bunch up and leave part of baby’s leg exposed. (The perfect mate for the Ergo!) They are also helpful when your outfit for the day is destroyed, you can pull out a pair of these and baby still looks cute. I like to use them in the winter or on rainy days as a type of layering. Baby legs are great for quick diaper changes and look adorable under dresses. They come in all types of patterns and colors. Why choose Baby Legs over a different brand? They do not get those annoying fabric balls, they stay up on baby’s leg and they offer many organic options.

Book Resources
Green Babies, Sage Moms by Linda Fassa
Ecoholic by Adria Vasil
Healthy Child Healthy World by Christopher Gavigan

Web Resources
www.babyearth.com
www.ergobabycarrier.com

http://www.babylegs.com/