As of sunday morning, our little man has spent an entire week in his own room. To be honest, I never thought that it would happen at 7 months. I come from the school of thought that if you meet your child's needs from the very start, they grow up to be more independent and confident. I see no reason to force a baby to be a grown-up when they are just wee little things that couldn't survive on their own in the first place. I don't think infants manipulate, I think they simply express how they feel. That is all they know.
With that being said, I realized over the past month that we were disturbing Ryden's sleep at night. Up until that point he had been sleeping well, in his crib in our room, unless I was nursing him (then he was in our bed). There were also nights (about 1 1/2 months ago) that he was teething pretty bad, waking up every hour crying, and on those nights, he spent almost all of it next to me in bed. This allowed him to sleep for 3-4 hours. However, with his sleeping getting back to normal, I noticed a change. Whenever he was rustling in his sleep, if either of us made a peep, he would wake up. Whether it was simply me tossing and turning, Ilsa making her bed, Eric snoring or anything else minor. The whole point of Ryden sleeping with us is so that he could get the best sleep possible and to be secure. Also it really made nursing in the middle of the night a lot more convenient. Since I am following his cues, I realized that he would probably be better in his own room. I felt that he was old enough to be pretty safe throughout the night. At his age, the chance if SIDS had dropped drastically. and so we did.
I am happy to say that everything has worked out fantastic. He is sleeping wonderfully and waking up far less than usual. What was once rustling that turned into waking up is now just rustling. I think we have even made it to nursing just once at night. When he wakes in the morning, anywhere from 6am to 7ish am, Eric goes and gets him and brings him into our bed. Then he will usually nurse back to sleep until we all wake up together. and for anyone that has never had the pleasure of waking up next to their amazing little baby, I suggest trying it. It is one of the sweetest things in the world and I will hold in my heart for the rest of my life. They are only babies for such a short period of time and I think all of their fears should be met immediately and that they should never worry about being alone or being scared. We have enough of that to do as adults.
Right now, Ryden falls asleep for both of his naps and for bed all by himself. He has been doing this for about the past two months. Sometimes he passes out the moment you set him down and the other times he might coo to himself for a couple of minutes before he dozes off. If for any reason he cries for more than a minute than one of us goes in to soothe him (holding him and rocking him- maybe even a kiss). We know that he has no problem going to sleep, so he must obviously be upset, hungry, overly tired or just needs a hug. Either way we are there for him, and that is all that matters. Sometimes I even still nurse him to sleep and let him nap on me. Because I love him and it makes him happy. That is the best I can do and believe it or not, the next time he needs to go to sleep I can put him down awake, by himself, and he goes right to sleep. So, for anyone that says you can only nurture from afar, or you will ruin (SPOIL) your baby....... they are wrong! You can spoil with "things" but not with "love". So, if he has a rough growth spurt or painful teething that keeps him up at night, you can bet your bottom he will be spending the nights with us. At least until he is feeling better.
I must say, I miss my little monkey, but I am so happy for him.
btw.... check out Ryden in this little picture montage for "cute baby of the cloth"- he is about 1 1/2 minutes in!! =)
Love,
The Sleepingtons
Over the past 7 months, we have exclusively used cloth diapers on Ryden, other than the first week he was born. We could have used them from birth, but with being a little overwhelmed, I held off until I felt I had some control over everything. If we have another child, I will be using cloth from birth.
Of all the choices and decisions I made, before Ryden was even born, this is one of them that has made me very happy and I have never doubted it. I'm not sure how much we save weekly, because I have never bought more than one pack of diapers (7th Generation- newborn) and that was too long ago to remember how much they cost. From everything I read, you will spend anywhere from $1,600-$2,500 on disposables in the course of your child's diapering years. This depends on how long until they are potty-trained and what brand you buy. I'm sure this number might be even higher considering that a lot of kids are becoming potty-trained later and later nowadays. You can save a lot of that money with cloth if you buy simple. If you get a little carried away, like I did, then you will still save, just not as much. I think we will end up saving around $1,000. That is no Chump Change. This doesn't even count how you help the envoronment!! Cloth is monumental in that matter and it's minimal impact will last a lifetime.
With all that said, there are a few things I have learned along the way. Favorite brands, what you'll need, perks for your babe and much more.
First of all, there are several different types of diapers that you will usually see. They include:
pre-folds, flats, fitted diapers, pocket diapers, AIO (all in one) diapers, Covers and OS diapers (all types also come in one-size)
A Great Breakdown with pics
click on #2. Sorting through different types of cloth diapers.
There are also several accessories that you will/might need:
snappis, inserts &/or doublers, wet bag (for home and travel), Cloth wipes (optional), liners (optional) and diaper sprayer (optional)
click on # 5. What cloth diapering accessories do you recommend?
snappis
Some of my favorites include Bum Genius AIOs, Happy Heiny's pocket diapers, Fuzzi Bunz pocket diapers, Thirsties' covers, traditional pre-folds and Kissaluv's 100% cotton cover.
You will also need to buy a diaper friendly laundry detergent. The deterfent will need to be free of brightners, softners and enzymes. I have found that detergents with enzymes and fragrances aren't totally dangerous for your diapers, but they can cause problems if your baby has sensitive skin. I have had really good luck with Original TIde (powder version only) and Country Save Powder. The Tide does have enzymes and fragrance, so, I just use it infrequently when I feel I need a little extra boost of cleaning. I also add a couple capfuls of bleach, mid wash and diluted with water, to my diapers every couple of months. Most diaper companies recommend against this and it can void your warranty, but I found it to be detrimental with getting out the occasional stinkies and to guarantee that my diapers are being sanitized properly. Also the bleach has never affected the color in my diapers, probably because I use so little and it is diluted.
There are a few things that I think that contribute to my diapers sometimes getting the stinkies. Not using 100% cotton, using too much soap (it doesn't wash all the way out and holds odor), not washing with hot enough water (I turned up my water heater), not doing a pre-wash with enough water (cold water and I add extra to make sure the diapers aren't just soaking in too much pee) and not drying in the sun often enough (natural sanitizer). Oddly enough, I have also found that if you ever have any stains (of you know what) in your diapers, just let them dry in the sun and they will completely go away. I swear... it is amazing.
Once or twice I have done a modified stripping of my diapers where I added almost boiling water to my wash (I have a front loader) and a couple of drops of Original Dawn and ran a few extra rinses. I found theis easier than boiling them, but that is the original way to strip your diapers. If the baby is breast-feeding then the poop is water soluble and washes right out in the pre-wash.
My wash routine is as such:
I have a front loader which doesn't work as well as the top loaders (because they usually use less water) and semi hard water (which doesn't work as well either because all of the minerals makes it harder for the detergent to do it's job).
1) Pre-wash with cold (this gets out the urine and washes everything off the diapers before they get washed washed
2) Wash with HOT and half the amount of detergent
3) Rinse with cold (my machine does 3 rinses on all cycles) if yours doesn't maybe add at least one extra
Then I throw my pre-folds and all inserts and doublers into the dryer on hot. I usually put all of my pockets, AIOs and covers outside unless it is overcast. In that case I throw them in the dryer too. Whenever in doubt, just check your actual manufacturer's directions. They tend to vary from company to company.
After a couple of weeks, you will find what works for your diapers and your washing machine and go from there. You might find a couple of months down the road you have to tweak something, but you will figure it out.
Here are a few fantastic diapering resources out there:
STORES
Kelly's Closet one of my faves
Jillian's Drawers another fave
Green Mountain Diapers fantastic pre-folds and more
Nicki's Diapers another great store
Goodmamas very cute but expensive fitteds
DIAPERING TUTORIALS AND OTHER STUFF
good tutorials and links
everything you need to know with a great drop-down menu
detergent list
environmental info
more fantastic info
The Cloth Diaper Whisperer a great current diapering blog
Now how many diapers you need depends on if you are buying for that age or up to toddlerhood. I recommend buying for the first 3 or so months (smalls and maybe a few OS- one size) of different brands to see which ones you like best and which ones fit your baby the best. If you want to keep things cheap- stick with several dozen pre-folds, about half a dozen covers, maybe a couple AIOs for overnight and the major accessories. Or you can have fun with it and get a variety and see what you like best.
SEVERAL FANTASTIC EXAMPLES that will get you through toddlerhood!
click on #8. The complete checklist
Also, if you already have a baby and have never thought about using cloth, it is never too late to start. They also make really wonderful trainers. I don't even know how much people factor that into their disposable budget. I wrote this blog because I have given out cloth information to several friends over the past year and thought if I put it in one permanent place that would make it easier for everyone.... and less writing for me. =)
If any of you ever have and additional questions, just ask... no question is stupid.
On that note...
Happy Diapering,
Michele
With that being said, I realized over the past month that we were disturbing Ryden's sleep at night. Up until that point he had been sleeping well, in his crib in our room, unless I was nursing him (then he was in our bed). There were also nights (about 1 1/2 months ago) that he was teething pretty bad, waking up every hour crying, and on those nights, he spent almost all of it next to me in bed. This allowed him to sleep for 3-4 hours. However, with his sleeping getting back to normal, I noticed a change. Whenever he was rustling in his sleep, if either of us made a peep, he would wake up. Whether it was simply me tossing and turning, Ilsa making her bed, Eric snoring or anything else minor. The whole point of Ryden sleeping with us is so that he could get the best sleep possible and to be secure. Also it really made nursing in the middle of the night a lot more convenient. Since I am following his cues, I realized that he would probably be better in his own room. I felt that he was old enough to be pretty safe throughout the night. At his age, the chance if SIDS had dropped drastically. and so we did.
I am happy to say that everything has worked out fantastic. He is sleeping wonderfully and waking up far less than usual. What was once rustling that turned into waking up is now just rustling. I think we have even made it to nursing just once at night. When he wakes in the morning, anywhere from 6am to 7ish am, Eric goes and gets him and brings him into our bed. Then he will usually nurse back to sleep until we all wake up together. and for anyone that has never had the pleasure of waking up next to their amazing little baby, I suggest trying it. It is one of the sweetest things in the world and I will hold in my heart for the rest of my life. They are only babies for such a short period of time and I think all of their fears should be met immediately and that they should never worry about being alone or being scared. We have enough of that to do as adults.
I must say, I miss my little monkey, but I am so happy for him.