We would like to introduce you to Crystal Di Domizio, this month’s contributor to our N&G Expert Panel. Crystal kindly took the time to answer a few questions regarding the introduction of solid foods into baby’s diet. We love her knowledgable and wholistic approach to making the transition from liquids to solids.

If you have additional tips or information you would like to share, please share in the comments section.

N&G: In the early months, what is the best way that a family can prepare a baby to begin to take solid foods?

Crystal: There is no special attention or advanced preparation needed to prepare your baby for solid food. Babies are unique so you’ll need to look to them for signs of readiness, rather than a date on the calendar!
The World Health Organization states that exclusive breastfeeding for 6 months is the optimal way of feeding infants (without any additional food or drink, not even water.) After 6 months they recommend breastfeeding for up to 2 years or beyond, along with the introduction of solid food.

N&G: What are the top three readiness signs that tell you your baby is ready to eat something other than breastmilk or formula?

Crystal: Babies become developmentally ready to eat solid foods around 6-8 months. Look for the following signs:

1. Baby can sit up well without support.
2. Baby is ready and willing to chew and doesn’t automatically push solid food out of his mouth with his tongue.
3. Baby picks up food or other objects between her thumb and forefinger and is eager to participate in mealtime and may even try to grab food and put it in her mouth.

N&G: Many families are seriously looking into the foods that they eat and provide for their children and I’m seeing a shift toward “whole food” nutrition. If parents would like to start their babies with whole foods, what are some good options to consider for first foods?

Crystal: I highly recommend beginning solid food introduction with real food, rather than processed cereals that are hard for baby to digest and devoid of natural nutrients. You’ll want to introduce new foods one at a time, continuing to feed that same food for at least 4 days before moving on to another so you are aware of any negative reactions.

Nutrient dense first foods, introduced between 6-8 months include:

• Cooked Egg Yolk – preferably organic, from pasture-raised chickens
• Pureed Meats – preferably organic, grass-fed beef, lamb, turkey, chicken
• Raw Mashed Fruits – banana, avocado
• Cooked Pureed Fruits – pears, apples
• Cooked Vegetables – squash, sweet potato, carrots

Since we’ve only covered the basics of this important and lengthy topic here are some resources for further reading:

World Health Organization Exclusive Breastfeeding

Is My Baby Ready For Solid Food?

Nourishing a Growing Baby

*note from N&G: The introduction of solid foods will result more solid poops. One of the most effective tools we recommend for ‘poop management’ is BioSoft Flushable liners.

About Crystal Di Domizio: Crystal is a Vancouver based Registered Holistic Nutritionist, Prenatal Coach and Hypnobabies Childbirth Educator. She offers a comprehensive 6-week prenatal course that teaches women how to use self-hypnosis for an easier, more comfortable childbirth experience. When she’s not teaching you can find her blogging about her first pregnancy at www.prenatalcoach.com

Find out more: http://cultivateyourhealth.com

A diaper pail is an essential part of cloth diapering, although unlike its counterpart for disposable diapers, a diaper pail in a cloth system doesn’t need to be anything more than a pail with a lid. (Simple is good!)

Today we’ll walk through a few considerations to keep in mind as you set up your diaper pail system.

why dry pail

In bygone days, it was standard procedure to toss dirty diapers in a pail of water to allow the diapers to presoak. However, with modern washing machines that do a bang-up job of pre-rinsing diapers, it is no longer necessary to lug that heavy pail to the wash or have “poop soup” sitting around. Also, many modern cloth diapers have synthetic parts (elastics, velcro, PUL, etc), which break down by sitting in water.

Thus, we merely recommend “dry pailing” your diapers. Just place a waterproof bag in your pail, toss in the dirties as you go (dumping solids in the toilet first, of course), and then let the washing machine do the work of rinsing and prepping your diapers at the beginning of the wash cycle.

choosing a pail

You don’t need anything fancy for a pail – any container with a lid large enough to hold 2-3 days of diapers will do. Tall garbage can-size totes and round plastic storage bins with a lid and locking handles are especially popular among parents. These can be found inexpensively at any local general store or mass merchandiser.

where to put your pail

Put your pail where it’s convenient and a bit out of the way. Some people put it next to the change area, some put in the washroom next to the toilet or under the sink, and some have a small pail in each location. You just want to choose a place where it’s convenient for you and where pets and toddlers can’t get into it.

use a bag

If you’re in a small space or don’t have room for a pail, consider using a hanging bag instead. A “hanging pail” can be hung on a doorknob or wall hook and frees up floor space. A zipper replaces the need for a lid and keeps everything tidy. Large hanging wet bags can be part of your decor, too, as they come in various fun colors!

Setting up an organized system to deal with the dirties is easy and inexpensive. What tips do you have for keeping it simple?

Photo Credit – Vancouver photographer Amber Strocel who crafts a beautiful parenting blog, too.

We’ve talked lots here on the New & Green blog about organizing your diaper bag and how to cloth diaper when you’re away from home, but what about those times (that we all dread) when you’re caught unexpectedly and you aren’t prepared to change a dirty diaper when your baby really needs it?

An emergency diaper change kit to keep in your car is an excellent solution. Here’s a list of items to keep in your emergency diaper kit and a few tips for keeping it ready.

What to Stock in Your Emergency Change Kit

First, get a waterproof storage container. You’ll need somewhere to store all the items that will stay clean and dry no matter what the conditions in your vehicle. Containers such as a gallon-size Ziploc or a plastic storage container with a tight-fitting lid are excellent choices.

Inside your storage container make sure you pack:

• a travel-size wetbag
• a bottle of water (for wetting wipes and for an emergency drinking supply!)
• a few wipes
• 1 diaper per child
• a change pad

Tips

Choose an older diaper to keep in your kit. Remember this is just for the times when you are left unprepared, so this doesn’t need to be fancy (just practical) and can be an excellent use for a diaper that’s seen better days but isn’t ready to face retirement yet.

Keep the kit “up to date” with the right size diaper. If you put a small diaper in the kit when your child is 3-months-old, but don’t end up using the kit for nearly a year, the diaper in the kit will be too small for your baby. Make sure you check it every month or so to keep the right size in stock. This can also be a great place to use a one-size diaper – that way you can be assured you’ll always have a diaper that will fit adequately without having to double check regularly.

Make sure to replace anything that gets used. If you use the wipes to clean sticky, melted ice cream off your child’s hands, make sure the kit is re-stocked with new dry wipes. If the diaper is used, put a new diaper in its place. This may seem obvious, but sometimes in the shuffle of a busy life, it’s easy to forget these little details, but that’s not so helpful the next time you’re in need of a clean diaper and there is none to be found.

If you’ve got more than one child in diapers, make sure your emergency kit has one diaper per child. Whether you use sized diapers (small, medium, large) or one-size diapers, make sure there’s one diaper per child. You may be caught in a situation where both children need to be changed, and you’ll want to be prepared.

Consider keeping a large prefold as a change pad in the kit, as it can double as a diaper if you’re really stuck for a long period of time!

Have you ever been caught unawares while away from home and had to do some “creative diapering”? We’d love to hear your story!

It may seem from our title that we’re talking about food today, but as is inevitable in any conversation about diapers, today we’re actually discussing poo. (Sorry if we got your hopes up….) As any pediatrician or naturopath will tell you, watching your infant’s stools change from liquid to solid is an important, significant transition, and sometimes that can mean changing your diaper selection as well.

The Newborn Days

In the early days of life, your baby’s gut is immature. For the first few days, it’s excreting all the lovely, tarry meconium that is a by-product of life in the womb, and for the first few weeks is incapable of holding food for long. And obviously, the only food intake is in liquid form, so with all these factors together, you can count on a liquid-y, poopy diaper after every meal. (Diaper liners are a welcome accessory during this period!)

As for color and texture, due to the colonization of the gut with all the good bacteria it needs for nutrient absorption, you can watch the stool go from black to various shades of yellow and green. Your doctor or midwife will likely ask you at some point about the stool’s color and consistency as an indication of the baby’s health, especially if the baby has been jaundiced.

In terms of diapering, all of this liquid stool in the early days means that the most important factor to consider in choosing diapers is containment. You need a diaper or a cover that has good, snug elastic around the legs and waist to keep all the poo exactly where it belongs. Popular choices from New & Green parents tend to be a prefold, Snappi, and cover combo, a Kissaluvs size 0 + cover combo, and the (super cute) TiniFit All-in-One.

Regularity

At about 6-8 weeks of age, your baby’s stools will begin to change. While at the beginning poo tends to be runny, at this point it will begin to hold together and take on a firmer, more tacky texture. The upside to this is that the stool can be easier to shake off into the toilet, as well as that food is now moving more slowly through the gut, so it’s entirely possible that your baby will only move his or her bowels once or twice a day, sometimes at the same time each day. (Wahoo!) And as the months go by and as your baby begins to eat solid food, the poo will continue to solidify.

So as poo becomes more – shall we say, regular – containment is no longer the highest priority for a diaper, but absorbancy. Poo may not be as frequent, but the baby’s bladder is getting bigger and he or she is eating more.

Thus, parents’ favorite diapers tend to change: many still love the prefold + cover combo and the EasyFit All-in-One, but other favorites for this period include the Bamboozle bamboo fitted, the AMP hemp fitted, and BumGenius pocket diapers.

Watching your baby grow and change can be an incredible, joyful experience. We certainly hope that cloth diapering on that journey helps you celebrate the joy of watching your child grow and seeing the miracle of all the changes that your baby’s body goes through, including the myriad type of messy diapers.

And care to share your experiences? We welcome hearing your stories about how you have dealt with your “poo problems,” as questions about how to deal with poop are among our most frequent at our Cloth Diapering 101 workshops and here on the blog. Real-life stories are fantastic!

This post was inspired by an article in our Learning Centre. If you haven’t checked out the Learning Centre or Diaper Care library recently, put it on your list – it’s packed with great information!

Occasional diaper rash is a normal occurrence for babies. When those sweet baby cheeks are inside of a diaper 24/7 for upwards of two-and-a-half years, you are bound to have a rash every now and again.

Some common reasons for rashes:

• Staying in a wet or dirty diaper too long
• Change in Mama’s diet (for nursing babies)
• Change in baby’s diet (watch food introductions)
• Teething
• Sensitivity to detergent and/or buildup of detergent in diaper fabric

So with that in mind, here are six tips for preventing a rash or decreasing the incidence of rashes:

Give your baby diaper-free time every day.

Allow your baby’s skin to air out at least once a day for more than 10 minutes and preferably, expose the skin to sunshine. Rashes only flare up and proliferate in dark, humid, acidic environments – air and sunshine are the perfect antidote.

Cleanse your baby’s diaper area with just warm water and a cloth.

Make sure you wipe your baby’s bum at every diaper change, even if the diaper was only wet. While the urine itself on the skin will evaporate, irritating uric acid crystals will be left behind. By just wiping the skin clean with a cloth wipe and warm water, you’ll get rid of any residues, leaving your baby’s skin soft and irritant-free.

Make sure your baby’s diaper area is dry before you put on a fresh diaper.

Closing up wet skin in a watertight environment can be a recipe for a rash, so let the skin dry before you put on the new diaper.

These couple of extra minutes can be a really enjoyable bonding time between parent and child – often times newborns and young babies are alert at diaper change time and that’s when they’re cooing and looking around. Older babies sometimes love the routines that are associated with diaper change time – it’s the time when they get to play with a special toy or have a “conversation” with Mommy or Daddy. The minute or two that it takes for the skin to dry can become a lovely interactive time.

Change your baby often.

Leaving a wet or poopy diaper next to the skin for a prolonged period of time is a sure way to set off a rash. Although “prolonged” is relative – some sensitive-skin babies react to the presence of uric acid within minutes while others could go significantly longer before complaining. Regardless of length of time, however, the skin will flare up under these conditions, so it’s definitely in the best interest of both you and your baby to change the diaper as soon as possible once it’s soiled.

Create a stay dry layer.

If your baby seems especially sensitive to wetness, using a non-absorbent layer between your baby’s skin and the wet diaper can be a great way to minimize the skin’s exposure to all that dampness. Either choose a diaper that has fleece right next to the skin, such a pocket diaper, or add a stay dry layer by laying a liner in any diaper you use – fleece and raw silk are the most popular in this case.

Use wool.

If your baby is suffering from a rash and needs healing or in order to prevent a rash when your baby has to stay in his or her diaper for an extended period of time (ie nighttime), consider using a wool cover. Wool offers the best breathability and allows moisture on the skin to evaporate, even when up against a wet diaper. We’ve heard it from parents again and again (and experienced it ourselves) – switching to a wool cover is the fastest, surest way to zap a rash when it starts.

Here’s to healthy, happy babies (and to all you mamas and papas who love them so well!).

At our popular Cloth Diapering 101 workshops, many parents are eager, or at least interested, to use cloth on their babies. However, the “deal breaker” question many ask first is, “But what do I do with the dirties?”

No fear – the days of lugging heavy pails full of sloshing, acrid water to the washing machine are far behind us. These days, diapers are designed with ease of cleaning in mind and you don’t have to even touch the dirties once they’ve been placed in the diaper pail.

A diaper pail is a good place to start. You can read more about choosing a diaper pail that will work for you in other posts around our blog, but basically any container with a lid that is big enough to hold 2-3 dozen diapers will work just fine. Place a pail liner in the pail and you’re ready to go.

When it comes time to change your baby, there are only a few steps. If the dirty diaper is merely wet, you can toss it straight in the pail. Make sure you keep the cover and hang it to dry, as you can reuse it several more times before wash day.

If the diaper has poo in it, you can deal with it in various ways. If you are exclusively breastfeeding, the diaper can be tossed straight in the pail, poo and all. If the baby is receiving any formula or is old enough to be eating solids, as much of the poo as possible should end up in the toilet. You can shake the poo off if it’s solid, do the Four Corner Dunk and Swish (popularized by our own instructor, Bonnie) if it’s a bit more sticky, or you can pre-line your diapers with a bio-liner that gets flushed, a fleece liner that gets washed, or a raw silk liner, which can also be tossed in the wash. Once the poo is in the toilet, toss the cover and the diaper together into your diaper pail.

If you’re using pockets, make sure to put out the innards as you put the diaper in the pail, as this will ensure that you don’t have to touch the diaper again. (Always a good thing….)

On wash day (we recommend every 2-3 days), take the pail to the washing machine, pull out the liner, dump all the contents plus the liner into the machine, do a rinse on cold, a wash on hot with detergent, a second rinse on cold if you so desire, then toss everything into the dryer or hang them on a line – and you’re done!

And as always, if you’re worried about smell in your diaper pail, there are lots of great ways to keep odors at bay.

And that’s it – just as easy as taking out the trash (but lots more fun…)

As we all know, diaper duty can get messy. Really really messy.

Cloth wipes are a great way to deal with life’s messes. They’re soft yet heavy-duty, they don’t leave chemicals on your baby’s skin, and they’re a “green” alternative to the store-bought variety.

Here are a few reasons we love them:

They keep your baby clean, truly clean. Even when your baby doesn’t go “#2”, good wipes are important for the health of your baby’s skin. Uric acid that isn’t wiped away can irritate the skin and cause diaper rash. Even just a quick wipe with water or a mild soap solution will take care of all the acid build-up and keep your baby clean and happy. And of course, when there is a mess to take care of, cloth wipes are always strong enough for the job and don’t tear, keeping your fingers out of the goo.

They’re good for your baby’s skin. Disposable wipes are laden with chemicals, but wiping your baby’s bum with water and/or soap ensures there’s nothing irritating left on the skin afterward.

You don’t have to pick them out before doing laundry. There’s nothing more annoying than opening the washing machine to pull out your nice clean diapers and discover shreds of disposable wipes that you forgot to throw in the garbage can before you did laundry!

They’re green and they make life simpler. Since you’re doing diaper laundry anyway, they don’t add to your energy consumption, yet they keep garbage and chemicals out of the landfill.

They’re budget-friendly. No need to buy wipes over and over – surprisingly, stocking up with cloth wipes rather than using disposable ones can save you beaucoups bucks through your baby’s diapering years.

They’re tough enough to use for a myriad of other babying and parenting jobs, too. Keep an extra dozen around for wiping hands and faces after meals, catching runny noses, boosting a newborn’s diaper, taking off make-up, applying facial toner, or even as handy-dandy toilet paper when you forget to change the roll. Actually, they can replace most of the paper and cotton products you use in your home!

They’re so easy to use. You can either keep them in a stack near the change area with a spray bottle nearby to wet them, or you can pre-moisten them if you prefer so they’re just as easy as using the disposable ones. Using them dry is just fine too – it’s all up to what you and your baby choose. When you’re out and about, they’re just the right size to fold in half and fit inside a travel wipes container (found at your local drugstore).

As you can tell, we love cloth wipes! For more information and to check out our organic cotton/hemp wipes, check out our wipes page.

Today’s question: what do you love most about cloth wipes?

Here is a quick reference for selecting Rockin Green in select BC locations.

The following data originates from Canadian Water Quality Association.  It is a great resource but does not include all cities & towns. While we believe this information to be valid, if you are unsure or do not see your city/town on this list, please contact your municipality to determine your water quality. See our Toolbox for detailed information regarding this procedure.

Let us know if you have any questions.

Let’s talk about poop.

Poop is rather an inevitable part of the conversation when you’re talking about diapers – but what do you do with it? Are there easy ways to deal with it? And will my diapers be stained for good if my child eats beets the night before?

Poop is easily manageable. In the early newborn days, the baby poops as often as he or she pees. If the baby is exclusively taking breastmilk, the poop is water soluble, so you can just toss the diaper – poo and all – into the diaper pail. If the baby is taking formula, it will be a bit more copious and slightly more solid, so you just need to shake off whatever you can and then place it in the pail.

After a few months as your baby’s digestive system matures and as the baby starts eating solids, the poop may be less frequent and be more… well, solid… so you can just let the poo roll off or you may choose to use the old “ four-corner dunk and swish” if you really need to.  The four corner dunk is taught at our workshops and is one of the best tricks you’ll learn from our instructor, Bonnie!

Of course, there are ways that you can make your job easier too. Biosoft diaper liners are strips of biodegradable material that you lay on the inside of your diaper and at diaper change time, you just lift off the liner and toss it in the toilet or take the diaper into the bathroom and flip the liner into the toilet (the no-hands touching method). Fleece liners and raw silk liners work similarly, except you wash them and reuse them rather flushing them. With any of the liners, there’s no more rinsing and dunking to get off the goo!

And regarding stains – stains are generally inevitable, especially in the newborn days, but they are easily removed, even when your child eats beets, strawberries, blueberries, or any other food that tends to colour the stool. Rockin’ Green cloth diaper detergent is great at getting diapers clean and at working on the stains, but for tough stains, sunlight is by far the best bleach and whitener. Stick your diapers outside on a sunny day and beets will be no match for you!

I know, I know.  We’ve been talking a LOT about this stuff.

But it works, it really works!

Want some, don’t you? Click here to grab a coupon code.  It’s only valid until Sunday and our stock will go fast.

Try it and then come back to us and tell us how much you love it.

In two excellent recent guest posts, two moms have shared their experiences using cloth diapers while away from home.  With lots of families traveling in the summer months, here are a few of our tips for while you’re in transit. For ideas for washing when you arrive at your destination, check out this blog post from Karen, one of the N&G Mamas.

Regardless of what mode of travel you choose – air, land, or sea – storage is the biggest issue as you go. You obviously want to take as many diapers as possible while taking up as little space as possible! Good absorbency is also key since you may need to go several hours between changes.

Prefolds and pockets are a great way to satisfy both of these requirements, as are the new Flip diaper and the Babykicks organic fitted diaper. These various options take up the least amount of room, plus prefolds are very absorbent, especially if paired with a doubler, and pockets are very customizable in the amount of stuffing you put in them.

If you’re headed on a long plane trip, the Flip is a great option – the organic cotton inserts don’t take up much room or you have the option of using disposable, biodegradable inserts, in which case all you’ll have with you at the end of the day are the shells. Talk about saving space while still being environmentally-resposible!

If you’re traveling using a car seat, it’s especially important to have covers or diapers that have a good seal around the legs and back. The harness of a car seat tends to cram up against a diaper, so a well-fitting diaper cover ensures you won’t have any leaks over a period of several hours.

It can also be helpful to have a few diapers “locked and loaded.” When you’re on the go it can be hard to find a place to change  your baby, and it may be a juggling act even once you do find one. (Picture an airplane washroom or the floor on a jostling train.) If you have your diapers ready to go – prefolds folded inside a cover, pockets fully stuffed – your job will be much easier. Make sure your wipes and your wetbag are easily within reach before you start and the change should go as quickly and smoothly as is possible in such situations.

Oh, and one note about airplane trips – when packing your diapers, disperse them among different suitcases in case one gets delayed or lost. Then, take a few extra on the plane with you for the same reason. That way, you’ll never be without at least a few diapers on hand.

What to do with the poop?
If you’re in a washroom when you change, you can empty any solids into the toilet and then carefully fold and roll your diaper to contain any remaining mess. If you’re in a place where you won’t be able to get to a washroom for a bit, just roll up the diaper, put it in a small wetbag and empty the mess the next time you’re in a place where it’s easy to do so.

Don’t skimp on the wipes
Remember to bring an ample number of wipes with you in your carry-on or easily within reach in the diaper bag. These not only are great for bums, but they do double service to wipes hands, noses, and faces happy with ice cream. They can also serve as a great pick-me-up for you – bring a travel-size spray bottle with water and a bit of peppermint or lavender essential oil, spray some on a wipe, wipe your face with it, and you’ll be the most relaxed, confident, well-prepared mama on the road.

With warmer weather and days at the pool just around the corner, it’s high time for a post on using cloth at the swimming pool.

Swimmi swim diapers offer all the protection you’ll need for summer pool parties and public pool outings. These swim diapers don’t require anything else to be used underneath them – like disposable swim diapers, they’re designed just to contain messes.

And contain they will! These swim diapers have extra-strong Aplix (think really strong Velcro) to ensure a snug fit around the waist and stretchy lycra to make sure there’s a snug fit around the legs. They’re also lined with a sports mesh to make mess clean-up simple. We just recommend sizing down, both to make sure you’ve got a good snug fit and because you don’t need to account for the bulkiness of a diaper underneath.

What we especially like is that they’re no-fuss. Just put them on like a wrap-style diaper cover, whether using them alone or under a swim suit (for the few public pools that require two layers of protection on babies).

A wet bag is another essential item for swim time. These waterproof bags are not only designed to carry dirty diapers home from a day’s outing, but also wet clothes, bathing suits, towels, and other swim gear. While you only need one swim diaper, consider in investing in several wet bags since they have so many uses – their usefulness will come in handy for years to come!

We love the functionality of Swimmis so much, we’d like to give one away.

Stay tuned to the blog tomorrow for details!

Thank you to Amber, who shared her story with us about traveling with cloth diapers.

Amber, where have your adventures taken you recently and what was your diapering strategy while you were traveling?

We have just returned from two international trips in the last few months in which we used cloth diapers and did not have access to a washing machine.

Our first trip was to the UK for 10 days in which I took an assortment of bumGenius 3.0 pockets diapers for nights and long days, bamboo fitted and Bummis covers and two g-diaper covers with both disposable inserts and cloth inserts.  England was pretty easy.  On the plane (for both trips) I used the G-diapers so that I wasn’t traveling for over a day with wet and soiled diapers.  I would put a bumGenius on if I knew that she might be down for a longer nap on the plane to ensure no leaks.  I actually didn’t have any major disasters the whole time!

During the day in England we used the fitted and then at the end of the day I used the normal powdered detergent I usually use at home and rinsed and scrubbed down diapers.  In England, the radiators came in very handy for hanging and drying (no access to sun or outside here) and they were usually dry over night.

Our trip to Vietnam and Thailand I pretty much brought the same amount of diapers.  I should have brought more bumGenius pocket diapers as they dried much better in a humid climate.  This time I did bring a whole package of G diaper inserts as we had many travel days and airplane rides but did not use the whole thing in the end.  It was good to have the mix of diapers though.  We were usually in one place for at least 2 nights, so we were always washing and hanging.

We spent a week on an island that pretty much could be described as paradise.  My daughter, Safia, pretty much only wore a diaper the whole time or a t-shirt and a Swimmi Swim Diaper.  Drying was great here as we had a line on our bungalow and the wind and sun had them dry in no time.

I was worried that my diapers would come home pretty worn and with soap build up but because of the sun and our washing, I think they came home whiter and brighter than before.

My one difficulty with traveling with cloth diapers and a baby of course, is the amount of suitcase space they take up.  We were travelling very light for the month but the diapers eat up a lot of space!!  Looking back I wouldn’t have done it any differently.  My husband and I discussed the amount of garbage we would have created over the month and especially when we were on the island where everything’s is boated in and I am pretty sure they just burn the local garbage.

This in its self is worth the effort.