Mom Blog Monday blog hop!

    I'm so honoured and excited to be the featured blogger this week for Mom Blog Monday Blog Hop!  Stop on by and get yourself on the list for this amazing hop hosted by some really great blogs!

Find the hop here!

As always, don't forget to leave me a link to your blog so I can follow you back!

Happy Hopping!

One big wet bag don't...

     Wet bags are great and most cloth diapering mama's would agree that trips out of the house are a no-no without one!  Today, I forgot to use my liners with E which taught me a major lesson in on-the-go cloth diapering:  DON'T put a poopy diaper into a wet bag without clearing off those solids first!  This poop wasn't 'shakeable' and so I left 2 diapers in my wet bag with the poop still on them and figured I would clean them off at home.  BAD idea.  The smell was overwhelming whenever I'd open up my bag, and when I would pull anything out to use it, it stunk!  I swear a cashier gave me a dirty look when I hoisted my bag up onto the counter and opened it up to get my wallet.  So the quick lesson of the day...always toss your dirty disposable liners when out or shake your diaper out into the nearest toilet before dropping it into your wet bag or you'll be getting the 'stink' face from everyone you meet!

Cloth Liners...A Must Have When Out & About!

     I started using liners in E's diapers when he started solids, about 6 weeks ago.  A home I use flushable liners because it's one less thing I have to think about...I just pull it out of the diaper and either flush it or toss it into the compost bin.  Today though, we were out for the day and I realized how much I hate paper liners when I'm out and about.  I was changing Eli and ended up having to put aside this poopy liner, balancing it on the edge of the change table so it wouldn't fall onto the floor and make an even bigger mess!  After all the fussing with changing, redressing, putting away the dirty diaper, etc I still had to balance the baby and diaper bag in my arms while reaching for this liner to throw in the garbage.  And whereas a dirty disposable diaper you just close up into a neat little package, the poop on this liner is just sitting in the garbage can for the whole bathroom to look at.  
     So, here's how the situation would have looked at had I been using cloth liners:  I would have taken off the poopy diaper, put it all into my wetbag to deal with at home, put on a fresh diaper and have been done with it all!  Now, I guess with a disposable liner I could just do the same and throw out the liner at home, but the fact of the matter is I wouldn't remember to take the paper out and it would end up tossed into my washing machine with the diaper...a new mess to deal with.  
     Long story short, I'll be packing my cloth liners for trips out of the house from now on!  In case anyone's wondering, I make my own liners out of pieces of microfleece.  Cheap, easy and you can get some cute patterns :)

Wordless Wednesday...fluff style!

Insert Choices: Bamboo!

     Bamboo is one of those fabrics people love to love.  From clothing to towels, sheets and diapers, it just feels nice saying "it's bamboo".  
What is it?
     Bamboo fabric is a natural textile that's made from bamboo trees (for the technical people out there, bamboo is actually a grass!). Bamboo fabric can be made mechanically or chemically. Mechanically, the woody parts of the bamboo plant are crushed and then natural enzymes break the bamboo walls into a pulp so that the fibers can be combed out and spun into yarn. This is a pretty labor -intensive method and is how 'bamboo linen' is made.  Chemically,  crushed plant parts are put into a bath of chemicals which break them down, then into more chemicals to produce fibers.  The process is basically the same as getting fibers out of wood for paper making and is the process that's been used when you see 'bamboo rayon' on the tag.  It's also the most common process used.
Good Points:
   Bamboo is a sustainable and renewable resource.  It's also natural and durable.  Bamboo's incredibly soft, antibacterial and hypoallergenic.  It has great absorbency and therefore you can get a nice, trim diaper that absorbs as much as it's bulkier cotton counterpart.  Residue issues are rare with bamboo diapers compared to microfiber.
Not so good points:
    Bamboo diapers and inserts are usually more expensive than cotton and microfiber.  Although it's a durable fabric, it's still not AS durable as cotton or microfiber and therefore might not last as long.


Some awesome bamboo products!

• Mother-Ease Sandy's bamboo fitteds (my night-time go-to! LOVE!)
• Blueberry Bamboo Deluxe pocket diapers (adorable and absorbent!)
• AMP bamboo inserts (great alternative to microfiber for pockets)

So that's the scoop on bamboo!