Nursing Necklace

Now that baby is almost 5 months old, she has very wander-y hands while she's nursing. In an effort to spare myself from her tiny razor claws, I decided it was time to get myself a nursing/teething necklace.

 

I wanted something as natural as I could get, so I went with a natural maple finished with organic beeswax and jojoba oil. It does feel a bit dry though, so I think I'll coat it with some coconut oil. It looks simple and nice and hangs out just where little hands can find it.

 

There were some at the store that I went to that were wooden beads without the teething ring, but little miss chomper loves to bite on things and I wanted to have the ring available. I also like the look of the ones with a ring and beads together, but maybe I'll find one of those in the future.

They look really simple to make, but I don't know where to find safe materials, nor am I really willing to put in the effort at this point to find them. I think the silicon ones in bright colours look awesome but every time I spend money on a retail item (ie. not handed down or thrifted), I want to go as checmical-free as possible. She will inevitably put loads of toxins into her mouth just by experiencing our world, so I just like to feel that I'm contributing to her safety. For all I know the pretty bright silicon ones are just fine, but my knowledge of their creation vs. wood is low. I know how a tree grows.

Overall I am very happy having bought this necklace and even the baby seems to love it.

Green Mama: Reusable Breast Pads

When I was pregnant, I thought a lot about my breasts leaking once I was breastfeeding. I bought a few kinds of reuseable breast pads to try out and honestly, after a few weeks I wasn't using them anymore. It did take me past the 6 week mark for my body to make the right amount of milk (I was an over-producer), and as such, leaky breasts were part of my life. At night the engorgement was so bad that I couldn't use reuseable pads or else I would have sopping wet cloth next to my skin. For a while I had to use disposable pads. Then, as my supply started to regulate itself, I switched to just using a breast pad when I was nursing to account for the let down.

Now I have a bunch of pads, some round, some heart shaped (I don't know why), around my house that I find in weird places. They do make good coasters though.

One thing I learned is that I hate the kind with the really soft fuzzy lining. That shit sticks to my nipples once they get wet! Ouch.

Product Review: AppleCheeks Diapers

Update: my daughter is now 3 months and about 17 pounds. We switched to size 2 diapers a few weeks ago after experiencing leaks with size 1 as a rise issue and there have been no leaks since.

I tried a handful of diaper combos out and my favourite for this girl has definitely been AppleCheeks. They don't leak and come clean when I wash them. I use the 2 ply bamboo inserts along with the purple stay-dry bamboo booster. I use Nature Clean All Purpose Cleaning Lotion to wash them in. I do a cold rinse, followed by a hot wash with a tiny bit of soap, followed by another cold rinse.

I actually only have 4 covers right now and probably around 12 inserts. This works out perfectly because I wash every other day (this is just when my small washer happens to have the right amount of diapers in it). So I use only about 2 covers every day and change the inserts. I do not use cloth at night because 7th Generation disposables just work better for us than having the hassle of changing baby in the middle of the night.

My daughter has never had a diaper rash (knock on wood) and we've never used any creams or powders on her. I love using cloth diapers, but as I like to travel light, I don't use them when I'm out and about. I just let her wear the cloth diaper she has on and bring disposables for if she needs a change.

I am absolutely loving the fact that AppleCheeks has been doing all of this work releasing special edition diapers and new colours. It adds an element of fun and fashion, not just butt covers.

 As a side note, if you buy these at Baby On The Hip in Leslieville with your Toronto Live Green card, you get 10% off and these diapers don't seem to go on sale. For convenience (but higher prices), well.ca is also carrying them now.

First Impressions: AppleCheeks Size 1 Diaper

Having a 9 day old baby means that just about everything is a first impression! This week we're starting to test out the waters with cloth diapering, now that mommy can move around a lot easier.

AppleCheeks is a pocket diaper (well, they call it "envelope" because their design is slightly different) that comes in two sizes. Size 1 fits 7-20 pounds and size 2 fits 18-40 pounds. I have a size 1 diaper and an approximately 9 pound baby.

I have the colour Lemon Zest, which I chose to match the colour of her poop. Also, it's bright and sunny which is nice to see. I didn't use it with an AppleCheeks bamboo insert, but instead used my Bummis cotton insert, which is bulkier. I think this is why I was pretty much on the largest setting, even though she's not close to 20 pounds. Even so, the fit was really nice because of the way the legs and waist are nice and elasticated. It's always funny to see a huge cloth diaper on a little baby.

I also used a Bummis (I think) bamboo liner which meant that as soon as I put the diaper on and she pooped, I was able to change the liner and keep wearing the rest of the diaper. That is super useful, as she loves to poop in a clean diaper!

This is a Canadian company that designs AND manufactures in Canada, which I really appreciate. They also give some of their proceeds to charity, though I'm not sure how much. Their diapers are on the expensive side at $20 for a cover, $10 for an insert, and $5 for a liner, but if you use liners you can get a few wears out of the same cover (and maybe even insert if you're fast enough) before washing. In their starter kit they give you 3 inserts for every cover, so I'm guessing you could use the cover around 3 times in a row.

I have some other brands to test out (Bummis, Bum Genius, GroVia, and FuzziBunz), but I can see myself buying more of these for sure!