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Baby Care Information & Resources Frequently Asked Questions about Cloth Diapering Answers the why, what and how of cloth diapering. Baby Sign Language - Help your baby communicate with you. Are You Preventing Your Baby from Sleeping Through the Night? A good question! Find out if this is so.
Frequently
Asked Questions about Cloth Diapering I. Why Use Cloth?
2. Cloth diapers can be a healthier
option for your baby. Many parents 3. Cloth diapers are a more responsible environmental choice. Disposable diapers account for 30% of the non-biodegradable waste in landfills. In today's wasteful society, cloth diapering is one small way to reduce the amount of garbage we contribute to the landfills. II. What Are My Cloth Diapering Options? 1. Prefolds: These are the basic diapers many people use as burp cloths and dust rags. They are flat squares of cotton folded in thirds with an absorbent middle layer. Prefolds can be pinned on and worn with pull on covers, or they can be used without pins if a Velcro diaper wrap is used. 2. Contour Diapers: These are
flat diapers with an "hourglass" shape; 3. Fitted Diapers: Cloth diapers
which look like disposables; they have 4. All-In-One Diapers: Fitted
diapers with an integrated cover. These III. What do I Need to Buy? To get started, you will need
at least 2 dozen cloth diapers. Prefolds IV. What Are the Most Popular Diapers and Covers? 1. Diaper Service Quality Prefolds:
Gerber is generally considered the 2. Fitteds: Snap to Fits and Kushies Classics are two very popular fitted diapers. They cost about $7 each and are quite absorbent. Many Work at Home Moms also make their own fitted diapers, which they sell on the internet. The best way to get opinions on these "WAHM diapers" is to ask about them on diapering message boards. 3. All-in-Ones: Kushies Ultras and Motherease AIO's are very popular all in one diapers. These diapers generally cost between $9 and $12 a piece. Many people find that all in one diapers are not the best value, since the waterproof outer layer often loses its waterproofing over time. 4. Velcro Covers: Proraps, Diaperraps,
Gerber EZ Wraps, and Bummis 5. Pull-On Covers: Alexis Featherweights
are the most popular pull-on VI. How Do I Use Cloth Diapers on My Baby? Using fitted diapers is pretty
self-explanatory, so this will focus on 1. Traditional Pin Method: Lay
the prefold flat, and slide it under your 2. Twist Method: Lay diaper flat
and lay baby on diaper. Twist the 3. No-Pin Method: You can do either
of the above methods with no pins, if you are using a sturdy, snug-fitting
velcro wrap. In addition, You can do the following to avoid using
pins - Lay diaper flat and fold it in thirds; place in a velcro wrap.
Place wrap snugly on baby. This VII. How Do I Store and Wash Cloth Diapers and Covers? 1. Wet Method: Fill your
diaper pail about a quarter full with cold 2. Dry Method: Put a nylon
liner in your diaper pail and sprinkle some 3. Washing Diaper Covers: Covers can be washed with your diapers; however, many people prefer to wash them with their baby clothes on WARM/GENTLE. Consult washing instructions on your covers and decide which will work best for you. Covers should not go in the dryer; after washing, be sure to remove from washer and hang to dry. You can discuss more on cloth
diapering on the Diapering Board at:
Keep up to date on the latest
diapering trends! Get a FREE subscription to Diaper Pin Newsletter.
Even after using cloth diapers on all five of my children I learned
some new things from reading this newsletter. You can sign up by sending
and email to: diapertalk-subscribe@topica.com
Baby
Sign Language I have always had an interest in sign language since knowing my deaf aunt and uncle as a little girl. I myself know a little sign for worship at church. I read about the new idea of teaching sign to hearing babies and immediately knew I would like to do that with Haley. My adopted daughter will be 1 year old on Tuesday. I admit I did not teach sign to me 3 teenagers when they were babies. However with baby number 4 in my home with me at age 40, there are a lot of things I do differently this time around. Sign language for babies uses a different part of the brain then speech. Studies have shown that these babies who learn sign are less frustrated because they can express their wants and needs. It also says that these babies are actually ahead, not delayed, in speech development. Babies are able to do many signs before they can speak the words. Our babies all do some signs without us even thinking about it. They wave Hi and bye-bye. They point to things they want. They make animal signs or sounds. Haley loves to do fish lips and blows kisses, nod yes and no. When your baby starts learning to wave it is a perfect time to begin teaching other signs. When Haley was about 8-9 months old and could wave I started showing a few signs consistently. Milk, more, kitty, all done. I remember well the day Haley got the sign for MORE (fingers tips together in front of your chest). She has always been very verbal and clear about what she wants. That usually meant yelling at you. I was working on the computer. I had a bag of baby cookies. She would have one, then come back and scream indicating she wanted another and I gave it to her. After 5 or 6 times I thought "Wow, I am teaching her to scream for what she wants." The next time she came I said "MORE?" and did the sign with my fingers. I repeated that for several times. Then the next time I did it with her fingers and said the word. We did that a couple times. Then she came up and did the sign the next time, without screaming. YEAH! Success! That was too easy. I realize how quickly she got it and started showing her other signs. I did a similar thing for nursing. Her signal usually was to lay down in my lap or tug at my shirt. I taught her the sign (squeeze the hand together like milking a cow. Yah I Know LOL). I started using it with her before and during the time she nursed. At first she would reach up and do the sign while she was nursing. Now part of the time she will come up and do it to tell me she wants to nurse. She loves animals so we are working on naming all the animals both in words and signs. Her first few attempts at kitty (fingers across the cheek like whiskers) were actually done on top of her head. Now she can get one finger across her cheek and she says the word also. For Big Bird, she does one finger on her nose instead of the beak motion with two fingers. It is not so important that babies do the signs perfectly but that you and she both understand. I got a great book called Baby Signs - How to Talk With Your Baby Before Your Baby Can Talk. It gave me some super tools and tips. I also bought the great fold out sign cheat sheet, Sign With Your Baby. I hope this article will encourage
you to teach your baby a few signs too. They really think it is a
great game. Give it a try.
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Check
This Out!
Comfy Bummy offers on their website a handy Savings Calculator so you can calculate the savings from choosing to use cloth diapers over disposable diapers. Mothers
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