Are you participating in the flats challenge this year? Have you been following the great blogs posting their experiences? What is the Flat's Challenge? Kim Rosas (Dirty Diaper Laundry blog) has organized an amazing event this year with over 490 participants signed up to use flat cloth diapers, covers, and hand wash for 7 days. Each day there is a blog prompt to let bloggers who are participating share their thoughts. Take some time and click through all the links because some of the tips are really great! Below is a list of these blog prompts and a link to Kim's posts and link to the other blogs. Monday- “What Do I Expect to Learn/ Why I’m Taking the Challenge” Tuesday-“What Supplies I am Using” Wednesday-“Favorite Way To Use Flats” Thursday-“How I’m Doing- My Thoughts on Handwashing” Friday-“What Tips I have Learned So Far” Saturday- Open Topic Day Sunday-“Final Post- Reflections on What You Learned.” I'm actually sad that I don't get to participate this ... [ Read More ]
Search Results for: flats challenge
Flats Challenge – the Finale
Want to know how the rest of my week of the flat's challenge went? I CAVED! On Thursday life was just getting very hectic and I caved and used the washer. Then accepting defeat I started using some of our regular stash again. *hides head in shame* I had one super nasty poopy flat, I was out late with friends celebrating their children's bridging to Brownies, and I was getting the house ready to welcome my husband home from China. I've never done the 'single mom' thing for more than a day (hubby does it all the time when I travel for work) and I was just exhausted. He was gone for 9 days on a volunteer project with Habitat for Humanity leaving me in charge of the nest. I decided that I wanted to welcome him home with a big Memorial Day Party with our friends. That left me to clean the pool and whip the house back into 'visitor' shape. Do I consider my challenge a failure? Hell no! I learned so much that I would have never experienced otherwise. I learned that I ... [ Read More ]
2nd Annual Flats & Handwashing Challenge with Dirty Diaper Laundry
Are you a low income family? Have you ever had to choose between diapers and food? Did you know that you could be using reusable cloth diapers instead of disposables? You can diaper your baby for $50 or less (maybe even free if you're resourceful) until they are potty trained! You can handwash your diapers safely and effectively at home if you don't have a washing machine. You can save your money for more important items (like food and shelter) and know that your baby can still have clean diapers every day! Last year Kim with Dirty Diaper Laundry organized the first flats and handwashing challenge to help educate and raise awareness of cloth diapering and to show that it really is possible to use cloth diapers with limited resources. I am so happy to hear that Kim is holding the challenge again this year. I personally learned so much with this challenge and it opened my eyes to the challenges that low income families face when cloth diapering. It also gave me confidence that ... [ Read More ]
Cloth Diapers, #FlatsChallenge, Potty Training, Shari Criso, and a hand washing meltdown!
So here is my stream of thoughts inside my head for the night because it's 11:20pm and I'm exhausted! Today started out just like any other day... I drop the kids off at school in the morning and come home to work. I was actually quite productive today and attended to a ton of projects on my plate. I had decided to meet some of my girlfriends for dinner tonight with the kids to get a much needed mommy break. Daddies hours this week haven't been very favorable so some mommy time was needed. Picked up my son and then my daughter and we were off to dinner. Except when I picked up the littlest angel she was wearing school clothes and someone else's shoes because we had a horrible day of potty training. I left her with 3 changes of clothes, 3 pairs of panties, and 3 diapers - she went through all of the clothes and panties and one diaper. The first thing I noticed was the pad folded flat was sticking out from the back of the flip cover. I guess the teachers are just that ... [ Read More ]
Scared of the Snappi – #Flatschallenge
How am I preparing for the flats challenge? I've been integrating our flats into our diaper rotation for a few weeks now but I have to admit I'm quite a lazy flats folder - I usually stick with the pad fold because I can't remember how to do the others (origami or kite fold) without referring back to a diagram or video. We have a brand new Snappi fastener that's been sitting on our changing table for about a week and Lil' B keeps playing with the package wanting to know what it is. So tonight after bathtime I decided I was going to try my hand at the origami fold. I've practiced before but can never remember how to begin - so off to visit Dirty Diaper Laundry on my iphone. I get it folded in about 30 seconds, place it under her bum, and reach for the Snappi. That is when my little girl expressed her fear of the Snappi - she freaked out! "No mommy! I don't want that!" She squirmed for about 5 minutes while I tried to reason with a 2 year old that this is how the diaper ... [ Read More ]
Flats and Handwashing Challenge – Cloth Diapers
My friend Kim at Dirty Diaper Laundry blog has been very busy lately. First she creates the Cloth Diaper Finder, an amazing program that helps you select the perfect cloth diaper for you based on your preferences. She's also working on a few other surprises that I'm sure will be equally exciting. Then a few months ago there were several articles floating around the internet about the lengths that some parents take in order to save a few dollars. See disposable diapers are expensive and the cost keeps rising. There are families out there who literally have to make the choice between buying food and buying diapers. Parents will leave disposable diapers on their babies hours longer than they should and some will even go to the extreme of reusing a disposable diaper!! Sadly it's the babies who suffer; sitting in any diaper for more than a few hours can lead to severe rashes and infections. Left untreated due to the high cost of medical treatment these babies lives are at ... [ Read More ]
Overnight (or heavy wetter) Flats Solutions
Today was the first day in a week that we woke up with a leak! EEEK! My tot insists on going pee pee on the potty every night before bed and last night she sat, and sat, and sat but never peed. When she woke up this morning she said, "Mommy my bankie wet." I knew what had happened obviously. We used a single pad folded flat (birdseye cotton) inside a Flip and it just couldn't hold a full nights worth of toddler pee. Tips for Overnights (or Heavy Wetters) When Using Flat Cloth Diapers Double up the layers by using two flat diapers before you fold and place in your cover. Add your favorite insert inside a pad folded flat to increase the absorbency. Use a hemp flat like Hemp Babies (alone or with an extra insert). Use a fleece or wool cover that will catch any leaks and keep them contained. Tonight we are trying our Flip cover with a pad folded Hemp Babies. Here are my pictures (just excuse the bad lighting and poor iPhone quality - my camera ... [ Read More ]
30 Reasons to Love Cloth Diapers – Diaper Covers, Pre-folds, Flats, and Snappis!
Day 17: Diaper Covers, Pre-folds, Flats, and More - back to basics cloth diapering! I normally write about one-sized and pocket cloth diapers because the majority of my stash is made up of these systems. Since that is what I use most frequently I often forget about the other systems. I'm surprised to see that a number of families I talk with on Twitter use (and swear by) old fashioned pre-fold diapers. Yes, many parents still use the simple diapering systems that our parents and grandparents used on us over the new modern systems. Families prefer pre-folds and flats for their economical benefits, ease of use, and absorbency. Many parents will travel with pre-folds and flats since they are easier to hand wash when laundry services are unavailable. What is a pre-fold diaper? Many people are familiar with pre-folds because they use them as burp cloths or to dust around the house. Or am I the only one who was raised using pre-folds around that my mom reused after we grew out of ... [ Read More ]
Cloth Diaper Your Baby for FREE
While this is an older post from my blog archives, the information is still valuable! If you're currently shopping for diapers I recommend a few brands in my Amazon Shop: www.amazon.com/shop/backtocalley Would you like to diaper your baby for FREE? You may recall a post I wrote last year where I explained how you can diaper your baby for only $50. With the state of our economy parents are finding themselves making choices between buying diapers, clothing, food, and shelter. Even if you aren't handy with a sewing machine there are a few patterns available that can help you diaper your baby with items you may already have around the house. If you do have a sewing machine (or know someone who does) you can make cloth diapers that function just as well as the popular diaper brands. Here is a list of some common items that you can use to make cloth diapers: t-shirts bath or kitchen towels knit, cotton, or flannel sheets receiving blankets fleece blankets sweatshirts ... [ Read More ]
Green and Cloth Diapering News & Updates
Would you like to know the very latest happenings around the green & cloth diapering community? I thought so! This week I decided I would add in a few fun green living posts with my regular cloth diapering news. My Favorite Posts of the Week: Tampa Bay loves cloth diapers. I updated my local resource page for green living and cloth diapers stores, groups, and events. My Posts from Around the Web: A guest post on the Kelly Wels blog about 5 Fun Natural Parenting iPhone apps. Watch for the Spring Issue of Kaia Magazine for a few articles I've been working on! Upcoming Events & Giveaways Ending Soon: RSVP for the EcoSprout Stink Free Twitter Party {3/27} and win some amazing prizes! Kelly Wels, Changing Diapers Giveaway Products I'm Reviewing: Leaping Sheep Wool Dryer Balls Jade & Pearl sea sponge reusable tampons A Happy Green Life laundry and cloth diaper detergent Totes-Ma-Goat bags by Bungalow The Peri Dress by Peri: The ... [ Read More ]