D is for Diapers – The Best Style and Brand of Cloth Diapers

I started cloth diapering my first son when he was about 10 months old. I bought some cheap covers and my mom donated all the flats she used on my siblings and me. Mom had received them used so C was the 7th baby to use these flats! There were a few hiccups but I figured out how to make flats work for us and fell in love with cloth diapering.

Then I entered the crazy world of today’s cloth diapers. Styles, brands, colors, fabrics… so many options it can make someone’s head spin! If you’re interested in a simple summary of the different styles, you can find one by clicking here.

Since I’m such a “research junkie,” I made it my mission to learn about cloth diapers and find the best style and brand of cloth diapers. I have reasearched and experimented with fabrics, styles, brands (name brand vs cheapies), closures (snap vs aplix vs pull up), care options, etc. I realize that it’s a matter of opinion, but I believe that I have found the best cloth diapers on the market right now.

My preferred style is fitteds with a cover:

Extra leak protection: Less chance of leakage if you can’t change baby as soon they need or if you’re in the car and have car seat straps pressing on diapers and such. They are also less prone to poop explosions because there are two layer to go through, instead of one.
Last longer: You’re not washing the waterproof cover each time. This also allows you to wash your diapers on a hotter setting without having to worry about ruining the waterproof layer because you can simply wash the covers in another load.
More flexibility: You can have one layer specifically for the absorbency and the cover holds it snugly in place. You can add more absorbency for night time and use a more breathable cover (such as wool) if desired, without having to buy a whole new diaper. (In fact, even moms who prefer other styles during the day turn to fitteds for nighttime use). You even have the option to use just the fitted while at home to catch any accidents while potty training or just to allow baby’s bum a bit more air-time.

My personal favorites, and the ones I recommend to everyone I know, are Thirsties Fab Fitteds with Thirsties Duo Wrap covers. I bought some covers while still folding flats with C and haven’t looked back! I found they fit both of my boys really well, in spite of their completely different body shapes. I have friends that have used them as well and they love them just as much. Friends who have cloth diapered between 4 and 8 children (i.e. they know their stuff).

Sizes: The two sizes work well from birth to potty training. A lot of moms find that, with one sized diapers, they end up needing to buy either disposables or a newborn size for the first few months and then, depending on their child’s size, bigger diapers for nearing potty training. One-sized diapers fit that middle range. I used size 1 Thirsties on Biscuit and he was less than 7lbs at birth and C just stopped using them at night (with an extra absorbent booster and only one snap done up instead of two) about six months ago, at almost age 5.
Quality: They will last through several children and, if you no longer need them, they hold their resale value better than some other brands do. They are in the mid-range for price but I have found their quality outlasts many of the other, more expensive, brands. For example, my size one diapers have been through 2 babies (up to about 5 months each) and they still look and feel as good as new. No snap issues or elastic issues or anything. My size 2 diapers look a little more worn because I am pretty hard on my diapers (we had terrible water that discolored them and I machine wash and dry everything) but I still have zero issues with them and they’ll last through another child or two easily. Biscuit has used them for over 2 years now and they are still in excellent condition.
Service: I have emailed Thirsties with questions and spoke with their customer service department on the phone and they were so helpful and quick with their responses.
Options: Snaps or aplix? I prefer snaps for my fitteds so I can use them under wool covers with no snagging, plus the snaps are nice a strong so my toddler has difficulty undoing them. I used aplix for the covers because it allows me to adjust to that perfect fit.
Made in North America: I like knowing that the diapers are made in the USA by (mostly) WAHMs.

Cloth diapers are so simple these days and I have no concerns about having a newborn, full time, in cloth in a few weeks. Even my 5 year old knows how to wash cloth diapers! I won’t even get into how much money these diapers have saved me but you can read my thoughts on how to have a baby on a budget here.

Side note about newborns in cloth:
meconium does NOT permanently stain or wreck the diapers.
A little bit of sunshine gets rid of any stains.
Those flats that I first used had 6 newborns in them and have no staining.

Were you cloth diapered as a child?
Have you ever thought about cloth diapers? Why or why not?

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Consistency in the Service of Motherhood

by Tessa | Motherhood

Consistency in the Service of Motherhood

Disclosure

When I originally had the idea of writing on consistency, I thought that this post would be about consistency in your mothering and discipline techniques. About following through when telling your child to do something. As I started writing, however, I was led in a completely different direction. This is about my struggle with consistency in the service of motherhood.

My mind has been cloudy lately. My body has been weary. I’m nearing the end of my pregnancy and, to be frank, I’m pretty sick of waking up to pee 2-3 times per night and having to maneuver gingerly out of bed so as not to aggravate my pelvic pain. I’m thankful that, for the last couple of weeks, Biscuit has only been up 2-3 times per night and has settled back to sleep quickly.

I want to be a blessing to my husband and children. I know the “to dos” to get there but I’m having a hard time getting motivated. I cannot rely on my own strength, because it so often fails me. I’m consistently inconsistent. Just when I feel like I’m getting into a good rhythm with housework, mothering, my marriage, and business, I drop the ball. What’s a person to do at that point?

Go back to square one.

Square one is to read my Bible and pray. I didn’t get my Bible reading in for a couple mornings last week. It completely threw my day off. I don’t know how much of it was the lack of the Word and focused time with God, or the lack of structure at the beginning of the day.

I want to be a blessing to my husband and children. I know the “to dos” to get there but I’m having a hard time getting motivated. I cannot rely on my own strength, because it so often fails me.

Service. Jesus came to serve and He is the example that we are to follow.

Servanthood is hard.

Especially at this point in my life, I would much rather be served than to serve. I even feel like I’m entitled to being served sometimes. I do a lot of serving and, to tell the truth, I grow weary from it. But nowhere in the Bible does it say that we are to serve with the expectation of being served back. How in the world does a person serve and sacrifice so much of herself, consistently every day, without growing weary?

You can’t. I can’t. I need to find a way to rely on God’s strength instead of my own. Because there are days when I just run out of strength.

Go back to the beginning.

Square one: read my Bible. Keep reading until I allow God’s strength to come into me. He will give me the strength. All I need to do is ask in faith and I shall receive. But I also have to be willing and open to receiving it.

How do I open myself up to His strength? Prayer. God’s strength is found in His Word and made perfect in my weakness. His perfect strength will see me through.

[bctt tweet=”He will give me the strength. All I need to do is ask in faith and I shall receive. But I also have to be willing and open to receiving it.”]

Lord,

Please fill me with Your strength. I can’t go on without it. I need you. I can’t do this alone. I don’t want to rely on my faltering strength. Open my heart and mind to being used by You to bless my family today. And fill me with the strength to follow through.

Amen.

Do you struggle with consistency too? How do you find the strength to consistently serve your family?

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S is for Sparrows: The Unschooling Process

by Tessa | Motherhood

The unschooling process starts whenever there is an observation.

We have a lilac bush right in front of our back deck. I can’t see anything on the other side of it and I plan to chop it down and trim it or move it this spring. But, for now it sits there, as pretty much the only thing we can see out of our deck door.

The sparrows love our bush. And C loves the sparrows. We hung up a simple bird feeder the other day and have been watching the birds extra closely to see if they eat it. I asked him to grab his bird book so he could identify them. He instantly found that they looked like the birds in the sparrow section. It was tough to see the details to be able to identify the type of sparrow more specifically so I grabbed my camera and took a few photos.

We noticed that there are different kind of sparrows in the bush. So we looked through the book and then grabbed a computer and Googled “types of sparrows.” We looked through a ton of photos online and compared with the ones that I had taken. We talked about the beak colors, crown, eyes, chest and tail. It was great to go through the details and show my boys how many different types of sparrows there are and how they are all different.

Then I got the song “His Eye is on the Sparrow” stuck in my head so I sang it to the boys. It gave me the opportunity to talk to them about Matthew 10:29-31 that talks about how God notices a sparrow fall from the tree, how much more does he know and notice you. So many sparrows just in our bush, yet God knows each and every one of them. I played the song through on the piano a couple times, which made C want to play for a bit. I have a couple lessons books that he likes to try, with some assistance. So he played on and practiced the piano for a while before he came back to the sparrows. By that point, I had printed off some coloring pages, a few of which had some key words (such as Nest, Egg, Sparrow, Seed) for C to learn.

Subjects covered: Science (animal anatomy, diet, and habitat), research skills, music, Bible, reading, coloring and photography. (Did I miss any?)

The unschooling process doesn’t have to be complicated. In fact, it’s a lot simpler than people think. Even families who don’t unschool follow the unschooling process in their day-to-day lives. It starts with an observation, which leads to a question, which opens the door to exploring for answers.

What questions have you answered lately for your child that led you down a wonderful path of exploration?

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R is for Revolutionize Your Parenting by Honoring Your Child’s Nature

by Tessa | Book Notes

Have you been looking for a handbook that tells you exactly what your children need from you as a parent? A positive parenting handbook with practical techniques that you can implement right away? I’ve read a lot of parenting books and many of them tell you that positive parenting works better than punishing but most don’t tell you how to do it. The Child Whisperer does.

I have a close friend and, between the two of us, have four little boys within three years of each other (I’m not including my littlest in this comparison or her baby-to-be any day now). We are both passionate about mothering and read a ton of books and articles on parenting to try to understand our children and what they need from us. We try to exchange advice but what works for her kids often doesn’t work for mine and vice versa. It didn’t make any sense. If I didn’t know better, I’d say her kids are too energetic and aggressive and, if she didn’t know better, she would think my kids are too subdued and serious.

Her boys are typical “all boy” kind of kids. Loud, energetic, rambunctious, busy. Mine are the complete opposite and could be described more as quiet, sensitive, focused, detailed. Her boys run and climb all day. My boys read stories and sit on the floor playing cars all day. They are just plain different.

Through the Internet-based bunny trail, she came across a graphic (I’ll share the link later in the post) that explained our boys to a T. Actually, it explained them to their Type. I have studied a number of different methods of personality profiling and have found Energy Profiling to be the most reliable method of determining and understanding the inner workings of a person.

Here’s the cliff notes version of how the four types applies to our boys:

Type 1: The Fun Loving Child: K is 4 years old. He bounces when he walks. He has squealed with excitement since he was just a few months old. He gets super-excited when he gets to visit with friends. His interest bounces from one activity or toy to another. His emotions are the same. He bounces from excited to heartbroken to excited within the span of two minutes. He thrives in a fun and light atmosphere.

Type 2: The Sensitive Child: C is almost 6 years old. He walks so quietly that you often don’t know he’s standing right behind you. His is soft spoken and is very particular with whom he shares his thoughts. He loves long hugs and snuggles. He sometimes reads for hours a day. When he (finally) decides to clean up his toys, he will put the toys in their proper bins. He notices things that others don’t and remembers the details (like who gave him which gift when he was 3 or if the vet’s truck got new tires). A stern or angry voice can cause him to crumple and will often cry and need to be held while he sorts out his feelings. He thrives when he feels loved and connected.

Type 3: The Determined Child: D is 2.5 years old. He stomps and marches everywhere he goes. He roars just for the sake of making noise. He climbs and jumps and runs. He pushes his body to the limit and takes risks just to get his heart pumping. His emotions are explosive and he reacts quickly to whatever he is feeling and might think about the consequences of what he says and does later. He is full of fire and passion. He thrives when he can be physically active.

Type 4: The More Serious Child: Biscuit (His name starts with “I” but that just gets confusing so I’ll use his nickname instead) is 3 years old. He walks with purpose when he has a mission and allows nothing to get in his way but, if he doesn’t accept the mission laid out for him, nothing can convince him to move his feet. If someone else wants to play with him, it must be by his rules. When he gets overwhelmed around other kids, he naturally removes himself and plays independently for a while. He has the ability to focus so completely that it is difficult for him to move his attention elsewhere. He feels things intensely and does not shift through emotions easily. He thrives when he feels heard and respected.

Does your child fall into one of those categories? Or is he/she a blend of a couple of them? Chances are that your child exhibits one of those main traits more strongly than others. If you want a little bit more information, you can view the graphic I talked about right here. While the overview graphic is great, the real meat and potatoes is in the book. Read the book with the hope to understand your children more, and walk away with practical discipline and communication techniques for your children. It if filled with tips to overcome issues that you have with them as well as understanding issues they have within themselves. There are sections explaining how to apply the knowledge of your child’s type to any stage of life you’re in, from birth to adulthood. It truly is a handbook that you’ll want to refer to time and time again.

If I could recommend that every parent read one parenting book (excluding the Bible because that is so much more than a parenting book), this is the book I would recommend. It comes in Kindle format but I would recommend the paperback because, once purchased, you can go to the website and send an email to claim bonus offers of the audio version, eBook, and a free parenting webinar and video profiling course. Last, but not least, I want you do know that I was in no way asked or compensated for this review and recommendation. I just want to share all the amazing information that I’ve learned through this process and want other parents to benefit from knowing the nature of their children. *The links in the article are affiliate links so I may make a small referral commission (at no extra cost to you) if you choose to purchase through the link.*

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Q is for Queens: 5 Observations About Royal Mothers Through the Centuries

by Tessa | Motherhood

A few months ago I came across a movie on Netflix about Marie Antionette. I watched it and loved it. History, drama, love, politics. It had everything. Netflix recommended another movie to me about Queen Victoria. Then there was one about the Boleyn sisters, so I watched it too. Last week I went to the library for the first time since Baby Bear’s birth and decided to get a novel for myself (since I’m sitting so often to rock and/or nurse him). I saw a rather thick novel about the King Henry VIII and the Boleyn sisters. The librarian mentioned that, although it had some racy parts, it was one of her favorite novels. I’d say that’s pretty high praise from someone who works with books for a living so I checked it out.

A couple pages in and I was hooked.

There are not many things that I lack self control in but novel reading is one of them. Most of my housework was neglected as I devoured all 661 pages in four days. (Don’t worry, I did remember to feed my family and play with the kids but you don’t want to see my floors or laundry pile right now!) That’s in addition to numerous Wikipedia articles and other Tudor history websites. That naturally drifted into reading about the current British monarchy. I look at queens and princesses so differently as a mother than I did when I was a little girl. I’ll let you in on a 5 of my observations about royal mothers through the centuries:

Royalty did not raise their babies. I couldn’t imagine not being able nurse my son and hold him and see him at will. Babies were handed off at a young age to wet nurses and nannies. Then sent away to school for much of their lives and usually only came back as teenagers, when they were ready to wed. Even much of the current royal family hires nannies. It is incredible to see the Duchess of Cambridge go against this trend and lean toward more of an attachment style of parenting.
Girls didn’t matter. They were merely bargaining chips in the political game. The main purpose of a queen was to produce a male heir. Since I have 3 boys I can’t necessarily speak from experience, but I believe that mothers love their daughters just as much I love my sons. Aren’t you glad to live in a society that allows you to embrace your daughters as much as your sons?
In the 1500s, a mother of noble blood had about a 2 month “laying in” period. They stayed in a dark and calm room for about a month before their expected delivery date and then a month after the birth and were waited on hand and foot. Sounds nice! I carried my first with no problem and could have been fine being pregnant for a while but, unfortunately, my second and third pregnancies were much tougher. It would been so nice to do nothing other than grow a baby that last month. I also completely support a “laying in” period after the baby is born. I don’t think the room needs to be dark but I do think that Mama should spend the first 40 or so days just focusing on her baby and her recovery. This is such a hard one to remember but, even with multiple children and no family around, you can make the decision to allow yourself this much-needed recovery and bonding time. Even if you have the perfect birth experience and a super mellow baby, remind yourself to take the time to just be a mom. It is such an important time in the mother-baby relationship and neglecting this time can cause so many problems when it comes to birth recovery, bonding, breastfeeding, sleep rhythms, and all the neurological and physical development that takes place in those early days.
Babies were breastfed. By the mother for lower classes and a wet nurse for higher classes. There was no other way. No other option. It never occurred to generations of old that breastfeeding wouldn’t work. Before someone jumps down my throat on this topic, please remember that this is a fact, not an opinion. This is my opinion: the most common issue with breastfeeding relationships is not a supply issue or latch issue; it’s an expectation and lack of support issue. We have options that seem easier, so people take them. If we didn’t have those options, we wouldn’t be able to take them.
Children were raised in the faith of their parents. Even if their parents weren’t directly involved in raising them, parental beliefs were taught to and encouraged in the child. I have read Facebook threads and blog posts where parents boast about giving their children the right to choose what they believe. Whether they have a personal faith or not, they are proud of the fact that they give their children the opportunity to learn about all different worldviews and then accept whichever their child chooses. I’m a pretty black and white thinker so the way that I look at this is if your faith is important to you, why wouldn’t you want to impress that importance upon your children? If your faith isn’t important enough for your to teach your children and hope that they make it their own, then why do you even bother having it in the first place? If you believe it’s true, then why shouldn’t your children be taught it as truth too? If you are a Christian (which most of my current readers are), is your relationship with and belief in Christ strong enough that you will teach your children there is only One Way?

I’m working my way through the British royal history and it’s incredible to see how it directly affects my life today. An example: King Henry VIII’s desire to have Anne Boleyn as his wife resulted in England’s separation from the Pope, which opened England up to an English Bible and the Protestant Reformation. No matter your personal beliefs, that is life-altering history.

Just for fun: Here is a site with portraits of mothers and their children from the 1500s.

I’d love to hear your thoughts: Is there a time period or a certain element of history that you look at differently in your current life season than you did previously?

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D is for Diapers – The Best Style and Brand of Cloth Diapers

Consistency in the Service of Motherhood

Consistency in the Service of Motherhood

Disclosure

10 Indoor Activities for Kids

Dealing with Worries as a Mother

4 Tips for How to Enjoy Your Children More

6 Tips for Surviving When You Feel Like You’re Drowning in Motherhood

Weekly Post Summary

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S is for Sparrows: The Unschooling Process

R is for Revolutionize Your Parenting by Honoring Your Child’s Nature

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Q is for Queens: 5 Observations About Royal Mothers Through the Centuries

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