washing mama cloth.....it's easy peezy lemon squeezy :)

It's fairly easy to care for your mama pads. I'm sure everyone has a different was of doing it, just like we all have our own way of washing our diapers or even our laundry. So I'm going to tell you how I do it and I'm sure you'll find your own washing groove :)

After I use a mama pad, I take it rinse it out as much as I can. Kinda like you would a poo diaper but your just rinsing off and out blood. I try to make sure there's very little left, which maybe the reason I have no stains on my white minky topped ones.

After I rinse them out I put them in an old wipe container and soak them, might be a little redundant being that I do rinse them out but oh well I soak them too. Every time I change into a new pad and place an old one in the wipe container I change the water and add a drop or 2 of tea tree oil.

I wash my pads every day, I only have 5 at the moment so I kind of have too. I think a decent amount of mama cloth to keep your self from washing every day would be about 15 pads. That would leave you doing pads every 2 days. When it's time to wash my pads I do a quick cold rinse then I do a warm/HOT wash with about a tbs of Eco Sprout(same detergent I use on my diapers) then I do a quick rinse again. If I have diapers that need to be washed at the same time I simply throw the pads in with the diapers and wash them with the diapers.

Super simple and nothing overly complex. You don't have to soak or rinse your out you can simple toss them in a wet bag until wash day. I'm a little anal about the pads I guess lol

Mama cloth seems so scary when you're looking into it, just like cloth diapers when you first start looking into those but they are honestly very easy to use and makes for a much better (and I dare say) enjoyable period!

Mama Cloth.....I am totally converted!

Recently I made my very first purchase of mama cloth and I must say that I was very nervous at first. I was taking something that I had been use to for 15+ years and changing it. I was apprehensive, would it leak? would it stand up to my heaviest flow days? Would I have to get up 2 or 3 times at night just to change my pad? Would my sheets and matters be blood splattered in the morning? These are all question that we have asked our selves when we think about switching to mama cloth. I found my answer and couldn't be happier!!

I made my purchase from Cotton Cheeks and got the best costumer services. Maria was very helpful with every thing! She explained the workings of the pads for me and even gave me very detailed instructions on how to clean them. I was so pleasantly surprised that I would have gone back for another purchase just because of the customer services.

Then my beautiful (yes I did just call a menstrual pad beautiful!) mama cloth arrived! They are topped with minky which makes them so soft......don't tell any one but I actually rubbed one on my face! It was brand new at the time so don't get all grossed out on me =)  Shortly after receiving them I got the chance to try them out.....now normally I get all "GREAT *insert eye roll here* my stupid period is here" like I am sure we all have at times. However this time was different! I was actually excited (yes I know.... "cant be" right? Well it's true!)  I rushed and grabbed my oh so beautiful minky top pads and snapped one on and WOW it felt like heaven! I could barely feel the pad there! It was so incredibly soft! Ya'll know how the disposable pads feel, all paper like and scratchy....BLAH!  Well not Cotton cheeks mama cloth! I could hardly believe that something I was going to use for my period could actually be that enjoyable..... I know another word we don't associate with our periods but again IT'S TRUE!!

My first day was a breeze! So much easier than I thought it would be! The major plus side is there were no leaks!! cotton cheeks gives you the option of adding PUL backing to your mama cloth but I choose not too and even with out the PUL I could go for 2 to 3 hours with out leaks!

My first night came and I slept like a baby, as much as a mother of 4 can sleep like a baby. Woke in the morning and guess what...... NO LEAKS!!!  Woot woot!!!! Before mama cloth I would wake up at night and have a very soaked pad and have to change it. Just nasty nasty!

Now I know you all have heard that when you use mama cloth you cramp less and I am pretty sure that most of you are thinking that is a load of crock cause I sure did but ...... my cramps were far less than they have ever been while using disposable pads!! I had very slight cramping and then nothing! It was amazing!! My period after my last baby was all crazy it would come and go and come back and stay around for a week. Not fun!! Well I put my mama cloth on and expected to have the same thing happen and it didn't! My period lasted for 3 days and was gone! It never showed it's self again!

Disposable pads have this gawd awful way off folding over and getting stuck to it's self or your leg or your hair and you have to rip it off. You know it hurts to have to rip that stuff off your leg! Not to mention that they can make you so ITCHY!!! I dont know about ya'll but I would get really itchy and almost sore, kinda like having a bad reaction to the pads ( which now that I think about it probably was......)With mama cloth you do not have those problems! You dont get uber itchy or have you pad stick to your butt crack ( you know it happens lol )

Cotton Cheeks has snapped wings to hold the pad in place, as do most other places. The bottom part that lays on the underwear is a beautiful pattern giving you mama cloth a "personality". You seriously cant go wrong with mama cloth.

Now every one told me not to put all my "eggs in one basket" but I am so pleased with Cotton Cheeks that I will be staying with her and buying more from her. Why mess with a good thing right! I totally recommend that you guys go check her out! If she doesn't have what you are looking for email her and she is more than willing to work with you to get you what patterns and colors you. You will not be displeased with her product or her customer services! Cotton Cheeks  is a business that truly is the whole package!

If you would like to check her out you can see her on facebook and also her hyena cart

Homespun Lullabies Grand opening and Giveaway

******* CLOSED******* OUR WINNER IS STACY P!!! CONGRATS! You have 48 hours to contact Homespun Lullabies.

I have the very great honor and pleasure to introduce everyone to the brand new WAHM shop Homespun Lullabies.  I've had the pleasure of watching her store be brought to life and I couldn't be happier! She has an amazing talent and is now sharing it with the world!  She pours love and care into every product she makes and it defiantly shows!

Her store has some beautiful baby items that you are not going to want to miss out on! Her current items in stock are
 -  blankets and swaddling blanket sets
 - sets of assorted swaddling blankets
 - flannel and bubble velour burp cloths
 - 10 packs of flannel wipes (girl or boy)
 - custom items upon request

                      (The picture is an in stock pink and green Owl blanket with bubble velour appliqué)

You may purchase any of her beautiful items here! You can also stick around for your chance to win!!

                                                                            GIVEAWAY

Assorted flannel girl wipes

In honor of the grand opening of Homespun Lullabies we are having a GIVEAWAY!!!!!!! In this giveaway you will have the chance to win a 10 pack of assorted flannel cloth wipes in either boy or girl (as shown above and below) !!!!

assorted flannel boy wipes

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This giveaway will run from today (5/26) to next Thursday (6/2). The winner will be drawn via random.org and will be responsible for contacting Homespun Lullabies with in 48 hours or another winner will be drawn!

How to enter!!

Mandatory

Go to facebook and "like" Homespun Lullabies (please thank her for the giveaway and congratulate her on her grand opening) then fill out this Entry Form. (note. some of the rules have changed. Please make sure you are aware. All entried to this point will be honored by the previous rules.)

Wild Mountain Mommies Review and Giveaway!

*******CLOSED******* OUR NEW WINNER IS........NUMBER 3, SUSAN R. !!!! Please email me at clothcrusader(at)gmail(dot)com

The very beautiful diaper you see pictured above is a Wild Mountain Mommies diaper. I have been given the opportunity to review this product and couldn't  be more excited about it! I have totally fallen in love with the WMM diapers and I totally believe that you will too!

This particular diaper is a pocket diaper made with a flannel outer, a micro-fleece inner and a hidden layer of PUL. The micro-fleece inner is so super soft and great for wicking away the moister from the baby's bottom. The Flannel outside has to be the cutest pattern I've seen in a while, which makes me fall even more in love with this diaper! I mean look at it how could you not absolutely fall in love with it at first glance!

They are sized a little on the bigger sized but that doesn't bother me at all! This diaper can fit my 1 year old 18 pound daughter and my 2 year old 32 pound son!

In the above picture the diaper is set to the smallest setting and the tabs pulled across. This is on my 1 yr old 18lbs daughter Olivia

The above picture is my son (don't tell daddy, lol) who is 2 years old and weighs 32lbs. As you can see it is on the largest setting but he still has room to grow....if he was to actually wear this diaper. Which after putting it on him he insists that it's his "biaper".
So if you have a itty bitty baby like Olivia the baby will have tons of room to grow and even if you have a chunky monkey, like my son, there is still plenty of room to grow!

As you can see the diaper isn't huge and bulky either. It has a rather trim fit to it and also fits very nicely around the legs and back to help protect from any leakage.

I even gave this diaper a go for an overnight option and I am very pleased to announce that it worked like a charm! Of course I had to double stuff it cause my little peanut is soaks through just about anything at night if I don't. Olivia sleeps at night from anywhere to 10- 12 hours and the WMM diaper with stood the test of time!

As with most diapers there is a little down side to it and that down side here isn't even a big one. It can be a little a hard to stuff on the smallest setting so daddy gives up on stuffing it pretty quick but I'm not bothered by that at all. I will gladly stuff this diaper any day just so my lady bug can rock a super cute tush!

I am a full support of the WMM diapers and suggest them to any one! Cristina, the creator and owner behind this fantastic product is an amazing woman! She's very helpful and takes the time to make sure that all her products meet her standards. She strives to give great customer services which makes this product even more enjoyable!

*I was not given anything in compensation for this review, These are the thoughts and opinions of myself and have not been influenced in anyway.

GIVEAWAY

Cristina has been gracious enough to allow me to offer a giveaway for all you wonderful fluffy lovers. You will be given the chance to win  $5 off any hyenacart purchase.

So here's how you enter:

Mandtory entry: 

Check the Wild Mountain Mommies hyenacart come back here and tell me which diaper you love and just must have!

Extra entires:

 Like Wild Mountain Mommies on Facebook , come back and comment with your facebook name

 Like The Cloth Crusader on facebook come back comment with your facebook name

Follow The Cloth Crusaders Blog publicly come back and leave your name


This giveaway will run from Saturday April 30th to Sunday May 8th and the winner will be drawn via random.org

The Great Cloth Diaper Change

Today was The Great Cloth Diaper Change and I'm very proud that my self and Olivia took place in this amazing history making event! For those of you who might not know what this was all about, we gathered today to set a world record for the most cloth diapers changed at one time. Not only were there people where I was all changing diapers, there were people globally doing the same thing!

Now I know some of you might be thinking "so what you changed a bunch of diapers, don't you do that every day?" Yes we do do that everyday but today was a special day for all of us cloth loving mommies. Today we were able to take part in something that will forever be apart of history and will also shed some light on cloth diapers in general. All over the world people have been able to speak about cloth diapers on their local news because of this amazing event! Today was a proud day for all us fluffy mamas and a stride to bring cloth back to the norm instead of the feared scary things most people see them as today.

The diapers we used today were Rumpsacks and Wild Mountain Mommies (both can be found on hyenacart.com and also facebook)
Both are pocket diapers and some of my favorites! These diapers are made with a hidden layer of PUL which is a water proof fabric to save the diaper from leaking with a snap enclosure to keep wee little babies from removing their diapers.

If you would like to see some of the pictures taken today you can go to triangle.com and see the professional ones :)

Doable Diapers and their Earth Day Giveaway!!

In honor of Earth Day Doable Diapers is having a wonderful insert giveaway!! One very lucky Doable Diaper reader will win the following:

• 2 Rumparooz 6R microfiber inserts
• 2 FuzziBunz microfiber inserts (choice of small or medium/large)
• 1 Doopsy bamboo/hemp insert
• 2 gauze diaper doublers
• 1 package (contains 6) Cotton Babies stay-dry liners
• 1 Hemp Babies hemp doubler

My personal favorite inserts are bamboo!! So incredably absorbant!

We all know we could use a little more inserts in our lives =) So head on over to Doable Diapers and get in on the giveaway!

Emergency Diapering!

You know it happens from time to time....you run out of your cloth diapers either because you are soaking them or you are at a friends or families house for the day. When that happens you are faced with the choice of buy those nasty disposables or figure something else out!

About 2 weeks ago I was faced with this problem. I had bought some laundry soap, eco sprout, and was doing the soak on my diapers so that we didn't end up with any rashes or irritations. I was giving my peanut a bottle and just new that she would pee all over the place in a matter of minutes if I didn't do something quick. I was getting a little tired of cleaning up pee since she had been chilling in a onesie and no diaper all day to air out a little.

Well a while back we had bought a pack of disposables ( shame on us!) and they are still sitting in her room. I keep looking at them and feel just horrible that I was even considering putting that on my baby ( Yes I am that strongly dedicated to not using disposables) Finally when I could not take it any more and just knew that I could not put her in a disposable and feel right about it I pulled out an old shirt and some hair ties and devised my own "handmade" diaper!

I got my old and very well loved Disney Tigger shirt and WA-LA She had a tigger diaper! lol!

You can kinda see Tigger but he's getting a little worn out being that the shirt is like 14 years old....yes I still have clothes I wore 14 years ago and as you can see they are still good use for something!

So don't worry ladies, if you ever get in a pinch and you just really do not want to put your baby in a disposable go grab an old shirt and some hair ties, or some rubber bands and make your own emergency diaper =)