Can I live without these items?

Have you come across items that you wish you could buy in bulk, or tell everyone you know about? Well, preparing for baby #2 I have found some items I don't know how I got through baby #1 without and some items which I am excited to use again. Here are some of my favorites.

The glorious side of swaddling blankets

Aden + Anais products have got to be the best for parents. So far I have only purchased the Muslim Cotton Swaddling blankets but they have a full line of products which would be ideal for any parent with newborns on up.  What makes these swaddle blankets 5 stars above the rest? They are enormous. You can do so much more than just swaddle. They are great for nursing covers, to put on the floor for baby to have some tummy time, cover your stroller when out and about. The quality is well worth the price of each item. However, if you are looking to pinch some pennies you can purchase these items on Amazon.com for cheaper, click here to go to their selection or the link to the left. Also, become a member of Baby Steals because they have Aden +Anais steals at huge discounts.

Addiction to a thing called Cloth Diapers

As most know or you should know I am now addicted to the very thought of cloth diapers. I love the different brands, styles, types and how there are SO many companies and individuals out there which make them. After cloth diapering for 5 months, there is one brands which I have come to LOVE LOVE LOVE.

 Rumparooz or KangaCare. These cloth diapers are amazing. They are a one size reusable cloth diaper. They have a unique design of two gussets which hold the biggest messes. They wash up nicely and extremely soft. They have 12 great colors and 6 prints. Coming in September they will be adding two more adorable prints to their lineup.

Another great product they have is the Lil Joey, which is a cloth diaper made for newborns or preemies. How many parents out there have had preemies and wanted to cloth diaper but couldn't find a cloth diaper to fit their new little bundle? These diapers are just like their parents and even more adorable because of how small they are. They also have a great feature which is a fold down snap for the very sensitive umbilical cord. They come in packs of two as well, so stock up.

Got any teething babies out there? 

Something else which has made our lives so much easier is teething drops. We have found Gentle Naturals Homeopathic Teething Drops. What I like about them, is they are drops. Easier, at least for us to give our son because it has a dropper. It has a natural calming ingredient, Chamomile which helps sooth baby. You can find Gentle Naturals anywhere but we seem to like to purchase it along with all of our other baby items from Diapers.com. 

Now add Sophie the Giraffe to our teething solutions and we have a great solution to any teething baby. She is made from 100% natural rubber derived from the sap of the Hevea Tree. This giraffe makes a cute sound which is great for older babies. Has a cute and enticing color design and the legs, ears and body can get to those sore gums. You can also get this toy online at Diapers.com. Amazon does carry it as well and you can save a little bit. Link is to the left. 

Start learning early, we did.

Meemaw, as we call her, got our son the Learning Tower when he was just old enough to stand. This great invention is going to be with us a long time. What is great about it is your child can be at counter level and watch whatever you are doing, cooking, cleaning, socializing. It adjusts to fit a toddler to a young child. You can also add an art isle to it and it comes with a small blanket for even more imagining can be done. It is simply a great piece to add to your registry and is well worth the investment. You can purchase this tower and all the other great products at Little Partners. 

I know there are more pieces that we have come to love but the family is calling and so is my stomach. If you need recommendations or have products you have come to love, do contact me and let me know. You can always find me on Facebook, here and on Twitter, here. My inbox is always open as well at helpfulsister@gmail.com.

Go back to school in the color "Green"

Now my little one is not old enough to go back to school, but I felt it was necessary to put up some ideas for all you parents or even just adults out there. There are so many options out there to make your back to school more green and your lunches "reusable". Take a look and hope you find something to add to your back to school or work routine.

Reusable Snack Bags from Itzy Ritzy

 These bags are great and one of my favorites. No longer do you need to use plastic zip lock bags which mean no more waste put into our landfills. They have a bunch of different designs and the price is very reasonable. Ideal for your little one but also for you adults. Use them for snacks, picnics, school lunches, plane/car rides, hiking and whatever else you come up with. They are LEAD FREE, Zipper closure, 100% cotton with PVC-Free waterproof lining. You can reuse by just washing them (machine washable)!

Reuse It 

This website has everything you need to makeover your lunches. Check out the different products by clicking here. Here are some of my favorites.

  

Built® Gourmet Getaway - Large Insulated Lunch / Tote Bag. I have used this bag for over two years. You can really pack a good lunch. The bag is great because it expands and expands plus it is machine washable. Comes in colors and these stripes/dots. 

To Go Ware

Make a statement but also make a great lunch with these amazing stainless steal containers. Pair with some bamboo utensils and a great green carrier sling bag and you will want to use this every day of the week. Go to To Go Ware.com or you can search on Reuse It.com. 

Reuse It also has many more products like reusable produce bags, reusable sandwich mats and much more. You might find a whole new way of being "green" once visiting here. Get your family set up for the new year.  

Another place to stop before you begin your back to school lists is 

Cool Mom Picks. 

 

They just came out with their back to school list and they have an eco-friendly section which has some of my favorite things. Get some great ideas for personalized lunch sacks, lunchboxes, insulated food jars and everything else you need. Check out their list here.

Back to school is going to so much more fresh, fun and green with the addition of these great products. Food and life never tasted this good. 

Back to work...Is cloth going to Daycare?

There are many reasons to move over to cloth diapers too. Economical, the savings are substantial and more and more parents are seeing today's cloth diapers are not like when their moms used them. 

Also, eco-friendly. Did you know disposable diapers take almost 500 years to biodegrade. Yes our kids will not around to see the affects on this but our kids kids will be. That is a lot of waste to rack up to "convenience." But what happens when parents make the decision to go "cloth" and then are faced with another decision....putting your little one in daycare. Now what?

Just the other day, I was talking to a friend of mine that has a new born and she was starting to look at cloth diapers, after hearing me talk about how I love this brand and that brand. They had already found a daycare for their little tike. After calling their new provider, they were were told the facility does not take cloth. That stinks, in the world of cloth but also just stinks. In case you are in that situation, check out this great write up about what you can do with your daycare or finding one that will use cloth, click HERE. Also here is a great tip sheet you can print/save/re-read from The Real Diaper Association .

While I have never had to deal with a daycare and cloth wipes, my other friend has. She just provides them with a zipped wet bag and that is it. I think more daycare facilities will come around to the idea since really it no extra work. Cloth diapers these days are as easy to use the disposables.

Want more info on cloth diapers? Here are a few more links that are great to just read through. 

Where to start?
How to get 1000K stash for $500

Babies...Check, extra One-Thousand Dollars...not so much

Recently, I did a little contest called the Green Quiz Quest. I had never participated before and I must say I am addicted now. There is info at the bottom, if you want to check it out. One thing I loved about the contest is the knowledge I picked up about all the different and amazing companies out there. It just helped me realized how deeply addicted I am to the cloth diaper industry.  I found so MANY new brands I had never heard of. Mind you, I have only been using cloth diapers for 4 months. Little did I know of how many other talented individuals are out there making their way in the cloth diaper arena.

Another area that makes me realize how much I love cloth diapers is I guess after speaking to my other girlfriends who use cloth, it seems I kept spitting out what I would do with an extra $1000? Most might think I would spend it on a vacation for my husband and I. Maybe drop it into what we call our "savings account", or maybe get some new items for the house. Not this wife,mom, sister, daughter, friend.  No, I would go and find all the cloth diapers I either have not tried or never heard of and put them to the test. I have the babies, our son is a little over a year and we have a new one coming the end of August, so trials will not be an issue. Then I would know what works, what doesn't, which styles are better or not and even offer some as giveaways on here. Unused of course. I have only tried cloth on our son but from what others say, it really depends on the baby, but also the quality of the product.

Oh cloth diapers, where have you been my whole life? I also would love to let everyone know out there that cloth diapers are NOT YOUR MOTHERS CLOTHS DIAPERS!!! I should do a poll to see what people first think when someone says "cloth diapers".

Here are just a few diaper sites, I would love to try. I am loving the diapers called "All-in-one" since they grow with your baby. You don't have to buy S, M, L just one or 50 and done! Check them out yourself. Just remember that these are just a few out there and there are a lot of web site stores that carry these brands which offer specials, even free shipping like: Diaper Junction, Diaper Shops, Kelly's Closet, The Green Nursery and Niki's Diapers. If you want to know of more brands, email me at helpfulsister@gmail.com. I would be happy to send you my list! Some you can even find on YouTube which shows off each of their features. Go to YouTube and enter in the diaper name, and see what shows up

Baby Kangas

BABY KANGA RED LADYBUG- ONE SIZE

Katydid One-Size Cloth Diaper 

Katydid One-Size MELON

Niki's Diapers: Best Bottom One Size- 

New Generation Cloth Diaper

 Rumparooz

Rumparooz All in One- GUMBALL

If you are interested in the Green Quiz Quest, it ends July 31st. Go to the web site to find out more, click here and you can follow them on Facebook, click here. There is also a ton of info out there now adays to help you determine what kind of cloth diaper to use, the cost, how to travel with them. Email me if you want more links but here are few to help. Also, you can find on all these websites links to their Facebook and twitter pages. Sign up with them. Most have sales all the time, or fun contests. Plus you get to keep to date on any changes or new products that are coming out.

http://www.clothdiaperblog.com/the-cloth-diaper-report/

http://www.bumsawaydiapers.com/aboutcloth/


Enjoy and let me know how your stash is growing. I would love to know what diapers you have and how they are working or not. Look for more posts with more info as my itty bitty stash grows into a MOTHERLOAD.

Cloth Diapers are on Trial & A FuzziBunz Giveaway (end 7/21)

Through all my blog/tweet/facebook connections, I came across another great web site. I have not ordered anything from them yet but the inventory is amazing. Do you want to try a cloth diaper because you are new? Do you want to try a new brand? Go to Nicki's Diapers. This web site has a huge inventory for cloth diapers, cloth diaper accessories, nursing, baby wearing and more. Nicki's Diapers also offers a 15-day TRIAL period for any of the cloth diapers, training pants and diaper covers. What a great way to see what diaper works for your little one but also try the enormous selection of cloth diapers.

Better Bottom One Size in Mint Choco Chip

 I personally can not wait to try Nicki's Diapers very own invention, Better Bottom One Size. Looks the perfect solution to my current issue! They have some pretty cute colors too. Head on over and get signed up for the blog. They do some great giveaways!

The current giveaway which ends July 21st is for FuzziBunz Perfect One Size Diaper. I have personally used this diaper and love them because they wick away moisture so great. This style of FuzziBunz will grow with your baby from birth to potty training. It has a "stuff and go" design as well. Great brand and a great giveaway! Head on over here and get signed up. Don't forget to tell all your friends who cloth diaper and those who have always wanted to try.