BumGenius 3.0 Review – One Year Later
Mar 9, 2010 Eco Friendly Parenting
We’ve been cloth diapering my little girl for right about a year now. It’s been interesting, and I figured now is a good time to share how the diapers have held up.
Overall, I’m pleased with how the bumGenius 3.0 diapers have held up. They’re in generally good shape.
The Good Parts
The cloth diapers have held up really well. I can see that the elastic is a little looser on some of the covers, but most are still in very good shape. The elastic is not so loose as to cause problems on any of them.
They’re all still nicely waterproof. The colors have all held up quite well. They still fit great.
We’ve run out of snaps to undo on the diapers for sizing, but given how long each section lasted us, that doesn’t worry me. Especially since we’re already encouraging the baby in her potty training. She does use it just a little. We aren’t pushing hard yet, just having her sit on the potty at every diaper change or before a bath. But there’s a bit of interest and she’s very happy when she does something.
We’re still using Country Save detergent to wash the diapers. It’s also working quite well. The occasional use of an oxygen bleach or some original Dawn dish detergent takes care the occasional stain or smell issues.
My One Complaint
The one problem we’ve been dealing with is that the tabs that hold the velcro in place when you wash the diapers isn’t holding them anymore. This means awful chains of diapers when I do the laundry, and makes me feel that they aren’t rinsing out as well.
Having to pull apart convoluted chains of cloth diapers that have firmly velcroed together is inconvenient. It’s causing some extra wear to the fuzzy side of the velcro too.
I really need to spend a little time figuring out the solution to this one. It’s pretty minor, all things considered, but I’d sure like to solve the problem.
Tags: baby, baby supplies, bumgenius, cloth diapers, product review
Toys R Us Baby Gear Trade In
Feb 3, 2010 Eco Friendly Parenting
I’m pretty excited about a deal Toys R Us has going on right now. I heard it on the local news the other day, and it can be found on their website too. But you have to go into your local store to participate.
From now until February 20, 2010, they’re allowing people to bring in certain types of used baby gear to trade in for a 25% off coupon toward one new baby gear item. The categories for both include car seats, strollers, cribs, play yards and more. It’s only for participating brands also.
You don’t have to have bought the item from them or have a receipt. You do have to make your purchase on the day you do the trade in, and only in the store.
The condition of the item doesn’t matter. The whole idea, in fact, is to get unsafe baby gear out from where it might be used.
This is exciting for me because I have a car seat that is on the old side. Selene’s about the age where she’ll be going into that size, so it’s nice that we’ll be able to upgrade to a newer model for a nice savings. The car seat is heading toward 7 years old, which is older than is commonly recommended for use, especially since it has spent most of that time installed in the car as my two older kids used it.
I gather they destroy the trade ins, and I hope they recycle what materials can be sent for recycling. An awful lot of baby gear has significant plastic content, so I don’t know how easy that is. But it’s nice to think that some of it could be recycled.
Figure out what you want and contact your local store to be sure they have what you want before you bring in your trade. That step could save you a lot of trouble if what you want is out of stock.
Tags: baby gear, baby supplies, trade in
Probably Unnecessary Gadgets for New Parents
Jan 15, 2010 Eco Friendly Parenting
I was reading about the Itzbeen Baby Care Timer over at Free Range Kids and it got me thinking about how many gadgets parents are encouraged to buy for their new babies that they probably don’t need.
I mean, I agree that there are situations where a parent might need a timer like the Itzbeen for a special needs or premature baby, but for your average, healthy baby at home I just can’t see it. I have no doubt that such things are priceless to parents who have genuine medical concerns for their baby or possibly for daycare situations.
But even with my youngest baby I knew when to feed her, and she’s quiet about that. Diaper changing is also easy to figure out… not sure when you last changed the diaper? Take a look! If it’s wet or soiled it’s definitely time for a change.
Similarly there are many other gadgets parents are encouraged to buy or put on their baby shower lists that just make me say “What a waste!”
Cute, but do you really need to watch your baby sleep? There may be few things more precious than a sleeping baby, but for most purposes a regular, audio only baby monitor or just listening for baby should be quite enough.
In most climates I just can’t see this one. So long as you aren’t keeping the house really cold the wipe temperature is probably just fine.
Another interesting point I saw on the reviews for one wipe warmer is the possibility of infection. Warm, moist environments certainly are great places for germs to breed.
This is a fancy sleep positioner. Nothing more. It’s supposed to feel like the mother holding the baby.
I just don’t get it. Pay attention to your baby and you can generally figure out why they’re crying pretty quickly. Hungry, wet diaper, sick, just needs held… especially in the early days there aren’t a lot of needs to go through before you get to the right one if it’s not immediately obvious.
Yes, they look cute. Then you have to remove them by the time they might do some good, and there are some indications that they aren’t perfectly safe.
and 
Babies are going to bump their heads and scrape their knees as they learn to explore their world. It’s a part of life, and mostly not a bad thing.
I had the necessary kind of helmet for my son (he had craniosynostosis, the helmet was to reshape his head), so I can tell you some of the big problems with using any kind of helmet.
First of all, they’re hot. They make baby’s head sweat, especially in summer. That will quickly make the helmet stink too, even if you clean it out every day.
Second, the day will come when the helmet must come off. Baby outgrows it. Then baby learns what it really means to bump one’s head. Believe me, my son was utterly shocked at how awful it felt the first time he bumped his head without his DOC-Band helmet on. He had no idea.
I suppose helmets might help if baby is always on tile floors or something, but that’s not the case for most babies.
Knee pads I’m almost in sympathy with after watching my youngest learn to crawl, but not quite. Our carpet here is pretty rough, and her knees had a hard time of it. Know how we handled it?
Long pants! No more carpet scraping her knees. Simple and we already owned them.
Now when they’re learning to ride a tricycle, skate, etc., helmets and knee pads are an entirely different story!
You know, there’s a reason why they’re offering money back if you are disappointed that they aren’t educational after all. They were talked up as being really good for babies. Yet television watching in general is considered to be bad for vocabulary development in children under two.
Yes, I was given some. My kids have watched them, just a little. But they’re entertainment, nothing more. You don’t need them, and if you want to expose your baby to classical music you can probably buy plenty of high quality classical music off iTunes and play it on your computer. Just don’t expect that to make baby a genius either.
So your baby can learn to walk with your help.
You know, I kind of figured that most babies will learn to walk eventually anyhow. This is the exact phase my youngest is going through, and yes, she gets frustrated. Frustration within reason is GOOD for children. It helps with emotional development. Life does not throw everything at you easily.
On the other hand, if your child has a definite disability, then yes, this might be good. But not for the average baby who will learn to walk on his or her own in time.
Tags: baby, baby supplies, unnecessary gadgets
Can Baby Go Organic?
May 15, 2009 Eco Friendly Parenting
I’m greener these days than I was when I had my first two kids. It’s amazing how things change once new ideas get on your radar. It makes some things more complex.
I’ve blogged a lot about how we use cloth diapers with our baby. That’s still going really well. We also use a lot more homemade cleaners. But there are a lot more things we want to do this time around.
We’ve resisted the temptation to get organic sheets and such for her bedding. Just about all the baby clothes and other supplies we have are handmedowns, and have likely off gassed pretty much anything there could be to worry about with them. Shopping for organic replacements strikes me as a bit of a waste at this point.
Baby food, on the other hand…
Going organic here is going to be pretty affordable with any luck. We have a garden, and one of the big things I want to do with any excess is prepare it as baby food.
I figure it will be a great way to get cheap, organic baby food. No question of how it was grown or prepared.
We don’t have any fruit trees, so I will still have to buy fruits to prepare for her, but if the garden behaves we’ll be in pretty good shape with certain varieties.
For the early days we have the VitaMix
Yes, I know organic baby food is fairly easy to buy these days in jars. I’d still rather make what I can. It makes sense financially and I know to be very, very careful about keeping things clean when making baby food, as food poisoning is more dangerous to infants.
I have a bit of time yet before taking this step, but it’s definitely time to get planning. Selene is three months now and I want to be ready to get things started when she’s six months old, not still trying to figure the whole deal out.
Tags: baby, baby food, baby supplies, natural toys, organic foods
Consumer Reports Blows It?
May 4, 2009 Eco Friendly Parenting
There’s a recent post on the Consumer Reports blog that has a lot of people pretty upset, and I don’t blame them. Their recommendations for what parents should NOT buy for their babies include two very popular products for attachment parenting – cosleepers
Not specific brands of these products, cosleepers and slings in general.
The problem I have with this is that if they held other products to the same standards, they’d never recommend any products at all. Children get injured or even die in all kinds of products. Accidents tragically happen.
Babies get hurt or even die in car seats. In strollers. In cribs and cradles.
But no one attacks these as a category. They’re what we’re used to.
Cosleeping and using a sling can have risks, but if the parents learn the proper precautions they’re very safe. Both are practiced regularly in other cultures. Cosleeping in particular is dangerous mostly when done wrong, such as with excessive bedding or an intoxicated parent. Otherwise it helps the parents to be very aware of the baby’s breathing and sleep patterns. It even helps mothers to get more rest at night.
The fact that they’re quoting 4 deaths in 5 years for baby slings only serves to accent how poorly thought out the post is.
Tell us the brands that are unsafe and why; don’t just condemn the product as a class. That’s where Consumer Reports normally shines.
Tags: attachment parenting, baby slings, baby supplies, consumer reports, cosleeping
