Happy Monday to you all! My name is Stepheny, and I am the owner of Growing Up Green.
We are a retail store in North Bay, Ontario, Canada. I hope your weekend went by very slow and was full of lots of sleep….. I know-Ya right!!
We packed a whole lot into 48 short hours, but we enjoyed every minute of it.
As a mom to 6 kids, I am always trying to find new ways to save money, reuse products, and I’m always thinking about other ways to use something -to make them more multipurpose. One of the greatest things about cloth diapering is that all cloth diapering items and accessories are multipurpose. And really, the sky is the limit with most of them. I thought I would use this post to share just some of my favorites. Please feel free to post comments at the bottom of my post, because I would LOVE to hear how you are multi-using your items!
Wetbags:
-Snack/Lunch bags: We love the small and extra small sizes. No more needs for Ziplocks, and no need to worry about that banana exploding or cookies crumbling in your child’s back pack
-Swimsuit bags: Great for the pool, or beach
-Laundry bags: A must have for any traveling person or family! No more mixing the clean with the dirty
-Accident bag: We LOVED wetbags when the triplets were potty training because no matter where I was we had a clean bag that could contain the mess and not mess up the diaper bag or my purse.
-Make-up/toiletry bag: Wetbags are perfect for containing any soapy messes or melted lip gloss. Now you can be on the go without worrying about what the airport is doing to your shampoo! They are made to hold up in the wash so there is not a mess that is too big for a wetbag.
Wipes:
-Wash cloths: Wipes are made to absorb and clean and most wipes are made with amazing fabrics that can do a FAR superior job then basic terry wash cloth AND wipes are much gentler then terry cloths ever could be.
-Spill rags: Kids are always making spill, so grabbing a wipes instead of paper towel will save time and money!
-Bibs: Just tuck a corner under baby’s shirt and catch that drool or dibble without having to fuss with tying something around their neck.
-Breast pads: We have all found ourselves somewhere searching our diaper bags needing a breast pad or feminine pad and finding nothing. Wipes are perfect to sand in and keep you from an embarrassing leak.
-Diaper inserts: Thanks to their absorbency, they are the perfect doubler to get you just a little bit longer out of a diaper, when you just can’t change a diaper at that exact moment.
-Diaper Liners: Wipes are perfect for keeping your precious diapers safe from harmful creams and salves that could cause build up.
-Cleaning Rags: Our younger kids love to clean right now, but their hands are so small. So using a full sized rage is awkward. Now we have a big stack of our wipes put aside just for them to clean with, and they can do a better job too because the wipe fits in their hand.
Diaper Sprayer:
-Cleaning the toilet: It’s perfect for reaching around the bowl and cleaning under the lip.
-Cleaning out buckets: Getting buckets under a tap to rinse is a HUGE pain! Use your sprayer to rise the bucket and dump into the sink or bath tub.
-Cleaning potties: Pee is easy to rinse out, but poops can be VERY messy in a potty. It’s already attached so you might as well put it to work!
-Bidet: For yourself or a child with the runs, it make clean ups a breeze.
-Rinsing your shower walls: Some bathroom layouts are just perfect for reaching those hard to reach corners of your shower.
I am sure there are many, many more uses for our cloth diapering accessories. But my mind is going numb as the hours creep into the early morning. Thank you so much for taking the time to read this and I hope you can take something from it!
Take Care and have a great week!
Stepheny
Growing Up Green
I have a confession! I used to tell people that if I had to use prefolds I would not do cloth diapers. Yes, it’s true. The simple rectangle of absorbent cotton even scared this cloth diaper addict. When I got pregnant with my second child I did buy some with the intention of using them but never did. When I had my 3rd I knew I should give them a try, if for nothing else to tell my customers an opinion of them. When my 3rd child was born a month early he was the smallest baby I had ever had weighing a little more than 6lbs. Although I was armed with a lot of diapers I did not expect such a small baby as my others were closer to 7.8 lbs. With 3 children at home and laundry galore with 2 in diapers; prefolds
became my first grab over all the expensive diapers. They were so versatile that the preemie size fit him right away. I was able to fold over the top to cover his little parts and keep the absorbency where I wanted. The ease of washing and drying with no stuffing or folding was a sanity saver. I was able to do laundry quicker which in my land of 3 small children is a necessity. I simply would pile the prefolds on top of one and another and stacked them in the drawer. My baby had GERD and anyone who has lived with a baby with this extreme reflux knows how often they projectile. My prefolds were great at catching it all. I was going through 18 bibs a day, the prefolds can hold a good spit up unlike the little bibs. At almost 1 yr old now I still use the prefolds. I keep them on the change table if a little poop gets on them I am able to throw them in the wash and not have to change the table cover. I also use them as inserts by folding them in pocket diapers. Ab
sorbent and trim its perfect for this application. There are not many baby products that you can get this kind of mileage from for the nominal price. Later I can use them as cleaning rags or donate them to a mom in need. My mom still uses the prefolds from when I was a baby (30+yrs ago) as cleaning rags... that’s REAL value. If you are not a prefold user I suggest you give them a try. There is nothing complicated about them and you may just fall in love with the simplicity of them like me!
