Extended Rear Facing

Colorado state law allows babies to be turned forward facing in the car at 1 year old and 20 lbs. Most parents look forward to their child's next big milestones and getting a big boy or big girl car seat is one of those milestones. Not me. In fact I eagerly awaited the day that could take a picture of the fact that my 1 year old is still rear facing! (Please disregard her massive fit...she was pissed she couldn't play with the iphone).

The sad truth is, that our laws are do NOT have our children's best interest at heart. I am the momma and I DO have Selah's best interest at heart. I first learned of extended rear facing in Atlanta. There were billboards everywhere saying, "rear face until 2 years old". I thought it was crazy. I remember thinking, "What about their feet?" "Surely no one actually does this". Then a friend posted a picture of her 4 year old rear facing...so I read the article she linked too and the rest is history.

Look, do what you want with your kids in the car, but physics is on my side...Children 2 and under are 532% safer in a rear facing car seat. Bones do not ossify until between ages 4-6. http://www.joelsjourney.org/ContactUs.html This link is to the story of a little boy named Joel. He was 18 months and 33 lbs and forward facing in his carseat when he and his mother were in a car accident and Joel broke his neck. What amazed me was the picture on his website of a little girl name Theresa. Theresa was in a forward facing car seat at age 3 and sustained the same injuries as 18 month old Joel. At age 4 the risk of forward facing begins to drop significantly but continues to be a benefit. I will move heaven and earth to keep Selah and future "mooslings" rear facing until 4 years old, but if they still fit, they will still sit! I want maximum safety for my baby :)!

Prefold Diaper

This is a prefold diaper. Like the flat diaper, it is plain old natural cotton and they are my first love when it comes to cloth diapers. Unlike a flat diaper (re: a flat diaper is a single layer of fabric that you fold to fit your baby) a prefold diaper already has several layers. Typically 6 layers on the sides and 8 layers in the middle section. You can pin them on your baby, or you can fold them in thirds and lay them in your diaper cover. I do both ways and the only time I ever had a preference was when she was a newborn with super runny poos. Those days, pinning was necessary. But I don't use diaper pins!!! I use a snappi, like this:

This y shaped claw hook thing is super handy. I love prefolds for 5 reasons.

1) They are natural. Selah has extremely sensitive skin. Synthetic fibers give her a rash. I use a stay dry liner (a strip of fleece to lay on top of the prefold that keeps her skin feeling more dry) at night, but not during the day because too much exposure to the synthetic material and she gets a pimply rash. We keep it as natural as possible when it comes to our girl.

2) They are inexpensive. A prefold costs around 1.50-2.00 dollars a piece. Since we started cloth diapering for economical reasons, affordability was key. What makes them an even greater value, is that being cotton, they get softer, more absorbant and there for better over time. These will last for several little mooslings. And we want several little mooslings, so that is perfect.

3)I never have leaks with these. They are SOOOO reliable which is what you want in a diaper. I use them a night and never worry that she will leak and that I will have to change her sheets in the middle of the night.

4) They are easy to clean. People talk about stripping their diapers monthly (basically wash them and rinse, rinse, rinse, rinse, rinse, rinse, rinse until the suds are gone) but I have NEVER in 12 months of cloth diapering with prefolds needed to strip my diapers. That makes my life easier and my pile of laundry smaller.

5) I like matching her cover to her outfit. Silly? Yes. Do I care? NO WAY! The biggest perk of cloth diapering, aside from the health of my baby and the well being of our planet, and oh yeah the fact that a small pack of diapers is 13 dollars (Ouch!) is that they are cute! They are a fashion accessory of sorts, and as crazy as that sounds, if her dress is yellow I want her diaper to be as well! With other kinds of diapers you have to change the whole cute part of the diaper every time you change them. Not with these, you can reuse the cover over and over...unless there is poop or it stinks.

Well, there you have it, prefold diapers! Again, HOW CUTE IS THIS?!

Flat Diapers

My sister requested a series on the different kinds of cloth diapers. I like cloth diapers, so I am happy to oblige. I decided to start with my favorite newborn diaper, the flat diaper. A flat diaper is exactly what you are thinking. Or maybe not...I am not sure what you are thinking. It is a big square single layer of fabric. Plain Jane so to speak. You fold it to fit your baby in the way that provides the best fit and the most absorbency where your little one needs it. For instance, boys and belly sleepers need more layers on the front. Girls in the middle or back. When Selah was a newborn, I use the origami fold and rolled in the fabric around the legs to catch the poo. As of late, I have been using the kite fold with a doubler folded inside. They are super trim, which is nice for clothes that are not so forgiving of big cloth booty.



http://www.wikihow.com/Fold-a-Cloth-Diaper This website has tons of folds to choose from to give you an idea of just how versatile these diapers are.


The thing I love most about flat diapers is how easy they are to clean and take care of. If you are seriously considering cloth diapers, people will warn that you cannot put your everyday run of the mill diaper cream on cloth diapers. That is not the case with my flats. (Now, I NEVER advise desitin with cloth because the cod liver oil will make your diapers stink). These are just a single layer of fabric and I have used Vaseline, bag balm, butt paste, aquaphor, or whatever else is handy. It always washes out, and I have never had stinky, repelling, leaking diapers.



I have two kinds of flat diapers. Imagine flat diapers from nickisdiapers.com and flour sack towels that I bought at Sam's Club. The fst's are actually bigger and I like them better now that she isn't so little, but I still use my imagine diapers just the same.



If I built my intire stash with flats, I could easily cloth diaper through potty training for Under 100 dollars. Lots of people also use receiving blankets from thrift stores and they are super cheap as well.


Cloth diapering doesn't have to be expensive or time consuming or hard. And best of all it is adorable!

It's Past Your Bed Time

Let my baby girl stay up late because we were having a giggle fest. I stinkin' love that girl and her giggles. It is seriously like the most beautiful form of worship for me to enjoy my daughter's laughter and bask in the wonder and glory of her existence. God is so good and I am so blessed to be chosen as Selah's Mommy.