making the move

I decided to make the move and keep just one blog -- it's a bit silly for me to have two so if you want to keep following me, check me out over at lealou here.

See ya over there!
Steph

Happy Friday!

the great diaper debate

I have an ongoing debate in my head about diapers. What is truly better: cloth or disposable?

When I was pregnant, I was hell-bent going with cloth. I bought 20 diapers: a few bumGenius with the balance Happy Heinys. I'm a semi-tree hugger so the thought of all those diapers going into the landfill makes my heart wrench. Ya sure disposables can go into the green bin here in Toronto, but I'm not convinced that is the best argument. Diapers are made of plastic and bleached cotton -- is that really good for our green bins? How does it break down? Not to mention the amount of water goes into processing the diapers.

On the other hand, are cloth diapers that much better? I did some research and found that when it comes to cost, cloth is better. I think you end up saving something like $1,200 or something for one child. Plus, you can use them for other kiddies down the road. The debate comes in with the water it takes to wash them and depending on what type of cloth you get, there is still the issue of bleached cotton. BLAH.

When Leo was born, I used disposables for the first week or so because I didn't want the trouble of washing the meconium off the cloth diapers. Then I moved the cloth. I was so excited to be using them until they started to leak. Leo basically leaked through every diaper which means not only were we cleaning more diapers, we were doing mega loads of clothes. After 2 weeks, we decided to go back to disposables. I thought maybe it had something to do with Leo's skinny legs so I thought I would give him a bit of time to chunk up.

I opted for the Huggies Pure & Natural diapers (they're made with organic, unbleached cotton - but check out this review of them here) and PC Green Diapers. I was happy with both and we weren't doing as much laundry, but the diapers were piling up in the trash which made us sick. So today I decided to try the cloth again. It's been probably 3 weeks since we used them so I thought they might work this time. NOPE. Still leaking. Ugh. I'm trying one more thing -- doubling up the inserts and then I'll likely give up. I hate the thought of spending all that money on diapers only to have them not work for us but I'm not sure what else to do.

What do you use on your little one? Have you had any success with cloth diapering?

tummy time and cradle cap

Leo enjoying some tummy time with Herman the Horse

I know it doesn't hurt them, but man cradle crap is kind of gross don'tcha think? My poor little Leo has it kind of bad but I've been told it goes away. We put almond oil on his head and kind of brushed it off with a cloth and then I peeled away a bit more but I don't think I'll do that anymore. I kind of feel like a momma ape picking nits off her baby... OH well I'm sure it'll be gone sometime. What have you done to get rid of cradle cap and when did it go away?

On a more positive note, Leo seems to like tummy time for about 10 mins and then he starts freaking out and I think he's going to roll over he's so mad. I put this little pillow thing under him so he can be a bit more upright while on his tummy. It seems to help him last a bit longer. We're having lots of fun together -- my goal is to do something like this every day with him and read him a book or two a day so he can get used to reading. I want him to be as obsessed with reading as I am so we can spend hours at the library :).

Ok off to feed the little guy (again!)

Have a great Monday!