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Archive | August, 2011

Worship Wednesday: Great is His Faithfulness!

August 31, 2011 By Jeniffer

I don’t know where you are in life, but lately I’ve been feeling the heat of the fire. I’d like to share these verses with you this morning.

He has filled me with bitterness, He has made me drink wormwood. He has also broken my teeth with gravel, and covered me with ashes. You have moved my soul far from peace; I have forgotten prosperity. And I said, “My strength and my hope have perished from the LORD.”

Remember my affliction and roaming, the wormwood and the gall. My soul still remembers and stinks within me. This I recall to mind, therefore I have hope. Through the Lord’s mercies we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness. “The LORD is my portion,” says my soul, “therefore I hope in Him!” Lamentations 3:15-24 (emphasis mine)

We have hope, no matter our circumstances! We have hope, and we can rest in Him. Even when we’re drinking the wormwood, even when we’re filled with bitterness, when we’re moved far from peace, and when we question it all, we can hope in Him. His compassions fail not. His mercies are new every morning! Great is His faithfulness!!

At times, that’s all that I can cling to. Even amid the hurt, the pain, and the confusion, He hasn’t left me. He loves me. He works all things together for good to them that love Him, to those who are the called, according to His purpose! (Romans 8:28, emphasis mine) He is good, even when I doubt and flounder. And He is good even when I can’t see how.

Trusting in His faithfulness,

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Crunchy Baby Will Travel: Tips for Flying Cross-Country, Part 1 – Breastfeeding

August 29, 2011 By Melissa

As I mentioned in this post last week, my six month old and I recently flew across the country, from Memphis, TN to Tuscon, AZ to visit my sister and her new baby for four days.

I was fairly apprehensive leading up to the trip. I have lots of experience breastfeeding in public, but a plane is the definition of “close quarters”, especially since my six month old did not have a seat. I wanted to use my cloth diapers, but wasn’t sure if I would have room in my bags, and was a little worried about washing them at my sister’s, and without my laundry detergent. (I thought about bringing a bag with me, but decided a ziploc bag full of an unknown white powder might set off some security concerns!!)

The trip turned out better than I expected, but I learned some things too, and I’ll be sharing my experience and tips in three separate posts. Today’s subject is breastfeeding, and next week I’ll share about traveling with cloth diapers.

Under Cover -

I haven’t always used a cover, but I often do for this baby. I was very glad I had brought one on my trip, and if you are at all self-conscious about nursing in public, in very close physical proximity to strangers of the opposite gender, you may want to throw one in your bag, or bring a sling or baby carrier that allows you to easily nurse discreetly. Several of my flights were completely booked – not a single open seat on the plane. On one flight in particular I ended up next to two men, one about my age, one an older business man. They were both obviously uncomfortable about sitting next to a woman with a baby, and even more so about me nursing. They were not rude at all, and did not say or do anything to indicate that I shouldn’t nurse, but it was obvious they were uncomfortable. It made me less stressed knowing there was no way they were going to see anything.

Note: The above is not to in any way imply that covering is a necessity. I think it might be helpful to bring a cover in case you want one. If you don’t want one, that is absolutely fine too!

Positions Matter -

One issue we did run into was that my son is a sprawling nurser, and he is pretty long for a six month old, at over 27 inches. Not a problem at all at home, but a bit of an issue when he is stretching out his feet and kicking the people next to us!

Position on the plane: Having an aisle seat helped, and I recommend being sure you reserve an aisle seat if possible. I had to watch out for the flight attendants, but most of the time we were able to stretch that way without worrying about intruding on anyone else’s space.

Breastfeeding positions: It would have helped a lot if we had worked on a vertical breastfeeding position, like the saddle hold (pictured here) before our trip.

Maximum Real Estate -

Because of the two issues above, my ultimate breastfeeding tip would be to purchase a seat for baby if your budget at all allows it. Even if baby’s seat is mostly being occupied by a car seat, it will give you a bit of extra space and privacy, since you won’t have anyone else sitting next to you. Believe me, the reduction in stress that will give you will be worth the price tag!

Exhausted momma!

Breastfeeding on the plane. All that the people around me got to see

Have you breastfed on an airplane before? Did you cover or not? How did the people around you react? Do you have any survival tips of your own?

Don’t forget to join me next week to talk about flying with cloth diapers! And if you like what you see here, we’d love for you to let us know by commenting, and following us via Google Friend Connect and/or Network Blogs in the right-hand sidebar. Thanks, fellow Sisters!

Blessings,

I loved this post from Sustainable Mothering about what to do if you see a woman breastfeeding on a plane

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For the Love of Flats (and Prefolds): 10 Reasons to Love Grandma’s Diapers

August 26, 2011 By Jeniffer

When many people first hear of cloth diapers, they immediately think back to the folding and pinning and plastic pants. They usually are relieved to find out that, hey, cloth diapers are modern, fun, and super cute! Not to mention user-friendly! In fact, they’re usually so excited to leave these “grandma” diapers that they never give them another thought.

I, on the other hand, love flats and prefolds. You heard me right. I love them! Why? What on earth could convince me to use such old-fashioned diapers? I’m so glad that you asked.

Flats drying during the Flats Challenge

1. There’s the folds. Yes, I actually love learning folds, trying them out, and even folding them! I’ve tried several: the origami, the corners, folded into a square and did a jelly roll and a bikini twist, the diaper bag, and the airplane. I’ve also tried the kite fold. Each one has worked for certain times in my little girl’s life, but my favorite has to be the diaper bag fold. Even though she’s outgrowing the conventional way of folding it, by widening the first two folds, I’m fairly certain that she’ll fit in it for a while yet!

2. Flats are so forgiving. With many types of cloth diapers, you have to be extra careful of which detergents you use. And while you can still get the stinkies with flats, it’s much less likely, especially with extra rinses. They’re also much easier to strip if they do get buildup. After using flats for most of my little girl’s life, using pockets, AIOs, and fitteds seem so much harder, believe it or not!

3. Flats can hold their own! While fitteds and pockets can easily hold lots and lots of liquid, especially with inserts and doublers, flats keep my daughter just as dry without having to spend nearly as much. Now, my DD is nowhere near the super soaker her cousin is. We have had only a handful of leaks since she has been in cloth full-time. But I can put her in a flat with a cover for a few hours with little to no wicking at all. They’re the best for long car rides, too! And after only a 45 minute boil with some original blue Dawn followed by a wash cycle, they were ready to dry and be worn. For overnight, I use a prefold covered with a flat, and she’s dry all night long! Yes, flats can definitely hold as much (sometimes more, depending on the brand) as the other modern diapers!

4. Flats and prefolds come with super cute covers! Seriously. Have you seen the colors and prints? Thirsties is one of my favorites to use, and their covers are just precious! Then there’s the Flip, Best Bottoms, Blueberry, Kissaluvs, Happy Heiny’s, Sustainablebabyish (YUM!), Little Beetle, Bummis, Applecheeks, Weehuggers…the list goes on and on! You can easily build a stash of just flats or prefolds and have your fun with lots of cover styles. LeSigh…so very pretty!

5. Prefolds come in sizes! Prefolds are much easier to fold and pin or snappi when they’re the right size! So much simpler than having to fold a laundry basket full of flats. And the better they fit, the easier they are to put on. Even when you pad-fold and lay in a cover. Of course, you could also lay the pad folded prefold or flat into a cover and use them like AIOs, pockets, or disposables.

6. As you can see, flats and prefolds are versatile. And depending on how diverse you want your stash, you can make them even more versatile! Hemp, cotton, bamboo…all are made into flat or prefold-like diapers. You can also use them as either doublers, inserts into your pocket diapers, or just as regular diapers. You can use pins, snappis, or neither. You can take all the time you need to put them on an itty bitty baby or make them as quick to use as necessary for a busy, preoccupied toddler. The possibilities are nearly endless!

7. Flats and prefolds travel really well. Now, they aren’t as user-friendly as the hybrid or AI2 diapers. You do have to fold them and cover them. But as far as an economic and easy-to-wash choice? They win, hands down! Prefolds take longer to dry (especially in AC when you can’t dry on the line), but my flats dry overnight, ready to be used again in the morning!

8. Cheap, cheap! Flats and covers are the least expensive way to cloth diaper your baby. Period. While covers can be pricey, you can buy 2 Dappi nylon covers for $5. And they hold up just as well as the more expensive brands. They might not be nearly as pretty, but they do their job! With either flats or prefolds, you can cloth diaper your baby for under or just over $100 easily.

9. Flats and prefolds also last. Melissa is still using some of the receiving blankets she used with her first cloth baby…and that was over three years ago! (Yes, she uses some of her receiving blankets as flats. They work great, and she didn’t have to shell out good money for them! What are you going to use all of those blankets for, anyway? Try them out as flats!)

10. When you’re finished with them, they make great cleaning rags. I actually have a dozen of the Gerber “flats” that I don’t use as diapers. Well, at least not often. Instead, I use several of them to clean. With as well as they work, I’m excited to try my other flats…one day. My mom still cleaned with the diapers that she had used on me when I left home for college!

So there you have it: 10 reasons why I love my flats and prefolds. While I do appreciate the ease of more modern diapers, in my mind, there’s nothing that compares to the versatility and durability of my simpler diapers.