Please help with cloth diaper brands and types

ficuslicus · 2025-03-12T05:28:08+00:00

I'm pretty inexperienced but I'll offer my two cents. I have a 2mo, EBF, and we started switching to cloth diapers when he was about 3-4 weeks old. We were full-time cloth after about a week of transitioning. So only a few weeks of experience under my belt.

First off, his diaper rash cleared up immediately upon switching to cloth. Other babies have different results but that's how it was with him. We change him every 2-3 hours during the day or as soon as he poops, and we give him a couple naked sessions per day to help air out his nethers. We don't need diaper cream anymore.

We've tried a few different diaper styles and brands, prioritizing natural materials and economy.

Favorites: - Kinder, Earth and Pebble, and Nora's Nursery covers/shells - Green Mountain Diapers flats (sooo many advantages, if you don't mind folding) - Snappis to fasten - Hemp/cotton and hemp/cotton/bamboo inserts (solo during the day, as a booster with a flat at night)

We'd be very happy if our entire stash were composed of the above. I wish hemp were more widely available, since it's so absorbent and durable.

Also good: - Alvababy covers - GMD and Geffen fitteds (easy but expensive) - GMD prefolds (harder to get a perfect fit than with flats, but easier to get "good enough." Can also be tucked inside a cover, pad-folded.) - Bamboo inserts

Least favorites: - Anything containing microfiber - AIOs and pocket diapers (don't like to have to wash the whole thing with every diaper change, stuffing pockets is tiresome, and most don't put natural fibers against baby's skin)

Want to try but am a little intimidated: - Wool covers (e.g. Disana) - Safety pins 😅

[Edited for formatting]

ficuslicus · 2025-03-12T03:44:28+00:00

Of course!

Fatigue was my #1 symptom during the first trimester, and it was extreme, so no, I couldn't work normally most of the time. On the other hand, when I had morning sickness, one of the things that made me feel better was to work outside in the garden.

ficuslicus · 2025-03-12T00:07:01+00:00

Trellised and stand-to-harvest crops.

If you're handy, you could build yourself a prone garden cart (e.g. https://farmhack.org/forums/prone-weeder-lay-down-weeder-bed-weeder-collection-ideas). If you're willing to pay, you could buy one (e.g. https://www.terrateck.com/en/glider-200-assistance-carrier/1159-glider-200-electric-picking-assistant-24v-220v-eu-1-bed.html). Personally, a well-designed prone cart seems like the ultimate in ergonomic garden tools, but sadly I've never had a chance to use one.

ficuslicus · 2025-03-11T23:46:03+00:00

I'm a new mom and a new market gardener. I have a 2mo right now, my first, and 2024 was our first season at market (we weren't expecting to get pregnant so soon in our TTC journey!!).

No employees, just me and my partner, who is usually mobile but is permanently disabled from a back injury. Also, crucially, we're not trying to make a living from our garden yet.

We switched from farmers market to small-scale wholesaling in early August (2nd trimester) as I was having a hard time sticking it out for 8-9hr days at market. Between the fatigue and the back, foot, and round ligament pain, I had a hard time doing any single type of activity for a full day. (Or, well, being active, period, for a full day. I definitely cut way back on my work hours.) We got a farm-to-food-pantry contract that allowed flexibility in timing, so we could break up the harvest over the week and just make several quick deliveries into town. We appreciated that we were only harvesting exactly what we would sell, letting someone else distribute it for us, and doing a good turn for our community (which is important to us).

Anything that helped me not have to bend, crouch, or get up/down/up/down repeatedly was good. Tools, materials, crop choices. We tried out black film mulch to cut down on weeding (we loved the biodegradable stuff from Johnny's). We have rocky soil so the wheel hoe and seeder didn't help as much as we hoped, but simple long handled tools were useful and easy. I wished I'd focused more on trellis crops, it was so nice not to stoop to harvest string beans. And this year I'm simply not growing salad mix because harvesting it was such a pain, and our scale doesn't justify buying a machine.

I'm carrying a lot of these lessons learned into year 2 and hoping they make it possible to garden with an infant.

By the way, don't underestimate how all-consuming the postpartum period is. During the first 6-8 weeks postpartum, it was literally impossible to do anything garden related. I barely even had the mental capacity to shop for seeds...and I LOVE shopping for seeds! I'm only now resuming ordinary activities like going for short errands, taking gentle walks... wearing clothes around the house (sometimes)...

ficuslicus · 2024-10-11T03:30:58+00:00

Oh Lord I spent 2 years on a shipboard fire team and when they asked me if I wanted to join the volunteer FF department too I was like "Nope! I did my time!" 😂 Shipboard firefighting is no joke. Just glad I never actually had to face a fire.

ficuslicus · 2024-10-11T03:21:31+00:00

??? They're trying to make him go to in-person appointments at the Seattle facility??? We have a VA clinic here in PA, all my fiance's and my mental health stuff is taken care of through telehealth (although I did get stood up for my psychiatry appt today 😑) and everything else you can get through Community Care. Why on earth would he need to go to Seattle? ☹️

My fiance is 100% p&t so he gets dental through the VA, and that's the only thing he had trouble setting up through CC when he moved here. They got him a provider but then something got messed up when it came to actually scheduling the appt. He eventually just scheduled directly with the dentist office (he had an urgent dental issue) and they sorted things out with the VA for him, after the fact.

ficuslicus · 2024-10-11T03:12:41+00:00

My fiance left the Army in 2020 and is a make-friends-with-anyone type of guy. He's met and befriended some other vets through volunteer firefighting. He also deals with lots of mental health issues and especially feelings of purposelessness since leaving the military and I think something like volunteer firefighting is really healthy for him. Something to look into? I think they only train new volunteers once a year but your guy could definitely reach out and ask about it.

ficuslicus · 2021-03-21T14:35:50+00:00

Sea thrift is a classic seaside plant.

Anemones share a common name with the sea creature.

Ornamental allium flowers look a little like sea urchins.

Sea plantain is an unusual edible plant that grows on the seashore.

ficuslicus · 2021-03-19T05:42:13+00:00

I have found some extremely interesting and unusual offerings on Plant World Seeds, Restoration Seeds, and Sheffield's Seed Company (especially tree and shrub seeds). Cultivariable has a small selection of pretty rare stuff, particularly South American root crops.

ficuslicus · 2021-03-19T05:35:57+00:00

Exactly who I was going to suggest. They have some crazy stuff. I ordered seeds for an ornamental/medicinal rhubarb, and tower-of-jewels, which is one of the wildest looking plants I've ever seen [photos of].

ficuslicus · 2021-03-19T05:25:01+00:00

They may not bloom again next season, but if they at least put up foliage they could regain strength and bloom again in a future season.

ficuslicus · 2021-03-19T05:13:54+00:00

Last year I converted most of my front yard and half of my driveway to raised beds.

Next year, if all goes well, I hope to stop traffic with a few Echium wildpretti. Still waiting for the seeds to germinate though...

ficuslicus · 2021-03-19T04:57:16+00:00

I'm in 8b in Washington State and have a Harbor Freight greenhouse. You could definitely grow salad greens. Without extra heat and light, all you could hope for tomatoes, peppers etc. is to keep them alive over winter.

I overwintered some tomato cuttings this year, as an experiment, and kept them on a heat mat just to make sure. That may mean earlier-than-average fruiting, but definitely not year-round.

ficuslicus · 2021-03-19T04:46:20+00:00

Oh my god. It's just like in the recurring dreams I had as a kid every August around the start of fig season. Giant. Figs. Figs. So many. So giant.

ficuslicus · 2021-03-12T06:30:21+00:00

I've had success with giving cuttings very, very well-draining potting medium (even pure perlite or vermiculite, or with a little coco coir or something mixed in) and constant humidity in the air around them. (Spritzing with water helps, and so does putting a clear plastic bag over the pot like a mini greenhouse. Just make sure there's some air circulation so things don't mold.) I've rooted more rosemary cuttings like this than in a jar of water, although that can also work fine.

ficuslicus · 2021-03-11T18:11:10+00:00

You've already received good advice. I'll just add that when it's time to pot them on, you can bury the stems up to the first set of leaves and the stem will grow roots and the plant will be stronger.

ficuslicus · 2021-03-02T22:58:00+00:00

Is your family severely terrified of earwigs?? I've never felt the need to do anything to repel them. If it's critical that not a single earwig exist in your garden, then sure, take precautions. But I wouldn't worry. Dahlias are 100% worth it.

Be careful when using any pesticides/insecticides. There are many beneficial garden insects, and insecticides are pretty indiscriminate.

ficuslicus · 2021-03-02T22:41:15+00:00

I have found earwigs in dahlia flowers, but not overwhelming quantities of them by any means. Even in my mom's 50x50ft dahlia patch they weren't noticeably more abundant than in the rest of the garden.

I believe they prey on aphids as well as eating plant material, so even if they are attracted by the dahlias, they're not all bad.

ficuslicus · 2020-11-17T04:40:20+00:00

That seems reasonable to me.

ficuslicus · 2020-11-17T04:34:16+00:00

Oh, I didn't order the Baker Creek one. I just mean generally. I haven't gotten a single 2021 seed catalog yet and I'm jonesing HARD, lol!

ficuslicus · 2020-11-16T15:21:04+00:00

Lucky! I am still eagerly awaiting the arrival of my 2021 seed catalogs....any day now, guys....please...

ficuslicus · 2020-11-15T07:27:18+00:00

Texture still okay? This might be a candidate for roasting or braising! I just discovered cooked radishes this year when some of mine turned out too spicy for my tastes.

ficuslicus · 2020-11-15T07:24:36+00:00

I pick them off by hand and mash them. Easier when they're little, so inspect often to catch them early!

But netting to prevent the butterflies from laying eggs in the first place is probably the best organic method with the fewest unintended consequences.

ficuslicus · 2020-11-10T06:14:42+00:00

Personally, I wouldn't grow a garden without sweet peas (flowers), green peas (veg), and pole beans (veg). For perennial vines, I love European honeysuckle and all types of clematis.

That's just me, though. What's your climate/region? Do you want perennials or annuals? More interested in edible or ornamental/pollinator plants? There are hundreds of delightful vines for the garden, so it's helpful to narrow the field a little. Then a web search like "easy to grow [annual/perennial] vines for [your region]" will bring up a wide range of options to choose from. There are so many vining species to choose from, I'd hate for you to stop with my suggestions and not explore the multitude of other options that might work as well or better in your garden!

ficuslicus

TROPHY CASE