Instinctive Parenting.

What does it mean to be an Instinctive Mother. I am not the one to coin this phrase, it's been used in the natural, attachment, granola parenting community, however it stuck with me.

Just the other day I heard of the term AP Lite for the first time, it means do everything AP except cloth diaper, but I'll come back to that in a bit.

I learned a lot with my first daughter, as a matter of fact I was all mainstream! My intentions were good but I didn't have all of the information and I thought things we supposed to be done certain ways.. (feed every 2 hours, my milk hasn't came in go get formula!, Cloth diapers are disgusting and waste more water by having to constantly wash them, boys are supposed to be circumcised to look like daddy, We got vaxed and we were fine!, Curse those breastfeeding Nazis and their plan to take over the world with their weapons of Mass production, Yaay my 9 month old is 20 lbs can she forward face now? I want to be able to see her!, How dare you judge my parenting..etc etc etc..)

However not even with my first daughter did I want to give birth in a hospital, but I ended up in one. My second daughter was a home birth and then I got the virus! The Crunchy Virus and it started spreading Home birthing lead to breastfeeding, which lead to delaying and skipping some vax, which lead to cloth diapering, which lead to being more "green", which lead to reaching out to others which lead to learning more about baby wearing, and EC, and Gentle parenting etc etc.. the Virus has spread... I have the crunchies.

Most of this came from my instincts! It just felt right.. take vaccines for example you can read my thoughts on them on my post The gray area of Vax debate. THAT was a perfect example on how my instincts came to play... I did what my instincts told me.. maybe yours tell you to fully vax, maybe yours tell you you'll be happier not using cloth but you are gunge-ho about everything else! Maybe you are just learning about it.

the bottom line is to listen with your heart...

A blog I really admire called PhD in Parenting (actually they are the reason I started blogging) posted an article by Diana West from IBCLC called There is No Doctrine for Attachment Parenting: Being AP is a Frame of Mind! reprinted on Kellymom.comin it she explains how you don't have to follow AP to a T and maybe you even physically can't but basically:

"An AP parent is one who wholeheartedly believes that children are inherently good and that by fostering an atmosphere of complete trust and intimacy, a bond is created that provides those children with the foundation and security to become their best selves. It really has little to do with the tools we use to be Attachment parents. All that is important to qualify us to be an Attachment Parent is simply that we parent from an Attachment Parenting frame of mind"

So AP lites! you are fully AP! if you don't cloth diaper it doesn't make you less of a parent! You follow your heart! You follow your instincts.. Read the whole article it made me feel so good when I did.

Mothering has no instruction manual, society and mainstream websites, programs, stores have created one for us to dictate what we should buy or consume (think unnecessary baby gadgets and formula, or even unnecessary medical procedures and Meds) It all boils down to money. We instinctual mothers know that if all hell breaks loose.. our babies will still have everything they got their mommas breasts and their mommas arms and ladies and gentlemen that is ALL a baby needs to thrive.But dads, partners, relatives don't get me wrong... when all hell breaks loose for us, which is pretty much everyday all mommy needs is your support so she can support her baby.i

t takes a village!

So you see I am an instinctual mother I listen to my baby and I would love to spread how easier life really does get when you stop giving into big company rubbish of what a happy baby is.

Cloth Wipes are easy peasy clean up breezy!

As promised here's a segment on Cloth wipes.

Why Cloth wipes? well... the whole Eco-friendly natural parenting lifestyle has a ripple effect. Cloth diapers need Eco friendly laundry aides (I dislike calling them detergents since they don't have any) they need drying in the sun to eliminate stains thus using less energy and alas! They need cloth wipes.

Think about when you change a diaper. You wipe, you place a wipe inside the diaper and you dispose of it though in some places in Europe it is Illegal, and the World Health Organization is against it! why?

BECAUSE FECAL MATTER CARRIES DISEASE! you can read a nice article about that here.

I am guilty of doing it before and a lot of people are as well, the disposable diapers have instructions to flush the poop out first then dispose of the diaper... who does that? might as well be cloth diapering right? ;)

Back to cloth wipes though....



they're easy you can either make them yourself or buy them and you can do two methods

• The wet method: you place cloth wipes in a container or wipe warmer and you make or buy a diaper solution which consists of oil, water, soap and some antibacterial agent.

Here's a great site with a recipe on making your own cloth diaper solution.

• The Dry Method: You place the solution in an inexpensive spray bottle and spray your baby's bum and wipe or spray the cloth and then wipe.

The last one is my favorite because you don't have to deal with the wipes getting dry or musty.

You wipe excess poop from baby into the diaper and you flush that down the toilet, make sure you hold on to the diaper or you could loose it! then throw everything in a pail to either wash by hand or washing machine. And really I don't know if it's just me but my own kid's poop doesn't gross me out.. it's poop it comes with the territory!

Today I made a simple solution brewing chamomile and mixing it with water baby wash and baby oil. I will be experimenting with different solution as I go along to find the one I like..fun times right ;)

As for traveling this is my set up, simple and cheap! Hope this inspires you to try it out!
Would you like me to include some fancy cloth wipes made by myself for my next giveaway?

let me know! write to me on facebook!

Flip Diaper system

Look at the clothesline in my backyard in all its glory! The grass not so much though (I don't water backyard grass in the summer it's futile in southern Cali it just wastes water.)

I have found a new passion.. cloth diapering! I do not know why I didn't do this with my first, it' easy peasy! and cheap!

There comes a time in one's life especially in this economy where you start looking long and hard at the things that used to be essential. Are they really essential or where they really a luxury? Could I live without? Disposable diapers where one of those things.. I was doing the math one night, we were spending $10 a week on jumbo diapers, our daughter was 3 months. We had just barely ran out of diapers we got from the baby shower. I decided to look into cloth diapering and I was shocked! an average of $20 per "all in one insert"!! you need at least 10 if you want to wash them all at night and have them ready for the next day! and that is an initial investment of $200 still cheaper in the long run but too much to put out up front.

And then I ran into flip diapers Not only where they easy to use but easy on our pockets. With an average initial investment of $50 for a stay dry pack which includes 6 amazingly absorbent inserts and 2 reusable covers and great reviews I was willing to give them a try!

I was very excited when they arrived I had previously seen a video review on youtube so I was already familiar with how to use them but the instructions on the box were easy.

I used them with no problems, she did not leak and it was very easy. I actually have survived with just the 6 inserts and the 2 covers because it is summer so as you saw earlier I hang them out to dry. I hand wash them as they get dirty.



Here's some tips.

• Use a good chemical/detergent/enzyme free laundry soap, I just fell in love with countrysave, I'll tell you why.. I found out quickly that regular detergent stays in the cloth diaper, no matter how many times you rinse every time you wring it more soap comes out, this also makes the liner look old quick and not absorb as much I quickly switched and my diapers looked great again and it takes very little soap when you hand wash about 1 tablespoon for a small bucket. Now that is savings in detergent!


• Poopie diapers! NO, they're not as scary as you might think.. here's a quick tip, if you can wash them immediately. I found out if I put the liner in the toilet and flush, the suction from the flush will scoop out the top layer of poo and then you can just wash the rest. No need for fancy toilet hoses.


• Poopie Stains... two words.. SUN BLEACHING! it's difficult to get the poopie stains out by just washing but take them out in the sun for a bit and your cloth liners are white and bright once more!


• Cloth wipes. When you use disposables you usually wipe and put the dirty wipe in the diaper and throw it away. With cloth you can spray the baby's bum with some water and just wipe with a nice soft flannel wipe, you can make them yourself! (I will have a tutorial on cloth wiping as soon as I can) This solves the problem of what to do with disposable wipes and you use less landfill space.


• You will eventually need a couple more covers as they do tend to smell like urine after a couple of wears even though they're waterproof on the inside, you can either wipe them down or I just wash them and hang out one in the sun and switch them out as I go.


• Just try it! it becomes second nature in no time! you'll be wondering why disposables even exist! These cloth diapers are certainly not our grandma's cloth diapers! They're super easy!

I recently ordered another cover and 5 more inserts for $36. This will probably do for a while and eventually I can get more especially before the winter when I will have to use my washer/dryer . But Considering my baby will use these until she is potty trained AND my next baby can use them as well.. the savings are huge! But not only that.. We make our children Eco-friendly, our landfills are full of diapers that in our lifetime and our children's lifetime will never go away... we need to be more earth conscious not for us but for our future generations.. I had my first child in disposables for 3 years.. I felt guilty having more children and having the same impact on the earth but it's never too late!

And if you don't feel like you can do it! Just try 1 cloth diaper a day! 1 a day throughout your child's diaper years can still make a HUGE difference!

Save Money,Save the Earth !

for this little chubby face and yours!