I'm a mother of twins, RDA accredited Cloth Diaper Circle Leader, and an RN discussing parenting tips, green living, and products I love!
I have been teaching Cloth Diapering 101 Workshops for a few months now and I am loving it. I apologize for not having made my own cloth diapering 101 video yet – it’s in the works! I have loved sharing the benefits of cloth diapering with anyone that is interested. Because there are so many parents out there that have never considered cloth diapers, either because they consider them archaic, don’t know that they still exist, or for other reasons, it is important to share your love. I wear an “Ask Me About Cloth Dipaers!” pin on my diaper bag at all times. Whenever diapers come up in conversation I offer a cloth solution or option.
You may think that you could never hold workshops or be a cloth diaper circle leader. I have to say, you – the lover of cloth diapers – just may be the perfect cloth diaper circle leader for your area. It’s the parents who love the freedom that cloth diapers give us that make experts. We deal with any challenges that arise and overcome them. I had to find all my own answers online or through manufacturers because I didn’t have any local resources. It was this struggle to find answers (with no local cloth diaper resources or stores) that led me to becoming a cloth diaper circle leader myself. I reached out to the amazing cloth diapering community online, learned so much and got endless support! I have reached out to local childrens’ stores and have held cloth diaper circle meetings and 101 workshops at their stores! I didn’t need to put out money to rent a location. I brought in a some business and am helping to educate the community. The business I have worked with have been very helpful and supportive.
If you want to be a cloth diaper circle leader, and want to help your local community find the support and encouragement they may need to cloth diaper or to get started cloth diapering, click HERE to find out what is required and how to get started!
Before I kick off the MommaWords Real Diaper Week Celebration with a GIVEAWAY, I want to share a video my fellow Cloth Diaper Circle Leader, Heather B., put together. It’s a cloth diapering 101 video with an ASL translation. Kudos to you and your circle Heather! Great job!
MommaWords is GIVING AWAY a copy of the book “Changing Diapers: A Hip Mom’s Guide to Modern Cloth Diapering”! What am I doing for day 1 of Real Diaper Week? I’m holding a CD 101 Workshop at a local preschool! And…. giving away this book to help educate you! If you win, don’t forget to lend out your copy and share the love!
Alright readers. I know a lot of you are cloth diapering mommas. I think you especially will appreciate this post but it is also for all women of childbearing age. Yeah, I’m gonna talk about PERIODS. Cue – men leaving the room, domain, etc.
I want to share with you why the Diva Cup is a great feminine care product, reasons to use it vs. disposable pads and tampons, and how it has made my life better. The Diva Cup is a menstrual cup. It is made from soft medical grade silicone in one solid flexible piece. What does that mean? It is a cup that you insert into the vagina to catch menstrual flow for up to 12 hours. (It needs to be emptied at least every 12 hours). YES, at first glance, I thought this sounded pretty gross. On second thought, I realized that I wanted to use the Diva Cup for the same reasons that I wanted to use cloth diapers on my babies. I didn’t want them exposed to chemicals in disposables, I don’t want to expose myself to chemicals in tampons and pads – it’s even worse for menstruating women because tampons are against some of our mucous membranes! Secondly, I couldn’t stand the thought of the 12-18,000 diapers that would be in a landfill if we used disposables and here I was throwing away pads and tampons for over 20 years. Yikes! I’m so sad I didn’t know there were other feminine hygiene options! So, after deciding that I would never buy disposable pads or tampons again, I also realized that I would save loads of money by spending $25 on a Diva Cup. After buying a Diva Cup, I no longer need to buy pads or tampons!
Picture via LunnaPads.com
How did using the Diva Cup make a difference in my life? Lets just be up front, the first couple cycles you use it you are learning what insertion fold/technique works best for you and how often you need to empty your cup. I soon got very comfortable and realized that this cup gave me total freedom. I didn’t have to worry about keeping a stockpile of pads or tampons in my purse, car, etc just in case. The cup never runs out. When it’s full, you empty it and you are all set. When I started using it and had a heavier flow, there were times I needed to empty it while out and about. I kept a small ziplock of baby wipes in my purse for a prior to washing with soap and water clean up. I knew that the Diva Cup had given me more freedom from necessary trips to the store, chemical exposure, and had saved me money, but I didn’t know it would be one of the first things to alert me to my endometriosis. I had been using the cup for months comfortably, so when (along with other more mild symptoms – which progressed) I started having pain with use of the cup, I knew something was wrong. I sort of already knew something was wrong, but this pain gave me the push to realize that I needed to speek to my doctor about my symptoms. Sure enough, after my symptoms continued to get worse and my search for alternative therapies for endometriosis came up short, I ended up having laparoscopic surgery to officially diagnose and “zap” the endometriosis that was causing my pain. My next cycle I was back to using the Diva Cup pain free. I like to think that the Diva Cup helped diagnose me! 
One of my main points here is, it shouldn’t hurt. There is a short learning curve, but I will NEVER look back. I can travel without packing a box of “supplies”. The Diva cup fits in the palm of my hand. I can take a bath with the cup in place without it filling with water or leaking. I have NEVER before in my life forgotten when I was on my period prior to using the cup. It is no longer a worry or concern and I often forget that I am on my period!
To read FAQs about the Diva Cup you can click on their ad at the top of my page! To order one through Amazon just click on the picture of the Diva cup in the box above. This link will take you to the Amazon page for the model 2 cup. Please visit the Diva Cup site to determine what size cup you require for use. To enter to win a FREE Diva Cup, enter the GIVEAWAY below! P.S. A product that works smashingly with menstrual cups are cloth pads. To learn more about cloth pads check out Glad Rags and Lunna Pads!
Well friends, this is the last of the MommaWords First Birthday GIVEAWAYS! What a busy month it has been with so many giveaways! Thanks to all our sponsors. The last giveaway consists of two Cloth Diapering Packages. I recently wrote about our struggle with ammonia build up in our cloth diapers, how we treated the diapers, and how we treated our twins for the ammonia burn diaper rash. I wanted to help any parents who might be in a similar situation. So…. I put together two packages! The packages consist of 1) The herbal burn balm (Ching Wan Hung) that I got from my acupuncturist, 2) A homemade bath soak consisting of oatmeal & chamomile tea (enough for 8 baths), AND 3) Hand cut fleece cloth diaper liners (8).
Krystal of Blue Jasmine Acupuncture and Herbs has sponsored the burn balm included in these two packages. I am thrilled that Krystal agreed to sponsor this giveaway because she supplied me with an amazing healing balm! This burn balm works for burns, sores, blister, eczema, and psoriasis. The tiniest amount goes a long way which makes this balm a long lasting steal at $6!
When my twins were recovering from the ammonia burns I was at a loss for how to heal their bottoms as quickly as possible. My daughter had blisters where her skin was exposed to the diapers! I was scared to even take her to the pediatrician. Do you know that the pediatrician was as much at a loss about this “rash” as I was? Because she didn’t have much, if any, experience with cloth diapers, she couldn’t help me. All she could do was take a culture of the rash and later tell me it wasn’t yeast. After digging around on the internet, a fellow cloth diapering momma suggested that the blisters could be an ammonia burn. BINGO! I had even told family members “This is an awful rash! It looks like a BURN!” My point. I told Krystal about this ammonia burn that day and she said she had a great burn balm. It is brown in color, smells like sesame seeds, and works like a charm. I brought it home and applied it that afternoon after nap. Only 24 hours later, the burn looked 50-75% better and all blisters were dried up. At the 48 hour mark there were some completely healed areas and all of the blistered areas looked markedly better. By day three the worst areas were just a thin layer of skin peeling off (like after a sunburn). It was AMAZING. I applied the burn balm 3 times a day, at waking, before nap, and after bath – before bed. Please read the directions on the box and consult your doctor and/or cloth diaper manufacturer with any questions. I used disposable inserts while using this product.
The other treatment I used to heal the ammonia burn (it helps with all diaper rashes and any skin irritations like eczema, as long as there isn’t an allergy to the ingredients) was a bath soak. I used the Aveeno soothing bath soak a couple of times but then found a recipe for a homemade bath soak! I have included this bath soak in the giveaway package! The bath soaks are meant to be placed in a warm bath (not hot!) and swished around until the water looks milky. The soak bag can be used to gently wash baby’s skin. My daughter’s hair and skin felt super soft after using these bath soaks. The bath soaks are also great for any time baby has irritated skin such as, heat rash or a sun burn. I hope we all avoid sun burns! 
If your baby has very sensitive skin you may try using this bath soak instead of baby wash to clean him or her during bath time.
To read the complete post on “How to heal and ammonia burn and terrible diaper rash” click HERE.
Now I’ll talk a bit about the fleece liners. There are many reasons to get into cloth diapering. Some parents have chosen cloth to stay away from the chemicals like SAP (super absorbent polymers) found in disposable diapers. Many of these parents choose to use only cloth diapers made from organic all natural fibers. If this is the case, you may not be interested in using a fleece liner. I have tried using all organic cotton or bamboo soakers only in my children’s diapers and found that their skin felt very wet when I changed them. I also use another soaker that has a fleece top liner which did not leave my children’s skin feeling so wet. So for all my soakers or AIOs that do not have a fleece liner, I have cut fleece liners from fabric bought at my local fabric store. I have found that these liners are helpful in many regards. First, they keep my kids feeling dry. Second, they make clean up of poopie diapers easier because I can simply lift this liner and dump its contents in the toilet. Third, the liners keep our diapers looking nicer which means less work to get stains out.
To enter to win this GIVEAWAY you are required to do the following:
“Like” Blue Jasmine Acupuncture & Herbs on Facebook AND “Like” MommaWords.com on Facebook and tell me in a comment on this post that you have done so. If you do not have a Facebook account and would still like to enter, you may leave a comment on this post telling me what other product or treatment you are interested in on Krystal’s Blue Jasmine Acupuncture & Herbs website.
To qualify for extra entries you must leave a comment on this post stating that you have done one of the following for EACH entry:
“Like” Biker Baby on Facebook (this is another sponsor of our birthday giveaways!)
“Like” Fassett Photography on Facebook (this is another sponsor of our birthday giveaways!)
“Like” Baltic Amber Baby on Facebook (this is another sponsor of our birthday giveaways!)
“Like” bebe bubbles on Facebook (this is another sponsor of our birthday giveaways!)
Follow MommaWords.com via Google Friend connect or tell me if you already do. Please give your screen name for verification of winners.
Follow MommaWords on Twitter.
Subscribe to MommaWords.com via RSS to receive email (or the reader of your choice) notifications when a new post is up.
Tweet about this giveaway and include the URL in your comment. (Limit one per day)
Post about this giveaway on Facebook AND tag MommaWords.com in the post. (To verify a tag, go to the MommaWords.com wall. Your post should be visible. Limit one per day.)
Blog about this giveaway and leave the URL in your comment.
This giveaway closes Friday September 2, 2011 at midnight. Winners will be drawn on Saturday September 3rd, 2011. I will post the winning results as soon as I can that Saturday! I will also notify winners via email. Please check your spam folders! Winners will have 48 hours to reply before a new winner is chosen.
THIS GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED.
Not long after I had my twins, my friend Angelena stopped by with a gift that was handmade by her sister Naoma (owner of bebe bubbles). You might think that this gift would’ve blurred into the haze that was the first few months of parenthood, however, this is one gift I will never forget! Naoma made a BEAUTIFUL diaper clutch. The clutch opens to turn into a wipeable changing mat, has a pocket to keep a diaper and wipes, and ties closed with a ribbon. The closed clutch looks like a million bucks! I was so impressed with this diaper clutch that I reached out to Naoma to see if she would like to sponsor a GIVEAWAY for MommaWord’s first birthday. Lucky for you, she was happy to join in the celebration!
diaper clutch
To enter to win one of bebe bubbles‘ products you are required to “like” their Facebook page and leave a comment on this post stating that you like bebe bubbles on Facebook. If you do not have a Facebook account, and would like to enter to win, please leave a comment stating what your favorite bebe bubbles item is!
2 piece burp cloth set
2 piece burp cloth set
3 piece burp cloth set close-up
3 piece burp cloth set
If you would like to purchase products from Naoma, please contact her at: mybebebubbles@yahoo.com
To qualify for extra entries you must leave a comment on this post stating that you have done one of the following for EACH entry:
“Like” MommaWords.com on Facebook or let me know if you already do like MommaWords.com on Facebook.
Follow MommaWords on Twitter.
“Like” Biker Baby on Facebook (this is another sponsor of our birthday giveaways!)
“Like” Fassett Photography on Facebook (this is another sponsor of our birthday giveaways!)
“Like” Blue Jasmine Acupuncture & Herbs on Facebook (this is another sponsor of our birthday giveaways!)
“Like” Baltic Amber Baby on Facebook (this is another sponsor of our birthday giveaways!)
Follow MommaWords.com via Google Friend connect or tell me if you already do. Please give your screen name for verification of winners.
Subscribe to MommaWords.com via RSS to receive email (or the reader of your choice) notifications when a new post is up.
Tweet about this giveaway and include the URL in your comment. (Limit one per day)
Post about this giveaway on Facebook AND tag MommaWords.com in the post. (To verify a tag, go to the MommaWords.com wall. Your post should be visible. Limit one per day.)
Blog about this giveaway and leave the URL in your comment.
This giveaway closes Sunday August 22, 2011 at midnight. Winners will be drawn on Monday August 23rd, 2011. I will post the winning results as soon as I can that Monday! I will also notify winners via email. Please check your spam folders! Winners will have 48 hours to reply before a new winner is chosen.
THIS GIVEAWAY IS CLOSED!
Let’s start the GIVEAWAYS! Let me introduce you to Jeff Fassett and Fasset Photography. Jeff is an amazing photographer! Check out his website, Fasset Photography, andFacebook page for examples of his work. I met Jeff and his wife Rebeca through our local Mother’s of Twins club. Jeff and Rebeca have adorable fraternal twin boys that my twins and I get to see often for play dates. Jeff has offered $50 toward a photo shoot (sitting fee) which can be redeemed locally in Ventura County, California. He will travel out of Ventura County, but would include a standard travel fee.
How to enter to win $50 toward a photo shoot with Jeff:
You are REQUIRED to “like” Fassett Photography on Facebook and leave a comment on this post telling me that you like Fassett Photography on Facebook AND want to win $50 toward a photo shoot. See below for extra entry opportunities.
For those of you who are not local to Ventura County I have another prize up for grabs! I have been using Arbonne products for about 4 years now. I love their skin care line but especially love their baby wash. I have used Arbonne baby wash on my twins since birth. Many of my friends tell me that they bathe their children every other day or night because their doctor told them that nightly baths can dry out baby’s skin. We have been bathing the twins nightly since they were about 6 weeks and have had no issues with dry skin. You can read the product description on the attached photo and see that it is made with natural herbs and botanicals and should be safe to use on even the most sensitive skin. Arbonne has not sponsored this giveaway, I am personally giving it away because I love it so much and want to share a great product with you!
How to enter to win an Arbonne Baby Wash:
You are REQUIRED to tell me that you would like to win the Arbonne Baby Wash in a comment on this post.
To qualify for extra entries for either prize you must leave a comment on this post stating that you have done one of the following for EACH entry:
“Like” MommaWords.com on Facebook or let me know if you already do like MommaWords.com on Facebook.
Follow MommaWords on Twitter.
“Like” Fassett Photography on Facebook (if you already like this page as a required entry, it cannot be used as an extra entry)
“Like” Biker Baby on Facebook (this is another sponsor of an upcoming giveaway!)
“Like” Blue Jasmine Acupuncture & Herbs on Facebook (this is another sponsor of an upcoming giveaway!)
Follow MommaWords.com via Google Friend connect or tell me if you already do. Please give your screen name for verification of winners.
Subscribe to MommaWords.com via RSS to receive email (or the reader of your choice) notifications when a new post is up.
Tweet about this giveaway and include the URL in your comment. (Limit one per day)
Post about this giveaway on Facebook AND tag MommaWords.com in the post. (To verify a tag, go to the MommaWords.com wall. Your post should be visible. Limit one per day.)
Blog about this giveaway and leave the URL in your comment.
This giveaway closes Tuesday August 9th, 2011. Winners will be drawn on Wednesday August 10th, 2011. I will post the winning results as soon as I can that Wednesday! I will also notify winners via email. Please check your spam folders! Winners will have 48 hours to reply before a new winner is chosen. Shipping fees should not exceed $10. If they do, I will contact the winner to come to an agreement.
THIS GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED.
