I hope everyone has a good moisturizer!  My hands are starting to feel the effects of handwashing diapers.  I tried the sink method last night, the jury is still out on which method I prefer.

If you have missed my past vlogs you can catch Day 1 ,Day 2, and Day 3.

I’ve been picking up a ton of new tips and tricks from blog entries, tweets, and forum threads.  I am listing some of my favorite ideas and giving credit to the person who I saw mention it when I can.

Washing and Rinsing Tips:

Random Mom Brain suggested using a baby hairbrush to scrub out poop stains on flats and on covers.  Why a baby hairbrush and not a stiffer bristle brush for dishes?  These should be soft enough for covers without harming the PUL.

@thegnomesmom tweeted about reusing her baby’s bath water to rinse her diapers!  That inspired me to wring out my wet diapers over the plants on our back porch instead of running new water for them.

Folding and Diapering:

I learned about the “Diaperbag Fold” from the gigantic thread for the Flats Challenge on Diaperswappers.com.  It was linked in that thread (original tutorial) and I knew it was going to be a hit for me.  Since that day I’ve used it almost as much as the pad fold.  I even made a video and picture tutorial of it.

MonkeyBunns shared two picture fold tutorials, one for an Origami with a Twist, and one called the Accordion Fold.

Stacey, guest posting for KellyWels.com, also shared a way to trim up the Origami in the hip by folding the wings up.  She has coined this the “Butterfly Fold.”

Milk Bubbles is a blog I’ve really enjoyed reading along with because she has upped the ante and is diapering her baby for 0$.  Yep.  Free.  She has repurposed everyday items around her home to make diapers and covers.  You can find out how to make a T-Shirt diaper on her blog post.

Drying:

Shultz Family Adventures taught us to roll our covers up and squeeze them in a clean towel to make them dry faster.  Love this tip and I used it last night (but with a clean prefold that happened to be around) which worked just as well.

Twitter chatter on the #flatschallenge hashtag has resulted in lots of tips.  Here are some I have read.  I can’t remember who to attribute them to, and many were suggested by multiple people.

Use your ceiling fan or oscillating fan when drying your flats indoors.

Dry your flats in the bathroom with the vent on.

Iron your flats on HOT with no steam (that was me!)

Use a blow dryer if you are desperate and need dry flats NOW.

Other fun tips for hanging flats:

Use skirt hangers.  Use clothespins on a hanger.

Miscellaneous:

To make your flats softer, twist, wring, snap, and rub them together after they are dry.  I’ve also been beating the daylights out of mine against the screen door.

The Eco Chic says maybe try vinegar in your rinse cycle.

One participant on Twitter (lost the tweet to attribute credit) has been adding a tiny bit of Ecover (cloth safe laundry softener) to her final rinse cycle.  I use Ecover for my diapers in the washer so I know it is safe.

If your baby has solid bits in their poop you might want to put one of those screens to catch debris and hair over your drain.  (tip from Twitter also)

Now for Bloggers, if you post today add your linky!  I’m seeing lots of blogs who are posting that aren’t linking up.  I’d love to have you add your post so that we can all share in the collective wealth of knowledge we are creating.
get the InLinkz code

Have a tip of your own?  Leave it in the comments.  Feel free to link your blog in the comments if your tip or tutorial is posted there but be sure to let us know what it is so we want to click!

A few weeks ago I wrote about the trouble I was having getting my son to sleep the entire night in his toddler bed-“How to end Co-sleeping. Advice Needed!!!.” I WAS PLEADING FOR ADVICE!  Thankfully, tons of people (well, tons for me!) commented on my dilemma with lots of useful advice.

Many of you suggested the Supernanny tactic- this involves leading the child back to their bed and saying goodnight, and as they continue to come out of their room, you keep escorting them back over and over until they get the picture.

Others said I should put him bed in our room until he got used to sleeping in it all night, then move it back to his room.

Then there were lots of other ideas, these are just the ones I saw most frequently.

I was already sleeping in his room to get him used to sleeping in his bed all night when I posted.  This worked well, although once I started sleeping in my own room again (I slept in his room for 5 nights and he reduced his wakings and also submitted to staying in his bed, something he previously refused) and he continued to wake up once a night.

Whenever he would wake up, most nights he would not cry, but walk into our bedroom.  He wanted me to walk him back to his bed!  I did, and would sit next to him while he fell asleep.

We have tried to make this a gradual transition for him. I used to rock him to sleep and lay him in bed.  Then, I began rocking him but not letting him fall asleep.  I laid him in bed and he would make me lay next to him until he fell asleep.  I started sitting next to him rather than laying, which was a hard jump for him.  He wanted to be cuddled while he was falling asleep.  After a few nights of crying he let me begin sitting next to him.  Also, I did try the Supernanny techinique and it worked one night!  However, the next night he was so upset I sat next to him after many times of him walking out and crying.  This basically allowed me to just sit next to him.  He figured it was either let me sit next to him, or have him cry and have no Mommy at all.  He made a wise choice.

Now, I have moved from sitting next to him on the bed to sitting on the ottoman a few feet away.  We still start out in the glider.   We read a ton of books, we rock and he puts his head on my chest (and if I am wearing a high necked shirt he pulls it down so he is skin to skin!).  I sing to him and then tell him I am laying him in bed.  He then grabs his monkey which he always shoves next to me in the glider, and sits up.  I carry him to bed, he rolls over on his tummy and cuddles his monkey, I cover him up, and sit on the ottoman while he falls asleep.  He will look over to make sure I am there until he falls asleep.

My next move will be to slide my seat farther from his bed, and farther still, until I am out of the door.  This is based on a famous sleep training method that I don’t know the name of!  I don’t think this would have worked a few months ago in our case, but he is old enough for it now.

Most nights he sleeps the entire night, others he wakes up once.  He easily falls back asleep as long as I put him back in bed.

This is a vast improvement to him waking at 12 from his bed to come to ours.  It has been a very long, long road to get his sleeping habits to a place where we are all relatively happy.  Daddy can even put him to bed now, something that was impossible before.  I am feeling very good about where we are at and the progress he will make.  I believe I can get him falling asleep on his own before the baby gets here.  I am also hoping he decides to sleep all night every night, but even a few nights a week is more than I was getting just a few months ago.

The sad thing is, we haven’t napped or slept together in a couple of weeks.  At first, he would come to bed for an extra 2 hours or so with us in the morning.  And occasionally I would nap with him for some snuggle time.  Now he won’t do either.  This has also made him wake up 2-3 hours earlier than normal.  It is for the best since the baby will be here very soon, but I miss my extra cuddle time so much.

I hope this method will help others who are working on transitioning their toddlers to a bed or crib from co-sleeping.  This has taken months, just like our weaning process, to keep him happy and to minimize trauma.  Thanks to everyone who had advice or just words of commiseration.  I truly appreciate it!

I get a lot of emails, comments, and tweets asking advice about cloth diapering. I try my best to get back to all of you, and if I somehow missed a question, I’m sorry! Since there is a lot of demand, I decided, to ask you… What do you want to know about cloth diapers? This can be anything! Advice, opinions, washing, traveling, anything!!! The only questions I can’t answer are about diapering a toddler or potty training, since I am not there yet! Otherwise, bring it on!

Please direct your questions to dirtydiaperlaundry at gmail dot com or ask them right here in the comments. Please also leave a first name with your question so I can show who asked. Send your questions by Thursday, November 12 if you want them answered publicly.

I am looking forward to our Q&A.