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Babies and Coconut Oil

One of the reasons I started using cloth diapers was because I was of the terrible rashes my daughter used to get with disposables. Upon learning the basics of cloth diapers, I also learned what is safe to use with cloth in case a rash appears: organic unrefined coconut oil.

Coconut oil has a very low melting point so it won’t coat cloth diapers causing them to repel. It is a great skin moisturizer and has tons of other uses.

You can cook with it (so delicious for popping corn), moisturize your skin and hair. It is good for treating skin rashes, stretch marks, and eczema. It has antibacterial and antiviral properties and I also good for your metabolism… Amazing! Personally, I used it to treat my baby’s cradle cap: I applied it to his scalp after each bath and brush his head with a cradle cap brush.

Regardless of whether or not you are cloth diapering, after learning so much about the benefits of coconut oil, I believe it’s a good idea to keep a jar of coconut oil handy. With so many possible uses, you’ll be finding yourself using it all the time.

A few tips on purchasing coconut oil:

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Cloth diapering: Getting started

Once my son was born, I knew I would soon be starting cloth diapering him. I must admit, I was apprehensive at first. The idea of washing diapers and not bring sure if I was doing it right was pretty scary.

I had one pack of newborn size disposables that I had received at our baby shower. My goal was to not buy any disposables. At about three weeks of age, once his umbilical stump fell off and the circumcision had healed, I knew it was time.

My diaper had been prepped and assembled for a while at that point. I began with 4 a day, only during the day. I had based my stash mostly on gDiapers with a two pack of Bumgenius 4.0 one size. The gDiapers are so cute! However, my whole plan on cloth diapers would soon change.

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DIY Cloth Diaper Detergent

The not-so-magic ingredients

Cloth diapering is a great way to save money. When I started rounding up my supplies to get started, I ran into the difficult decision of what cloth diaper detergent to use. First, I trekked around the internet looking for reviews from fellow moms on what worked best. Once I’d narrowed it down to a few, I went over to Amazon and searched pricing. Then it dawned on me… having to buy special cloth diaper detergent on top of my regular detergent for clothing isn’t very cost efficient, I thought the whole point of this was to save money. Since then, my friend gave me a recipe for her own homemade detergent. I tweaked it just a little because we have hard water.

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Getting started living green

With the population of our planet only increasing, being “green” is not a fad, it’s here to stay and I believe it’s important for everyone to do at least a little bit towards living “green”.

My journey began when I made the decision to cloth diaper. I am inspired by women like my mother in law, she is an adamant recycler and compost user.

The idea behind being green is finding ways to produce less waste and thereby reducing your carbon footprint. The kicker with this is that you’ll often times find yourself saving money as well.

As an interior designer, one of my favorite things is recommending money saving products to my clients. That high efficiency washer you paid a little more for will end up saving you in water bills in the long run. The energy efficient appliances you purchase will do the same for your electricity bill. Replacing your old toilet, upgrading your water heater, or installing weatherproofing around your home are all great things to do. All of these have long term effects on how much you pay in utilities. Even starting small; installing aerating faucet adapters on your faucets is a simple step towards saving water.

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Energy guzzlers I call children

It’s summer time! Hooray for swimming pools and summer vacation, right?

That is, until you realize you’re now home with kids ALL DAY and its too hot to go outside. So now I’m stuck with kids who can’t turn off the tv or any light they turn on for that matter. Now I’m starting to regret purchasing that huge LCD for the living room. To make matters worse, I have a 4 year old and an 8 year old who can’t agree on anything! Two televisions on simultaneously? I think not!

A few ground rules have been set: