Cloth Diaper Revelation 3.0

Our favorite baby is 6.5 months old, but we are still trying to master the art of cleaning our cloth diapers in hard water.  Much like pimping, sifting through all the info on cloth diapering and figuring out what works for us ain't easy.

Originally, I was using Rocking Green soap but then I was all like, “Shit’s expensive.  Any free and clear soap should do according to all the things I read.”  So I started using the Biokleen free and clear powdered detergent combined with Calgon and that seemed to work.  For a while.  Then I stripped the diapers with RLR.  The first time went great and I thought I was in love.  Then I did it a second time and I was pretty Meh about it.

My inserts were not as fluffy as they once were and they weren't absorbing as well and I was starting to get sad about it, so I did MORE research, because that’s what I do, and I decided a week or two ago to go back to the beginning, with some changes.

For the record, I’m not affiliated with Rockin Green or Calgon or anyone or anything other than myself and my desire to get my diapers clean and working in an optimal state or something.

I ordered Rockin Green’s Hard Rock (in Lavender Mint scent, because it was cheaper) from Amazon along with some Funk Rock.  I followed the instructions on the Funk Rock and soaked my diapers in it for a couple of hours, then realized I should have soaked them in the Rockin Green instead, so I threw some of that in there, too, and let it sit for a few more hours.  Then I washed them per the instructions on the Rockin Green, including a second rinse at the end (which I don’t normally do).

I've got to say, I wish I had never deviated from the cleaning power and brilliance of Rockin Green.  Not counting the initial prep wash, I have washed my diapers twice since I received my Rockin Green in the mail and my inserts are already way fluffier than they have been for the past month or so.  I’ve been throwing a tablespoon of funk rock in with my pre-rinse, then about 3 tablespoons of Rockin Green for the wash and yeah.  No more Calgon.  No more stripping with RLR.  No more using other, less superior soaps.  This is obviously true love because Rockin Green let me go, but I came back.  And it let me come back. 

Don’t worry, Rockin Green, girl, baby doll.  I love you and I will never leave you again.  My eye may wander from time to time, but I know you’re the soap for me.  Sure you’re a bit on the spendy side, but you’re worth it.  Only the best for my baby’s bottom.

Also, I have a box of Calgon and decided to use it with my regular laundry.  Terrible idea.  I washed all my bedding and my favorite blanket came out kind of coarse feeling, if that makes sense?  The texture is just off, and I’m big on texture.

In other news…

Hamburglar McCloud, aka Chumbercules, aka Sir Screams-a-Lot, is becoming more and more mobile.  He’s not quite crawling yet, but he gets on all fours and rocks.  And he rolls, army crawls, and does a version of The Worm where he scoots his butt towards his belly, then lifts his front up and throws it forwards.  Of course, with this mobility comes more interest in the things we would rather he not be interested in; like the DVDs and the fire place.  I am impressed with his efforts to remove the giant bolts from the cast iron fire place doors, though.  I did finally put outlet covers in, though.  He was getting over to the outlets a bit too often for my taste.

And I think that's it... for now.

Just big-boned

I was listening to NPR on my way to work this morning (surprise!) and they were talking about some law suit thing by the Hobby Lobby against the Affordable Care Act or something because they don't want to pay for their employees to have access to the morning after pill or IUDs.  But everything else is fine?  I don't get it.  And the dude they were interviewing referred to Plan B as an abortifacient.

Plan B, the morning after pill, emergency contraception, whatever you want to call it, does not cause abortions.  That pissed me off in the Walking Dead, too, when what's her name had Glenn go and get her a bunch of Plan B and she was eating it like candy to cause a miscarriage or some shit.  It doesn't work that way.  It can prevent conception if taken soon enough after unprotected sex.

So, that got me a little mad this morning.  The whole miseducation about what emergency contraceptives actually are and what they do.  Then I got kind of mad that I was getting mad about it.  Then I wondered why it was even considered "news" to begin with, then I started thinking about Chuck Palahniuk and his book, Lullaby.  He writes:

Old George Orwell got it backward.  Big Brother isn't watching.  He's singing and dancing.  He's pulling rabbits out of a hat.  Big Brother's busy holding your attention every moment you're awake.  He's making sure you're always distracted.  He's making sure you're fully absorbed.  He's making sure your imagination withers.  Until it's as useful as your appendix.  He's making sure your attention is always filled.  And this being fed, it's worse than being watched.  With the world always filling you, no one has to worry about what's in your mind.  With everyone's imagination atrophied, no one will ever be a threat to the world."

The book is really good, but don't read it if you have just had or are about to have a baby.  SIDS is kind of a character in the book in a way and, well, I picked it up to read again shortly after the wee babe was born and I promptly put it back on the bookshelf.

These are the things I think about when I read the news.  Or when I spend too much time on the internet.

In other news...

I know I call Hamburglar "Fatty," but he's not really fat.  He's just giant.  Well, not really.  Kind of.  He's a big baby.  And he is strong as fuck.  I was thinking about how strong he is during a late night feeding (the same one where I purchased this for the baby) and I came to the conclusion that Chumbercules is kind of like a celebrity in the sense that his primary job is to keep his body in tip top shape or something.  I mean, he spends most of his waking moments doing strength training and conditioning his core.  He doesn't really sit still any more.  Really, he's an inspiration and a reminder that every moment spent awake is a moment that can be used to better yourself.

And I think about that while I watch him exercise and I watch Netflix and eat ice cream.  Or something.

We saw Dr. Soulpatch on Friday.  My favorite baby weighs 19.6 pounds.  We still aren't really feeding him solids, just tastes of stuff, though yesterday I was feeding him some sweet potatoes and he was really into it, then a little while later he spit them up on me.  So that was nice.  At least it encouraged me to bathe us both.

I've been kind of obsessed with Radio Flyer lately and I think for Hamburglar's first birthday I am going to get him this.

Oh!  And the floor is done in the nursery.  I just need to wash the walls now so we can paint them with Killz to seal in all the grossness, then go to Sherwin Williams before the end of the month to get paint before my 30% off coupon expires.  We are going with the Benjamin Moore color Kiwi .  Although, it doesn't look as bright when I view it on a computer monitor.  Hmmm...

Whatever.  I'll post pictures of the nursery if we ever finish it.  I also found this tutorial and now I really want to make an abacus.  But I also really want to sleep and for this teething thing to be over and to have a live-in nanny/housekeeper/chef.

Hamburglar played with Dog Park Girl's baby over the weekend.  And by "played" I mean we put them on a blanket, belly down, near each other and he rolled onto his back and she proceeded to grab his face like a bowling ball.  She has to wear a helmet because the back of her head was super flat and, when Hamby grabbed her helmet, she started crying.  Then he started crying.  It was just a big old tear fest.  It was good, though.  Dude doesn't spend much time around babies and Mr. Adventure says it's good to get him socialized with people his own age or something.

Okay.  That's all.

An opinion on vaccines (because it's, apparently, on my mind)

Here we are, Internet.  My favorite baby is now 6 months old.  He’s in the middle of getting his first teeth and he goes from being hilariously happy to screaming like he is on fire in a matter of seconds.  He is becoming easier to burp (finally!) and he’s great overall.  We are going to see Dr. Soulpatch on Friday for his 6 month wellness exam.  I started scheduling his vaccinations for Friday afternoons so I can be home with him all weekend when he isn't feeling well.

I know some people don’t believe in vaccinating their kids, and to those people, I would like to say that you are foolish and ignorant.  Let me now tell you all a story.

Once upon a time, there was a man named Andrew Wakefield.  He was a British surgeon and medical researcher who published a paper in 1998 claiming there was a link between autism and the MMR (measles, mumps and rubella) vaccine.  For the non-sciencey folks out there: in order for a scientific experiment to be valid, it has to be reproducible.  This means the measurements made under the same operating conditions over a period of time and/or by different people should yield the same results.  Scientists tried for four years to reproduce Wakefield's results and were unable to do so.  It turned out that Wakefield had conflicts of interest and manipulated evidence. 

Speaking as a scientist, that is unethical at the very least and illegal in many cases as well.

Wakefield’s paper was originally published in a peer-reviewed medical journal called The Lancet.  His paper was partially retracted in 2004 and fully retracted in 2010.  He was also found guilty of professional misconduct in 2010 and had his medical license revoked.  You can read more about it on Wikipedia*. 

MotherJones magazine printed a fun article on how people that are anti-vaccine are stubborn about it.  I’m going to assume their stubbornness is not born of a desire for their children to die and/or suffer from preventable diseases.

Early this year, Amy Parker wrote an article that was published in Slate on her experiences growing up unvaccinated.  It’s, at the very least, a good read.

If anyone reading this is on the fence about vaccinating their children, I encourage you to do so, both as a scientist and fellow human.  Can you imagine a world where your baby gets polio?  Or measles?  Or dies of whooping cough?  Because that’s happening.  Babies are dying of whooping cough.  There was a 9 day old infant in my state who died of whooping cough around the time Hamburglar was born.  It scared me.  It takes a lot of work to make and deliver a baby. 

I would feel terrible if I could have done something to prevent an unnecessary death.  Like vaccinating my wee babe.  That’s also why I got the Vitamin K shot for McCloud in the hospital.  It didn't do any harm and, even though the chance of him getting a brain hemorrhage was super rare, I would have felt terrible if I could have easily prevented it and instead sat by and did nothing.

If you want to bed share and/or breastfeed your baby until he/she goes off to college, more power to you.  If you have no desire to breastfeed at all, who gives a shit?  If you're into attachment parenting or not?  If you like Dr. Spock or Dr. Sears?  I don't care.  That’s your business.  But you not vaccinating your baby is all of our business because it affects public health. 

At the very least, I encourage you to do your own research.  Don’t blindly follow someone who doesn't know what they are talking about.  And don’t adopt an opinion just because it’s the first one you hear.  I believe in your ability to think for yourself and make an informed decision using real science.

*I recognize that Wikipedia isn't considered a scientifically reputable source and some people question it's awesomeness, but I love it and I find it to be reliable for the things I tend to link to.  But, seriously, don't take my word for anything.  Research it yourself!  It will be awesome, I swear.