A MUCH BETTER BLOG

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We recently added these unique, patent pending training pants to our lineup. The EcaPants, while designed for elimination communication, can be used for potty learning at any age.

What makes them truly unique and wonderful, is the drop front system (pic here). The belt stays on your little one all the time but the entire crotch and front areas fall away and reattach at the waist after the potty break. It is so easy that your toddler can do it.

Like many popular pocket diapers, the EcaPants have a pocket opening in which you can stuff a thin but very absorbent insert to increase the absorbency of your EcaPants. They are available in both waterproof and non-waterproof styles depending on your needs. The non-waterproof are good for one wet (or miss) just as any other cotton training pant.

These are really a wonderful addition to our EC and training pant collection. Our EcaPants are $17.95, come in an assortment of colors and are in stock now. Save 10% with code BLOG and checkout and spend $50 to get free shipping on your order.

Has it been 9 months already???? Bianca has been on the outside almost as long as she was on the inside. I can hardly believe it. Time has flown but it has been good time. We are having a blast.

She continues to be a fabulous baby who is loved by all. She engages strangers and cashiers when we are out and seems to love all people, especially babies (she goes nuts when she sees other babies and usually tries to poke them in the eye).

She continues to be an alert, ridiculously happy, low maintenance baby. While I consider myself exceptionally lucky, I also attribute her demeanor in part to the fact that she is 100% natural with no vaccines, chemicals or other trauma from pregnancy, birth or beyond. Anecdotal I know…..

Here is the rundown of where she is at physically and developmentally.

Appearance
Naturally I think she is the most gorgeous baby in the world (and naturally I thought the same thing of Brielle when she was a baby). It is hard to be objective when talking about your kin. Her hair is coming in fast, brown and curly at the ears. Her eyes are still blue as can be. She is holding steady at eight teeth but I can feel the bumps on her upper gum so more are on the way. Her smile lights up the room.

On top of being gorgeous (there goes proud mommy again), she is BIG. She can easily wear 2T clothes and can wear almost all of Brielle’s summer clothes and pajamas in a pinch. She can’t wear Brielle’s jeans because of length but I am pretty sure her thighs and butt are bigger than Brielle’s are right now. Add a diaper of any kind to that butt and it can actually be difficult to dress her.

I think Bianca weighed about 21 or 22 pounds the last time I weighed her and Brielle is weighing in at 32 pounds (at 4 yrs 4 mo). I don’t think it is a matter of if Bianca catches up but when.

Eating/ Breastfeeding

The girl has an appetite. Holy moly. She didn’t get it from me that’s for sure. Daddy seems to be the generous donor of the appetite/growth gene.

Brielle and I tend to eat like birds and Bianca eats like a ravenous carnivore. She loves food and needs meals multiple times a day which is kind of tough for me since Brielle and I are grazers. Needless to say, we have learned to adapt and grandma bought Bianca a high chair a few months ago which she is very happy to spend time in.

She eats anything and everything. She eats Mexican, Indian, Chinese, sandwiches, meat, raw vegetables, fruit, you name it. Obviously I cut most food into bite sized portions but she is very good at taking bites of sandwich type foods and chewing them very well. She is great in restaurants and gets right down to business.

She is fairly proficient with a spoon and fork. She knows to spear food with the fork and holds it fairly well and can usually get the food to her mouth. The spoon is a messier proposition because it usually involves a liquidy type food like yogurt but she gets a fair amount of food in her mouth. I am impressed. She can also drink from a regular glass with help. I am hoping to skip sippy cups altogether.

She is breastfeeds a lot at night but rarely during the day. She has a tendency to attack me (when nursing) while she is awake by pinching my upper arm, digging her thumbnail into me or any other way of clawing, hitting etc. I have a lot less patience for diddling and picking than I did with Brielle so I pretty much stop it immediately. 99% of the time she is trying to tell me something like she needs to go to the bathroom or has to burp and I figure that out later but I am not willing to be a pin cushion in the meantime. That means that she gets probably 75% of her breastmilk at night.

Talking/signing
Bianca has been making noises that sound an awful lot like words for a few months now. She does it most frequently with her brother’s names and the dog’s names. It happens a little bit too frequently to be written off to coincidence but I would not call it talking quite yet. Pre-talking maybe. The other day I swear on my life that she said “chicken” after I asked her if she wanted chicken. She would not repeat it for anything but I about fell over when she said it.

The words that she is saying consistently and on purpose are “mom” “da-da” “uh-oh” and my personal favorite “ow” which she uses when she is meowing back at one of the cats or addressing the cats (she calls them “ow”. She is also starting to sign a little bit. She signed “more” a couple of times and I almost cried tears of happiness.

Walking
No, she is not walking quite yet but she is standing up unsupported for longer periods of time and cruising the furniture. I have seen her stand up unsupported once and squat down unsupported once. Walking is imminent.

Babywearing
We do it EVERY.SINGLE.DAY. We simply cannot live without our slings.

EC/Diapers

The nighttime EC is not going as well as it was in the past. When she has to go she will stir, wake me up but not quite wake up herself. If I try to potty her she gets pissed (so to speak). In short, she has to go too badly to sleep, but is sleeping too soundly to go.

I either have to wake her up enough to go (which I think is really rude), let her lay there and fuss until she finally goes in a diaper (which I also think is really disrepectful) or try to cajole it out of her by nursing her while she is on a lap potty. Frankly, nothing is really effective so I am just biding time knowing that the times she can hold it through the night (which are few and far between at the moment) are growing more frequent.

On a much more positive note, the daytime EC took a tremendous turn for the better. I was having a lot of difficulty keeping her on the Baby Bjorn little potty after she started crawling. She just would not stay on it. She would crawl away and then do her business in her diaper or training pants. I was still catching the majority of poos but the percentage was going down (fast).

Then one glorious day I put her directly on the toilet with a seat insert and she stayed put! I am assuming she stays there because she cannot launch herself off the toilet and crawl away. I didn’t even bother ECing Brielle on the toilet at that age because she was so content to sit on the little potty and read or play with toys that I never saw the need to rush the toilet.

Now Bianca is doing a fair percentage of her business directly on the toilet which is so much more than I ever expected at this age. I still have to pay attention for the signs but I sense that she is getting close to communicating her need to ‘go’ either verbally or through sign language. I predict that she will be close to 100% trained by 12 months. Could be wishful thinking but time will tell.

As far as diapering goes, I still use prefolds and covers for outings although I am experimenting more with pocket diapers (Fuzzibunz) since I sell them in my store and I like to have personal experience with my products. They work great and they are a lot fuzzier on her bum.

I also relented and used sposies on a recent vacation to avoid doing frequent laundry and to also avoid having pee scented laundry smelling up the place. While the break from laundry was nice, I hated the sposies. I am totally hooked on cloth. I hated the feel on Bianca, I hated trying to pull them over her generous thighs and butt, I hated the crinkly noise they made and I just hated them. I pretty much stopped doing EC for the vacation because it was such a pain to take them down and back up again. I was very happy to get home and get natural fibers back on my baby again.

Motor skills
I don’t know where her skills are supposed to be at this age but she amazes me with her appropriate use of tools. She knows to point the remote at the TV and press the buttons, to hold the broom handle with both hands and push it along the floor and which end of the pen goes to the paper. Maybe I am just a proud mama….or maybe that is super cool for an 8 mo old to do.

She can also open the dog kennel and release the hounds.

Cosleeping

I still love sleeping with Bianca. Sometimes I look at her while she sleeps and I am just overwhelmed with emotion. I love holding her fat little body and snuggling her all night.

I am somewhat embarrassed to admit that despite the fact that she sleeps with me every single night, she sometimes starts out the night in a carseat until she wakes to nurse. I feel guilty while doing it but….well… it works and sometimes we just have just gotta do what works, AP or not.

I expect the cosleeping relationship to carry on as long as she is night nursing but I also suspect she wont stay in bed with me quite as long as Brielle did since she will graduate to sharing a room with her big sister and she gets pretty excited to spend time with Brielle anywhere, anytime.

The first 9 months have been great and I can’t wait to see what the next 9 will bring.

A Much Better Store is now carrying Fuzzibunz Perfect Fit Pocket Diapers. We wanted to carry the Fuzzibunz for a few reasons, first of which they come very highly recommended in the natural mothering community (even Tori Spelling loves her Fuzzibunz).

These pocket diapers feature a hidden opening in the back of the diaper to stuff a superabsorbant liner. When pre-stuffed, pocket diapers are as convenient to use as disposables or an all-in-one cloth diaper.

Why else are the Fuzzibunz so popular? First, they are cute. They come in a bunch of cute colors to match your personal preferences and your baby’s wardrobe. For now, we are stocking Lavender, Aqua, Blue, Butter and Sage with plans to stock more colors in the future.

Parents also love Fuzzibunz because of the great fit. They are trim and sleek as opposed to other sometimes bulky cloth diapering systems.

Fuzzibunz are also renowned for comfort. The patented fleece layer is notorious for keeping baby almost as dry as disposables with virtually leakproof leg openings making the Fuzzibunz perfect for nighttime wear. The fleece is so soft that I wish I could wear underwear made out of that stuff.

They feature snaps that will not irritate baby’s skin the way velcro (Aplix) might and the multiple rows of snaps allow for most babies to only need two sizes (small and medium) to go from birth through potty training. The snaps also hold up much better in the wash than velcro does (and they wont latch on to other items in your wash).

If you are looking for something that is cute, comfortable, super dry with great mileage, Fuzzibunz might be what you are looking for. Check them out at A Much Better Store and as always, get 10% off with code BLOG at checkout.

We love the Bummis Diapering Kit at A Much Better Store because it is a constant favorite, a consistent best seller and it is an economical way to get started with cloth diapering in one easy kit.

The kit recently got an organic upgrade and now contains certified organic prefolds to put on your little one’s bum among many other goodies. The new kit also contains two varieties of diaper cover (the Super Brite and the Super Whisper Wrap), flushable liners, reusable liners and a wet bag which is essentially a “smell-free” diaper pail.

There are many styles and sizes of cloth diaper on the market and for someone new to cloth diapering, the choices can be intimidating. The fact remains that countless parents use the prefold/cover system because it is the simplest and most economical way of cloth diapering. It is the only system I use when I need to cloth diaper my little ones.

The Bummis Organic Cloth Diapering Kit comes in two sizes. The Infant size is for babies 8-15 lbs and retails for $169 and the Baby size will fit 15+lbs and is priced at $147. As always, use code BLOG at checkout for 10% off your entire order at A Much Better Store.

Bianca is six months old today. Wow. I just cannot believe how time has flown. It seems like her birth was just last week.

She continues to be the happiest baby I have ever met. She rarely cries and when she does it is only because I make her wait to eat (she is a very hungry baby), she is tired and wants to go to sleep or Blackie (the kitten) is attacking her toes while she is playing.

Her brothers and daddy love her and dote on her at every opportunity. Brielle seems to be having more fun with her now that she is more interactive. It is so great to watch them playing together and Bianca just adores her big sister.

Milestones
She is 20 pounds. Enough said.

Bianca has five teeth already and more on the way. I enjoyed the gummy smile but her little teeth are just super duper cute.

She is on the verge of crawling. She can move across the room in a flash but still hasn’t mastered the knee after knee motion. She gets up on all fours, rocks a bit, falls forward and then sort of creeps or pulls herself forward. I know my lazy baby days are essentially over.

She is starting to babble and make ma-ma and da-da and ba-ba sounds but she does not seem to be directing them at anyone in particular.

She seems to be forming a preference for me. Sigh. I love that babies are attached to mommies but I do need a break sometimes. I wasn’t expecting separating anxiety until 10 months if at all since she is such a happy, relaxed baby. Maybe she is so happy and relaxed because she is with me 100% of the time.

Breastfeeding

Now that her teeth are through she has pretty much stopped biting my nipple, although she has a tendency to bite my shoulder (softly) when she wants boo and when she has to potty. The girl knows what she wants.

Although we nurse anywhere and everywhere, it seems that her feedings are spaced farther and farther apart and she is nursing more in bed to sleep than random feedings every couple of hours. I really only nurse her a few times a day now (and a few times at night).

She is eating snacky solids and I will probably start feeding her more regular meals soon. I got rid of the most incredible high chair the summer before she was conceived in a feng shui attack (aka garage sale). Now I don’t want anything less but I can’t seem to track down the same style on Craigslist and I may have to settle for some other crappy model. That high chair is the only thing standing between Bianca and regular meals at this point.

Babywearing

We are still babywearing and loving it. That wont stop anytime soon and given the fact that she is such a big baby, carriers have been a lifesaver for me.

I hardly ever wrap her anymore because the weather is too warm, it takes too long and other slings are quicker and easier. We both love the wrap when I take the time to get her in it though.

We Ktan periodically but I am afraid that either she has grown too big for it, it shrunk in the wash or both.

I really have to cram her in it. It works best if I keep her legs out and have her face me to fall asleep on my chest. It really is a comfortable carrier when it fits properly.

I have been experimenting somewhat with a Mei Tai. Rumor has it that they are the most comfortable style around and you can wear your baby on your back without someone helping you put her there. I got her on a few times but it was supremely uncomfortable. I will tackle that project another time.

I am still simply addicted to my pouches. I have a New Native (the black one that I always used with Brielle),

a homemade one that my mom made patterned after the New Native and a Slingling. I use them constantly. I did not like the Slingling at first because it is a really snug fit and I couldn’t fit her inside it. I really had to cram her fat butt in there and we both hated it. Now that she can sit up and has head control, we use it as a seat on my hip and I use it EVERY DAY. We both love it. I am probably going to get 3 or 4 more because they are reasonably priced and come in a zillion styles (and of course I can pilfer them from my own store) hehe.

Elimination Communication

We have had ups and downs with the EC. There were some nights when she seemed to sort of “potty strike” and I thought I would have to start diapering her at night but that passed and now she just stays dry all night. She may go once or twice at the most (in the potty).

She wears training pants at night and during the day. We cloth diaper when we leave the house but I am on the verge of just using training pants all the time because diapers are a pain, they are bulky and uncomfortable and she is staying dry anyway.

I have found that one pair of trainers will hold one pee and two trainers doubled up will keep her clothes or anything else from getting damp if she has a bigger pee or more than one. I might just double her up for outings for awhile.

This never would have worked with Brielle because she did not fit in the Gerber 2T trainers until she was over 2 yrs old. Bianca has been wearing them (great fit) for a couple of months now.

Cosleeping
Cosleeping is going great. I am enjoying it so much more since Brielle graduated to her own bed in a different room. We have tons of space and I don’t have to worry about waking Brielle up when I potty Bianca or feed her in the middle of the night. We snuggle all night and I feel her warm little feet up against my legs. I just can’t get over how in love I am with this little person.

Update: We are no longer offering this item in our store. Please visit us for many other unique natural family living products.

“My Royal Heinie is a line of mom-invented bags and accessories cleverly designed to make diaper duty quick, easy, organized. The patented design features the Smart Wipes Dispenser™ – a moisture-locked pocket constructed to store and pull wipes right from the front of the bag.

Baby Ktan, My Royal Heinie Camouflage Combo

Measuring just 9″ x 7″, the Daypack Diaper Purse is small and compact, holding just the right amount of essentials for a day’s outing. It holds up to six diapers, a large stack of easy-access wipes, and all of your personal items.”

The Diaper Day Bag comes in Black, Chocolate Brown and Camouflage. These colors coordinate beautifully with some of the Baby Ktan Carriers and are available as a set. The sets are priced at $89.00 and the standalone My Royal Heinie Diaper Bag is priced at $42.00.

As always, use code BLOG at checkout to receive 10% off your order at A Much Better Store.

Of all the cloth diapering systems available (and there are LOTS), the most economical and perhaps the simplest, is using prefold (flat) diaper with a diaper cover. Many mothers, myself included, experiment with other types of cloth diapering systems like pocket diapers or all in one systems, but we inevitably fall back on the easy to use, inexpensive prefold system.

We are excited to announce the addition of organic prefolds by Bummis at A Much Better Store. These super absorbent diapers are thirsty, unbleached organic cotton twill. They are thick and soft and actually become softer with each wash. These diapers (and any prefold for that matter) fit wonderfully inside the Bummis diaper covers.

I use prefolds for EC backup around the clock but when I need to diaper Bianca for outings, I use the prefold and cover system. I routinely use the Bummis Super Whisper Wraps and Super Brite covers with prefolds but I actually prefer the plain, Bummis original for the most economical, trimmest fit. Whatever your choice of cover, you will love these luxurious prefolds and the matching carrying case that features the Bummis logo.

The Bummis prefolds are priced at $15.00 for 6 of the infant size (7-20 pounds) and $20.00 for six of the toddler size (15-40 pounds). As always, save 10% off your total order by using code: BLOG at checkout.

Bianca is 3 months old today. That was the fastest three months of my life, no question. I am still euphoric from the whole birth experience and it seems like it was yesterday. I hope I can carry that feeling with me for the next three (or thirty) years.

Bianca is still the happiest baby ever and a joy to be around. She loves spending time with all of us. She has started laughing/giggling now which is a delight. She is still just a huge baby and I think she looks/acts closer to six months old.

Brielle is so delicate and Bianca is so plump that believe it or not they can actually wear some of the same clothes. Shirts that are a little too short on Brielle fit Bianca perfectly and Brielle routinely puts on Bianca’s jeans and wears them as capris.

Here are some of my favorite pictures from the latest upload. Sorry so many. OK, I am not really sorry. Seriously, how can I narrow this down? (more…)

There are many misconceptions surrounding elimination communication in general but there are even more surrounding nighttime EC. First of all, any parent who has ever greeted their diapered little one in the morning knows that the diaper is often soaking wet and literally heavy with pee. Babies can and do pee a lot at night. Secondly, if babies are going to pee outside of a diaper, the last place you want them to pee is in your bed (and poo in the bed is unthinkable).

When I was pregnant with Bianca, my older brother was utterly flabbergasted that I planned to let a diaperless baby sleep in bed with me. Although he never asked me about it, I am sure he was picturing both of us covered in poo and laying in puddles off pee. Thankfully, nighttime EC is substantially cleaner than that. (more…)

In the interest of full disclosure, I want to post about our recent EC setbacks. Not a day after my last post which was chock full of our EC success, our elimination communication took a sharp turn. I have enjoyed six blissful weeks where Bianca was on a six day poo schedule. Seriously, how nice is that? She always held it and we had a 100% catch rate.

A few hours after I published the last post, her poo changed from a mustard or cake icing consistency to a Guinness beer consistency. (Oh come on! All parents know that you have to be able to compare poo to food!!) Anyway, we have had a number of misses. She went from a once every six days schedule to a 2-3 times a day schedule. (more…)