The Plan To Cloth Diaper

I’ve been up and on Pinterest all night, and come to a conclusion – I want to try cloth diapering 🙂  This is something I’ve considered previously, but was only supported by one or two friends, so I went with the simpler disposable diapers.  My friend (who also has four children) cloth diapered all her little ones, and raves about all the benefits.

Cost Savings

Over a three year period, disposables will cost around $2,625, while cloth diapers will cost around $1,105, which equals a saving of $305, but that’s if you BUY the cloth diapers – I intend to make them myself and buy some second-hand.  Making them myself will save me even more money, which is fantastic!

Diaper Rash

Apparently, using cloth diapers causes less or no diaper rashes, which is pretty great.  I’m also going to use reusable cloth wipes, which will also help in this area.

Potty Training

Also, potty training tends to go a lot more smoothly when using cloth diapers.  That benefit is almost more impressive to me than the monetary savings.

Environment

In the course of a child’s diapering phase, a baby wearing disposables will contribule 8,000-10,000 diapers to the landfill.  This kind of diapers takes 500 years to decompose.

My plan is to make a few with removable liners, and see how it goes.  If it goes well, I’ll continue to make more.  If it’s a flop, I’ll give away or sell what I made.  Either way, I will have tried, and I can be proud of that 🙂

ISR – Infant Self Rescue Method (video)

Mike took our 2 older boys swimming last night.  This got me thinking about enrolling them in swimming lessons, and when I should start with Kayden.  I found this YouTube video, and will be talking to the instructors at our local Aquatic Center to see if this is something they teach or will teach in the future.  It’s brilliant and necessary.

11 Week Old Kayden

Kayden was 11 weeks old this past Saturday.  I took him to get weighed today, and heès 16 pounds! 😀  He also had a hearing test, and passed with flying colors.  All this makes for a very proud mommy!

Kayden Is 9 Weeks

Today marks the end of Kayden’s 9th week with us 🙂  He’s growing and developing so quickly.  Today he weighs 14 pounds 13 ounces.  He sleeps through the night and smiles and coos all the time 😀 This has been Kayden’s first week as an infant as opposed to a newborn!

This next week I can expect Kayden to begin practicing muscle control and coordination.  It may seem that he is less active, but that only because he’s not just flailing around anymore.  He will begin batting at toys (doing this) and doing “baby pushups”.  Some babies even begin to roll over at this time.  He is still tolerant and accepting of everyone because he isn’t able to make the family/friend connections yet.  Studies show that older siblings (ages 4+) are usually more accepting of a new baby, while a toddler will see him as an intruder.  This is not so with my boys at this time.  Both Kailer and Kayden adore Kayden, though Kaleb my 2 year old does sometimes tell me to put Kayden down so we can play.

I’m looking forward to it all 😀

7 Weeks Old and Sleeping Through The Night!

Well, my little baby Kayden is 7 weeks old today!  He slept through the night for the first time last night.  Can we do it again tonight? 🙂

Kayden is 6 Weeks Today

As the title suggests, Kayden is 6 weeks old today, and doing wonderfully.

This week he’s learned how to use his little arm muscles to push a bit of his chest off the floor during tummy time.  This allows him to hold his head up higher and look from side to side as he pleases.  He also seems to be staying awake longer between periods of sleep, which gives us more play time.  He’s smiling more, and seems to be able to see farther.  I’m not sure how much he weighs, as I’ll be weighing him on Tuesday, but I’m sure he’s over 12 pounds by now.  Very exciting!

Colic

For the last two nights Mike and I have been up with a very cranky baby. Last night the crying began around 10:00pm, and didn’t stop until about 11:30pm. The night before we were up around 1:30am, for 2 hours. The only thing that seems to sooth him is if I wrap him tight and hold him while I pace the floor jiggling him and patting his bum. As you can imagine, this gets a little tiring. Last night Mike did some research on colic, and we found some interesting facts. For example, one of the possible causes is the baby’s sensitivity to the mother’s stress level. This caught my attention, because for the last 2 days, I’ve been very emotional and feeling overwhelmed. I think I may have a touch of the “baby blues”, which may have triggered Kayden’s colic, and the colic in return is raising my stress level. So far today’s been good, but if it turns sour again, I’m gonna get myself some meds. As well as the stress, Kayden seems to be having some tummy troubles. He’s on formula and should be having daily bowel movements, but he’s not. He only has a bowel movement about every 3 days, and I’m having to stimulate him. So we’re giving him pro-biotics in his bottle to encourage the movement of any stool in his intestinal tract. I was also told to massage his tummy in clockwise circles to get things moving. As well as these things, I’m putting an all-natural oil called Schlagwasser on his tummy and temples to sooth any headaches or tummy aches Kayden may be dealing with, and Mike will be home in a few minutes with gripe water for his tummy as well. We’re doing everything we can to help our sweet baby boy, so hopefully it pays off shortly.