Name Art Giveaway!

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Pampers "Facts"

*UPDATE* It appears that Pampers also felt the heat of angered cloth diapering parents because they have removed their Myths and Facts section regarding cloth diapers!  Hooray!

Apparently Pampers is feeling the heat of the cloth diaper trend.  They have gone on the so called Offensive and have a Myths and Facts section on their website, listing different "Myths" associated with cloth and disposables and given the correct "Facts". While I was reading it, I couldn't decide whether to laugh out loud or gag.  I am parphrasing them here, to read their complete responses go here ---> http://www.pampers.com/en_US/diapers-myths-and-facts . 

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Myth- Cloth Diapers are better for my Baby.

Pampers "Fact"-  Sposies were invented to meet needs that cloth diapers couldn't, beyond convenience. They keep baby dryer and contain leaks and parents and doctors see less rash.

  

The only thing sposies have over cloth is convenience.  And even that is debatable.  I used sposies for the first 6 months before I converted to cloth and I don't think there is a noticeable change in work, except for an extra load of laundry here or there.  Talk to any parent who cloth diapers and the response is overwhelmingly that their baby has less instances of rash since using cloth. The reason?  Parents can feel when their baby is wet which means the baby isn't sitting in a pee soaked diaper for hours on end.  And containing leaks?  Speak to cloth diaper parents and again they will tell you that they have less explosions of poo since using cloth.  Wet leaks don't happen if babies are changed in a timely manner.  How exactly do sposies keep baby dryer? The chemicals in the sposie absorb the liquid.  Chemical reactions taking place right up against the delicate baby skin better for the baby? I think not.

Myth- Cloth Diapers are better for the environment.

Pampers "fact"- There was a study done in the UK that showed no clear winner in terms of environmental impact, once factors such as energy, water, and detergent are accounted for.

Really?  I can't even believe they are trying to make this argument.  Disposables take 500 years to decompose.  Every single sposie that has ever been used since the invention of disposables is sitting in a landfill somewhere.  Not to mention the energy used to manufacture and deliver disposables to the stores, and packaging.  Oh, and then there is also the contamination of ground water from people not shaking the poo off of the disposables into the toilet like they are supposed to.  The energy and water used to wash/dry cloth diapers is minuscule. Most people line dry their diapers, and barely see a change in their utility bill at all, if any.  As for the detergent?  The majority of cloth diaper users also use earth friendly/natural detergent, or make their own. 

Myth- Developing countries prove that cloth diapers are better.

Pampers "Fact"-  Sposies are better in terms of skin health, dryness, and sleep.  In China we've found that parents and children frequently wake up due to a soaked bed because they have no diaper, or a very thing piece of cloth.  In another test we found that fecal contamination around the home was reduced when using sposies.

Seriously?  Better for skin health and dryness? They are dryer because of toxic chemicals.  How is having those harsh chemicals right against baby's skin better for them?  Oh right, its not.  I don't see how they are putting No Diaper or a Thin Piece of Cloth in the same category as cloth diapers.  Cloth diapers are much more than a "thin piece of cloth".  They are made up of multiple layers of absorbent material, and also a water resistant material.  No soaked beds unless they aren't being used properly.  As for the fecal contamination?  Another user error.  I can promise there is no fecal contamination in my house from using cloth diapers.  That claim is just ridiculous.  Any fecal contamination in these developing countries is from general lack of knowledge about hygiene, NOT from the cloth diapers.

Myth- Disposables are bad for the environment.

Pampers "Fact"- All of the component materials in Pampers diapers are gentle to consumers and safe for the environment. Pampers diapers are made of materials that are also frequently used in a wide range of other consumer products. We are committed to continuing to reduce our environmental impact. For example, Pampers has decreased its diaper weight by one-third and packaging weight by two-thirds.

How is that a Myth?  500 years to decompose and they want to argue that they AREN'T bad for the environment? They have reduced their diaper weight by one-third? Know how they did that? By taking out some of the layers between the absorbent chemicals and the baby.  Have you heard of the chemical burn problems that a lot of people are having with the "New" Pampers?  That is why.  Because now those chemicals are even closer to your baby and causing rashes and burns. So yeah, they've made them a little better for the environment, but make it less safe for your baby. About their ingredients being safe for baby- disposable diapers contain Dioxin, a byproduct of the bleaching.  Dioxin is directly linked to causing cancer and compromising the immune system. 

To sum it up- Pampers is delusional.  Their Myths, are all actually TRUE, and their "Facts" are just word vomit they are using to try and salvage their reputation and win people back to their side instead of natural cloth diapering.  Epic fail Pampers.  The sad part is that I know there are people out there who don't know better and will believe their bull.

Blogs to come

So many blogs rollin around in my head.


Benefits of Extended Rear Facing/dangers of Forward Facing too soon.

Cloth diaper converts.

Response to Pampers ridiculous claims about cloth diapers.


I don't even know where to start.

"What Would You Do?" Part 2 (Spoiler)

"What Would You Do?"

Uh, for starters, I would rewrite that entire segment.  I was SO disappointed with how they did the nursing in public scenario.

It took place in a little cafe.  A mom purchased a cup of coffee then sat down, unbuttoned the top couple buttons of her shirt and started breastfeeding her baby.  A man walked by (the manager) and proclaimed (in a disgusted voice) "Oh god. Excuse me, could you do that somewhere else?" and proceeds to tell her shes disrupting customers, hes trying to run a business, etc.  A lot of the customers sat and watched at first, most didn't say anything, until the Manager told the woman "Well if you wanna put milk in everybody elses coffee.." at which point several people spoke up and told him that he crossed the line and needed to stop.  The Manager was asking people passing by if it was bothering them.  One lady said "I have several young children and I wouldn't do that in public." Another man said "I'm not offended, but it makes me uncomfortable."  Several people responded that the conversation/the way the manager was talking to her made them uncomfortable.  One man, told the manager that he was not uncomfortable, it didn't bother him at all and she was fine.  One woman got very outspoken and said she wasn't buying anything from his store because of the way he was acting and that it is a blessing to see a mother breastfeed in public.

While I was pleased by (most) of the reactions of the customers, I think they went about the scenario the wrong way.  The first thing I take issue with is that they had the Manager be the one attacking the nursing mother, instead of another customer.  While I, personally would probably stand up to anybody going after someone breastfeeding, I can also see how most other people would be intimidated when it is the manager/owner of a business, assuming "his business, his rules" etc.  I think the reactions would have been different if it had been another customer going after the mom. 

The "mom" was an actress, and the baby was actually a doll (that amusingly enough had a fake pacifier in its mouth).  I would have preferred that it had been an actual baby and that the mom actually nursed, instead of pretended with a doll.

I also think it would have been better if they had not only done a "newborn" scenario, and had used an older baby to see what the different reactions were, if people were more offended by the nursing of an older baby or a toddler.

They usually do several different versions of each scenario.  With this one they did White Mom, Black Mom, Young Mom, Mom drinking a beer while nursing.  In the drinking a beer scenario a man started lecturing the mom telling her how bad it was and that he didn't think she should be drinking a beer while breastfeeding.  She said "its just one beer its fine, and he sleeps better at night" ugh, I couldn't believe she said that.  They said they included that variation to see what would make the mom lose the support of the customers.  I think a much better (and realistic) variation would have been how much of her breast the mother was exposing.  A mom nursing quietly and discreetly not showing anything, vs a mom with her entire boob pulled out, or something similar.

Overall I was happy that most of the patrons supported the mother and stood up for her, it was much better than I expected.  I expected that the reactions were what would upset me, not the poor writing of the scenarios.

Here is a link to the video in case you missed it,
http://abcnews.go.com/whatwouldyoudo
(under the WWYD Recent Reports)

What did you think?

"What Would You Do?"

There is a series on ABC called "What Would You Do?".  It is a hidden camera show that shows how the average person would respond when confronted with various situations.  One was "What would you do if you saw a man verbally abusing a woman in a park"  Then it swapped to "...a woman verbally abusing a man in a park"  another was "...if the waitress was very obviously hitting on your husband in front of you" or "...if you witnessed obese abuse".  Its a pretty interesting show and I try to catch it when I can.

I saw a commercial today for the new episode airing on Friday. "What would you do if you saw a mother breastfeeding in public?"

I am very interested in catching this one, to see what the general response is.  I seriously hope that it would be a very bland boring one.  Mother sits on bench breastfeeding.  People walk by.  Maybe smile.  Whoopee.  Unfortunately, since it is airing (and is featured in the commercial) my guess is that it is much more interesting than that, because people smiling as a mother nurses wouldn't get good ratings.

In fact, I'm inclined to think that it is going to make me mad.  Are people going to give the mother dirty looks? Confront her and tell her to cover up or go to her car or a bathroom?  I hope that isn't the case, but uh, I'm not getting my hopes up too high.  The fact of the matter is that while women are LEGALLY allowed to nurse their baby anywhere that they themselves are allowed to be, it is generally frowned upon by the general public.  Mothers are ashamed to nurse their babies in public because they don't want to get dirty looks, or confronted, or told they are doing something dirty or indecent.  When really they aren't.  They are feeding their baby.  NewsFlash- thats what boobs were made for.

I am a firm supporter of nursing in public. Nursing in public, in private, in your car, with a cover, without a cover, upside down, in a plane, in a train, here or there, anywhere. 

I feel like this was a very poor choice of subject for this show.  I for one would have been much more interested in a segment of "What would you do if you saw a mother being attacked for breastfeeding in public?"

So readers, What Would YOU do?

My camera hates me

My camera has all of a sudden decided that it does not want to upload pictures.  The computer is not recognizing it when I plug it in.  I can still take pictures just fine, but can't share them with the world wide web :( .
I tried looking up the error message online but nothing really came up.  I tried calling customer service and tech support but it was of course not during business hours.  Harumph.

I'm really disappointed by this because I've taken some awesome cloth diaper stash pictures lately.  I've really gotten into sewing my own diapers and I'm really liking how they are coming out. Until I'm able to share my recent stash pics I will share the ones took two weeks ago.  I have added to my stash since then, and the only ones picture are my GoodMamas, which accounted for most of my diapers.




This kid loves her fluff.  She will grab it from me while I'm folding it and just walk around carrying and hugging it. I love it.






and my GoodMama Pyramid of Fluff.


I've added quite a few diapers to my stash since this pic. (shh, don't tell my husband) 

Hopefully before too long I'll be able to share pics of all the diapers I've made.  For now, I'm off to cuddle with my precious girl.  I hope all the mommas out there had a wonderful Mother's Day!

*sigh*

Dear Blog,
I'm sorry I'm so neglectful.  I will try to be better. I promise.  Unfortunately its 2 AM and I'm not feeling like now is the time.  Just wanted to let you know I was thinking of you.

                                                               Love,
                                                                    Paige.

Circle Skirts

I've recently embarked upon the journey of making skirts.  It all started when I was at the fabric store and found some really cute fabric that I thought would look fabulous as a skirt.  So I grabbed it up and set about figuring out the proper measurements and a good pattern. 

My first attempt...

After that one, I just had to go back and get the same pattern in green.



and I love it.  It is now her most worn item of clothing.

After that, it became an addiction.  I went shopping and bought a ton of fabric to make skirts out of.


 yeah.  I wasn't kidding.  a TON.

I made a couple of big girl skirts out of the silver scroll and peace sign fabric.





(My sister playin with Mercy.  They kinda like each other.)

And some of the little girl skirts I've made.











They are adorable and I'm absolutely in love with them all.  I plan on making a ton more, and Mercy and I are going to pretty much live in them all summer.

The little girl skirts are listed on my etsy right now, fabric is limited so better snag em fast!
http://www.etsy.com/shop/havemercy213

Eating for two, after delivery

Thats right. Eating for two doesn't end when you give birth to your precious bundle of joy.  When you're breastfeeding at least.

So many mommas seem to forget that your baby gets his nutrients from you, which means you need to keep yourself well nourished. Just as its important to eat a healthy well balanced diet when you are pregnant because what you eat passes to your baby in utero, its important to eat well when breastfeeding because what you eat passes through your milk. 

I know its easy when you are the frazzled mother of a newborn to forget to eat or stay properly hydrated but it is so important for your baby! Not only will they not get all the nutrients they need but it could also harm your milk supply, resulting in a shortened nursing relationship and less health benefits for you and your baby. 

There is so much pressure on new moms to lose the baby weight quickly, from the media especially.  "Heidi Klum back to prepregnancy weight minus 5 lbs 30 seconds after giving birth!"  Okay, maybe I exaggerate some, but still.  All the focus is on losing the weight, which for many moms means excessively exercising and dieting.  While exercising in moderation and watching what you eat can be good, extreme dieting to drop the weight will cause your baby to miss out on those nutrients as well. 

Two great tips I've received from two great mommas- my own momma, and GreekMomma, is to drink a big glass of water every time you sit down to nurse, and designate an area as your nursing area, whether it be the computer desk, the bed, or a rocker or recliner, and stock it with (healthy) snacks, like granola bars, crackers, trail mixes, nuts, fruit (like apples, oranges, bananas, cuties) and also beverages.  Water is best, but juice and gatorade like drinks are better than soda.  Another option is to premake little meals, like chef salads (my favorite!) and keep them in the fridge and take them out when you are getting ready to sit and nurse.

Precut veggies like celery, broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, avocado, etc and you can grab a small bowl to snack on while you nurse, or throw them in a bowl with some healthy green salad mix, some hard boiled eggs, and meat of choice (chicken is a favorite of mine, ham, steak, and turkey are good too) and you've got a quick, delicious, nutritious, chef salad.  I also like mixing in some peas with mine.

Well phooey, now I want a chef salad!

Sale goin on at Have Mercy!

Through this Sunday when you buy two soakers you get a pair of Sans Pants half off!  We just stocked a TON of Sans Pants so definitely go check it out!

http://www.etsy.com/shop/havemercy213