Moms & Bums Cloth Diaper & Natural Parenting Shop

FuzziBunz® One Size Rewards Program! Buy 9 one size FuzziBunz® diapers and receive $40 in free FuzziBunz® products!

Moms and Bums has closed the home showroom for the time being, but you are welcome to come see us at the:

Mom 2 Mom Brampton Sale!!!
Saturday September 26th, 2009
9:00 am- 1:00 pm

Free gift to first 40 families that visit our table!

Are your kiddies growing way to fast?? Mom 2 Mom Sales are a FANTASTIC way to Shop for gently-used baby & kid’s items for your family!! It is even better than a yard sale because Over130 Vendors will be there selling ONLY infant & children’s items including clothing, shoes, costumes, outdoor play equipment, strollers, baby gear & equipment, bicycles, toys and more!!!. At Mom 2 Mom sales you purchase directly from the vendors so come, negotiate and make some deals!!!! It is a great way to do some spring & summer shopping while saving lots of $$$!

All admission fee's are being donated to The Peel Children's Safety Village.
Admission $2.00 – Grandparents & Children Enter FREE!!

ATM Machine on location kindly provided by ViaCash

** The Marketplacewill open @ 8:00am in the lobbyand will showcaselocal businesses offeringfantastic products & services!

Coffee, Muffins & Croissants will be available for$1.00so come and line up early!!

Pizza Pizza slices will also be available for $2.00 at 11:30am *while supplies last*

Located Inside

North Peel Secondary School / Terry Miller Rec Center

1305 Williams Parkway

(South West Corner of Bramalea Road & Williams Pkwy)

Take Hwy 410 North, exit @ Williams Pkwy, turn right & follow to Bramalea Rd – School is on the right!

Want to know more about Moms & Bums? Why not check out our Parent Entrepreneur profile?

What's new at Moms and Bums

We are introducing some great new product lines:

CottonBabies and Bummis

The bumGenius One-Size Cloth Diaper is revolutionary in design - it is the first reusable diaper to feature stretch-to-fit tabs (patent pending) that make cloth diapering as easy and comfortable as using disposables.


Bio-soft liners are flushable diaper liners that make clean-up a breeze – this product is the perfect compromise between convenience and cloth diapers. No more rinsing poopy diapers in the toilet! Bio-soft liners absorb the solid waste - and then you simply discard the soiled liner in the toilet and flush away the mess. They are non-irritating and ever so soft and comfortable against baby's sensitive skin.

SUPER BRITE was designed to ensure a perfectly diapered fit – even for those long, skinny babies that need a little extra protection around the leg. This gusseted cover closes all the gaps! The SUPER BRITE is lightweight and waterproof. It consists of one single layer of polyester with a wipe-clean laminated interior. Cut and sewn in Montreal.

bumGenius One-Size Microfiber inserts are made of 3 layers of the thickest microfiber terry available anywhere. Our unique snap down design allows these inserts fit perfectly in any one size diaper!

Hemp Babies™ Raw Silk Liners
Silk is the only 100% natural wicking material able to help keep little bottoms drier. Silk has natural anti-bacterial properties that may keep yeast and diaper rash at bay.

Bamboozle fitted diaper consisting of 4 layers of bamboo fabric that is fantastically soft and beautiful! You will fall in love with this gorgeous, silky fabric - it truly is irresistible!

Fuzzi Bunz One Size Pocket Coming Soon!
The FuzziBunz One-Size Diapers are the most adjustable and innovative one-size cloth diapers on the market today! Adjust the diapers to fit babies 7-35 pounds and get a snug fit every time with the button-adjusted waist and leg casings. The leg casings adjust to 8+ settings and the waist adjusts to 4+ settings. Never before has a pocket-style cloth diaper been SO adjustable!

Restocked:
Allens Naturally Liquid Laundry Detergent specialy priced for a limited time!
Matter Company's Herbal Hug Baby Cream and Nappy Rash Ointment
Rainforest Babies Covers and M/L inserts- smalls coming soon!

Valentines week specials:

WAHMies buy 2 and save! Buy 2 WAHMies OS Pockets with snaps or hooks for $20 each (regular 22.25) and receive 5% off your entire order!

Free One Size Insert with new Baby Kangas One Size Pouch or Mommy’s Touch Easy Clean One size Pockets!

5% off all breastfeeding products!

Our showroom will be closed on Saturday February 14th. All orders placed online will not ship until Monday February 16th.

How to Care for your modern cloth diapers

Have you heard the saying “These are not your mama’s cloth diapers”? Well, it’s true! Modern cloth diapers don’t require pins, or rubber pants! There is no soaking, bleaching or dunking! In fact taking care of your modern cloth diapers is as easy as putting on a regular load of laundry.

Why todays parents are choosing cloth diapers:

Infants go through 8,000 to 10,000 diaper changes before entering potty training.
On average, disposable diapers will cost you between $2,8000 (for 8,000 diaper changes) and $3,500 (for about 10,000 diaper changes) per child.

You can purchase your start-up set of cloth diapers for under $300. This could save you an average of $1,500 over the course of your infants diapering years! And the bonus is you can continue to use those same diapers on a second and third child!

When you finish using disposable diapers with your child, all you have left is a huge mountain of trash. Even worse, a disposable diaper normally made out of plastics takes around 500 years to decompose, and more than 18 billion disposable diapers are thrown out in North America each year. That is more than 100,000 tons of plastic and 800,000 tons of tree pulp. Disposable diapers also contain dioxin- a by-product of bleaching pulp which has been linked to cancer.
Washing cloth diapers takes the equivalent amount of water as flushing a toilet 5 times a day (even less if you have a front loader), which once your child has toilet trained will occur anyway.

What to buy to begin cloth diapering:

• Enough cloth diapers to last through a 24 hour + period (the length of time will depend on how often you have decided you want to wash your cloth diapers)
  
• Cloth Diaper safe detergent. We recommend Allens Naturally or Wonder Wash
• A cloth diaper pail or somewhere to store your soiled cloth diapers until wash day
  
• 24-36 cloth wipes or 2-3 cloth wipes per cloth diaper
  

These items are not essential but are nice to have:

• a wetbag to store your soiled cloth diapers in during outings
• 2 cloth diaper pail liners (these are not essential, however without th
  
  em you will need to wash out your pail each laundry day, having two allows you to switch them while one is being laundered).
• wipes cubes- add your dry cloth baby wipes to a plastic container, a wipes warmer and just pour the solution overtop,
  
  or add premoistened cloth wipes to a mini wetbag for outings. A 10g trial pack will last roughly 2 months.
  
• 6 cloth diaper doublers- not necessary for
  
  newborns as they are changed so frequently, but essential for a heavy wetter, especially overnight .
• 6 cloth diaper liners- Cloth diaper liners may extend the life of
  
  your cloth diapers. These help reduce staining and removal of solids, or to protect your cloth diaper while using rash creams; highly
  
  recommended for those first few meconium days or for older babies who are on solid foods. Cloth diaper liners are not needed for breastfed babies. (you may also choose to purchase disposable diaper liners which can be flushed down the toilet)
  
• Diaper sprayer- to spray off solids into the toilet. This is not needed if you are using cloth diaper liners.
• A large diaper bag. Cloth Diapers take up more space than disposable diapers do, so if you plan to be out for a while you will need a large diaper bag to hold them.
  
  
  

How to Care for Your Modern Cloth Diapers

Where to store your dirty diapers until wash day

Dry Cloth Diaper Pail

Keep your wet and dirty diapers in a covered diaper pail. We recomment you use a dry diaper

pail (no water). This helps extend the life of your diapers as soaking for long periods will break down the fibres of your diapers over time. Wet diapers are also more prone to developing hard to remove offensive odours.

Using a waterproof bag as a diaper pail liner is an excellent option to help seal in odours between washings and make emptying the diaper pail more convenient. If the diaper pail gets smelly, you can add a pail pals , some fluff dust or a few drop of tea

tree oil (a natural antiseptic and disinfectant) to your diaper pail.
Dont forget that if you dont use a liner or waterproof bag, you will need to wash out the diaper pail with soap and water to keep it smelling fresh.

Wetbag

The perfect waterproof tote for soiled diapers. Wetbags can be machine washed with your soiled diapers and air dried. Most wetbags are made from PUL (polyurethane laminate). Some will have 2 layers: PUL on the inside and a more decorative cotton outside. Some are made with drawstrings, others have zippers, and they come in many sizes.

Washing Your Cloth Diapers

How often should you wash your cloth diapers

Depending on the amount of diapers you own you will need to wash every 2-3 days. If you decide to go much longer than that you will find that your diapers will be harder to clean.

Before you wash

Shake off the solids into the toilet or flush the disposable liner down the toilet. Re-fasten applix straps and place the dirty/wet diaper into a dry diaper pail. If the diaper cover also gets dirty you can add it to the pail. If your diaper cover only got wet, let the cover dry and re-use it a few more times.

Washing is Easy!

For Top-loaders

• Pre-wash (cold water, no detergent, high water level)

Empty the diaper pail liner into the washer and use pre-wash cyce (or a rinse cycle) to rinse out urine and fecal matter.

• Main Wash (longest cycle, hot water, Add detergent, high water level, 2nd cold rinse)

Detergent: Use a cloth diaper recommended detergent such as Allens Naturally or Wonder Wash
When washing diapers it is very important to have an idea about the quality of your water- if you have hard water, use less detergent and run your diapers through a hot wash without detergent after a regular wash cycle every month or so. In hard water the detergent does not rinse well and your diapers can start smelling if you use too much detergent or do not rinse well enough.

• Dry (put your diapers in the drier or lay them in the sun to dry)

Your first washing of new diapers you should dry on high heat to seal your PUL, every other wash keep the dryer on low heat. The dryer is hard on any waterproof fabric, so if you want to extend the life of your diapers, keep them out of the diryer as often as possible. Sunning your diapers will help to remove and stains.

• Done! your diapers are clean and ready to use!

For Front-Loaders

• Pre-wash (cold water, no detergent, rinse and spin cycle)

Empty diaper pail liner into the washer and run the rinse and spin cycle 1 or 2 times. Some machines have a pre-wash setting, others have a rinse and spin setting- if your machine does not have either, run a short wash cycle with cold water and no detergent.

• Main wash (longest cycle, add detergent, hot water, 2nd rinse)

Detergent: When washing diapers it is really inportant to know the quality of your water- if you have hard water, use less detergent and you might even have to run your diapers through a hot wash without detergent after a regular wash cycle every month or so. In hard water the detergent does not rinse well and your diapers can start smelling if you use too much detergent or do not rinse well enough.

• Dry (put your diapers in the dryer, hang or lay them in the sun to dry)

The first washing dry your diapers on a high heat to seal the PUL. Every other wash use the lowest heat setting on your dryer. Sunning your diapers will help remove stains.
Done! Your diapers are clean and ready to use!

A word about detergents

Any detergent containing fabric softeners, optical brightners and stain protectors include substances and oils that will coat the fibres and prevent your diapers from being absorbent causing them to leak.
Allens Naturally and Wonder Wash are detergents that seem to work well with all diaper products, no matter what the fabric.
If you notice that your little one is developing rashes, or that your pocket diapers are starting to leak or that they have a persistent smell, you will need to do a special cleaning called Stripping.

How to Strip your Diapers

1. Fill your kitchen sink/laundry tub with warm-hot water.
2. Add your clean dry cloth diapers to the hot water.
3. Use an old brush or toothbrush and with some Dawn or other grease fighting detergent scrub the surfaces of your cloth diapers and inserts.
4. Once you have scrubbed all surfaces of your cloth diapers place them into your washing machine.
5. Run your regular cloth diaper wash cycle, DO NOT ADD ANY DETERGENT.
6. You may need to do several extra rinses to remove any remaining suds.
7. Dry your diapers as you normally would
   

Additional Resources

Still confused? Feel free to contact me with any cloth diaper questions you might have or visit our websites.
Always refer to the care instructions provided with your diaper purchase for specific instructions from the manufacturer.

Another great giveaway from Natural Parenting Shop!

Check out another great giveaway from Natural Parenting Shop!

Just click the link, read the review and follow the instructions to be entered for a chance to win a $25 gift certificate to the shop!

Check out another great giveaway from Moms and Bums:

Just follow this link for your chance to win a $25 gift certificate.

Raising Green Kids- Green Shopping Tips

Here are a couple of ways to be greener on your next trip to the market:

Buy fresh produce without the packaging. reuse the plastic produce bags, or simply put produce directly into your cart.
Avoid individually packaged items. instead of buying juice boxes, put juice in a reusable thermos for lunches.
Opt for glass or paper products instead of plastic. Glass and paper products are more easily recycled, making them greener products. Paper bags can be reused, recycled or composted.
Use reusable canvas shopping bags instead plastic. The average person uses roughly 300 plastic bags each year. Many of those plastic bags will end up in a landfill, taking hundreds of years to decompose. Worse yet, they could blow around creating a hazard to wildlife.

Raising Green Kids- Finding Green Toys

With the BPA ban in Childrens products in Canada and the growing green movement, it has become much easier to find toys that fit the environmentally friendly lifestyle. Keep these points in mind on your search for Green Toys:

Natural Materials: It has become easier to find items made from solid wood and non-toxic finishes. For babies and toddlers look for stuffed toys made from organic cotton, puzzles and pull along toys made from solid wood and non-toxic paints.

Energy Consumption: Look for toys that are well-made and durable. The fewer toys you need to replace, the fewer toys end up in a landfill. Try to find toys that don't require batteries, or are driven by an alternative energy (solar power, wind up).

Imagination: Search for things that will boost your child's imagination. Playing dress up with ecofriendly clothes or secondhand clothes, playing with legos or building blocks. You can use an old cardboard box to create hours of playtime. Have you child help you decorate it.

Go local: Find local businesses who manufacture or sell toys. Supporting local businesses reduces energy costs on transportation of goods to the business and to you.

Where to shop for Green Toys:
Moms & Bums
Growing Up Green

Company Spotlight:
RiNGLEY is the original Canadian natural teether that combines two efficient teething tools: untreated Maple wood and 100% organic cotton terrycloth. These materials provide two very different textures that enable children to satisfy their teething needs. Made free from dye and without harmful chemicals. RiNGLEY provides babies and toddlers with two safe and efficient textures that enable children to satisfy their teething needs.

RiNGLEY's design allows your child to easily grip the ring and cloth. It can be used wet or dry and easily reaches around a child's gums and teeth.

RiNGLEY was designed by a Child Life Specialist and Mom with a child's development in mind. Since infants learn through tactile stimulus, touching and putting things in their mouths, the need for a product made without harmful chemicals and dyes is important. RiNGLEY is an organic and natural toy for babies to chew and teethe on.

Raising Green Kids- Finding Secondhand Treasures

Reusing items is one of the best ways to keep them out of the trash. Buying good quality secondhand items is both green and economical. Follow these tips on your secondhand treasure hunts and you wont be disappointed.

Safety Issues: Make sure to be aware of product recalls. These can be found at manufacturer websites, and at www.cpsc.gov Potentially dangerous secondhand items include(but are not limited to) mattresses, cribs, car seats, strollers, playpens, baby gates, baby walkers. These items have changed greatly over the years and older versions may not meet current safety standards. Car seats can be especially dangerous if you do not know the history of the car seat. If a car seat has been involved in a vehicle collision it must be replaced, even if the child was not in the car at the time of the accident.

Great secondhand buys: clothing, newer non-electronic toys, books, movies and sturdy furniture. Clothing, especially baby clothing can be reused through several children before it wears out, as they grow so quickly that some outfits are only worn a handful of times.

Bargain Hunting Places: garage sales, swap sessions, friends, family, coworkers, newspaper classifieds, thrift and consignment stores, internet sites (such as ebay, craigslist, kijiji, freecycle)

Where to shop for used cloth diapers and accessories:
Moms & Bums

Raising Green Kids- Finding Green Clothing

The earlier you get your kids interested in green choices and issues, the more likely they are to carry that interest into adulthood and through the rest of their lives. From the items you surround them with, to the items you dress them in, you have plenty of opportunity to keep the materials as natural and organic as possible. I called this series of posts raising green kids, it will consist of "Finding Green Clothing", "Finding Green Toys" and "Finding Secondhand Treasures"
Clothing: Choose natural fibers (organic natural fibers are even better). Cotton has been around as a natural fibre choice for as long as clothing has been made, but these days it is quickly being replaced by organic cotton, wool, hemp and bamboo.

Conventionally grown cotton consumes approximately 25% of the
insecticides and more than 10% of the pesticides used in the world.
These toxic chemicals and the use of synthetic fertilizers pollute
the air, water and soil, have serious ecological impacts and are
hazardous to both farm workers and neighbouring residents.

Organic cotton is grown using agricultural practices that have a low impact on the environment, replenish and maintain soil fertility, reduce the use of toxic pesticides and fertilizers, and supports biologically diverse agriculture.
Chemical bleaches and dyes are not used in the garment fabrication process, and there are strict standards used to regulate which companies can be considered “certified”.
Wool is naturally breathable, antibacterial and can absorb up to one-third of its weight in moisture without feeling wet. Wool is being used more and more often as a diaper cover, with its breathability it keeps baby's body temperature up to 4*C cooler than PUL cloth diaper covers, which in turn helps prevent the growth of bacteria that can cause diaper rash.
Hemp grows with much less need for water which means its not only better for baby but better for the environment as well! The Hemp plant also requires less pesticide use during growth which reduces its overall impact on the environment. Hemp is also much more durable than cotton. Hemp is being used more and more these days in cloth diapers for its natural antibacterial and antimicrobial properties. It is also more absorbent than cotton fabrics of the same weight, and feels drier to the touch when wet.
Bamboo is a grass that regenerates naturally and can be grown without the use of pesticides. It never requires replanting due to its extensive root system. The bamboo plant is 100% biodegradable. Bamboo is also the fastest growing woody plant in the world; it is becoming increasingly popular as cloth diaper and clothing material. Bamboo fibre is silky and soft, very breathable, antibacterial, anti-fungal and anti-static. Bamboo fiber has tiny micro-gaps and micro-holes that make it excellent for moisture absorption and ventilation. This unparalleled microstructure means that bamboo fiber has natural wicking capabilities. It absorbs 3 to 4 times more than cotton and doesnt feel sticky or uncomfortable when wet.

Where to shop for cloth diapers, accessories and green clothing in Canada:
Moms & Bums
Natural Parenting Shop
Growing Up Green

Company Spotlight:
Dry Goods T-Shirts!
They are stong believers in supporting the Canadian economy and refuse to support unfair trade practices in third world countries. Instead they aim to maintain an ecological balance and avoid depletion of our natural reosurces. They use natural resources from North American Farmers, which are naturally dyed and knitted in Toronto. Conventional screen-printing is notoriously toxic: for every dozen shirts that are printed with a single colour, puts about one ounce of toxic chemicals into the environment, which is more harmful than gasoline.
Dry Goods prints their shirts with 100% biodegradable chemicals made from soybeans, which are completely environmentally friendly.

Squishy Fish Organic Cotton Onesies and Tees
Squishy fish is a Canadian owned and operated baby and toddler clothing company that blends eco-friendly fabrics with creative, stylish design.
All of their garments are made of the softest !00% certified organic cotton which is chemical free and unbleached - the natural choice for babies delicate skin and for the planet!

Cloth Diapers Vs. Disposable Diapers- The Great Debate!

Studies have shown an infant goes through between 8,000 and 10,000 diaper changes before entering potty training.
The savings associated with using cloth diapers is phenomenal compared to using disposables. On average, you will spend anywhere from $2,8000 (for 8,000 diaper changes) and $3,500 (for about 10,000 diaper changes) per child on disposables. You will save on average about $1,500! And the bonus is you can continue to use those same diapers on a second and third child!
When you finish using disposable diapers with your child, all you have left is a huge mountain of trash. Solid human waste in landfills may seep into local ground waters. Even worse, a disposable diaper normally made out of plastics takes around 500 years to decompose, and 18 billion disposable diapers are thrown out in the US each year. That is 100,000 tons of plastic and 800,000 tons of tree pulp. Disposable diapers also contain dioxin- a by-product of bleaching pulp which has been linked to cancer.
However if you have used cloth diapers, you are ready for the next child!
Studies have proven that babies who are disposable diapered have about a 78% incidence of diaper rash, compared to only 7% of cloth diapered babies!
Washing cloth diapers takes the equivalent amount of water as flushing a toilet 5 times a day.
Thus cloth diapers have half the ecological footprint of disposables.