Beding, sheets and pillow cases

As Christophe gets older I find the need to scrutinize more and more things we buy for him (and us for that matter). A few years ago if I needed new bed sheets I would have looked for 100% cotton sheets with a 200+ thread count in a color that matches the decor of the room they are for. (We currently have beige and red in our room bought under these guidelines almost 3 years ago now)

Today now that I am a more savvy stay at home mom I need to add a few more criteria to this list - so now we are looking for:

• 100% cotton
• 200+ thread count
• Neutral color
  
• Organic
• no flame retardants
• Fair trade (optional)

Now why you may say well here goes:

100% COTTON

We like cotton the best in our house: it's a natural fiber; it's soft; it's washer and dryer safe. Their are many other natural fibers out there such as silk and hemp. I find hemp is not that soft and well silk kills thousands of little worms to make your sheets and not the most practical to wash. There are also some not so natural but claiming to be natural fibers out their such as bamboo - for more info read this great article from Inhabitat.

250+THREAD COUNT

When you get sheets you want to make sure you get good quality sheets something that will last well this is where thread count (tc) comes in. Thread count refers to the number of threads, both vertical and horizontal, in a one-inch square of fabric. With my experience I find the more you have the stronger your fabric is and the softer the fabric is. This is not the only determining factor for these but a good guide. For example we got 400 tc once and really hated the sheets. So open the package and touch them first.

NEUTRAL COLOR

I used to buy sheets in some sort of fun color to match my room and often I would end up getting rid of them before they ripped whether because I got tired of them or I changed the decor and they did not match anymore. Now we only buy unbleached or natural sheets that way all our sheets match, you don't have to worry about matching pillowcases and so one. Also no matter the decor of your room the sheets will go with it. A plus to natural sheets is they give you that hotel feel when you slip into bed.

ORGANIC (or Unconventinaly grown)

For thousands of years cotton was grown organicly and then in the 1950s pestisides came along and revolutionised the cotton industry for the worst (according to me). Cotton became more plentiful and cheep while our enviroment and health was placed at risk. Pesticides have been linked to many health issues and enviromental issues. Some of these are: fertility problems; sensory, motor, mental and psychological effects; farmers or a gardener run a greater risk of developing neurodegenerative disorders such as Parkinson’s Disease; Effects on learning; links to cancer... All you have to do is google pestisdes and effects on your health and you will find thousands of articles.

You have to keep in mind that cotton is the most heavily sprayed crop on the planet; "twenty-five percent of all insecticide is applied to cotton. Two hundred chemicals might be applied to a single plant in one season in the United States. This translates to a third of a pound of chemicals per pound of cotton fiber. One and a quarter pounds of agricultural chemicals are used in California to produce the conventionally grown cotton in a single set of queen-sized sheets."1

Buying organic cotton products can have a large impact on the enviroment - for the positive.

NO FLAME RETARDANTS (PBDEs)

We cover everything that is man mad in flame retardants so it does not go poof if their is a fire. When the easiest solution is to surround yourself in natural fibers with no chemicals so they don't go poof if their is a fire. Flame retardants are bad when it comes to close contact with you; now don't get me wrong I think their are places where flame retardants are required but my bed sheets is not one of them.

Why are flame retardants bad? "Health Effects related to Polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs): Brain and nervous system, Reproduction and fertility, Persistent and bioaccumulative, Neurotoxin; brain damage."2

FAIR TRADE

I put fair trade as optional because well, we all know fair trade is better because it garentees that the workers making our product are treated fairly and paid proper wadges. I would love to only buy items that are fair trade. However sometimes an item that meets all my other requirements will be $50 and an equivalant item that is fair trade will be $75. Most times we can justify paying more but sometimes we just can afford to do so.

The perfect sheets according to me that is...

So when we needed to get some bedding for Christophe both for his crib and now his toddler bed we looked arround at what was readily available here in Toronto that met our critarias and ended up on going with Coyuchi. These meet all of my critarias and I can get them at 2 stores that are within walking distance from my house: Kids on the Hip and Grassroots.

Depending on where you shop a fitted crib sheet will cost you about $45CND; a fitted twin sheet $80CND; and a fitted king sheet $105CND. These are well worth it we used our crib sheets for about a year and washed them once every 2 weeks and they still look like new.

1. Source Coyuchi
2. Source EWG

Tasty Tuesday

For me tasty tuesday is al about Christophe and feeding him; in order to feed a baby in todays modern world you "need" gear so this entry and the next few weeks will be about gear.

Bibs:

there are thousands of bibs these days to chose from however and eco friendly parent or just an aware parent needs to ask themselves many questions:

• Is it made out of natural fibers
  
• Is it PVC free
• Is it Vinyl free
• Is it Phthalate free
• Does it have ties (ties are a no no these days with kids as they can strangle themselves)
• Can it be easily washed
• Does it stain easily
• Does it fit a long age rang (you do not want to be buying bibs every 6 months)
• Does it have a pocket to ketch falling food

I am sure there are more questions to ask but this is all we could think of. We found a bib that answers almost all these criterias from Crocodile Creek. We have 2 of these an so far these are our favorite bibs, the only criteria from above that they do not meet is 100% natural fibers. They are made of cotton but have a non-toxic coating for easy cleaning.

Refrences:
Image from Crocodile Creek

Review Fuzzi Bunz Diaper

Fuzzi Bunz: We only own one of these because I have issues with the positioning of the snaps; this is probably our most hated diaper for that only reason.

The positive points:

• Comes in a variety of colors
  
• Dries quickly (1 run in the dryer)
• Available at most baby boutiques
• Wicks moisture extremely well
• Poo stains come out of the outer layers extremely easily (so even-though the stuffing may have a stain the diaper looks clean)
• Reasonably priced ($18.50)
• not bulky
• looks cute one baby
  

The negative points:

• Mass produced product (not locale)
• Not organic, inside is bleached white
• Sometimes leaks at night (I think a doubler would fix that)
  
• The snap positions make it extremely cumbersome to close (this by itself made me decide we did not want to use these diapers - this is the reason why we only have one)
• Because inside layer wicks so well; if he has an open air incident while changing the pee just runs down the sides and goes all over his outfit.
• sized - you will need to purchase more diapers in your babies diaper wearing days

Would I recommend to someone else:
only if this is the only option you have for cloth, so basically no.

Would I buy again for my son:
no

Review Baybees Diaper

Baybees: These were our original choice; however they are no longer available. We selected these after doing tones of research however since Chrisrtophe was not born yet we never baby tested them.

Model we tried out was the "All-in-one"

The positive points:

• Comes in a variety of colors
  
• Organic bamboo or cotton on the inside
• Dries quickly
  
• Reasonably priced ($16.50 each)
• Fast shipment (at lease to Toronto)
• Goes on and off easily
• Locally made (made in Ontario)
• Mom enterprise
• not bulky
• looks extremely cute
  

The negative points:

• Leaves redness on baby's skin because the lining does not wick away moisture
• Only available on-line (currently not available)
• Since the closures are snaps we sometimes found the diapers were too loose or too tight (velcro would be better to avoid that)
• Would sometimes leak at night when he was very little; now almost always leaks at night
• sized - you will need to purchase more diapers in your babies diaper wearing days

Would I recommend these to some-else:

If you are looking for a organic cotton or bamboo diaper that is easy to use an inexpensive yes; otherwise no.

Would I buy these again for my son:

Probably not

Types of Cloth Diapers

I have been meaning for a while to post about this. We use cloth at home and disposable/cloth hybrids on the go. Because I have a lot to say about diapers I am going to divide this in multiple post with information on diaper types and reviews.

So first lets address the various types of cloth diapers:

Flats: These are one-layer diapers and are the most “old-fashioned” choice. Usually the less expensive choice however I was not up to all the folding and pinning that are required. We never considered these they are too cumbersome.

Prefolds: These are similar to flats, but have multiple layers with more layering in the middle. They come on a multitude of sizes from preemie to toddler. You can get them in bleached or unbleached. You typically use a fitted wrap-style cover over them; however they can also be pinned. You can also get prefolds made from hemp or bamboo both of these are more absorbent then cotton; however more expensive. Positive points are that they fit a wide range of body types and sizes, don’t have elastic/snaps/velcro to wear out and are very absorbent. Even though we received about 30 prefolds from Geoff's sister that she never used with her kids, it took us forever to try them, because again we are going for simplicity and I could never seem to remember how to fold them. Also they looked huge on him when he was first born. However with a bit of practice these are now one of our favorites.

Fitted: Fitted diapers often have elastic at the legs and back and basically look like a disposable diaper. They can have velcro or snap fasteners, plain or printed outers, and can be made from a variety of materials like organic cotton or hemp. You need to use a cover over the fitted similar to a cover you would use with a prefold to ensure that you do not get any leaks. Papa likes these well enough, maman does not.

All-in-ones (AIO): The absorbent part of the diaper and the cover combined into a single diaper, just like disposables. These are extra easy to use. You can get some with snap closures or with velcro. They come in a multitude of colors and a variety of fabrics with cotton being the most common. Because everything is combined in one they can require anywhere from one round to 3 rounds in the dryer depending on the brand. Many AIO come with doublers (kinda of a liner) that snaps inside for extra absorption. We have tried a few AIO most of them worked fine.

Pocket Diapers: These have a layer of fleece sewn to a cover with an opening in the back so that the inside of the diaper can be stuffed with any absorbent layer. The fleece lining wicks moisture away from babies' skin, leaving it dry to the touch. Once again these are extra easy to use and look just like a disposable (once stuffed). You can get these with snaps or velcro. Unlike the AIO these typically only take one round in the dryer. Once again we tried a bunch of these and they all seem to work.

I am sure there are others styles that I have not covered but I think that is the most common ones.

Out of all the types we have used our favorites are Pockets and Prefolds; I will share why during the reviews of each type.