Quote of the Now

Let the beauty of what you love be what you do
Rumi

Thursday, February 19, 2009

Cloth Diapering - Updated

Updated September 2010
I'm highlighting the important parts and new additions now that I have more experience.
I am also adding some topic links within this post:
Diapering Supplies
Basic Cloth Diapers
Wool Soakers
All in One diapers
Washing diapers and covers

I've written before about the fact that we cloth diaper Abigail and how excited I was to order cloth diapers and knit wool soakers before she was born, but I have not yet provided an "inside look" at cloth diapering. I had a friend recently comment that I demonstrate how easy cloth diapering can be. It is easy if you know what you are doing and have support getting started. I am a "self-taught" CDer. That is, I didn't learn from family or friends in person. However, I did learn from other CDing parents online. I did a lot of research concerning different types of diapers, how each works, different covers, cloth wipes and solution, how to clean everything, and even different dirty diaper bin options. I have purposefully tried a wide variety of cloth diaper styles and am now ready to give my opinion on these options. I tried a variety because babies come in different shapes and sizes. Not all diapers work equally well on all babies. I suspect the main leak area around the legs would be the greatest area of difference. A skinny-legged baby would benefit more from one make of diaper than a chubby-legged babe. A heavy wetter would need either a diaper designed for this or added doublers. There is a lot of variety to choose from in style, cut, design - not to mention colours! My collection so far is mild in comparison to what is available.

Diapering Supplies
This is our diaper station. On the left are the supplies organized in a cloth basket (thanks Kare' and Sherri - I bet you didn't imagine I'd use your gift bag like this):
cloth wipes made from a baby face cloth stitched to a flannel square (both the facecloth and flannel were prewashed in hot water before sewing because they are washed in hot. The flannel was cut to the subsequently distorted shapes of the cloths.),
the spray bottle of wipes solution (water, olive oil, tea tree oil and lavender),
the snappis (for closing prefold diapers),
and bum balm (a natural, organic herbal balm),
as well as face cloths, baby massage oil, and castor oil (will be stored on a shelf later out of reach). Below the bag are her unbleached prefolds. Under Abigail is a change pad covered with a receiving blanket and often with a prefold under her butt. This way, if she pees or such during changing or while she is having "bum time" to air dry and kick her legs I can wash the cloth (which I have many of) rather than the pad (which I have fewer of). On the right I throw her covers.

Basic Cloth Diapers
Featured in this photo is her (open) Under The Nile organic cotton fitted diaper placed next to Abigail for size comparison. This is a wonderfully soft fabric. It fits nicely, but is rather bulky and takes a long time to dry. As she grew older, it fit much better and with a few washes was less bulky. Still takes longer than my average diaper to dry, but I have some pretty quick-drying diapers. I only have one of these (a gift). While I support the use of organic cotton and I love Under the Nile products (we have a few), I would not buy more of these simply because of their bulk and drying time. I would love to see these made with fold-out liners, like my sugarpeas diapers or bamboozle.
These are basic prefolds and doublers. On the left is a well-loved cotton prefold. A large bag of these in two sizes were given to me second-hand (actually, third hand at least). I use them more for under Abigail during changes or massages. As a diaper, I find they are too thin. Having washed my own prefolds many many times now, I realize that these were once the same thickness as mine. While they may not be quite as effective now as diapers (unless you add a doubler) as when they were new, they are still great to have around.
On the right is an unbleached hemp doubler that could also be used as a prefold at this stage. I've yet to use these. I keep forgetting to prewash them. Hemp has a lot of natural oils that must be stripped before the diaper can be used. Hemp is more absorbant than cotton, which makes it very useful for during nap or bedtime diapering.
I have found that I don't need doublers for Abigail. At least not yet. However, when I have used them they are great.
Here is Abigail in a prefold held on with a snappi. Putting on the diaper is simple: place square under her butt, fold the section between her legs in thirds and bring that up to her belly, slightly fan out the thirds and bring the sides up to cross over. Hold in place with the snappi. The snappi is a stretchy plastic device with teeth on each of the three ends. These teeth grab onto the fabric when you stretch the snappi across. The third, center, end tightens the snappi in place.
We also have some fitted diapers. Here is a kooshies cuddlers fitted (given to us second-hand). These fit well around the legs. At her current size I find they are too tall on the rise and bulky at the bottom, but as she grows they will fit better. They claim to fit NB to 22lbs, but I would not recommend them for NB. (Online I see them listed as 10-22lbs, which makes more sense, but the packaging I have says NB). Even at about 11lbs these are big. I found these to be less absorbant, but perhaps this is because they are well-washed with previous usage. I rarely ever used these except as back-up when I ran out of diapers. I am not a big fan of hook-and-loop (velcro) closures for diapers because the hooks catch on everything in the wash. These diapers have no cover for the hooks. I also didn't like how loose they were in the back. These dry in the same time as my unbleached prefolds.
These are Blue Dog diapers (same make as my change pads: dri-line). The Blue Dog on the left was my first experience with cotton fitted diapers. I wasn't particularly impressed with fitteds then, but as she gets older I see the benefits of an elasticized leg hole to allow her greater leg movement. I find the Blue Dogs take a little longer to dry (like the organic cotton), but they are well priced and easy to use. The larger diaper on the right I have yet to use. Several of these were gifted to me. They seem to be an AIO design (see below).

Snug to Fit are another Dri-Line product. I should add that this is a Canadian company. This is a one-size diaper. The snaps on the front allow you to fold down the front section to make the diaper smaller. As baby grows, a second line pf snaps makes the diaper larger and it is at its largest when you no longer need to snap the front down. As with most one-size diapers, these are quite bulky at their smallest size, but not too bad. The benefits, of course, is that one diaper will last until your child potty trains. This diaper also features a loose liner, which allows for quicker drying. This dries in the same time as prefolds. For their price, quality, and length of use, I highly recommend these diapers. They have become my staple diaper now that I nolonger use prefolds and don't need as many diapers. It helps that we practice Elimination Communication.

On the left is a sugarpeas fitted hemp diaper. These come in two sizes, both of which are adjustable to cover a long period of diapering. I have size one and size two. Both currently fit her. The liners fold out for quicker drying. I love these Canadian-made diapers. The extra absorbancy of hemp makes them great for night time use. I pair them with a wool soaker cover and they work perfectly to absorb her overnight pees AND allow her skin to breath without having leakage or wet PJs and bedsheets. On the right is a Bamboozle (made in Scotland, but carried by Cdn company Bummis). These are another two-size diaper. I wouldn't bother with a size one because the size two fits from 10lbs to 35lbs, so, unless you really want these for a premie or have a small baby (size one fits 5-18lbs), you can save a lot of money by jumping straight to the size two. It didn't take Abigail long to reach 10lbs! The bamboozle is made from, you guessed it!, bamboo. Bamboo is naturally antibacterial and also super absorbent. These diapers are a terry cloth and delightfully soft. The also have a loose liner that makes for quick drying. I ADORE these diapers. However, I never did buy more. As soft as they are, they don't fit Abigail as well as I would like. But keep in mind, different diapers fit different babies.
How could I forget my Kissaluv diaper? This is another cozy soft and adorable diaper. It's a shame to cover it. The Kissaluv is very absorbant, but does take longer to dry. I usually hang it to finish drying when all the rest are done, along with the Under the Nile and Blue Dog diapers. I really love this diaper and wish I had more. It fits beautifully because it has wonderful stretch.

When Abi outgrew her smallest diapers I bought two Mother-Ease Sandy's diapers in bamboo. I LOVE these diapers. In fact, if I were to start anew, I'd buy these instead of the Blue Dogs. They are not bulky (because they are bamboo and thus can get away with less fabric), but they do take a little longer to dry. What I love best is that they snap on the sides. This is very handy when your baby insists on NOT lying down for a diaper change. With snaps, you know which snaps you have to attach together (whereas, with velcro you would need to keep baby still to adjust to the proper fit or risk it falling off) to get the right fit. With side snaps, she can be crawling away, belly to the floor, and you can still attach the diaper. Brilliant. If I have to buy more diapers, I will get more of these.

All of the diapers discussed so far require a cover to keep the wetness from leaking or wicking to baby's clothes (and beyond). We use Bummis covers and find that they hold any leaks in. We have also tried the Mother-Ease Rikki wrap covers and they are equally effective at containing everything. I prefer the Bummis for providing a tab to "store" the hook side of the hook-and-loop tape. However, I would ultimately prefer a snap cover or to use all wool soakers. Abigail is showing off her froggies whisper wrap cover over a prefold. She also has white covers and a yellow SuperBrite cover (visible in first picture). We also use the Bummis Whisper Pants, which look more like the old fashioned plastic pants. They are nice for being very thin.

Wool Soakers
We also use wool soakers. Wool is very absorbant, naturally antibacterial, and breathes well. When properly lanolized, a wool soaker works by absorbing extra moisture transferred from the diaper and NOT wicking it to the next layer of fabric. Lanolin occurs naturally in sheep wool, however, it is stripped from the wool during processing and must be replaced using a lanolin product such as Lansinoh. The soaker needs to be re-lanolized every few weeks because the urine will break it down. (Did you know that wool used to be processed with human urine?)
Lanolizing and washing the soakers is a simple process that pretty much involves
1) soaking the cover in a wool wash (or wash with other gentle soap such as a bar of olive oil soap or organic baby shampoo and then rinse),

2) resoaking it in warm water with lanolin melted in (to melt the lanolin, squeeze about an inch of Lansinoh per soaker into a jar, add HOT water and a small amount of wool wash or other gentle soap to help break down the lanolin so it can be absorbed, shake the jar well - with lid on of course - and add the mixture to warm water. Your water should look milky. Then add the soaker turned inside out so the inside has the most exposure to the lanolin.)
3) leaving it for a few hours to absorb the lanolin (the soaker should feel sticky after. It can't be too sticky. if it feels too sticky, don't worry, the lanolin will soften your baby's skin and will dissipate on its own),
4) squeezing out excess water by rolling in a towel, and
5) laying or hanging over something wide to dry.
If the cover gets poopy, I just soak the spot and wash it with a bar of olive oil soap, then lanolize.

These are our store-bought wool soakers. The purple is AJ'z Wonderful Wool Soaker (from Grace at Forever Family). This is a nice wool wrap cover, but I prefer a pull-on style. The off-white is an Aristocrats "bum sweater" wool soaker. I had heard many great things about this soaker and I must agree that it is a fabulous choice! This is a pull-on style cover. It's frequently called a bum sweater because it is roomy. Unlike a wrap-style cover and the other pull-ons I've made (below), the Aristocrats does not have to fit snugly all around to stay on. Abigail is not a particularly heavy wetter, but every review I have read praises the ability of this soaker to handle a wet diaper, particularly during naps/bedtime.


Abigail models her Warm Heart Woolies (WHW) wrap cover, knit by me (as are all of the wool soakers to follow). This did not fit well at first - there were gaping spaces around her leg - until she grew more. I used a simple button closure system, but a hook-and-loop ("Velcro") closure would make it more adjustable. I didn't want to sew on hook and loop tape. Now that she fits it, I really like this wrap and it is extremely quick to make. However, because it does not fit snugly around her legs, I use it only with fitteds rather than with a prefold because this leg would not hold in anything trying to sneak out of a diaper.

My first soakers were a simple triangle pattern in newborn size. I made them for my sister, but she never used them. She sent them back to me for Abigail and I really liked them. These are another very simple pattern - knit a triangle with a ribbed top; bring the bottom corner up to the top, stitch closed leaving leg holes. I made one extra special by adding a heart design to the bum.

The Punk Rock Knitter pattern is very similar in the end to the triangle, except it is knit in the round to start with a panel that comes up between the legs and is kitchener stitched for a more clean look.


The Curly Purly is my favourite pattern so far. This is knit in the round. My first attempt (left)was frogged after I finished. It's a beautiful yarn, but it is mixed with soy and soy fiber, while absorbant, would wick the moisture to the next layer of fabric. All plant-based fibers will wick moisture. This is why one should use 100% wool for soakers, because wool will not wick the moisture, it will just absorb it (when lanolized). The Curly Purly was still a little big for Abigail when I put it on her in the picture above. It fits much better now. I have since made her another one (since she outgrew the first) using Peace Fleece wool. I highly recommend this wool because it holds its shape very well and does not pill as much as the Patons Classic Merino I have usually used. The Curly Purly is still my favourite pattern, hands down.



This is a revised version of the TinyBirds Organics soaker pattern. The original pattern is for toddlers and the revised version fits smaller. It should fit Abigail at around 6 months I think. This is another good pattern. I think the greatest problem I found with this is my choice of yarn (Patons Classic Merino), which stretched.

My Sheepy Pants (aka longies) were made using the first pattern I have ever purchased online. This pattern comes highly recommended by other wool-soaker knitters, and I fully agree with their endorsements. The pattern is clear and easy to follow. Knitting these was a breeze. I'll certainly be making more. Note to self - get knitting on those shorties and longies! Wool pants can be worn directly over a diaper without need for a pair of pants overtop. Wool is warm in winter and COOL in summer because it breathes.

I found this wool soaker pattern on Ravelry and loved it because it uses a DK weight wool (which I have a stash of) and adds extra wool, in the form of stripes, to be more absorbant. The pattern asserts this would fit approx 6-18m depending on diaper, but this is entirely not true. This fits snugly on Abigail now at 10 weeks. It also needs a slightly higher rise. But otherwise I love the pattern and the resulting soaker. Look how cute it is in the bum! I would make it again. Now that I have a base model I can easily resize it. It really was a great soaker, but she outgrew it quickly. I passed it on to a friend who loved it. I did make one a size larger, but used Patons again (why oh why), not yet realizing how badly it can stretch. I have a lot of Patons Classic Wool in my stash I was planning to use, but as I type this I realize I really should use it for something else and get more Peace Fleece for the soakers. Don't worry, it'll get used.

I have since crocheted two styles of soakers. One a DC pattern with a skirty option (I test knit this pattern and did add the skirt) another a SC pattern that has become my favourite. It is very quick to make and I've made one for Abi and two as gifts (since Abi doesn't need more). I have used Patons Merino for these. The weight works very well and the fabric doesn't lose its shape when crocheted as it does when knit with this yarn. Good use of that Patons stash!

The DC pattern is by WiggleBunz. It is cute, but I'm not as fond of waistbands made separately. It is also a paid pattern.
crochet,wool soaker
Skirtie Photobucket
This was my test knit using a heavier weight yarn. I didn't like how it turned out with this yarn, especially on the skirtie. It was frogged. But I liked the pattern enough to make it again (above) in Patons Merino.

The SC pattern is the Little Fire soaker, which also comes with a skirtie option. I really like this pattern, which uses DCs for shaping. Also, it's free! This is my first recommendation to friends who want to crochet a soaker.
Orange soakerHere is Abi's scraps soaker
PhotobucketAnd this one is a new one to be gifted soon. I made another but didn't take any decent photos.


All In One diapers
Finally we come to my AIO (all in one) diapers. Both styles I have are pocket diapers. As shown above, there is a pocket in which an absorbent layer is inserted. These come with microfiber inserts, but you could also use a prefold or doubler. The outer layer is PUL. It does not require a cover because this layer keeps moisture in. The inner layer is a soft microfleece fabric that pulls moisture away from Abbie's bum. I could also buy similar liners for my other diapers, but haven't yet because she is changed frequently. She lets me know when her diaper is dirty.
The orange diaper is a Fuzzi Bunz in size small. The green is a BumGenius one-size diaper shown at its smallest setting. Unlike other one-size diapers, the bumgenius is not extra bulky.

Both my AIO styles have pocket inserts, but there are also AIO styles that do not have a removable layer. Some people prefer these, but I've never tried them for a comparison. There are some truly gorgeous handmade AIOs I'd love to buy though! I have heard complaints that removing the insert in pocket AIOs is "gross" or difficult. I've never had a problem. At worst I have to grab the insert from the top (and yes I feel it is damp, but this is no worse than grabbing a wet prefold), but usually I can just hold it upside down and shake it out. One store owner ranted to me about how hard these are to clean. I suspect she and other complainers simply didn't know how to do it right, because myself and others haven't had problems with stinky pocket diapers. I separate the inserts from the rest of the diaper.

Washing Diapers
Which leads me to diaper pails. I use a dry diaper pail system with two bins. In the main bin, a regular rubbermaid kitchen stepcan, I have a Wahmies liner. These are the best pail liners! In this bin I throw dirty cloths, prefolds, fitteds, and inserts. In the other plastic, lidded bin I put dirty covers and pocket diapers (minus the insert). When the main bin is full, I take the pocket diapers from the other bin, toss them in the bag, and bring the entire bag down to the laundry machine where I dump the contents into a cold water wash. (I also add our cloth tissues to the load.) My diapers get a cold water wash and rinse (or prewash) without detergent followed by a hot wash with about 2 tbsp of detergent and a cold rinse. All is then transferred to the dryer on medium for 50 minutes with dryer balls. At that point the wipes and AIOs are done, so I remove them to reduce the bulk drying and reset the dryer on regular for another 20-30 minutes. Or, I may hang them to dry on a sunny day. I occasionally sun-bleach my diapers to get them white (or off-white for unbleached) again by hanging them in the sun. This is preferable to using bleach or other chemical treatments (which I do not use).

Covers are washed with other laundry according to their wash instructions at a warm temp (I like to use a cold prewash still), although the whisper and brite wraps could go in with her diapers.

While the diapers are being cleaned, I line the main pail with my second Wahmies liner (btw, there are Canadian retailers for these) and begin to fill it with the never-ending dirty diapers :) When we are not at home I use a jamtots zippered wet bag to store her dirty diapers. I tried another bummis-like style of wet bag but didn't like it at all. (Wahmies makes a similar wet bag, but the store I was at only had JamTots, which are a Canadian company - a plus.)

That about covers my cloth diapering experience. There are many great work at home mothers (WAHMs) making these products in Canada (and the US and elsewhere) and providing excellent advice, tips, and help for cloth diapering families. If you are considering CDing your child, or if you know someone expecting a child who you'd like to encourage to cloth diaper, check out all the great online resources. I can't even begin to list them for you (Google does that well enough), but you are welcome to ask me for some more links. If, like me, you prefer to buy local or Canadian, then JamTots is a great place to start (I only just now checked out their page) because not only do they have a great variety of products, but they also have helpful articles. Parenting by Nature is another favourite Canadian online store of mine and a great source of information.

Winter Blues

Just as Spring was starting to share its warmth and greenery with us, Winter has returned with more snow, ice, cold winds, and dreary skies. Robin is sick with a cold, Abigail is teething (number 7 soon) and I'm sick with my usual mystery illness of swollen lymph nodes, sore throat, pounding in my ears and head. It's what used to always turn into 2 weeks in bed before I had my tonsils removed. It makes for a cranky household. At least it is reading week and I don't have to teach.

But enough griping! There are many good things going on around here. Take the beautiful (if I may say so) baby blanket blocking (drying pinned out to take its shape) on Abigail's bed, for example. Sorry, you'll have to wait to see it. There are also Abi's fabulous teeth to admire, not to mention hugs. Okay, so hugs still tend to take the form of gripping mommy's hair and holding tight - but I'll take what I can get. She also successfully stacked a disc on her train this week, so we are working on refining those fine motorskills and encouraging putting pieces on her train instead of just pulling them off. (Ha, and they say this is a 2 year old's toy!) I think she would really like a stacking/nesting toy of cubes or cylinders. I know Plan Toys makes some wooden ones. I'll wait until after her birthday. I've also gathered a wonderful assortment of patterns to knit and crochet toys. But these too I must wait on... If I give her everything now I'll have nothing left to make/give in the years ahead, but it's hard not to. Baby stuff is just so cute.
Avocado

I am also enjoying working on my dissertation. I've taken myself out of the field (although I am still hoping to find and interview more participants if I can) to start analyzing and writing. I have started drafting a blog post (long ago now) about my research, which I will eventually share.

Monday, February 16, 2009

New Hat

I don't normally share much about my knitting (despite the blog title), but I simply must share this hat I whipped up using the leftover yarn from Abigail's bear (made over a year ago). I call it the Kaylee Blossom hat, named after Kaylee of Firefly and Ms. Kaylee Koigu (the bear).
Kaylee Blossoms Hat
Kaylee Blossoms Hat
What a pout!
Kaylee Blossoms Hat
Kaylee Blossoms Hat
Kaylee and Kaylee.
Good Morning
Bright-eyed from a nap on an otherwise pouty, crying day. Tooth number 7 is cutting through on the bottom.

Friday, February 13, 2009

Friday the 13th

Are you superstitious?
If so, what is the significance of Friday the 13th? Don't try to look it up on Wikipedia. What is it to you? (You can look it up after and I even provided a link for you.)
Is it supposed to be scary - hence the Friday the 13th movies?
Is it a day of bad luck?
Wouldn't Monday the 13th be a better choice for a scary/bad luck/ just plain ol' shitty day? It is the start of the workweek. Well, for people who have a workweek (unlike those of us without a regular schedule who work over weekends).
How much extra upsetting it must be, if you are superstitious, to come to the holy day of the workweek (Friday) only to discover it is Friday the 13th and that, somehow, is superstitiously bad.
You see, I'm still not sure what the significance of the date is. That is, I don't think anyone ever told me what "Friday the 13th" means. I just know it's a "special" date and that, like the movies, it is associated with something that frightens people. As superstitions do. Does anyone have a clear sense of what the significance is?
As a kid, especially in my school years, Friday the 13th seemed like it would be a good day to party. If everyone thinks it is significant (in some vague manner), then what better excuse to have a celebration! To keep in the theme of being frightened, this best involves watching scary movies. Unfortunately, I've never liked scary movies. I hate things jumping out (at me), I dislike gore, and I've no interest in listening to girls scream. I'm certain that scary-movie aficionados could provide me with a list of things I might actually enjoy if I watched scary movies, but I'm still not interested, thanks.

In Abi news, if you hadn't noticed already there are new videos up at Youtube (you can see them on the blog sidebar too). Included is a very poor video of Abigail standing by herself. She has been doing this for at least a month now, but the camera is never around and by the time one could get it she will have sat down again. When I do have the camera, she instantly becomes more interested in it and the moment I put it out of sight she's standing again. Eventually I'll get a good video.

Sunday, February 08, 2009

11

From 6 teeth to 11 months. Those are some crazy numbers.
Giggle
With much patience I have managed to capture the teeth on camera to share. She's not one to show them off, but I was persistent. There are more at the flickr page.

And my gods, you should see her turn on the waterworks lately! The moment you say "No Abigail" or try to take something from her, the tears just start pouring out! (After a brief period of pouting.) Now, most people would never know this to see her of course because she is still her usual smiley self most of the time, which is why the waterworks seem so odd. One minute she's happy, the next her shirt is soaked with tears.
Ericka, I swear I have not pinched her! She would probably just laugh if I did.
It's gotten to the point that all Robin and I can do is look at each other and laugh. We know she's not hurt. Generally it's a sign of her being tired and teething - so big hugs ensue, new games follow, and the day goes on.

I should get back to the family. Just wanted to upload those pictures before bed.

Wednesday, February 04, 2009

Peek-A-Boo

Robin has taught her this new game: hiding herself for peek-a-boo a.k.a. "where's Abi?" Here's the video footage.


There are more fun videos currently uploading to YouTube.

Approaching 11 months

Yep, we are approaching 11 months (just 3 days to go).
Mmhmm.
Yep.
Huh.
Doesn't seem so extraordinary. I remember when X months old seemed exciting, but at 11 months all I can think of is "in one more month she will be a year old" and that is exciting/crazy/happy-sad.
I am also thinking: "finally I can crop down photos from the last three months to fit in her monthly photo frame and complete it". It won't be fully complete until I add her birthday photo, but that is a larger picture in the middle (right now the space is occupied by her birth photo). I really love that frame, given to us by friends at Abigail's welcoming ceremony last spring. It's fun to see how she has changed over such a brief period of time.
In other news, you may recall me talking about how long it took me to secure approval from my university's Ethics Committee to do my research. That experience most certainly prepared me for future applications and as a result I had no problems at all with my most recent application getting approved. In fact, the reviewer commented on how well it was prepared. Yay me. Okay, well, it may not seem so impressive to you because you didn't spend a year trying to get one of these things approved.
In other other news, I am wondering why I start lace projects for baby blankets. I gave up on Abigail's when I discovered a problem near the bottom and was NOT about to restart it. Now I'm half-way through one for a friend and am trying to stay positive even though it feels like it is taking forever. Usually I do quick projects - they relieve tension and have an instant payoff. It really is beautiful and worth the work. And the process of knitting is still stress-relieving. It's rather like being in labour - one contraction (in this case row) at a time... ;)

Tuesday, February 03, 2009

6

I think we are done with new teeth cutting for a while now. Abi has cut her 6th tooth. For the most part they are still very close to the gumline. They grow much slower than I imagined. She is enjoying chewing on carrots and celery as well as her frozen teething soothers (which she still treats like toys to chew on rather than like pacifiers to suck on). She's happy so long as she has her homeopathic teething medicine. I prefer the Hyland teething tablets, but when we ran out so had the two stores I checked. The second store claimed they didn't sell well and people prefered the Boiron Camilia drinkable doses. I bought them, even though I would have prefered finding the Hylands, because we needed something until the stores restocked and I didn't have time to check every health food store. After trying the Boiron, I can say that I do prefer the Hylands tablets. The Boiron are much more expensive ($16 for 30 doses vs $11 for 125 tablets with 2 tablets per dose) presumably because of their packaging. They come in individual plastic doses. Such a waste of plastic. Abi has learned how to take her dose, but sometimes she fights it and spits it out. She never does this with the tablets. I'm not sure why some parents would prefer the Boiron, but I'll be sticking with the Hylands from now on. A few days later I did find the Hyland tablets. One of the features I like about the tablets is that I have some control over dosage. The Boiron packaging does not give adequate information, in my opinion, about dosage. It simply says to give one dose at "onset of crisis", but nothing about how often I can repeat the dosage. And what defines a crisis? Hylands suggests 2-3 tablets 4 times a day or, if very upset, 2 tablets every hour for up to 6 hours. I love that the Hylands warn parents "if your baby has been crying or has been very upset, your baby may fall asleep after using this product because the pain has been relieved and your child can rest." They should add that children should not be allowed to drive heavy equipment while using these tablets.

Too Big for My Skin

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