Farm~School~Life

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Hi & welcome if you are visiting from the DDL link up!! I hope you enjoy my little space on the blog sphere.

I'll begin with some honesty...I am a blogging slacker from time to time and honestly yesterday got away from me before I remembered. Today we are going to do Day 4 & 5 of the Flats Challenge in one post :)

Day 4's topic was: What is your washing routine?

Day's 5 topic: Flats experience, Fav Folds & What's working (or not).

Don't expect there to be a distinct answer for all the above. I am going to address all the question as I go expect for my favorite folds which I will cover at the end.

My washing routine is quite simple until we have a mishap. Which just so happens we had on Monday evening, that really presented itself Tuesday. Monday was a CRAZY day around the farm.

Farmer is in the middle of chopping silage and the farm baby had to hang with him some.

After spending some time doing that he got to haul cows with the Farmer as well...

which he loved but his unchanged bottom revolted against it. (read TERRIBLE ammonia burn)

TBT: Hauling cows with Daddy in winter

Why was the Farm Baby with the Farmer and not Momma...

well cause Momma had the Farm Boy...

Picking up 4-H project chicks,

Checking cows with the kitten in tow,

Getting the barn ready for 4-H project #3 to arrive Sunday,

Playing ball,

and attending a Young Farmers & Ranchers committee meeting. Oh and did I mention I went to work for most of the day Monday as well...

You see farm life often means you divide and conquer :)

So how do I have time to handwash???

Well simply I do it all along. I don't have one huge allotment of time each day to dedicate to washing diapers but I do have 5 minutes here and there.

My 1st step is filling the sink with cold water.

While it's filling I empty all the pocket diapers out and swish them around in the cold water.

(Yes there is a microfiber insert in there...the Farmer grabs whatever is available to use).

I let them soak for a few moments while I usually tend to something else. Sometimes this is 5 minutes...sometimes it's 5 hours...just depends. After the 1st cold soak, I boil some water in my kettle, drain the soak water and let the tap water heat up.

Once the water is hot (my kettle isn't ready yet) I use a broiler pan and scrub my diapers using Zote, while filling the sink with "hot" water and a little blue dawn. Once I'm done scrubbing diapers and the kettle is done I poor the super hot water over the diapers and let them soak again.

Once they have soaked again (at least 5-10 minutes) I drain the water and rinse all the diapers clean.

I then hang them on our back porch/laundry as it gets great sunlight but is still protected from all the elements. Typically my diapers are completely dry within 3 hours or hanging them up (expect last night due to the rain and cooler temps).

My wash routine also took a little longer last night as well. And in favor of complete honesty...I'll tell you we used a disposable for one change because Farm Baby's bottom was BAD...he needed some HEAVY DUTY diaper cream that I didn't want in my diapers...I was so tempted just to throw everything in the washer with some bleach and then the dryer, to fix our problem. After thinking about the fact that I'm sure there are moms out there who face this situation without the luxury of a wash & dryer 10 feet away...I figured I would find another solution. So I boiled all the diapers to ensure any ammonia build up was completely gone.

Once diapers are dry I let the boys twist, scrunch, and wring them to make them soft again.

After we play laundry ball for a few...I then fold anything I am going to fold so that it's ready for the next diaper change.

I love the......

pad fold (because how much simpler can you get)

Origami Fold (My ABSOLUTE favorite fold)

Happy Anteater Fold

and occasionally the Kite Fold

Overall the challenge is going well. I don't mind the hand washing and really could see us doing away with many of our pocket stash for flats and covers over the next few months. They take up so much less space than our pockets.

How's the challenge going for you? If you aren't participating are you a CD mom?

Until we meet again...

Caci

Happy Mother's Day to all you moms out there!

I hope your day is full of bliss and uninterrupted potty breaks.

I have decided to take the Flats Challenge that begins today.

It was started a few years back by Kim of Dirty Diaper Laundry to test her commitment to keeping her kids in clean diapers. I know many people in our world, country and even in our county don't make enough to make ends meet. There is no federal assistance program for diapers (not that I believe there should be) but because of that some people take extreme measures to squeeze every last dime out of a diaper...down to reusing disposables. This challenge was created to show that where there is a will there is a way. You can cloth diaper your child from birth to potty training cheaply using things you probably have around the house or can pick up for less than $25 (the cost of a large pack of Pampers).

We make ends meet, occasionally we use disposables, and have a working washer & dryer...so why am I participating in the challenge? To show folks you can do it, if you want! You don't have to reuse disposables or leave a diaper on too long. Also I feel that I am in a unique situation..many of the moms I have seen are participating in the challenge stay at home, I on the other hand work a full time job outside the home, run an Etsy shop, help on the farm, have multiple volunteer commitments and an older child who has school and extra-curricular activities. (Please don't think I am discounting the value of a stay at home mom or her time...I'm just in a different situation) I want to someone who feels like they can't to know no matter how much is going on in your lives you can accomplish this. Even when ends barely meet and time is sparse you can diaper your baby without disposables and modern conveniences.

So there you have it. I pledge for the next 7 days to only use flats, no washer, no dryer on this little bum. Through church, t-ball, work, committee meetings, and a 12+ hour round trip to only use flats. If we can do this in our crazy family...you can too! Are you willing? It's not to late to join...check out the rules here and come ride the crazy train with me!

Until we meet again!

Caci