Cloth menstrual care update

Well, i've spent some time (and a very small amount of money) on getting my 'ducks in a row' and making myself cloth pads. I also threw together some handkerchiefs (mostly for my snot-nosed little darlings. i love cold and flu season) and some cloth 'wipes' for baby butts and other small messes.

i decided to use my serger for as much of the creation process as possible. after looking about online, i decided to use This Pattern for my pads, making them pretty much as described. 

they look like this, in various fabrics.  The middle sections pull out for quicker drying time. there are also optional waterproof pieces that can be put in to reduce leaking.

the layers are:
outer 'envelope: soft flannel top, rough flannel bottom
oval pad and 'winged' pad inserts: 2 layers rough flannel with a layer of terry sandwiched in the middle
(the 'winged' insert is my own idea, because, you know, sometimes a girl needs a little extra protection!)

I also tried This pattern, but only made a couple to try them out. it is designed to be done with a serger and sewing machine, or just a sewing machine. they provide less padding, and no extra protection in the 'wings' however they are all one piece.
 

 lots of handkerchiefs and wipes..

For my materials, i was able to recycle some flannel recieving blankets, and some heavy  rough flannel sheets i'd recieved to use for making cloth diapers. i purchased 3 packages of snaps, and 3 meters of flannel, as i had limited numbers of recieving blankets. i used an old towel for the terrycloth in the pad liners.


this made me  about 8 envelope-style pads with fillers, 4 folding-style pads,  and about 12 panti-liners, plus handkerchiefs and wipes, with LOTS of left over fabric

total cost to me: less than $20 time spent: about 7 evenings, on and off
estimate cost of all new materials: less than $100.
worth it? oh yeah.


if you decide you want to try it out yourself, but don't have access to a serger, here are a couple links for similar sewn pads:
This one is almost identical to the 'envelope' style i made  however the inner pad pattern is different
This one also has a very similar pad  and includes cutting patterns and layered inner pad inserts


This site is a wealth of information with lots of patterns and other good stuff


one cycle later: opinions and thoughts:

well, i like the pads. they are soft and comfortable, if a little bulky (though they don't hold a candle to the disposables of 30 or 40 years ago. thanks for the horror stories, mom!) I think i'll have to find/adapt a pattern for night-time use (a longer design), but otherwise no complaints in the design department.
In practice, using a cold water bucket is slightly icky, but i think definitely keeps staining to a minimum. i had to toss a  drained bucketful of pads in with my washing pretty much once a day, (i threw them in my regular warm wash with darks.... i find a hot wash roughens the nice soft flannel)

I think that if these last even two years, i'll have gotten so used to them i won't want to change back! i'll just have to make more.
thanks for following along, and if anyone has any questions/comments, or (if you're a local) wants some help sewing their own, just shout!

That time of the month again...

BOYS BEWARE! this post gets personal!

It's that time again... that once-a-month crampy bitchy yes-i-have-to-go-to-the-bathroom-AGAIN-dear time.

No, this isn't going to be a bitchy rant about hating being female or anything silly like that! i LOVE being a girl! i love all the blessings we as women are given, and i can endure the minor discomforts that are part of the whole!

I actually want to talk about feminine products, because i've been contemplating a change for the greener.

(now, for any gentlemen who have read this far: while it might not apply to you personally, what about your daughter? your wife? a little information on options isn't a bad thing! and just think... if they switch to a greener product, that means no picking up pads or tampons on your bread and milk grocery runs!)

i have, thus far, been a plain ole pad and tampon girl. Post kids, i pretty much ceased tampon use, though not for any particular reason.  A few recent articles and blogs have brought the issue back into the forefront of my mind, including this one at one green generation.

So, with the idea of change in mind, i started to research my options.
I decided early on that i don't just want to use an organic (and expensive!) disposable option, because, lets face it, other than a few less chemicals, there is NO real difference!

this left me with: cloth pads, alternative tampons, or cups.
My findings and analysis thus far:

lets start with the oddball one: alternative tampons. the one interesting option i've found is Sea sponge reusable tampons (here is one product available) they are supposed to last at least 6 months, and have lower risk of TSS than conventional tampons.
my thoughts? may be a viable option, but i don't think it would be my primary choice!

How about Cups? the three products i've looked at are The Keeper, the Moon cup, and the DivaCup.
The Keeper and Moon Cup are made by the same company, and are identical, except for materials. they are supposed to last TEN YEARS!!!
my thoughts: i want one, but they don't ship to Canada, b/c of federal regulations. poo.

the DivaCup is similar to the moon cup and keeper, but i have seen a LOT more negative comments about leaking and discomfort. they are also only recommended for ONE year use, and are not to be used with IUD's  (my current choice in no-more-babies-thankyouverymuch )
Also, cost-wise, the DivaCup costs MORE than the other two. Yes, i know this is kind-of penny pinching, but if I'm going to be frugal, i want to be capital-F Frugal.
my thoughts: not unless hubby gets the snip. and i'd still rather try the keeper first.

Now, on to a broader playing field. cloth pads.
Two commercial varieties i looked at were Glad Rags and Lunapads.
These are both nice products, but Hoo-boy are they pricey!

So, i think to myself; I've got a serger, and a sewing machine, and a nice stash of fabric. why don't i just make my own?
Enter: more research.

the results: lots of nice free patterns available, some with good pictures. a good hub page with lots of links is found here
my thoughts: i'm cheap. i'm-a gonna make mah own!

final results: since this is still just in the planning stages, i'm not sure how things'll turn out, but i'll be sure and keep y'all posted. i definitely will be pulling out my fleece and terry fabrics and deciding on what pattern/patterns to try soon though!

heck, i might even get real crazy and try number 7 on this list of ways to use more cloth and less paper/plastic products!  hey, i'm already doing 3 loads (or more) of cloth diapers every week. This would be different how?

take care, everyone, and as the weather starts to warm, like the earth: think green!

small kids - how do you butt-cover?

this is solely a personal opinion post. my way will not necssarily be right for you, but it's right for me.

when i was first pregnant, my husband and i discussed diapering solutions. i was totally opposed to going with mainstream disposables, so we decided to get cloth diapers. we spent time going to second hand shops and collecting diapers from friends with older kids. then we purchased a few prefolds in various sizes from a local retailer, and got our plastic pants from a local mega-store. i also used paper liners once the baby was started on solids to reduce the scraping necessary to remove feces.

i did some  consulting with previous users, and determined how i was going to care for them. I decided to use a dry pail, and machine wash and dry them. i am not anal about stains, particularly as i lived on a farm with iron-rich water, so whites eventually grayed no matter what. and you know what, while not pristine white, they are a nice 'ivory' tone and don't LOOK stained, with few exceptions.

it worked wonderfully. with only a few extra loads of laundry a week, i was doing my part to reduce my carbon footprint. we hardly used any disposable diapers for baby #1

baby#2 has been a bit different, mostly due to circumstance. we've moved farther from our extended families, and therefore are on the road a lot, visiting. while it is possible to cloth diaper on the road, it requires a fair bit of extra effort, and extra space to pack.

i feel guilty every time i buy a package of disposables, but i think i can justify the use, because it's either that, or put my sanity just that wee bit closer to the edge.

that said, i still LOVE my prefold diapers, plastic pants and snapppis! i use them as much as i can, and will  likely have diapered my 2 children for less than $500 including the disposables and training pants!

i'm always interested in others opinions and such though, so feel free to let me know what you do/did for Your kids!