Can Rag Curls Help Kick Her Habit?

Happy Monday to you all! My day has been so blessed so far. I am having so much fun staying at home, it's scary! I thought I would share today my little project I have with my daughter and her annoying and painful habit of hair twirling. :-)

So, Short Stack, as we like to call her, doesn't suck her thumb, she doesn't use a pacifier, and she isn't really attached to any one toy. What she is attached to is her hair! Morning, noon, and night, she will twirl her hair around her thumb. She does this much more when she is tired, but she also does it when she's bored, riding in a car, shy, and especially right before she goes to bed and when she wakes up in the morning. She will be awake for a half hour and not tell me, but she will be wrapping that hair around her thumb the entire time.

Now, you can imagine what this does to her hair. I wish I had a picture of the knots that she puts into it. It drives me crazy! Some mornings I will come into her room to find hair all over her crib. I know I'm not supposed to diagnosis myself or family members, but I have to admit, I did get a fear that she was developing trichotillomania (compulsive hair pulling that results in hair loss). She doesn't pull out her hair on purpose, though. What happens is she gets her thumb stuck in her hair and rips out her thumb.

I have been trying to find a solution. When she's awake, it isn't too bad, because she responds to my gentle redirection. But when I'm not around, that thumb starts working overtime! I seriously considered dreds for a split second. But, being as I have never done this before, and I love her flowing locks of mousy brown, I thought twice. I tried to braid it before bedtime, but the hair around her forehead came out before she even laid down, and that part of the head is the biggest victim of the perpetrating thumb.

So, I thought I would try rag curls. She can sleep in the rags without it bugging her too much. And with the hair tied up in the rags, it should protect the hair. Yesterday I cut an old T-shirt into strips of about 1 1/2 inches by 5 inches. Then I rolled up small portions of her hair into each strip and tied them in a knot. She looked like she belonged in Little House on the Prairie! It was cute. She was curious about them, but didn't react as much as I thought. During our bedtime story, she tried twirling, but ended up twirling the rag instead. She did pull on a rag in front a few times, and I wonder if it was because it was too close to her face.

This morning when I came into her room, she was able to get that one rag closest to her face pulled out. But I could tell she had just did it because of the amount of the curl in her hair, and it was not in a knot. It worked for the first night! And her hair is CUTE. I tried to get a pic of it right out of the rags on my phone, so these pics might not be the best. This was before I even combed the curls out with my fingers. Hopefully it will work for a while until that thumb is put into his place!! Ha ha!

No Worries, It's Friday!

Ahh, Friday. A day filled with hope and promise. And cleaning. And laundry. And cooking. I love it. Really, I do...for now. Being a stay at home mom for a week has me going gang-buster on the house and cranking up the stereo with some Flyleaf. My daughter is loving it too, even "helping" me dust and dancing in the living room giggling up a storm. I know this energy for housework will probably dwindle in the next coming weeks, so I figured I'd take advantage of it and give the home some much needed TLC.

I absolutely love staying at home. I have complete control over what my daughter eats for snacks and lunch and when she naps. When she has a poopy diaper, I can clean it off right away instead of it sitting in a wet bag all day waiting for me to empty it after work. My lovely daughter is such a moody and anxious child by nature, and now she is on a more stable routine to give her the security she needs to be a happier child. I have taken some stress off of my husband by doing the laundry (it used to be his job), taking care of the trash and the recycling; but most of all, when he comes home from his "oh-what-fun, 8-5, no raise in 5 years" job, he isn't coming home to a screaming child and a cantankerous wife.

The world says I should probably worry about money. Indeed, we may be heading for some financial difficulties. My job gave us quite a boost in our income. And did I mention dear hubby hasn't had a raise in 5 years? So to say we need to cut some corners is an understatement. I should probably worry about this. But how can one worry when one is so happy? This is not the kind of happy that comes from the world. This is the joy that can only come from knowing that your life is in God's hands. This is His plan for me right now. I'm sure of it. So, why should I worry about money? It is an earthly possession. My mind is not on this earth, but what comes next. To God be the glory for the things that He has done, and will do!

Cloth isn't all fun and games!

As much as I love to talk about cloth diapers and encourage others to try them for at least 2 weeks, I have a gripe. Well, the gripe might not be about the diapers specifically. Just me complaining.

I bought mostly one-size diapers when I started my stash. In fact, all of the diapers I am using right now are one-size. It seemed like less of a hassle in the long run and cheaper. My daughter was fitting perfectly in the second size of the diapers (there are 3 sizes in all). Now that she is older and close to potty training (I hope), she graduated to the largest size! She's getting big!

As I began the large size on my diapers, I noticed that she is way too skinny for that size, but she is too tall for the medium size. Grr! There is no way I am buying more diapers (although that would be really fun) to fit her for just a few more months. So we will deal with droopy drawers and "wings" at the waist.

My other gripe is that I think I need to change my detergent, and I just recently stockpiled on the detergent I was using. That's right, I have like 8 more bottles in my basement. Ah, the irony. I think I need to change the detergent because my diapers seem to be stinkier in the diaper pail than they used to be. My new ones are great, no problems. But the older ones need a little freshening up. I don't need to strip them, as I am having no repelling issues. All well, at least I can use the detergent for my regular laundry, and at least the smell isn't as bad as a diaper genie. I cannot stand the smell of those things. Just my personal opinion, of course!

In the mean time, I will enjoy my skinny minny, and hope the bottles in my basement do not get together and multiply. :-)

The Flip Diaper

So, I bought a Flip Diaper to try out a while back, and I'm just now getting around to talking about it. The Flip One-Size Diaper System is a diaper that is composed of an insert and a diaper cover. Basically, you place the insert in the cover and that's it. No pins or other types of fasteners are needed because the cover holds the insert into place with a little pocket, or flap, on the front and back. You can choose between a microfiber insert and an organic cotton insert. The cover and the insert are one size, so it grows with your baby.

The cover is very nice. It has contoured legs so it fits snugly to your baby. It has a double row of snaps for closure, so no hook and loop (Velcro) is there to snag your other diapers in the wash. I have not only used this cover with the flip insert, but with other prefolds and WAHM inserts as well. I haven't had a leak yet, and I've used it overnight too. The only problems I have found with the cover is that I only have one! The washing instructions say to line dry the cover, so that might be important to note.

Although I haven't had a problem with the stay dry microfiber inserts from Cottonbabies, I chose the organic cotton insert because I have less stink issues with the cotton than I do the microfiber. It's just my preference. The cotton insert is a prefold diaper that has some serious absorbency power to it. It could beat any diaper I have at the moment in a leak test. My only complaint (and it really isn't a big deal) is that the insert can be a bit bulky. It is not as bulky as a fitted that has the same amount of leak protection, though. I did have a bit of trouble at first getting the diaper to fold under the flap in the cover that holds it in. I mostly had trouble because I wasn't used to the thicker insert. As for washing, no problems. It dries as quick as a pocket diaper insert and quicker than many all-in-ones.

Overall, I would highly recommend this diaper to mommies and daddies. It is easy to use, has superior leak protection, and it is cheaper than my organic all-in-ones. I'm happy with it, and I think others will be too!

~Christie