Cloth Diapering at Night

When talking about cloth diapering the question often comes up – What do you do at night? Is it possible to get adequate absorbency and leak-protection overnight with cloth diapers?

Yes! It’s not only possible – it’s actually pretty simple.

Help keep these out of the landfill!

The Real Diaper Association polled experienced cloth-diapering parents and created a tip sheet for night-time cloth diapering. We’re expanding on their basic advice – start with good absorbency, add good moisture resistance and finish with simple tweaks to adjust for your baby – with some specific product recommendations.

We selected the following products based on our collective personal experience in cloth diapering (4 mamas, 6 kids, 14 years), the experience of our friends and customer feedback. These items are all ethically made in the U.S. and meet our standards for sustainability and quality. We’ve used these products on our own babies and believe that they are truly the best – for you, your baby and the planet.

1. Start With Good Absorbency

Growing Greens Hemp & Organic Cotton Fitted Diaper

This diaper rocks for both absorbency and coverage. Hemp is more absorbent than cotton and is naturally anti-fungal and antibacterial – making it a great material for cloth diapers. Growing Greens fits babies from 5 to 35 lbs using a snap-system to adjust the size of the diaper. For newborns use just the contoured insert that converts to a snap-in doubler later.

Pair the Growing Greens diapers with wool soakers  for breathable, all-night protection that even works for heavy-wetters. This style of diaper is also excellent for babies who sleep on their sides; that extra bit of absorbency in the hip area makes all the difference.

Sprout Change Hemp & Organic Flat Diaper

For the mamas (and papas) who love their flat or prefold diapers, the Sprout Change diaper is a great option for overnight cloth diapering. Made from 55% super-absorbent hemp and 45% organic cotton fleece, the Sprout Change is soft, trim and highly effective. Each diaper comes with a 100% organic cotton fleece sleeve that can be used to add an extra layer of absorbency as well.

We love using this diaper with Polar Babies Fleece Diaper Covers at night; it will also work in any diaper cover that works with prefold diapers.

2. Add Good Moisture Resistance

Babee Greens Wool Soakers

Wool is like a miracle fabric for overnight cloth diapering. It’s natural, soft and breathable, so it’s more comfortable for your baby. Wool can absorb a lot of moisture without feeling wet, and the lanolin present in wool fibers creates a natural moisture barrier – so you won’t have to worry about leaks. Long or short wool soakers (pull-on wool pants or shorts) work best with fitted diapers or prefolds that have been pinned (or snappied).

Polar Babies Fleece Diaper Covers

Polar Fleece diaper covers are another great night-time diapering alternative. The outer fleece is soft and breathable and a laminated inner panel prevents moisture from escaping but still allows air to circulate. The microfiber leg-bindings on these covers are soft and comfortable while still being snug enough to prevent leaks. These covers are really easy to care for – machine wash and dry – and they dry quickly. We recommend using this cover with a hemp/cotton flat or prefold diaper.

Babee Greens Wool Diaper Cover

These beautiful diaper covers give you all the coverage and breathability of wool soakers but are designed for use with flat or prefold diapers. The outside layer is constructed from super-soft, upcycled wool sweaters, the inside layer is made from Oeko Tex 100 certified Merino Wool, with three rows of snaps to ensure you get a good, leak-proof fit for your baby.

3. A Couple of Tweaks to Perfect Your System

Now that you’ve addressed absorbency and moisture resistance, you’re almost done. Our final suggestion is to add a diaper liner or barrier cream to help keep your baby’s skin dry overnight. We love these options:

Polar Babies Hemp & Microfleece Diaper Liner

The ultra soft microfleece side of this liner goes face-up, so it’s next to your baby’s skin. Moisture passes through the fleece, keeping baby’s skin dry and comfortable. The hemp/cotton blend layer on the other side of the liner helps wick the moisture through and adds an extra bit of absorbency.

Babee Greens Wool Diaper Liner

Once again, wool’s amazing ability to absorb moisture without feeling wet saves the night. This wool diaper liner will add a bit of absorbency to your diaper while also wicking moisture away from your baby’s skin.

Magical Childe Bunbutter

We love this product so much that we should probably just marry it. We’ve carried (and used) it for years and it is by far our favorite diaper balm. Sweet Almond, Olive Oil and Beeswax based and infused with healing herbs, it is safe for your baby, safe for your diapers and it creates an effective moisture barrier to protect baby’s skin.

We hope these tips and recommendations help you along the way to successful night-time cloth diapering. Please feel free to ask questions or share tips of your own in the comments. Happy Diapering!

Click here for more cloth diapers at Bootyland

August 11th 2011

Bootyland began in 1995, It has been a hub for creative families. Given that Bootyland has been around for 16 years, you would assume that we would have had a launch party sooner. Yet, with the babies being born, the buying out of the other business owner that Ellie had originally bought the  company with and the tides rolling in, we just haven’t gotten around to the celebration of the wonderful success of Bootyland. Bootyland has been a part of my life, long before I started working here.

I remember the days when I was pregnant and I was super scared (cause I had no idea what I was getting myself into), I would come into Bootyland and sit in the rocking chair reading up on the joys and woes of parenting. I remember I bought my first  parenting book “Pregnancy, Childbirth and the Newborn” and wooden teething ring from Allison! She happens to be the Manager and has worked at the Land of Booty for about 1o years. It’s funny the little things we remember, like the people whom eased  us into parenthood. The nurse whom told us it only gets easier and all the friends whom, literally rolled over with laughter when told that you want them present at the birth.

Throughout all the people that have made my life as parent easier, BOOTYLAND has been the bestfriend, staying up with you when your son spikes a fever, telling you what they recommend you to do to decrease his fever. Or when he gets hives from eating oyster sauce, or his first ear infection, or how the hell do I wrap these f-in diaper covers. BOOTYLAND has been the beacon of all beacons for going through parenting with style as well as ease knowing that whatever you get from Bootyland is safe for the wee babies we cherish from the moment we meet them. AS well as safe for the environment that we live in. So, hats off to bootyland and to all the customers that have made this neighborhood shop,  my and your new family!  So come on down on Thursday, August 11th at 3pm and join in on the festivities as we give a big shout out to all the wonderful customers that have made BOOTYLAND  a success.

Please come celebrate our 11th anniversary with us at our Eleven Party this Thursday, Aug 11th at 3:00. We will have a fashion show, face painting, a DJ, and more. We look forward to seeing you all there for a great time!

“I am so happy to have had a business on capitol Hill for the last 11

years. As the visual landscape shifts we still see inspiring neighbors and

families come through the doors.During the last eleven years I have been able to meet and know so many

inspiring people and and families. From all of the customers, co -crew,
local artists and small businesses. Our memories are flooded with faces
and stories.  After 11 years we still find ourselves saying we are have
the most awesome customers and have had pleasure to see such inspiring
families grow.A few years ago I read an article in the new york times the discussed
how local shops provide more that just goods and services. The small
businesses in an urban environment create places for people to connect. It
is a place where you meet your neighbors or those with common ideals. It
reflects the richness of the culture.”- Ellie Cassidy

Sustainable Urban Fasion: Eco-Friendly Goods for City Living

The sign outside our shop says  Bootyland: Sustainable Urban Fashion, and we’ve been using that as a tagline in our advertisements for years. But what exactly do we mean by “sustainable urban fashion”?

Sustainability has been the guiding principle of everything we do here at Bootyland for over ten years now.  This is the definition we use:

Sustainable: A resource that meets present needs without compromising those of future generations.

Which is great – but we want you all to know how we translate this idea into action.  One major way we practice sustainability is in our vendor and merchandise selection. We made this pie chart to illustrate how our current vendors fit into Bootyland’s sustainability categories.

Look, we made a chart!

As you can see, the majority of the companies we buy from use either Organic Fabrics (like cotton, bamboo and hemp) or other Eco-Friendly Materials (like sustainably harvested wood, natural rubber and non-toxic paints).

We are also committed to supporting local artisans and local economies. 12% of our vendors are local designers, crafters and artists who are producing their merchandise right here in the Pacific Northwest. We feel lucky to be able to showcase so many beautiful, handmade items in our store.

Recycled and Upcycled content is a growing part of our business – 9% of our current vendors are using recycled and upcycled materials.

Flood Hat - made from upcycled materials!

Upcycling is a kind of recycling – designers take gently-used garments apart and use the materials to create something new. Flood Hats and Ricicli Clothing are two examples of designers using upcycled materials.

The final category is small but important. Living in Seattle means needing rain gear, but most raincoats and pants are made from vinyl (PVC).

Vinyl off-gasses toxic fumes, contains endocrine-disrupting chemicals, and is difficult to recycle, so we are excited to be able to offer PVC-free rain coats, pants, hats and mitts that are certified to be free of over 100 harmful chemicals. And they’re comfortable and cute! Our rainboots are also PVC-free and fully recyclable.

The Bootyland Crew scours the world looking for great products that fit our criteria. And we look at the manufacturing process as well as the materials, only purchasing from companies who treat their workers fairly.  We practice sustainability in other ways too – all of the paper products we use are recycled, we use soy based inks in our printing,  eco-friendly lighting in the store and we even clean up with green cleaning products. We want you to have an awesome time while you’re here, and be able to leave with a clear conscience.

So now you know what we mean by Sustainable. In my next post, I’ll talk about “urban fashion” and how you don’t have to sacrifice style to be eco-friendly.

organic kids clothing for back to school

We have been searching for hip, eco and organic kids fashions (as always) and we recently found a company that makes eco-friendly clothing for boys and girls, sizes 2-12, manufactured in the USA.

It has become common to buy local and
organic produce; we are also trying to bring that focus into other areas. Many people have not considered the clothing industry as an area where we can be more eco-friendly, but we can by choosing organic cotton, hemp, soy or bamboo clothing made with low-impact dyes.

Conventional cotton is one of the most chemically-dependent crops, sucking up 10 percent of all agricultural chemicals and 25 percent of insecticides.  This is hard on the enviornment as well as on anyone who works with the fiber or the thread or the eventual fabric and garments themsleves.
With all of that in mind we are happy to have found a great line that brings in organic, green spun, and upcycled fabrics. They do it with style and have kids clothes from 2 to 12. So your eco- conscious family can find a hip urban style that is ethically produced and made in the USA.  Sustainable Kids donates $1.50 of every purchase to the Hands and Feet Project’s Children’s Village in Haiti. The company also supplies a box with prepaid shipping to Haiti, for kids and parents to fill with small donations, teaching the value of community support.

Vote for Bootyland!

Do you think Bootyland rocks? Are we your favorite kid’s clothing store? Well, now is your chance to let everyone know.

We’ve been nominated for Parent’s Connect’s 2009 Parent’s Picks in the Best Kid’s Clothing Store Category – so please vote for us so we can get some free publicity!

The cool thing about this contest is you don’t have to register for their website to cast your vote. Just click here and you can vote for us. Right now a Bellevue store is winning – so we need Seattleites to represent.

While you’re there, you can register for a $2,000 sweepstakes prize too. Just think of the shopping spree you could go on with that! And click over to the Best Toy Store category and vote for our good friends at Izilla Toys -  because they rock. You can vote once a day until July 15th, and we really appreciate every vote you can send our way.