Now that I have three children, one of whom is still an infant, I look back at the days of running to do a quick errand with a sort of wistfulness. How easy it was to grab a loaf of bread, a bottle of wine or to mail a package at the post office. Now, everywhere I go, I bring at least two of my children with me, and at the very least, my baby boy, Cooper. Long gone are the days of strolling efficiently (and alone) in the grocery store, remembering all of the things that I had come for–and not needing to multi-task the whole time.

These days heading to the grocery store is no longer a simple chore and I always worry about my baby getting sick from being in such a public place. In order to make my shopping trips easier and safer for my baby, I need to remember a few important things: my shopping list, snacks for my older children and my handy-dandy shopping cart cover for Cooper.

This ingenious invention is one of my all-time favorite pieces of baby paraphernalia. It covers both the child seat in the cart and the handle bar that I push. Not only does it make the metal seat softer for my baby, it keeps him from sucking on it–as he tends to like to lean forward and mouth the handle bar if possible. It also has slits in the back so that the safety straps can be passed through and snap around him and has hooks to clip toys onto so they can’t be thrown overboard onto the floor.

Another cool feature of the shopping cart cover? It has multiple uses. It can also be used to cover highchairs in restaurants or baby bucket swings at the park. It simultaneously gives these seats more padding and a cover to keep my baby away from touching potentially germ-covered surfaces. Our seat cover is a fun bright blue color and we always get questions and compliments when we use it. And the last great thing about the shopping cart seat cover? It makes a great gift–practical and fun!

Since babies have been pooping and peeing, parents have been coming up with better and better ways to deal with the inevitable mess. Throughout most of history, parents decided that the sooner their babies were having regular, controlled bowel movements, the better.

Very early diapers consisted of moss, leaves and other plants wrapped inside of crudely woven bits of cloth or fibers.  And in warmer climates, many children never wore  diapers at all–and that is still true in many cultures today. Jump forward several centuries and with the emergence of textile factories, women began to wrap their babies in a kind of pad made from a fabric called “diaper.”–a linen or cotton stitched with a certain geometric pattern. This is where the name “diaper” came from.

Because none of the options were ideal, parents were eager to get their children to pee and poop without getting a diaper (or a bundle of moss) dirty.  Many used a type of potty  training called Elimination Communication–which involves signals and cues between baby and caregiver, resulting in baby urinating or defecating in an designated place.

In the 1950s, the first disposable diapers hit the mass market–and here is where things start to change. Before the emergence of disposable diapers, children were potty-trained at a much earlier age. In fact, in 1957, children began potty-training at around 11 months and most were dry during the day by the age of two!  The fact that the mothers had dirty diapers to wash gave them much more of an incentive to begin the process sooner.  It was a “parent-led process.”  These days we are told to “wait until the child gives us signs that he or she is ready.” And as a result, children are staying in diapers for an average of a year longer than their cloth diaper-wearing grandparents. Hmmmm…I wonder if the disposable diaper companies had anything to do with spreading this advice? It’s certainly possible because they were the primary benefactors of this change.

Using disposable diapers dramatically lessens the impetus on both the child’s end and the parents’ end: throwing diapers away is easier than washing them so Mom and Dad are in no rush to potty train; and baby feels fairly comfortable in today’s sodium polyacrylate-filled disposables—so why not keep peeing in them?  Cloth diapers naturally feel wet to the touch since they are not filled with water-absorbing chemicals. This is actually a good thing, for more than one reason–the child can better understand his or her bodily functions and can begin to relate the feeling of needing to urinate with the feeling of a wet or dirty diaper afterwards. This important lessen may be lost with today’s ultra-absorbent disposables.

In the next few months or so, I will begin trying to potty train Cooper. As a cloth diaper-wearing-baby ,will he train faster than his sisters did?  Time will tell.

Have you potty-trained in cloth, disposables or both? What were your experiences? Please share your stories!

I’m up at dawn, before my brood.
A cup of coffee helps my mood.
A quick peek at my Facebook page,
Then Baby’s cry starts my day.
I take the stairs, two by two.
Please don’t wake Big Sister who,
Will surely cry and whine at me.
I take the stairs, three by three.

Before the diaper change is done,
Out from her room, comes Number One.
Since Daddy Dear is still in bed,
I plop the baby on Daddy’s head.
Some warm milk and some cartoons,
And Big Sister will be happy too.
So back up the stairs I go,
Baby needs to nurse, I know.

One arm holds Baby as she eats,
The other arm strips the sheets.
While Daddy showers (by himself)
I put some books back on the shelf.
Then to pick out clothes (a dress)
For my three-year old Princess.
For many times I’ve heard her chant,
“Princesses don’t wear pants!”

We’re right on time, we’re doing well,
When suddenly, I smell a smell.
I lift my baby and she squirms
And my expert nose confirms.
“Oh no!” I wail, “It can’t be true!”
The infamous, last-minute poo!
And could it be a tiny poop?
No, it’s a total blow-out. Shoot.

It’s now official, we’ll be late,
I hurdle over the baby gate.
Then I cheer, “Let’s go, hurrah!”
So what if I forgot my bra?
Finally, we’re on the road.
I sip my coffee, long gone cold.
No make-up on, I’m in my sweats,
But hey, at least the kids are dressed.

The afternoon goes by so fast.
What have I done? Please don’t ask.
I picked up all the toys and then
I got to do it all again!
The cats want in, the dog wants out.
“Make up your minds!” I want to shout.
And when the house is almost neat,
In runs the dog with muddy feet.

At half-past five, a smiling face,
My husband and my saving grace.
How was his day? No time to talk.
“Here, you take the kids!” I bark.
The girls, they laugh and squeal with glee.
How come they only whine at me?
Now that Dad is finally home,
I relish five minutes all alone.

Then “I’m hungry!” cries my oldest child.
Her hair is mussed, her eyes are wild.
And so I rush to fix her plate.
My starving daughter must not wait.
She eats four peas and two French fries,
Then very sweetly bats her eyes.
She licks some ketchup off her thumb,
Looks at me and says “I’m done.”

Now time for stories and for bed,
We kiss her pretty princess head.
I nurse the baby in the rocking chair,
And gently stroke her silky hair.
I think I’ve died and gone to heaven,
They’re both asleep at half past seven.
I’m exhausted and frazzled, it’s true.
But do I love my life? You bet I do.

I was over-joyed when I first learned I was expecting my first baby. It wasn’t until sometime in the second trimester, when I finally started to show, that I really realized I was going to be giving birth–somehow and sometime–and only months away. I was scared. I knew that pushing our baby out was going to be the hardest physical challenge of my life so far. I decided to do what I do best when I start to worry: research.

One of the best ways to learn about things like pregnancy, parenting and childbirth is to talk to other moms. I started to pick the brains of my friends who had children. I asked them to tell me their stories, starting with how they first knew they were in labor, how long it lasted, whether or not they got pain medication and if they would change anything if they could go back and do it again. Many friends that I talked to had very strong opinions on things like natural childbirth with no pain medication or c-sections. I even had one friend who told me she was sure her sister could have “pushed her baby out if she had only tried harder.” She didn’t approve of the fact that her sister ended up with a cesarean since she had given birth to her own son vaginally, at home and with no meds. I have to admit, I was surprised to hear this. Why would moms feel the need to judge each other about an experience that is unique to each of us?

I also did a lot of research online. I read blogs by new moms, I learned about the risks and benefits of different interventions during the birth process and I found out how a spinal is different from an epidural. I also did a lot of reading about contractions and how to tell real labor contractions from Braxton-Hicks contractions. How would I know I was really in labor if my water didn’t break? I worried that I’d be in labor without knowing and end up having the baby on the kitchen floor. Ha! I later found out that my own real labor contractions were unmistakable.

I also bought lots of books on pregnancy and read them all. I even read them to my husband, who politely pretended to listen. And as I gathered more and more information about giving birth, I began to write my own birth plan. The first decision that I made was whether I wanted to give birth at home or in a hospital. That was easy: I wanted to give birth in a hospital. I had read many touching stories about home-birth experiences but I didn’t feel that would be a good option for a Nervous Nelly like myself. I also opted out of things like hypno-birthing and water birth, though I had learned breathing techniques at my child-birth class and planned to do some of my laboring in the jacuzzi tub in the labor and delivery room at the hospital.

In the end, the birth process did not go as I had hoped. I had a long and excruciating back labor, went for the epidural and ended up with a cesarean. But you know what? It was still childbirth–maybe it didn’t look or sound like a perfect story or fit many other people’s ideals of a what giving birth should look like–but it ended with a beautiful, healthy baby girl being put into my arms.

A few days ago, a small box arrived on my doorstep.  It was six new All In Ones (sizes Twos since Cooper just turned 11 months!) in a variety of colors and patterns, including my first diaper in Mud.  Very cool. I was so excited to try them out that I immediately threw them in the laundry to get them fluffed up and ready to use.

When my new diapers were prepped and ready for our virgin run, I brought Cooper to the changing table and took off the Duo Fab Fitted and cover he was wearing.   The diaper change was over so fast I barely knew what had happened. They were so easy to use I was like  “That’s it? That’s all there is to it?” I almost felt like I had forgotten to do something. I especially appreciated the  speed of the diaper change considering how Changing Cooper’s Diaper Has…Changed. I had the old diaper off and the new diaper on before he could even get in one good donkey kick.

What do the diapers look like? Well, they’re exactly the same as a Duo Fab Fitted but with the cover sewn right on. The inside has a trim-fitting soaker and the tunnel underneath for adding more inserts–for heavy wetters or nighttime use.   I’d have to say, with a squirmy 11 month old, they might  just be my new favorite fluff and my husband just told me that they’re his.  They’ll be a breeze to throw in the diaper bag so I’ll probably try to save them for outings.

Are the new All In Ones any different to wash?  Not so far.  Cooper has had several poops in them and despite the fact that the cover is sewn on, the diaper got just as clean, probably thanks to the “tunnel” left in the layers.  They did take slightly longer to dry, so midway  through the cycle I turned them inside out.  I don’t know if I’ll do that every time or not…I’m still experimenting.  When they came out of the drier, I turned them right side out, folded them up and took them upstairs to Cooper’s room to put away. No stuffing necessary.  They were ready to use in no time flat. I like that.

So if you’re looking to add to your stash, this mom highly recommends trying out Thirsties All In Ones.  Especially if you’ve got a mover and a shaker!