Wet Bag Week: Mama Cloth Monday

**Let's preface this post - begin TMI alert**

Okay, now that that is out of the way. Today's contribution to Wet Bag Week is all about the wonders that is mama cloth, and how you can seamlessly incorporate reusable menstrual products into your day-to-day life.

 

First of all, my AF stash* (that is 'Aunt Flow' for you those of you new to the online lexicon): 

• 1 Medium Wet/Dry Planet Wise wet bag
• 1 Double-Sided Small mama cloth wet bag
• 1 Mooncup by Keeper menstrual cup
• 6 Thong Liners (all from Pleat)
• 18 Liners (a mix of lay-in liners from Mother Moon, Lemon Liners from Wasabi Mommi and snap-in liners from Tree Hugger)
• 1 Normal Pad (from Mother Moon)
• 5 Heavy/Overnight Pads (from Mother Moon and Wasabi Mommi)

For daytime I primarily use the cup with liners as backup. For nighttime I use the cup paired with the largest pad that is clean. I don't know if this happens to you (and I actually read there is some science behind this), but I don't sleep well when AF is in town. Instead, I am often sleepless, tossing and turning. I find that using a large back-up pad helps me sleep better.

Now, on to the wet bags. I have found that I like having two wet bags to make my AF as easy as possible. 

 

I love my double-sided portable wet bag. It ensures I don't fall back on my small stash of disposable products (kept mostly on hand for visitors to our home who might need an emergency loaner item or two). Instead, keeping the wet bag packed under the sink ensures I can grab  it, throw it into the massive mom purse (I use the term endearingly, as I love massive bags!) and go. I store clean pads in one pocket, with the other pocket is standing by. Or, if I'm expecting AF at any time, I pack liners in one side of the wet bag and the cup in the other side.

 

My second wet bag is a Planet Wise Medium Wet/Dry. This bag serves a two  functions. While AF is here, I clip the bag in a handy spot (for me this is the door handle next to the toilet) and store all of my clean pads in the dry pocket. When I change my pad, I throw it in the sink and run it under cold water until the water runs clear (tip - don't wring the pad out - leaving a bit of water in the pad will help prevent stains). I then transfer the used pad into the wet pocket of the wet bag until laundry time (for now my pads are washed with our diaper laundry; once my lovely girl potty trains I imagine I'll do one small mama cloth load at the end of the cycle).

The second use is purely to satisfy my desire to organize every possible area of my life. When AF is out of town (gosh, whoever invented that expression anyways?!), I store all my clean mama cloth , cup and small double-pocket wet bag in the dry pocket. I then can stash this neat little bundle of goodness in the cupboard.

Intrigued? Want to learn more about mama cloth? Check out the bottom of this page for a quick primer on the types of mama cloth. Want to learn more about menstrual cups? I found this post incredibly helpful when deciding what I wanted to buy.

*Just like cloth diapering is completely subjective, so is mama cloth. What one person loves will be completely off-putting for someone else. I quickly found I preferred the cup+liner over any other combination, so then I invested more in my liner collection. And I find some liners work best with different pairs of underwear. So, just like your baby has particular diapers for particular events, times or outfits, well.... so do I. ;)

**end TMI alert - we now return you to your regularly-scheduled programming**

Welcome to the WAHMlight: Double Feature

For this month, the attention shifts to you! (But not to worry, great diapering specials in store for both Black Friday and December's WAHMlight! Stay tuned in the coming days for hints.)

To start off the family focus with a bang, I've got not one, but two great WAHMs to introduce you to! In addition to amazing women, they also make amazing products. If you haven't considered a switch to natural products for yourself and the rest of your family, I highly recommend tipping your toe into this water. I am confident you won't regret it! 

And of course there is a giveaway. More details can be found following the two interviews. 

First up, Mother Moon Pads! 

Itsy Bitsy Bums: Please tell us about yourself and your family. 

Mother Moon: My name is Denelle, and I live in Neenah, WI, with my husband Henry, 3 children, and 1 fur kid. Henry and I have been married 10 years. Gwendolynne is 13, Ezekiel is 3, and Eleanor is 7 months old. Our furry child, Lady Bird, is 8. We are a very close knit family and family means everything to us. 

Mother Moon wingless liners

IBB: Is mama cloth something you grew up using? If not, do you recall when you first learned of it?

MM: I was not fortunate enough to use mama cloth growing up. I didn't learn that such a thing existed until I started cloth diapering my son. There was this sucession of "crunchiness" for me. Everything started with babywearing my first newborn, almost 14 years ago. When I was pregnant with my second child, I knew I wanted to wear him too (although not in the overpadded Nojo I wore my oldest in!). When I found TheBabyWearer, I learned about other natural parenting/living lifestyles, which led me to cloth diapering. Cloth diapering led me to DiaperSwappers, where I learned about mama cloth. 

OBV (Organic Bamboo Velour) topped pads

IBB: How did you decide to start making mama cloth? 

MM: I'm a very do it yourself type of person. I have a hard time purchasing items that I can make. When I convinced myself to try mama cloth, I knew that I could make it myself. Hundreds of tester pads later, I started selling MotherMoonPads under the KeepYourBabyClose name. 

the fabric stash!

IBB: Have you ever considered adding additional products to Mother Moon? What might they be? 

MM: In 2006, I started out in business as KeepYourBabyClose. I made and sold pouch slings, ring slings, linen wraps, nursing covers and mei tais. Over time, I have transitioned to what I truly love making, which is mama cloth. At this time, mama cloth keeps me more than busy, so I will not be offering any additional products. I do occasionally make custom embroidered diapers, or matching newborn diaper and postpartum mama cloth sets. 

I believe that by creating things that make me happy, this in turn makes me a better seller and happier person all around.

Denelle's sewing area is in the dining room

IBB: What tips do you have for WAHMs and WOHMs when it comes to juggling so many things at once (a little birdie told me you are also persuing a degree in accounting)? 

MM: My biggest piece of advice is: Do what you love, love what you do, and accept that you can't do everything. 

I am a WAHM and full time college student. I graduate this December with my BA in Accounting. I very carefully schedule my days and weeks in an attempt to fit everything in. I am fortunate enough to have a husband that is able and willing to assist me when needed. 

Our typical day consists of waking up, making breakfast and getting our oldest off to school and Daddy to work. My younger two love to play together while I start the orders for the day.

We also love to have morning playdates. Every Wednesday is our day off. We love to go to the Children's Museum or have friends over to play & sew. After lunch, my 3 year old lays down to have rest time. I wrap my youngest on my back, and we settle in for nap time (her) and sewing (me).

After nap time, we make supper together, and sit down to eat when Daddy gets home from work. We eat together every night. After supper, I work on homework and have family time. It's a crazy, action filled day, but it seems to work for our family. 

I do, however, have to accept that there are days where my children might need me more than usual and we will accomplish nothing. Those days are okay to have to. After all, my main goal is to keep my family happy and their needs fulfilled. 

Denelle's favorite view of her serger ♥ 

Second, Green Body Basics! 

From the WAHM behind GBB, Kristin - 

'Thank you, Abby, for featuring Green Body Basics as your WAHM business of the month.

'WAHM is one of my many roles. I am a mid twenties, degreeseeking, partner, internet surfing, shopping loving, natural thinking , tea drinking, karma believing, book loving woman.

'But my most important roll is mother, to my daughter as well as to my two black labs. My daughter is 16 months old and the love of my life.  I met her father 3 years ago and it was one of those "love at first sight" kind of stories.  Fast forward to 2 years ago and we discovered we were pregnant. A few weeks later we receive some abnormal results on our APF test and after further investigation discovere that Poppy-Ann has spina bifida.  This was a changing point in my life, as I had never before considered reducing the amount of chemicals I was exposed to, as I lived "healthy enough."  This lead me to finding alternatives to my daily products as well a leading me to live a less waste producing life.

'One product I knew I could not switch was my deodorant, as I had been a clinical/prescription strength user since my teenage years, suffering from what I was lead to believe was hyperhyrosis(over active sweat glands).  Fast forward again, and after many long months of using myself an family as guinea pigs I developed Green Body Basics Naturally effective deodorant, a completely natural an chemical free solution!  GBB has been recognized by Skin Deep's Cosmetic Database with a '0' hazard score for this very reason.  I submitted my product for review and was very happy to receive the feedback as my product has the lowest hazzard rating available, which is an honor.  From this point I continue my filing with PETA as a "cruelty-free" no animal testing company.

'Keeping in line with natural and environmentally friendly, I try my hardest to purchase all my ingredients from companies with honest environment supporting suppliers and practices. This was also reason for a change to remove palm oil from my products a few months after beginning business, as it was not a resource I felt comfortable using due to it's over farming.

'I love trying and creating new products and have been making my own cleaners and soaps for some months as well.  As for the future of what customer may see at GBB only time will tell, I have a few items for next summer lined up as well as some cold/flu season items that I am hoping to perfect here in the next month.'

Thank you Kristin and Denelle, I am so excited to feature both of you this month, in addition to stocking your products at IBB!

Now, for the swag:

• 1 1oz Green Body Basics deodorant in 'Sensual' 
• 4 Green Body Basics scent samples in 'Classic,' 'Immunity,' 'Sporty' and 'Stamina' (one in each scent)
• 1 8" Mother Moon Wingless Pantyliner
• 1 Mother Moon OBV Pantyliner (I pick the length for the OBV pads)
• 1 Mother Moon OBV Normal Flow pad 
• 1 Mother Moon OBV Heavy Flow pad

Typically WAHMlight giveaways are won by sending in action shots. Clearly I won't be asking for action shots this month. LOL.

Instead, you have several easy ways to win: 

• Every order at IBB is automatically entered to win (1 entry per order)
• Grab IBB's button (under 'Share the Love' in the right-hand navigation bar) and display on your blog (5 entries for this! button must remain up for the entire month of November)
• Become a fan of Bitsy Buzz (1 entry)
• Become a fan of IBB on Facebook (1 entry)
• Browse the store, then come back and tell me your favorite item carried by IBB

Please be sure to comment below to enter yourself, including links when applicable. Deadline to enter is November 30th. Winner to be announced by December 3rd on Facebook and this very blog. 

Happy Hunting!