My favorite creation - Healing Salve (name updated to "the greenchild salve")

(Please note, the name of this salve was updated to "the greenchild salve" in 2015.)

Let me preface this post with "please always consult your medical practitioner" and "this product is not intended to diagnose, prevent, treat, or cure any disease".  I cannot make any sort of promise that my Healing Salve will heal anybody; yes the essential oils used have known properties, but people still may react differently to them. There are essential oils out there with proven properties that don't do the job for me. All I can tell you is what I personally use my salve for.  There, I think I covered it. :)

Today, as I got out of my Jeep to pick up my son from preschool, I managed to whack my leg pretty hard with the door of the Jeep.  After cussing silently to myself, hopping around a bit, rubbing my leg, and thinking "that's gonna leave a mark!" I realized that just inside the school was my son's backpack . . . and in it was a tub of my Healing Salve.  I limped my way inside and made my way straight to the salve, applied it, and breathed a sigh of relief.  The pain was gone and all I'll have to remind me of the incident is a little bit of scraped up skin.

Things I've used my Healing Salve for: sprained ankles, bruises, minor burns, scrapes, cuts, and inflammation - from joints to laryngitis, and my son's diaper rash.  I use my favorite herb and essential oils - plantain (plantago major), tea tree oil, lavender essential oil, rose geranium essential oil, oregano essential oil, sweet orange essential oil, and raw honey in a natural base of butters and oils.  Plantain has wonderful healing and anti-inflammatory properties; it is also anti-bacterial and helps control bleeding.  Tea tree is known to be anti-septic, anti-viral, anti-fungal, and anti-bacterial.  Lavender has been proven to have calming, soothing, sedating properties.  It is also commonly used as an anti-septic and to treat minor burns.  Rose geranium has astringent, anti-inflammatory, and mildly anti-bacterial properties.  Oregano essential oil is anti-bacterial, anti-fungal, anti-parasitic, and anti-viral.  Sweet orange essential oil is widely used as an anti-depressant for its uplifting scent as well as being anti-inflammatory and anti-septic.  Raw honey is not only delicious (LOL, do NOT eat the Healing Salve, trust me on that, it doesn't taste anywhere near as good as it smells!!) but is also anti-viral, anti-bacterial, and anti-fungal as well as anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidant; it is also used on burns.

My Healing Salve recipe originally called for only the first three: plantain, tea tree, and lavender, as I had plenty of experience using those three. Then I learned about (and tried) rose geranium.  While reducing bruising is not listed as one of its main uses, I found when applied within the first few minutes after a deep tissue injury that it gave an almost indescribably wonderfully warm caressing feeling to the injury that not only relieved my pain but significantly reduced the likelihood of resulting swelling and bruising. Successfully using it after several injuries, this became a permanent ingredient.  Oregano essential oil has such good properties that I decided to add it as an extra component; however, I very much dislike its scent and added sweet orange to temper it.  I love the scent of sweet orange essential oil and use it often in many of my skin care creations.  Later on I discovered how much I like raw honey when added to my lotions, so I added it to the salve too.  Honey does not like to emulsify well into butters and oils, so when making it, I continually stir the salve until cooled which helps to prevent separation.  If you ever see a watery separation in the salve, it's just the raw honey - no cause for worry, just stir it back in.

I do need to tell you that the Healing Salve is NOT intended for immediate use after chemical and severe burns.  Please wait at least a minimum of 1 - 2 hours after a chemical or severe burn to apply (please seek medical assistance!), or a stinging sensation may occur due to the essential oils used, as well as the already-irritated skin turning red for several minutes. Since I cook . . . a lot . . . I occasionally have had more-than-minor burns, and have learned this lesson well.  Also, as with any skin care product, please take care to keep out of baby's mouth.

How do I know all this about injuries?  I  . . . ummm . . . LOL . . . happen to have a lot of experience in the bumps, bruises, sprains, strains, cuts, scrapes, abrasions, burns, etc. department . . . I was a pretty accident-prone person until I learned to slow down!  I was always in too much of a hurry and well, accidents happened.  A lot. Often. I've fallen down the stairs more times than I can remember, and sprained my ankles more times than I can count. During all that, I also followed the typical Standard American Diet and had chronic pain while in my twenties. While I have since moved to what's called the paleo way of eating (thanks to my son's needs) and no longer have chronic pain, that chronic pain is what led me to create my Healing Salve in the first place for the anti-inflammatory properties and it has since blossomed into so much more.

greenchildcreations.etsy.com

Some personal thoughts today . . .

It's the new year already and I've been spending a lot of time reflecting on days past.  I am thankful for the things I've learned and for all those loved ones in my life and especially thankful for the wonderful opportunities headed my way!  It is because of all of that, that I am who I am today.

I saw an article today on ABC News that made me smile, and I wanted to share.

While December 31st 2012 marked the passing of my beloved grandmother, who nutured my love of sewing, it also marked the 5 year anniversary of a terrible time in my life; our first attempt with IVF (In Vitro Fertilization) unfortunately resulting in a ruptured uterus and subsequent removal and of course death of our 7 week baby, the first one that had a heartbeat, seen for the first time mere hours before.  So, as you can imagine, I've been thinking about babies and pregnancy a lot lately.

With the rupture, my son's pregnancy 6 months later was considered high risk – first because of the recent rupture, then because of the suspicion of Down Syndrome, then later for the placenta’s placement (the placenta's placement eventually caused severe hemorrhaging, resulting in his earlier-than-planned premature birth).  And with a high risk pregnancy came ultrasounds – lots of them.  And I mean LOTS! Because of the high risk pregnancy I was advised not to travel on my own so family and friends came with me to all of my OB appointments and got to see my son in all his pre-birth glory, 3- and 4-D ultrasounds included.  It was amazing to be able to share that with my mother and my mother-in-law; they loved seeing him wiggle around on the screen, having never experienced an ultrasound with their own pregnancies many years ago.

The ultrasounds were necessary for us, but I have no opinion on their safety for typical pregnancies because I have no experience with that; I've had 4 pregnancies, none of them typical (actually, since the previous 3 were all heterotopic pregnancies, my son's pregnancy is the closest to normal I ever had!).  Having had so many ultrasounds, and being able to share them with those close to me, I love this idea!  Sonogram Parties!  If we ever have another pregnancy (which would hopefully NOT be high risk, which would then not involve so many ultrasounds), this is something I'd love to do and share with my family and friends.

 

Please feel free to share your thoughts and experiences! :)

greenchildcreations.etsy.com

Toddlers in diapers!

30lb stocky toddler

Converting friends to cloth is fun!  A very good friend we often stay with recently decided to convert, so when we visited last weekend, I brought her order of diapers.  It was hilarious to watch her 30lb toddler run around in his new fluff, jumping to land on his newly padded rear to see how soft it was!

When I created this design, I had only my own child to try it out on.  Thankfully many wonderful online cloth diapering friends across the US and Canada volunteered to try it out and give feedback.  And thanks to those generous Mama’s, within 5 or 6 modifications from my original try I got my fitted pattern set to what it is now.  But I still have only my own child on whom to see the diaper in person.  Since first using this fitted design on him over two years ago, I’ve adjusted his rise setting up about 3”, so it really does continue to fit nicely with a growing child.



The two boys together, M on the left,
my son K on the right

This was my first experience seeing my diapers on another child in person.  And not only did I get to see it on my friend’s son, I got to change his diapers too, LOL!!  It was really gratifying to be able to really see how well the diaper fits on a child so much bigger than my own, with room to spare.  While the same height as my son, this little boy is about 7lbs heavier, and much stockier.  It only took a minute to figure out where to set his rise - due to his larger thighs, we determined his rise to be about a couple inches longer than where I set my son’s rise.

Due to my son’s physical delays, it may be a few years yet before he is out of diapers.  It’s good to know that he won’t outgrow these fitted diapers anytime soon!

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Natural skin care

Growing up, we used whatever commercial lotion smelled nice. I remember having terribly raw, red, chapped hands as a child. In my later teens, I switched to more natural lotions. They smelled great, but I needed to apply them all the time to keep my skin moisturized, which, since they smelled so good I really didn't mind. But I still had really dry, itchy skin in the cold winter months.

In my twenties I worked in the natural skin care industry for a few years and learned quite a bit. Those "more natural" lotions I thought were better still had petrochemicals and other artificial ingredients. At the time, my father had recently passed away from cancer so I really wanted to make healthy changes in my life. I had always been interested in nature and natural remedies, and it was time to get it in high gear.

I bought books on soap and lotion making, took classes, and began creating cold process soap and made-from-scratch lotions & salves in my own kitchen. My first attempts were . . . less than pretty, LOL!! My first attempt at soap I discovered I don't like olive oil as a main ingredient - one of the ingredients, yes, but not the main ingredient. That yields a greenish-yellow, slimy, low-lather bar. It cleaned, but it wasn't anything like the luxurious cold process soaps I'd previously used. My first attempt at lotion I used beeswax and borax together as the emulsifier - tricky getting the amounts right, but it did the job! However, it made for a gritty-feeling lotion.

With my mini-successes, I began to purchase better ingredients for the job and have been experimenting ever since. I love to try out different ingredients! There are so many oils, butters, essential oils, and extracts to choose from! And the never-ending list of botanicals . . . I've been successfully making lotions, soaps, and salves for about a decade now.

The best part though, is knowing I'm giving my skin what it needs most - healing, moisturizing goodness right from nature. I only apply twice per day now, and that's more out of habit than need (and because it smells fantastic!). Even with washing my hands what seems like a zillion times per day with diaper duty, I don't need to apply lotion very often - and, a tiny little bit goes a very long way!  The worst part is having to wash my hands in public restrooms when on the go. Oh, I forget how harsh and drying those handsoaps are! Ouch!! I need to remember to keep a small bar of my soap in the diaper bag!!

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Flats? Why yes, thank you!

This summer, I decided to make 20 new flats for my son for our trips to the cabin - made from printed cotton twill, the same fabric I use for some of my fitteds. I wanted to do this because we only have a clothesline at the cabin, not a dryer. Cotton twill doesn't get crunchy like other fabrics can when line dried, and when made into a flat, it line dries fairly quick in comparison to a fitted diaper.

I didn't think I would like flats . . . but as it turns out I love them! Granted they aren't my favorite for containing messy poops, and that may be my fault for how I fold them - but they are a very nice one-size option. The ones I made are smaller than a traditional flat: I took one yard of cotton twill, kept it folded in half the way it comes off the bolt, and cut it in half at 18". This makes two double-sided flats out of each yard. I lay in an insert and fold the flat to the rise I need, and voila, a diaper!

Flats are also a nice option when your baby needs a more breatheable diaper. While I love fitted diapers and find them to be quite breatheable when used coverless around the house, the gussets at the legs do hold in more heat than a non-elastic flat diaper.

I'm so glad I tried flats! As the saying goes ~ you never know what you'll like unless you try it!

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Why Pins?

I'll be honest. I don't like fancy gadgets that can break before you're ready to stop using them. I have a cell phone, but I don't have a smart phone or an ipad, or even an ipod. Or a laptop. Heck, even my stove is as simple as I could possibly find - gas burners with knobs! Except for my sewing machine and my love of running hot water, I think I could happily live like a cavewoman. Except Photoshop. I really like Photoshop! Okay, and maybe my luxury mattress and super soft sheets . . .

People ask me why I love pins. It's simple really - snaps can break. Aplix eventually wears out. Once either of those two things happen, you're left with a diaper that won't stay fastened. Now, if a pin breaks, the diaper is fine, you just need a new pin. And pins are much cheaper to replace than sending a diaper off for repairs, and easier than repairing it yourself.

Why pins over a Snappi or Boingo? Universal use and accessability. Pins can be used on all fitted diaper fabrics, but Snappis and Boingos work best with a fabric they can really grab. Pins are easy to source locally, even easier if you don't get the special "diaper" pins, and just use regular safety pins.

And my favorite reason to use pins: they give the best, most adjustable fit! There definitely is a learning curve to using them.

* To get the best fit, gather as much fabric in the pin as you possibly can. This helps the fabric to slide around less when baby moves.

* When putting the pin on, get that diaper tighter than you think it needs to be because stretchier fabrics really sag when wet, leaving gaps at the legs. (This is the reason I don't use interlock cotton, it sags too much when wet.)

* For older, more mobile babies, use two pins and place them at an angle starting from the legs and angle up to the waist. This helps prevent wing droop, just as if the diaper had hip snaps.

* To help slide the pin thru the fabric, it must be either super super sharp, or the fabric must be a really loose weave (like birdseye cotton), or most commonly, lubricated with oil. Sticking the pin in a bar of cold process soap, running the pin thru your hair, or even dunking it in an oil-based diaper salve will all help slide the pins thru the fabric.

Pins I recommend: either Prym or Dritz locking head pins (both brands are the same pins). I do NOT recommend the newer Gerber diaper pins. They are dull and a thick gauge wire - no matter how much you lubricate them, they still don't want to slide thru the fabric easily. The vintage ones were great, though! The cheapie pins you can find on Ebay are okay, but what you get is not always consistent: some have a thinner gauge wire than others, and may easily bend when attempting to slide thru fabric. The upside of those is the thinner gauge wire slides thru the fabric easier than a thicker gauge wire and needs less lubrication. I definitely do not recommend the thin cheap pins for a very mobile child as the wire is so bendable that too much movement can bend the wire and pop the pin open. However, they are great for quick pinning on a young, not-very-mobile baby.

Questions? Comments? Feel free! :)

greenchildcreations.etsy.com

Diaper Rashes

Diaper rash can be a major pain in the butt, literally! So many things can cause it - laundry detergent sensitivity, fabric sensitivity, too much wetness, too much dryness (microfiber), medications . . . but let's not forget food. I have seen so many people give up on cloth because they couldn't figure out or get rid of the diaper rash.

We'd been using cloth with zero rashes for just about 1 year. Then, when Kaiden turned 2, a nasty bright red rash appeared up front. The only thing we'd changed, quite literally, was following (against my Mama's intuition) the pediatrician's direction to double Kaiden's meat consumption, she wanted him to gain weight faster (long story there). Well, not only did he get a nasty rash, but Kaiden developed lymphedema as well. That was very scary; he could have lost his fingers. As many of you know, Kaiden has special needs and we follow the paleo diet for him (which I absolutely love, by the way!!)

One of the things I am exceedingly thankful for is to be naturally very good at analyzing data; seeing patterns in it. And I love to research! (Incidentally, analyzing and research is also how I figured out and stopped his seizures - read his story in my cookbook, Cavemom's Cooking.) So, knowing there had to be something to doubling his meats, I dove into research and learned about the acid/alkaline balance within the body. I treated him naturally and it cleared right up. After a few test dinners, I found out that the higher protein meats, pork and beef, were the cause. Ahhh, figured that one out: use lighter protein meats and portion out his meat/fruit/veg accordingly. Do NOT double his meats!!! I won't even go into how his pedi didn't handle it, among other things. :(

But, we still had this almost constant rash that had started at the same time! What the heck, was he now sensitive to the detergent, the fabric, what?? Did we need to strip diapers? Or was the stripping of diapers making it worse? I tried and tried and tried . . . and it wasn't until chatting with one of my best friends when she mentioned her youngest son was sensitive to apples. Apples gave him the same type of rash Kaiden had every time. Now, with Kaiden's special needs comes texture issues. He was getting a lot of apple sauce mixed with his food - he prefers his food to be wet, cold, and cohesive. I eliminated apples, and the rash got better! Not gone, but better. Wondering what else was causing it, I began to eliminate different foods, and re-introducing them. Kaiden now has quite the list: All fruit juices (too concentrated), all dried fruits (too concentrated), all citrus. Apples, pears, plums, pluotts, apricots, nectarines, pomegranates, mangoes.

As summer drew nearer, we had switched from using frozen fruits to fresh fruits. Some frozen fruits are fine, while the same fruit fresh is not - pineapple and mango. My biggest lesson though, was about peaches. We ate the fruits available - and peaches were in the "off" season. When Kaiden ate peaches, his rash got A LOT better. During this time, we started seeing a different doctor, whom I LOVE. He explained about the sulfur content in the peaches that neutralizes other foods.

So, I beg of you - before you give up cloth because of a diaper rash you can't seem to get rid of, please look at the foods your child is eating (or drinking, if your child drinks breastmilk - some foods definitely pass thru breastmilk!!). It may be easier than you think to get rid of that rash!

Now, as long as we avoid the list of fruits above, and he eats some peach slices every day, the diaper rash is quite minimal - just the usual - in a wet diaper too long, heat rash from the hot humid weather, and now . . .since he loves to steal food off my plate (and I am a total sucker for fresh pineapple) . . .that kid loves pineapple. So we deal with a little diaper rash every now and then. ;-)

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