Butt Wipes

I am new to the natural parenting thing to be honest.  I turned my life around and started living more naturally about 3 1/2 years ago, after my daughter was already born.  So, she endured disposable diapers, wipes, baby formula instead of breastfeeding and a million other things that she happily survived and is none the wiser, but that I would never do again.  I still do not cloth diaper full time.  I do it at home and sometimes out but my 9mo old is generally in disposables when we are out because I have a bit of a handbag fetish and I will be damned if poop gets on my Louis Vuitton.  (I recently used cloth out and had a wet bag with 2 diapers in it that I forgot about.  The next day when I went to retrieve my wallet for a supermarket purchase, I was hit in the face with the stench of shit permeating out of my precious Damier Neverfull MM.  Horror of horrors!)

My main reason for cloth diapering and using cloth wipes is really an environmental issue moreso than anything else.  My husband and I almost make a game of seeing how little trash we can accumulate in a weeks time.  When garbage day hits, our recycling bins are overflowing but our trash is nill.  The thought of stuffing landfills with poop filled chemical laden disposable diapers pains me and I just can't bear it.  While the idea of cloth wipes freaked me out at first far worse than the idea of cloth diapers, I soon became addicted and it is the ONLY way his butt gets wiped at home. 

I started off buying organic cotton cloth wipes online and they though they are great, baby washcloths are far less expensive and do the job just as well.  I have found baby washcloths for super cheap and have quite a collection now.  I keep them in an open plastic shoebox in the top drawer of our changing table and on top sits my wipe solution.

To make the wipe solution, boil water and then cool to room temperature to remove impurities.  Funnel into a decorative soap dispenser.  Add about 1-2 pumps or squirts of organic baby wash and a few drops of lavender essential oil.  You can also add a drop or 2 of coconut oil, aloe vera or sweet almond oil.  Put the pump back on the dispenser and shake it up gently.  Voila!  Wipe solution!  Just squirt some solution onto your wipe and wipe away! 

I just throw them into my cloth diaper pail but if you use disposables, you could use a separate small pail with lid for your wipes or a hanging wet bag.  Wash in hot water.