Cloth Diapers and Soap Nuts

I honestly would  say that I am a new user to these wonderful nuts!  Soapnuts Why? It is because I started to cloth diaper my kiddo at about 8 months when  the storm  settled down. Yes I know a lot of people settled down within 4 months but with my strong willed baby it took us longer. Since I am a full time working mother, my plan of cloth diapering  is only materialised on weekends, but I have a great nanny who uses napkin folds as well as disposable diapers so my girl is not exclusively on disposable diapers. Hopefully toilet training will be easy on us so we can kiss the whole diapering business good bye..soon.

Why cloth diapers? To some people it is a hassle because you have more in your laundry basket. Some of my friends think I am crazy to go through such trouble so that my kiddo's bum bum is healthy. Well it is not just about butt health but general wellness as well. Our clean sterile looking diapers and pads are all bleached  and the by-product is Dioxin which is the most toxic of all cancer-linked chemicals.  Certain dioxins have been shown to be a carcinogen and to affect the reproductive and immune systems, cause skin disease, birth defects and liver damage. In response to scares over dioxin exposure, several disposable diaper manufacturers have started to product diapers that are unbleached or bleached without chlorine. Have you tried smelling a fresh disposable diaper? The better the claims of absorbency  the stronger the chemical smell. If you have not, just pick up one today and take a deep breath I sure you will be surprised.

Let's start with soap nuts, these are nature's cleaning gift to us sans nasty chemical and residues. I started using soap nuts because my cloth diapers needed a gentle cleaning agent that won't leave any traces on my precious soakers and inserts. Residues will affect absorbency and in the long run lower the performance of cloth diapers. I got my first package of soap nuts from another mom that I befriended online. She has been my helpline for my list of questions. So far I have been using the nuts to not just wash my cloth diapers but for all my kiddo's clothes. 

Just drop 5 to 8 nuts in a muslin,cotton or organza bag if you run out of bags an old cotton sock will do the trick as well. Some people drop few drops of essential oil on the bag before starting the wash cycle. Soap nuts are washing machine friendly as long they don't run astray in the load. It won't do any harm to the machine, just that you will need to comb through your wet laundry to pick them up. We mothers have no time so let's get it right from the beginning.


Once you are done with the wash cycle, dry the nuts and reuse them for your next washing load. From my experience, the nuts can be stretched up to 3 washes before they come to pieces but don't throw them away, boil these bits and you will have liquid soap  for your dishes and other utilities. Isn't this just cool. Savings for our pockets and the environment too. Soap nuts can be used for cleaning for the whole family from clothes, furniture and jewellery. For stubborn stains you might have to use oxygen bleach which is a stronger version of hydrogen peroxide  or just look up these kitchen remedies of vinegar and sodium bicarbonate. Just be careful with sodium bicarbonate as it can strip of colours from clothing. 

Once i left my nutties in the socks and forgot to dry them out, resulting in my whole load smelling funny, the type that you get when your laundry did not get enough sunlight so lesson learnt, please hang your soap nuts to air dry before using them again. Soap nuts react to moisture quickly if you run water through it fine bubbles form easily, so do keep them in an air tight container so that they don't turn mouldy from air moist.

Cloth diapers are lovely,  the yummy colours make you want to add more to your collection. I love my stash and all mummies who cloth diaper their little munckin will know how addictive it can be. Of course being new to cloth diapering can be confusing, I too walked down that road of blurriness reading post and forums on the types of diapers out there. From AIO, AI2, AI3, Pocket Diapers and the myriad of brands out there. Really there is no one ultimate brand that is the best so mummies will need to experiment and discover which is the best for your little angels. My simple definition of the types of cloth diapers

AIO
All in One cloth diapers have  inserts  sewn onto the diaper cover/shell. You will have to change everything when it is wet or soiled

AI2 
For this type, there is a cover/shell and the soakers. You can change up to 2 soakers using the same shell but of course it is a personal choice if shells are changed too.

Pocket Diapers
The diaper comes with a small opening where you can insert the soakers/micro fibre, hence the name pocket diaper.  You will have to change everything when it is wet or soiled.

There are also sizes from newborn to one size fits all. I personally prefer the One Size Fits all because it grows with the baby. Do use a suitable diaper/barrier cream to avoid residue accumulation  on your cloth diaper. I love Grovia Magic Stick, the scent is lovely as you can smell the soft notes of essential oil, grape seed  and jojoba oil.  By now I am sure you can pick up that I am a fan of Grovia cloth diapers and anything that says GROVIA. The price range is between RM60 to RM65 for shells and sets will be going for about RM90 to RM95. The soakers are organic cotton and it feels smooth and lovely, just right for my baby's delicate bum bum.

Cloth Diapering is therapeutic and I know my baby is getting the best out of her diapering experience.  Happy diapering and nut washing mama!

P/S: Next I will be adding more info about managing your diaper pail..so watch this space.

Healthy Snacks for Toddlers

What do you feed your little ones when it is not breakfast, lunch, tea or dinner? We all love our snacks , cookies and chips for the in betweens and I am sure our kiddos would like to have some nibbles in  and out of their main meals as well.  These lovely coloured  containers surely comes handy when you are travelling with your little tots because a busy munching mouth is distracted, therefore lowering the opportunity  to whine, tho I can testify to whiners who can really perform the whole drama with their mouth stuffed with food.

For me greased chips and fries are not  an option  so I either prepare my snacks myself or buy healthy organic snacks off the shelves.  Can't imagine how some people can feed their child with msg laded chips and fries, still figuring that out...
If you look down the aisle of our  finger food counters, the price tags  will set you back, judging from the fact that most of us mummies would pick up more than one variety of snacks for our munckins. At the moment my little monster loves her Happy Family Banana and Plum Organics Sweet Potato Puffs. The Broccoli, Kale and Cheddar Cheese strips is also a favourite with her but her all time favourite will be the sweet potato puffs because it has a nice cane syrup fragrance to it, even we like the taste as well. The cheddar strips are yummy too with a slight taste of cheese and it is not salty at all which is good because we all know that salt should be kept at a minimum for children because of their developing kidney functions.

The last time I checked, our retailers  were selling them between RM20 to RM25. If I have bought them here it will cost me close to RM100, so I browsed through iHerb and guess what I found, my ever reliably site does carry them for a fraction of what we need to pay here. The puffs  and strips are going for about RM10 to RM12, what a steal!  Even when delivery is added it is still cheaper. Now it is even better with the discount code of OFA675, first time buyers can save up to USD10 when you purchase up to $40. 

So for mummies, you can give these a try and do let me know if your LO (Little One, Loved One) likes it. Happy munching!


These are the ingredients of the my ordered puffs. They have iron in it  so do top up the liquids.

Banana Puffs Ingredients

Organic rice, organic whole oats, organic wheat, organic apple juice concentrate, organic whole grain brown rice, organic wheat starch and organic banana. Vitamins and minerals such as ascorbic acid, calcium,  E, iron, D3, Niacin, B3, B5, B2, B1,B6,B12 and Folic Acid.

Allergen info:  No corn, soy, dairy but contains wheat

Plum Organic Super Puffs Ingredients

Organic rice flour, organic whole oat flour,organic dried cane syrup, organic brown rice, organic blueberry powder, natural flavour, organic dried purple sweet potato, citric acid . Vitamins and minerals like potassium, calcium, C, iron, zinc, E and D3 

Allergen info : May contain soy and wheat

Broccoli, kale and cheddar munchies Ingredients

Organic whole grain yellow corn, organic canola oil, organic cheddar cheese (milk, cultures, salt, enzymes, sodium phosphate), organic broccoli and organic kale. Vitamins & minerals such as  iron, sea salt, D3, niacin,zinc, B5, B6, B2, B1, B12 and Folic Acid  


Allergen info: No soy, wheat and nuts but contains corn and dairy 

Tooth Cleaning for Toddlers

How many of you are a fan of MY MILK TOOF? For those who are in the dark, MMT is about 2 adorable "milk toofs". They are ickle who is smart, curious and loves reading, likes  cutting coupons, nibbling on furniture and  interestingly adores  David Bowie. Lardee on the other hand is  loveable and follows ickle around the house. Lardee has a magical red bag with an endless supply of things. These cute creations are of Inhae Lee, a Korean artist living in the States now.

Every time I look at my baby's teeth ickle and lardee comes up to me. One day my baby's teeth will fall and run off to an adventure just like lardee and ickle and I hope they have a good time exploring the world after being in a cave for far too long.

Since we are on the topic of "toofs" we all know how important it is to take care of our pearly, with that said mouth hygiene starts young, but try telling that to a toddler. Good luck!

From many parenting books that I have read, authors have recommended that we can start the trip to the dentist as young as 12months. I have brought this up with others and was shot down saying that it is far too early. Some people will say 2 some say 2 plus and it just varies. Oh well I guess the cue would be when  parents are ready, comfortable and confident about handling their kiddo at the doctor's office.

I was looking around for ways of cleaning my little babe mouth and stumble upon Tooth Tissues .   Tooth Tissues are disposable textured dental wipes specially designed to help remove plaque from your baby and toddler's teeth and gums. Tooth Tissues are natural, fluoride-free, paraben-free and contain  xylitol. They were created by two dentist for their own kids and now it is quite a hit. The tissues are soft and nice and has a oatmeal colour contrasting to the white bleached tissue papers. There is a slight scent that might be unpleasant for some nostrils but it's manageable. My fussy pot is not protesting so I assume it is ok.

They are easy to use and acts like an introduction to brushing for your little one. Just slip one finger into the tissue and swipe them across those little toofs.   Becareful, if your little one likes to bite, this will be a good opportunity to try out their grips. Very good clean up after a meal of fish porridge of pie. These Tooth Tissues are not just for little toofs but works well for adults.  I have tried it myself and I have to admit that my enamels were glowing clean. Some mothers that I know also use these on their furry pets too, tho i think it is  a tad too expensive to be used on my fur ball.

I ordered mine from iHerb for RM18.37, seen it around in our Klang Valley baby stores retailing for RM20 to RM25 so it is good savings if you buy from iherbs.  For first time buyers, you can use OFA675  as the discount code on your first purchase and get 10UDS off for orders more than $40. My package came within 10 days but at times it can take up to 2 weeks. This is my first packet and I will be stocking up soon when mine runs out. Best to keep one packet near your baby so that you can remember to use it after the last bottle. Milk in the mouth without rinsing is bad news for us and a great space for tooth decaying bacteria to thrive. According to the creators, these tissue can be used from birth, I think it will be best to use when your baby starts solids. 

So for those who are looking for that something extra either it is  your teeth cleaning or little kiddo's, you might want to give this a shot.

Happy toofing! 

CaYg..Clean as You Go

Good morning  dear readers welcome to Burps!


Being a new mom, I get paranoid with germs. From toys, table surfaces and especially cutting boards....Yes yes I know not to be too clean because the baby needs to build her  immune system...heard that over a million times but hey don't we need to clean eventually!


Well I am sure  most of you have heard of Hydrogen Peroxide....I have but it never came across to me that it can be used for cleaning up household stuff like tooth brush to cutting board!...All I know that it bleaches hair..ignoramus me!

I ordered my first bottle of Hydrogen Peroxide for RM14 from Newlife and my husband laughed at me..why? Coz I sound like i just discovered gold.  Oh well...Newlife throws in a bottle spray as well ...so this is how it goes

Wound Dressing
1. Spray 2(HO) on to the wound
2. Splash off with clean water
3. Apply tea tree oil on gauze and dab...OLA!

Cleaning
1. Spray 2(HO) on the targeted surface
2. Wipe off with clean water. 

Your surfaces will be looking and smelling sparkling clean ...I heart!

The same method goes to tooth brush and cutting board.. once 2(HO) is sprayed on you will see foaming which is  the extra molecule of O2 that carries off the germs and dirt hence why you need to splash it off with water.

My 2(HO) sitting on the kitchen table

 I find it very useful as this bottle comes in with the 3% dilution so it takes off the headache of measurements and worrying whether you got it right especially for  Dyscalculia  mothers like me. 

I was given a long usage list by the distributor which in one of them stated usage as a gargle as well! but honestly I don't think I have the guts to try it so I am happy with the clean and go option that 2(HO) gives me and the entire family. 

So do give it try, and let me know whether it works for you.

Happy Cleaning!