Tuesday, January 28, 2014

Kissed by the Moon Ju-Ju-Be Trunk Show Tokidoki Unikiki, Fairytella, Silver Ice, and Flower Power

Kissed by the Moon Ju-Ju-Be Trunk Show

Kissed by the Moon hosted its first trunk show, January 25th 2014 and it was a success!  There was a variety of bag styles and prints, including the newly released
Silver Ice and
Flower Power, as well as
Unikiki and
Fairytella Tokidoki prints.  The trunk show was a great opportunity to see the prints in person and for people to find their perfect print placement. 

About the new prints-
Silver Ice is a grey base of diamonds, with yellow mixed in.  It’s simple, chic, and definitely gender neutral.  It’s also perfect for the warmer weather, and will match with a variety of clothing.
Flower Power is bold and bright, and is a must-have for summer.  Think tropical, San Diego, maybe Hawaii, and definitely the beach or pool.  This print is not only great for a diaper bag, but will make a great bag for toting along towels, snacks, and clothing for a vacation.
The two latest Tokidoki prints are Unikiki and Fairytella.  Unikiki is a girlier print, but girly in a subtle way.  It’s got unicorns as the pattern, with a silver background.  The pattern is simple and not too cluttered.  It’s cute and fun, and my daughter has claimed one as her lunch bag (apparently the other girls in her class want one too!)
Lastly, Fairytella is a gender neutral bag with the Toki fairytale characters.  With this print everyone has their favorite print placement preferences.  Some people need Donutella on the front, while others want Adios, the dragon, or Cinderella.  The nice thing is that since everyone has different favorites, there is a perfect bag for everyone.  This one has a greenish background with red detailing. 

There are some bags that seemed to be the hot items- newly released Be Lights, Fuel Cells, Super Be, and Mini Be.  

The trunk show had a good turnout, and the pink and white jujube cupcakes were a fun touch!  Kissed by the Moon has plenty of Tokidoki and the new prints in stock- please e-mail or call if you are interested in finding out more about a bag!

Sunday, January 26, 2014

Cloth Diapering at Daycare- It is Easy!

Cloth Diapers and Daycare- It is Easy!
                    Cloth Diapers and Daycare- It is Easy!

     If your child will be going to daycare and you want to use cloth, there are a few things you should know.  First off, there is no law in the state of California saying that cloth diapers can’t be used at daycare.  Actually, the section below specifically mentions cloth diapers as a type of diaper used (as well as elimination communication, or not wearing diapers!):
This is taken from the Childcare Licensing Requirements from the state of California:

101428 INFANT CARE PERSONAL SERVICES 101428
(a) There shall be a written toilet-training plan for infants being toilet trained.
(1) The infant's authorized representative and the director or the assistant director shall develop the
plan.
(2) The plan shall include the following:
(A) Methods of toilet training;
(B) Introduction and use of appropriate training equipment; and
(C) Introduction and use of appropriate clothing.
(3) Infants who are being toilet trained shall not be required to wear diapers unless specifically
indicated in the plan.
(4) The center shall follow the plan in toilet training the infant.
(5) Center staff shall have ready access to the toilet-training plan for infants in their care.
(b) The infant shall be kept clean and dry at all times.
(1) The infant care center shall ensure that the infant has sufficient changes of clothing and diapers
so that his/her clothing and diapers can be clean and dry at all times.
(2) Each infant's clothing and diapers shall be changed as often as necessary to ensure that the infant
is clean and dry at all times.
(c) Soiled or wet clothing or cloth diapers provided by the infant's authorized representative shall be placed in an airtight container and returned to the authorized representative at the end of each day.
(1) The airtight container shall prevent the escape of fluids and odors and be portable enough to give
to the authorized representative.
(d) When changing an infant's diapers, the following shall apply:
(1) Each infant shall be diapered on a changing table.
(A) No infant shall be left unattended while on a changing table.
CALIFORNIA-DSS-MANUAL-CCL
MANUAL LETTER NO. CCL-98-11 Effective 11/1/98
Page 168
CHILD CARE CENTER
Regulations GENERAL LICENSING REQUIREMENTS 101428
101428 INFANT CARE PERSONAL SERVICES (Continued) 101428
(2) Infants may be diapered on a changing pad placed on the floor that meets the requirements of
Section 101439(h).
(3) Soiled disposable diapers shall either be disposed of as recommended on the packaging or placed
in an airtight container for daily disposal outside of the center.
(A) Containers shall be sanitized daily.
(4) Soiled cloth diapers shall be placed in an airtight container.
(5) Diapers provided by the center, when soiled, shall be rinsed, washed and sanitized on a daily
basis. If a diaper service is utilized, the diapers shall be placed in the diaper service company
container, as instructed, for pickup by the diaper service.

     There you have it!  As long as you have a wet bag that’s airtight (one with a zipper) you will be within your rights.  Now, not all daycares might be jumping for joy at the thought of having to change cloth diapers because they may not know much about it and think it’s a lot of work.  This is where YOU can educate them and alleviate their fears.

     First off, when looking for a daycare, I would recommend finding one you like and then asking them if they do cloth.  If they say “yes”, then great!  You are good to go.  More likely they might say something like “I never have, but would be open to finding out what it entails” or “no, I’m sorry.”  Let’s take it one at a time.

     If you call a daycare you like to find out about cloth and are told that they never have had a child with cloth, but might be willing, you are in a great position because you can show them how easy it is.  The goal here is to make it as easy as possible for the daycare owner/workers so that they do not resent using cloth.  I would recommend using all in ones for daycare such as Cottonbabies Freetimes, Blueberry Simplex, or Tots Bots Easy Fits.  These are all really easy diapers for a person to put on- the easiest will be the Velcro/aplix ones since these are most like a disposable diaper and what the people  are used to, but snaps are ok too if you show them  how it works and they are able to get the right fit.  With a one-size diaper you will want to make sure that you’ve presnapped the diaper to the right fit setting so that they aren’t trying to figure out which size will fit your child. 

     You can also use pockets, which are just as easy, but will need to prestuff the diapers so that the daycare isn’t having to deal with that.  Another option might be to use a hybrid diaper like Grovia or Softbums, where the person has the shells and would just have to snap/unsnap pods, but it’s one more small step for them to have to do so you might not want to jump into these until they are used to cloth. Lastly, you could use prefolds/covers, but this is more advanced and not as self-explanatory, so I wouldn’t recommend this route unless it’s a family member watching or if the daycare is really open to using cloth and willing to figure these out.

     If you have a toddler, you can use cloth trainers.  Depending on how far your little one is in the potty training process, you might want to start off with Flip trainers, and then progress to the Blueberry trainers, which are closer to underwear.

     If you really want to send your child somewhere and the daycare owner tells you that they do not do cloth, I would ask them why they don’t. If it’s a private daycare, they can choose not to and that’s within their right (if they are so close minded with this, then you might not want to send your child there anyway!)  Their reason might be that it’s unsanitary or that they don’t have time for that (trying to think of reasons they might say but it’s difficult!)  In this case you want to educate the person about how easy cloth can be. 

     First, I would ask if you can meet and show them the cloth diapers you want to use.  They might have the impression that by cloth you mean prefolds and pins, and maybe they haven’t seen any cloth diapers recently and don’t realize how much the industry has advanced.  All it might take is them seeing a diaper and this could change their mind.  Another worry might be that they don’t want to deal with poop and that things will stink.  If they are really against dumping poop in the toilet, you can opt to just have them take the entire diaper and put it in a wet bag.  When you get home you can dump the stool- the negative to this is that your diapers will be more likely to stain, but you can sun your diapers or use a stain stick to clean, or do a quick rinse.  There will be no reason, if you tell them they can just take the diaper off and stick it in the bag, for them to have more work or deal with stink since your wet bag will be stinkproof (the Planetwise or Thirsties ones are excellent at keeping smells/liquids IN the bag).

So what do you need if you plan on using cloth diapers at daycare?
     First, figure out how many diapers your little one goes through each day.  For newborns/infants it is probably around 10-12 and as they get older, might be more like 5-8.  I recommend bringing enough diapers to daycare for at least 2 days, but if budget is an issue, you could bring diapers each morning (just make sure you don’t forget!)  Once you have a number in mind, let’s say 16 diapers, you will need to provide the diapers.  Velcro will be your best bet for daycare diapers.  Then each day when you go home, you can just take your wet bag of diapers.
     You’ll want a good way to transport the diapers to daycare.  A tote bag/diaper bag will work fine for this.
     Next, make sure you have a wet bag large enough to hold all the day’s diapers.  Again, depending on how many diapers your little one goes through and how long your baby is at daycare, you’d want a bag ranging from a small one (for 1-2 diapers), to a large one.  Make sure it has a zipper.  A drawstring one might be acceptable for the facility, but for it to truly be leak/smell-proof, it should be able to close all the way.  I recommend buying at least 2-3 wet bags so that you can use a new one each day and was every 2 days.
     Lastly, you will want to provide the daycare with a cloth diaper-safe cream.  There are many that work great including CJ’s Butter, Motherlove, Delish, Lusa, Grovia, etc.  If you want to make things really easy and mess-free, I’d recommend a stick version of the cream so that they can just glide the cream on as needed. 

*If you want to add liners, that’s another option.  Grovia, Eco Sprout, and Bummis all make disposable liners (Rumparooz has washable ones) that are flushable that you could use to help with poop messes.  You just cut off a piece and lay it in the diaper.  Once it’s soiled, you take it off and dump the entire mess.  This will keep your diapers cleaner with less staining.

Cloth diapering at daycare IS a possibility and is easy.  Once the daycare providers see this, they will be more open to using cloth!



Wednesday, October 9, 2013

The NEW and improved bumGenius Elemental

by: Tonia Derouin

The NEW and improved bumGenius Elemental is a one size, all-in-one cloth diaper made with a 100% organic
cotton inside. The Elemental features a new ultra trim fit, adjusted sizing to fit more babies better and you can
easily tuck in additional inserts for increased absorbency. The organic cotton 6-layer soaker is sewn on each
end of the diaper but is not attached to the sides which better accommodates additional inserts and allows for faster
drying time. It has snap closures, a waterproof outer cover and is made in the USA!

In the new design (shown on left), the organic cotton is
no longer attached at the sides allowing for a better, trimmer
fit than the original version (shown on right).

I previously owned the original version of the bumGenius Elemental and I definitely prefer the new and improved design. My two biggest complaints about the original version were leaks around the leg area due to the organic cotton 'rolling' outside of the waterproof cover and the drying time. Both of these issues were addressed in the new design and I now love this diaper! I use it as a nighttime diaper for my 23 pound, 16 month old daughter and have never had a leak. I add a Thirsties doubler and a Zorb insert between the two, layered, organic cotton soakers and even with the added inserts, the diaper still fits very well and is super trim. Out of curiosity, I decided to weigh the diaper before and after use to see just how much was being absorbed by this workhorse diaper. The clean, dry diaper (with added inserts) weighs 6.5 ounces and in the morning after being on my babe for 13+ hours, the diaper weighed in at 1 pound, 9 ounces! That is over a pound of liquid absorbed without any leakage. I love this diaper and would definitely recommend it as a good daytime or nighttime option for any babe! 

As shown in the above photo (with the original version laid on top of the NEW version), the NEW version is now wider and will fit more babies better!


 
The organic cotton soakers are now sewn differently allowing for easier stuffing, faster drying and a more trim fit.


Wednesday, September 25, 2013

September Mom's Night In Winners List

Party here.

Thirsties set #1... Janelle Allen-Cavanagh!

Thirsties set #2... Jessica Olson!

Thirsties set #3... Robyn Danielle!

CMC Bath set... Candice Dedini!

Snappi 3 pack... Anne Poitevin Sweden!

Winners will be emailed to claim their prizes within 48 hours. Winners have 48 hours to respond or that prize will be redrawn.

Thursday, September 19, 2013

September Mom's Night In

Welcome to our fifth month for Moon Mom's Night In! We took a month off in August and we are now back and better than ever. This month we have a couple prizes from you from some old Kissed by the Moon favorites! This month we have been focusing on the new store front. We are growing and with that comes some pain, but no pain no gain right?

For me September is about birthday's, from the last week of August through the last week of September, our family has *6* birthdays. In fact, Sept 14-16 is ALL birthday here! And that's just family! In addition to that, one of my favorite Moonies is due next week and I can't wait to see her new little squish.

So with all of that, let's focus this month's party on the change of season, the change of weather, and all sorts of celebration!

This month's prizes are from Thirsties, Crow Mountain Crafts, and Snappi. The party will be on September 25th at 6:30pm PST/9:30pm EST. Please RSVP and fill out the Rafflecopter form below to be entered to win! Stay tuned for reviews of the Thirsties products!


a Rafflecopter giveaway

Thursday, July 25, 2013

July Mom's Night In Winners List

Party here

Cake Lingerie Set #1... Carrie Sofko!

Cake Lingerie Set #2... Lisa Hollis Nuckols!

Meg & Aly Infinite Designs Wipes Set... Ashley Santillanes!

Snappi 3 pack... Krys Noble!

Winners will be emailed to claim their prizes within 48 hours. Winners have 48 hours to respond or that prize will be redrawn.

Friday, July 19, 2013

Cake Lingerie Review

Cake Lingerie has been so amazing to again send me a set to review... and this time they are giving you the chance to win one of TWO sets! For a chance to win please see this blog post about Mom's Night In.



I received this set to review in June, and let me say, it was PERFECT timing. I was about to go on the first plane trip with my (then) 13 month old. Um... nightmare! Going on a plane trip to Texas isn't a walk in the park even without a one year old... but with a one year old, I was slightly terrified. I did lots of research, figured out a game plan, and picked out an outfit. You can bet that leading up my arsenal was this set from Cake Lingerie.





Rewind... when I opened the box I was amazed. First of all, it arrives and looks like a present. And then I opened it. It was soft, it was smooth, it was pretty, it looked SO comfortable. Just like last time, I was nervous to "de-NIP" something so nice. I'm a mom! I'm used to getting nice stuff *cough cough* diapers *cough cough* for my daughter, not myself. This... this was a treat. A big fat delicious slice of chocolate cake treat. And I don't remember the last time I had a slice of cake. 


So back to the plane trip... I got dressed at ugh 5am. Got the baby ready. Went to Los Angeles International Airport... yeah... LAX. One of the busiest airports in the world. Cah-ray-zee. Per usual. But due to my Ergo and my set from Cake Lingerie... I. Was. So. Comfortable. I was able to get Jilly back to sleep and nursing happily all while trudging through that airport. The one flaw was the rise of the briefs. I am one of those lucky moms who got back to a smaller size post pregnancy. I have breastfeeding to thank for that... and fantastic nursing bras to make it easier and comfortable. Back to the briefs, thanks to my shrinkage I can wear nice jeans. Jeans that are typically low rise and these briefs are more high rise. Not such a big deal with sweats around the house or at night, just not a match for a lot of jeans.




That said, I did wear the set again for the return trip, because you really can't beat that comfort. And the return trip... just as easy, just as comfortable! Even the plane trip was nice and comfy. The baby slept, I read, and neither of us were poked or prodded or bothered by any uncomfortable piece of clothing.

I only wish I had this set when I was a new mom. I would have been SO MUCH more comfortable living and sleeping in the same clothes for 24 (ok, ok 36) hours straight if the foundation of those clothes were this set. New moms have so much stress and are already pretty uncomfortable from various things. This set also would have been perfect for pregnancy. All that swelling, changing, ugh... I can't wait to go back. With this set, the aches and pains of pregnancy will be much easier.



(Shout out to Twinkie Tush diapers, cute cloth diapers that I love!)

Now lets get into some details..

"The Luxury Seamless Maternity/ Nursing Brief is silky soft & built for comfort. This matching mid-waisted brief is made from a super fine knit for an ultra comfortable feel. So soft, you won't even know they're on!"




  • Easy Sizing - S, M, L, XL - See sizing grid
  • Fashionable colours and several designer elements
  • Innovative low T-back for medium levels of support
  • Fabric moulded cups for smooth seamless appeal
  • Side Sling for discreet feeding & shape
  • No itchy garment tags
  • Adjustable hooks & eyes for fitting preference
  • Great elastic stretch & memory
  • Additional side panel support ribbing
  • Mid-waisted matching briefs available
  • Made with unique, silky-soft yarn for ultra comfort
  • 90% Polyester 10% Elastane (excl of trims)
  • Cool machine wash


"The Luxury Seamless Maternity/ Nursing Bra is silky soft & built for comfort. Its carefully positioned double-layered side sling, strength panels and T-back structure are designed to maximise lift and support. The Luxurious Seamless Maternity/ Nursing Bra is ideal during the initial stages of pregnancy, immediately post childbirth and as a sleep-bra, when your breasts are rapidly changing in size & shape. This bra will grow to accommodate your changing bust without restriction."

My Likes:

Comfortable... this felt like satin and silk against my skin. It didn't ride up, it didn't get stuck, it was a pure delight to wear.

Quality... this set took everything I threw at it from the washer to the dryer to baby teeth and stood the test. It still looks brand new!

Ease of Use... The snaps were so easy to do and undo, they never came undone on accident. That has happened in the past and it caused some unfortunate almost embarrassments.

My Not So Likes:

Rise... the rise of the briefs were pretty high and I would have probably preferred to size down. They showed over my jeans unless I scrunched them down and due to the nature of the fabric they didn't like to stay scrunched.

Overall... this set is a MUST for new moms! Try here for a chance to win a set... and here to buy one of your own!