Reflections on 2007, Changes in 2008

It has been a great year for MCDC! We would like to thank all of our customers!

We have a new addition to our family, Hanna Genevieve. She arrived the autumn dawn of October 9th and has added great joy to our lives. Our other children, Kaden and Audrey are very happy to have a new baby sister. Shortly following her birth, we moved into a larger retail space. It is located in the same building, next door to the smaller cozy space we once occupied. This has allowed us to expand our inventory and offer more products to our customers! We have also extended our store hours to accomodate our customers. We have also added more WAHM products from our local talented mom's. We continue to carry wonderful products from Woolly Bottoms - Recycled Wool Soakers and Half-Moon Baby Slings. We have added Blue Bird Baby outfits. These are super cute and the pants provide a custom fit to go over cloth diapers. We also have added a new line from LizzieDoo's. She has provided us with some adorable Jester Hats, Recycled "Flower Pot" Hats and soft-soled baby shoes. We also plan to add some of her beautiful smocks. These mom's continue to astound me with their talent!

Some brief changes that will occur in 2008 are: new Maine-Made wooden toys will be added to our store. We are planning some new diaper package deals, including "ready made" packages in our retail location. We also have the latest and greatest diapering products. We are going to have some cloth diaper and baby-related classes. Any suggestions for this coming year are welcome! We want to provide our customers with a convenient and accomodating store for our customers to get their natural and quality baby products.

All our best to your families and a Happy New Year!

New products...

We have several new products arriving that I am very excited to carry in my store. Here are a few of them:

*Thirsties Fab Fitted Diapers - new, trim fit and fun colors

*Dream-Eze Organic Fitted Diapers- Super absorbent and AFFORDABLE organic diaper.

*LoveyBums Sherpa Fitted Diapers and Wool Covers (in retail store only). These are super absorbent, fun colors and excellent, soft wool covers.

...and one more...Stay Tuned for our latest product line.

If you are looking for an excellent more breathable cover for summertime, I would either recommend wool (yes, wool-it breathes better than the PUL covers) or the Sckoon Cotton Cover. My friend recently "tested" the Sckoon Cotton cover for waterproof-ness and it works like a charm. It is her favorite cover right now! It is super light-weight, washes well and is cool on baby.

Enjoy these wonderful summer days and if you plan to visit the coast of Maine we would love to see you in our retail establishment in Damariscotta, Maine (located close to Boothbay Harbor).

Happy Diapering!

Announcing new RDA Meeting

I would like to announce our new Real Diaper Association Circle will start on March 16th at the Skidompha Library Children's Room in Damariscotta, ME at 9:30 am. The meeting will be a brief introduction to RDA and cloth diapers in general-different styles and options available in today's ever-growing cloth diaper market. I will be co-facilitating the meeting with fellow RDA Business Member, Jennifer of Buzzie Bee Diapers, cloth diaper service and supplies (Rockland, ME). We plan to alternate monthly meetings between The Skidompha Library in Damariscotta and The Bookland Cafe in Rockland. The meetings will be held on the second Friday of each month.

The Real Diaper Association is a non-profit organization advocating cloth diapers. More information can be obtained here: www.realdiaperassociation.org . I became a member and leader 2 years ago and I think this group has wonderful potential to help people learn more about cloth from experienced members and leaders. All are welcome to attend the meeting- it is free of charge. Bring a friend and learn or help others learn more about the cloth diapering community.

Please contact me at christy@maineclothdiaper.com for more details.

What is the best diapering system?

I frequently have customers ask me, "What is the best diapering system? What would you choose?" This question is hard to answer, because I feel diapering systems are such a subjective choice. First, I usually find out what are the reasons a person is cloth diapering, i.e. cost, environmental, health, convenience. This helps a little when choosing a system. Obviously if you are doing it more for the health and environmental reasons and not so much for cost, most of these individuals are interested in a more natural system-organics and wool. A lot of people will also ask, "What is the easiest and most convenient?" I look at this in a couple of different ways. A lot of individuals believe prefold diapers are "easier" because of the simplicity and versatility they offer. Others believe pocket diapers are the "easiest and most convenient", because there is no folding of the diapers (which is actually VERY simple). Pocket diapers do require you to stuff the insert, which some may find to be not convenient and others like the convenience of having the diaper all ready to go before putting it on baby. I guess the bottom line is, we all interpret meanings of words in different ways and what I may think is a convenient diaper, another may not. I can offer suggestions and explain the pro's and con's of each diapering systems, but a diapering system really comes down to personal choice.

I personally like a variety of diapers in my "system". Wierd as it is, I get bored with the same type of diapers and I feel a mix of diapers works well. Each type works better for different reasons, absorbency, convenience, night-time, etc. I like pocket diapers for night-time and on the go. I also like All in Ones for on the go. Both of these diapers typically offer a trim fit. I prefer prefolds because of their simplicity, absorbency, trim fit and cost-and you can ALWAYS use prefolds for several purposes-diaper, stuffing a pocket diaper, doubler, and my new favorite-my kiddo's spills on the floor (SUPER absorbent!). I like fitted diapers for their absorbency for night time and ease of use when a baby is going "cover-less".

Some individuals like a consistent system, to keep all the diapers the same type. And that's fine, too. I would suggest trying a few different types and seeing what you like best. You can always sell or donate the diapers you decide you don't like as well. A great place to sell diapers is on the forums at www.diaperpin.com . When in doubt, give me a call and we can discuss your options. I think it is sometimes easier to discuss the options and help sort it all out rather than spending hours (as I did) trying to figure it all out online. Cloth diapering is simple and easy!