Stayin’ green (and cheap) in Moldova…

I made baby wipes. Kind of. I basically made baby wipes. Okay fine I made baby wipe solution. It’s not as impressive as it might sound. Lots of mamas and papas are out there that make their own baby wipes because I found a lot of different opinions and recipes. Still I can’t help but feel a little bit content that I am saving money and wasting even less paper. And trees. 🙂

But in all honesty, it started with Mercy’s bum. The kid’s got a stinking sensitive bum. Cloth diapers washed in All Free and Clear seemed to do the trick (the cheapest sensitive detergent I could find in the states). Then we switched to disposables for two months and low and behold I found out that Luvs or Pampers were okay but Kirkland, Target, Walmart and even Huggies were not. I’m telling you, this kid’s bum cheeks are made of some pretty expensive squishy-ness. When we got here, we purchased some Pufies (hello rash), borrowed some Huggies (hello more rash) and bought some Pampers (clear bum cheeks). Pampers cost more here than they do in the states. Ugh. We got a washing machine up and running, bought laundry detergent labeled “sensitive” and washed the first load of cloth diapers. Twenty-four hours later…the rash. Poor kid’s cheeks. Google, a conversation with Teresa and a bar of actual sensitive washing soap later, we figured out that Mercy’s diapers would have to be washed in homemade laundry detergent. {Recipe found here, version #8 due to the fact that these are the only ingredients we can find!}

Then I went to buy my first package of baby wipes. I got them home, opened them and almost gagged. They smelled like my grandma’s bathroom mixed with an entire bottle of cheap perfume. I’m not joking. I tried a couple on her and she had bumps and hives instantly. Instantly. So back to the store we went to price sensitive baby wipes. Holy cow. So I googled how to make your own baby wipes and came up with a plan. A plan that included the purchase of paper towels. So off to the store we went again. I am glad to say we only bought one roll (when we saw the price) because when we got home, we discovered that paper towels are about as thick as tissue paper. Or thinner. Plus they aren’t that much cheaper than baby wipes. Hmmmm.

I found myself thinking about reusable baby wipes. I have seen them on cloth diaper websites. I have even read that simply water is enough at times to clean a baby’s bum. But here’s the catch…it’s cold around here and water ain’t cheap. 🙂 My kids are only getting a bath once a week right now (please don’t judge!) and Mercy’s little bum can use all the good yet not grandma perfume smells she can get. So I googled some more and decided I could make a baby wipe solution and put it in a spray bottle.

Start with a 2 cups of water….add 2T baby shampoo. Some blogs swear by “Baby Magic” which just happened to be the baby shampoo I brought with me from the states. Other blogs said any kind of baby shampoo or even melted soap shavings would work. We will probably try sensitive soap shavings next. Just pick something you like the smell of because this is what your “baby wipes” are going to smell like. Add 2T baby oil or olive oil…you could look into other oils but I found a bottle of sensitive baby oil on sale (probably because it didn’t have any perfume in it!). You don’t have to add the oil but from what I read, this just helps baby’s bum not to dry out. Finally, I added one last ingredient that is completely optional…1T white vinegar. This is simply added as an anti-fungal (for yeast infection). Mercy gets yeast infections when you look cross eyed at her. Let me tell you, this is the best prevention I have ever used! {Side note, don’t use this solution if baby has a raw rash on bum cheeks…ouch!} {Double side note…I learned that vinegar comes in real and synthetic here. Hence the drastic price difference. I don’t remember seeing synthetic vinegar in the states but maybe I just missed it!}

Measurements are somewhat relative. I would know. I used my “measuring” pitcher. Moldovans either have a thing against measuring cups or they have a secret to measurements that I have not learned yet. I did a little bit of guessing since my measuring pitcher really only works if you are measuring flour. Only flour. I stirred it gently and poured it into this huge purple spray bottle.

Then I tested it out in multiple ways. First I carried it into the girls where I discovered the sprayer was not screwed on correctly and some of it dumped out on the girls’ floor. Never fear, I used the mop and it works great as a mopping solution. The I actually used it to change a poopy diaper. I should mention that I made reusable baby wipes. I found one of Christian‘s old t-shirts (you’re welcome, honey!) and cut it into baby wipe sized pieces. I either spray a little on Mercy’s bum or I spray the baby wipe. It works great and she smells great.

And that was my solution to sensitive baby wipes. Now if I could only tackle the rest of my issues and predicaments. Oh and make Yogurtland-worthy frozen yogurt. Yup, gotta go google that one!