Who knew sunscreen could be so complicated? After slathering Audrey in sunscreen all summer long during her first year, I read that it’s dangerous to do so until she reaches her first birthday. Then I found out that only certain sunscreens were safe. Yes, that cancer-preventing lotion was–get this–carcinogenic! The good news is, you don’t need to keep your baby covered from head to foot in loose-fitting robes or hide under a gigantic umbrella all summer long.

Check out the Environmental Working Group’s list of safe sunscreens.  After  studying thousands of sunscreens, they found that “4 out of 5 contain chemicals that may pose health hazards or don’t adequately protect skin from the sun’s damaging rays.” Here are the top four safest ray-blockers on the market:

Fretting about all the potential toxins I’ve exposed myself and my daughter to over the years doesn’t do me any good–but switching sunscreens seems like an easy way to block the rays without going into summer lock-down.

This post is a part of Works for Me Wednesday, a blog carnival at We are THAT Family.

I’m tired.   Not in the yawning way.  In the wanting-to-collapse-on-the-floor/slightly-hallucinogenic way.  I had forgotten how the combination of colic and sleepless nights felt–but now I remember!  All my fantasies about an ideal life involve being unconscious for a four hour stretch.

So instead of coming up with brilliant posts for the next few months, I shall be depending every now and then on some of our classic GBG material.  It’s from the days when only our friends and relatives were reading so it should be new to most of our readers and hopefully will remain helpful.

Thanks for understanding and for your encouragement.  I know that one day I shall sleep again.  (I also know that the day will be far, far in the future…)

We chose a winner for our Shaklee dish soap giveaway and review: Congratulations, Katie! You’ll have to report back with your thoughts on this wonder product. I still can’t believe a sixteen-ounce bottle lasted over a half a year, especially considering how ineffective some of the other green dish soaps I tried were. Thanks to Green and Clean Mom for hosting this giveaway.

Also, I finally added a “Washing Dishes” category so that it is easy to find all of my dish washing posts. I plan to get a dish washer for the first time in my adult life, so I will probably have a few more posts to add to this exciting category very soon!

I’m all about organic gardening. In fact, even since I became a homeowner in 2004, I’ve managed to use completely nontoxic methods. Now that I’m in my new place, however, I have a problem: aphids. My new yard features about fifty-five rose bushes, and a couple of them happen to be bug-magnets. I tried an organic spray, which does get rid of the aphids–but also turns the leaves strange colors. I’ve bought bags of ladybugs, but they didn’t seem to stick around long enough to do much good. For now I’m just keeping my eye on the aphids and cutting off the leaves and blossoms they congregate on. Any other solutions?

Just one of my fifty-five rose bushes.

Several months ago, Joy and I were interviewed for Fit Pregnancy magazine’s “going green with baby” quiz. Well, it’s finally here! We’re in the June/July issue (pictured here). The article is called “Grow a Healthy Baby: Pregnancy is the Perfect Time to Go Green.” Check it out!

For the last two and half weeks I’ve been wallowing in the haze of sleeplessness, too exhausted to personally share the news of our second child’s birth. As you may have already read from Rebecca’s announcement, Jovi Nilprabhassorn arrived on June 8^th after nine hours of labor, loads of encouragement, and some uncontrolled screaming towards the end.

After my first child’s birth I thought I knew what to expect with the second. Wrong! From the beginning she established herself as unique with lots of small contractions for hours before labor really intensified.

Even after we arrived at the Midwifery Birth Center, I remember thinking, “This whole labor thing really isn’t that hard! Why did I think this was such a struggle last time?” Within a few hours, I remembered just how painful it could get and realized at one point that I might not make it to the other side of each contraction.

Jett spent the entire time pushing our electric massager (purchased at a thrift store) up against my tailbone and squeezing my hip bones together, both of which were incredibly helpful. My mom, a longtime Lamaze teacher, reminded me to breathe and kept uttering the perfect words of encouragement throughout.

At around 11:50 am I asked to have my water broken and things quickly moved along. At this point, I totally freaked out. Luckily, my midwife gently but firmly coached me through pushing and she arrived just fifteen minutes later after some hysterical screaming. Whew!

After all that, I can’t say I feel like a hero. Instead it puts me in awe of women who have labors that are three or four times as long as mine with lots of complications. How do they do it? How do some women manage labor when they already several children and can’t stop their lives to take the time to recover? It’s humbling!

We are now very tired, but quite happy to have our Jovi in our arms instead of just gazing at her ultrasound image. It wasn’t easy to bring her into the world, she doesn’t exactly sleep at night and she cries a lot, but in the end she’s totally worth it.

While environmental concerns are important, you also don’t want to be forcing your baby to suffer in the name of green living.  Can you keep your little one cool without resorting to canned air? None of my baby cool-down ideas will win any prizes for originality, but sometimes it’s good to remember the low-energy, low-cost alternatives to sitting around in an air-conditioned room:

Popsicles and other frozen treats. Even babies as young as six months old enjoy frozen confections every now and then. Make your own and they’re practically free. Here is my recipe for a strawberry spinach concoction.

Shade.  Spread out a blanket, sip an iced tea, and read baby books to your little one.

Mist. Try a spraying your baby with a bit of water to keep him cool. Warning: some babies do NOT find this amusing!

Grocery shopping. Nothing like pacing those air-conditioned aisles to cool you down on a hot summer’s day. Plus, you’ll cross an errand off your to-do list.

Sprinklers and baby pools. Some parks in our city have wading ponds and sprinklers for little ones–and even young babies have a great time with their parents.

Cool baths. No yard, and no park featuring sprinklers and wading pools? There’s always a nice cool bath for your baby.

Wet wash cloths. My daughter used to love sucking water  out of a wet wash cloth on hot days. It seemed to keep her calm and cool.

Ice chips. When I was just a few months old, my parents took me on a cross-country car trip without air conditioning. Supposedly iced chips kept us all sane.

Any more cool-down tricks I’m missing? Let us know!

All these ideas have worked for me. For more Works for Me Wednesday tips, head on over to We are THAT Family.

It never occurred to me to create my own diapers–partially due to the fact that I have a complete lack of sewing skills and also because it seemed so complicated.  Imagine my surprise when my friend Kara casually handed me a bag of home-sewn hemp diapers saying only, “I made this for you since I had some extra time and fabric.” I had to know how it was possible to whip out a batch of diapers in just a few hours so interviewed Kara to get the nitty-gritty details.

GBG: Where did you get the idea/inspiration to make your own cloth diapers?

Before I was even pregnant with my first son, I was researching ways to be green, more healthy and frugal and found many sources for cloth diapers online. There were a few brands that had what they called “contours” and I was intrigued… they looked much more simple as compared to pre-folds and also much less expensive than “fitteds.” Plus, they also looked VERY simple to make.

I went to a local family owned fabric shop (not a large chain one) and they happened to carry hemp/cotton fleece and jersey fabric for $7.00 per yard. I had found a few sources online… but paying for shipping could be a bit more prohibitive – so I was thrilled to have found the fabric. I also experimented with old towels, sweatshirts, t-shirts, and polar fleece and regular flannel from a chain fabric store.

I found the hemp/cotton fleece to be my favorite for durability and absorbency. I was also able to invest in a serger sewing machine, which made the process MUCH easier. In my first attempts, before the serger, I made a few different styles of diapers trying to find one I thought would work (including some fitted ones, with elastic and velcro – the works) and when it all came down to it and the baby was finally here, we loved the simplicity of the contours.

Plus they’re SUPER easy to make. I did buy a few name brand contours to make my own basic pattern from, mostly to get the measurements to work with my Bummi’s covers. Overall probably not the least expensive way to go – but in the long run, still much less $$$ than buying them at $10+ a pop… and now I can use my serger for all kinds of fun toddler clothes and projects. I’m working on recycling my husband’s old t-shirts into yoga pants and shorts for the boys right now.

GBG: What resources would you recommend for people just starting?

For buying fabric online check hemptraders.com. At around $10 a yard, they seem more reasonable than a lot of places I looked at. There are many patterns available from patterns at the fabric store to free ones online if you need more specific help.

GBG: Is it possible to make the diapers if you don’t have a serger?

There are ways to make diapers without a serger… but if you can beg and/or borrow one – I’d highly recommend it. Without a serger, you could make the diapers mostly inside out, similar to making a pillowcase, then turn them right side out and sew up the opening and then sew on a “doubler” if you like.

GBG: What are the advantages of the hourglass diaper over prefolds?

The “hourglass” or “contour” shape diaper is much less bulky than a prefold, takes much less fabric and is easier to customize, ie. double them up for night-time or naps without a crazy amount of bulk. We also made and use “doublers” which are just a couple layers of absorbent fabric with fleece on one side which wicks moisture away from baby butts, boosts your absorbency and keeps your diapers from staining as much. I think they’d also dry much faster than bulkier prefolds.

This site has always been about going green without going broke. Now that the economy has tanked, our budget-friendly focus may be even more alluring than our eco-friendly angle. Have you had to get even more creative with your frugality over the last few months? Buying fewer fancy coffee drinks and making your own treats at home? Cutting your own hair? Raising your own chickens? Inspire us!