Happy Halloween from the Green Baby Guide! What are you doing to celebrate the holiday this year? Have you found any ways to keep the candy under control?* Are you sporting some wonderful DIY costumes made from common household items? How have you “greened” your Halloween?

The results of the pumpkin carving party we attended last weekend.

* I will admit to not even trying.

Both Joy and I have had the opportunity to try adjustable diapers—such as bumGenius, Happy Heinys, or the new Econobums—that claim to fit babies from birth to potty training. However, we didn’t have them all throughout our children’s diaper days. Did anyone have success using just one set of adjustable diapers from birth to potty training, or did you have to supplement with newborn diapers or extra-big diapers at either end of the diaper journey?

The Econobum Diaper Kit

In the summer we like to obsess about hanging laundry in the sunshine, in the winter we brainstorm ways to save on heating bills and conserve those fossil fuels. Well, what should we obsess about this fall? I’m going to figure out how to compost the leaves I rake up and prepare my garden beds for the winter. I’m also planning on figuring out how to can tomatoes as my tomato harvest comes in. Any more ideas for saving the planet this season?

Last year we had some DIY Halloween costume ideas. For Audrey’s first Halloween, I dressed her in $2 pajamas and a homemade hat and called her a pumpkin. My sister-in-law carved holes in the side of an actual pumpkin and plopped her baby inside. (Now there’s a Halloween costume that’s actual compostable!) What are your quick, easy, eco-friendly do-it-yourself Halloween costume ideas?

What do you think of treating your children, whether it’s with food, new toys, or quality clothes? Is there such a thing as over-indulgence or too much deprivation?  We have an upcoming series of posts focusing on “The Art of Under-Indulgence” so please share your comments and stay tuned!

We’re passionate about cloth diapering here at Greenbabyguide.com, but we haven’t taken an official stand on fasteners.  Some of our readers swear by Velcro for its ease and adjustability. Others declare their fervent love for snaps.  What have you found to be better for your tot?

We’ve written a bit about baby showers on the Green Baby Guide, including two articles about book baby showers. When you get a baby shower invitation, do you have a go-to baby gift? Or if you’ve been the lucky recipient of baby gifts, which ones did you find the most useful? Any green gift ideas we haven’t thought of?

Maybe I should have asked this question before Joy gave birth to her second child in June. Those sleepless nights, the ceaseless crying, the endless nursing: How on earth did you survive it? What were your tricks to survival in those first few months with a new baby? Help our sleep-deprived readers out!

We’ve talked a lot about baby gear—what to get, what not to get, what to get used, what to get organic. But what about all the stuff you need before the baby is even born? Even the most frugal pregnant woman is sure to pick up a few new items to accommodate the expanding waistline. Is there anything else that makes pregnancy easier? Or any pieces of “maternity gear” that are just a waste of money and resources? Let us know!

Here at the Green Baby Guide, we’re all about hand-me-downs and Craigslist steals. Sometimes, though, it’s nice to splurge on something for your new bundle of joy. For me, it was the stroller. I chose the Maclaren Triumph stroller for its light weight (just 11 pounds) and foldable design. I imagined I’d be using it a lot on public transportation, since I don’t have a car. I’ve found it more convenient to simply walk everywhere. My daughter is now three-and-a-half and still rides in the stroller almost every day–so it was definitely worth it for me to get exactly what I wanted.

Audrey

What was worth a little extra money to you? Let us know!