Where to Find Continuum Family Around the World

I am often asked if we offer our CF line of EC-friendly baby clothing and accessories at wholesale. The short answer is "sorry, no". While I love the idea of having other small businesses support us in bringing our custom items to as many places around the world as possible, we have made a conscious decision to keep things small here at Continuum Family. For now at least, it suits us best to be a family-sustaining business. We have embraced the business practice of smallering, which means we plan to grow the business only as much as we want to grow it, running our business instead of letting it run us.

That being said, there are currently two companies, Dream Nappies in Japan and Windelmaus in Austria, that are carrying select CF items. Dream Nappies carries our prefold belts and T-shirt tunics/gowns and Windelmaus carries our tiny undies and pull up training pants.

 tiny undies order destined for Austria

While we will remain the exclusive distributor for our CF line in North America, we will review any requests for other international companies to carry our CF items on a case by case basis.

Which Training Pants for EC?

Jane in Australia writes:

Hi,

I would love to order some of your training pants for my 10 month old daughter, Alice, and wanted to see which ones you would recommend - I haven't used training pants before, but was wanting some to hold one wee when we're out, and so not to wet Alice's clothes, but not too extra absorbant that I won't be able to tell if she's done a wee or not?

Thanks for your help,

Jane

For training pants, it's a bit of a trade off -- if you want something that won't wet outside clothing then you need to get ones with a waterproof (PUL) outer, yet these ones make it difficult to tell if they have gone without checking inside the pants. However, something that you will be able to see or feel easily that she has gone will likely wet the outer clothing to some degree. Training pants with a PUL layer inside give you the best of both worlds -- they generally won't wet outer clothing unless they're left on for a bit. Yet you should be able to feel them and see that she's gone. I would recommend going with bamboo training pants, as they are more absorbent than cotton. In particular, my CF Side Snap Trainers in bamboo, with optional PUL layer inside and bamboo velour inner are a very absorbent option. And I've just added some cute print outer options in bamboo interlock. I will also soon be getting some solid color outers in bamboo french terry.

Another good choice if you want a pull up option would be the EcoNix by BongoBaby. These have bamboo velour and inner PUL layer on the soaker section, although the body is cotton (organic).

In general, I recommend going with a side snap trainer unless you and your baby are fairly consistent with catching poops. ;)

EC in Brazil

Tamara H. wrote:

Congratulations to your beautiful baby! I'm so glad I found your shop. I'm a German midwife living in Brazil and I'm looking forward to showing your things at Brazil's first and only EC group that I'm leading.

Warm wishes,
Tamara
http://www.slingando.com/

I'm so glad you found our shop too, Tamara! I love that my EC products are making their way around the world. Although I've had some go to Chile, these will be the first ones going to Brazil.


Tamara has chosen a great selection of EC trainers and undies to show parents interested in EC. I will be most interested to hear how her talk goes. For now, I must get back to sewing, before baby wakes... :)

Waterproof vs. Non-Waterproof Training Pants

Koyuki writes:

"I am EC'ing my 3-month-old. Currently, I just use cloth diapers - a snappi'd prefold at home, and a prefold in a Bummis cover when outside. It's OK at home, but a little bit of a pain when out and about - taking it all off and putting it all on again. So I want to look into training pants, which I feel like would be easier. My main question - what's the advantage of a partly-but-not-fully waterproof pant like the Shi-Shi-Nix (perhaps worn with a wool or fleece cover) versus a fully waterproof pant like the Bongo Baby pullup...? Also, would something like the Shi-Shi-nix fit under a wool cover like Lanacare/Aristocrats/MamaBless?"

Hi Koyuki,

I definitely recommend moving to training pants when you're in the EC'ing groove, as they are infinitely more convenient to use (and less laundry to wash) than diapers. If you're still having poop misses, a side-snapping trainer is a good one to choose, but if you're down to only a few pee misses a pull up trainer is the ultimate in ease and trimness.

The advantage of a partly waterproof training pant such as the Shi Shi Nix, Eco Nix or Little Beetle Learner is that it will absorb a full pee without getting outside clothing wet (provided you change it right away) but it's still relatively easy to tell when you've had a miss because it will feel damp on the outside. This enables you to to keep in tune with your baby and communicate about misses promptly but not have to be wiping up puddles.

A fully waterproof training pant like the Pull Up Pocket Pants is useful when you want more protection for outside clothing in the case of not being able to change your baby right away, such as when you are out and about or during the night if you are not EC'ing at night. The wool or fleece trainer covers that I have designed are a very handy and economical way to add more protection to your stash of non-waterproof trainers, so you don't have to buy (as many) separate waterproof trainers. Also, many people do not like the PUL outer of many waterproof pants and prefer to use the more natural wool cover for the extra protection.

My trainer covers are cut lower in the rise and are trimmer than regular diaper covers. They will fit over many types of trainers, including Shi Shi Nix, Eco Nix, Little Beetle Learners, Papoose, Gerbers, Imse Vimse, Bright Bots and other trainers of similar cut. (Note: I will also soon have my own version of a bikini cut side snapping trainer similar to Poquito pants which will also fit under my covers. And, I am also currently working on designing my own version of a pull up pocket trainer since Bongo Baby is no longer wholesaling these).

You can certainly use a cover such as the LANACare, Aristocrat or MamaBless wrap over a trainer. We found with the LANACare (which I used before I thought to design a wool trainer cover) that we could size down when using over a trainer. It was still fairly long in the rise, but did the job nicely, if being somewhat overkill. It's a trimmer and softer cover than Aristocrat, which is why I carry it. Although the Mamabless wrap is beautiful and soft, I wouldn't recommend it for use over trainers because it is cut very large and is quite stretchy. It's really designed to be used over fairly bulky cloth diapers. Plus the wrap/tie design makes it a bit cumbersome to take on and off quickly for EC. I recommend it more as an overnight cover.

Hope this proves helpful!

New Hemp Pull Up Pocket Pants

One of my customers recently asked me about getting some non-waterproof Pull Up Pocket Pants. She really liked the design, but she wasn't fond of PUL and prefers to use a wool cover for those times when she wants more protection. So, I asked Bongo Baby to do a custom order and here's what she sent:



Aren't these gorgeous? They're made of hemp terry on the outside and either hemp terry or bamboo velour on the inside. She dyed them with solar dyes to make them a little more interesting. In addition to the purple she also sent some done in an indigo tie dye:



I got a few extra pairs for my store, 'cause I think these are a great option for a stuffable but non-waterproof trainer.