spray pal Archives

We’ve been a cloth diapering family since Avery was only a few weeks old, and we don’t plan on “changing” until she’s done with diapers for good. It was intimidating at first, but now the whole process is second-nature and is comforting to know it’s better for the environment and our wallets. Plus, what baby wouldn’t want to be surrounded by colorful cloth they poop and pee in?

Avery at 4 months helping me "organize" clean diapers. — Avery at 4 months helping me “organize” clean diapers.

As a stay-at-home parent, I do most of the washing, and after a short learning curve, it hasn’t been a problem. We were only feeding Avery breast milk to give her the best (and free!) nutrition available which made her poop, though messy and stinky, never having much substance that required spraying. Then we started solids; “Crap.”

And “Crap” was right; it got bigger and more substantial! That wasn’t the last time we saw those carrots on the tray; nope, they were there waiting for us after her next “movement.” Now we had poopy diapers that needed the poo removed before going in the bin.

But there was a light at the end of our dirty diaper conundrum; Spray Pal, the splatter shield for cloth diapers! Man was I ever so grateful that the kind husband and wife behind Spray Pal recently agreed to send one for review so we had one ready to be used!

Jen and her husband David are both elementary school teachers with 2 kids. Their first is a little girl, and their youngest is a boy who was born 3.5 months premature. Now, their son is over 2 years old, but he has to be on an oxygen feeding tube and is visually impaired and profoundly deaf. Despite this, they are a happy, close-knit family who are extremely caring.

I love seeing small, family-owned businesses like Spray Pal, and it just feels good doing business with them as opposed to some large corporation. Think buying produce from Wal-Mart vs. going to a local farm and purchasing directly from a farmer who will use your money to grow more food. Jen and David are “farmers” who use the proceeds from Spray Pal to go directly towards their son’s medical expenses after operating costs are met.

I don’t know about you, but I’d much rather give my dollar to farmers of the world who are personable and have a story to share. And what you get in return is their Spray Pal Splatter Shield that keeps your bathroom floors and walls free from poop splatter. Need I say more? Okay, well,I will anyway.

The Spray Pal is a high quality sheet of BPA-Free plastic with a tri-fold and a heavy duty clip in the center to securely hold those dirty diapers.

It’s nice to see a baby item that doesn’t look as complicated as Pandora’s Box!

After Avery gave us our first test sample, I made use of our newly installed diaper sprayer and the Spray Pal.

Getting a dirty diaper on the clip was tricky at first because you’re trying to avoid floor “plops” while simultaneously working to keep from touching the poo. But after a few uses (you’ll get plenty), it’s not so cumbersome and just like cloth diapering, becomes a matter of course.

What’s great about the Spray Pal is that you can spray at full pressure and not worry about splattering anything around you; just right in the toilet. Of course, test your sprayer first and make sure you have the Spray Pal past the toilet rim; otherwise, you’ll have a wet floor. I might know from experience….maybe.

After spraying, you can use the Spray Pal to squeeze out the excess water and carry the diaper to the pail.

If you’re squeamish, don’t look at the toilet water. What? Too late? Sorry.

We used to have the dirty diaper bin in the nursery next to the changing table, but now we moved it into the bathroom to avoid any nasties dripping on the floor.

Spray Pal sells different bundles to get you everything you need to tackle dirty diapers with the most basic one including their Spray Pal Shield and a Jaq Jaq Bird Wet Bag. We don’t have the wet bag, even though I know it would be useful; instead we place the shield in a plastic trash container on the side of the toilet.

This works just fine for us and we haven’t had an issue yet.

Now that we have a hang of it, I couldn’t imagine trying to spray a diaper without the Spray Pal, especially with the shallow toilet we have! I am happy we have the Spray Pal to save us from a splattery mess, and now we use it for every big poop! It will take getting used to, but so would cleaning poop off your wall, so pick your battle! 😉

If you are a cloth diapering family or thinking of becoming one, the Spray Pal is almost a very necessary item to include. I highly recommend! Check out this video on how to use the Spray Pal and give you a sense of how simple it really is.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=14trK_HU06E&w=560&h=315]

Show some Spray Pal love and like/follow them on Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest. They are Going Dad and Going Mom approved, so what are you waiting for?

Disclosure: Spray Pal provided their product to me free of charge in exchange for review. I was not compensated for this post and all views are my own.

Rhyming, it just comes naturally as a parent, don’t you think?

So, um, wow, the weekend is gone! Going Mom had four days off and now they’re all gone; what happened?! I guess that’s what happens when you’re having fun….

On that note, Kelley, G-Ma, Avery, and I had a fun and exciting Memorial Day. The day started not bright (because the sun wasn’t up) and early as we had to get ready to head to my last 10k race in my twenties. Kelley actually had to wake Avery up for a change, but she didn’t protest about it at all! I would’ve lost that bet.

It was a cloud-covered morning with a light rain at the race, and it didn’t let up until after everyone finished running. I, for one, happen to love running in the rain as long as it’s not cold, so the conditions were perfect to me. We arrived a little early, so I just hung out with my beautiful support crew for a while.

Luckily, my concern about using the bathroom before the start was never an issue and I was “relieved”! I don’t know, do you think I was just a little too excited about this?

Maybe I was, but it’s better than being really bummed, true?

The race started with both the 5k and 10k runners at the same time, and then we split about 2.5 miles out. I had a great pace to start with and was able maintain it through the finish. I really had not clue how I would do since I only had a few solo runs and the rest have been with Avery in the stroller and our dog, Abby.

I didn’t say it out loud, but my goal was to finish in under 40 minutes, and I just barely made it with a time of 39:59.7! Holy crap, it’s hard to get any closer than that! With an average pace of 6:26/mile, I surprised myself and am very happy with my time. My wonderful and supporting wife, mother, and daughter were at the finish to cheer me on which helped give me that extra push.

I was maxed out at that point! A big thanks to my wife for snapping this action shot! My time put me 1st in my age group, 25 to 29, and 2nd overall. It wasn’t a huge race, but I’m still proud and feel good about it being my last solo race before getting bumped to the 30 to 34 bracket.

Even though I was gassed, I knew I had to get my daily dose of 30 burpees in while I was still warmed up, so I found a spot on the sidewalk and went to work. Thanks again to Kelley for capturing the moment.

Then, probably against her will since I was still sweaty, I posed for a picture with my beautiful mom.

It took forever for all of the awards to be announce, but finally they got to the 10k runners and announced my name. I brought Avery with me and she was given the medal for placing.

She deserves it for being such and awesome baby the whole day! Love our little girl!

Speaking of awesome, our little girl is catching on to eating solids more and more each day. I just posted about her first actual consumption and how I had to “help” by holding the food to her mouth, but now she’s using her own hands!

This was on Sunday before G-Ma arrived to witness what I thought would take forever! But, without my assistance this time, she brought both broccoli and carrot to her mouth and actually ate a little of both!

And, as we all know, along with the consumption of solids, comes the ejection of poop! Avery blessed us twice with the confirmation of her new food groups and needless to say, I installed our diaper sprayer posthaste. Now I finally get to put our Spray Pal through its first test! I’ll let you know how it goes soon!

Since G-Ma missed out on Avery eating on Sunday, we decided to try another BLW moment after we arrived home from the race. I’d say she’s definitely getting the hang of it now; look at that firm grasp on the broccoli and her delicate bite into the floret. Attagirl!!

Good things happening around here! It’s sad when a great weekend has to end, but I know there will be many more great times ahead! Times like spraying a poopy diaper for the first time……or something like that. :/

Okay, I’ll leave it at that for today. Hope everyone enjoyed an extra day off and made sure to remember those who gave the ultimate sacrifice. Have a great day!

Any plans for a race of your own yet? Do you even care?

I’m still being stubborn and don’t want anything too sweet, but any suggestions on what to try feeding Avery next?