A New Baby

My first baby surprised us all by deciding to come into the world three weeks early, although her arrival took an exhausting and exhilerating 12  hours. They say that subsequent babies comes faster, and thank goodness she did – my water broke at 2:30 a.m. and my second daughter came into our arms at 5 a.m., beating sunrise by a few minutes.

According to the formula, our new baby should have been born in a flash. But this one took longer than anyone anticipated. After many months of planning, waiting and hand-wringing and one final push, our newest addition, www.punkernoodlebaby.com, is finally here. Our online cloth diaper store, carrying all the diapers and products we’ve been selling in our Seattle showroom for more than a year, plus some new treats and goodies, is finally live! We have some perfecting still to do, and the Punkernoodle shop will have to grow through infancy into a fierce-talking, diaper-slinging preschooler like my first baby is today. But it’s here, loaded with dozens of styles of great diapers and accessories — a clean, hip, informative place for parents to make green choices for their own kids, just like we dreamed.

Toxic toys, or toxic to green businesses?

 

There is growing attention to an issue that has become critical to the survival of small, green-oriented children’s businesses like ours. What happens in the following days and weeks will determine not only whether many of these small businesses survive, but also whether parents concerned about healthy options for their children will continue to have a range of products to choose from.

Here is a letter that outlines to problem:

 

 

Natalie Singer-Velush

Owner, Punkernoodle Baby

7350 Mary Ave. NW

Seattle, WA 98117

 

January 4, 2009

Jim McDermott

Congressman

7^th Congressional District, WA

1809 7th Avenue, Suite 1212
Seattle, WA 98101-1399

Dear Friends of Punkernoodle Baby and other local small business -

 

We are writing to inform you of action taken by Congress to pass the HR4040 or the CPSIA (Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act) created by the CPSA (Consumer Product Safety Commission).  We are pleased that Congress passed a bill to protect our children from toys containing lead and phthalates and addressing other safety issues, however, parts of this bill will directly affect all small handmade toy makers, clothing resalers and store owners in a way that could put many of us, who make child safety and the environment our top priority, out of business.

Punkernoodle Baby is a small business based out of the Ballard neighborhood in Seattle that sells cloth diapers and organic baby clothes and cotton toys. As former journalists and parents of two young children, we decided to start our company in January 2008 because we strongly believe in a greener and healthier approach to parenting and in supporting our environment. We invested $20,000 of savings and credit to purchase our inventory of cloth diapers – many of them handmade by mothers in Washington and other nearby states. We have grown slowly and are working hard in a difficult economy to stay afloat and contribute positively to our community through education, advocacy and charitable efforts. Our business is exactly what Washington needs right now – small, local companies committed to growing our economy with fair labor, healthy products and green business practices.

 

But our business and all others like ours is now at grave risk.

 

The CPSIA rules now require that all products for children under 12 be tested, including natural handmade toys and cloth diapers, clothes and blankets, at a cost of $4,000 per item.  This cost would put us out of business.  We would also be required to label each item with a permanent batch label.  This is another cost that could force us out of

business. A company of our size simply cannot weather this type of costly requirement. The rules, while well-meaning, are too far-reaching: Companies such as ours have been concerned over toxic children’s products for years, and many of our businesses grew out of a desire to bring healthy alternatives to parents. Ironically, these companies where parents have been able to seek out natural clothing, toys and diapers are now the ones at risk, because unlike the large corporations marketing mainstream products often manufactured overseas, we cannot afford individual testing. Furthermore, most of the products we do sell – cotton clothing, cloth diapers, wooden toys, are not manufactured with materials that can contain lead or phthalates.

These regulations are set to go into effect, retroactively, on Feb. 10. Coverage of the impact has been growing:

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/dannywestneat/2008587800_danny04.html

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-taintedtoys25-2008dec25,0,5058994.story

 

Please act now to help us save the hundreds of Washington businesses and millions of dollars they generate for the state that will be at risk.

  

Thank you for taking the time to read this letter and we sincerely appreciate your help.

 

Resolutions

New year, new post. And a resolution to get these blog posts coming more frequently. I think I got sucked under when the whole holiday season thing started, and the longer you go without posting, blah blah blah…

Anyway. The news:

• We are on our third site designer, and I can finally say (this time I actually believe it) people will soon be able to shop for all our products online. Cindi is a real professional, a Seattle mama and business owner who is not going to throw her hard-earned reputation to the wind because of a few hundred Fuzzi Bunz. 
• We now carry goodmamas!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! First, if you haven’t read about this diaper, check out this post http://punkernoodlebaby.wordpress.com/2008/08/06/300-diaper/   Needless to say, after trying it I became a die-hard convert and almost needed one myself when I heard not too long ago that Suzanne was going to begin selling though retailers. These are not only the most amazing diapers, but they are truly little works of art. The diapers come with clever names and often-retro references that transport me back to those pre-baby days – a perfect little reverie right before I am forced to dive into one of Punkernoodle 2’s ”business meetings.” And, best news of all, they are only $36 – no all-night bidding wars required.
• We are hoping for bigger and better in 2009 – both for our little company and for our world. That said, we are planning to launch a side project aimed at addressing a dilemma that has been bothering us ever since I got knocked up with Punkernoodle 1: How to stem the tide of “stuff” that comes along with pregnancy in America today? You want the best for your baby, and everyone around goes into a buying frenzy when they hear the words “We’re pregnant.” But how can we use that purchasing power to help others? Stay tuned for more on that…

More resolutions:

• Sell more diapers
• Make 3 vegan meals a week
• Be a better parent
• Get a handle on felt

Seattle cloth diapers are hiding right here

It’s been a long and eventful year, but it has all been worth it because we can now say that Punkernoodle Baby has the largest selection of Seattle cloth diapers. This is THE resource in our fair green city for parents and parents-to-be to see more styles and types of cloth diapers and to learn why and how to cloth diaper their babies! 

We have met so many parents this past year looking for a place in Seattle where they could see, touch and learn about modern cloth diapers – and who could blame them? The Internet is amazing, but when it comes to making such an important choice for your baby, it makes sense that you would want to see what you’re buying before taking the plunge. And as often as we tell parents how EASY it is to cloth diaper their babies, for a beginner the world of cloth diapering can be confusing and a little overwhelming. What works for one baby might not work for the next. For one family, wool longies might be the only nighttime solution, for another hemp prefolds are the best choice. The small handful of great baby-supply stores in Seattle that offer 2-3 types of cloth diapers simply don’t have the expertise or variety that parents need when weighing factors like budget, lifestyle, and eco priorities in order to chose their diapering system.

We are thrilled that, less than a year from building up as a mom-and-pop shop, we now offer Seattle and Seattle-area parents dozens of types of pocket diapers, one-size diapers, prefolds, All-in-Ones, fitted diapers, diapers wraps and covers, and a variety of wool, bamboo, hemp and organic products. We have popular brands as well as emerging boutique lines, and everything is in stock in our Ballard showroom. And because cloth diapering brings with it important decisions and questions, we have the experience of diapering our own children plus a ton of the most up-to-the-minute industry information to be able to inform parents and walk parents through any issues they might have.

Time and again parents have come into the shop, looked at our shelves lined with a rainbow of diapers – snaps, velcro, organic bamboo velour, waterproof cow prints and simple Indian cotton, and marveled at the fact that we are here. Tucked away, a secret to many. And we know – we wish everyone in Seattle and beyond knew about our existence, and we hope one day they will. For now, word-of-mouth and loyal diapering mamas and papas are helping us grow slowly but surely. Organically – which is perfect, really, since that single word embodies what we wanted to achieve when we decided to open a diaper shop: A resource for parents hoping to do something good for their babies and for the planet, a business that will contribute a vibrant and uber-local business community, a place that celebrates the natural and simple beauty of growing children.

We hope soon to be a full online shop where parents around the country can find us. But we will always be focused on our grassroots diapering and green parenting community. So email us (mail@punkernoodlebaby.com), visit us (www.punkernoodlebaby.com) and please spread the word that we are here, sitting on a pile of Seattle cloth diapers that we love to show off!

 

- Natalie and Lukas

Eight Months, A Million Sleepless Nights, One Diaper Shop – Priceless

It was back in December when I sat up in bed in the middle of one wet, dark and cold night, shook Lukas awake and said “I know what we can do!” I think it was precisely because I jolted him awake that my husband, groggy and mumbling, agreed to start selling cloth diapers. The element of surprise cannot be overrated.

The idea of the side gig was born out of necessity. Both writers, we had spent several years trying to weather out the precursor to the perfect storm that eventually brewed for our family – a suffering media industry, a mortgage crisis for which we nearly became poster children and the cost of bringing two precious babies into the world. Instead of eating beans every night and renting out a room to a stoned college border, I thought throwing together a little home diaper business could close the financial gap and make life a bit more comfortable. I envisioned myself hosting little gatherings once or twice a month on the weekends where I would show off fabulous cloth diapers, and moms emailing out of the blue to order stashes of 36 diapers at $700 a pop.

Little did I realize how much time, effort, frustration and emotional turmoil can be involved in “throwing” such a venture together. But the reality soon began to emerge. I wanted a little online store that was different than what was out there already – a site that was edgy and cool and easy to navigate. And of course I, with no HTML or e-commerce skills, wanted it built for $500. I started out wanting to sell just Fuzzi Bunz, the diapers we first started using on Punkernoodle One and fell in love with. I quickly got diaper lust and had to have all the other great stuff out there, too. So I spread my allegiance around, which was good because I had lots of other diaper brands to comfort me when my beloved Fuzzis informed me they were not accepting new retailers – one of dozens of tiny heartbreaks.

As winter melted into spring, boxes of diapers filled what was once our dining room and the design of our Website inched forward. Our usual bedtime moved from 10:30 p.m. to 12:30 a.m., and my dreams were filled with hot-pink polyester and organic hemp confections. Challenges abounded, from a trademark dilemma with our name to the ever-growing need for MORE TIME.

While we waited for our national online presence to make itself known, we started making real sales to wonderful local mamas and papas, who were beyond thrilled to have a place in Seattle where they could touch and learn about cloth diapers. And something else happened: As the realistic pace of starting a home business set in, Lukas jumped ship to a new job that brought in more money and turned the diaper shop from a financial lifeline to a slightly more fun experiment, a step on the path to a potentially different lifestyle down the road.

So it’s been 8 months. We have a temporary Website that directs local folks to our home showroom, where on evenings and weekends we’ve sold cloth diapers to a quite few babies, some who’ve rolled around on our floor squealing and some who waited quietly in utero. We have a determined and dedicated store designer with her own small-business dreams who may, just maybe, get our shop open in a few weeks. We have a deeper appreciation for family businesses of all size and shape, but especially for those run by parents trying to  create something good, and perhaps a little indescribable, for their children. Oh, and we’re finally carrying Fuzzi Bunz, which now sit stacked by the dozens in our dining room – I mean diaper shop – in all their fuzzi glory. Hopefully someone, somewhere, will buy them.