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2.27.2011

Sick :(

I am currently suffering from a cold of some sort... horrible sinus pressure along my cheekbones and nose, I can't breathe... and I think my throat is starting to get irritated as well. Yay me! Luckily Elah seems to be fine, with the exception of a little congestion, otherwise she's all smiles in the morning while mommy feels like poo!

Elah is getting so big! She has her 2 month check up tomorrow AND it's her 2 month birthday. I know I say this ALL the time, but this is going by far too fast! She smiles all the time and loves to coo at me super early in the morning, lol. She is quickly growing out of her 0-3 month clothes... atleast lengthwise, however because cloth diapers are a bit bulkier than sposies... that makes the clothes fit a little tighter! We haven't had anymore LONG stretches of sleep at night, the longest she sleeps is about 3 hours... which honestly, is AMAZING. Elah is also learning to put herself to sleep, as long as she is full, has a clean diaper, and is content... all I have to do at night after tending to her is lay her down in the cosleeper and she will fall asleep. If she gets a little fussy I turn on her giraffe (sound machine) and pat her belly or hold her hand and she drifts right off. It definately makes my nights a bit easier!

Vacation is coming soon! We leave in 32 days! I can't wait!

I'll update again tomorrow depending no how Elah is... this is an appointment w/shots... so no telling how she'll be. Pray for us!

2.24.2011

Our Adventure Diving Into Cloth Diapering :-D

Alright, let me just warn you by saying that this blog is going to be extremely long and extremely full of pictures. I have been cloth diapering Elah full time for about 3 weeks now and we are LOVING it! I have had several friends (and friends of friends for that matter) ask about our journey cloth diapering, what diapers we use, how to cloth diaper, etc etc etc. So. Here we go... are you ready?

Let's start with my storage...











 We keep all of our diapers and wet bags in this container/storage system. I LOVE it, all of our diapers fit perfectly... the two empty containers will hold the 12 4.0 Sunbabies that I ordered, they come from China so they take a little longer to ship. I will post a review on them once we have them and have used them for a few weeks. The trash can to the right has a Go Green Pocket Diaper Trash Can Liner, it has a zippered bottom so that you can easily dump your diapers (I unstuff and unsnap them before throwing them in to make it simple).

This container holds our inserts and prefolds... and it also has her shoes, crib/bassinet sheets, sleep gowns, moby wrap, dolcino wrap, udder cover, and ergo inserts.

First diaper is a Kawaii Pure & Natural:


We have 6 of these, 3 peach and 3 white.

These are supposed to fit babies 0-15 months or a baby 6-22 pounds. Obviously, these didn't fit my little one immediately because she was only 5 lbs 13oz, but after she reached 6lbs these fit her really well.

They are extremely soft on the inside and use the regular microfiber inserts that come with all of Kawaii's diapers (with the exception of the Bamboo dipes). The only thing I'm unsatisfied with when it comes to the inserts is that because they use the regular sized ones, when you stuff these they bunch a little in the center (between the legs)... although it does make it a bit more absorbent. They are a little difficult to stuff because of the size, but the fit is perfect on my daughter.

You can see here that it has velcro and that it has 3 rises. Elah is on the lowest rise at the moment... and let me say that I HATE this velcro. It has laundry tabs, but they do not stick very well, so when you wash them they get stuck to EVERYTHING!

Next diaper is the Go Green Pocket Champ Diaper:

 These are my silky champs, one has star prints, the rest are solid colors. Thus far, these are my FAVORITE dipes out of all of our stash.
 As you can see, there are two openings on the front and the back. The back opening is just an open pocket, the front has a flap to cover the opening and you actually snap the insert in at the top, as seen below.

 I love the snaps on the solid colored champs, they are color coded to help you get a centered fit on your LO. These have 4 different rises, XS, S, M, & L. Right now Elah is on the X@ rise, and they are a perfect fit. No leaking whatsoever! The inside is extremely soft, and these are super easy to stuff.
These are our fuzzy, printed Champs. :)

Next diaper is the Go Green Solid Silky Pocket Diaper: 
So far, I'm not a fan of this Go Green Diaper, however, once Elah is a little bigger I may feel differently. Unlike the other diapers that Go Green has to offer, this one does not have snaps on the wing so that you can overlap them to make a tighter fit... so because of that, when we put this dipe on Elah she leaks terribly. The legs are too loose and it's just a big fit on her over all.


This dipe has 3 rises, and no hip snaps.

I really like these! The prints are awfully cute, and actually the lime green one belongs with the "poople" diaper above, but this one has the overlap snaps so I put it with these.


These have 3 rises as well, with hip snaps to get a tighter, more snug fit. So far Elah hasn't leaked out of these at all. The inside is soft and these are really easy to stuff as well.

Next dipes are the Go Green Fuzzy Pocket Diapers:
These have the same fit, same snaps, same rises, and same inner material as the silky Go Green dipes I reviewed above. Love how soft the outer material is and how cute the prints are!

There are several different tabs/wings on these...
These don't have the cross over snaps on the tabs, so they don't fit Elah very well right now. But again, like I said with the Go Green that doesn't have the cross over snaps, I might like them better when Elah is bigger.

Just a basic pocket dipe... super soft inner, super easy to stuff.

3 snap rises, silky outer shell.

Has a little flap of fabric to cover the opening. Don't want that microfiber insert to touch your baby's bum!
These have cross over tabs and hip snaps. GREAT fit on Elah's little bum!

Great fit around the legs, super easy to stuff and SUPER soft!

Same flap over the opening to cover insert.

3 rises again!

Inner on these is just a little different, but pocket is the same.




Next dipe is the Kawaii Snazzy Minky Pocket Diaper (Snaps):
You can buy these w/velcro closures as well, but I prefer the snaps.
Love these prints. These are a little bulky, but they otherwise have a good fit. No leakage in these dipes, they are a little high on her belly, but otherwise look great.

Soft inside and out.

3 rises, hip snaps... love this cow print :)


I believe these are Justin's favorite, he usually grabs these before the other dipes. These are thinner, and the bamboo inserts are substantially thinner as well. These have hip snaps and cross over snaps to get a tight fit.

Elah leaks in these occasionally, but I believe thats because the insert slips if you don't get it on her JUST RIGHT. I love that they aren't bulky, and that they are super soft. I'm hoping that we'll figure out how to get these not to leak so much!

3 rises on these as well.


I love how tiny these diapers can get without being super bulky. They come with 2 inserts, one is a newborn size, and the other is regular sized. I adore the prints, but they also come in solid colors if that is what you prefer.

These have a wonderful fit, and are super soft and absorbent. NO leaks!

4 rises, just like the Go Green Champs, these have the cross over tabs and hip snaps to get a snug fit.


I looooooove this diaper. I actually got it free when I ordered my Happy Heiny's from Kelly's Closet. I'm tempted to order more, but I think Justin might kill me if I order any more diapers!

This diaper has inner AND outer gussets, so it's a great, snug fit around the legs. The inside is extremely soft, and easy to stuff. It comes with 2 inserts, like the Happy Heiny's, a newborn size and a regular size. These inserts actually snap together to make a double absorbency. Should have taken a picture, but oh well. You should be able to click the link to rumparooz website to see what I'm talking about ;-)

This dipe has cross over tabs and hip snaps, AND 4 rises as well. However... This is the only diaper where Elah isn't on the lowest rise, she's actually on the 2nd lowest rise. This dipe is TINY... I'm thinking it would have fit Elah at birth! I would love to get more for our next baby to use from the start.

Next dipe is the Smartipants Diapers:
A friend gave me these diapers and so far I really like them. Kind of like the champs when it comes to the double sided opening, but you don't snap the inserts to these in. It has 3 different rises, but it doesn't have any hip snaps. BUT, it does fit Elah pretty well. Haven't had any leaks with this diaper.




I'm not a big fan of these so far. Although they are super soft, and fit Elah like a glove... the gussets on these turn out no matter what I do. So whenever Elah pees she leaks out EVERYWHERE. I'm hoping to find a way to keep the gussets from turning out, because the fit is so snug and not bulky at all! This is an all-in-one diaper, meaning there aren't any inserts, there isn't any stuffing to be done... you just put it on the baby and take it off when it's dirty, LOL!



Next dipe is the Envibums Diapers:
The same friend that gave me the Smartipants, and 2 of my thirsties (that I am going to show you next) gave me these as well. I like them so far, these are one size diapers, even though they don't have snaps to change the size. The gusset stretches to accomodate different sized children. They fit Elah, but they are very bulky since she's so little, which is my only dislike at the moment. I don't mind the velcro on these, they don't stick to everything like the Pure & Naturals do. These are also All-in-Ones like the BumGenius! dipes, but they have a pocket in case you want to double the absorbency!



Last dipes are Thirsties, I have 3 covers and 1 fab fitted:
Two of my covers are XS (the purple and pink), they fit so well and aren't bulky at all. I'm using newborn prefolds as inserts, and they absorb pretty well. My only complaint is that they don't hold Elah's 1x/week EBF poos very well. I haven't tried the printed cover or the fab fitted because they are both too large (medium sizes) for Elah. I will let you know how they do once she's big enough to wear them!






Those are all of our dipes, with the exception of the 12 Sunbabies that are somewhere between China and here at the moment LOL. I will update you on those in a couple of weeks.

Next up are the wetbags... not much to say about these. I have 2 pink polka dotted bags from Kawaii, 3 bags from Go Green (green, red, cow print), and one from RolyPoly. The Go Green's have 2 zipper pockets, they all have waterproof lining... they all do their job, LOL.






When I was researching all the different types of diapers, how to wash them, and all the other things you need to know about diapers I was completely overhwhelmed. Everyone has their own way of doing things... everyone swears up and down that their way is the right way. I'm going to tell you how I wash and treat my dipes, but know that you will find your own way to do things, and that is OK if it works for you! I have been using Tide Original Powder for my dipes and clothes, but I was having to rinse several more times to get all the soap out, despite only using 2-3 Tbsp. So I tried Charlie's Soap... LOVE it. Once we use up all our Tide, I will be completely switching to Charlie's for not only our dipes, but for our clothes and towels as well. Here is my washing routine:

Prewash on cold with 1/2 cup vinegar (gets stains out and makes them super soft!)
Heavy Duty Wash on hot with Tbsp. Charlie's Soap
2nd Rinse on Cold (sometimes I will do this step twice if it's a small load of diapers to make sure there's no soap left!)
I dry my inserts, prefolds, and Envibums on medium heat, and then I hang my other dipes on a drying rack... eventually I'd like to have a clothes line outside, but living in an apartment makes that a little bit hard to do. If you have stains, try sunning your dipes. I'm unable to do so, but I hear that the sun can do wonders on stains!


Last, but not least, I just want to say how much I adore cloth diapering. Not only does Elah look absolutely adorable in her dipes, but I feel like she isn't being exposed to the chemicals that companies put in their diapers... I had her in cloth part time the first few weeks of her life and she had an awful diaper rash within the first week. I had to start buying pure and natural huggies and natural wipes and Burts Bee's diaper cream to get it to go away... however it didn't completley go away until we started cloth diapering full time and using cloth wipes (spritzed w/soapy water - I use California Baby baby body wash for the spritz). I'm confident that this is healthier for my daughter and find that all the laundry and time it takes to do this is totally worth it. It was a little overwhelming at first, and I was terrified that all the money we invested would go to waste, but now I know we mad the best decision. Cloth diapering isn't for everyone, by no means, some people find sposies to be more convenient and perfectly safe for their babies... and that is OK! It's just not the right choice for our family. I can answer any other questions you might have, and if I can't answer them I can direct you to someone that can. If you are diving into cloth like we did, good luck!