Monday, January 14, 2013

New FLUFF!!

No it's not a euphemism for the foul smells that often come from a lady with less and less space around her bowels...

But it's not that far off! I'm talking DIAPERS!!!

Stephen and I are already considered flaming liberals for the fact that not only do we recycle, we pay to have it picked up every two weeks. SO, why not add to our green tendencies by using cloth diapers?

It's something we've considered for a long time and these aren't my momma's cloth diapers...well I was a 'sposie (diaper lingo for disposable) kid anyway. Not only does it make a ton of sense financially, as there is little need for a diaper service and all the diapers we are purchasing are considered "one size" these diapers should last through potty training. The only time these may not work is the new born phase, which our baby may be born bigger than anyway. Because of the uncertainty of size at birth (both Stephen and I were born pre-term - me especially so, but there are no indications of that being the case with our baby, so far) we decided to use disposables to get us through that short period when financially it makes the least sense to invest.

The lingo is hard to wrap your mind around as there are SO many choices. I have chosen to get our current stash from a site called Cottonbabies.com. They offer a wide selection, free shipping, and my latest batch that just came in are from a "seconds" sale. Diapers that didn't make the cut for top quality, but the most I've noticed wrong are a spot here or there where the serging may have clipped in or out a little bit but only on finished edges...nothing structural or anything an untrained eye would see. At $7 for the cover, and $3.95 for the insert, I couldn't have hardly made these any cheaper!

So, what do we have so far you ask? Well let me educate you on our current stash! (Because I know diapers are just as exciting to you as they are to me right now!)

First up, upon the recommendation of our friends the Bocangels, we have Bum Genius Brand, All-in-One 4.0 diapers with aplix (velcro) closures. (I know, the LINGO is rediculous...)


These may prove to be the longest lasting in terms of style. Almost all brands have an option of either aplix or snap closures (like you see in the sizing). I have heard the velcro can wear out, but it looks easy enough to replace - and since sewing velcro is a snap (ha!) for this girl, I went ahead and bought this type of closure. This diaper is likely to be the most comfy for baby, as the outside cover made out of PUL (poly-urithane laminate sp?) and is lined with fleece and the diaper is considered a "pocket" diaper. Inside the pocket is a micro-fiber liner which you can double at night for extra protection. To wash, you do a pre-cycle on the liner, run a warm wash cycle on both the cover and the liner, and line dry. As the baby gets bigger, the was strap can be adjusted and you simply snap or unsnap the front to either shorten or lengthen the diaper. As a fully lined pocket cover, these are the most expensive, but also seem to accommodate to the largest size.

The next style diaper I ordered on a super "cyber monday" sale (yes I bought diapers for my Thanksgiving shopping...) are Bum Genius One Size Freetimes.

This is essentially the best of a Bum Genius All-in-One without the need to stuff the pocket. They are still PUL outsides, with a fleece inside but instead of the pocket, two liners are attached, one at the front and one at the back, providing maximum coverage for the "wettest" parts of the diaper. They are washed the same way, and one of the reviews mentioned a downside as taking too long to line-dry. Currently living in a world without much humidity, I didn't think much about it. These are completely snaps, both to lengthen and shorten and to attach. Some parents preferred these are they are harder for babies to eventually learn to pull off...however, they're also harder to snap and I can imagine getting them closed on a wiggly baby would be fairly difficult.

The next kind I got, I believe are made by BG, but sold exclusively by Cottonbaby.com. They are a cover with an insert that lays on top.


 The good news is that the inserts for these and the the first diaper are the same. These have high ratings in Europe and day care centers as they work most like 'sposies. These are the ones I bought on seconds. You can layer as many inserts as needed, but the nice thing is, theoretically if it's just wet, or not that big of a mess, the covers are not lined but are still made of the water-proof PUL material and you can then remove the soiled liner, wipe the cover out, put a clean liner in and off you go! Drying time should be cut in half as compared to the first diaper posted and they are by far the cheaper option (even when not sold as seconds). The downside is, they may not be as comfortable as the previous two.

Regardless, diaper rash is always drastically reduced when using cloth, as are many other diaper related discomforts. Not to mention, even though 'sposies are made out of a lot more biodegradable material, we are still saving LOADS from the landfills.

To make washing easier, there is also a sprayer you can get for the back of your toilet to wash the "chunkier bits" in the toilet, put the diaper in a wet bag contained in a pail, and wash diapers ever two or so days depending on how big your stash might be. We're currently sitting at about 15, a good working stash for the beginning.

Unfortunately, none of these diapers are available at our mainstream registry stores (...told you we're crazy green liberals!), and in fact, here in Amarillo there is only one small boutique that even carries cloth and then it's only BG 4.0's. They often can't keep stocked...imagine that! So if you're interested in getting us fluff to help out, it's probably best to get a generic gift card, or go on cottonbabies.com and order any of the three varieties we named above.

Next week on the 22nd, we get our gender scan (if the baby is behaving and not being too modest!). Cloth comes in so many colors and patterns and you can bet as soon as we know, there will either be more pink or blue, dinasours or butterflies!

Stay tuned!!!!!!!!!!







2 comments:

  1. I wouldn't use cloth in the beginning anyway...I think rex looped every 20 mind for the first month :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. That would be pooped not looped and minute not mind

    ReplyDelete