We Have Cloth Diapers!

Abby Rose is now a 100% cloth diaper baby! Half of my order arrived on Thursday, August 12th, and the other half arrived this past Monday. I washed the covers once, then hung them to dry. I washed and dried the prefolds 5 times (a crucial element to this step is to dry after each washing - your prefolds won't get quite as absorbant if you just wash 5 times in a row, then dry), then folded them neatly and put them away in the cute dark wicker basket that lives on top of Abby's dresser.

Then [insert pun about bodily excrement coming into contact with an appliance used to move air around a room]. If you don't know what that pun is, I'm not going to tell you - because I'm mean like that. :)

I won't lie to you - the first few days of cloth diapering were messy and a little awkward. I had to figure out exactly what size to snap the covers to. We went through "The Three Bears" of cloth diapering - one size was too big, one size was too small, and one size was JUST right! And now that they've been sized properly, I will cause serious bodily harm to anyone who messes up my diaper covers!

So we had some leaky wet diapers, and some very messy poopy diapers (although nothing came OUT of the diaper, in terms of poop!). Then we made the mistake of starting bananas the day after we started with the diapers - this made for a VERY messy prefold just as I was learning how to clean it in the toilet.

I invested in a pair of yellow rubber kitchen gloves - they are in a bag under the bathroom sink, and labeled "Poop!," because I never want them to touch anything other than the prefolds! I've found that if I let the prefold soak for a bit in the toilet (which is what always happens anyway, because I can't just take a dirty diaper off of Abby and immediately clean it - I have to wait until she's occupied or sleeping or with someone else), most of the mess comes off, and then I can don my gloves and dunk the prefold a few times, hold it in the flushing water a few times, then transfer the mostly clean prefold into a (labeled!) Rubbermaid container (with a lid) where it stays until it's time to do diaper laundry.

My husband is still pretty grossed out by this, and I can't entirely blame him - sticking my hand in a toilet (even with a glove on!) to scrub off POOP is not for the faint of heart! I know I'll get used to it, and it will become old hat before I know it (I'm not expecting my husband to do it anytime soon!), but you really need to WANT to do this to not give up after just a few days. I now feel much more comfortable with properly positioning Abby's little tush on right part of the prefold and fastening the cover properly, but I'm sure I'll hit another snag when Abby has a dirty diaper in public and I have to wrangle it into the wet bag without making a mess.

THAT will be a great day!

I haven't had a chance to take a (good) picture of Abby in her econobum, but I'll make a point to do that in the next few days - she looks so cute in it! But, to quote Dream Phone, "[she] looks good in whatever [she] wears!"

;)

So My Child Shoudn't Play With a Bag Full of Beans?

One of my goals is to provide Abby with a variety of "toys" - I have toys in quotations marks because I don't mean I want to go to the store and buy her a bunch of plastic things. I simply mean that I want to provide her with a plethora of safe, eco-friendly items for her to use to stimulate her brain and broaden her horizons.

For example, a favorite "toy" lately has been a pot and a ladle - I put different things in the pot and Abby "stirs" them around. I repurposed an empty formula can into a sort of large rattle simply by keeping the measuring spoon (that comes with every can of formula - talk about a gross misuse of plastic!) in the can and snapping the lid on! Abby likes to roll it around on the floor and gets a kick out of the noise it makes!

I also poured a generous measure of dried black beans into a Ziploc bag (Ziploc = the devil, so I try to reuse them whenever I can) for her to shake around, but my mother isn't too thrilled with that. She's convinced that Abby is going to gnaw through the plastic and choke on the beans. Yes, Mom, because I often leave my 7 month-old alone with bags for extended periods of time. ::rolls eyes and laughs:: I have a helicopter mother, can you tell?

As a kid, I spent a lot, and I mean a LOT, of time playing in cardboard boxes. My brother and I each had a GIANT one that we "carved" into houses using steak knives (Mom was NOT too pleased about that!). We pulled each other around in the laundry basket, tied things in our rooms together with leftover (and otherwise useless) bits of yarn, and spent a rather insane amount of our childhood literally entranced by a pair of ancient intercoms we'd unearthed in the basement one day.

We also played outside - a LOT. It makes me really sad to think of how SO many kids today spend all of their time inside, on the computer or watching TV or playing video games. No wonder so many children are obese! At 7 months, I cannot see ANY reason why Abby needs to watch any TV whatsoever.

I'm trying to decide whether or not I'm a hypocrite. With our cable bundle, we get a channel that plays only kid-friendly music (we also have a ton of other music channels, which I love!) - not music videos, but there is always a non-moving picture on the screen when a song plays (as well as the name of the song, the group, the album, etc.). Would any of you actually count this as watching TV? I find it a really helpful child-raising tool, because I want Abby to listen to music, and having a channel entirely dedicated to appropriate music is a million times easier than dragging out my stash of CDs every day and constantly changing the disc. I COULD use iTunes, but we don't really have much kid-friendly music on there, so I feel this is the best idea.

Anyway, my husband and I have no plan to introduce her to TV anytime soon. We'll have to figure out what to do about movies when she's...oh, I don't know, 3, maybe? When I was a child, we had a family movie night (with pizza and OJ!) every Friday night, and I REALLY loved it, and looked forward to it all week. But it didn't start when we were super young - I think I was about 6 when we started it. Help me out, Mom?

So leaving the TV off and avoiding buying new plastic toys (I have purchased a few used plastic toys at rummage sales, and I'm okay with THAT - just as long as we don't get too many or buy them new) leaves things up to my husband and me to entertain and teach and stimulate our child's mind. She's just beginning to get to the age where she really wants to play with THINGS, but she's not yet old enough for some toys. At some point, I'd like her to have a nice set of U.S.-made, eco-friendly wooden blocks and maybe some nice wooden cars/trucks/vehicles to push around. I will admit that I have no problem with having a girlie girl, but I think boys and girls should both with dolls AND cars - if they want. I'm sure some girls have no interest in cars and some boys have no interest in dolls!

Right now, I need to find ideas of things to make for her - things that are safe and recycled and have a purpose. I'd read something somewhere about filling a small glass jar with water, cooking oil, and food coloring to make a kind of mini-lava lamp, but I don't know about the glass, keeping the lid tightly attached, and what I'd do if it DID open up or break.

So I'm open to suggestions - and my research will begin NOW! :)

Short and sweet

As all of you mothers and fathers know, time can be hard to come by when you have little ones (I think it actually stays that way for about 18 years...), so, unfortunately, I don't have time for one of my rambling monologues. Sorry!

I'll get right to the point: the diaper trial has been completed! I decided not to try out the BumGenius on Abby because it is virtually the same as the Happy Heinys (except it fastens with snaps, not velcro). I did, however, try the flip, because with that diaper, you simply lay the insert into the diaper - you don't have to attempt to shove it into a pocket.

Major brownie points in my book!

The diaper was soft and looked comfy (and Abby didn't complain while wearing it!), the insert did an AMAZING job of wicking moisture away (the side that was actually touching Abby's bum felt virtually dry - the opposite side was SOAKED!), and it was very easy to size the diaper to the proper fit. I am extremely pleased with this diaper, and since the econobum diaper is exactly the same (really, the only difference is that econobum diapers are ONLY available in white - and I really don't care about the color!), I will be ordering a full supply of econobums very shortly!

I've washed, dried, and re-packaged my 3 trial diapers, and after contacting Diaper Junction to receive my return order number (which you HAVE to do - you put the number on the outside of the package before you mail it back, and if the company gets a return without that number, they ship it back to you at your expense and you won't get your refund - play by the rules, people!), I will be putting the package in the mail in the next few days! Since I know I will be purchasing diapers from the site, I opted to get my refund in the form of store credit - if you choose that option, you do NOT have to pay return shipping charges! I don't know for certain, but I'm assuming that whatever it costs to ship will just be added to my store credit so that I can use the credit for my impending purchase! You can always get your money back, straight out, but it sounds like you then have to pay the shipping charges. ::shrugs:: I don't think 3 diapers weigh all that much, so shipping wouldn't be all that much anyway - and I had free shipping to begin with!

So, all in all, my recommendation is the Flip-style diaper - once I've used the econobum diaper, I'll let you know how those work. I'm anticipating nothing but good things (and lots of $$$ saving!) from them, but we'll have to wait and see!

-Jen

Happy Heinys!

So today was the trial of the Happy Heinys diaper! I waited until Abby had her daily poop (although SOMEtimes she's a two-a-day pooper...I just took my chances today!), then put her clean bum into her very first cloth diaper!

The Happy Heinys is a Velcro diaper, and, as I suspected, she immediately began to fiddle with the tabs! Although, as my sister-in-law's sister-in-law (six degrees of Kevin Bacon, anyone?) pointed out, once her kids got to a certain age, they were also able to get out of the snap diapers! So, really, there WILL come a time when Abby will be able to take off any diaper I put on her - that's just what's going to happen and we'll deal with it when it happens! And hopefully it will happen with a WET diaper, not a DIRTY diaper! ::prays::

I had no trouble adjusting the diaper - using the snaps on the front (which don't hold the diaper on, they're purely used to make the diaper a one-size diaper) was easy, and there were four different sizes I could have made the diaper. I chose #3 of 4 (although I think I could have used #2 and still had enough room for her in the diaper - I just didn't want it to be too loose!), then velcroed (is that a word?) it in place - presto diaper change-o!

The only thing I had trouble with was putting the insert (I used the larger one - the way Abby pees, I KNEW the newborn one wasn't going to cut it!) into the pocket in the diaper. I mean, it sounds easy? It's basically put A into B, but...it was a little tricky. It was kind of like trying to rethread a drawstring when it comes out of a pair of shorts or pants or something. Know what I mean? It was just a little awkward. But once it was in, it was fine!

She wore it for almost 4 hours before she started to look a little bottom heavy, so off it came, and on went a disposable diaper (one of the few in my dwindling stock - I need to decide on a cloth diaper soon or my baby will be running around naked! Or I'll simply have to buy a few more plastic ones...). Abby had no marks on her bottom (with the disposables, I often find she has the criss-cross marks from the inside of the diaper (does that make sense?) on her tush), and there was really no odor from the diaper - both pluses! For now, since I don't have a cloth diaper "disposal" setup (as in, I don't have a station set up to contain the dirty diapers and inserts until they get washed), I simply tossed both the diaper and the insert into the washer with a few inches of water - I'll get to it in a bit.

Now, this particular diaper presented something that I'm finding I don't really like - because Abby is actually touching the DIAPER and not the INSERT, I have to completely wash both parts. I can't just wash the insert, and wipe out the diaper (since it was just a wet diaper). In my book, this takes points away from Happy Heinys. I wouldn't call this a PROBLEM, persay, it's just not something I want to deal with in a cloth diaper. I want to wash the least amount of material possible - inserts/prefolds ONLY!

But, overall, it's a nice diaper. Here's a recap:

PROS

• Made completely in the U.S.!
• Super soft to the touch, and very absorbant (I washed the insert 3 times before using it)
• Easy to adjust and fasten
• Not crinkly!
• Not super bulky - it would fit nicely under clothes

CONS

• It was a bit tricky to put the insert into the pocket of the diaper
• Both the diaper and the insert need to be washed, not just the insert
• This was the most expensive diaper of the 3 I ordered (but is NOT the most expensive cloth diaper around - it falls kind of in the middle)

5 pros, 3 cons - not bad for the first diaper! Here's a picture of the Abbigator wearing her Happy Heinys! And, no, she doesn't have a mohawk, it's just how her shadow is! And does anyone else think she's a redhead?! We're still waiting to see what her true hair color will be!

Tomorrow - the Flip!

-Jen

The Diapers Are Here!

So, in case anyone was wondering, I'm not dead - I've just been in the Northwoods of Wisconsin for the past 8 days, and I don't have a laptop up there (by choice - c'mon, people, I've got a cottage in the middle of nowhere on a beautiful lake - do you REALLY think I'd be on the computer?!), nor am I technologically-inclined enough (or rich enough!) to have web access on my cell phone (plus, service is really sketchy up there, especially with the provider my husband and I have).

Anyway, we went on vacation, and now we're back. And while we were gone, the diapers were delivered! I ordered them on July 21st and they were postmarked on July 22nd, but I actually don't know exactly when they got here - we were gone from the 24th until the 31st, so it could have been any day in between there. But I really appreciate just how quickly they were put into the mail - with some companies, it can take forever for an order just to get postmarked! The diapers probably took about 5 days to get here - they were shipped Priority USPS from Virginia (to Wisconsin), so...someone from the USPS do the math for me, thanks!

I plan to throw the inserts in the wash tomorrow (to fluff them up and increase their absorbancy), and I should be able to do a photo shoot / test run (test poop?) with Abby tomorrow and/or Tuesday. So keep your eyes peeled for that post!

Here's the pictures of the diapers and the inserts:

BumGenius 4.0 Stay-Dry Cloth Diaper

Happy Heinys One Size Cloth Diaper

Flip One-Size Cover and Stay-Dry Insert

My Happy Heinys diaper came in Yellow, not Periwinkle, but that's because Periwinkle was out of stock - and I don't really care ALL that much about the color, so...I'm just glad I got the diaper!

I was very happy to see that Happy Heinys is made entirely in the U.S. - the other two each had a component made in the U.S., and the other part was in either China or Egpyt (of all places!). Happy Heinys instantly earned a bonus point for being made in the U.S., but if it turns out to be crappy, that point goes away!

I also saw on the packaging for the BumGenius that if you go with the econobum, you can "cloth diaper your baby from birth to potty training for just $100" (the econobum diapers ran about $10 / diaper) - so if I like the BumGenius, I might go that economical route! I also see on the BumGenius label that they are the same company that makes the Flip! So, in reality, I'm really just trying 2 different companies, though I have 3 different brands of diapers.

I'm very excited to get started with all of this, and I hope it makes for an amusing and informative journey for y'all! Abby is super excited to get started!

-Jen