Cloth Diapers are Friggin' Hilarious

I was getting Lil' J dressed for bed after a bath,  and stuffing one of her Fuzzibunz pocket diapers. We have a handful of those for night time.

As I pushed a cloth insert through the middle of the diaper I heard her giggle. I looked down at her smiling but I didn't know what was so funny. I continued stuffing the diaper with a second cloth insert and realized what was making her laugh. My hand stuck inside the diaper made it look like it had a life of it's own and she apparently thought that was hilarious.

Now the diaper tickles her each night after her bath before bed... Well, on the nights mommy puts her to bed. It never fails to get her going. I recently captured it on video.

It's not possible for me to watch this and not laugh myself.

Cloth Diaper Breakthrough

Yesterday I was talking to a woman when I noticed a stack of cloth diapers beside her. I asked her if she cloth diapered and she told me she did. I told her I did as well and it opened up a whole slew of other conversations.

I'm finding the same thing happens at church and yoga class when another fellow cloth diapering mama, or a perspective cloth diapering mother notices one another. It's a sort of instant comrade among women.

A few people have recently asked me if we're still cloth diapering. I guess because I don't mention it as often, or post a gazillion pictures of her in solely a diaper, people aren't sure if I gave up.

Surprisingly I didn't.

I say surprisingly, because really, it's a big surprise, mostly to me.

What started as an experiment has become a lifestyle for us.

My mother-in-law came to visit us last month and happily changed Lil' J's cloth diapers, and told me something I didn't know--My husband wore cloth diapers. Who would have thought? I believe she made have even made them, if I'm remembering correctly. Now I'm not that domestic (yet) but I am doing a lot more laundry now, which is a big step in my domestic diva development.

My husband (the champ) is cloth diapering our daughter right along side of me and we've come to find a few things that are making the experience much easier for us.

For one, the smell I mentioned in my frustrated post about in my temporary break up with cloth diapers post, has been eliminated by using some stuff called BioKleen in the wash during the pre-rinse cycle.

That's the other thing. I gave in and added a rinse cycle before the wash like many recommended. It's helped with the smell tremendously. Actually there is none now!

We have enough diapers to get us through 3-4 days but we usually wash every 2-3, or once the pail is full. My line drying stint is over. I gave that up after one try, and we've just decided to eat the extra water costs. Our bill seems to have leveled out to be about $15-$20 more than we were spending before and we are doing 12-18 extra loads of laundry a month so it's more work, and we're not saving tons and tons of money, but it's second nature to us now.

My daughter's poop has gotten more solid so I followed some friends' recommendations and bought flushable (like, won't flood your toilet flushable, I've tried it and they are SUPER thin) liners to go in her diapers. Problem is, I put them in when she pees and forget them before she poops. We're still trying to get the hang of them and remember to put them in every diaper change. I'm also going to invest in a diaper sprayer to spray off pop in the toilet. And we got some wool dryer balls courtesy of The Willow Store has cut back on our drying time, and saved energy as well.

To be honest, I didn't think we'd still cloth be diapering. My daughter didn't get rashes with Pampers. We weren't spending a lot on disposables, I'm not the most eco-conscious person around and I don't think using cloth diapers make us "better" than anyone else. I will say that if I can do it, just about anyone can! The first month was rough to get used to our system, but now, it's second nature. It really doesn't take any thought to using cloth diapers 24/7 just like we did with disposables. In fact, it seems just as easy. NO LIE! But remember, this was after 2-3 months. If you're considering them check out my article 7 Reasons to try cloth diapers on Baby Center.

I've been using Sprout Change diapers as well as FuzziBunz and gDiapers mostly. I also have a couple random other brands but those three are my favorite so far, for sure (in that order).

I like spreading the word about Sprout Change because they're an up and coming, mom-owned and operated cloth diaper company. I think the mechanics of their one-sized diapers are most efficient and I love that they are the only reversible cloth diaper out there!

I intend to cloth diaper our next child, and hope to use many of the diapers we have now. The bad thing is, many of the Sprout Change diaper covers I have now are purple and pink in assortment. The SweatPea, Smoothie, Grapefruit, they are all irresistible. I have a few gender neutral ones but will want to grab a few more. They're about to release a great new batch of gender neutral colors in a highly requested chocolate brown on one side. Since I have enough inserts I'll be splurging on some more covers and I'll be sure to get some of these that can go with a lot, and lucky you can win one!

Sprout Change is looking for name ideas for their new diaper covers. They're reversible, so one side is the chocolate brown and the other is each of the above colors. Leave a comment with a name idea for one of these new diaper shells and one *UPDATE*... THREE winnerS will get a free Sprout Change Shell (one winner for each new color)! Try to keep it food/health related like their other colors if you can. Here's an example... For number 3 my suggestion is Vanilla Bean. 

Winner will be announced on my Facebook Page next Thursday the 14th (contest ends Wednesday at midinght!)

My Break Up With Cloth Diapers

When I came home from work the second thing I noticed was my daughter wearing a disposable diaper. I asked my husband why she wasn't in a cloth diaper (in a loving, non-accusatory way) and he told me it was because they needed to be washed. Which brings us back to the first thing I noticed--The smell.

Instead of mahogany and leather bound books, my house smelled of dirty diapers.

My husband did the laundry while I nursed and reunited with our daughter. But when I went to pull a diaper out of the dryer, the smell hit me like a ton of bricks.

I sat there for a second wondering if my husband remembered you're supposed to wash the diapers first before putting them in the dryer. But they were clean. They just didn't smell like it.

I took my question to Google. How to wash cloth diapers. Simple enough, right? WRONG!

If you want to scare someone out of trying cloth diapers show them this site. I read that from the get go and saw I was doing it all wrong. According to that website I was supposed to wash my BRAND NEW diapers 5 to 10 times before using. Yea, that didn't happen.

So I took my question to twitter. And you know how simple questions can go controversial, but I tried to keep it friendly. Just thanked everyone for their suggestions, or letting me know their washing routine.

Most people told me they wash first on a cold cycle then again on a hot cycle before drying. Are you kidding me?

I told my husband we should add an extra wash cycle to our diapers and he laughed at me.

"Do you know how much our water bill went up last month?" He asked me.

I shook my head.

"Twenty dollars."

That's not how much our water bill was total, that's how much it went up in our month of using cloth diapers. Needless to say this was an all time high. And I'm not a math whiz but based on my quick calculations I guessed if we washed the diapers an extra time per load, it would probably go up an extra $20 and therefor cost us $40 a month just to wash cloth diapers.

Not cool.

So adding an extra wash cycle was out of the question.

I try to follow the yellow let it mellow, brown flush it down rule--you know--to conserve water. But this would cancel out my efforts.

The next common response I got was that I was using too much detergent. Wanna bet? I hardly put any in. I heard time and time again not to put the average amount in because it would cause detergent build up on the diapers. So I put about 1/4 of the recommended amount in the load to be safe.

One person told me maybe that probably wasn't enough. I can't win!

People kept telling me time and time again to buy some Rockin' Green Soap. Everyone raves about no stinky diapers with this stuff. What is it? It's a $14+ bag of detergent that is ya know--Natural, green, biodegradable, probably even edible, I dunno. But it was hard for me to bring myself to spend that much on detergent. I was ready to give in, but just to be sure, I asked one of my friends who swears by the stuff if she uses it in one wash cycle.

Nope.

*crickets*

No? You're telling me I'd still have to wash my diapers twice, PLUS by this extra fancy soap?

Shouldn't something that's natural cost less, not more? And can't I just use something around the house to make them smell better?

As a matter of fact, you can. --At least that was a crowd of twitter friends told me. Using vinegar in the wash can help take the smell of ammonia out.

And then there's always good old fashioned sunshine. Which I already know works wonders on stains.

My husband bought me clothespins--For the diapers, not my nose--And I strung the diapers up along my clothesline outside on my porch. Yes, we looked a little um... tacky. But I was saving energy dangit, and trying to defunk my diapers!

I left them out on my porch while I went to work, and brought them in that night. They were slightly stiff, so I fluffed them in the dryer for a few minutes and took them out. Not only did they look brand new, they smelled that way too!

It was glorious. No fancy detergent needed. No extra wash cycle required, and I can save my vinegar for... Whatever I may need vinegar for in the future.

I've decided I'm going to do this to my diapers every few weeks, or once a month or whenever I notice they're getting a little stinky. I think it beats using twice as much water per load.

A lady at church told me she makes her own detergent using Carlie's soap, I believe. So I think I'm going to do that next time to save myself money on detergent, while also using something that is not going to make the diapers stink or become less absorbent. I came to this conclusion after seeing this detergent chart.

I've also started putting my diapers on a medium or small load instead of large to save more water. They're still getting clean so I guess it's ok for now. Another thing I'm doing is washing every third day instead of every other day. That's cut down on some of the water usage too.

So the cloth diapers and I hit a rough patch. I'll admit, we broke up for a few days. But I missed them right away. Especially after Lil' J had her first blowout in a month. She then had blow out after blowout during her stint back in disposables. The cloth diapers and I have worked through our problems and I think we're going to make it.

Funny thing though... There was a stack of dirty pampers diapers in the bathroom upstairs (the pail is reserved for the cloth ones.) Once we threw those out, our house no longer smelled of dirty diapers.

Ironic.

Sprout Change Cloth Diaper Review and Say What?--GIVEAWAY!

If you've been following my blog the past few weeks you know I took the plunge and tried cloth diapers. I mostly used Sprout Change. To be honest, my husband has had to work with them more than I have but we've talked about and both gotten a feel for them now and I can give my honest opinion on this whole cloth diaper thing.

First of all, like I explained in my initial Cloth Diaper Experiment post--I'm not one of those people who is going to make people feel bad for using disposables. That's not my personality, and quite frankly I'm not trying cloth because I'm scared of Pampers harming my baby. Sure, that's a possibility, but it's also possible that my toaster will burn my house down. I wanted to give it a try because I figured if it was as easy as everyone says it would be a great way to save a few extra bucks a month, and keep extra trash from hitting the landfills. I also was thinking it would be more comfortable on my baby's bum and prevent diaper rash (although she's never had it *knock on wood*).

I was sent Sprout Change Cloth Diapers, the All in Two Super Saver kits.

I had organic hemp/cotton and stay dry microfleece (fleece on top, microfiber underneath) inserts to use in the covers.

Here's what I like about them:

1.They're one size. TRULY. There's elastic around the legs, and the back, which you can adjust while the baby's wearing it (here's my video demonstration of how that works). It was easy to fit wide around her thunder thighs, but taken in a little around her belly. It's nice because you set it once, and don't need to change it for months.

I know people who are used to multiple snap diapers for one size say adjusting the elastic is a pain but for me, it makes it faster for every diaper change after the one adjustment every few months. You don't have to line up a gazillion snaps every diaper change. I won't need to buy more covers because these are suppose to last until she's potty trained, or 40lbs.

What's cooler? They now have snap extenders if your baby gets bigger than that! No need to buy more for every time your child moves up a size.

2. The covers are reversible. It's the ONLY reversible diaper on the market. I have 8 covers aka shells, but if you count the other side with different colors that's 16 shells! Depending on the way you put it on the snaps close on the side or on the front. I prefer the front snaps, which close like I'm used to with disposables but different cloth diaper people have different preferences.

3. They aren't super bulky. I don't have a huge stash of diapers but compared to the others I do have (Fuzzibunz, gDiapers, Nifty Nappy) these are the least bulky of the bunch, which is nice because a lot of time her diaper is covered with adorable clothes.

4. Easy to use! I love this all in two system. During each diaper change I don't have to take the shell all of the way off. I just grab the insert, roll it up, and toss it in our diaper pail. Then place a new insert down. If poop does get on the shell, I toss the whole diaper in, but that usually happens just once a day. It's easy when we're out too because I don't need a ton of huge diapers to carry around, just an extra shell and a couple of inserts.

I have gDiapers too but think these are easier because they don't have an extra layer of plastic inside like the gDiapers do. These are EASY! Perfect for a first time cloth diaper person for myself. Did I mention they're easy?

5. Very Effective: They're waterproof, so we didn't have any blowouts like we did/do with disposables. She takes a big crap every morning and these always contain it. (I really need to start taking her to the toilet). Did you watch my waterproof demonstration? 

6. The price is right! The all in two system is one I wanted to go for, because the all in ones are more expensive for me to buy a whole new diaper and throw it in the pail after every use. With these all you need are a few shells and additional inserts for however many changes you think you'll have. The inserts are only $5-$7, as opposed to diapers from $16+. Plus, like I mentioned before, they're one size!

7. The stuff is interchangeable. Since we've decided to stick with cloth diapers (can you believe it?) the diapers we already have can be intertwined with stuff we get. The inserts can be used in pocket diapers, the covers can be used with prefolds. I can even use the biodegradable inserts I have for my gDiapers in these!

8. Mom made: I bought a cheapo $5 diaper off ebay then felt a bit guilty after when I realized it was from China. Sprout Change diapers are handmade my mamas like you, right here in the US. I feel right supporting them, versus "The Man".

Some problems I had:

I adjusted the elastic too tight around my baby's thighs (thinking oh she's only 3 months, I can make these tight) but they were too tight so I had to go back and readjust all of them all over again. My advice would be give one shell a try at one size for a few changes and make sure that's working before adjusting them all to save you some time.

For naptime, sometimes we'll stuff the sprout change inserts in a pocket diaper to absorb more while she sleeps (she pees a lot aka "a heavy wetter").  At first she went through a nap strike when we switched to cloth. Now she can sleep longer in her Sprout Change diapers now that she's adjusted (or maybe she was starting to teethe?) Either way, I may try an experiment with two of the hemp inserts to see if those work better for nap time, or lay fleece inside too, we'll see!

Cloth diapers as a whole:

In the beginning we all had to get used to more diaper changes. Lil' J wasn't used to feeling the cloth and wetness like you can feel (which is why cloth diaper users tend to have less diaper rash--because you have to change them more frequently than disposables) so we've had to adjust to more diaper changes. This isn't necessarily a problem with the brand as much as it is with the adjustment period.

Despite what people say, it IS more work than before, nevertheless, after two weeks I feel pretty adjusted. We still use disposables at night, but I don't mind because we were gifted SO MANY diapers that we have a lot to use still. By time time we're running low I'll probably look into tips for overnight diaper usage.

Even though it is more work, it's not as much work as I expected. Washing them is a piece of cake as I just dump the pail of diapers into the wash. Drying them is easy, and then it's not like I have to fold them or hang them.

I'm helping the environment a little by using less trash, and since I am using more energy to wash and dry the diapers I'm going to start line-drying the inserts to save energy too! This cloth diaper experiment has really inspired me to take a look at my life and see where I can cut corners and be a little greener while saving a little bit of $green$ too.--Even though that TOTALLY wasn't me. I guess knowing my daughter and granddaughters will be growing up in this world I'll leave behind makes me think a little more about what I'm doing.

It's not over though, keep following to see more of my cloth diaper findings and tips (I just bought some flushie liners to put over the inserts to hopefully avoid more poop, as well as a cloth diaper safe version of "shout") my cloth wipe attempt is next!

Oh, and speaking of following. Each of my blog followers, old or new (or confirmed email subscribers) who comments on this post before October 27th will be entered to win a Sprout Change Super Saver Starter Kit! It comes with one shell and three inserts. You can choose stay dry or organic. I won't tell you more cause you can read about it on their site. You can also learn more by watching my MomTV show TUESDAY 10/19 at 1pm EST (time change) where Catherine, the owner of The Willow Store will be on to talk about Sprout change. Attendees will be given a code word to get an extra entry to this giveaway!

You can get an extra entry if you follow @TheWillowStore on Twitter or fan The Willow Store on Facebook. Random.org will choose the winner. Good Luck!

*Thanks to The Willow Store for sponsoring this review and giveaway

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Winner of the Sound Beginnings Prenatal Music Belt: #12 Mama Campbell
Winner of the Cutie pa tutu: #38 Alice Anne
Winner of $75 to CSN Stores: #59 ShoeStringLiving
I'll email you all, and you'll all have 48 hours to respond to claim your prize! Congrats!

"Do These Pants Make My Butt Look Big?"-- "No, But Your Diaper Does": Cloth Diaper Experiment Week 2

Call me vain, but one of my concerns with putting Little J in cloth diapers was them not fitting under her adorable clothes.

Now thank goodness, 95% of her wardrobe is made up of dresses, so it's not a huge deal that her bum is now the size of a grapefruit--A big one--Thanks to her cloth diapers. I just have to be sure that what little part of her diaper that is showing, matches her ensemble.

Some say this is a misconception but I'm here to tell the truth... Cloth diapers DO make babies butts bigger! But to me this is a big fat "DUH!"

Luckily, with Little J's Sprout Change diapers, we haven't had a big problem with getting her clothes on, UNLESS I double up the layers of inserts. When I add an extra piece of cloth in there her booty is a balloon.

This isn't necessarily a bad thing if you like that sort of look. Some people like big butts. I, by habit, find myself spanking her bum all day just because it's fun to hear and it's soft--I dunno, it's a strange obsession. If she was standing and were to fall she'd have a lot of cushion to soften her fall, that's for sure.

But back to the dilemma-- Cloth diapers and clothes.

I was watching Lil' J on my day off and her daddy had to work. It was my second full day of being with her and changing her new diapers all day, while he's used them full time for the past week. I must say I have a whole new level of respect for my husband because I was changing her diaper what felt like every hour!

Every time she'd get wet she'd get cranky and fussy (which could be tied in with teething but really, wouldn't you if you're sitting in your own puddle?), and I was curious if adding an extra layer of microfiber would help her sleep and maybe not feel it at much.

I have 10 Bum Genius inserts I bought originally thinking I'd use them in my gDiapers, before I learned that you can't put microfiber right against your baby's bum (it over-dries their skin) so I took one out, and placed it under her organic Sprout Change insert and voilà! A big absorbent butt!... I mean diaper.

When I was performing this experiment it kinda reminded me of that scene from Teen Mom where Farrah forgot diapers for Sophia when they were at the car cleaners, so she asked for towels and she wrapped a bunch of hand towels around her daughter's butt and tried to put her pants back on.

It worked-- For both of us. Little J was able to take a long nap and when she woke up both layers were soaked! But it didn't leak from the waterproof cover and I guess she didn't feel it as much. Or maybe she was just really tired. The downside was the appearance, but we were just hanging out all day so no one saw her lowriding her pants.

I pulled her bottoms up as much as I could but the crotch of the pants stopped short, stuck on her diaper.

Same goes when she wears her FuzziBunz... Her Bunz are HUGE!

She's already a big girl wearing 6-9 month clothes at 3 months, but I guess cloth diapers may mean we'll need an even bigger size for some things.

Luckily she won't need to wear so many cloth layers unless she's napping (if we want her to nap more than 15 minutes). Other than nap time her Sprout Change diapers are nice, slim and sleek, like her disposables would be. Some other diapers I have (like gDiapers and most all in ones) are a little bigger, and check out this one...

...To be used when we visit Utah in the winter.

I'm not sure why this even bothers me. Maybe because I'm a woman and I know no woman wants a humongous butt. I, personally could use a little more junk in my trunk, and sometimes I'm in a hurry to the bathroom. Do they make cloth diapers for women?


Three people who comment on this post before October 25th at 11:59pm will win 250 business cards from PrintRunner.com. The cards can be full color, black & white, printing on one side or two sides, glossy or matte - it's up to you to choose! Follow @printrunner on twitter for an extra entry.

They Weren't Lying, These ARE Waterproof-- Cloth Diaper Experiment Day 5

I must admit, one thing that definitely has cloth diapers ranking over disposables in my book is the fact that we have not had one blow out since the switch.

We've had a couple of close calls. See, before, with disposables every morning following her morning feed fest she poops a TON. She doesn't poop while she sleeps, so I guess it gets all stockpiled up for her morning dump. We're usually downstairs watching Say Yes to the Dress before my evening news shift. I'll start to hear the thunder from down under and next thing I know, my thighs are all wet and the poop came from her diaper. Either out through her legs or up her back or stomach. It's gross. And if I may have been worried about cloth diapers being gross before, but, really--this isn't much different.

Every morning with my Sprout Change diapers we've gone through the same morning routine. Go downstairs, I make my oatmeal, we watch Say Yes to the Dress, (and you think by now I'd take her to the toilet since I'm know what's next) but today--and the rest of the week for that matter--when I've heard the squirts and farts nothing comes out!

We have close calls at times, with it going up the font of her diaper or the back of her diaper but it always stays inside the diaper. *knock on wood*

Sometimes a little poop gets on the shell but that's it. It's doesn't escape. So just for fun (I know, I'm a little weird) I decided to see if these Sprout Change covers really were waterproof. So I did an experiment. I was so impressed with the results I didn't think anyone would believe me if I just told you so I decided to reenact it for you via video!

Today Little J has been in a MUCH better mood. She was so happy this morning even after I put her cloth diaper on and my husband says she was happy all day. We think she's finally getting used to them (or maybe she was just missing me after we had a weekend together, I'm still not sure which theory is true). I also left out the FuzziBunz all in one pocket diaper Gina aka The Feminist Breeder gave me at BlogHer for my husband to try during her nap today and guess what?... He said it worked GREAT! She hasn't been able to sleep long in her diapers because the wetness keeps waking her up. My husband said she napped for two hours today! That's the first long nap she's had since being in cloth diapers.

He said the diaper weighed a ton when she woke up from the nap but it didn't feel wet. So he threw it in the pail and we'll wash it tomorrow with the rest of our Sprout Change diapers. So, now I'm thinking I should buy one or two more FuzziBunz diapers to use during nap time so we can wash them every 2-3 days. He asked how much they cost and when I told him $20+ shipping he said "No way!" It is hard buying one diaper for the cost of an entire bag but we just have to remember that we can wash and reuse, over and over and over for years... And hopefully two (or three?) kids! You can't do that with a pack of diapers.

So I'm trying to decide if I want to buy a brand new pink one, or get a used one from someone. I know... It sounds gross. But you can strip them so they're all clean, and some people only use them a time or two. It may sound yucky but if I really want to try to be more green I should consider this. I mean really, what's better for the environment? I can save one more cloth diaper from being bought brand new and eventually ending up in a landfill.

Now I just have to find someone who isn't charging $15 for a used diaper. I mean come on people, just it looks clean doesn't mean you can charge $17 for something you paid $20 for. Not fair! I have to be REALLY trusting if I'm buying a diaper your kid crapped in. Plus, whose saying you didn't clean your toilets with it... Just saying. Give me a deal people!

More on my recycling cloth diapers experiment later!

Still Skeptical: The Cloth Diaper Experiment Day 4

My husband and I are getting the hang of these things now. Lil' J still seems to be her happy cheering self around me so I'm chalking up her misbehavior to missing me while I'm at work.

My husband is still convinced it's the cloth diapers that are keeping her from taking long naps so tomorrow we may try a FuzziBunz all-in-one pocket diaper we have because some commenters suggested pocket diapers for naps. I may also buy some soft sleeves by Sprout Change to add an extra layer of absorbency. You can use these with any other system of diaper you already have so I think this may make it less expensive overall since I won't be buying an entirely different diaper and cover etc. It'll only be $4.95 versus $20+ for each additional diaper.

It is a little discouraging think about all of the different things you need for different scenarios. So, I'm with one commenter on my last post--I'm still not totally convinced cloth diapers are as economical as people say. Especially when you consider the special detergents you need (I still use Tide despite some people who suggest a special, more expensive kind). If you want stain remover you need a special kind for that. Buying a diaper sprayer, a diaper pail (I didn't though, I'm just using what I have). Then when you consider doing an extra load of laundry every-other day (I could go longer but I hear it's not best to let the diapers sit more than 2-3 days). That's 15 extra loads of washing and drying a month. You're using hot water in the wash, then some suggest running an extra rinse cycle... It's a lot of water and energy you're using.

A friend of mine buys 200 diapers at Costco averaging $.14 a diaper. That's hard to beat. Then on the other end of things, some people get "addicted" to cloth diapers and are always buying more and more cloth diapers and while having a minimum stash I think is awesome, and cost effective--having dozens of brand new, different brands and styles seems to defeat the point... To me. I'm NOT going to go crazy with cloth diapers. Mark my words. We have enough. And if I want to save money, I must not go crazy.

Using the Sprout Change diapers for a second child I'm sure will make up the difference in costs, and I'm going to look into buying an indoor drying rack that I can set out on my porch, or use inside to dry the diapers after they've washed. I figure that's more green, and more economical. It also would keep from the wearing on the elastic--Which one of my commenters mentioned can happen with continued dryer use. Lucky for me though, the Sprout Change diapers have a lifetime warranty on the snaps and a year warranty on everything else!

I have been using my diaper champ as a diaper pail instead of buying a new pail to put them in. I've been reusing a plastic bag after dumping the diapers in the washer, but the bag is beginning to stink so I'm thinking of buying a cloth bag to put in the champ, that I can throw in the wash with the diapers.

So if money is your main and only motivation for trying cloth diapers, you may want to check your numbers and make sure it would work out for you. If you're planning on having more than one child and using the same diapers more than once like I hope to if these work out--That for sure will save ya some dough, probably about $40 a month.

There are other reasons for liking them though besides possible savings and that's what I'm trying to focus on now.

My husband isn't skipping a beat with the diapers. Tonight when he brought my daughter up to work for my break, she was in a cloth diaper, and he brought extra to change her while he was there. He just put the dirty one in a plastic bag, and did diaper laundry when he got home. I told him I'd do it but he said he would. And he did!

I noticed a couple of the inserts did have poop stains on them (see, breastfeed baby poop CAN STAIN!) these were ones that weren't rinsed, just thrown in the pail then washed. They're faint, but I don't mind because it's just the inserts (not the cute, reversible cover), and I can always sun them later if I want to get the stains out. A commenter on my last post also mentioned a diaper-friendly stain remover I may try.

So day 4 of my adventure is down. What's next? Who knows!

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Winner of the bumblebee costume from Flowers and Beyond: #27 Emily. I'll email you and you'll have 48 hours to respond!
Everyone else gets $2 off your order from their shop my mentioning my blog! :)

Washing My Cloth Diapers: Experiment Day 3

I know you're probably just dying to know if the poop stains came out. I was nervous and excited to take my diapers out of the wash--Specifically the shells, and see how they turned out with the poop stains. Like I mentioned in my last post about the experiment, poop has stained a few of Lil' J's cute outfits, from previous blowouts, so I've been skeptical about them coming out of her diapers.

I pulled the out of the wash last night and here's how they looked:

Like new! I did spray a squirt of shout on them but I've been told that can mess up the waterproofness of the covers, so I'm going to resist next time and see if they'll still get cleaned.

I also didn't know (probably because my husband has been doing the laundry) that warm/hot water sets the stains, so from now on I'll rinse with cold first. But I don't think I'll need to worry about poop staining until she begins cereal/solids starting next month.

People don't seem to agree whether or not sun will fade the colors on the diapers or not. But everyone does seem to agree that the sun will lift any stains in the diapers.

Today was Day 3 of wearing the cloth diapers. I woke up before my daughter, got ready and left for work, only to find that I didn't have to be there until that afternoon.

When I got back home my husband had put Lil' J's first diaper on for the day--Backwards.

I had laid it out for him with the insert already placed in it but he didn't remember which side was front (even though there's a tag in the back). I reminded him of that and fixed it.

I just made this video to show how the Sprout Change cloth diapering system works. Since someone asked about what was what with the inserts and the covers:

I can say these diapers have been very husband-friendly so far. Which is nice because since I'm working, he's gotta do a lot of the changing. These also are very daycare-friendly too since the center can just put the cloth inserts in a bag you leave and you deal with the washing later. They aren't doing much more than they'd normally do with disposables. And I know in daycare they change diapers a lot (having worked in one I remember the requirements).

Using the diapers today started out not so fun. Lil' J has still been fussy during diaper changes and she doesn't have a rash or anything so I've been at a loss. I called home during a break and my husband told me she was still acting that way so I sent a tweet asking if there's an "adjustment phase" to cloth diapers.

Some people suggested that she may be upset because she feels "more wet" in cloth diapers than she did in disposables. So I told my husband to change her more frequently--We have enough inserts--and to see if that helped.

It did for the most part.

When I got home from work tonight I asked him how it went.

"I like these diapers a lot," he said. "I hated them at first, but now I actually like them."

He then went on to praise me for breastfeeding and said "If we keep using these, and you keep breastfeeding we can save a lot of money." True true.

I'm already thinking what I want to splurge on as a reward for my pumping and laundry efforts.

My husband likes the microfiber/cotton inserts better than the organic ones because they seem to be more absorbent. And poop only got on one of the shells today. I forgot to tell him not to spray Shout or anything on it like we do for clothes so out of habit he did. Next time we'll both have to resist that.

What he told me he DOESN'T like is the fact that she doesn't nap as long... Which he's convinced is because she pees and feels wet while she's sleeping and wakes up. He said today she only took 20-30 minute naps when normally she'll sleep for an hour or two. I'm not sure what we'll do about that. Maybe after the next wash they'll be more absorbent?

Lil' J doesn't seem to be as ornery now, perhaps cause we're changing her more. Or maybe she is starting a teething phase. She's drooling a lot and chewing on her hands. A commenter mentioned that and it reminded me that she's coming up on that age. (Yay--Breastfeeding's about to get real fun).

We all seem to be getting used to cloth diapers now--My husband, Lil' J and I. Poop doesn't seem as gross to me now. I guess because it's like "Eww... But I can wash my hands" I mean, it's not like I'm eating it.

I'm still anxious to see how our energy bill will be next month. A commenter suggested a diaper service but I'm sure that would be much more expensive for us. Especially considering we already have cloth diapers, and a washer and dryer.

I know I'm helping the environment a bit by not creating as much waste, but I'm still curious about the energy usage. I may try stringing a clothes line across my balcony and hanging the diapers to dry to do be a bit "greener."

Wow. I feel like I've just traveled back in time. What will I do next?

Cloth Diaper Experiment Day 2: Daddy's Turn

Last night I decided I wouldn't chance it and put a disposable on Lil' J before bed. I've heard seasoned clothdiaperers say they use disposables at night so I didn't want to chance it on the first day.

So this morning I prepped the Sprout Change diaper covers with the inserts and gave my husband a cloth diaper review (which took like 10 seconds) I showed him the microfiber side that's supposed to face down in the diaper as to not dry out her little bum. He promised to use them throughout the day.

When I called home and asked how it was going, he said fine, but expressed a concern I noticed the night before.

"She used to love hanging out on the diaper changer, getting dressed, and getting her diaper changed but she just keeps crying today." He said. "Maybe she just needs to get used to them, I don't know."

I felt so bad hearing that and I had an idea of what the problem was.

I ran home for my lunch break and quickly adjusted her diapers from the fourth hole from the end around the legs to the 2nd hole from the end, giving her chubby thighs lots more breathing room (here's a video demonstration we did on how this works). Originally, I wanted to make sure poop wouldn't come through the sides but when I would change her I noticed marks around her fat thighs. She would also cry during diaper changes which she NEVER did before. In fact, that was usually when she was happiest.

After adjusting the tension she was almost back to her happy self again, and I was able to give a sigh of relief. And the poop and pee still hasn't managed to make its way through yet. She still seems not "herself" today, and I'm not sure if it's because she's adjusting to the cloth diapers, or if perhaps she's getting sick and it's just a coincidence she's acting this way, but she seems to be more fussy these past couple of days, when she's normally very cheery and giggly. I'm not sure if perhaps there's a learning curve for babies too in getting used to them?

My husband was able to change the rest of her diapers no problem, and he didn't complain about it like I expected he would. Once he saw how I fit the inserts in, and folded one end a little, he got it down, and is feeling as comfortable with these as he does with disposables.

My husband said he did change some poopy diapers, but none of them got on the cover. That explosion was saved for me.

Not long after I got home I hear a rumble from her bumble, and sure enough, that one got on the side of the cover.

This time I took my friend Jess's advice and grabbed the insert and took it in the shower. If I had a detachable shower head it would have sprayed it with that, but I don't. Instead I held the cloth insert up to the shower and watched as the shower floor turned breastmilk-poo yellow. I tossed it to the floor, squished it a little, rinsed again, then just gave up and threw it in our pail.

My reaction to the cover caught me off guard. Something in my brain snapped. I grabbed it, took it to the bathroom sink, and scrubbed it with my thumbs. You read right. Me. Ms. Eeew Poop is Nasty.

I don't know what got into me. My desire to preserve cuteness must overpower my distaste for grossness.

The inserts I don't care about as much as the covers. Cause let's face it, these are cute.

So now it's time to wash (I already washed my hands). People keep telling me breastfeed baby poop is water soluble and I don't need to rinse them first but I'm not sure I totally believe that because I've had some of Lil' J's cute outfits get stained with poop from previous blowouts. And ok, I give her a lick of my food from time to time, but that's not making it to her poop! All she's getting is mama's milk. So... I'm not sure if this problem was because the poop dried first or what, and since I'm trying not to wash EVER day, I thought I'd give them a quick rinse before the wash, and hopefully the stains will come out.

If not, people suggest setting them in the sun. We live in a townhome and don't have a huge yard to line dry all her diapers, but I can set them on the porch so they can be sun bleached. But will that bleach the cute colors too? And can I set them out after drying them or must the stain be wet to be sunned out?

Other than that, we're both trying to find an easy way to tell if the diapers are wet without taking them all the way off. That seemed easier with disposables.

So many questions I guess I'll learn through trial and error during this experiment.

BEWARE: I'm about to show poopy diapers!!! I know it's a tad bit weird but this is an experiment, I'm putting it all out there, and sometimes photos speak louder than words.

So here's how they look now. I'm about to spray a tad of shout on them and put them in a regular cycle on hot water using Tide powder detergent (I asked around and people agree this works fine I made sure it DIDN'T have fabric softner, which I guess can cause build up on the inserts and in turn make them not absorb aka work well.) That's another frustrating thing I'm finding with cloth diapers. You can't just throw them in the wash like you would any other wash, you have to pay attention to the detergent and cleaner you use on it or it can do this or that to the diapers. I suppose once you have a system down it's not so hard but in the beginning I'm getting a headache reading all of the rules about what to put, and not to put on the diapers.

Anyway, here's hoping they're nice and clean tomorrow! You can bet I'll let you know!

Cloth Diaper Experiment: I Put Them on Her BUTT!

This morning I sat on my bed and nursed my daughter. I felt something slightly wet on my thighs and realized her diaper was leaking.

Yuck. I thought. Well, maybe it's a good thing I'm switching to cloth.

I had put cloth diaper covers over my baby quite a few times to see how they looked, and measure them for size. I also had tried the flushie liners in the gDiapers to get a feel for a different type of diaper, and to get used to dealing more with poop. But I had never actually full on put a cloth diaper on my daughter's bottom and let her go to the bathroom in it.

Just a few months ago I blew my nose in a wash cloth because I couldn't find a tissue, but then didn't have the nerve to wash the wash cloth. Instead, I threw it away (eco-fail, I KNOW!). I'm definitely not one who is good at dealing with bodily fluids, so I've been a little chicken to give these a try--to say the lease. Nevertheless, today was the day I set to do it! ALL DAY, no matter what.

I grabbed the white Sprout Change diaper cover/shell first, stuck an organic insert under her bottom and buttoned her up. The inserts did seem to get a little smaller after washing and drying them a few times. Before they would have been hanging over the edge. Now I only fold them over a little.

I ended up only doing the wash/dry cycle twice. They may not be to their maximum absorbency yet, but I guess they'll get there soon enough.

Getting the diaper on was easy. It actually didn't take much longer to put the diaper on than it does for me to put on a disposible, which was a plus.

Then I got her dressed for the day. I put her in a onesie dress from Piggies and Paws and worried it wouldn't snap close over her fluffy bottom. But it did!

I went downstairs and set up my webcam for my MomTV webshow. Not long after I stared broadcasting I her the dreaded sound "BRRRMMMMPP!!!" The dreaded first crap in the cloth! I knew I'd have to experience it sooner or later. Now was my chance.

I waited until my show was over, but luckily it was only another 20 minutes or so until I got to change her, and she was glad to get out of the mess! The first thing I noticed was how soaked the insert was. So she was definitely feeling the wetness. Which I guess is good for both of us. One of the main reasons babies get diaper rash with disposibles is because the diapers aren't changed often enough. With cloth you really HAVE to change it when it's wet. Which I suppose is a good thing. And there's not much guessing. You know it's wet.

Second thing I noticed was the poop didn't contain itself to the insert. This I was bummed about because I only have 8 reversible shells and I'm hoping to use only 3-4 a day so I can go a day without washing. Seeing that the shell got poop on it too made be worry I'd have to change the shell every diaper change.

Now, I had read some of the comments in my last post suggesting I hang on to the insert and flush it in the toilet. I opted not to do this because we have toilet cleaner in there, and I'm not sure it's a good idea to mix that with the diapers. They'd probably turn blue.

So what did I do? I threw it in the bathroom sink, turned the water on and poked it. Yes, with my finger. I know. Ew.

I have no idea what I was thinking but I was hoping if I ran enough hot water on it for a few minutes the poop wouldn't stain. And all I could think was 'please don't stain the pretty shell, please don't stain the pretty shell!!'.

Meanwhile my daughter is kicking laughing, and I'm praying she won't pee or poop again before I get another diaper on her.

I let the water run (I know, not so green. I'm thinking about getting a toilet sprayer soon) while I grab another diaper. This time I try the microfleece. (Which is like microfiber stuff on one side, and cotton stuff on the side that goes up against her butt). Maybe it's more absorbent? And a pink cover.

I'm in a hurry now. We're getting ready to drive up to Ikea, then go to a friends house. When I packed my diaper bag I added 3 more covers, about 6 inserts and a couple of plastic grocery bags to stuff the wet diapers in. Hey, I put my dog's poop in them, I figure they'd work for people poop too.

I know I was overpacking but you just never know! I purposely didn't pack any disposables because I wanted to force myself to go through this the whole day using only cloth (of course I already had a few stuffed at the bottom of my bag from before though).

We made it to Ikea, shopped, and when we left I nursed and changed her in the car. She was wet, and only pooped a little. The shell didn't even get wet. It was perfect! I pulled the insert out, and since I don't have a wetbag (a bag people use to keep wet cloth diapers in while they're out) I just stuffed it in my grocery bags, and set it in my car. Adding another cloth insert was a piece of cake, and her bottom never had to come out of the diaper shell the whole time. Snapping it back up was easy peasy and we were set to go.

I think I could argue cloth diaper changes (at least with this system) are faster than disposable changes. Of course I haven't gotten to the washing yet, but I'm just talking about the changes now.

We drove down to my friends house to play dressup and take pictures. I told her about cloth diapers and showed them how they worked. I'm not sure if she's a believer yet--Heck, I'm not sure I am yet--but she seemed intrigued like I've been. It was different being on the other side of the fence. Being the one telling someone why they're cool, and I'm not crazy.

I changed my daughter again while I was at my friend's house, and again, she didn't wet the shell so we were getting back on schedule to how long they're suppose to last.

I bagged the insert and put it in my plastic grocery bag. ... Who needs a wet bag when you've got grocery bags?

When I got home I told my husband how the experiment was going.

"We haven't used disposables all day," I told him proudly.
"Oh yea? You've been using cloth?" He asked.
"Yea," I beamed.
"Where'd you put the diapers when you were out?"
"In these bags." I held up my makeshift wetbags.
"That stinks." He lied about the smell.

I say he lied because they didn't stink. They weren't even poopy.

"It's just pee," I told him.
"Well pee stinks."
I put them to my nose to make sure I wasn't loosing my mind. "Whatever, you can't even smell them, put them in there," I pointed to our diaper champ, which was now being used to hold these cloth diapers.

He opened the container and looked inside. I was waiting for him to smell the big poopy diaper from earlier.
"So you want to put the diapers in here?" He asked.
Yay! I thought. He didn't smell it!
"Yep! That's where we'll put them" (see where I'm going with this?) "So tomorrow, when you change her, you just take this part out of the diaper, stick it in the pail, and put a new one under her." I instructed.
"How many of these do we have?" He seemed to be going along with this.
"Thirty."
"Cool."

Cool? Is he being serious right now? He's really on board! That was easy!

Then the light went off. I could see it on his face.

"This is going to effect me more than you." He realized.

This is true, but I had to make it not seem that bad.

"Yea, but I'll get a hose for the toilet and you can just spray it and set it in the diaper champ. I'll wash them when I get home."

This seemed to satisfy him, and he agreed to doing a diaper changing lesson later.

So day 1 in the diapers has been a success. We only needed two covers and about a third of the inserts. I am interested in seeing if the poop comes out of the white shell since it got all in the sides. I'm tempted to try spraying Shout on it before washing but people seem to be very picky about what products they suggest using on cloth diapers so I need to look into that a little more.

I think I'll get a toilet sprayer (it looks like the hose on your kitchen sink) off ebay for like $20 this week. A few commenters mentioned it in my last post. I hear it's nice once the baby begins solids, which we'll be doing in a month (cereal). It could maybe also help with giving the diapers and extra rinse.

I'm also trying to decide if the cloth diapers make my daughter's butt too hot. We DO live in Texas, and it's adding quite a bit of fabric down there. She never had rash before, and I haven't noticed any now, but I'm keeping my eyes open to any developments. I bet it's nice and comfy, especially in the winter, but I am sorta wondering if it's a little uncomfortable in the summer. I dunno.

Overall, day 1 of wearing the cloth diapers went well. I didn't experience much poop besides the first change. Baptism by fire I guess. Tomorrow is daddy's turn!

Cloth Diaper Experiment Day 1: Prep Work

Well, today is the day I do all of the prep work for getting going with cloth diapering.

"What? There's work before the work?" You ask.

Yep. Some.

Let me recap the main reasons for my trying cloth diapers again:
1. My baby is a chunk, and these may be easier (and at least softer) on her rolls
2. I'm trying to be a little greener and this is one way I can do my part.
3. They're kinda cute.

I'm skeptical about some things too but I won't go into that today. You can read my first post about my experiment, if you missed it.

First let me tell you a little bit about the diapers I'm using. For my cloth diaper experiment I was sent the new Sprout Change one size diapers. They're an all-in-two system, which I'll get to explaining in a moment.

Before having Lil' J I got a Nifty Nappy diaper, and cover. At Blogher I got a FuzziBunz diaper from my girl The Feminist Breeder, a friend from Twitter gave me some of her gDiapers to try. I really liked the concept of gDiapers because I could put in either a cloth insert or biodegradable liners. I also like that it's kindof an "all-in-two" system, meaning you just take out the insert and wash that, you don't need to wash the whole diaper every time.

I bought like 8 bags of the "flushie" liners on Amazon for a steal ($24 for 4 bags). But one thing I didn't like about the gDipers is they're not one size, and there's a plastic liner on the inside, which makes an extra step to snap those in. Plus since these are 2nd hand, the velcro is beginning to wear. I sew but not that well, so I prefer the snaps on my new diapers.

With my Sprout Change diapers I've noticed I can fit in the biodegradable liners so I've kinda invented my own hybrid diaper with them. Which will be nice when we're out and about and I don't want to carry poop around in my purse.

The cloth insides of my diapers need to be "prepped." Which basically means I need to wash them in hot water and dry them about 3 times before my daughter even wears them. This is to make them more absorbent (and just to wash before wearing period). I currently have them drying for the second time, then I'll turn around and wash and dry them a third time when they're done. I'll be sure to let you know how my energy and water bill looks next month too.

The Sprout Change diapers are new, and based on my research and preference, as far as type of diaper to use, these are the 2nd easiest next to "all in ones." All in one diapers are diapers you put on your baby, then just take off when they're wet and wash the whole thing.

Those are the easiest but they're also the most expensive cause where you'd need a few covers for these and maybe a or so dozen inserts, you'd need a dozen or so all in ones to be equivalent.

Like I said before, these diapers are all-in-two. Which means you stick a cloth liner inside, and wrap the waterproof cover on the outside (the Sprout Change covers are waterproof, unlike my gDiapers). When the inside gets wet, you take that out, and put a new piece of cloth inside for the next diaper use. Repeat. You can use the outside shell a few times before needing to wash that too.

Following so far?

Now, the Sprout Change diapers I have are one size. Which is also nice because with some cloth diapers you have to buy an entirely new set for each size. But today I'm adjusting the diapers to Lil' J's correct size so when we start using them they're ready to go. Some cloth diapers have a gazillion snaps to adjust the size smaller, but these are all done with elastic on the side, and you can do it with the baby in the diaper. See:

The covers are also reversible. Which I believe, right now is the only cloth diaper with this concept. So it's like two for one in a diaper.

I have eight covers and 30 cloth inserts (15 organic and 15 micro-fleece).

I was going to get a diaper pail today. This is what my husband and I will put her dirty diapers in before I wash them at night (probably every-other day). But my friend Emily from Baby Dickey told me she's just using her Diaper Champ, which we have. So I'm eventually going to get a cloth bag for it I can throw in the wash with the diapers but I'll just use a garbage bag I have for now.

I'll probably also get a spray bottle to fill with water so we can spray the poop off before throwing it in the pail.

Wow, this is sounding kinda gross. But it's an adventure. I'm excited! I'm really going to try this!

Tomorrow, I will finally put the first cloth diaper on my baby's bottom and change it and everything! Here's hoping it goes well and stays in the diaper!

The Cloth Diaper Experiment

You read right. I've decided I'm going to take the plunge and give cloth diapers a try. For real.

Some people are probably reading this right now wondering WHY?!

Well, I asked myself that question time and time again when I wondered why others do it, and when I was debating it myself. There's a few reasons.

For one thing, everyone else is doing it. Ok, not really. In fact, most people I know aren't. But the people I know who do cloth diaper love it. Well, obviously, otherwise why would they be doing it? Anyway, it's intrigued me and I've thought about it for awhile, and since Lil' J isn't pooping quite as much as she used to... I figured now's a good time to try.

The FIRST reason I thought I'd give cloth diapering a try is for similar reasons to why I wanted to commit to breastfeeding--To save money. Did you know formula cost some people about $100-$400 a month? The higher end is like half my rent! Breastfeeding is saving me some dough yo. And now I actually like it!

So when people said you can save thousands cloth diapering I was like WOAH! Sign me up!! But then I did the math myself and realized by thousands they mean if you use the same small batch over and over again for like 2+ kids (and don't become addicted like many people do and buy and swap and buy and swap). Compared to buying the oober expensive disposables and change them like every hour.

When we had Lil' J we were gifted HUNDREDS of diapers. We haven't had to buy ANY diapers, and we exchanged several cases of newborn diapers and got $70 back! We STILL won't have to buy diapers for another couple of months. But when I switched the newborn sized diapers out for a case of size 2s and realized that a case of Pampers was only $20 I realized diapers are a whole lot cheaper than I thought and a heckova lot less than my formula savings.

That's when I began to think I'm not broke enough to switch to cloth diapers. Sure we'd save 40-50 bucks a month, not taking into account the additional energy and water costs. So I'd be saving a bit more than a dollar a day to do 15 extra loads of laundry. Is that really worth it to me? I was hoping it would be along the lines of $100-$200 a month.

People also insist that cloth diapers are more awesome and disposables suck because they have "chemicals" in them.

OMG Really?... But wait, so does EVERYTHING else. Know what I'm drinking right now? A glass of chemicals. Yea... Good old natural Dihydrogen Monoxide. Put down the phone, don't call poison control. I'm drinking water. Personally, it's a HUGE pet peeve of mine when people throw around the word "chemicals" like it's a bad word. What people may mean to say is "harmful chemicals" in diapers. But I have yet to hear the one they're talking about.

But then again, salt water is a harmful chemical. If you swallow too much of it, you're dead. But the ocean is as natural as it comes. We're all allergic to some things but that doesn't mean it's bad for everyone, or that it'll kill you.

Next...

I also hear the argument that "We don't know the effects diapers will have on our kids 30 years from now." Yea? Well we also don't know the effects using our cell phones while pregnant have on our fetuses 20 years from now, or what HDTV will do to our children when they're adults, or about the "chemicals" contained in thermos inside our kindergartner's lunch box that was washed with Dawn soap which was packaged in a plastic container *gasp* plastic!! Are we just as concerned about that?

My point with all of this is to say that I'm not trying cloth diapers because I'm worried my daughter will get leprosy 40 years from now, thanks to my having put her in Pampers. Or that I'm going to save enough money to buy a new car because we'll be rolling in the dough thanks to the switch. And I'm not going to use those arguments to make myself feel better. I'm going to be completely honest. I'm trying them because I think they have the possibility of being really cool. And if I, of all people fall in love with cloth diapers, you'll know they must be THAT GOOD and that truly, anyone can do it.

Now I will get back to my original point--The positives to cloth diapers that made me interested in trying them.

For one, I like the way they look. I never let Lil' J just sit in a diaper. I like to dress her up and change her outfits two, sometimes three times a day. But a plain cloth diaper may be fun to leave her in from time to time. I'll admit it, they're cute. It's like a new addition to her wardrobe that doubles as poop-catchers.

I also like the fact that it IS saving trash. I'm not going to act like I'm not the greenest martian on the planet, I have a LONG way to go. I don't drive a hybrid, use public transportation regularly (unless you count airplanes) or compost my garbage. But I'm taking baby steps, and cloth diapers are one step in the right direction. I know we'll use more energy and water washing, and drying them, but I don't think it compares to the garbage we take up in landfills using our disposables.

I will admit that I think Lil' J may like them a little more. Not that I give her everything she likes, or buy the most expensive detergents and shampoo cause they're "better" but let's face it--She's a pudge, a rollie pollie, a chunk. She's a big girl. And I do feel bad when I see the number her diapers now do on her rolls... They squish them all together and I just can't help but feel that she'll like the feel of cloth a little better against her bottom.We've never run out of diapers before, so I can't say I know what it's like having the "oops we need more diapers" moment in the middle of the night. But I imagine this would keep that from happening.

And ok, $40 a month isn't a huge savings to me, but it is some savings. And if washing, drying, and reusing them is as easy as people make it seem than $40 a month can go into a college or wedding account for my daughter... Or maybe to reward myself for doing laundry I'll get her a new outfit every month, and put the rest in savings.

Some of my concerns right off the bat? Well, I'm no Martha Stewart. I don't do the laundry and starting now won't exactly be easy. I don't mind doing Lil' J's laundry though, I just hardly ever get around to putting it away. My husband does the laundry, and the cleaning, and since I work 50 or so hours a week, and he's at home, he does 90% of the diaper changing too.

What does that mean? Well, it means he needs to be on board too. Because, well, he's a stay at home dad and he's dealing with the poop. He thinks it's gross to put poop straight in the washer but I'm telling him he can put it in a pail and I'll clean them when I get home. He says he's ok with trying them with me.

I also do worry a little about energy costs. We pay all of our utilities so I'm curious to see how much all of the extra laundry costs us.

When we're out and about I'll probably still use disposables. I worry a little about putting poop in my designer diaper bag. I'd rather just throw it away.

I'm also concerned about her clothes still fitting over her ginormous cloth-stuffed bottom.

But I'm going all out. I've got enough Sprout Change diapers (which appear to be good and easy for beginners like myself) to give it a good and honest try, because by golly I'm curious and I think you can't dog something if you haven't tried it. ...Not that I want to dog it. I'm really hoping we like it.

So, join me on my cloth diaper experiment. If you're a skeptic, or a lover, follow along. I'll be giving updates on how it's coming along.

I'm starting tomorrow with the prep work washing and drying and washing and drying and... You get the idea.

The Baby Shower--Diaper Cake Tutorial!

The baby shower was a SUCCESS! Did I mention it was the first ever baby shower I hosted? I was stressed out to the nine because we had to plan it so soon. One of the planners is moving next month and we all had to plan around our vacations. Considering all of that I think it turned out really well! I'll add another post later with more info on the games we played, more pictures of friends and everything, but this post I wanted to dedicate to my gift to her... A diaper cake.

You may remember the first one I made... Lopsided. And the stand was pretty lame (actually I did cut it in a circle later I didn't hand it to her like that!). I think the problem I had was the fact that I stacked all of the diapers on one another and didn't have a solid base in between them. With this one I read a diaper cake tutorial online that helped. And I'm going to post my own version here for you all to see! I wanted to do a video blog but I was in too much of a hurry, so I hope this helps!
First, don't be like me. I went to Hobby Lobby and pranced around the ribbon section for a long time trying to decide which color I wanted. If you were on Twitter at that time you were probably one of the people who helped me-THANK YOU! My husband was waiting in the car and after (I'm embarrassed to say)... A half hour!! ..He came storming in looking for me! Luckily I had narrowed it down to this color.

Heidi (my friend) didn't want "pink" and the theme in her baby's room is "tropical sunset" so I went with orange ribbon. You'll see what this is for soon.

Next I bought flowers for the topper... Some people use stuffed animals, but I had a vision in mind and flowers fit into that better.
I found this for a dollar and thought it could make a nice touch. I didn't know how I'd fit it all in at the time but I just planned to figure it out from home.
Next I bought a tall (about a foot) cardboard cylinder (maybe 4-6in around) to use to make a stand. I also bought a big piece of cardboard (about $1.50) to use as the base.
Then finally, yes, I bought diapers. Some friends on Twitter told me the Pampers Swaddlers are best cause they're all white, but I think any kind works. Someone told me they've made one with cloth diapers, which would be cool but WAY more expensive! These kind were soft but a little pricier than the other disposables ($9.90 for a box of 40 sz1) I ended up having to send my husband out to buy another bag (and to be honest I'm surprised he found the right ones), but I only used about 10 out of the second bag... So about 50 for me, total.
Now to making it... First I rolled up all of the diapers. I bought a 200 box of clear headbands for $2. I rolled up the diapers. You can do it either way, but I try to keep the size with print on the inside.

I cut out circles for the base, I used a large dinner plate then a smaller salad plate and then a bowl for my sizes.
I covered the circles with tissue paper, so if it shows at all it's white.
I cut the cylinder thing into two diaper-height cylinders. Then I glued it onto the cardboard circles. I put the bottom and middle layer together first before adding the top, smallest circle.

After that I added more tissue paper around the edges of the circle so it could look pretty--I dunno, you don't have to do that. I also added some greenery to the smallest circle. Sorry I don't have pictures of that. I just used hot glue and scrunched it up, and glued it around the edges.

Then, I wrapped the diapers around the bottom layer (the bigger circle with the diaper-height cylinder in the middle). I did two layers, so it's thicker. I used a big rubberband to hold them all together... you need four hands to get it to stay, so hubby came to help me here.

On the middle level I did the same exact thing except just one layer of diapers around the middle cylinder. Same thing... Four hands to add the rubber band to hold it all. --At this point it may look lopsided and weird but done worry, trust me, read on!

Now you add the top layer--The smallest, bowl-sized circle. Here I used a smaller cardboard cylinder--An empty toilet paper roll was the perfect size, I didn't even have to cut it--and I wrapped a layer of diapers around it.

Then is the fun part!! Add the ribbon around each layer to cover up the rubber bands. Used hot glue just to close the ends of the ribbon together, you don't have to glue around the whole cake. I tried to hot glue each layer together near in the same spot so I could cover them. And then add flowers and go crazy! I cut some of the greenery around the flowers off in the beginning to add some flare underneath the diapers on the bottom and top layers, and I added some flowers to hide where I glued the ribbon ends together, and just glued them to sporadic parts of the diapercake to make it look nice.After adding the ribbon is when I really noticed it all coming together. I didn't even ask my husband what he thought before he noticed what I was doing and said "That looks really good Jenn!" It made my day! Since then I've been showing pictures to EVERYONE including YOU! So tell your friends! I'm really proud, and Heidi LOVED it! She can use the diapers if she wants but she said she never wants to take it apart, but keep it as a decoration in the nursery (which may be a good thing cause I went a little crazy with the glue in some spots).

I hope this little tutorial helps! I've never done a craft how-to before (maybe because I'm not crafty), but this was fun! Maybe it'll motivate me to do more! If you have questions feel free to ask me in the comments section! This was only my second one, but it was a HUGE improvement in my opinion!

Let me know what you think!

The 400th Follower Giveaway Part 4

CLOSED! ---Stay tuned for more details on a possible second LIVE giveaway!

Miss the other parts of my 400th follower giveaway this week?
Day 1, Day 2, Day 3
And it's not over yet... 5 more prizes go up tomorrow!

Well, If you read my post yesterday you know it was a big day for me... It was my D-Day in a sense... My dental D-Day that is! I finally got that second opinion and I didn't have 13 cavities at all... I barely had 4... UGH! Oh well, glad I found out before it was too late, and glad I have those fillings over with. I'm one step closer to turning the Baby Makin' Machine "on" so get ready for some fun updates when I'm back in town!

I hope you're enjoying my giveaways, Just a reminder, ALL YOU HAVE TO DO is leave a comment to enter! Don't let all the rambling I'm doing make you feel like there are a lot of hoops to hop through or anything. Just leave a comment letting me know what you think of it all, and if you want, you can do the extra stuff for extra entries! Ok!?

Well, now that I said that I've gotta say today's addition to the 400th follower giveaway is a little different, it's a LIVE giveaway, meaning certain comment numbers will win the prize... So you'll know right away who wins. So... Read on and comment on so you can win a prize!

Does your child (or do you even) need some motivation to get in the tub?...
17. Wet Giggles is getting your little one some FUN incentive to get in the tub! When I was little I LOVED having my rubber duckie in the tub with me while i took a bath... that and Barbies. It was a strange combination I know. But it still wasn't always motivation enough to remember to use soap (except for when I was brushing Barbie's hair). But now THIS product will get your kid wanting to use soap with or without a Barbie! It has a cute little toy at the top--And soap with a manicure brush inside at the bottom. It's handmade with natural glycerin, each bar is made one at time with essential oils and shea butter. They all have different scents and animals on the top so tell me your favorite as one of your comments so I know what you like!!- Mine is one of the duckies for sure!
--Commenter #55 wins. But read the rules at the bottom to know how to play!

Ok I've told you about how I'm OBSESSED with Disney right? I love dreaming of being a princess, and I love to read. Well, this next prize puts two things together for your kid...
18. Custom by Michelle is giving one winner ANY custom book of your choice! In your personalized book, your child's name would be used along with names of her friends or playmates. This is an ideal gift for children, as it is both fun and educational. Win, and the story you choose will be personalized and start off your child's dream to become whatever they want! I really liked seeing this ballerina one because not only do they have a white girl version... They have a black girl version, cool huh? Personalized storybooks make a perfect gift, for birthdays, holidays or just because. Books educate, inspire imagination and build self esteem. Their personalized books will become cherished keepsakes and saved forever by your children. The children you love will be thrilled to see their own name in these stories. Perosonalized books make your child the STAR of every story. Each of these wonderful stories includes a child's name, hometown, friends and family in every story.
Whether your child is in sports, or loves dinosaurs, each book teaches principles and values. They will enjoy this great keepsake for years to come.
So check it out and let me know what story one of your kids would like. They have TONS to choose from, for boys and girls, educational books, religious books... The list goes on!
--Commenter #123 wins this prize. But read the rules at the bottom to know how to play!

Need some art to spice up your kid's room? Look no more!...
19. Baby Chick Designs has adorable artwork for every room in the home! I especially love their Barnyard Babies Collection which has a cute little somethin' somethin' for all kids and babies. I LOVE baby chicks. This design was created and copyrighted under the artist’s name, Harriet Babchick, owner of Baby Chick Designs, and I think it's absolutely adorable! But don't take my word for it... Check out there other pictures, I'm sure there's something there that you like and could see in your home. They're especially perfect for a nursery, playroom or bedroom. And if you don't have a baby yet, think of it this way--I love visiting places that have cute things to look at in the bathroom. Check it out! All of these photos are on canvas, which is a beautiful texture (I have some photos in my house like this). And you can get a frame for them at many art stores! Check out there site and let me know which picture you'd like in your home!
--Commenter #178 wins this piece of art! But read the rules below to learn how to play!

Love cloth diapers? I know there's a bunch of you out there! Well here's a couple more to add to your stash... Or some to start one!...
20. Sara from Fundawears is giving you not one but TWO cloth diapers to try. Yep, and not only that... they're organic! Here's a description of the two:
Fundawears Organic Pocket Cloth diaper- Small Chocolate 2mil PUL waterproof outside with a raspberry pink micro-fleece and two Organic Hemp cotton fleece inserts to stuff for desired absorbency. Fold over laundry tabs and elastic at the waist and legs for a snug fit.
SIZE: SMALL 7-15lbs (+/-)
This is perfect for a newborn girl. it is super soft and absorbent. Stuff your little hears out with Fundawears pocket diapers.
Fundawears Speed Wrap-Medium- A layer of white 2Mil PUL waterproof interior paired with an Olive green micro-suede exterior. Black 1" Fold Over Elastic and Orange stitching with Black hook and loop closures. These Speed Wraps are fast, easy to use and can be used a few times before laundering.
SIZE: MEDUIM 15-25lbs (+/-)
So there you have it! I'm not quite sure how cloth diapers are used a few times before washing but it sounds efficient to me!
--Comment away! Comment #222 wins these cloth diapers! But read the rules below to know how to play!

This next one is for those lovely moms-to-be, and preggo moms!
21. Janiene, from Shrinkx is giving away a post-natal hip belt! Oh yea! When I first heard about this I about fell out of my seat! Want those hips you had before pregnancy well read this description to know how it works: The hormone Relaxin is released throughout the body during pregnancy. Its purpose is to allow the ligaments, joints, and connective tissue to stretch and expand, enabling the baby to more easily pass through the birth canal.

This hormone remains in the system for up to six weeks, (sometimes longer in breast feeding mothers,) which would allow time to reverse the expanding process.
By wearing the Shrinkx belt, the hips have constant, even pressure, gently moving them back to the pre-pregnancy size or even smaller! As the hormone is leaving the system, the ligaments begin to strengthen and stabilize in the set position.

Sweet right?--Yea, that's what I thought! And it's a $75 value! The winner of this gets a shrink belt in their size! And let me know how it works cause I'm for sure gonna want one of these after I have a baby! Hmm... Maybe I'll have my BFF be a guinea once again and try this for me!

--Want to try it first? Be commenter #304 and it's yours!- read the rules to know how to play!

I'm not sure why but I'm OBSESSED with diaper bags. I don't even have a kid but I LOVE them! I think it's because they can be like big purses that hold all sorts of fun stuff. Well if you're like me, or actually need a tote or diaper bag, listen up...
22. This giveaway item is from All Modern Baby, a modern baby furniture site that carries products such as Stokke Sleepi and Baby Bjorn carriers. It's a for a beautiful JJ Cole MMGM Mode Tote Bag sports all the necessary features for an efficient parenting supply source, including changing pad, key clip and stabilizing metal feet. The mode includes plenty of pockets inside and out for organizing, separating and keeping things clean and in their place. Depending on preference and situation, the mode allows for three carrying options including two tote straps that snap together for easy carrying and stow away when not in use, a removable padded shoulder strap, or stroller attachments for a no-slip grip to your stroller handle. With safety as a top priority the mode is made of fabrics that are both PVC and phthalate free, as well as being easy to clean. It's great to hold all the necessities of parenting and worth $80!! And don't worry ladies... If you're anything like me you can win it now, and use it, as a tote purse now and diaper bag later... Now that's what I call efficient!
--Commenter #400 wins! But read the rules below to know how to play!

Rules:
Last time I had a LIVE giveaway it ended in two days. I wouldn't mind this one going a little longer so I'm going to make rules a little different... And if it takes a week to get all the winners that's fine because the rest of these are running a week too!
1. You have to Tweet or Facebook, or whatever about the giveaway! Please say: "Check out this LIVE giveaway by @babymakinmachin lots of prizes! http://tinyurl.com/nzmfpn (Please RT)!"
2. In 6 of your comments tell me something about why you like the 6 products. Don't stress out over it, just leave a sentence statement about their site or something... Besides, it'll give you something to comment about.
3. Now just leave comments, all you want to get to the prize of your choice, but since I'm on vacation and don't have time to moderate and publish comments you can only post 5 comments in a row... Then wait until someone leaves one comment between yours and you can comment again.
BONUS: If you're a follower you can post up to 7 comments in a row.
BONUS: If you're a follower and have voted for me in the bloggers choice awards or the black weblog awards or have posted about this giveaway, you can leave up to 10 comments in a row.

So tell your friends about it so they can come over and help you rack up the comments! Good luck!

Miss the other parts of my 400th follower giveaway this week?
Day 1, Day 2, Day 3
And it's not over yet... 5 more prizes go up tomorrow!

**I may re-do the rules after 5 or so days if the LIVE giveaway isn't moving along**