The Cloth Diaper Whisperer: happy heinys

Showing posts with label happy heinys. Show all posts

This week's Fluff Friday winner is Julie G.!

She will receive:

2-Happy Heinys One-Size Cloth Diapers

CONGRATULATIONS!!!!!! Please, contact us ASAP so we can get your winnings out to you!!!

Fluff Friday 138 WINNER!

Read the full story here...

Husband and I were elated when we learned that Baby J was going to be a big brother. We were also a bit overwhelmed by the prospect of parenting two children under two. I started looking for ways to save money. Cloth diapers topped the list. It also didn’t hurt that cloth would lessen our carbon footprint, be gentler on our little ones’ bottoms, and the diapers are just so darn cute.

Husband wasn’t convinced at first but he agreed after trying some all-in-2s and pockets and seeing how easy they are to use. Our family favorites are Gro Via, bumGenius, FuzziBunz and Happy Heinys. Husband is fully on board now and he even does diaper laundry.

I am thrilled that using cloth has saved our family (a lot of!) money but my motivations have changed over time. After Bean’s birth, it quickly became clear that he was different than “typical” children. He had a number of health problems and global developmental delays. After many months, countless therapy sessions and even more doctor appointments, we pursued genetics testing and learned that Bean has Williams Syndrome. Williams Syndrome is a rare genetic condition characterized by heart defects, kidney abnormalities, developmental delays, intellectual disabilities and distinctive facial features. Individuals with Williams Syndrome are unique because they also possess striking verbal abilities, an affinity and talent for music and have very outgoing and endearing personalities.

Having a child with special needs has changed my perspective on a lot of things. There’s so much uncertainty and so many things I can’t control. But there are some things that I can do to impact Bean’s life in a positive way. I consider cloth to be one of those things. It feels good to know that I am using a gentle and safe product against his skin. He is not sitting in chemical-laden diapers day in and day out. He has had a lot of pain in his life but diaper rash has never been a factor.

Cloth has also had a positive impact on his brother’s life. Baby J was in cloth diapers until we started potty learning. When he first learned about pull ups from his peers, he insisted on wearing them. We really only used them outside of the house and at bedtime. I found them to be essentially useless in helping him to learn about potty time. He would wet the pull up and continue about his day. So, we made the switch to regular cotton underpants at home and cloth trainers when we are out and about. Our favorite, by far, are Blueberry trainers. They are very trim and feel like underpants. They protect his clothes but he can feel when he has an accident. As a result, he has made a lot of progress.

This is also encouraging because we expect that Bean will be delayed in learning to use the potty. We hope that cloth will help him meet this milestone and gain more independence sooner than expected for children with Williams Syndrome.

Cloth has grown with our family as we have grown and changed. I am confident that by using cloth, I am doing the right thing for my children and our family and meeting our evolving needs by using cloth.

Biography: Heather is the proud mama to two charming boys and wife to an amazing husband. She can be found blogging about Baby J, a wonderful and spirited three year old, and Bean, her sweet 20 month old living with Williams Syndrome at www.babyjandbean.blogspot.com.

Cloth Diapers Over Time for Changing and Special Needs

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When I found out I was expecting my third child six years after my second, I was excited about a number of things—nursing again….watching my big kids interact with the baby…living closer to our families than we had when our older children were new. And I was also psyched to cloth diaper again. I had cloth diapered our second child when he was at home, but the daycare center we used was unwilling to use them at school. I had been disappointed about that—as were several of his teachers, who had cloth-diapered their own children at home, and would have been glad to do it at school if the policy had permitted it.

I started interviewing daycare providers for Baby #3 while I was still pregnant, but I didn’t have to look long. I was thrilled to find a daycare provider who was perfect for us: a family friend who cared for two infants in her home. She was just the kind of loving person I wanted to care for my child. When I asked about cloth, she told me she was already using cloth with one of her babies and was happy to use it for our baby, too. “I won’t wash them, but I’m happy to use them!” I started planning my new stash, and when Sam arrived, stocked up on a variety of pocket diapers, mostly one-sized. I knew he would be our last baby, so I decided OS would be the best value for us. I bought extra wipes and a zippered wetbag and we were ready to roll when I returned to part-time work when Sam was about three months old.

The transition to daycare went smoothly (at least as far as diapers go). There was a learning curve for all of us, since I had never used cloth with a daycare provider (and since things had changed, mostly for the better, in six years!). At first we had some leaking issues, but that was largely due to having to figure out exactly which snap settings Sam needed on each diaper. I had shopped sales so we had a variety of styles, a mixture of applix and snap diapers. Our daycare provider preferred the Velcro ones (“it’s easier to get a good fit on him, although they all work well”), but I had preferred snaps when cloth diapering my second child.

I found that I needed more diapers than I had anticipated (or needed to wash more during the week, which was a less appealing option with three children and a job). I ended up with a stash of ten one-sized pocket diapers (BumGenius, Happy Heinys, Kissaluvs, and Fuzzibunz) and 4 medium pockets (HH and FB). This was enough to get us through two full days at daycare (and to keep two “easy diapers,” as my mom calls them, in the diaper bag for outings). At home, we used prefolds and covers, reserving the pockets for daycare days and for weekends. I bought a total of about 4 dozen wipes, which was enough to keep a comfortable supply at both home and daycare.

Cloth diapering Sam at daycare was a success. If I were doing it over (and buying a stash designed for daycare), I would buy applix diapers in one style only. That said, our daycare provider didn’t mind using the snap diapers, although the variety of snap placements did make things confusing from time to time. A simpler stash would have helped with that. With my second child, I had a completely eclectic stash and I loved it—fitteds, wool, pockets. Needing to wash and stuff diapers at night (often late) made simplicity more appealing this time around. But we have been happy to be able to use cloth diapers round-the-clock with Sam—we haven’t needed to buy disposables at all!

Anne-Marie is a mom of three fabulous children (9, 6 and 5 months) in Northern New England.

Diapering At Daycare

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I am an attorney, as is my husband. We currently live in Berkeley with our two daughters, and are expecting our son this May.

With our first child, I shuddered at the thought of cloth diapering. I had decided it was not for me before really knowing anything about it. Then, one of my closest new mom friends started cloth diapering and learning and sharing more about it. I became somewhat interested, but my husband was adamantly against it, and being a law student married to a law student, we already struggled to keep up with adult sized laundry, let alone that of our new babe. Then, with our second child, things in our lives were even more hectic, my husband was taking the California Bar Exam just 4 days after our second baby was born. He maintained his reservations, and told me that he would not change a cloth diaper. Thus, due to circumstance, it just wasn't an option for us.

Then, however, when our first daughter was about 3 years old and finally potty trained during the day, and our then 19 month old was nowhere near being potty trained, I became frustrated and appalled at how much we were spending on diapers. (I am painfully aware of the waste treatment issues and the fact that it takes 500 years for a disposable diaper to decompose). I found myself buying large boxes of diapers to be used for our larger daughter only at night, and for our toddler day and night. Not only was it costly, but incredibly wasteful and daunting. Afterall, the disposable diapers simply did not hold the amount of liquid we needed them to, regardless of brand, size, absorbency. Every night, at around three or four in the morning I would hear the familiar, "Mama! Come change me, my jammies are wet!" and of course they were, along with all of her sheets and blankets. There had to be another way.

It was then that I decided that I was done buying disposables, especially with another little one on the way. I also keep on top of all of our laundry and the girls', I figured it wouldn't be too daunting to do a load of diapers every other day. So, I decided that I would buy cloth diapers, since I could use them for both girls and their soon to be here little brother. Plus, once my three year old is night trained, I can use the diapers for another one of the kids, and it won't be a waste of money or material.

It was important to me to do my research in advance, afterall, I didn't want to buy a diaper that would be too small for a 3 year old, or too big for a newborn. I got in touch with my friend who had CD'ed her two little ones all along, as well as some other moms online, and gave them my two daughters' sizes, and my criteria, and based on that information placed my order. I had heard the prefolds were one of the least expensive ways to get into CD'ing, so I picked up an Econobum, and my friend sent me some that her girls had outgrown, along with a Bummis cover and a Fuzzibunz pocket diaper. I ordered two Thirsties fab fitteds size large that were on sale for my 3 year old to wear at night in addition to two covers and 4 of the BabyKicks joeybunz hemp inserts, since I had heard these worked well overnight. I also picked up a Flip diaper, to see how that compared to pocket diapers.
With my first order from Kelly's Closet, I received a free KaWaii diaper, an economical pocket diaper, and I loved how well they held up for the price, so I made sure to pick up a couple more in my next order. I also ordered a Happy Heinys and a Knickernappies, upon another mom's recommendation, and a bumGenius, for good measure. For my next order, I received a free Rumparooz, which I anticipated as being the perfect fit for our newborn, since big thighs run in our family, and it didn't fit my girls that well. I've since received another Rumparooz, a camoflage Kawaii, and a cow print Kawaii as gifts for my son's stash (thank goodness for cloth diaper baby registries!), and I ordered a few more Econobums and bumGeniuses for my daughters. I try to take full advantage of the different sales, and keep up on reviews from both friends and blogs.

I started out with All Free & Clear, but after reading detergent reviews, was happily surprised to find that our local Whole Food's carries Planet, so I switched to that. My husband admits that the laundry isn't as bad as he thought it was, I got a laundry hamper and drying rack on sale at Ikea, and we've slowly gotten into a comfortable routine. My older daughter comments about the colors of the diapers, and I point out which ones will be for her soon coming little brother. The picture I've attached is of my first order of diapers and prefolds from a friend, which I've since added to. My stash is definitely a source of pride. I only wish it had worked out for our family sooner!

By Caitlyn

Cloth Diapering, Third Baby's a Charm

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My little boy is now a month old and life is starting to almost seem normal…well, a new kind of normal…okay maybe the word normal is stretching it! I have been so excited to explore this world of newborn cloth diapering and I can finally start branching out now that his umbilical stump has finally fallen off and he has started to pack on some pounds.

Four Weeks: The little man is now 10 lbs 8 ounces and 22 inches. Because they are just so adorable and seem so comfy-cozy I am still putting him in the Rumparooz Lil Joeys, being careful to change these more frequently to prevent leaks. I have unsnapped the umbilical snap-down and the fit is still very good, but the leaks are hit or miss.

After much anticipation I have been able to pull out my BumGenius All-in-One X-Smalls, my Fuzzi Bunz X-Smalls (snap and aplix) and my Happy Heinys Mini One-Size Pockets. I absolutely love the BG AIO and the Fuzzi Bunz pockets. The BG’s and FB fit well, are very trim and haven’t leaked at all. I definitely prefer the aplix with a newborn because I feel like I can get a really custom fit, although the snaps on the FB have worked nicely as well. My only complaint would be the aplix on the FB (a fairly new feature for FB). It’s super strong, which normally wouldn’t be a complaint, but there’s something very difficult about fully detaching them from the laundry tabs. The aplix also seems to be curling a bit. I would still consider buying more FB with aplix, however, because I love the diaper and relish the ease and fit of aplix. I will definitely be purchasing a couple more BG AIO and Fuzzi Bunz Perfect Size diapers, sizing up to Smalls to help bridge the gap between newborn and One-Size diapers.

I have always thought Happy Heinys were somewhat boxy by design on my daughter and I have found these Mini pockets to fit the same with my son. This fit, however, doesn’t seem to affect their performance thus far. They fit nicely on the legs and because I can overlap the aplix on the waist I can get a good snug fit there as well. I haven’t had any leaks either. The nice thing about the Mini Pockets is that the different size options will allow them to grow with the baby. He is currently on the smallest of three settings which will give us a lot of wiggle room as he grows.

I still have a couple of diapers to test out as my little guy grows. I bought one or two of several different diapers to try because I just didn’t know which ones I would like and what his body-type would be. As I have said before my preference is a trim diaper so I don’t plan on breaking out my one-size diapers until about 3-4 months (although at the rate this little one is growing it may be sooner). Until then I have a couple more “newborn” diapers to test-drive. I have yet to try the Applecheeks in Size 1, the Tot Bots Tiny Fit and the Thirsties Cover in Size X-Small. These are all slightly bigger than the others so I have waited a bit to put them on him.

Newborn Cloth Diapering at Four Weeks

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My hubby and I have been married for two years and are expecting our first child at the end of August, a baby girl to be named Noah. I decided after reading a lot of articles and blogs about cloth diapering that it was the choice for us and our baby, but I knew I had to get Chad (the hubs) on board. Chad is a major Type-A personality. He always wants to be in control, and it’s important that things are his idea and that his opinion matters. He is a small-business owner, if that helps describe him at all, he very much has the “I’m the Boss” personality. What’s good for us is that for the most part he lets me make all of the decisions regarding planning for Noah’s arrival, but anything that we will have to spend money on will have to be run by him first. So…I had that working against me, because I was pretty firm in my decision-once I make my mind up it’s been made up. My top two reasons for choosing to cloth diaper our baby were the positive effects it has on the environment and the negative effects disposable diapers can have on the baby’s health.

Attempt 1: My husband could not care less about the environment, there is only one person in this relationship that cares about recycling, reducing our Carbon footprint, and saving our environment and that person is yours truly. So my ‘it’s better for the planet’ argument and the details on the numbers of one use diapers sitting in landfills got some chuckling in return. He laughed at me.

Attempt 2: Chad may not want to save the whales, but he isnt’ heartless. I have suffered since infancy from severe Eczema and skin allergies, so I love that cloth diapers reduce the risk of skin rashes and diaper rashes in babies. The chemicals in disposable diapers have been known to cause a myriad of health problems for babies. Some studies have even been done linking disposable diapers to infertility! As I’m reading Chad my research I can tell he is taking it to heart, he has suffered along with me
through my unexplained monthly full-body rashes and horrible dry skin in the winter. Not only does he have to rub me down with Eucerin a couple times a day, and sit up with me when the Prednisone keeps me up at night, but I may complain a little bit (at least that is what he says). I finish my very passionate speech about the health benefits of cloth diapering and he gives me that look. Darn! Close but no cigar, folks!

As many of you who have cloth diapered babies before know there is another significant benefit to cloth diapering over using disposables. I decide to pull out the big guns and fill Chad in on the financial statistics of cloth diapers.

Attempt 3: I gather together my print outs from all of the websites I looked at that list the prices of cloth diapers versus the money spent on one use diapers over the first two years of a child’s life. I had charts, testimonials, and print outs of some of the popular brands of cloth diapers that I liked. My research showed that the average family could save around $2000 over the first two years by using cloth diapers over disposable ones. One site showed the average number of diapers used in a week for newborns and the cost for disposable diapers and a diaper service side by side. Newborns go through 70 diapers a week on average costing $39.90 a week for one use diapers and only $17.50 for using a cloth diaper service!! That’s less than half of the cost! And I’m not even planning on using a diaper service. My girlfriends are throwing me a diaper and diaper accessory only shower so that I can stock up on the diapers before-hand! And I have no problem washing them myself! Chad looks at me doubtingly. I explain about tools like diaper sprayers and that special detergents aren’t necessary unless you want them. And did I mention the savings??? DING! DING! DING! We have a winner! He looks over the evidence, and he’s in. Sweet, I fist pump the air in victory.

Now that I’ve made my husband a believer we’re both stoked and looking at the precious options from the huge selection of cloths diapers out there only gets us more excited about our little one coming. I guess the next step is to educate our immediate family and go ahead and form a tough shell so we can brush off the laughs we get from other parents and the discouragement from nay-sayers. A baby is going to be a struggle and huge change no matter what you’re putting on it’s tush, but I am so excited to have a house united for cloth diapers.

My research came from:
http://www.realdiaperassociation.org/diaperfacts.php --- Real Diaper Association
http://www.diapernet.org/whycloth.htm --- National Association of Diaper Users

Cloth Diapers I like:
FuzziBunz, Rumparooz, Happy Heinys - All available from KELLY’S CLOSET!

By: Layne S.

How to convince Mr. Type-A that cloth diapers are OK…

Read the full story here...

I'm feeling a bit sentimental on this, the one year anniversary of our cloth diapering adventures. We have two children, and although I had intended to cloth diapering my son (now 8) with some wonderful prefold diapers (which we still own), we never really fell into it except as a part-time solution.

Those diapers still earned their keep (and really, with prefolds, you can't go wrong. They'll almost always earn their keep), which is why my husband and I were willing to re-try cloth diapers on our second child using the newer, modern cloth diapers. In particular, we wanted to try out the one-size pocket diapers. We started out with seven one-size diapers, and it was love at first sight.

Our daughter is now 14 months old, and just passed her one-year mark in cloth diapers. That first diaper was a Happy Heinys One-Size, and it held everything my breastfed daughter could throw at it. You can see her in the picture I proudly posted to Facebook that day with the caption, “2 months old - 1st day in the new cloth diapers. All went well!”

Reaching Stash-isfaction
We really liked our Happy Heinys, but our daughter was (and still is) tiny. The Happy Heinys were almost too big. So when we ordered our overnight diapers (Thirsties Duo Sized 2) and received a free FuzziBunz One Size diaper as part of a Kelly's Closet Promotion, we were ecstatic at the size difference. The FuzziBunz One Size seemed smaller and fit her smaller frame so trimly that we weren't sure they'd last 6 months before being outgrown. Luckily, they do fit a range of sizes and at 14 months, there is still plenty of room to grow.

And this is how we reached stash-isfaction.

Overnight Diapers:
Thirsties Duo Size 2. (5 diapers) Since we never started cloth diapering at night until our daughter was 4 months old, the Size 2 made sense for us. We really like the dual-layers of microfiber and hemp-as-soft-as-your-favorite-tshirt for overnight. And as it turns out, the overnight diaper is the only one we like Aplix closures on.

Around the house:
Flip One Size Covers (5 covers) with homemade inserts (18 inserts). The homemade inserts were made using an hourglass shape. One layer of fleece, 2-3 layers of microfiber, and 3 layers of old tshirt can be zig-zag stiched together or serged for a cute and economical (less thatn $1/insert) insert.
Cloth-Eez Workhorse Diapers (12 diapers). I picked these up at Green Mountain Diapers, and look forward to the day they'll be available at other retailers. You couldn't ask for a more durable and economical fitted diaper.

Out of the house:
FuzziBunz One Size (9 diapers): You can't beat the color selection on these bright and cheerful pocket diapers. I love them for quick changes away from home, and for their unbelievable trimness under jeans. And they look absolutely adorable under dresses.

Quantity-wise we have more than we need (especially counting the homemade inserts) but flexibility-wise, it's just what we want.

What did it take, or what would it take for you to reach stash-isfaction?

By Angie S.

A year in cloth

Read the full story here...

Our adventures in cloth diapering officially began about 4 months ago when our son was born. He is actually our third child. We have two older girls, but when they were born, we had no idea that modern cloth diapers existed or that normal people used them! With our son we decided to try it out. He is now 4 months old and exclusively breastfed and exclusively cloth diapered. Now, most parents who have a breastfed baby know that constipation is generally NOT a problem for your babe. That is true with our son too, however, we have two sure fire ways of getting him to poop.

The first is to put him in his trusty Happy Heinys Diaper (the adorable one with the monkey print). 95% of the time as soon as that soft lining touches his bottom, he poops. Sometimes we don't even get it snapped before he starts. Even our girls affectionately refer to it as the "poop diaper"! Our second surefire way to create some bowel action is to set him in his Bumbo Seat. Something about that position causes him to poop. Every. Single. Time. And usually within about 10 seconds.
So, if your baby ever suffers from constipation, you too may want to try one of our "tried and true" methods

By: Kristen

The Poop Diaper

Read the full story here...

Hi, my name is Julie. I'm a cloth diaper addict.

The first step is admitting you have a problem. The second step (in this case) is stalking DiaperShops.com for the latest coupon codes!

Why am I so addicted to cloth diapers? They are soft, they are colorful, they are cute, they don't irritate my super sensitive little one's bottoms and they are reusable! I truly love my FuzziBunz perfect size diapers because of their literally perfect fit, and beautiful bright colors. My husband is a huge fan of the BumGenius aplix, because even with a wiggly baby, it's easy to diaper up and go. Furthermore, I can't resist pretty new colors and prints of Rumparooz, Happy Heinys, and GroVia...there simply could not be enough of any of these diapers, and there is always another one to try!

Seriously, we just don't have the finances to buy all the cute cloth diapers I want to get! We're a military family on a tight budget. We know the end result of cloth diapers is savings, but purchasing a stash all at one go was never an option. But, continuing to pay for diapers I'm just going to throw away? Even less of an option!

I bought one diaper at a time, and wondered how to maximize baby's time in cloth. I was elated when my friend told me about DiaperShops.com. I know, this is sounding like the cheesiest of infomercials, but it really has turned our whole approach to building a diaper stash completely around. Not only can you earn points every time you make a purchase (to earn more free fluff!), but there are coupons...for FREE diapers!

It may not sound like it could amount to that much. Even I underestimated the savings! As I wrote this post, I went back to my order status to count up how many free diapers I've received...and I had to stop counting at a dozen! That is the first 12 reasons I love DiaperShops.com! It amounts to over $200 of free diapers!

We're expecting our third child in March, and I actually have accumulated such a stash, I'm putting some of it aside to use for the first time on our little boy...even though I could use it now. The picture shows just a few of the diapers I have earned through points and coupon codes. I've received Econobum, KaWaii, Rumparooz, Katydids, and FuzziBunz (among others)...and even the cutest Bummis Swimmi diaper!
My favorite part of the order is of course opening the box, but with a little twist. My husband actually peeks over and I get to show him which diaper I got for free. The approving smile is priceless.

I could list many reasons for my love of our favorite retailer, and fluff in general, but I think those first 12 reasons are pretty good! (Who can argue with free cloth diapers?!) It's time to call it a night. After all, I need sleep so I can dream about the fluff that's on it's way in the mail right now!

By Julie G.

12 Reasons to Love DiaperShops.com

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When I first though about cloth diapering, I looked into all my options – I checked out prefolds, flats, pockets, all-in-ones, fitted, covers, liners, and more. I loved the idea of using prefolds or flats and covers but I was not in love with the Indian prefolds I checked out – it seemed a little too bulky for me. Thankfully, someone suggested I look into hemp – I was fortunate to have a local diaper service here in Charlotte that had organic hemp flats as an option for weekly delivery and she gladly brought some over so I could check them out. Up to that point, I had heard a little about hemp but had no idea what an important role it would play in my cloth diaper routine.

Hemp has become such a popular choice in cloth diapering for a variety of reasons. I initially chose to use hemp because it seemed far trimmer than comparably sized cotton prefolds. I quickly learned that the trimness did not at all limit its absorption – in fact, hemp is far more absorbent than its cotton counterparts. Estimates are that hemp can be three times to seven times more absorbent than cotton! Hemp is also a more sustainable crop than cotton – it grows quickly on less land and requires little or no pesticides or herbicides.   This is a win-win for me!

I began my journey with hemp using Willow Sprout organic hemp flats and Babykicks hemp flats secured with a Snappi and covered with a Bummis Super Whisper Wrap or Thirsties Duo Wrap cover. The combination worked great for my little guy during the day. However, as my baby got bigger and slept longer, I needed a better nighttime solution than a hemp flat and a cover.   I started using pocket diapers at night – mainly Bumgenius or Fuzzibunz – but that wasn’t doing the trick either. Hemp to the rescue… I took my hemp flat, folded it in half and stuffed it in the pocket as a doubler. Perfect. This worked so well but I kept a lookout for other hemp doubler options that might be a little less bulky. I found that there were a variety of hemp doublers and inserts available so I began to try them out. Hemp Babies Diaper Doublers provided a smaller alternative for stuffing into my BG or Fuzzibunz pocket. These doublers are super thin – I could even add two – and they don’t add much bulk to the diaper at all.

As my 7 pound baby tripled in size and became a 21 pound, five month old monster, I decided to test out hemp flats folded in half and used in a Flip cover. Beautiful! This option was super easy and was easy to execute – fold in half, tuck into the flip cover, put on baby.   With the success of hemp on my baby, I quickly realized that hemp would probably be a great addition to my toddler’s nighttime diaper. We have Happy Heiny Trainers, Mother Ease, Green Acre Designs, and Fuzzibunz in our toddler’s stash – adding a hemp doubler to these diapers has completely eliminated any “overflow” issues that we would occasionally experience at night. No more wet sheets!

Using hemp has worked out really well for us. Hemp is naturally anti-microbial and anti-bacterial, I haven’t had any residual odor issues like I have had with some of my microfleece inserts. Hemp washes well but it can take quite a while to dry!   Having spoken to other moms, the other downsides to hemp seem to be that if your child is a quick and heavy wetter, the hemp might not absorb the liquid fast enough so you might experience some leaking if you are using hemp alone. Also, when you first add hemp to your stash, the prep time might take longer than you are used to! Hemp requires 4 or 5 prewashes – washing and drying – before you can start to use it. Don’t be surprised if the hemp shrinks a bit as well – and becomes softer with each wash. Truthfully, the hemp might not even be fully absorbent for another 4 or 5 washes. Of course, the final downside for some might be the cost. Hemp definitely costs more. But, in my experience, it is worth every penny. Add some hemp to your stash and test out the magical mysteries of this material for yourself!

By Erin Brighton, MPH, M.Ed. – Charlotte, NC

The Magical Material of Hemp

Read the full story here...

Fluff Friday
2- Happy Heinys One for ALL Cloth Diapers

Question of the week:
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Have questions?? Visit our FAQ's.

How? We will draw one winner randomly with an "Online Number Generator" and will make a post with the winner on Friday, March 11th. It is the responsibility of the winner to contact us to claim their prize.

Who can participate? US Residents are welcome!

Important note about the winner: If we haven't heard from the winner by the closing time of next week's giveaway, we will choose another winner that will be published TOGETHER with next week's winner.

Good luck, and don't forget to tell all your family and friends about the giveaway! In case that you don't win, what a better person to win than a friend of yours!!

Fluff Friday 120

Read the full story here...

I am relatively new to cloth diapering. I became interested in using cloth diapers when my son was five months old after seeing that several friends were using them. My stash started small with one FuzziBunz Perfect Size Medium and 1 Flip Daytime pack. I fell in love instantly with the diapers and went on to buy FuzziBunz One-Size Pockets, Happy Heinys One-Size Pockets, BumGenius! 4.0 One-Size Pockets, Kissaluvs Size 2 Fitted, and several pre-folds and Thirsties covers. I also ended up receiving 2 free Kawaii Overnight pockets from Kelly's Closet after purchasing a certain amount from them.

For daytime use my son stayed completely leak-free in his Flips and Prefolds. He also stayed leak-free for naps with double stuffed FuzziBunz One-Size Pockets or pre-folds and a cover. It was with overnight use that I was constantly having a problem. It seemed no matter what I did my son would wake up wet the next morning. Early on I realized that my son was a heavy wetter so I ended up buying some Thirstie's Hemp Inserts as well as Thirstie's Fab doublers and figured I would try both to see which I liked better. However even with the addition of the hemp insert or the fab doubler my son was waking up damp. I even tried triple stuffing and using one microfiber insert, one fab doubler, and one hemp insert and he was STILL damp in the morning. Why was this happening? I seriously considered switching back to disposables at night as I was getting incredibly frustrated. I decided to do some research and I discovered two things:

1) If the inserts don't lay completely flat in the pocket then it can cause leaks as there is no where for the urine to go if there are bends in the insert. Basically the urine would just roll around on the PUL fabric until it found an escape route out of the diaper. No amount of extra inserts would stop this kind of leak if the inserts aren't lying flat. All I had to do was, once the diapers would stuff, I would stick my hand to the top of the diaper and smooth the inserts out as I moved my hand back out of the diaper.
2) Tucking the microfleece layer of the pocket back into the diaper if it is sticking out will also cause leaks. For the longest time I thought that I was supposed to be tucking the microfleece back in or it would cause leaks... turns out it was just the opposite. So, I started letting the microfleece stick out of the back of the diaper and VOILA! No more leaks!

Not-tucking the microfleece back into the diaper was the turning point for keeping the diapers leak free. As soon as I stopped tucking them the leaks stopped completely.

So, by making these adjustments to my nighttime diapering routine my son has been able to stay completely dry all through the night. Even after sleeping 10 to 13 hours straight!

By Christina D.

Overnight Leaking and What I Did to Fix It

Read the full story here...

We are expecting our third child next month, and even though I have been cloth diapering for a couple of years now, having a newborn in cloth is new to me. This time, I want the very first thing he wears to be a cloth diaper!

When I tell people this, some ask me, "Aren't you overwhelmed by the thought of a newborn in cloth diapers? All that laundry?! Three kids to take care of, and cloth too?! And two kids in cloth diapers?! I am overwhelmed by just thinking about that! Are you sure you're not?"

I wasn’t sure. So, I did a lot of research and a lot of thinking in preparation for our newborn-in-cloth journey, and learned a lot. I must say, from what I've learned so far, they were right, I am overwhelmed!

I'm overwhelmed by how amazingly affordable cloth diapering a newborn can be! I was surprised to learn how much people loved "old-fashioned" prefolds for newborns. Sure, they were inexpensive, but don't you get what you pay for? (Personally, I never thought of them as cute, or convenient, but I decided to order some anyway. Have I mentioned I'm cheap?). When I got my Bummis Preemie size and Infant size unbleached prefolds, I actually loved watching them fluff up with each pre-wash. Prefolds may be the least expensive standard of cloth diapering, but they definitely aren't boring or cheap! You can customize your stash with the cutest covers to reuse through several changes...saving hundreds of dollars over disposables! Besides, these aren't your run-of-the-mill megastore prefolds, they are amazingly absorbent and luxuriously soft! I'm already in love with my affordable prefolds!

I'm overwhelmed by how easy cloth diapering a newborn will be! It never occurred to me that exclusively breastfed babies have water-soluble "dirties." No rinsing necessary, just toss in the wet bag or pail and wash! When I told my husband about this, he was actually excited too. "Wow, I guess it really is going to be just as easy," he said and nodded his approval, "Just toss them in with all the others? I like it!" It's not going to impact the laundry routine at all! In fact, even if you don't have another child in cloth diapers, the effort it takes to throw a dirty diaper in the laundry is equal to the effort it takes to throw a disposable in the trash (and buy more, and empty the bags, and take them down to the street, and buy more, and did I mention buy more?). Wait, it might actually be saving time and energy! So easy!

I'm also overwhelmed by the great options for using cloth with a newborn! For some reason, I assumed a smaller size meant a narrower selection of options. Larger diapers can be fully customized to each individual child's needs and the newborn sizes are no different...they are just smaller! There are pockets like XS Fuzzi Bunz and Happy Heiny's Minis that can be stuffed with just the right insert, All-in-Ones like XS BumGenius or Lil' Joeys for convenience, fitteds like Kissaluvs 0's and covers like Thirsties or Bummis to contain super-soakers and blow-outs, and everything in between! You know how I've handled having so many options? I've had so much fun stacking up all the different kinds of fluff! I imagine I'll like each for different circumstances. It's wonderful to have so many options!

Finally, I'm overwhelmed by the absolute cuteness of newborn cloth diapers! Did you know that no person (despite their feelings about cloth) can resist the adorable little fluffy bundle of a newborn cloth diaper?! I might have to keep a newborn around just so I don't have to part with them! (Kidding! I think). Those tiny cloth diapers are absolutely irresistible!

So there you have it. I will readily admit to everyone that I'm definitely overwhelmed by cloth diapering a newborn. I'm overwhelmed by the money we'll save, how easy it will be, the options I have, and how cute my itty-bitty newborn will be in his little cloth diapers!

I never thought I would be one to say that I’m actually excitedly looking forward to all the diaper changes having a newborn means. I have many diapers to try, in all sorts of fun colors and prints. Above everything else, cloth diapering a newborn is just overwhelming FUN! :)

By Julie G.

Overwhelmed by Newborn Cloth Diapers

Read the full story here...

Milestones: Putting away the newborn clothes, buying the first pair of shoes, and unsnapping the diapers.

Unsnapping diapers? Yup, I'm a OS* (One-Size Diaper) user . I'd noticed the fronts of the diapers bunching and bulging oddly during the last week or two, and it suddenly occurred to me that my daughter was outgrowing her first rise. It's been a long time coming - we started out cloth diapering with OS diapers at 2 months on the first set of snaps. She's a tiny thing, so it's just now, at 11 months, time for her to graduate to the second set.

It's one more reminder that she is, more quickly than I'd necessarily like, growing up.

And it's just one more reason why I love my OS diapers. Although it would be fun to buy another whole stash of diapers (sized medium) right now, it's nice for the family budget that we don't have to.

*One-Size diapering systems, like Happy Heinys, BumGenius, Flip, Knickernappies and FuzziBunz, are meant to grow with your baby. These styles reduce or eliminate the need for multiple stashes in small, medium, and large sizes, and can be especially useful when diapering more than one child.

By Angie S.

Milestones

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BumGenius- check. Happy Heinys- check. Inserts- check. All I needed to start my cloth diapering journey was displayed in front of me ready for the conquering (laundering, then conquering, in this case). A friend gave me some from her stash and I thought, why not give it a try? We're compost-having, garden-growing, green-living people so why not be cloth-diapering parents? I have the summers off as a teacher so it seemed the perfect time to give it a whirl with our six-month old.

I talked it up to my husband to convince the tight-wad to let me buy more. "Oh honey, they'll save us so much money and look how cute they make baby's tush look!" There was only one problem...they leaked. Not a little, but a lot. Like, how in the world will I ever use these for more than an hour and not wash ten outfits a day, a lot.

The questions swirled in my head. Stripping? Nah. Bleach? Nope, not for leaks. Tight enough? Chubby thighs were beautifully encased. Were cloth diapers just a crunchy sham? My debit card was still warm from my online diaper purchases that were in the mail, so I knew I had to figure out a solution or else purchase a secret cache of disposables to hide from my husband.

What could be wrong? I combed the internet until I stumbled on an article about heavy wetters. DING! The dryer timer went off for my inserts at the same time as the proverbial light bulb above my head. I had a heavy wetter! It wasn't the diapers- my kid pees a ton! Double-lining was my last shot; it just had to work.

The next day my husband came home, pleased to finally see our son wearing his adorable spring-green Happy Heiny. "I owe you an apology. The diapers seem to work well. Sure, buy some more for your stash." He noticed the bubble-butt appearance, but I assured him that double-stuffed diaps are all the better to soak up the pee. Sure enough, the last six months we have stuck to doubling up the inserts in our pocket diapers and no one has held a single "sprung a leak baby" since. I love cloth diapers, and with the help of my insert army, I'm changing the world one diaper at a time.

By Sandi C.

It's Not You, It's Me (Leaky diapers)

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Our finances suddenly became very tight (and that's still an understatement at that) over the last two years, we started cutting on what we could. While it might have been a great idea, I shouldn't have scrimped on one thing:

Laundry Soap. I started making homemade soap to save money. It still got my clothes clean and the diapers didn't stink. As far as I was concerned, it worked and saved us money. That is where I went terribly wrong.

I didn't notice the build up on my son's Happy Heinys and no one had worn the bumGenius 3.0s in a while (he is 32 lbs and 20 months old and grew out of them around his first birthday) so I didn't realize how much buildup had accrued. One of the main ingredients in the soap is a wax-like soap. Buildup was inevitable.

When my second daughter arrived in September, I was so excited to get her in the bumGenius 3.0s I had waiting. They looked so cute but they leaked EVERY TIME. I was getting frustrated with clothing and diaper changes all the time. I must have changed diapers AND clothes (and my clothes too) every hour or two. The inserts were barely wet! I almost tossed the 3.0s...but I couldn't part with them yet- that would be an even bigger waste! There was another solution.

We have a great Real Diaper Association in our area and I went to get advice from the group leader.

Apparently, BG's suede-like fabric is REALLY sensitive to laundry detergent. She's personally had problems and around the 2 year mark, most people find that their BG's get a lot of build up and start repelling. She gave me an Anti-Repelling and Buildup Recipe.

Separately soak covers and soakers (I used my diaper pail and a five-gallon bucket)
Fill with HOT water. Add ½ Tablespoon of Charlie's Soap (I'd assume Rock 'n Green will work too) and a generous amount of baking soda.
Stir and let sit for 1 to 4 hours (if it's really bad, soak them overnight). I soaked them for 6 because I couldn't find time to get them in the washer (I have three kids...I'm busy.)
Wash again on HOT in the washing machine. Don't add more soap. Run a rinse or two.

If the build up is really bad, she also recommended turning the diapers inside out and scrubbing the backside of the suedecloth to force the build up out.

And like magic, the diapers stopped leaking and even the Happy Heinys work better! They feel different too. I know that sounds silly but I can feel the difference. That's how bad it was.

I now use Charlie's Soap on everything. My stash is saved and so is my life from disposables or having to purchase a whole new stash!

By Jillayne T.

Repelling: What I Did Wrong

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My husband has had his eye on a new flat-screen TV for over a year now. But the budget is tight, and at any mention of this hypothetical flat-screen, I'd begin reciting our list of higher priorities. Okay, my list of higher priorities. We disagreed on some of the finer points (a new stroller or a bigger hard drive for the server... anyone?) but overall we were in accord. That is to say, baby on the way = no new flat-screen for daddy.

At the same time, I knew I wanted to try cloth diapering again, even though we had planned and budgeted for disposables. Like many others, I'd helped to cloth diaper my baby sister many years ago (for a given value of the word “help,” and mothers of preteen daughters know of what I speak). I had even occasionally used chinese prefolds when my son was born seven years ago. For all that, I'd never really seen cloth diapers as anything more than a rainy day backup, and my husband didn't see them as anything more than a pain in the yeah-he-did. It didn't help that seven years ago, while we had access to some of the softest water in the country, we were living in military housing with a washing machine that had been drafted at some point during the Vietnam Conflict. Our Ol' Hippie simply refused to provide a clean load of laundry for “the man”.

This time around, though, we would have a washing machine that hadn't been agitating since the Nixon administration, and even more importantly, we had seen ADS. Ads for Rumparooz. Ads for Fuzzibunz. Ads for Bumgenius. After the last go-round, my husband wasn't keen on cloth diapering our new baby, but these new pocket diapers intrigued even him.

I started out with an odds and ends assortment of covers and prefolds, piecemeal remnants of my original little stash that had to be hunted down and collected from various sisters - sisters who had left my chinese prefolds in random lawn-sized garbage bags full of random baby clothes, at seemingly random points in their children's early childhoods. Miraculously - albeit covered in the dust of three different basements and crawlspaces - I was able to retrieve all of my original two dozen prefolds, and most of my covers. Not intending to more than supplement our prefolds, my husband and I decided to splurge on 7 new Happy Heinys OS diapers.

Two months later, it would take me less than one day of part-time use to feel me some pocket love. By the time my baby turned four months old, I was cloth diapering full time with a stash consisting of my original Happy Heinys, some Thirsties Duo Size 2 diapers for nights, and 2 Flip covers stuffed with home-made inserts.

At some point during this transition between part-time (read: tiny financial investment) and full-time cloth diapering, my husband and I decided to sit down and crunch numbers. We knew now that the laundry itself wouldn't pose a problem (our current machine had no problem working for “the man”), but we remained skeptical that modern diapers represented a significant savings over disposables. Convenient or not, at $10-$25 per diaper, they are far and above more spendy than our perfectly serviceable prefolds. Was it ridiculous even to consider them?

After adding our start-up costs, and giving myself a reasonable allowance to purchase supplies and an occasional replacement diaper (where's the fun in cloth diapering if you can't buy an occasional new print?) I had a conservative estimate of what we were going to save.

And shared my joy with my husband.

You can see where this is going.

Meet our new TV. We've named him, “Huggies”.

Author: Angie S. is the mother of two, Andrew (7), and Kate (8 months). She's passionate about her techie husband and cloth diapers.

How One Man Fell in Love with Cloth Diapers

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I started my cloth diapering stash with a good cross-section of styles, fits and brands to determine what I liked and didn’t like about cloth diapering. I felt that even if I wasn’t crazy about any of the diapers I tried, I would at least have some direction as to what I liked and didn’t like and could then go from there to find “the perfect diaper.” However, in my experience thus far, there is no perfect diaper because your (and your child’s) cloth diapering needs change with each stage. I have found what I thought were the perfect diapers only to have something change with my daughter that sent me reaching for something different in my stash or a new purchase all together. Allow me to take you on my journey.

I started with a Perfect Size Fuzzi Bunz, a Bum Genius 3.0, a Bum Genius Organic AIO and a Happy Heiny. From the very beginning the Bum Genius 3.0 was my absolute favorite. It was easy to use, didn’t leak and was trim and adorable. The Bum Genius Organic AIO worked well and was easy to use, but I didn’t like the fact that the moisture stayed close to my daughter’s young, tender skin. The Fuzzi Bunz was cute and didn’t leak, but seemed bulky and the Happy Heiny, though I really liked it, leaked often.

Fast forward about 6 months (my daughter was then about 10 months old), I had introduced some new diapers to the mix and shifted my go-to choices around a bit. The Bum Genius 3.0’s were still a heavy favorite. Fuzzi Bunz became her naptime diaper because they don’t leak and their inner lining is a soft fleece that just seemed like something I would want to be wrapped in while sleeping. Since my daughter was a bit older and a little more rough-and-tumble the moisture against her skin bothered me less so I really came to love the ease of use of the Bum Genius Organic AIO. I introduced a couple of Blueberry diapers with snaps which I loved because of their designs, fabrics and bulletproof wear, but I still really preferred aplix over snaps on a squirmy baby.

By the time my daughter was about 16 months things took a dramatic turn! She discovered the fun of aplix and diaper removal! Even with pants on over her diaper she would undo the aplix resulting in either the best case scenario of Mommy discovering a diaper peaking out at her ankles or the worst case of leaks and messes when I didn’t discover it soon enough. Thus began the search for any and all diapers with snaps. I added a Smartipants and a Kissaluvs Marvel AIO. At this point Bum Genius hadn’t come out yet with snaps and I was eagerly awaiting them! I sadly shelved my BG 3.0’s and relied solely on my snaps stash. I really like the trimness and functionality of the Smartipants and they have a great price point, but I would love more color options and prints. The Marvel AIO is a solid diaper, but it can be a little bulky in the rear and, though minor, I just don’t like the tag sticking out in the back. What I will say about these two diapers, however, is that I LOVE the fact that I can toss them in the wash without pulling out an insert. The laundry feature of the Marvel AIO, in particular, is incredible. It combines the best of a pocket and AIO, by turning itself inside-out in the wash eliminating the need to remove the insert to wash AND having the insert still attached so you don’t have to search for it when it comes time to stuff. In the beginning this seemed like it wasn’t so much of a big deal, but a year and a half later, and who knows how many loads of laundry, this seems like sheer BRILLIANCE!

A year and a half later my cloth diaper journey continues. I have just ordered the new Bum Genius 4.0 and I will be trying a Rumparooz G2 for the first time. I’m excited to see what they have to offer, but my laziness has me searching for that diaper with the easy wash-toss and re-stuffing capabilities. I haven’t tried it because it only comes in aplix, but if the Tot Bots Easy Fit came in snaps could it be the one? I’m still hopeful that I might just find “the perfect diaper” to take us through the various stages and issues that can pop up, but in the mean time I have built a very diversified stash that can handle just about any obstacle that comes my way.

By Jennifer G.

My Cloth Diaper Journey

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Weekend Super Saver Coupon

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Fluff Friday:
2- Happy Heinys One Size Pocket Diapers

Question of the week:
What is the cloth diaper you grab the most to use from your stash (brand and style)? Leave your comment before Thursday, July 1st at 7pm EST. (You can only answer the question ONCE PER GIVEAWAY, NOT PER DAY.)

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Place an order at any DiaperShops store between 6/25-7/1. Post your order # and order date in the comments.
Leave a product review at Kelly's Closet and return to the blog and comment which product you reviewed.
Start a thread about our giveaway or comment on a thread that is about or giveaway on any chat room (http://www.diaperpin.com/, http://www.diaperswappers.com/, etc) . Post the name of the thread AND the url of your comment.
You must have your Blogger profile

Have questions?? Visit our FAQ's.

How? We will draw one winner randomly with an "Online Number Generator" and will make a post with the winner on Friday, July 2nd. It is the responsibility of the winner to contact us to claim their prize.

Who can participate? US Residents are welcome!

Important note about the winner: If we haven't heard from the winner by the closing time of next week's giveaway, we will choose another winner that will be published TOGETHER with next week's winner.

Good luck, and don’t forget to tell all your family and friends about the giveaway! In case that you don't win, what a better person to win than a friend of yours!!

Fluff Friday 85

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