Traveling With Your Fluff ♥

           After taking a break from blogging for quite a while, I have decided to write about my experience with cloth diapering on the go. I recently took a trip home to Tennessee for 19 days and did not stop cloth diapering. I was determined to not use disposables for ease while on the plane and in Tennessee. I packed all off my little one's fluff into a medium nike bag and carried it on the plane (I did not want the airport to lose her precious dipes!). Needless to say, overall, it went over well!

           My routine was that I wash every three days, no matter what family member's house I was staying at. The items that I brought with me to make storing and washing easier were two ZipIts wetbags (1 medium and 1 hanging XL), 10 samples of Rockin' Green detergent (7 Classic Rock and 3 Hard Rock), CJ's BUTTer samples (easier to get through airport security), and a peri bottle for water. The reason for the different styles of RNG was because my mother-in-law has hard well water. San Diego has hard water, so I'm quite used to that. My washing routine (for toploaders, I was so excited!!!! I only have a frontloader) was 2 cold/cold rinses, 1 hot/cold heavy wash, and 1 warm/cold rinse. My dipes have never smelled so clean! I love love love Tennessee water! I just wanted to pack it in my pocket and take it home with me.

            Dipes that I brought along with me include BumGenius, FuzziBunz, and Happy Heiny's OS, Econobum, Flip, and Happy Heiny's covers, and prefolds. I wouldn't recommend bringing all that unless you had to, but like I said before, I was staying 19 days (not to mention I wanted to show off all my fluff to the family). The family's favorite were by far the BumGenius diapers, because of the ease of changing the diapers. They had a hard time understanding how the diapers came clean, especially after sitting in the wetbags, but once they came out of the washer, all were assured they were clean!

   
             The ZipIts wetbags worked like a charm and by far are my FAVORITE wetbags. If you are looking for a wetbag that is well made, stink free, and just feels like absolute quality, this is your wetbag (ZipIts). This WAHM is awesome. She ships fast and it takes her a week to customize your order, make it, and have it to you at your door. I will defiantly be buying from her again. To buy from here click here.

            Sadly I did have a diaper go down. Yes, a fatality :0( . While staying at my granny's house, her dog oreo seemed to really like fluff. So much so that he stole a dirty one from the bathroom while my mother was giving my little one a bath, and ate it!!!! Chewed through the PUL and everything!!! I was so upset. It was our favorite cow print from Happy Heiny's. Oh well, at least that was the only bad thing I have to report. Now I need to head on over to Baby Frenzy to get another cow print, and while I'm at it, the new puppy print.

            Was it a challenge? At times. Will I travel with fluff again? Yes. Best thing that happened at home? Getting to talk about and show my little one's adorable FLUFF!

If You Could Have Any Cloth Diaper In The World...What Would You Pick? ♥

           If price didn't matter and there were no limits to what you could have, what cloth diaper would you choose? After asking my sisters on Mami's and Papi's facebook about what I should choose and why, they replyed mostly Tots Bots East Fit. Some replyed Sustainablebabyish (SBish). Even Mami herself said I should even try Tots Bots, if I were just wanting to try something new. Of course, SBish has great reviews, and are sometimes said to be "bulletproof", in order to try them I would have to also have a fitted and a cover, which can get SUPER SUPER pricey! Like I said if price didn't matter, this would probabaly be my pick. Unfortunatly, I only won a bet with my husband, so price matters just a little bit. Also, the deal was that I could only pick out one cloth diaper of my choice.

            So I chose Tots Bots Easy Fit. It's considered to be an OS AIO, and I have not entertained that world very much, except my BG Elementals. So before I travel the world of Fitteds, I should travel AIOs first. To better understand what this diaper is considered, Prima from Mami's and Papi's said, "Its considered an aio, but part of the insert wiggles out for washing and faster drying. A quick stuff after laundry and your all set. No chasing down an insert as its attached!". Also they come in fun prints! I can't wait to get the Mushroom Magic print!!!

             I'm still waiting for them to carry that print. Whenever I receive it, I will try it out and review it in another post! They retail at $23.95 and you can buy them and see reviews about them here at Mami's and Papi's. 

Two More Reviews/Giveaways from "Go Long, Go Green" for FUNK ROCK and Crunchy Angel ♥

            This giveaway is awesome! This Mama does some really neat giveaway's all the time, so follow this link here to go enter!

           The next giveaway they have available is for Crunchy Clean's  Mommy's Touch Hook and Loop Pocket Diaper in the color of their choice! Just follow this link to enter!

My Teething Baby ♥

     So there are many ways and many products out there to help teething babies. One of my favorites so far is the Inspired by Finn baltic amber teething necklace! After hearing many great review from Mamas about the necklace, I decided to give it a whirl! My little girl is only 3 months, and is already showing signs of teething! She is always drooling none stop and wanting to suck on my fingers and hers.
   
     My plan was to purchase the necklace for my little girl for Christmas, but it just couldn't wait that long. It already helps so much! Some examples of how it helps her (when she wears it most of the day, besides sleeping and bathing) is that she has longer, more peaceful naps, sucks on her fingers less, and is all around a happier baby. I get the best results when I keep it close to her warm skin. When she wears clothes, I just tuck it on the inside of her shirt.

     More information about their necklaces and about baltic amber in general can be found here and can be purchased here. They also have a flat rate of $1.95 to ship their jewelry!

          As I receive more products to help with her teething, I will review them in another post. Currently I have a Sophie the Giraffe natural rubber teether that is waiting to be opened on Christmas. I am waiting on a 2 pk. of Vulli Vanilla Teething Rings (made from the same company as Sophie the Giraffe) from Mami's and Papi's. I can not wait until I can see the magic of Sophie the Giraffe work on her hurting gums!

Inspired By Finn Teething Necklace Giveaway!

This is an awesome blog! Please go to the link below to enter in their blog giveaway for an Inspired by Finn youth teething necklace! Thanks in advance!

http://longfamilychronicles.blogspot.com/2010/12/inspired-by-finn-amber-teething.html

Dream Newborn Stash, To Do It All Over Again ♥

       Like most expecting first time moms who want to cloth diaper, I made a lot of mistakes picking out my "newborn stash". I did A LOT of research but still could have done better, in my opinion. My main concern was to get a good deal, but if I had done a little bit more research, I would have found a better deal with better products. I believe I got good products, but not for my baby's fit. Also, I hate to throw away money, and because I didn't have a "newborn stash" (my stash was made entirely of one-size) I had to use disposables until my little one lost her cord. Not to mention that I really hated contributing to the billions and billions of diapers in the landfill.

       So I think about diapering my next newborn all the time, so I can be ready and never have to use another disposable. I also plan to previde my sister-in-law and my best friend with their newborn stash, assuming they will cloth diaper as well (fingers crossed!). Remember, one-sizes are supposed to fit babies from 7-35 lbs. Sometimes that is not the case, depending on where your baby is chubby the most. The biggest problem is when there are gaps between the diaper and the baby's thighs. So here is what have came accross, heard other mom swear by, and seen tried on.

12 Thirsties Duo Wraps Size 1 or 2 

  

 24 Green Mountain Diaper's Clotheez Orange Edge Prefolds

 (can use later on, trifolded in one-size covers)

 (if you can catch one of their seconds sales that would be best)

 

 3 XS BumGenius AIO amd 3 Happy Heiny's Mini One-Size         

(nights and long car rides diaper)

         I have great confidence in these products, after time and time again I heard great reviews from cloth diapering moms who started from the beginning. All together (at retail price) this stash should cost around $276. You figure that when your little one reaches the weight needed to get to a size where they can use one-sized cloth diapers, your little one would have already used 500 disposable diapers (assuming they have only 12 changes a day for 6 weeks) and that many wipes (if not more). All together this would cost $200 easy, and you would never get to re-use it again or your baby would not have as fluffy of a bottom.

         Items you will also need (that will last you until potty learning) is a 13 gallon trash can, diaper pail liner, a wetbag (for travel out of the home), cloth wipes, cloth diaper safe detergent, and snappi's for the prefolds. All of these items, including the diapers, can be found at discounted prices through "for sale or trade" forums, seconds sales, and from WAHMs (work at home moms). For example, BumGenius have seconds sales every once in a while and they go for around $10 (XS AIO). That's a savings of $3 per diaper, so you catch my drift. Another way to save money is to pick an online store with free shipping, like http://www.cottonbabies.com/ and http://www.mamisandpapis.com/, and catch them during a sale!




    

Well-Loved BumGenius Elementals(BGE) ♥

         A few weeks ago Cotton Babies had their "Cyber Monday" sale which consisted of BG 3.0 seconds, Flip seconds, Econobum Seconds, Prefold seconds, "Well Loved" BG OS and Elementals, and "Last Chance" Elementals. "Well Loved" Elemental cloth diapers mean that they are used diapers, most likely in need of repair, could have holes in the cotton inners, bad aplix (velcro), and maybe cracked snaps, but functional. At the time of purchase you do not know what you are getting. They give you these descriptions so that you know what you are buying.

        BumGenius Elementals usually retail at $25.00, but for the "Well Loved" Elemental sale, they offered them 4 for $16 (no tax and free shipping). That is a wonderful deal!! These sales go quick and usually happen in the middle of the night when Cotton Babies send out their news letter. So I acted fast. My intentions were to purchase these diapers and practice on my sewing machine. When I received them, they were in great working order, almost perfect! Only one of them had shot aplix, which was fine with me. I expected the worst!

       All-in-all I am very pleased with my purchase and would like to share pictures of my diapers. Buying "Well Loved" diapers from Cotton Babies is great if you are crafty and are strapped for cash. *Note- It is not nasty because they hae to be clean and free of stink before Cotton Babies will buy them back from a customer. You do wash them once you receive them just to be sure! (I washed them 4 times)