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)

Fluffy Laundry ♥

           I'm in love with fluff so much that I had to do a post about my wash routine! We all have our favorite detergents, or maybe multiple ones that do different jobs. My favorites are Rockin' Green Soap and Country Save. Rockin' Green rocks at beating ammonia (while smelling delicious!),while Coutry Save karate chops stains. They are both natural with no additives, so they are completly cloth diaper safe!

          Great things about Rockin' Green Soap are that is doesn't build up on your diapies (it is a none sudding formula), makes them ammonia free, customizes it's formula according to your water type, and comes in lovely smelling flavors. My favorite so far is Motley Clean, but to be honest I like them all. I live in San Diego, and my local cloth diaper store happens to be the headquarters of Happy Heiny's, so they carry Rockin' Green. I love that I can just go down the road and get it.

          Country Save was the first detergent I ever tried for cloth diapers. I loved it from the start! The way I wash diapers, it comes out smelling like nothing (the best way they can ever smell!) and for the most part stain-free, sunning does the rest. It's kind of a pain to order, because so far I have only found one place that carries it. On the plus side they do have free shipping, but I'm the kind of mom who cuts it close. The reason I also started using Rockin' Green, was because I had a small leak issue caused by build-up. No problem with Rockin' Green, you just "Rock-A-Soak" and you are done.

          My current wash routine took a while to find, after tons of questions on Diaper Swappers. I have a frontloader, so it's a bit of a pain but at least it gets the job done. I got the best wash routine that works for my frontloader on Rockin' Green's website "How to Rock-a-Frontloader". My routine is as follows (tweeked just a little bit from the website):
-NO DETERGENT-Put on the Rinse-Spin cycle twice, each time with the 2nd rinse option (to make sure my frontloader doesn't cheat me on the amount of water I need). Temp. needs to be cold/cold.
-Add 2 tbs. of Rockin' Green or half of a scoop of Country Save.
-Choose the Whitest Whites cycle on hot/cold temp. with the pre-wash and 2nd rinse option.
-If their are any bubbles (I never have any), rinse until gone.
Drying routine:
-Dry inserts,doublers, prefolds, and cloth wipes on high temp for 55 minutes.
-Air or Low dry pockets, PUL covers, and AIOs for 30 minutes.

         I love my wash routine! It's what works best for our diapies. The best fact of all is that it's natural! I also LOVE to take fluffy pics, so I thought why not take fluffy laundry pics!? So to see what my fluffy laundry usually consists of, here ya go!

Cloth Addiction♥

     Hi! So this is my blog introduction! My name is Amber and yes I have a slight cloth diaper addiction. A little information about me other than the obvious is that I am married to the most wonderful man in the world and have the best baby girl anyone could ever ask for. I am a "Stay At Home Mom" with a small reception job on the side. I am hoping to start a small business soon, just to fund my hobbies and to share some of my work. I love to knit and sew, although I am a beginner at both. I knit simple things like blankets and scarves, but I am learning. I'm still young so I have time.

     My cloth diapering addiction started almost instantly after I found out I was expecting. I got pregnant at a young age, so most of my friends had no idea what cloth diapering was, or if they did, they didn't believe in it. My husband actually came up with the idea. I was up for anything so I immediatly wanted to take it on. I started out like almost all beginners with no clue how to start out, with Gerber prefolds (yuck!). As I got more into the pregnancy, I found a forum on accident called Diaper Swappers, and I fell in love. Mamas on their help me ALL the time. Anytime I have a question, they almost immediatly have an answer. It was a great way for me to get cheap deals for diapers. The forum also led me to great stores like Cotton Babies and Mami's and Papi's!

     My little one is almost 3 months and I absolutly ♥♥♥ cloth diapering her. It's a special bond that we have created. I actually love washing them too, that may seem weird but I do! My favorite hobby is probably sharing what I know about cloth diapers, although most of my friends do not cloth diaper and could care less, BUT they listen anyways (or pretend too). I love cloth diapering so much, that before I wanted to have only have 2 kids, but now I am most certain that I want 3 (if my husband will agree haha)!!! I can not wait until my sister-in-law or my best friend gets prego, so I can convence them to cloth diaper, shouldn't be hard because they are a hippies like me! It is kind of sad because I already have 3 wishlists on Mami's and Papi's consisting of nothing but cloth diaper products for showers for my non-cd'ing friends, cd'ing friends, and myself. All these facts (plus the extra time on my hands, of course) have inspired me to create a blog, so here I am!