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Thursday, August 15, 2013

Favorite Cloth Diapers

(Don't forget to read WHY I chose cloth, if you haven't already, for a little background info on why I'm posting on this)

Let me tell you-the BEST thing we did when we started out with cloth diapering was the 30 day trial with The Changing Table. I know not everyone lives close enough to do that, but it's worth checking out at your local cloth diaper stores. If they offer it, take advantage! There were some diapers that I just knew I was going to love that ended up on my "Do not buy" list.

Most of our diapers have a snap closure, but we tried to buy several that were velcro (also called "hook and loop" or "aplix") for baby-sitter days. They're just easier.

Keep in mind every baby is built differently, so not every diaper is going to fit the same. That's why it's so good to do a trial before you buy. You can also buy used and save some cash. (Sounds gross I know, but it's really not).

Now for the goods....

Our favorite diapers so far have been Best Bottom Diapers that have a snap-in insert. It's an outer shell with the absorbent part of the diaper snapping in place. (If you click the link you can get a good visual). We have 2 different inserts so we'll put the diaper on little man with one insert, then at the next change just remove that wet insert & put the new insert in, keeping the same outer shell! Simple.
Bonus: the inserts cut down on the bulk that you can have with some diapers.

Another favorite that might tie for our most favorite is Bottom Bumpers! They are sized. We have a Size One and even though he's over the weight limit of the diaper, he has some skinny-ish legs so it still fits him perfectly. Plus it has a velcro closure. It's an All-in-One diaper, meaning it has no extra parts and doesn't have to be stuffed. It's ready to go every time, all the time!

We also like Tail Feathers Diapers because they are Made in Oklahoma. They're super cute too! The two that we have are All-in-Ones (no inserts or pockets, etc) with a velcro closure. Her velcro is super strong! She also makes custom diapers. This is our Tail Feathers OKC Thunder diaper:



Gro-Via makes a diaper that's one size and not bulky at all. This is the particular one we have. We also have a Gro-Via that has a snap-in insert similar to the Best Bottom diaper described above. Love it too!

So those are my favorites: Best Bottom, Bottom Bumpers, Tail Feathers & Gro-Via.
Honorable mentions: RumpaRooz (check out the cute print on this link!) and Sloomb (for night time)

If you couldn't tell, the most important things to us were bulkiness of the diaper and the type of closure. To each their own though, your favorites may be different because velcro closure may not be important to you or you might not care about bulkiness. I will say, before the trial (broken record I know) the most important thing to me was for all my diapers to be All-in-Ones. Everything else just seemed too complicated. I found that it's really not complicated at all.

All I'm saying is-don't go out & buy several of the same diaper thinking it's going to be your favorite. You may be surprised.


I also wanted to make sure I shared this link: 
A good little website with general information on it; like how much money you'll be saving, how many diapers you'll need, how to prep & wash them, etc.


More to come...
like our Night Time diaper routine with wool covers, prepping/washing,
Difference between All in Ones, Pockets, One Size, Sized, Fitted, etc
What else???

Thursday, August 8, 2013

Why I chose cloth

I recently posted this picture on Instagram about starting a 30 day cloth diaper trial with my 3 month old son, Bowen. A few of my friends wanted my opinion when it was all said & done and since I'm not on FB anymore I'm dusting off the old blog to air my opinions.

Probably just 2 of you will read this. That's ok.

If anybody feels like they've been helped, my purpose was served.

Really... I just need to jot down my own notes.

In an effort to be fully honest, I'll spend this blog post telling you how I came to the decision to use cloth instead of disposables.

When I found out I was pregnant, my sweet friend JBass almost immediately started trying to talk me into using cloth diapers. She told me about all the benefits and how much she loved them. She told me about how bad disposables are for the environment and on and on and on. Every time I saw her she would half jokingly find a way to bring them up. I was frank with her & I think these were my exact words:

"As awful as this may sound I'm not the least bit interested 
in cloth diapering. 
It does not appeal to me at all. 
And I could care less about the environment."

It was true. Sad, maybe? But true! And I'm pretty sure she took it as a challenge. One day she invited me to The Changing Table (home of the 30 day trial) for a product reveal night. I walked in, still thinking cloth diapering is NOT for me & thinking I just needed to do my nice friend duty so she didn't have to go alone.

And then I saw them.

Allll of them.

They were soo cute! So many different colors & fun patterns.

I was overwhelmed with the options.

That's when I decided maaayyyybe I would give it a small, only-half-serious thought.

I did think long & hard about it and then discussed it with Chad. I fully expected to hit resistance & that would be the end of it (it is totally weird, right?! We're not that granola) but he was actually all for it, being the penny pincher that he is!

 So it was like a switch went off in my brain and I couldn't even sleep at night (really) because I was so excited about it (and I had to pee). I tried to do my research and read up on everything I could about them. And every time I came up overwhelmed. I asked JBass about a million questions-which she so kindly answered every single one & usually in great detail. She's the best!

That's how I made my decision-it wasn't for the best of the environment, it wasn't to avoid putting my baby in a diaper loaded with 50+ chemicals, it wasn't for any other reason than that I thought they were cute...and Chad was excited about saving money. That's honestly it! And then, of course, I eventually got excited about all of the other many benefits too.

I'm compiling a list of every diaper that was in my trial and what I liked & hated about all of them, as well as my final decision & what I purchased. Hopefully this helps somebody else trying to decide. And if you don't have a JBass in your life, allow me! I need to "pay it forward" anyways and I would love to help!


Stay tuned...