Oak Meadow is having a giveaway that closes at the end of June 2014! Hurry and get your entries in!
Oak Meadow Giveaway!
Secularhomeschool.com is giving away a year of Oak Meadow Curriculum! It’s simple to enter. Head on over and check it out!
http://www.secularhomeschool.com/content/929-may-2013-giveaway-oak-meadow-curriculum-school/?postid=124255
Oak Meadow Giveaway!
The secular Homeschool Community is having their Febuary giveaway! This month you could win a free year of Oak Meadow homeschool curriculum! Enter to win here.
New to cloth diapering?
One of the best ways to find out which brand/style of diaper works for you is a trial program. These are brand new diapers that you get to pick, use, wash and then decide if you want to keep them or return them.
Diaper junction, kissed by the moon and Nicki’s diapers are just a few sites that offer this. These sites give 15-30 day trials and some will give additional funds if you return items for store credit.
FYSF, WIn TWO New Rumparooz Cloth Diapers w/ Snaps!
Last week Rumparooz announced their new colors and print: peacock, phantom and preppy!
Diaper Junction is giving away a one size rumparooz in phantom and preppy!
It ends in two days so hurry and get your entries in! Click Here!
How to Guide for Cloth diapering
Pocket
AIO
AI2
pocket
How to Guide for Cloth diapering
Why cloth diaper?
Can save you money: roughly $2000 per child.
Better for baby: lots of chemicals in disposables.
Better for the environment: the U.S. uses 16 Billion disposable diapers in a year and they can take 500 years to biodegrade!
Convenient: no running to the store in the middle of the night because your out of disposables.
Cute diapers: there are many different colors and patterns out there that are extremely cute.
Here is a great website expanding on these reasons. Click Here..
Types of cloth diapers:
AIO:
(All in one) This is a waterproof outer with the absorbent material sewn on. This is the closest diaper to a disposable. The down side is that some can take longer to dry. The Bumgenius Feetime is a great AIO because it has two absorbent flaps that are only sewn at one end to make for faster drying.
AI2:
This is a shell with an inserts that snaps into it. Grovia and gDiapers are popular brands.
Pocket diapers:
This is a waterproof outer with a layer of microfleece sewn on top. The micro fleece will keep your baby from feeling wet. You then stuff these with an absorbent material such as micro fiber, hemp, bamboo or cotton.These are most preferred by parents because they are easy to use and the absorbency is customizable. Just stuff and strap on baby. For nights you can add additional absorbency.
Covers and prefolds or flats:
A cover is a waterproof layer that goes on baby with either snaps or hook and loop.
Flats are one layer of cotton and can be folded to fit on baby with a snappi or boingo (use these instead of diaper pins). They can also be folded and laid inside a cover. If using flats do not buy cheap brands like Gerber. These will not work for a diaper.
Prefolds are like flats but have multiple layers of cotton. Usually 4x8x4. This means 4 layers on the sides and 8 layers running down the middle where your baby would pee. These can also be used on baby with a snappi or folded and laid in a cover.
What you will need:
Cloth diapers
Diaper pail (trash can with lid works fine)
2 pail liners
Small wetbag (for diaper bag)
Cloth diaper safe rash cream.
Cloth diaper safe laundry detergent.
Diaper sprayer and flushable liners.
The least expensive are covers and prefolds which you can do for $100-$150. Econobum, Thirsties and Palm Tree make a popular economical brands. You can even use flour sacks that can be found at Walmart as a absorbent cloth. Kuwaii or diaper rite brands also have affordable pocket diapers.
Covers can run anywhere from $6 to $17. Prefolds are around $2, flour sacks are about $1 and flat diapers around $1.50. AIOs are around $16 to $26 and pockets are $10 to $20.
If you go with one size covers and prefolds you will need at least 6 to 8 covers and 24 prefolds. This will allow you to wash every other day. If you choose pocket diapers or All in ones then you would need 20-24 to wash every other day. You can start your stash small and add diapers as you can afford it.
If you are looking to save money, but want a better quality diaper then you can buy used at places like eBay or diaperswappers.com. These are fine to use and most will look brand new with no stains.
Laundry
Find a diaper safe laundry detergent. Click Here for a list.
Wash routine: pre wash cold with 1/4 of manufacturers recommended detergent. Hot wash with another 1/4 detergent with an extra rinse and spin.
The more water in the washer with your cloth diapers the easier it is for them to get clean.
Hang dry pocket diapers and wet bag and tumble the rest dry on medium.
How to deal with stains. Laying or hanging up in the sun to dry is extremely effective at removing stains. In the winter you can lay the cloth diapers in the sun coming in a window.
You will want to wash at least every other day to prevent ammonia issues and bacteria from growing.
Stripping. If you use a non-cloth diaper safe rash cream or use too much detergent you could cause your diapers to leak or smell like ammonia. If this happens your will need to strip (remove build up) your diapers. Here is a link with instructions. Click Here.
If you use natural products like cotton, hemp or bamboo you will need to prep them. This means getting rid of the natural oils that are on the cloths. You will need to wash these separate from your usual diaper laundry at least 5 times before using. You could also boil the new fibers for 30 mins and achieve the same results. Just make sure not to boil anything with snaps or a waterproof material.
How to deal with the poop. Exclusively breastfed dirty diapers are ok to put in the wash, they are completely water soluble. If you use formula or start solid foods you will want to get as much poop as you can off before putting in the washer. Either hook up a diaper sprayer to your water line on the toilet (Easy to do) or use diaper liners. Diaper liners are flushable and, for most brands, if just peed on can be washed and used again. Bummis liners can be washed multiple times and used again.
Hook and loop vs snap closures. Which is best?
Velcro is a trade mark name so it is referred to as hook and loop or aplix. This is the easiest closure for dads/grandparents/babysitters.
Snaps are great because they will last for several babies while Hook and loop will need to be replaced. They can be intimidating at first but after a few uses you will figure out how tight to make them so there is no leaking.
Most one size diapers do not fit newborn babies well until around 3 to 6 weeks (depending on babies size) either buy newborn size diapers or use disposables until they fit into one size cloth diapers.
Here are some great videos explaining cloth diapering:
My Best Cloth Diapering Advice
My son is 4 1/2 months old and we’ve been cloth diapering for 4 months. I’ve accumulated lots of information on my cloth diapering journey that I thought I would share with other mamas in hopes of saving them time and money. Here they are:
1. Buy the cloth diapers your husband likes! I have’nt run into this piece of advice before and I think it’s something every mom should consider when building a stash. In my case my husband really liked GroVia aplix shells with their snap in soakers. Well they only made up about 10% of my stash. Even though we really didn’t need to spend more money on extra diapers we did. Because 1) I love buying more fluff and 2) so my husband would change diapers!
2. Dont buy too many diapers of one brand in the beginning. I like to buy the cute new prints that come out each season and if I read a review of a diaper guaranteeing a great fit and no leaking, I must have one! For example: I bought enough gDiapers to completely diaper my son, but I couldn’t resist trying out other brands to see if they fit/worked better. Meaning I have ALOT of diapers. This doesn’t need to happen to you, learn from my mistake! I justify the new diapers to my husband by telling him we’ll need this many for when we have two in diapers!
3. Wait to really build your stash until after your baby is born. This way you can try them on your baby. Each baby is built differently and some diapers will fit your friends baby great and fit yours horribly.
4. Buy cloth wipes and wipe spray. You don’t have to use them to clean up poo, but they come in handy to clean up spit up or wipe your baby after a wet diaper.
5. Buy newborn sized diapers in aplix. When they grow out of them buy one sized diapers in either snap or aplix. Try both closures out. Snaps will last longer, but aplix is easier to get a better fit and is preferred by dads/grandparents/babysitters.
6. Try out one from several highly reviewed brands to figure out what you want to build your stash with. I’d recommend:
A. Bumgenius 4.0 pocket diaper. I have two and love them! They fit my son well (13 lb) and they work great at night. they are my current favorite diaper. Some people like to build their whole stash around these and I can see why.
B. GroVia shell in aplix. GroVia has a unique aplix which I love. It does not scratch your baby. If you try these the trick to keeping the Velcro tabs looking new is to fold the tab with the aplix on the outside and slip it under the laundry loop. When you take the shell out of the washer to hang dry, smooth out the tabs so they lay flat. GroVia also offers a disposable that fits in this shell.
C. Rumparooz pocket diaper. These are made with a TPU waterproof outer as opposed to PUL. Tpu is a more environmentally friendly fabric and they are capable of decomposing much faster then PUL. Rumparooz have an inner gusset which helps with newborn/runny poo. They are also the softest feeling TPU I’ve felt. I don’t know why, but they are. These worked well for my son at around 10 pounds.
D. Apple cheeks pocket diaper. These are adorable and the inserts will agitate out of the pocket in the wash.
E. Get a few covers to try out. Rumparooz, thirsties duo wrap, flip and wool. Yes, I said wool! Today’s wool covers feel closer to cashmere and only have to be washed every 2-4 weeks or when soiled. When damp just turn inside out to dry. Sustainablebabyish makes an extremely plush and highly rated cover.
F. Best overnight diaper for a heavy wetter is a sustainablebabyish multi fitted with a cover. This is a one size fitted that is so soft and holds up to heavy wetters. It is made of a thick bamboo/organic cotton material. Pair this with a wool cover and you have a bullet proof system.
Win a Boon high chair!
Here is the link.
PreBabyBlog.com is giving away a Boon Flair high chir! This is a neutral colored chair with colored cushions you can buy separately to change up the color whenever you’d like.
Feed Your Stash Friday with Diaper Junction
This week diaper junction is giving away a GroVia diaper sampler! This includes a one size AI2 and two snap in inserts. I love these diapers! They are currently my go to diaper. The insert holds a lot and you can just use two a day if they don’t get soiled.
To enter simply click here and use the raffle copter entry form!
The Little Pumpkin 