Breaking records

Sammy and I participated in the second annual Great Cloth Diaper Change this past Saturday; we had joined in on the fun last year when we went home to visit my family in Pennsylvania over Easter, so when I heard that there was going to be an El Paso location, I quickly signed the two of us up.

It also helps that the change was taking place at Jungle Jaks, a huge indoor playground on the east side of El Paso--all of the participants were allowed to play for free following the event, which totally sweetened the deal.  Sammy had been there once before, so I knew he would have a good time running around and playing with all of the other cloth-diapered kiddos.

The turnout this year was a bit more than I expected, which is pretty awesome because it means the word is getting out about the benefits of cloth diapering (or perhaps everyone wanted that free play pass).  The El Paso location had thirty two kids participating last year, whereas this year there were a whopping sixty four kids involved.  The changing quarters were a bit cramped, but everyone was excited to be there in the hopes of breaking the Guinness record that was set last year for the most cloth diapers changed simultaneously.

Afterwards Sammy ran around and played while I chatted with some of the other parents in attendance about the different cloth diapering systems everyone uses; it was nice getting to talk shop with some experienced fluff fanatics (and I'm sure Captain Husband appreciated the break from my recent non-stop diaper talk).  There were also raffles and prizes for the attendees and I was very surprised when I won two of the door prizes--a free month of classes at Gymboree and two dozen jars of Earth's Best baby food, which will come in handy when my nephew, Hank, comes to visit in a few weeks.  All in all it was a great way to spend the day--plus Sammy napped for several hours once we made it back to the house.  So how did you spend your Earth Day weekend?

Baby got back

A few weeks ago, Sammy started soaking through his diapers in a record amount of time.  I was at a loss, but I knew one thing for sure--I was getting really tired of mopping pee off of the floor several times a day.  I was getting so desperate for a solution that I almost resorted to disposables, but Sammy managed to flood through those in less than a half an hour (surely that has to be a record of some sort).  I talked to a few cloth-diapering friends who informed me that my beloved Fuzzi Bunz tend to max out once the wearer nears thirty pounds.  Crap.  Now what?  I had a few fitteds and prefolds left over from Sammy's old night-time routine so I tried a few different combos and struck gold with the following:

I've had to buy some additional components like more fitteds and covers, but I've gotten really lucky on eBay and Spot's Corner, so it hasn't been too expensive (contrary to what Captain Husband thinks); I also just ordered some wool wrap covers by Imse Vimse in the hopes that they will make this new system even more awesome.  Sammy can now go about an hour and a half to two hours between changes, as opposed to once every 30 minutes when he was in his Fuzzi Bunz (and a hemp doubler--my kid has the bladder of a race horse). 

The only downfall to my new super soaker combination is that it's a bit bulky and I may have to size up Sammy's shorts to 4T just so I can pull them over his giant butt.  He may look a little funny with that big bottom of his, but anything is better than dealing with the constant diaper changes and whatnot.  Since I've made the switch I've managed to cut way back on the amount of laundry I had to do thanks to all of Sammy's leaks.

And as you can see, the added bulk hasn't impeded Sammy's flexibility one bit. Have a great Earth Day Weekend everyone!

Which cloth diaper should I choose for baby #2?

It should come as no surprise to those who know me that I'm planning to use cloth diapers on baby #2 when he makes his appearance this summer.  Sammy's been in cloth since the day he came home from the hospital and the experience has been great.  However, it's a bit of a double-edged sword; I know so much more about cloth now than I did two years ago, which means a whole new world of options is spread out before me.  Don't get me wrong--I really like our Fuzzi Bunz and couldn't be happier with how they've worked out for us, but I want to try something different this time around...you know, shake things up a bit.  Right now I'm toying around with the idea of using fitteds and covers, with me making some of the covers and possibly trying my hand at converting some prefolds into fitteds (known as "prefitteds") to cut down on costs a bit.  I figure by doing this I can keep both the baby's and Sammy's bum in cloth, with the majority of the Fuzzi Bunz being set aside for Sammy's use.  Then, once the baby has gotten a bit bigger and started to outgrow the fitteds, I can transition him into Sammy's diapers because hopefully Sammy will be using less of them and (fingers crossed) be on his way to potty training.   So my question for all of you cloth-diapering mamas out there is does this sound like a feasible plan?  Are there any other options I should consider?  Do you have a favorite kind of fitted diaper?  I'm all ears!

Momma in Focus: Freebie

Another day, another road trip, or at least that's how it seems around here.  Sammy and I hit the road in the man truck yesterday (it has working ac, whereas my car does not) and made our way to western Pennsylvania where I'll be helping my sister-in-law host a Cloth 101 gathering.  Also on the agenda is spending some quality time with my family before the summer gets truly insane and giving my cousin, Sarah (yes, another one--it does get a bit confusing), one last dose of quality-Sammy time before she moves to Alaska in a few weeks.  It should be fun!  Sammy and I had dinner with Ben and Sarah and then I conscripted my brother to take a photo of us because I had totally slacked off this week and waited 'til the last minute to come up with something for today.   Here we are, in all of our dirty, five-hours-spent-in-a-truck glory:

Be sure to check out the other lovely photos this week by clicking below

--and don't forget to show Casey some love.

Team Cloth

I hosted my first Cloth 101 session for Abby's Lane this past Saturday; it was a pretty low-key event with five people in attendance (not including toddlers and babies), but I think it went rather well.  Everyone seemed to enjoy getting their hands on the various different kinds of diapers and inserts that I had available--I definitely wish I had been able to attend something similar back when I was first looking into going the cloth route!

One of the hot topics during the session was night-time diapering and the different systems out there to keep your baby dry throughout the night, which gave me the perfect opportunity to show off the new diapers that Sammy's been wearing at night (he just recently outgrew his adorable Gen-Y covers from a few months back).  I purchased this set-up about a week ago and I am totally in love with it--no more leaks and Sammy's back to sleeping until 8 am or later because of the increased absorbency.

Here's how it all breaks down: the first layer is a Knickernappies fleece stay-dry liner, which does exactly what it says (how novel!).  The second layer is a Sustainable Babyish organic cotton fitted with a heavy-duty three-layer snap-in soaker.  This is then followed by the third layer composed of a Joey Bunz hemp insert placed on top of the fitted.  Last but certainly not least is a Bummis Super Brite cover to keep everything nice and leak-proof.  The best part about this new system?   Sammy shouldn't size out of this for quite some time; he's currently wearing a large fitted and cover on their smallest settings; and when he does outgrow them, these brands all come in an extra-large size so Sammy should be covered in that department until he's potty-trained, thank goodness.  Seriously--if you have a heavy night-wetter (and/or a giant baby), you should give this combination a try. 

High and dry

Early in February I blogged about my trip to Abby's Lane, where I had hoped to find something, anything, to keep Sammy dry through the night.  And now I can happily say that I've found my cloth-diapering solution!  Here's how it breaks down: I start with a large Gen-Y cover and insert a Joey Bunz hemp insert.  I then fold a Boori bamboo prefold and place it on top of the hemp insert.  Last but not least, I top the whole thing off with a GroVia BioLiner.  What exactly is a BioLiner?  Well, they say a picture is worth a thousand words, so let me show you by using my incredibly awesome Mr. Poop bank (what, you don't have one?):

In other words, it keeps solids contained for easy clean-up; all you have to do is just remove the liner (and whatever horrible stuff that happens to be attached to it) and flush it down the toilet.  And believe me, anything that makes dealing with Sammy's awful diapers (oh, the joys of introducing solid foods) is a major win in my book.  Here's Sammy modeling the whole kit and caboodle:

The only downside to using this cloth-diapering combination is that it gives Sammy some major junk in his trunk.  I've actually had trouble getting him into his footie pajamas at night because of how big his bum is, so I've started putting him in two-piece pjs and that seems to be working out pretty well.  There have been a few instances of leaking, especially at the beginning when the hemp inserts were still getting primed, but generally speaking this system keeps Sammy dry and comfortable for an average of twelve hours a night.  Be sure to give this combo a try if you're looking for a nighttime cloth-diapering solution.

A trip to Abby's Lane

A few weeks ago, my friend, Amie, invited a few other cloth-diapering moms to her home to talk shop; as you may recall, Sammy is a super soaker and I've been having some trouble keeping him dry through the night. I thought I found a solution by putting him in a disposable, but that turned out to be only temporary as Sammy soon began soaking through those, too.  Through the course of the evening, it was mentioned that the cloth-diapering website, Abby's Lane, had recently opened an actual brick-and-mortar store in nearby Manassas.  I liked the idea of actually being able to see the different diapers in person and discuss their pros and cons with someone who knew what they were talking about, so I planned a trip while my mom was down visiting the week before last.

Row after row of just about every brand of cloth diaper currently on the market as far as the eye can see greeted me as I walked through the door--I was overwhelmed by all of the different options, not too mention the cuteness. The women who worked there were very friendly and extremely knowledgeable about all of the different products; they suggested several different night-time diapering solutions that would work with my current Fuzzi Bunz as well as some other things to try; I wound up going home with two Gen-Y covers, two Boori bamboo prefolds, a SuperDo insert, and a Joey Bunz insert.  I'm really looking forward to figuring out the combination that works best for Sammy, not too mention another trip back to Abby's Lane in the future; anyone want to come along?

{And not to beat a dead horse or anything, but Sammy and I would appreciate it if you could vote for our entry in the Paper Mama's Valentines challenge by clicking below--that is, if you haven't already done so! Thanks so much!}

Cloth diaper confessions

I have a dirty little secret--I use a disposable diaper on Sammy every night.  Don't get me wrong, I love my fuzzi bunz and they kick butt on a daily basis.  But after Sammy turned five months old, they weren't holding up so well at night (Sammy's apparently a super soaker).  I was stuffing his cloth diapers with as many inserts that could fit and even tried putting those rubber pants over top of them, but to no avail--he was waking up, soaking wet, at 3 am every. single. night.  I was at my wit's end--I had gotten used to actually sleeping through the night and to go back to waking up two or three times was hell on wheels.  However, it wasn't until Sammy and I went to New Jersey to visit with family that I discovered the solution to my problem; since I didn't have access to a washer or dryer during our trip, I opted for disposable diapers.  Guess what?  Sammy didn't wake up once in the night the entire trip.  Once we were back home I continued using the disposables at night and Sammy was back to his old sleeping pattern, but I honestly felt a little guilty using the disposables--mostly because I wondered if I hadn't tried hard enough to find a cloth alternative that would work for us.  I talked to a couple of other cloth-diapering moms for advice and was surprised to see that nearly all of them had run across the same issue and were also using disposables at night.  My guilt quickly evaporated and I haven't looked back since; Sammy's sleeping better, I'm sleeping better, what's not to like?

The much anticipated cloth diaper post

Once people learn that I use cloth diapers on Sammy, they almost always ask, "So, how are those working out for you?" And the answer is a resounding very, very well. I honestly couldn't be happier with them and barring a few minor user errors, they've been virtually problem free.

Sammy wears Fuzzi Bunz one size pocket diapers, which means that (hopefully) these will be the only diapers that he will need through potty training...unless of course he turns out to be some sort of baby giant, but so far so good. Plus I should be able to use them on any additional kids that come our way in the future. How did I pick these diapers from all of the others currently on the market? To be perfectly honest, the name is what initially attracted me to this particular brand. Once I started researching the diaper's features, such as the adjustable leg and waist bands and snap-front closures (velcro + poop = ew), I was convinced that these were the right ones for me.

The up-front cost of cloth diapers are a bit on the pricey side (especially if you purchase the recommended eighteen or so to start), but when you weigh their one-time cost against the repeated expense of disposable diapers, it starts to make a lot of financial sense (not to mention the ecological benefits). And if you are certain that cloth diapering is the way you want to go, you can always do what I did, which was to register for them and inform all of my friends and family that diapers were what we really wanted/needed for the baby.

As far as their absorbency, I don't really have much to compare them to as Sammy's been in cloth from the day he arrived home from the hospital. As far as I'm concerned they do a fine job of containing everything--I've only had one incident in which a diaper explosion was not 100% contained, which I think is pretty good all things considered. Sammy's an especially heavy wetter at night, so I've been double-stuffing his diaper and that seems to take care of things well enough that Sammy doesn't wake up in the middle of the night crying because he's wet.

Storing the dirty diapers and cleaning them are pretty much a breeze, too. I bought a step can like this (a lidded trash can is imperative if you're trying to keep odor under control) and use waterproof bin liners; when it's time to wash the diapers, all you have to do is remove the bin liner and turn it inside out as you dump the diapers into the washer--you never have to touch a dirty diaper! I have two liners on hand so that I can rotate them while one is in the bin and the other is drying. Another must-have if you're going the cloth diaper route is a couple of waterproof wet bags for the diaper bag; these zipper shut, which keeps all of the nasty stuff (and smells) from escaping while you're out and about.

Now for the actual cleaning of the diapers; this is where things can get a little tricky because certain detergents can actually cause the diapers to repel moisture, which you don't want happening. I use Charlie's Soap Powder, which was actually one of the detergents recommended by the diaper manufacturer--I figured better safe than sorry. This is where my minor user error came into play; at first, I used one tablespoon of the powder when I really should have been using half of that. The extra soap in the diapers wound up irritating Sammy's sensitive skin, giving him a nasty diaper rash. Fortunately it cleared up rather quickly once I remedied the soap situation and he hasn't had a single rash since. In addition to the Charlie's Soap I also add a scoop or two of OxiClean Baby, which helps with those stubborn stains that would normally fade on their own after a day drying in the sun. I then hang the diapers up to dry overnight so I have a supply of clean diapers ready to go the next day.

So there you have it; I'm quite pleased with how cloth diapering has gone so far and I'm more than happy to answer any questions if you'd like to learn more!

On the road with a one-month old

With Captain Husband's departure to Korea looming just around the corner, we decided to take advantage of his time home and make one big trip up to New Jersey so that Sammy could meet his great-grandparents and other relatives and CH could see everyone before he leaves. CH's family lives in Nutley, which is a good 5+ hour drive from our place, so this would be Sammy's first overnight trip away from home (two nights in a hotel). Now for the fun part: What to pack? I knew right away that I was going to want disposable diapers on this trip, because who wants to deal with a two-day old festering bag of dirty cloth diapers in the car when it's 95 degrees outside? Yeah, not this lady. Of course, we had no idea what size diaper Sammy would need because he's been rocking the fuzzi bunz this whole time, so we had to employ a very scientific method which involved Captain Husband weighing himself and then weighing himself while holding Sammy and subtracting the difference; apparently our little bruiser is now weighing in at about 10 1/2 pounds. Armed with this information, we headed off to Babies-r-Expensive and picked up a package of 7th Generation disposable chlorine-free diapers. While there, we decided to stock up on some of the basics and bought a carton of wipes and two boxes of formula; I didn't want to take any chances of running out of something important in the middle of the night.

Here's a rundown of all of the stuff we took in addition to the diapers, wipes and formula:

• Our pack-n-play with built-in bassinet (scored on super duper clearance and quite possibly one of the best purchases we've made)
  
• Two pack-n-play sheets
• Six blankets (four of the fuzzy variety)
• Three washable changing pads
• Four zippered sleepers
• Eight onesies/assorted outfits
• Four pairs of socks
• Two pacifiers and a pack of pacifier wipes
• Three books, a rattle, and an activity mat for play/tummy time
  
• Stroller
• Bouncy chair
• Assorted baby toiletries, like shampoo/body wash, baby lotion, California Baby diaper-area spray (referred to as butt spray in our house), and California Baby calendula lotion (for Sammy's lovely baby acne and other mysterious rashes)
• Baby Bjorn
• Ring-wrap
• Breast pump and a plethora of bottles and nipples, as well as other assorted accessories, like a bottle scrubber thingy and travel-sized dish soap; I actually managed to pump while CH drove 75 miles an hour on I-95 just to see if I could, but I wouldn't recommend it (CH was worried that everyone was getting a free show, but in my case, things like modesty ceased to exist after I gave birth)
  
• And a partridge in a pear tree

We could have foregone several things on this list and we also could have used some more items, such as additional changing pads (we wound up using some of the extra blankets that we had brought), but all in all it worked out pretty well. Thank goodness we have a huge trunk for all of said junk. Sammy managed to charm the pants off of all of his relatives, who responded by showering him with gifts, affection, and Italian conversation.

Here's Sammy meeting his great-grandparents:


Four generations on one couch:


No major melt-downs or diaper explosions and a good time was had by all; the very definition of a successful trip as far as I'm concerned!