Two days ago, I was surfing Diaper Swappers, and came across a sale by a Work At Home Mom (WAHM), for discounted diapers and free shipping.  I went to her site, and was THRILLED!  She had cute diapers!  They were really well priced!  I could totally afford one and support a WAHM (I always think this is important, but I have rules on how much I will spend on a single diaper).  So I drooled over her site looking at every single diaper trying to decide which one I wanted.

The problem is that she makes a one-size diaper, which comes in two sizes.  Confusing, right?  Well, not really - one is aimed at small babies, and one is aimed at older babies/toddlers.  She had both sizes in the diaper I wanted (red outside! cow print inside!), and I initially ordered the smallest one.  About 2 minutes after I hit “check out”, I had instant buyer’s remorse.  I should have bought the bigger one!  So, I emailed her, and she was soooo sweet and said that she would refund me the money, but the bigger one had JUST sold.  I was so disappointed!  I knew that I should have bought that one when I first thought about it! 

She did say that she was going to sew a whole bunch more up this weekend, and that she’d have new stock next week.  I’m really excited to see what she has, but I’m worried.  What happens if her “regular price” diapers are out of my price league?  I was really thrilled for the quality and size of diaper that I would be getting at the sale price, but what if it gets out of my range?  I’ll be so sad.  Presently, I do know that she doesn’t have any more cow print (cry!!), and possibly no red (I don’t remember what she said), so I’m not sure what I’ll be looking for, come next week.

If anyone is looking for a smaller-end expandable pocket diaper, be sure to check out Happy Cheeks Diapers!  I haven’t used these yet, but they look fantastic!  Also, if anyone has any rants/raves about HCD, let me know - I’d love to go in to this a little less blind! 

If you’re the least bit obsessed with cloth diapers at the moment (*cough*), then you’ve probably heard about Goodmama diapers.  First and foremost: these are fitted diapers.  Meaning: they need a diaper cover if you want them to be completely leak-proof.  However, a lot of mamas let their little ones roam about the house and yard without a cover.  The diaper is supposedly fairly absorbent so depending on your child’s output, they could go for a while without soaking through the diaper entirely.

Another thing you need to know?  These diapers are pretty cute.

I know, right?  But make no mistake: these diapers are the height of chic right now.  Though the website says the average diaper sells for $35 (which already makes me want to make clutch at my chest dramatically), it’s extremely difficulty to get one for that price.  It requires “stalking” on hyena cart on stocking days (and if you don’t know what hyena cart is, you’re probably MUCH BETTER OFF) and a lot of luck, to be honest.  You can get one here and there for $50, I’m told.  Auctions for these diapers tend to go upwards of $100… or more.  Yes, for ONE diaper.

I’d be lying if I said I wouldn’t mind having one, just to see what the fuss is about.  I’ve heard that there are Piddles Poddles that are virtually identical for much less.  So maybe I’ll try one of those instead.  Either way, it’s just another example of how getting into cloth diapering can be a costly and adorable obsession.  I’ve seen women go nuts over these diapers, ya’ll.  It’s a crazy thing.

But you’ve gotta admit they’re cute.

Last week I stepped out of my cloth diapering shell a little bit and decided to try a few different brands. I purchased three new cloth diapers of various brands, and the first of the lot arrived in my mailbox today: a one-size Happy Heinys pocket diaper in orange…. bright orange.

I could tell a difference immediately upon opening it. It felt a lot different than the bumGenius diapers I’ve been using, almost cheaper. The fleece on the inside feels like it would be really uncomfortable against a child’s nether regions. The inserts are contoured, but not adjustable with snaps like bumGenius. Luckily it came with two sizes of inserts.

Nicky only had the diaper on for about ten minutes before he peed in it, took it off, and handed it to me. To my surprise, the fleece felt completely dry (a pro). I didn’t even know he had peed until I felt the lumpy pile of insert in the bottom of the diaper (a con: the inserts don’t stay put in these diapers. Once they are wet, they sag pretty bad).

I don’t regret buying a Happy Heinys diaper, but I don’t think I will invest in any in the future. I definitely like bumGenius better considering the price. Happy Heinys are about a dollar more than bumGenius. If HH were less expensive, I’d be all over them, but BG has my heart since they are higher quality for a lower price.

Remember when I said that I had to have a Rumparooz diaper?  Well, I must be a spoiled brat because I got one.  And I watched the tracking information online until this diaper ended up in my hot little hands this last Tuesday.  It was probably the highlight of my week.  No, let me rephrase that.  It WAS the highlight of my week.  I mean, look at this thing:

So how beautiful it is?  While the “bubble” aspect of the minky fabric is less bubbly than I would have expected, the minky is still incredibly plush and I couldn’t stop running my fingers through it.  The inner lining isn’t to be discounted either, though.  The fleece that is used in there is also insanely plush.  At least, I think it’s fleece.  Whatever it is, it’s heaven on my wee girl’s bottom.  The inner gussets are very cool and I found they worked great.  Evie had her daily poop while wearing this (of course), and the gussets contained the mess easily.

Evie seemed very comfortable in this diaper, though I couldn’t help but fuss about the fit.  I wondered if Evie was ready for the “medium” setting yet.  The “small” setting seems very small.  The stretchy tabs are very stretchy, though, and allow for a lot of fine-tuning of the fit.  I do worry about the fabric catching and snagging on the hook portion of the closure, but I don’t think I can really avoid it.  Also, the aplix closure doesn’t seem near as “sticky” as the ones on the bumGenius, but I don’t have a problem with that (yet).

There is a definite “bubble butt” effect with this diaper.  Could be because of the “small” setting adding extra bulk.  Could be because it’s a pocket diaper and they are notoriously bulky.  I find I don’t mind so much.  I think you just need to plan the wardrobe while the baby is wearing such a diaper accordingly.  Of course, today was a warm day so I just let her wear a top with her diaper and that was it.  Very cute.

I actually have three MORE Rumparooz coming my way courtesy of the FSOT forum at Diaper Swappers.  None of them are minky, so I’m interested to see if I’ll love them as much without the FABOO fabric.  I’m betting that I will.  Because, at the heart of it, these diapers performed just as I would have wanted them.  Add in that they look good while doing it and you’ve got yourself a winner!  I think this is a great diaper for anyone who is a fan of the one-size bumGenius diapers since the performance is very similar.  And seriously.  Can you turn this down?  I don’t think so.

Six years ago P.K. ( Pre-kid) my husband came home with the news that friends* of his had had their baby daughter, somehow the conversation turned to the fact that they were planning on using Cloth Diapers. My baby-less reaction was Freak Why? And I thought no more about it.

Three years ago, just after my second son was born we attended a birthday at their house for their second child, also a boy. Most of the female half of the couple’s family was there and it was immediately apparent to me that all 400 of her siblings were a bunch of crunchy old, cloth diapering weirdos who were all breastfeeding at least one six year old (even the boys).**

Over the next three years The Female, let’s call her Leah ***  and I, began to hang out all them time, online, in person and of course on the phone so it came as no surprise one day when she told me I had to start using cloth diapers or we could no longer be friends. ****

I actually had been warming to the idea of cloth diapers over the years that I had seen her use them, especially when she used the dumb person friendly fuzzi bunz type. And since Leah and her husband had a Wii and we liked to play, I decided to start using cloth diapers so as not to lose our Wii privileges.

Call me Crunchy, because I am Granola through and through.

I took home twelve of the fuzzi bunz and started using them immediately and immediately discovered how totally disgusting cloth diapering can be. Because if you start out cloth diapering an 18mth old who poops and not a cute little newborn that squirts…well it’s gross. And it still is.

The whole swishing your hand in the toilet thing? Yuk. There is really no other word.

But there is another way. Toilet sprayers. Buy one. Today! Don’t be like me and think ‘it won’t be that long till he’s potty trained’ because honey? he still ain’t potty trained and I still don’t have a sprayer.

Buy one.

Other than that? The switch to cloth was easy. Right now I’m using just the fuzzi buns, but am planning on moving to pre folds soon.

Why do I cloth diaper? Because it is cheaper than buying diapers. I love the earth. I do. And I want to raise my children to love the Earth as much as I do but the truth is? We’re not made of money, and we like to eat. Cloth diapers helps us to save money each month, and it helps me to feel better about the choices I make as a mother, a person, and an Earth inhabitant.

We still use disposable diapers, especially on road trips or when visiting family and friends, because now I have become the Freak! that uses cloth diapers and it’s not something everything can get behind. *****

Oh Hai! Can I put a bunch of poop in your washer? What?! No!?

Cloth diapering is a personal choice just like every other parenting choice if you are vaguely interested in cloth diaper or have been cloth diapering for hundreds of years (boy are you old) feel free to stop by this groovy site Marilyn has concocted, there is sure to be some fun stories and information, of course. ******

brit, can be found daily at Running Stitch where she talks about her kids, her dogs, her husband, her leaking roof, quilting, and occasionally about running.

_____

*The characters in this story are based on real people who may or may not still be my friends after they read this post, but most likely will be because they know where I live that I love them deep down.

**This is a dramatization.

***Not her real name. Okay. Maybe.

****This may or may not be true, but she is kinda scary.

*****That was a pun.

******I have never used this many asterisks in my life and will never again. I promise.