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The CDE Days 4-6
So, we're on our 6th day into our cloth diapering journey and I am still loving my decision to use cloth diapers! Of course I'm really regretting not using cloth when I wanted to with Leah, but you can't go back, only forward. {The amount of money we would have saved just kills me, ugh.}
Okay so:
Basically from day one the Bumgenius 4.0 pocket diaper has been my top fave. It has continued to be! It's tied with the Bumgenius Elemental all-in-one, and the Flip hybrid. {Which is also made by Bumgenius.} At Grayson's "Meet the Baby" party we recieved a gift card from my dad {thanks dad ♥ you!} to get more cloth diapers. I really had a hard time deciding between the 4.0 and Elemental. I ended up going with the 4.0. {A} Because they're cheaper I was able to get 4 diapers rather than 3. and {B} Easier and faster prepping. I could use them after only one wash, whereas with the Elemental I would have to wash and dry 5 to 6 times before using. I was also really excited to sell some diapers I wasn't super loving and use the money to buy a couple more diapers, another 4.0 is on the way, as well as another Flip cover and 2 inserts.
I was really bummed to find out that my FAVORITE store {Jack Be Natural} was out of stock of another favorite of mine, the Kawaii Green Baby Fun Print Cross-Over Snap Version. {Whew! Long name!} As soon as they are restocked I will be ordering at least two more of these diapers.
Lastly, I plan on adding 3 more Elementals to my collection. I am hoping to sell a couple more diapers that I didn't love so we're not drowning in cloth diapers, and to also fund the last few purchases I have to make. I plan on coming back with a total of how much I've invested so far to compare to how much disposables would cost to see what the overall savings would be.
I also want to put together a post about the diapers that didn't work for us, and why.
By the way, I'm in the midst of making a decision and would love any experiences, tips, advice, etc. We've dealt with a small case of diaper rash the past week and have had to use a lot more disposables than I would have wanted. I can't decide if I should buy cloth diaper safe rash cream, disposable inserts for the Flip covers to use with my non CD safe cream, or disposable liners to use with my pocket diaper and all-in-one's for the non CD safe cream. I really need to sit down and do the math on that one. I have been told that CD safe diaper cream isn't as good as healing as it is at preventing and that only creams with zinc oxide will really clear up diaper rash. So if you have any thoughts on that please share!
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Hello Baby!
Grayson's Woodland Creature
"Meet the Baby" Party
{The Invitation}
Top Left: Toadstool Cupcakes Top Right: Acorns!
Middle Left: Wishes for Grayson Middle Right: Goodie Bags, baggies with river rock candy, and a woodland animal cookie cutter.
Bottom: The whole table! Lots of yummy foods, bottled water with matching labels, and mason jars w/ ice for ice cold lemonade!
Middle Left: Wishes for Grayson Middle Right: Goodie Bags, baggies with river rock candy, and a woodland animal cookie cutter.
Bottom: The whole table! Lots of yummy foods, bottled water with matching labels, and mason jars w/ ice for ice cold lemonade!
Left: Owl Cake!
Middle Top: River Rock candy Middle Bottom: Cupcakes w/ Cupcake Toppers and Cookies
Right Top: Utensils with napkin rings. Right Bottom: Sign and Banner
Middle Top: River Rock candy Middle Bottom: Cupcakes w/ Cupcake Toppers and Cookies
Right Top: Utensils with napkin rings. Right Bottom: Sign and Banner
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The Milky Way
I have nursed all four of my babies. Some nursed longer than others but overall I've spent a lot of time nursing some babes. You would think that because of this I'd be somewhat of a breastfeeding pro. Or at least rather knowledgeable of that which is breastfeeding. In fact I thought I was a boob milk know-it-all. And while I do know a lot, I'm so far from knowing it all. In fact I barely know just enough.
One thing I've discovered quite recently? I'm basically a milk monster. I see photos like this one:
And while it's a beautiful picture of a mother nursing their baby, all I can think is, where's the burp cloth/receiving blanket to soak up the dripping milk?
I see photo's of mother's braless, in strapless dresses, nursing their babes. Where's the nursing bra?! How do they hold nursing pads to their breasts without a nursing bra????
I read posts where mothers talk about only needing nursing pads the first couple of days of engorgement. Whaaaat?! How is that possible?????
I thought it was normal to leak all the time. I thought it was normal to choke and almost drown your baby during let down. I thought their cute little gulps as they tried to keep up with the geyser coming from my nipples was what all babes did. While funny, I thought it was normal to spray milk across a room or cover my babies face in a spray of their special beverage if they happened to turn away.
Apparently I was wrong. Very mistaken. I'm not normal at all. I'm a mega producing milk monster.
I'm certain I keep nursing pad companies in business. I go through them so quickly I've thought about using washable, renewable pads. But seriously? They'd be more a bitch than cloth diapers. Probably. Maybe. Okay, maybe I do need to look into that...
I happened to be blissfully unaware that not only is it not the norm, it's coveted as well. At least that makes me feel better. If I'm going to be all weird and whatnot at least I can feel special about it. I can turn my freakiness into a blessing.
When I nursed Leah Mel and I used to joke about my overproduction. I said I was going to open up a dairy store with products made completely from breast milk. Our shelves would be stocked with "Brianne's Breast Butter, the 'Breast' Butter in Town!", ice cream, yogurt, cheese. As I type this I am slowly realizing that the things I talk to my husband about late at night should never be blogged.
Now I'm sure someone is going to think I'm a freak and tell me how gross and disgusting I am. I say I'm hilarious and brilliant and they can suck it. And when they do they can enjoy the nice milky beverage that is sure to drown them. BOO-YA!
I just boo-ya'd, so on that note, I'm out.
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One thing I've discovered quite recently? I'm basically a milk monster. I see photos like this one:
And while it's a beautiful picture of a mother nursing their baby, all I can think is, where's the burp cloth/receiving blanket to soak up the dripping milk?
I see photo's of mother's braless, in strapless dresses, nursing their babes. Where's the nursing bra?! How do they hold nursing pads to their breasts without a nursing bra????
I read posts where mothers talk about only needing nursing pads the first couple of days of engorgement. Whaaaat?! How is that possible?????
From the time my milk comes in, to the time my baby weans I am a milk flowing factory. Not wearing nursing pads? NOT AN OPTION unless I want to walk around like this:
I thought it was normal to leak all the time. I thought it was normal to choke and almost drown your baby during let down. I thought their cute little gulps as they tried to keep up with the geyser coming from my nipples was what all babes did. While funny, I thought it was normal to spray milk across a room or cover my babies face in a spray of their special beverage if they happened to turn away.
Apparently I was wrong. Very mistaken. I'm not normal at all. I'm a mega producing milk monster.
I'm certain I keep nursing pad companies in business. I go through them so quickly I've thought about using washable, renewable pads. But seriously? They'd be more a bitch than cloth diapers. Probably. Maybe. Okay, maybe I do need to look into that...
I happened to be blissfully unaware that not only is it not the norm, it's coveted as well. At least that makes me feel better. If I'm going to be all weird and whatnot at least I can feel special about it. I can turn my freakiness into a blessing.
When I nursed Leah Mel and I used to joke about my overproduction. I said I was going to open up a dairy store with products made completely from breast milk. Our shelves would be stocked with "Brianne's Breast Butter, the 'Breast' Butter in Town!", ice cream, yogurt, cheese. As I type this I am slowly realizing that the things I talk to my husband about late at night should never be blogged.
Now I'm sure someone is going to think I'm a freak and tell me how gross and disgusting I am. I say I'm hilarious and brilliant and they can suck it. And when they do they can enjoy the nice milky beverage that is sure to drown them. BOO-YA!
I just boo-ya'd, so on that note, I'm out.
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The CDE Day 2 and 3
Saturday wasn't much of a "cloth diapering experience" day. I put Grayson in Pampers Swaddlers Friday night for fear of overnight leakage in cloth. The funny thing is, he woke up soaking wet from a leaky diaper anyway. Blah. Then, not only that, he woke up with diaper rash. :( Thursday he had a little redness before I put the BG 4.0 on him and miraculously it was gone by the time I changed him. I was hoping for the same results and put him in another GroVia all-in-one. I was bummed because once again, the GroVia AIO leaked. :( I don't think I did anything wrong this time, but I really don't know. When I went to change him his diaper rash was a lot worse so it was back to Swaddlers so that I could use some Butt Paste on him. I'm 99.9% sure the rash is from the wipes I've been using. They're AWFUL. I accidentally bought the wrong ones at the store. He most def needs sensitive wipes.
I'm hoping I will be able to start using the cloth wipes soon. I just need to figure out a solution for...well...wipes solution. lol Of course I will be sharing that experience as well. I'm also thinking I need more cloth wipes. I only have maybe 14 as of now, 10 custom made wipes, and 4 baby wash cloths. I don't know, maybe that's enough, anyhow, back to CDE 2 & 3!
I put him back in cloth before leaving to visit my brother-in-law yesterday. This time around I used my FuzziBunz one size. At first, as I was struggling to adjust the dipe to fit him and I was really questioning if I would like the Fuzzibunz. It went on as easily as a disposable, but to be honest if I hadn't watched a the video on their website I probably wouldn't have snapped it properly. The FB has hip snaps which I hadn't came across on any other diapers. Seeing the video though, I knew to snap the hip snaps first, and was able to get a really great fit. The Fuzzibunz is a pocket diaper, which requires stuffing, and while you do have to adjust the elastic in the waste and legs to fit, I really liked it. The website has a chart so you know which setting to use for your babies size, and like mentioned above, they have a video to show how to use the diaper. Adjusting the straps was kind of a pain. But once you have it done, you don't have to do it again until your baby grows enough for the next size up. And really once I did it the one time I'm sure I got the hang of it. I ended up really liking the Fuzzibunz. I won't be finishing my stash out with them, but I'm glad I have one in my "collection".
After the Fuzzibunz we went back into a Pampers Swaddler for more Butt Paste. I had to change him while we were out and about and I worried about what to do with a dirty cloth diaper, but I just threw it in a plastic Walmart bag, tied it off and threw it in the diaper bag. Just as easy as dealing with disposables in my opinion. I wouldn't want to leave it there for days or anything, but it did the job until we got home. I'm hoping to get a small wet bag for the diaper bag. {A wet bag is a water proof bag with a zipper, basically a reusable, washable replacement for plastic bags.}
When we got home I put Grayson in a KaWaii Green Baby Bamboo Diaper (Mom Label). It is a one size pocket diaper and let me tell you, that thing is SOFT. It's super soft minky on the outside and I loved rubbing his little tush after I put him in it. Hehe! It fit great, I loved the cross-over tabs, it was super snug around the waste and legs. It lasted until the next diaper change with no problem!
When it was time for bed I decided to put Grayson in cloth for the night. After all, what's the difference if it leaked? The disposable he was in the night before leaked everywhere! I went with
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I'm hoping I will be able to start using the cloth wipes soon. I just need to figure out a solution for...well...wipes solution. lol Of course I will be sharing that experience as well. I'm also thinking I need more cloth wipes. I only have maybe 14 as of now, 10 custom made wipes, and 4 baby wash cloths. I don't know, maybe that's enough, anyhow, back to CDE 2 & 3!
I put him back in cloth before leaving to visit my brother-in-law yesterday. This time around I used my FuzziBunz one size. At first, as I was struggling to adjust the dipe to fit him and I was really questioning if I would like the Fuzzibunz. It went on as easily as a disposable, but to be honest if I hadn't watched a the video on their website I probably wouldn't have snapped it properly. The FB has hip snaps which I hadn't came across on any other diapers. Seeing the video though, I knew to snap the hip snaps first, and was able to get a really great fit. The Fuzzibunz is a pocket diaper, which requires stuffing, and while you do have to adjust the elastic in the waste and legs to fit, I really liked it. The website has a chart so you know which setting to use for your babies size, and like mentioned above, they have a video to show how to use the diaper. Adjusting the straps was kind of a pain. But once you have it done, you don't have to do it again until your baby grows enough for the next size up. And really once I did it the one time I'm sure I got the hang of it. I ended up really liking the Fuzzibunz. I won't be finishing my stash out with them, but I'm glad I have one in my "collection".
After the Fuzzibunz we went back into a Pampers Swaddler for more Butt Paste. I had to change him while we were out and about and I worried about what to do with a dirty cloth diaper, but I just threw it in a plastic Walmart bag, tied it off and threw it in the diaper bag. Just as easy as dealing with disposables in my opinion. I wouldn't want to leave it there for days or anything, but it did the job until we got home. I'm hoping to get a small wet bag for the diaper bag. {A wet bag is a water proof bag with a zipper, basically a reusable, washable replacement for plastic bags.}
When we got home I put Grayson in a KaWaii Green Baby Bamboo Diaper (Mom Label). It is a one size pocket diaper and let me tell you, that thing is SOFT. It's super soft minky on the outside and I loved rubbing his little tush after I put him in it. Hehe! It fit great, I loved the cross-over tabs, it was super snug around the waste and legs. It lasted until the next diaper change with no problem!
When it was time for bed I decided to put Grayson in cloth for the night. After all, what's the difference if it leaked? The disposable he was in the night before leaked everywhere! I went with
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The Cloth Diaper Experience Day 1
Yesterday was a big day for Mr. G James. He became a whopping THREE WEEKS OLD! The one and only big milestone? His very first fluffy butt! ^_^ I put him in his first cloth diaper last night. After carefully inspecting his belly button it FINALLY looked well enough to make the move from disposables to cloth. I was super excited to finally make the move. His very first CD? A Bumgenius Elemental. It is an all-in-one cloth diaper and the closest to a disposable. There's no stuffing, no folding or pinning, you just put it on like a disposable, take it off, and wash it. Verdict? I LOVED it. I am actually really disappointed that I only have one. It was super trim, fit G like a glove, and he wore it through a 3 hour nap with ZERO leaks. I was super impressed.
I put him in disposables for the night because I was unsure how cloth would hold up leak wise and I didn't want to wake up in a puddle of pee.
As soon as we were up for the day though it was back to fluffy butt! I went with the Grovia all-in-one this time. It was SO cute! It had little airplanes on it! ^_^ Unfortunately, Grayson pee'd pretty much immediately so the airplane diaper didn't last long. :( I went to throw his night time disposable away and by the time I came back he was wet. I'm not sure if the diaper had leaked, or if he had pee'd and gotten wet while I was changing him and I didn't realize it, but either way I'm pretty sure it was user error and not a reflection on the diaper. I was super bummed though. {And praying it was user error. lol} I moved on to the next diaper and went with the Bumgenius 4.0. In a lovely kelly green. :) The Bumgenius 4.0 is a pocket diaper. It's one step away from being an all-in-one, it has a pocket {hence the name} that you stuff with inserts. The BG 4.0 come with two inserts. A newborn insert for newborns and a one-size insert for your older baby. {The cool thing is once baby outgrows the newborn insert you can use it along with the one-size for overnight or heavy wetters.} The 4.0 fit Grayson amazingly well. Super snug, but not too tight, around the legs and waste. It also lasted a good 3 hours. Not one leak and when changed there wasn't even a hint of a leak. The cool thing is, he had a tad bit of a rash this morning, and by the time I was changing him after the 4.0, it was gone!
For Grayson's next diaper I went back to the Grovia all-in-one, this time the super duper cute {and my fave} owl print. I put the diaper on and it fit great. I checked all around for any gaps and couldn't find anything significant. It seemed to fit his legs and waste just enough. Any looser though and I don't think they would have worked. I'm sure if he was even a pound smaller we would have to wait for the Grovia all-in-one. Luckily enough it did fit. I love how super trim the Grovia all-in-one is. It comes pretty close to a disposable! Not quite as trim as the Bumgenius Elemental, but pretty dang close! The Grovia all-in-one lasted a long 3 hours with no leaks! Which leads me to believe that whatever issue I had with the airplane print was complete user error. I was super happy with the diaper and I'm really glad I have a total of 4 GroVia all-in-ones!
The 4th diaper for the day was a super cute custom diaper I had made by Three Monkey's Cloth Diapers. It was also a pocket diaper like the BG 4.0. It came with a hemp insert. It fit Grayson but to be honest I felt like it was a little too tight at the back. I couldn't find a happy medium that I felt comfortable with. It either felt too tight or too lose. I finally got it snapped to what I felt would be okay. The great thing about this one size diaper is that Im' quite certain it would fit most babies 7lb's and up, where as most one size diapers don't fit until babies are 9lb's or more. Grayson is between 10 and 11 lb's and was certainly not on the tightest snaps. Just as it was time for change, about 3 hours in, we got a leak. His outfit was wet right at the back, and left leg. To be honest, I looked and I don't see how there was a leak at all! It fit him like a glove, there was no gaps for moisture to come through. I'm not giving up on the diaper though. If it leaks again I will contact the seller. I'm sure she will help me out as she was awesome to work with! I definitely recommend her to anyone wanting custom diapers! {She makes sized all-in-one's too and cloth wipes, which I have as well.}
The 5th cloth diaper I used today was a Flip hybrid diaper. The Flip is made by Bumgenius like the 4.0 and Elemental. The cool thing about the hybrid diaper is that you just lay the insert in the cover, rather than stuffing a pocket, and you can change just the insert out rather than changing the entire diaper. You also have the option of using disposable inserts! Which is great for vacations or when you're out of the house. The Flip fit basically just like the 4.0. It was a tad bigger and bulkier, not as trim as the 4.0 and not even close to as trim as the Elemental. It was the fluffiest butt of the day for sure! ^_^ It fit really well around his legs and waste. {Thank goodness for chunky thighs!} The Flip lasted the 3 hours with no leaks at all! Grayson even had a BIG poop, which I'm sure would have been a blowout with a disposable. I would have had to change the cover and not been able to just change out the insert, if I had other inserts, but the cover kept the poop and pee in like a charm. :) I'm thinking another Flip cover and a couple more inserts may be on my shopping list.
I went back to the Bumgenius 4.0 for the last cloth diaper of the day. I would have tried another diaper, but I only have two 4.0's and I'm trying to make a decision on if I will be buying more so I wanted to see if I liked it the second time around as much as I loved it the first time around. He's only been in the second BG 4.0 for about an hour now, but so far so good!
So, the verdict of my first official day in cloth? I think I'm in ♥LOVE♥!!!! Granted, this is day one, no washing yet! I'm looking forward to another day in cloth and will be washing my first load of CD's tomorrow night! Of course I will sharing my first washing experience as well as the experiences with the diapers I will be trying tomorrow. There's some Kawaii's, a Fuzzibunz, and a Grovia all-in-two hybrid diaper on the list to be tried next!
Stay tuned for more cloth diaper experience and if you have any questions throw them my way!
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I put him in disposables for the night because I was unsure how cloth would hold up leak wise and I didn't want to wake up in a puddle of pee.
For Grayson's next diaper I went back to the Grovia all-in-one, this time the super duper cute {and my fave} owl print. I put the diaper on and it fit great. I checked all around for any gaps and couldn't find anything significant. It seemed to fit his legs and waste just enough. Any looser though and I don't think they would have worked. I'm sure if he was even a pound smaller we would have to wait for the Grovia all-in-one. Luckily enough it did fit. I love how super trim the Grovia all-in-one is. It comes pretty close to a disposable! Not quite as trim as the Bumgenius Elemental, but pretty dang close! The Grovia all-in-one lasted a long 3 hours with no leaks! Which leads me to believe that whatever issue I had with the airplane print was complete user error. I was super happy with the diaper and I'm really glad I have a total of 4 GroVia all-in-ones!
The 5th cloth diaper I used today was a Flip hybrid diaper. The Flip is made by Bumgenius like the 4.0 and Elemental. The cool thing about the hybrid diaper is that you just lay the insert in the cover, rather than stuffing a pocket, and you can change just the insert out rather than changing the entire diaper. You also have the option of using disposable inserts! Which is great for vacations or when you're out of the house. The Flip fit basically just like the 4.0. It was a tad bigger and bulkier, not as trim as the 4.0 and not even close to as trim as the Elemental. It was the fluffiest butt of the day for sure! ^_^ It fit really well around his legs and waste. {Thank goodness for chunky thighs!} The Flip lasted the 3 hours with no leaks at all! Grayson even had a BIG poop, which I'm sure would have been a blowout with a disposable. I would have had to change the cover and not been able to just change out the insert, if I had other inserts, but the cover kept the poop and pee in like a charm. :) I'm thinking another Flip cover and a couple more inserts may be on my shopping list.
I went back to the Bumgenius 4.0 for the last cloth diaper of the day. I would have tried another diaper, but I only have two 4.0's and I'm trying to make a decision on if I will be buying more so I wanted to see if I liked it the second time around as much as I loved it the first time around. He's only been in the second BG 4.0 for about an hour now, but so far so good!
So, the verdict of my first official day in cloth? I think I'm in ♥LOVE♥!!!! Granted, this is day one, no washing yet! I'm looking forward to another day in cloth and will be washing my first load of CD's tomorrow night! Of course I will sharing my first washing experience as well as the experiences with the diapers I will be trying tomorrow. There's some Kawaii's, a Fuzzibunz, and a Grovia all-in-two hybrid diaper on the list to be tried next!
Stay tuned for more cloth diaper experience and if you have any questions throw them my way!
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