Diaper Giveaway

Did you know that each week The Cloth Diaper Whisperer gives away free cloth diapers? Click here to see what they are offering this week! I've never used this brand personally, but hey I'll try anything for free (diaper wise!), wouldn't you?

Recycling Old Cloth To Convert New

These are the three WAHM* diapers I bought off of E-Bay a few months(?) ago. I think this must be the actual picture on their site as that is not my carpet. As you can see, they have snaps in the front to snap down to fit a much smaller baby. But notice (especially those of you who CD and use pockets/AIOs*) that the snaps on the tabs are super close together, right on the ends, and have no "female" snap on the tabs if you need to overlap. These diapers are cut generously, and even on now 22 lb 4 oz Baby J Monkey Man, he has them snapped to meet in the middle.


SO, yesterday (or was it the day before???) I sewed snaps off of an old Haute diaper that was leaking like a sieve into these. You can see it isn't beautiful, but MAN do they work great! This is what the inside tabs look like now.

And here is an outer view. With the new snap on the outside, the diapers can overlap and fit a much smaller baby...tried it on a Cabbage Patch Preemie doll :o) One old diaper fixed all three of these.

As for the Thirsties cover that I converted into a pocket...well, here is a picture of I think a Thirsites AIO* in orange. Mine looks very much like this now, but it has a thin blue thread line along the top. I'd love to take a nice picture for you, but that diaper was used today, and I mean used. No one wants to see that.

Along with those new developments, I also got my gRefills and gCloth inserts in the mail today! YEAH! This month we put some diaper money in the budget and did two things. First I went to our kids second hand shop that sells used cloth diapers. Once Upon A Child won't, but this place does. A little farther to drive, but not much. Anyway, I had picked up some newborn inserts and two newborn covers (5-10 lbs) along with this little gPant. They cost $29.99 for two, and unless I know I L O V E something, I'm not shelling out that kind of money on them, especially when they don't come with any inserts. I picked this orange one up for $3.50 and ordered the inserts and biodegradable flushable inserts from Kelly's Closet. I highly recommend this company for buying cloth. They are reliable, quick, and have competitive pricing.
I needed more cloth inserts anyway, and these are Hemp, the very best in my opinion. When the new baby is born, Baby J will still presumably be in diapers and they will both need inserts for their diapers. The disposable flushable/biodegradable inserts are a trial run. Wasn't thrilled with the price, but if they work ok, they will replace us buying disposables for church etc. They can be thrown away like a disposable and stick a new one in the little gPant. We'll see!

*WAHM Work At Home Mom made things
*AIO All In One diapers (no stuffing inserts in, just all one thing...kinda hard to get dry in my opinion)

Published!

This is an exciting day! Despite being SUPER tired (I think I've been hit by a truck) and downright cranky ("Snug, will you PLEASE stop screeching, and NO Baby J I do NOT want to have you crawl on me as I attempt to lay down for 20 second on the couch!") it is an exciting day.

A few weeks back I wrote a blog post about washing wool longies or wool covers for a popular blog "The Cloth Diaper Whisperer". I had to do a few edits (because even though some of the things I wrote work fine for me, they didn't recommend them), but it was published today. I won't swear to it, but I think they did some tweeking of their own. BUT I DON"T CARE! I WAS PUBLISHED :O)

Ahem.

If you'd like to read my post, click here: http://www.theclothdiaperwhisperer.com/2009/09/no-need-to-be-sheepish-about-washing.html

Thanks to Serena over at The Cloth Diaper Whisperer for giving me this opportunity! I am very excited :o)

*And a special thanks to my mom for giving me all my first cloth diapering supplies...without her I would have never ventured on this journey!

Used Diapers

I would say probably 80% of my cloth diaper stash is used. How many people can say that about their disposables? "Oh, I went out this weekend and bought some used disposables at 1/4 the price." How about "Hey! I sold all of my used disposables and got $200!" I don't think so :o)

When I first started CDing, I was using the flats and pre-folds that my little brother and I had used as babies. They lasted that long. Now, after 20 some (we won't say exactly) years and four babies (Snug + Baby J used them too) they have almost all ripped and turned into rags, although a few are still hanging on. Talk about re-using diapers!

My husband does not hate using cloth diapers (I've heard of many who do), but once we started getting a few AIOs (not my favorite) and pockets (LOVE them), he started a small stand against flats/prefolds/Snappis with a separate cover. So I am on a quest to (slowly) replace all of our flats with pockets (or fitteds...we have the covers so we might as well use them).

The picture above is of 3 homemade (really well made) pockets with three inserts. They say they were used, but I wouldn't have known. They are in perfect condition. I won them on E-Bay for $20, and there was no shipping charge. That is $6.67 a piece, and they had inserts to boot. Nice.

Because they have snaps, they can be used from babies probably about 2 months old and Baby J will get a few months use from them too. Lets say he alone wears each one 3 times a week. That is 12 times a month (per diaper...I bought 3). Ok, he'll fit in them until he hits about 30 lbs....I give him at least 6 months for that so one diaper is up to 72 times he will use it. That means that each of those diapers will cost about 9 cents a wear for Baby J. But then remember another Dray baby could wear it sometime...or mommy could easily re-sell it for $5. So even if he only wore each of those new diapers 72 times, and then I sold them, it would have cost me about 2 cents each time I changed him.

I checked out Luv's diapers online, and they were between 14 and 20 cents per diaper, depending on the size. They are usually cheaper than Huggies or Pampers, but a bit more than store brand. I don't think they will be using them 72 times a piece...and I am 100% sure no one wants to buy them once they have been used :o)

So yep, my baby wears used diapers...and we love them!

Make Your OWN Ring Sling

I made the above ring sling right before Baby J was born, and I made 3 or 4 others when Snug was a baby. Today I stumbled upon a site that had the directions FOR FREE so if you want to attempt it, go here http://crunchyfootsteps.tripod.com/slingmake.html

I was looking for directions or tips on how to make one of these that I got from Kangaroo Korner for Christmas (modeled by my SIL). My cousin Melissa called me this week wanting to know if I knew how to do it. I don't, sadly. I am going to go keep looking though because I have some BEAUTIFUL batik material I'd like to use. If I don't have enough material, or sufficient finds, I'll just make it into a longer ring sling as the one I have (top picture) hardly has a tail anymore! Praise God Baby J has grown that much!

Haute

I recently bought 3 used Haute diapers from The Cloth Diaperin' Mama. She was selling off some used ones that she no longer needed/wanted. I had bought some pocket diapers (Swaddlebees and WAHM*) that had worked ok up until the last month or so. Baby J has grown so much they didn't fit as well as they needed to. Although my last try with pocket diapers had been...ok...I decided to give it another try. Not that it had been terrible, but we definitely had more leaks than we did with flats and covers.

Well, these diapers worked really well! We use them mostly if we are going out, as it is easier to pull a whole diaper off and put a whole new one on in public than to use the flats/snappi/cover method. This is especially true if we are in a place that has no changing area. Anyway, I simply use my bamboo inserts that my mom made and away we go. Because I bought three from her, I have enough for an afternoon or morning out, no problem! Check out her site at http://clothdiaperdiary.blogspot.com/

*Work At Home Mom

****Great Cloth Diaper Store**** I have never personal;ly ordered from them, but their prices are fantastic.

Diapers On Sale

Most people who cloth diaper do not do it 100% of the time, either for practicality purposes (you know, like a week long camping trip with no washing machine), or because their church or another organization with childcare won't allow it, or they just need a break.

We use sposies for church and will be using them when my mom watches our kids for 2 weeks (while I am working at camp). When we aren't using cloth, we use 7th Generation chlorine free. They are not cheap, but when you use 2-3 a week, they aren't terrible.

Anyway, we got them for $10.49/package at Kroger's this week. That is $4 off! Plus, over by the organic produce there was a coupon book (several, if you live near Xenia) that was left over from Earth Day in a little stand and it had a coupon for $1 off if you bought two 7th Generation products. We needed two packages for those two weeks, so we got them for $20 total! Now, compared to Sam's Club or Costco brand, that isn't any big deal (probably a bad deal), but compared to chemical free diapers...it is fantastic!

These Are A Few Couple Of My Favorite Things

These are a few couple of my favorite things....about cloth diapering!

Baby J napping in his nappie.
Birdseye flat under Thirsties cover

Snug refuses to wear a sposie to bed, but he is ok with a CD (or an occasional pull-up which we haven't had much success with). Lucky for us he is using his same CD for 2-3 days in a row as he's been dry 99% of the time at nap time and 50% of the time overnight!

Birdseye flat with bamboo insert under Thirsties cover

I realize this is not such the great shot with my little tree in the way, but freshly laundered diapers on the line always make me happy!

New Birds Eye Flats

I didn't take a picture of my new flats, and I really need to because I haven't photographed my lil clothed baby on this blog in SO long. I have a family blog (http://www.thedraystoday.blogspot.com/) and I post lots there.

Anyway due to Baby J's recent growth spurt miracle I needed some new covers badly. He had been wearing the same size small I ordered from Thirsties last October! Now don't get me wrong, they are made to fit for quite awhile, but 7 months is a bit long. He had 2 medium covers that we used overnight with several layers of bamboo inserts and flats, but those don't go far, and I only wash my diapers every two days.

We've been using sposies* that we ordered from diapers.com (7th generation brand) for our upcoming trip to Virginia Beach because we don't have enough cloths right now. I had ordered size 2 and 3 for him not sure how big he'd be for the trip. Well, I have been using the size 2s because by the time that trip comes he won't be able to wear the size 2's anyway! 7th generation diapers are Chlorine free and better for the environment, so if we need to use sposies, those are what we use.

Anyway, along with the new covers (one is pictured above) I needed some new flats. When I first started CDing (cloth diapering) in October my mom gave me all of my old flats and prefolds. Well, they are getting a bit holey now...but they have had some good days. They went through me, my brother, and a few months of Baby J and Snug (overnight). We've tried to surge the edges of some of them, and there are some that still have life in them, but most of them are getting pretty bad.

I tried buying some pre-folds from Wal-Mart that were Gerber brand. Oh my goodness...that was a big waste of money. Within a few uses they were all "pilled" up and shrank big time. They also are not great at absorbency.

I decided this time to turn to Cotton Babies who are really trusted in the CD world. My 12 birdseye flats arrived today, along with 2 new wet bags (a MUST if you are going to use them out of the house). When you first get new cloth diapers they come very slick and would be pointless to use.

Currently my diapers are sitting in the bathroom sink in a cold overnight soak. Then they will be washed in with a couple of loads of regular laundry (no softener, no dryer sheets...we use Charlie's Soap so we don't even need them) and then be ready for use. They need to be washed like this so that the fibers are ready to be absorbent. Right now they could be used as rain gear!
Anyway, I will try to post later and let you know how my new flats are working out...can't wait!

*disposable diapers

Of Charlies and Such

Ok, so I have switched from Melaleuca laundry soap to Charlie's. Wow. I am SO happy. Not only is that horrible urine smell GONE (it was starting to linger like a stray cat you once fed) but it also is good for the environment (like Melaleuca) and it also has been getting some of the stench smell out of my husband's work out clothes.

Here is how I wash my diapers these days:

1. I was every other day.

2. I use the "large load" setting so that there is lots of water to be washed in.

3. I send them through a rinse cycle with about 1/8 c. of white vinegar.

3. I wash them with 1 tbs of Charlie's

4. I either dry them in the dryer, or if it is nice out I line dry them. Sometimes in the winter when it is dry in the house I will hang them on a drying rack in the boy's room so that they get the benefit of the humidity and I don't waste energy with the dryer!

So as I was perusing blog world I came across these awesome posts about cloth diapering. ENJOY!

http://www.passionatehomemaking.com/2009/03/guest-post-cloth-diapering-101-part-1.html

http://www.passionatehomemaking.com/2009/03/guest-post-cloth-diapering-101-part-2.html

They answer GREAT cloth diapering questions about saving money, environmental factors, and why disposables are so bad for your baby's bum!

Cloth Blogs

If you haven't noticed, I've been linking to quite a few cloth blogs lately. This entire blog is about my journey with cloth diapers...which has been inspired by other people's journeys. If you are even reading this blog it is probably because you too cloth diaper or are thinking about it. Well, here is another post you might enjoy by my friend Deb.
http://pinkdebster.xanga.com/697052832/cloth-diapers//?nextdate=last&leftcmt=11
Enjoy!

Oh, and this blog is also dedicated to cloth diapering. It makes this one look wretched. But that is ok, because as long as you get the information it doesn't matter how....but please come back *sniff*

Cloth Diaper Donations

I just came across a website that takes cloth diaper/nautral mothering donations, as well as will take applicants who want to cloth diaper. Here is their link: http://www.miraclediapers.org/
Check them out!

THE BEST BLOG ON CLOTH

Ok, today I read the BEST blog post on cloth diapers EVER. It was similar to the one I did here, but of course way better. To discover it for yourself, click here! YOU WANT TO! Trust me!
I am so glad to be back to using cloth diapers after Baby J's hospital stay. You may think I am crazy...but that is why this blog is called "cloth crazy". I just love those cloth diapers.

GREAT RESOURCE

I haven't blogged on here in a long time. So sorry...not sure anyone is reading anyway~
Here is a great link for you:

http://www.moneysavingmom.com/money_saving_mom/2009/02/starting-out-with-cloth-diapers--guest-post-by-crystal-from-the-thrifty-mama--when-i-say-cloth-diapers-im-not-talki.html