Hello there sister!

The girls have been  interacting with each other more and more lately, I love seeing them start to notice each other more. When they have two of the same or similar things they give one to their sister, they give each other kisses and high fives, they copy each other when they do something funny, they will look for each other when asked where their sister is and laugh when they think their sister is funny.

K got sick so I need to once more strip my diapers so they don't get it again, I have been very slow in getting to that so we have been using disposables for awhile now, I think I am ready to get back to cloth though.

Bambino Bums and Stinky Diapers

I recently won a BambinoBums Diaper from Calgary Cloth Diaper Depot for being a fan on FB.

The BambinoBums are a one size pocket diaper with fleece lining and a microfleece insert. I thought they may not fiy as well because they only have one row of snaps to fasten around the waist instead of two like all my other snap diapers but it fits my girls great! I love the fit, I love the bright colours and I would definetaly buy more if I needed more diapers.

When I went to the website to set up the link I saw that BambinoBums just redesigned to add an extra snap around the waist! While this is great the other thing that is great is now the diapers at Calgary Cloth Diaper Depot are on sale, you can try one out for only $11.20. Sweet.

The ammonia stink in my diapers was getting bad so I bought some Rockin Green Funk Rock soap which is supposed to get rid of it. I tried it once and while it helped it did not eliminate the stink. I continued my regular wash routine but added some Baking Soda to each wash and that helped maintain the smell but it was still there. I decided to try the Rockin Green again and make sure I follow all the instructions. It seems to have worked on my Blueberry Diapers (which are partly bamboo) but my BumGenuis still stink, they are better, but still stink. I am not impressed and I am not sure what I am going to try next. I would not recommend the Funk Rock soap though, it was too expensive not to work.

Cloth Once More

I officailly began using cloth diapers again, ran out of diapers, washed diapers and have not stuffed them and began using them since being cleaned. It seems my will power is lacking. I intend to stuff them today and get them back on them.

Before beginning to use them I had to do a good wash to get the yeast out of them that was giving my girls rashes. I found this article on the Babes in Arms FB page and tried it out. I think it worked for it's purposes but I think some amnonia remains so now I am going to work on getting rid of that.

In other news, I love being outside with my girls and Jael likes looking like she is straight out of the Newsies.

Another Win

I used to think I didn't win anything but I guess I just hadn't entered any contests for cloth diapers. I won another one! This time from Calgary Cloth Diaper Depot, a new place to get cloth diapers in Calgary. If you become their fan on facebook you can win too! But watch out, I am a fan too so I might just win every time.

The new diaper is a Bambino Bums Onesize Pocket Diaper in red, because who does not want a bright red diaper? Since moving my girls have been in disposables, I think we will start up again on cloth when the reno is done and we are fully moved in. Until then my garbage bin fills up and my box of diapers empties way too fast. One bonus to being is disposables is that they have been sick this past week and lets just say diaper changes have not been pretty.

Here's looking forward to trying out the new diaper and getting back into cloth!

Disposable Liners

 !!!!!!!!!!  Warning: This post deals with poop. Be forewarned. !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

As you may or may not know poop changes as soon as you start solid food. It is no longer water soluble and cannot just go through the wash, it must somehow make its way into the toilet. One handy device some people have is a diaper sprayer that hooks up to your toilet, we do own one of these but as our home is fairly temporary we have not hooked it up. As such when poop got grosser I began using flushable liners in my cloth diapers. These liners make clean up easy no matter how goopy the mess, so if you have goopy poopers these are for you!

There are three places/types that I know you can get

1. Kushies
Available at Walmart, $10 for a roll of 100

2. AppleCheeks Flushable Liners
Available at Tiny Tree Hugger, $8 + shipping for a roll of 100

3. Bummis
Available at Bobebe, $7 for a roll of 100

Because of shipping I have not tried or seen the Applecheeks. I have seen both the Kushies and the Bummis and the Kushies makes a larger roll so I assume that their liners are thicker than Bummis as they both hold 100 liners however since Bummis are cheaper (Twin Club members also get 10% off at Bobebe) I buy them and have been very happy with them.

Something to consider:
I pay about 6 cents per liner and disposable diapers cost 16 cents, using liners in every diaper makes cloth diapering not as economical however even if you have a diaper sprayer or easy clean up poops (read: a lump of poop that dumps out of the diaper) if you ever need to put cream on your baby's bum you will need to use a liner to keep it off of your diapers as it wrecks them.

I am sure there are other brands and prices out there, have you found any cheaper liners?

DID YOU KNOW? That even if you use disposable diapers you are not supposed to throw your poop in the garbage but dump it in the toilet? Landfills are not designed for human waste.
Now you do.

Stink Stank Stunk

Do your diapers stink? Check out this article from Cotton Babies, the makers of Bumgenius and Flip diapers.

Cloth Diapers 201: Help! My Diapers Stink!

Hang to Dry

Featuring my super cute new Bum Genius Artist Series Diapers...which I love.

Lovely Wetbag

Today my beautiful huge new wet bag that I ordered arrived from Michelle at A Lovely Start. I am very excited to begin using it, it will hang on my change table. Lately I have run out of room in my pail before I run out of diapers so this is a nice addition to my cloth diapering paraphernalia.

I have also purchased a change pad from A Lovely Start and it is so soft and bright, I love it. If you are in the market for some beautiful handmade diapering items check out her site.

Pros and Cons

I have had a big grand review of my diapers mulling in my head though and I know you want to hear it. So here is the first installment!

PREFOLDS

Diaper: Bummis Organic Cotton Prefold Diapers
What I paid: $18 for 6 diapers
Fits:  7-20lbs (Infant Size)
Peripherals Required: Snappis or diapers pins and Covers. 

I have 6 of these and use them with Snappis and Bummis Super Brite covers. They fit pretty trim but require folding (which is simple and takes all of 5 seconds) Thier no frills design (they are a square of fabric with a thicker chunk in the middle) makes them cheap. These are the diapers your Grandma used, I think that is pretty awesome.


I recently began using them and have not had problems yet with leaking



FITTEDS



Diaper: Thirsties Fab Fitteds
What I paid: Gift (Retail $14.50)
Fits:  12-18lbs (Small) 
Peripherals Required: Cover

I love how soft these diapers are and they fit my girls great, no troubles with leaking that I can remember. The thing that I don't like about fitteds is that there is no wicking layer so the moisture stays right on their skin and soaks into the entire diaper not just on their bums. My girls have been wearing these since before they were 12 lbs and the fit was just fine. 


Diaper: Happy Heinys Heiny Hugger
What I paid: Gift
Fits:  8-16lbs (Small) 
Peripherals Required: Cover

As with the other fitteds there is not wicking layer and the moisture spreads to the entire diaper.  These are super absorbent though the fit is a bit funny.

The Ones Your Grandma Used

I bought a pack of 6 Bummis organic cotton prefold diapers awhile ago and recently bought a pair of Snappis to fasten them. I use my Bummis Superbrites for covers with them.

I really like these diapers, the folding and fastening are easy and they are super affordable (I bought all 6 prefolds for $18) making them a great option if you want to cloth diaper but the initial investment is daunting.

12 Diapers       $36ish
3 Covers          $36ish
2 Snappis         $5 
Total                $77

 Cloth Diaper one baby for less then $100. Score. 

Cloth Diaper Peripherals

While perhaps not essential some of these items will make your cloth diapering days much happier!

-Wetbag (for carrying dirty diapers when you are out. ew.)
-Pail or Large wetbag for dirty diapers at home.
-Dryer Balls
-Flushable Liners (to line diapers when you use any creams or to make clean up easy)
-Appropriate Laundry Detergent
-Drying Rack

A Prize

I can no longer say I don't win anything. I entered a contest at Tiny Treehugger for a free KnickerNappies diaper and won! It arrived yesterday

1 Small Knickernappies 2G c/w loopydoo insert

It is soft and green and cute.
I am diaper junkie.

A Gift

I was given a few more diapers to add to my stash (Thanks Kirsty)

• 4 Small Thirsties Fab Fitteds
• 1 Small Happy Heinys
• 1 Small Bumgenius AIO
• 1 Small Bummis Superbrite

I already had 2 Small Superbrites that I was not using yet. This makes it so I don't have to do laundry every night.

On my wish list:

• A hanging Wetbag to replace my diaper pail
  

Applebumcheeksgenius

Today I bought 4 more Bumgenius diapers as well as inserts for my AppleCheeks covers so I can use them again.

Stash:
7 Blueberry Bamboo Deluxe One Size Pocket Diapers
7 Bumgenius 4.0 One size Pocket Diapers
2 Applecheeks size 1 Envelope covers c/w bumgenius inserts

Stains & Laundry

The Blueberry Bamboo Diapers have arrived and I love the fun patterns. They fit really well and have not leaked yet. After the first time being worn and washed they looked very stained while the Bumgenius diapers came out looking clean. My washer does not have a rinse cycle so my diapers get washed once quickly in cold water then again for a full wash with Country Save detergent in hot water with an extra rinse. I dry the liners and hang the covers. Since there are not alot of detergents that are safe for cloth diapers I decided to try out the magical bleaching power of the sun. I dried my blueberries inside where the sun was shining and PRESTO! by the time they were dry the stains were faded considerably. Magical. It is still a little annoying that I need to bleach them every wash so I am a big fan of the un-stained Bumgenius!

Bumgenius

Today the girls are wearing their bumgenius 4.0 diapers for the first time. I thought that they may be very bulky but they fit them really well. I only own three right now, I want to get some of the new artist series patterns so I am holding out.

Blueberry

I just ordered 7 Blueberry Bamboo Diapers.