Monday, April 23, 2012

Diaper Deals Roundup

Hey Everyone!


I came across these deals this morning and thought I would spread the word if you're in the market to buy some cloth diapers whether it be to build up a stash or add to your already existing stash.


Kelly's Closet has a special going on for FREE SHIPPING regardless of the amount you purchase.  This is good through April 24th at 9am EST.  


Also at Kelly's Closet they have a deal going on for Fuzzibunz Elite one-size and also Fuzzibunz Perfect Size to get 10% off, making the Elite diapers only $17.97 (regularly $19.97).  Offer good April 22-29th.


Nicki's Diapers is doing a deal on their one-size Rumparooz in the Aplix version for only $18.50!  They are regularly $23.50 a diaper.  Great deal!!  Offer good April 22-May4th.  Many people shy away from Aplix (velcro) because it tends to wear out faster than the snaps, but here is what Rumparooz has to say about their Aplix:

"Rumparooz wants you to give Aplix (Hook & Loop) a chance with their GRAB ONE promotion!  Now you can try Rumparooz Aplix style diaper for only $18.50. Sale ends May 4th!

You may have heard that Hook & Loop diapers don't last long, that they lose their grip or create diaper chains in the laundry. BUT Rumparooz uses an Aplix brand of hook and loop that they have had engineered specifically for their diapers. This Aplix can withstand hundreds and hundreds of hot washes and runs through the drier without ever losing its grip. The loop material doesn't fuzz or fray and the laundry tabs stay put in the wash. Just try Rumparooz Aplix diapers and you will find that they are maintenance free and will always stay secure."


Plus, Nicki's Diapers offers free shipping on all of their pocket diapers!  Ya can't beat that!  Nicki's Diapers is also doing 10% off all Fuzzibunz Elite one-size pockets and Perfect Size.  Their's are a tad cheaper at $17.95 (regularly $19.95 on this website).  

Nicki's Diapers has a diaper line of their own called Imagine.   Their one-size pocket diaper  runs for only $9.95! and comes with one size-able microfiber insert.  I ordered one of these to try it out so that I could pass the word on to all you (full review to come soon), and I think it is just great!  Fits from 8-35+ lbs.  Great quality, nice and stretchy PUL, and great price.  You could buy more inserts by themselves to double up if you needed for naptime, long car rides, or bedtime.  Their Nicki's Diaper inserts are $2.50 a piece.  I would probably order some small sizes if I were using them to double up with the Imagine pocket diapers since the Imagine diapers already have an insert that can be set to the large setting.

Nicki's Diapers also has a daily deal where they offer 10% off on a different product each day.  So be sure to check back daily.

Happy diaper shopping!

-Brit

Wednesday, April 4, 2012

you mean THAT is in my baby's diaper??

I am currently an advisor for my church and work with the Young Women, girls ages 12-18.  Last night for a combined Young Women/Young Men activity we had a Materials, Science, and Engineering scientist (he is a member of our ward) who just graduated with his masters from the University of Utah come and show us some cool demonstrations and experiments.  One of the things that I thought was very interesting was when he put just a spoonful of sodium polyacrylate (a fine powder) into a container and asked how many spoonfuls of water we thought it would take to dissolve the powder.  Many guesses were thrown out there from as little as 4 spoonfuls to 20.  He began putting spoonful after spoonful of water into the powder and finally poured the container clear full of liquid.  Check out the video below to see what happened.



The powder never dissolved, only kept expanding!  Then the scientist asked, "What do you think this material would be used for?"  Someone shouted out in question, "Diapers?" and he said, "YES!"  Then my sister-in-law followed up that answer with, "Not if you use cloth diapers!" That made me wanna shout out an "Amen, sister!"  That made me feel good knowing that I don't even have to deal with that stuff.  I remember a few times while using disposables with my first child of those gel, urine-soaked crystals coming out of the diaper and being on his skin.  Yuck.  It made me wonder just how much a disposable diaper could hold until the paper outer of a disposable diaper would just begin to rip.  Apparently, sodium polyacrylate can absorb up to 200-300 times its weight in liquid!  The sad thing is that some babies are left in those diapers until they are just about to rip due to the expense of disposable diapers.  That cannot be healthy.

Cloth diapers have many, many benefits.  While I began using them solely for financial reasons, I have continually come across more and more benefits to using cloth over disposables.  Another demonstration I have come across lately that I found interesting was comparing the breathability of PUL in cloth diapers (the waterproof layer) to that of disposable diapers.  This was demonstrated by the maker of Oeko Popo diapers:


And the winner is?

Just a few tidbits of information that I found interesting and thought I would pass along :)

Happy Cloth Diapering!

-Brit

Monday, April 2, 2012

FAQs of Cloth Diapering a Newborn

Many have had questions about cloth diapering a newborn.  There are obviously many ways of doing it and what I did may not be what works for you, but I thought I would address a couple of different factors that come with cloth diapering a newborn to see if I might be of some help.

While in the hospital, I just had my baby boy in disposables that they provide at the hospital, although  I have heard of some babies who have only had cloth touch their bums from the moment they were born.  It is do-able to cloth diaper while at the hospital.  You would want to make sure and bring enough cloth diapers for the amount of time you are in the hospital and a large wetbag to store them in until you get home to wash them.  Also, you will want to make sure and inform the nurses that you are cloth diapering so none of your diapers are misplaced or thrown away.  This may mean that you will have to do all the diaper changes while at the hospital, but even in disposable diapers I did the majority of diaper changes anyway while in the hospital.

Many are worried about those first tarry, black poops (meconium) and what they'll do to their cloth diapers.  While meconium is messy and may stain initially, it isn't anything that sunning your diapers won't remove.  Most of it will come out in that initial cold soak/prewash in your washing machine.  I have read in many places that breastfed poop stains more than meconium.  My baby left the hospital in a cloth diaper and since I only stayed over one night in the hospital, I think we had about 2 days of meconium.  But I don't remember it being a problem or staining my diapers.  If you are worried about this, you could try cutting a piece of flannel and laying it in the diaper.

Cloth diapering a baby boy can be different from cloth diapering a baby girl if you have your baby boy circumcised.  Because you are often instructed to use some sort of ointment on the area of circumcision to prevent the diaper from sticking while it heals, you will want to use some sort of barrier between your baby and the diaper so you won't end up with diapers that repel liquid (don't absorb).  Vaseline and ointments are a big "No-No" with cloth diapers as they coat the fabric and then don't allow the urine to pass through into the absorbent layer of the diaper.  Because I did have my baby boy circumcised (please no negative comments if you choose differently) I simply purchased a box of 2 x 2 inch gauze squares from the pharmacy and put Vaseline (the ointment I chose to use) directly onto the gauze and then placed it over the area.  Then come time to change baby, I took the gauze out of the diaper and threw it away and replaced it with a clean, new gauze with ointment on it.  I only had to do this for a couple days until the circumcision healed.

One thing that I didn't find out until later with cloth diapering my newborn was that (I was mostly using fitteds) the baby feels wet the whole time wearing them.  During the day this is not a big deal as you change them often (usually about every 2 hours), but at night time I wondered if my baby would sleep better if he felt dry.  Something you may try would be to cut up some thin fleece (maybe from a blanket) and lay in the diaper as fleece is not good at absorbing liquid.  The wetness will pass through the fleece and into the absorbent layers of the diaper allowing your baby to feel more dry than if the wet fabric was directly against their skin.  I will definitely have to give this a try the next time around and do until my baby is able to fit into pocket diapers.

Hope this info helps answer some of those questions about cloth diapering a newborn.
Enjoy your new little bundle of joy.

Happy Cloth Diapering!

-Brit