Cloth Diaper Comparison

If you've been keeping up with my blog you know that we use cloth diapers on Little E. I'm very happy with them and it was definitely the right choice for our family. After doing a ton of research online and reading at least 100 reviews on different brands, I ended up purchasing the BumGenius 4.0 One-Size Pocket Diapers. I love them! My only complaint is that they don't come in red. Red seems like it would be such a popular color with Valentine's Day, Christmas, Fourth of July, or your typical summer clothes since they are cute enough to wear under a dress or with just a t-shirt. I decided to look at my local cloth diaper shop to see what other brands make red diapers and came upon the FuzziBunz One Size Elite. They are similar in appearance to my BumGenius 4.0 diapers so I thought I'd give them a try (I bought one red and one brown because I didn't want to have an odd number of diapers. I have this weird thing about odd numbers...) After using the FuzziBunz for a few months now I feel comfortable making a comparison for those of you wondering how they are different.

Inserts

BumGenius on the left, FuzziBunz on the right.
As you can see the BumGenius insert is longer and wider.
It snaps down at two different places to make it shorter
depending on what rise setting you select on the diaper.

Here is the BumGenius snapped down to the middle setting
which is what I'm currently using for E. At this setting the
length is closer to the FuzziBunz.

Left: BumGenius on middle snap, Middle: FuzziBunz,
Right: BabyKicks Joey Bunz Premium hemp inserts - medium size

Diaper Covers

BumGenius 4.0 One Size on left, FuzziBunz One Size Elite on right.

BumGenius snapped on the middle rise setting is the same length as the FuzziBunz.

BumGenius unsnapped (at its longest rise setting) compared to the FuzziBunz.

Now that you've visually seen the comparisons, here are my thoughts on the two. I have long babies. K is very tall for her age and it seems like E is going to follow in her footsteps. My concern with the FuzziBunz is that they fit E great right now but how will they fit when she's 18 months, or two years? I don't think they going to fit throughout her entire diaper-wearing stage. With the BumGenius' three levels of rise and wider circumference, I believe their One-Size will truly be the only size diapers we'll need until E is potty trained.

Size concerns aside, my two biggest complaints about the FuzziBunz are closely related. One of the main selling points of the FuzziBunz is that they are very trim and don't get all bunchy between your baby's legs. While that is true and it is nice when they are smaller babies, the problem with this is it's very difficult (for me) to stuff the insert into the diaper. I have relatively small, thin hands but even for me, I can barely fit my hand inside to get the insert down to the bottom and smoothed out flat. My second complaint is that the inside of their diaper (the plastic part that keeps them from leaking) feels very rubbery which makes the insert stick to it and with the already skinny channel for the insert, it makes stuffing these diapers a big ol' pain in the rear. On the other hand, I can very easily and quickly stuff all 16 of my BumGenius diapers in no time.

Lastly, the FuzziBunz come with a lifetime warranty for certain defects. One of the defects it covers are the snaps and it just so happens I've had one of my snaps break so I'm going to try and take advantage of their warranty policy and get it replaced. Once I see how that goes I'll update this part of the post and let you know. I'm sure like most things, it's all a matter of preference. I happen to prefer my BumGenius 4.0 One-Size Pocket Diapers over the FuzziBunz One-Size Elite but that's just what seems to work best for me and my baby. I'm sure there are an equal number of women who prefer something else. I just hope this helps give a bit more information to those of you looking to make the switch over to cloth diapers.

**ADDITIONAL INFORMATION**
Here is a link discussing our switch to cloth diapers.
Here is a link with information about our cloth diapering experience.
Here is a link about using cloth baby wipes.

Cloth baby wipes

Happy Friday! I hope you have a fun weekend and spend a ton of time with your families and/or friends!

Back in July I mentioned wanting to use reusable cloth wipes as a part of our cloth diaper routine. Originally I wanted to make my own but it ended up being a much bigger pain in the behind than it was to just purchase some baby washcloths. I bought a 12-pack of 100% cotton 9"x9" Carters brand for $3.99 from Marshalls, a 12-pack of 75% cotton / 25% polyester 9"x9" Luvable Friends brand for $3.99 from Ross, and a 10-pack of 75% cotton / 25% polyester 10"x10" Cutie Pie brand for $3.99 (I'm not sure if it was from Ross or Marshalls.) This seems to be a more economical route than purchasing specifically branded reusable cloth baby wipes.

So far these have worked out great. They all have a smooth side and a terry cloth side. The smooth side is great for cleaning up pee-pee only or wiping a messy face and the terry cloth side is good for gripping and wiping up poop. The cool thing about using cloth wipes is that I only have to use one (or maybe two if it's particularly messy) per diaper change compared to the 5 or 6 per messy change when I was using disposable wipes. These clean up the same way as the cloth diapers and can be washed in the same loads as the diapers.

One of the neat things I learned online while doing research about cloth wipes is that they can be folded in such a way that you can use them in a pop-up wipes dispenser. There might be YouTube videos of how to do this but I have a few photos showing how and once you try it, it's very easy.

I've chosen 4 different colors to help visually see how to fold them. The colors
are, from top: light blue, green, dark blue, white. I'm using the 9"x9" size because
they fit into a standard size disposable wipes container a bit better.

Lay down the light blue wipe.
Lay the green wipe on top of it so it's overlapping the light blue wipe by half.

Fold the light blue wipe over the top of the green wipe where it overlaps.

Lay the dark blue wipe on top of the light blue wipe that was just folded in half.

Fold the green wipe over the dark blue wipe.

Lay the white wipe on top of the green wipe you just folded in half.

Fold the dark blue wipe over the white wipe.
Continue adding wipes until you've folded them all together.

Stick your cloth baby wipes into your adorable Winnie-the-Pooh disposable
wipes container.

Here you can see that when I pull out the top wipe, the one below it comes up too,
just like traditional pop-up wipes.

There are a ton of cloth wipe solution recipes on the internet. I looked at quit a few of them and ended up going with Baby Bum Drops by Knickernappies. They are tiny cubes that you dissolve in hot water and pour or spray on your wipes. When I make a batch I pour 3/4 cup of boiling water into a Thermos, drop in a cube (or sometimes a half of a cube if it's a bit bigger) and then fill it the rest of the way with filtered water from the refrigerator. The Thermos keeps it warm the whole day and that amount will typically last me two and a half days using my current dispensing system, which is kind of wasteful. I pour the solution onto a wipe over the sink and then wring it out a bit. I used to pour it out over a Rubbermaid container and then dump the extra back into the Thermos but I've gotten lazy. I need to start doing that again.

The Baby Bum Drops are safe to use with
cloth diapers and cost approximately $13.99
for 50 of the little blocks.

**ADDITIONAL INFORMATION**
Here is a link discussing our switch to cloth diapers.
Here is a link with information about our cloth diapering experience.
Here is a link to a comparison between the BumGenius 4.0 One-Size Pocket diapers and the FuzziBunz One-Size Elite Pocket Diapers

A little more about cloth diapers

Back in  May I mentioned that we had made the switch from disposable diapers to cloth diapers. Since we've been using them for a few months now I thought it might be helpful to go a little more in depth about how it's going for us.

There is so much information on the web about cloth diapers and which ones are best and how they are impossible to wash and all of the crazy sub-things you need to go with them. Here is a break-down on what we are using and what is working for us.

Diapers: I have 16 BumGenius 4.0 One-Size Pocket Diapers. I tried a few different kinds of diapers and found these to be the best for our needs. They are very similar to disposable diapers in how they are worn and put on. They have a microfiber insert which is tucked inside a pocket that is fleece on the top (the side that faces the baby) and a soft water-resistant shell that is on the outside. The fleece pulls the liquid down and through it to the microfiber insert inside. That way there is no moisture just sitting against baby's skin and causing diaper rash. These particular BumGenius diapers are a one size variety so they have a series of snaps that accommodate the rise (how high it comes up on baby's tummy) and also the fit around the waist.

They come in a variety of cute colors. I have 9 white and 7 colors. I wish they had red :(

Waiting to Wash: I am going with the dry pail approach to storing my dirty diapers before washing them. I am able to go approximately a day and a half to two days before I have to do wash. I chose to do it that way because A) I want to be sure to have a few diapers left on hand when washing so there are some for her to wear while they dry, and B) I don't want to leave them sit in the pail too long between washing for fear of bacteria growing on them. The dry pail I'm using is from Ikea and I really like it. It contains the smell perfectly and is a nice size. It's bigger than I need but it's not too big and will be useful when our diapering days are over. Inside I have a waterproof pail liner from Kanga Care. I definitely recommend having two of these because they take at least 2 days to dry so while one is hanging to dry I can use the other one in the pail. I also have a small wet bag from Planet Wise that I keep in the diaper bag for when we are out.

This pail liner is the Root Beer color. I also have Platinum which is gray.

Washing: Washing cloth diapers is one of the more scary aspects when doing research online. There is the whole repelling issue that seems to be a problem for some people. Repelling is when the diaper won't absorb anymore and the liquid just beads up on top of the fleece lining. This can cause leaks and smell problems. From what I've read repelling is caused by detergent build-up on your diapers. You have to use special laundry "soap" to clean cloth diapers that doesn't contain any additives or brightners. After looking on a few websites that have Cloth Diaper Approved laundry soaps on them, I decided to use Nellie's All Natural Laundry Soda. It seems to be the cheapest for the amount used and it comes in a pretty cute tin container that I can either recycle or use for something else when it's empty. The laundry routine I use is 1) cold pre-soak if there is a poopy diaper, 2) normal wash in hot water, 3) extra rinse in cold. (By the way, there are a ton of websites out there that have suggestions on how to wash your diapers to get rid of the repelling problem if you run into that. It seems to be a more frequent problem with people who have front loading machines. Thankfully we have a top loader.)

K calls it "The Dog Soap" because there is a picture of a dog on top.

Drying: The microfiber inserts can be dried in the washing machine (it usually takes me two cycles to get them all dry) and you can't use any fabric softer or dryer sheets so I use these dryer balls and they seem to keep the inserts nice and fluffy. Usually I'm an adamant "If I can't dry it in the dryer I won't buy it" kind of girl but with these diapers, since I view them as a long term investment, I do actually line dry the outer shells. Normally I hang them on our rack inside but when the weather is nice, I bought a folding rack from The Container Store and clothes pins to put them out in the sun. Speaking of drying them in the sun, that's another way to help insure your diapers won't smell. The sun will bleach out any odors and stains should there be any left. Pretty cool!

You can see the Platinum pail liner on the rack.

Leaks: We had a few leaks in the very beginning with overnight sleeping. I did some research and spoke to a sales person at our local cloth diaper shop and she recommended adding a hemp insert to our diaper for overnight. The hemp goes in underneath the microfiber insert and is slow absorbing. The plan is that the fleece wicks the moisture down into the microfiber (which is fast absorbing) and then if it gets super saturated the hemp is there as a back up. The system works great for us and we've never had a leak since. I bought the BabyKicks Joey Bunz Premium hemp inserts because they are two thin inserts attached in a small spot at the top that I cut apart and just use one in her diaper per night. This way I have 6 inserts for the price of 3 and so far we've only needed to use one per night. If she starts wetting more as she get older I can always double them up again.


Diaper Rash: You can only use Cloth Diaper Approved diaper rash creams. Thankfully we haven't had to use any so far so I haven't done too much research on these yet. I'm pretty prompt about changing E's diaper so any wetness doesn't sit against her skin for too long. The only time I notice she gets a little red is after a poop but when that happens I try and give her a few minutes of nudie-butt time with each diaper change and it seems to clear up in a day or so. It's never really red or painful looking (nothing like the chemical burns K got from Pampers Dry Max) so I haven't had to worry about it yet.

Speaking of poop (because I know you're all wondering how that works) it's not as bad as I thought it would be. If you really don't want to hear about poop, skip this section and just look at the picture of the cute baby below...

If you're still reading, I assume you're curious so here goes. It used to be that I couldn't handle poop. Let's just say I had an easy gag reflex. So much changes when you have your own kid(s) and then again when you decide to use cloth diapers. With a disposable all you have to do is wipe the area clean, fold the dirty diaper into a neat little ball and chuck it into a waste can, preferably outside because those buggers will start to stink after a few hours. With a cloth diaper, you have to take care of the mess yourself. At this point E is still breastfed so her poops are different than a formula fed baby and also a baby who is on solids. Her poop is definitely not solid but she only goes once a week so I only have to clean it once a week, which isn't too bad. I've heard solid poop is fairly easy because you can just shake it off into the toilet, give the diaper a little spray with clean water and you're good to go until wash day. With E's poop, I take the insert out (to be rinsed in a few minutes) and rinse the crap out of the shell in the toilet (ha ha, see that pun I made there?) This can be a bit tedious since I will normally clean the toilet first (I know, I'm just going to be putting poop in it so why clean it first? But really, do I want to put my hands in a dirty toilet? I don't think so!) My mom showed me how to rinse the diaper in the water and then scrub the fleece lining together to get any remaining stains off. I usually do this three times with flushes in between until the diaper is basically free of any stains. Then I do the same thing with the microfiber insert which usually only needs one flush. I'm sure this sounds totally gross to anyone who isn't used to doing it but after the first two times, I've decided it's really not that bad and now I just see it as another step to using cloth diapers.

The last piece to this cloth diaper puzzle is wipes. I want to eliminate store-bought paper wipes and use cloth. I had some extra hooded baby towels that we weren't using so I'm going to try using those. So far I've cut the binding off (the part around the edges so it has a clean line and doesn't fray.) I wanted to take that part off so they will all be uniform in size so I can (hopefully) cross-fold them and put them in a pop-up wipes container. I still need to cut the towels into wipe-size rectangles and then zig-zag stitch around the edges so they won't fray. Maybe I'll get that done tomorrow...

**UPDATE**
Here is a link discussing our switch to cloth diapers.
Here is a link about using cloth baby wipes.
Here is a link to a comparison between the BumGenius 4.0 One-Size Pocket diapers and the FuzziBunz One-Size Elite Pocket Diapers.

To leave you on a high note about cloth diapers, they sure look cute on a little ones booty:

So much to say, so little time.

I think the title says it all. So much happens everyday and it just seems like I can never find the time to make a post. I am so in love with our precious kiddos but I had no idea how much more work it was going to be with two than it was with one. I'm sure at some point when they can actually play together it will get a bit easier but right now, when they both want 100% of my attention 100% of the day, it's REALLY tiring. I *still* have stuff in boxes in pretty much every room of the house and I don't think that's going to change unless I can get a weekend to finish the unpacking already. It's making me nuts. I really don't like not knowing where our stuff is located and just general disorganization is my number one enemy.

Let's see, since my last post several cool things have happened. One of the big ones is I've switched from disposable diapers to cloth diapers and I totally love them! Some very good friends of ours gave us a ton of their old diaper boxes when we were moving (and thank goodness for them!!!) but as I surveyed this huge mountain of diaper boxes I thought to myself, "that's a TON of money" and they were only up to size 3 diapers. I started thinking about how much money we spend in diapers from birth to being potty trained and the numbers are staggering. Plus there's the environmental factor of all of those diapers going into the landfills. The plastic lining on those things never biodegrades. Anyway, I did a TON of research trying to figure out what kind will be the best for us and our situation and I tried a few different kinds. I ended up going with the Bum Genius 4.0 snaps and I really love them. They have a soft, waterproof outer fabric and are lined on the inside with fleece to wick the moisture away from baby's skin. A microfiber insert fits into the fleece pocket and holds all the liquid. This past weekend we went to visit with family and friends and stayed with my father-in-law. I decided not to bring our cloth diapers because I would have had to wash some of them while we were there and God bless him, he has his hot water heater set to "inferno hot". I was concerned the diapers would get ruined in those temperatures so I used up some of the size 3 Huggies we already owned. It seemed so strange to be back putting disposable diapers on my girl. For me, putting actual cloth on my baby is so much nicer than the paper-feeling disposables. There is definitely more of an up front cost (each diaper costs $17.95) and there is an increase in laundry (I have enough that I can go two days before I have to do wash) but it's so worth it to me. And seriously, they look super cute on her tushie ;)

**UPDATE**
Here is a link with information about our cloth diapering experience.
Here is a link about using cloth baby wipes.
Here is a link to a comparison between the BumGenius 4.0 One-Size Pocket diapers and the FuzziBunz One-Size Elite Pocket Diapers.


Next we celebrated Mother's Day - my first with Little E and my fourth with Kbear (that hardly seems possible).

Me and my girls :)  I'm wearing my new Mother's Day necklace. It has all of our names around the circle and a pearl
hangs in the middle to represent the June birthstone for our little Angel Baby.

The Mommies

The Daddies (except for the Hubs who had to stay home and study for his test)

We've also joined (for the second year) "Kids Bowl Free". It's a cool program that allows the children to bowl two free games every single day for the entire summer. Last year I think we only went twice because the bowling alley where we signed up never had the ramps available for us to use and even the lightest ball is still too heavy for Kbear to roll it all of the way down the alley, even with the bumpers up. This new alley is great and we have had a ramp every time we've gone so far, which is twice. We'll go again tomorrow. It's been really fun because after we bowl we go out to lunch together and it's very nice having a lunch date with my big girl. I'm so proud of her =D

Setting up on the ramp.

Giving the ball a good hard push.

Smiles for the camera :)

Little E is growing by leaps and bounds. She is very capable of grabbing her hanging toys, flipping over (especially from her back to her stomach when I'm trying to change her diaper), and scooching on her back, backwards, halfway across the great room (and believe me, it's a big room!) She is as smiley and beautiful as ever and her big sister loves her so very much. We are truly blessed!

She has learned she has feet and is very fascinated by them.

Smiley girl

She has always had very strong neck and core muscles so she has been able to hold her head up from
day one. She is the only baby I know who actually enjoys tummy time.

Thanks for stopping by!