The Dirty on Cloth Diapers

Cloth diapers, I know it sounds a little extreme and hippy-ish, but as a modern day mama who is always looking for a way to save money this is a BIG drain on my baby budget. I totally understand buying the cheaper diapers, but I am the lucky mama of a sensitive skinned boy who can not wear the cheap diapers. So I looked into cloth diapers (CD) and found that there was many different brands; 

This is when I decided to do an experiment! I started by making the perimeters of what would be acceptable and making it a success, so that way I would know if it was a failure for our lives. The three things that mattered most to me were to ease of use (At the time I was finishing my BS degree), I needed to be able to do this with as minimal stress as possible. This second was leakage, at the time we were leaking or blowing out about 5 times a week, so anything under that was acceptable. The third was most important, it have to save me MONEY$$$!!!  

After a lot of research I found out there there were three main styles. The first one is a one-size which means that it will fit the baby from birth to potty training. The pictures below are of the Go-Green Pocket diapers. 

 A pocket diaper looks the most like a regular diaper, and has inserts that you stuff under the pocket. This brand is nice because you don't have to un-stuff them as the washer does it for you! The price of each diaper is about $17, and to survive 3-4 days you need at least 14-20. That can get VERY price, but if this is your first baby and you know you want more children this could work for you.

 I did really like the colored snaps as it made it so much easier to snap them up at night.

 This is an inside shot of the pocket, I loved the look of these diapers but they just didn't hold enough, and my son wet through them to much.

 This diaper is the second kind I tried and it is called the gDiaper, This is a sized diaper which means that you have to have it in small, median, large, and X-LG to go from birth to potty training. I have friends that use these and love them, but the inserts didn't work well for us, they simply leaked to much. This kind did have one great feature and that was disposable inserts. I thought that was great for when others watched my son, except for the fact that they were as much as disposable diapers!

The gDiaper is called a shell diaper because the outside part is reusable (unless it becomes soiled) so all you have to do is take out the dirty liner wipe it out and put a clean liner in!

The Winner of my experiment was the best bottom diapers they are a shell One-size and they have been wonderful! For a set of 3 shells and 9 inserts is about $84. The inserts snap in so they don't move and become uncomfortable, and the designs are so cute!! I have 6 shells, I use three per week then wash the three I used and switch to the other three.

 They have 2 different kinds of inserts in 3 sizes. Pictured here are the hemp (bottom) and the microfiber (top). It is said that the Hemp absorbs more but slowly, and the microfiber absorbs less but faster. This brand also makes a doubler (Hemp) which snaps in and then you can snap a second insert on top of that. I use this for nap time and it is perfect! The inserts here are large (Blue stitching), as when I started my son was already in this size, the other sizes have different colored stitching.

 This is a picture of the owl shell with the microfiber insert, I love that it is easy to snap in the insert and go. They have NEVER leaked, and they are the easiest to clean and wash.

Now if you are truly going to make the switch to CD, then I would suggest making a handful of extra purchases. My list of essentials are.

1) Fuzzybums hanging wetbag 

This is so you don't have the the stench of dirty diapers in your home. I have used this in all seasons (I live in an apartment) and there is no smell outside your door!

2) Wet/dry bag 

This is for you diaper bag. So you can change diapers out and about and take home the inserts to wash.

3) Toilet sprayer 

This attaches to the toilet so can spray off the poo! 

I want to make one point very clear, the best bottom diapers are amazing for MY family, I have friends that use the Go Green Pocket Diapers, and the gDiapers and love them. That being said if you are looking for a reliable place to purchase them I would suggest www.NickisDiapers.com as they seem to have the best deal. 

The last thing I would cover is price, going over the numbers and for all of the extras, and the inserts (this would include small, medium, & Large) is roughly $400-450. This sounds like a lot, but I was spending an average of $70 per month on diapers. As of the moment I only have one child which means that it cost $300 (I will need to buy the small & Medium for our next baby) then I will still save month as that is roughly 5 months of diapers, and we have already been using them for the past 6 months. Now when the next baby comes that will mean that I can divid the diaper price in half, and every baby afterwards will make the diapers less and less.

Lunette ~ A New way to look at an old problem.

Lets be honest, one of the best parts of being pregnant is not having to deal with aunt Flo every month. I don't know about everyone but for me it is something that I find very embarrassing, and it always seems to come at the worst possible time. I hate that even if you buy the cheapest products you still have to have several of every absorbency just to get though your week of misery. Well, I have found something that is truly life changing and money saving! It is called Lunette and it is a menstrual cup!

I was surfing one day on Facebook, and found an article that a friend had posted about the chemicals that are in feminine products, and how it is very important to use the right absorbency. It spoke about how the chemicals are being linked to cancers of the female reproductive organs, and how you need to be careful. In the comments one woman said that she uses a Diva Cup, which is a similar product. Well, I became very curious! I started reading the reviews on it, and someone had posted that they had started with that and then found Lunette. After about a week of researching I ordered two of the lunette cups.

 As you see there are two models, Both are made of a medical silicone, which means that you will never have to worry about Toxic Shock Syndrome (A condition that can happen when leaving tampons in to long and a bacteria grows). They also have pull tab to help with the removal. They are made in Finland, and are extremely popular in European countries. Each cup is $39.99, and if you buy both with shipping it is around $87.

Model 1 is for lighter/ regular days, it is made of a softer silicone, and they recommend if for those that are first starting to use a cup.

Model 2 is a thinker silicone, and holds much more. It is for regular/heavy days. This one also has a shorter pull tab, And both come with their own storage bags.

I went straight to Lunette here ~  http://www.lunette.com/us/

Let me be clear, I was truly worried this was going to be weird. That is wasn't going to work, and that I was going to blow $90! But I had to try, and I am so grateful that I had an open mind. I did a ton of research and the first place I started was Youtube... You would be surprised what people make videos! and I am so grateful for this because this is people being honest.

***** BE CAREFUL!*****
There are so many "Horror" videos,  and I watched them... Though none of them was anything to do with health reasons. Most of them were either, they had a rare condition that causes an odor.

The one video that I found most helpful and I would suggest to anyone looking into this is this one! It helps you to work your cup. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9CBh6cAKapA

I found this product to be one of the best finds of the century! I am only sad that I didn't learn about it 10+ years ago! Think of the hundreds of $$ I could have saved!

Homemade Wipes

Wipes and Diapers and Saving Some Cash!

Well it has been months since I added my last post about cloth diapers, and let me say that I love them! I was able to switch while finishing my final semester in college! I am looking forward to continuing on with this. I have been telling everyone who asks about this everything they want to know and more, and after looking over the numbers I have found that every diaper I change saves me 25 cents, and I change 6-8 diapers per day. That means per month I save between $42-$56, and that is just on diapers! I have also added cloth wipes which I only use when he has a wet diaper, this cuts down on my wipe budget, and I have learned how to make disposable wipes. TO MAKE DISPOSABLE WIPES~ In a 2 cup liquid measuring cup fill with 2 cups hot water, 2 TBS baby wash, and 1 TBS baby oil. Then take one new roll of paper towels, cut in half (use a sharp knife,)and put half in a tall plastic container. Pour the mixture and with in 30 seconds you can pull cardboard and with it will come the first wipe! this solution is the same solution that you use on the cloth wipes, and all you have to do is lay the first wipe down, then the second wipe laps over the first and you fold the left over part of the wipe to the center. You continue to do this until you have filled your container. I use an old wipes box that my friend gave me, and when you do it this way, then you have the pop up effect that makes life so much easier. I love saving money, and I love things that also save me time. I also have a little boy who's skin is so overly sensitive to the unpronounceable chemicals that the cheap baby supplies are doused in. I hope that if others are searching for this that all of my research will come in handy and save some time!