The Great Cloth Diaper Change 2014

We spent our Saturday helping break a world record!

This past Saturday we joined our local cloth diaper retailer, Diaper Junction,  in helping raise awareness for cloth diapering. Diaper Junction was one of 324 participating host in 23 different countries.

There was a lot of great vendors at the event. Our local baby wearing group was there and I finally had the chance to speak to some of the ladies in charge. They were really sweet and inviting. I look forward to joining them and expanding my knowledge on wraps. I also spoke with a local breastfeeding support group. We chatted about B and how he had a tongue tie and I ended up leaving with some valuable information about getting it lasered.

At exactly 11 AM 84 moms and dads changed their little one's diaper. It was a really cool experience for us. It was nice to be around so many other moms that cloth diaper. Chance tagged along and he was awesome. He's a really big supporter of mine and this event was no different. He took pictures and encouraged me to purchase a new brand of diaper I've been dying to try.

This day was not only record breaking it was also bitter sweet. It was the Diaper Junction's last day as a brick and morter store. We purchased our first Bumgenius from them and I truly enjoyed visiting every so often. The ladies were always great and helped educate new moms on all of the benefits of cloth diapering.

We can't wait to hear the final count for diapers changed and hopefully we'll be able to participate in years to come.

Bumgenius 4.0 review

Bumgenius is by far our favorite diapers. They aren't the only ones that we own but we have more than any other brand now.

 The diaper looks like any other diaper. It's your standard pocket diaper. I really like the tab design (the red things with the buttons) on Bumgenius. It has a few less snaps than our other dipes but fits the same if not better. They're super stretchy and hold really well.

As you can see, we chose to invest in snapes. B can take off the aplix (hook n loop, velcro, ect.) and it tends to wear out quicker. The top rows of snapa you see are for waist and hip fit. The top row ensures your baby doesn't leak out of the top while the bottom row makes sure the legs are nice and snug. There are three more rows of snapes that are used for your rise. When baby is younger and weighs less you'll have rhose snapped so the diaper doesnt swallow baby. The snap design is pretty standard for all one size snap diapers.

The inside of the Bumgenius diapers is suedecloth. Its nice, soft, and seems to hold up well.

I love the design of the pocket on these diapers. They have a small piece of fabric on the inside to hold the diaper down and a large piece of fabric on the outside to make sure the insert is 100% covered.

The inserts have a snap down feature. I'm obsessed with this. We found out early on that B's inserts all had to be folded down or he leaks. I love that these have the snaps to hold the insert down. Overall they are my favorite inserts.

Stuffing the pocket is super easy. It takes a good half of your arm going in the diaper but it gets done. Bumgenius also offers freetimes and the organic elemental. These are there AIO (all in one) options for people who don't love pockets. 

Very few of Bumgenius diapers have prints. These are called the artist series. We have two of these one being shown. When Bumgenius does prints they do it right. I love the nautical Jules print. It's counter diaper is called Carroll. You guessed it, its a Lewis Carroll inspired Alice in Wonderland diaper. Gorgeous diaper. Bumgenius has a little over 20 colors. Some are discontinued such as the coveted Easter diapers but they're still avaliable in swap groups you'll just pay more. 

Another great thing about these dipes is the resell price. You pay around $18 for these brand new and they sell for around $16 used. I've snagged them for as low as $7 but had to do a little elastic repair. If you buy these you'll get almost all of your money back if not more for the printed diapers.

I've fallen in love with this brand. I have tried the freetimes and flips but both run a bit larger on B and I'm not crazy about that.  I love that these are American made and super durable. They are the only diaper that doesn't leak in the carseat. We've had great success with these and I plan on continuing to buy these until we snag our rainbow. I fully believe these are worth every penny and recommend them to anyone looking to try cloth.

Our Cloth Obsession

OUR CLOTH OBSESSION

I know, our stash is stil REALLY small. We've been playing with cloth diapers for a few months now but never were committed. This past month I've jumped off the deep end. Our stash went from a mere two diapers to thirteen.

Some people think cloth diapering is expensive, smelly, and gross. I'm here to tell you those people are wrong! 

Cloth diapering is what you make it. We spent $4-$25 on a single diaper. This just goes to show you that you can get cheap diapers and you can also go for high end diapers. Some people prefer more expensive diapers, I personally am a Bumgenius fan. We have two in our stash but they fit amazing. I also have Naughty babies ($4.00), Alvas ($6), and some used diapers that were all cheap and can save you even more money.

I've read a few blogs about how the poster was worried about the smell factor. Since switching fully to cloth my house has smelled a ton better. Since you HAVE to dispose of the poop in the toilet it doesn't sit in a pail and reek (you're suppose to dispose all diaper waste in the toilet including disposable waste... lets face it,  no one does that). We throw all of our diapers in a flip top trash can and wash when we're running out (right now that is every night for us. Small stash requires more washing). 

I can promise you this isn't as gross as you think. B's poop is pretty solid so it falls right in the toilet. I NEVER touch poop. If your child has more watery poop you can invest in a diaper sprayer. We have one listed on our registry that runs about $50. If that seems steep to you then yiu can even make your own for a meer $15. Some people just use a squirt bottle filled with water to help clean. 

For the last 12 months B has been in Huggies size 4 diapers. We have spent $840 (minimum) plus however many newborn through size 3 we bought. If I were to go out and buy 18 Bumgenius I'd be spending $305.00 plus the cost of laundry. If I were to invest solely in Alvas I'd be spending just less than $100. Either way thats less then we've spent on disposables and I'm hooked. Stay tune for a few detailed post on how my diapering system works. 

The endless teething;

Yesterday B had a tiny accident. He busted his bottom lip pretty good and Chance insisted we get him to the doctor. He was acting fine and eating everything in sight but I drug him out in the cold and took him anyway. Upon seeing the doctor we learned that B has four molars cutting the gums and his last front tooth.

This explains a LOT. He has been incredibly fussy lately.  He's super clingy and refuses to sleep on his own. He has been driving my nuts. He has began waking up two-three times a night crying for his sippy and only taking it with milk.  

I decided to take action. I ran to CVS and grabbed some teething tablets and motrin. He recieved both before bed last night and didn't seem to do any better. This morning we bundled up and headed to our local cloth diaper hippy store to grab a teething necklace. We left with a cherry baltic amber necklace that I'm placing all my faith in. I'll be giving regular updates on it and I'll also be reviewing our stash of cloth diapers in an upcoming post. We're new to the scene and I want to share my newfouns knowledge with my wonderful followers!