Mary Green

Jul 11

It seems like I am always being asked what is the best cloth diaper. I have used several, I love them, I buy them regularly and sometimes a free one comes in the mail for me to try (yay!).

So, what is the best cloth diaper?

For skinny or thin babies, I would say Fuzzibunz seem to be the most popular, work pretty great, are a decent price, and work great for little babies, I would guess to say the 50th percentile on the baby charts or less.

Of course, you can use them at more or less, but my baby is a more chunky baby, at the 75th percentile, and fuzzibunz was just not something we loved for him. It didn’t seem big enough, the stuff pocket was so thin we had a hard time getting our hands in there, and men, good luck with that.

For chunky babies I love Bluberry. These diapers have so much room to grow in, but don’t seem to thick or cushiony. I love their designs, they have never leaked, they wash fantastic and the PUL holds up (8 months going).

These are my favorite diaper. They are more expensive though, so I usually buy them when they have a clearance sale and I can get them for $10 each. I use my extra Kawaii inserts with these.

Average Babies- bumGenius

I use a lot of bumGenius pocket diapers. I absolutely love them, they were the first diaper I wanted to try, and I love how well they work. They snap closed great, there is a lot of room available for him to grow and I actually believe they will fit him until he is potty trained.

But they don’t have as much room as Blueberry, and they are bigger, and have more cushion than Fuzzibunz. There are not a lot of designs, but several colors.

Of course, these are all pockets, that’s my specialty, I’d love to hear what you all think about different types of diapers though.

May 23

Awhile back I won a new Funky Fluff cloth diaper, from a new company in Toronto. They came out with a new design on cloth diapers, where their only diaper is a pocket, an AIO and an AI2.

I’m a big pocket diaper fan, I love how easy they are to use, and really how easy they are for hubby to use. They are as simple as a disposable, but way better for everyone involved.

I was not patiently waiting for my Funky Fluff to come, I wanted it Yesterday, if you know what I mean, but when it finally got here, I was so excited. In fact the same day I told the local cloth diaper store about it.

My first thought on the FF was that it was a beautiful blue color, and it had grey/silver snaps. But it was so Fluffy!! It’s so fluffy I’m gonna die, ha ha! (Despicable Me Movie)

I opened it up, and saw the bamboo, and oh! how I love bamboo, it is so soft and pretty. Then I pulled out the insert to check it out. It was thin, but bamboo works well, so this wasn’t an issue for me, plus there was a smaller one, so I could double it up if I wanted.

The normal size insert can snap in, inside the pocket or outside of it, or just lay in the pocket if you wanted it to agitate itself out, during wash. Because it opens on both ends. The front end though covers quite a bit down the inside of the diaper, so I’m unsure how well it would agitate out, though I’m sure it’s been tested.

I can’t test it myself because I don’t think front loaders are a good indicator of that working- does anyone know for sure?

The front of the diaper has 4 size settings for the height, and then snaps across top to close diaper. Not sure if they have h&l though. What I didn’t think really like was that there are only 2 sets of snaps for the height of the diaper, it seems like the middle doesn’t have the security to stay in place, like most with 3 sets. That said we’ve used it enough times and it doesn’t leak or cause any problem.

The only issue I have with diaper is the bamboo, which, like most organic fabrics, stains easily. I know I can sun it, but I haven’t gotten there just yet. Other than that, the absorbency is great, the fit is great, the colors awesome, and it offers many conveniences.

Apr 29

When baby was born two of the first cloth diapers we bought were sized pocket diapers by Thirsties. We also got their cloth wipes, and have used their prewash detergent as well.

Thirsties Diapers Reviewed

So we bought the first size pocket diaper (two of them) and they had hook and loop on the front. After using it for a few months, here is what I noticed.

I loved having openings for the inserts in the front and back. I suppose now that this might have meant they were self agitating, but I’m not sure.
They didn’t stain much at all.
The double inserts that snapped together were awesome. I don’t know what fabrics these were made of but one was terry or microfiber and the other may have been just cotton or hemp. I liked snapping them together and sliding them in the pocket.
I never had to strip them.
They didnt fit up to 18 pounds. In fact I’d say at 15 pounds they were not fitting anymore. I was sad because I really liked them.

Thirsties Wipes Reviewed

The wipes were very soft, but I would like to suggest they have them sewn to stay in place. The two layers move apart from each other when you are using them, but they are so very soft. They absorb water very well, I would recommend using some kind of solution to get them wet as they are much more effective this way.

Thirsties PreWash Reviewed

We bought a bottle of this in November, so about 6 months ago and we are almost out of it. It lasts quite awhile. We put it in the wash cycle after a rinse cycle, it helps with the prewash and has really helped keep our diapers from needing to be stripped. We don’t have a lot of stains and we do put our diapers right in the wash, all solids dropped in the toilet.

Apr 24

This week I will be receiving a brand new cloth diaper from a brand new company called Funky Fluff and I am so excited!!! I won the diaper in one of their giveaways on Facebook and I can’t wait to put it on baby.

Because I am so excited, I offered to put an ad for them on my site, and a small write up about what makes their diapers different. Check it out below.

What Makes Funky Fluff Different?

The Funky Fluff 3-in-1 diaper is the only diaper designed to be used as an “All-in-1”, “All-in-2” AND “pocket diaper”. It is a One Size design fitting babies from 7 – 35+ lbs and is available in Bamboo and Stay Dry. Each diaper is sold with a light and heavy duty soaker. You can pick from an assortment of colours with a unique funky coloured “belt” on each diaper.

I will try my diaper out for a couple of weeks and then post a review on here about it. I just love getting new fluff, do you have anything coming in the mail this week?

Go look at their site here!

Apr 21

Today was the Great Cloth Diaper Change for 2012 and the goal was to get over 5000 diapers changed, at least, that’s what I think.

So we registered as soon as the closest store announced they were going to hold the event. Unfortunately, the baby got sick last week and was not ready to go today.

Having really, and I mean REALLY!!!! wanted to go, I left him with hubby and went. My cousin, her daughter and my aunt went with me and changed their baby as part of the 31 participants.

There were a lot of giveaways at the event, and there were product presentation tables for related items. The store gave out coupons, and a bag of samples from

Rock n Green
bumGenius detergent
Earth Mama Angel Baby
Aden and Anais
Snappi
Bella B- Tummy Butter

I got to meet a few moms that I’ve talked to before, and a few I’ve only chatted with online. Amber from TheClothDiaperConvert was there with her new venture Tumblewool and I was seriously impressed. She sells dryer balls at 4 for only $24. When I purchased some for my step mom I paid $8.50 each for 4, a total of $34.

My cousin’s baby wore a Thirsties tree print pocket diaper with hook and loop closure for her change. She was adorable. It was her mom’s first time using a cloth diaper. They ended up having a ball at the event. She purchased some ChewBeads, that are great for teething, with the Gift Certificate she won, and a GoPod. It’s an exerciser that folds up for travel, see one here. I’m actually thinking about getting one of those.

The event was a lot of fun and it was exciting to be around so many moms who love cloth diapering. I can’t wait to try my new diapers out, please, tell me how was your day?

Mar 25

Have you ever been looking for some help with your cloth diapering issues, but not able to find the answer in your usual resources? Maybe you go post on a forum and hope someone answers, giving you the answer you are looking for. While that’s a great way to get answers, why not search loads of cloth diapering sites at once to find your answer immediately?

Now you can!!

Everything Cloth- Cloth Diaper Resource Search

There are over 50 sites in the resource and all you have to do is enter your search query (just like you would on google) and you’ll see only results from these 50 sites. I’ve included cloth diaper blogs, stores with information pages, authority sites, and forums.

Check it out, let me know if you know of a site that should be added, or if you have a suggestion, comment, qualm about it otherwise [email protected]

Mar 22

My Babee Greens review- Late last year I was able to pick up a Babee Greens wool diaper cover. I haven’t taken pictures of it yet, but it’s a nice light blue color with snaps on it, in most regards, it looks like a pocket diaper.

It’s all wool though, and they have a lot of beautiful colors. I believe the price was around $34.95

I bought a size medium and had planned on using it with Kissaluvs size 1 fitted cotton diapers. We’ve now used both the Kissaluvs and Babee Greens quite a few times and I feel like I can give my opinion about it.

I bought the size M cover, and it is a little big on my 20 pound baby.

I love snaps, but the way this cover works is the front snaps onto the sides, it seems like it doesn’t close well, perhaps a lack of elasticity, and it’s a bit big on him. I feel that the way the snaps are, it makes it difficult to fully cover everything, because it just doesn’t seem as secure.

It is nice and thick, but still breathable. The wool works beautifully, even though I worry about the closures. Every night it has kept things contained, no problem there.

It dries great. Everyday we hang it on a hook to dry out, it doesn’t really get wet, but there is some wetness on the layer closest to baby.

I haven’t had to wash it yet, so I don’t know how it will work with that. We haven’t used it more than 10 times, so we will be lanolizing soon.

There are 3 sizes on the side flaps that the front snaps to, so this will grow with your baby for quite some time.

The wool is so soft, I believe it is called Merino wool.

It is put together very nicely, great quality.

I have to say I like the wool cover. I’ve used it with the fitteds and with prefolds and it keeps him dry. He is not a heavy wetter, but over night of 8 hours, and no changing, there are no leaks.

What do you think of Babee Greens? Share your comments below, I can’t wait to see what they come out with next.

Oh, and please share this post on Twitter or Facebook, I’d really appreciate it.

Mar 20

Last year, I just missed the Great Cloth Diaper Change. It was May before I really became interested in the wonderful world of cloth diapering. But this year, I will be there, and ready to diaper.

I’m not sure what diaper I will be using, probably my blueberry, because it is my favorite. We are lucky enough to live in an area that has 3 events going on, here in central NY, but you can find out where your closest event is at http://greatclothdiaperchange.com

In Central NY we have:

Oswego- Mother Earth Baby

Syracuse- Basic Baby

New Hartford- Whims N Doodles

Once at the site, search for your location and then RSVP if you can. This will let the hosts plan appropriately. I’m sure a straggling mom here and there won’t be too much for any one location, but the closer they are to their true numbers, the better it is to plan, just like any party. There are going to be vendors at most locations too, so I’m pretty excited about this.

It seems the vendors come from different mom/baby companies, and of course they are there to advertise their goods. I don’t know if you get anything for free, or if they sell things at a discount, but I’m still looking forward to seeing so many cloth diaper enthusiasts in one place.

Tell me, have you been to one of these events before? What did you love about it? How were the vendors helpful? What should I plan on?

Mar 15

Late Monday night, Tuesday morning, the bumgenius giveaway ended. At that time I went ahead and pulled a winner. She was contacted and has since sent in her address for the diaper.

There were just over 800 entries for the diaper, and it involved over 70 people. On average each person had just about 10 entries. Keep this in mind when you are entering other giveaways, because if my numbers were any indication, the number of entries doesn’t relate to the number of people, and your chances. There is a bigger chance you will win, than you think 🙂

This week has been really long and tiring. Baby has not been sleeping well, unless he is in our bed, instead of right next to it, in the cosleeper. Last night I gave in, let him sleep in bed. Tomorrow is the second edition of the Cloth Diaper Weekly and I will be sending it to everyone who entered the giveaway. I am very excited to get it out there, and hope that people enjoy it.

Watch for tomorrow’s post.

Author: Mary Green

Best Cloth Diapers for Skinny or Chunky Babies

Funky Fluff Cloth Diapers Are Awesome

Thirsties Cloth Diaper Review

Funky Fluff Cloth Diaper

Great Cloth Diaper Change 2012

Searching for Cloth Diaper Information

Babee Greens Wool Cover Review

Great Cloth Diaper Change 2012

Giveaway Details- Ended