As you may already know, I signed up for the flats challenge and I needed more flats. I’d never used a flour sack towel as a flat cloth diaper, and wondered how they compared to Birdseye flats (especially since they are often priced similarly.)
In case you missed the announcement, May 21-27 is the 2nd annual flats challenge, hosted by Dirty Diaper Laundry.
I did not participate last year. It is the week of my son’s birthday, and I was also pregnant/sick/exhausted. The idea of mastering flats & hand-washing diapers for a week made me feel nauseated (more so than usual, hee-hee.) When Kim announced that she’d be hosting the challenge again this year, I immediately thought I’d support it, but wouldn’t participate. No way, no how! After all, it is again my son’s birthday week, and I have two super-soaker boys in diapers now! My little guy is 4.5 months old right now and still wants to be held/worn all the time. I am honestly struggling with meeting his needs, while also meeting my older son’s needs (mostly constant feeding, LOL!) and getting my daughter to and from school and activities, getting her homework done etc. I am completely overwhelmed with keeping up with junk cleanup, dishes, cleaning and the constant laundry. Washing diapers for 2 is a lot, even with a washing machine. The other day my husband remarked that the laundry room looked empty without diapers hanging, LOL.
I also don’t have enough flats to use, and I assume I’d need to use my tub to wash, which would be an extra hassle to deal with the kids and running up & down the stairs. I don’t know if I even have enough places to hang up that many flats! Excuse after excuse, I know! It sounds crazy, but the idea of using & hand washing flats for a week ramped my anxiety up 10 notches and made me feel physically ill.
Then I started thinking about what it would be like if this was my reality and it made me want to try! I took a deep breath, hit the submit button on the sign up form, and ordered some flour sack towels to use as flats. Eek!
Since then, I found out that we are allowed to use a diaper sprayer this year (it wasn’t allowed last year) and we’re not limited to the # of covers we use (the limit was 5 last year.) I only have a couple of wipeable covers, since I sent what I wasn’t regularly using to my friend. I was concerned about keeping covers clean, and I was also concerned about my older son freaking out that he couldn’t have the diaper he wanted!
I’m going to try to limit the # I use, especially since I don’t need more to hand wash! I have a utility sink in my laundry room that also has a sink sprayer. So I figure I will just be washing flats constantly, all day every day that week. However many I can fit in the sink at a time.
You’re also allowed a night time diaper of your choice, but you’re encouraged to make flats work for you. So, I ordered two hemp babies flats to use inside a pocket diaper at night. Hopefully that will be enough absorbency!
I’ll be writing more about my thought process as I imagined doing this out of necessity, and I’ll also be posting about the hemp babies flats and flour sack towels
I’ll be tweeting with the hash tag #flatschallenge, and I’ll be blogging daily about my experience! Want to join me? Read about the challenge and sign up!
This post contains affiliate links. If you click and make a purchase, I will receive a small portion of the sale. Thank you!
I can hardly begin to tell you how much I despise bra shopping. Especially nursing bras. I wear an odd size, so I have no choice but to order online, and they are always expensive. Between pregnancy weight gain, weight loss, initial nursing engorgement, then gradual size change as my kids nursed less and I lost weight, I thought I had just about every size I needed.
As my children grew older, I just wore a regular bra where I could pull the cup to the side to nurse, but I stuck with soft cup nursing bras initially. However, I have never found a soft cup bra that gives me decent lift and shape, as well as comfort. Even ones with a wide band underneath tended to just roll up under my bust, and they all looked awful under tops. I had an occasion recently where I had to look presentable, so I grabbed an underwire bra from my “stash” that looked decent, but (since the band was too big) the underwire dug into my underarms. Thus started my latest, desperate, money bleeding search for a decent nursing bra.
Finding the right size is ridiculous and annoying since they vary so much by brand and style. Plus, only certain cup shapes fit me well, and a 30″ band size with a larger cup is hard to find. In the past, if I’ve found a bra I like, I will buy the same in different sizes as I’ve lost weight. (I have quite a few by Fantasie!) For me, a bra needs to be comfortable; the right band size, the right cup size, with no riding up and no shifting inside the cups. It needs to lift and separate (sounds cheesy but true), be supportive, and be smooth under clothing. A very, very tall order apparently.
Reviews for the Bravado Bliss Nursing Soft Cup Bra
It has kind of a cheesy little thing in the middle, but there isn’t much holding it on, so you can take it off. It’s not as utilitarian looking as many, and has adjustable straps.
I initially ordered this in the next size down and instantly fell in love, but I was spilling out of the sides of the cup a bit. It does not come in a 30 band size, so I had gone up to a 32 and sized the cup down to make up for it.
Be leery of anyone who tells you to add inches to your rib cage measurement to get your band size. This will usually end up getting you too big of a band size and too small of a cup size. For someone who is say, a 30F, the old add 5 inches thing will get you in a 34 or 36 A cup!! Not happening. You want the bra to be snug (but not tight) on the loosest clasp setting when it’s new, so you can tighten it as it stretches with age. If the band is on the tightest setting, you likely need to go down a band size (and up a cup size to make up for it if the bra otherwise fit.)
Anyhoo, what I love about this bra is that it has molded foam cups, with a firm but flexible support channel underneath. The support & shape were as close to an underwire as I’ve ever seen from a soft cup. The band didn’t fold under my bust, even when I slouched. The cups provide modesty, hide nursing pads, and can catch a little “oops I forgot nursing pads” leakage. I happily chopped those tags off and wore it. And then…and then…
You have to remember that when you go up a band size, the whole bra is changed proportionately. It’s not like an inch or two was just added to the back. The cups themselves are designed for someone with a broader rib cage. Therefore, going from a 30 to a 32 band size moves the cups from the front of my chest closer to my underarms. Then what happens is that as I reach, bend, move etc., my nice shape turns into a uni-boob, which quickly turns into a quad-boob. This has happened before with molded cups and a band size that’s too big (especially with companies not known for small band/large cup sizes.) It’s never apparent in the “trying on” stage, only after I’ve cut the tags off and worn it. With a non-nursing bra, I can use fashion tape
I can’t return it, and there’s not exactly a market for used nursing bras, so I’m out $50. If this came in a 30 band size, I might love it. For now, I ordered two more sizes of my favorite non-nursing, underwire bra, since I have 1 that’s a little too small and 1 that’s a little too big, but I think the right size will work for just pulling the cup to the side. For the record, out of the zillions of bras I’ve tried, used and/or returned over the past 8ish years, my favorites are the Freya Millie Balcony Underwire Bra, which I believe has been replaced by the Naomi Balcony Underwire Bra
Finding a bra that works for me stinks. Finding one that also works for nursing double stinks. I’ve come to realize that I can only buy from a handful of brands that specialize in small band/large cup sizes. So how about you? Do you have bra issues, or are you a lucky one that can grab something at the department store for $30? If you have an oddball size, some places I’ve shopped are Her Room, Fig Leaves and Bigger Bras. Not affiliate links, just places I’ve frequented in recent years! Just be aware that a lot of brands are European, so the cup sizes at DD & beyond will be labeled differently! (Ex: Fantasie goes C, D, DD, E, F, FF, G etc. Most American sizes would be C, D, DD/E, DDD/F etc.) So, you could be an I cup in the U.S. but wear a G in a European brand!
FTC compliance: Although I paid normal retail prices for the pictured item, this post contains affiliate links. I was not compensated for this post, and all opinions are my own.
If you have a cloth diaper question, have it answered in a Mailbox Mondays post, and get other Moms’ opinions too!
Questions don’t have to be cloth diaper related, just email maria at change-diapers.com with “Mailbox Mondays” in the subject, or fill out my contact form for readers, which you will always be able to find on my Contact Page.
Sadie says::
Hi Maria
I’ve been scouring your blog posts and archives to try and find if/where you review diaper rash creams for cloth diapers. I know enough to know that some of the normal kinds (desitin) aren’t good for cloth but I dont really know why (what to look for in other brands) and what you should be using instead. My hubby and I are expecting in 4 months (our first) and have committed to cloth. I’m working on my registry and want to make sure to add the right items for cloth diapering. Thanks so much!
Sadie
Congratulations on the baby! If you’re ever looking for something, you can click the review archive link at the top of the page, and skim my reviews by category. My site has a search box, but I usually have better luck going to Google and typing “change-diapers.com rash cream” (or whatever.)
You can use zinc based, or medicated rash creams if you need to, just use a fleece liner between baby & the diaper. In general, you probably won’t see a whole lot of rash with cloth, though that’s not to say it won’t happen.
There are several cloth-safe creams out there, including Earth Mama Angel Baby Bottom Balm, Grandma El’s, GroVia’s Magic Stick, Motherlove Diaper Rash & Thrush Salve, Thirsties Booty Luster & CJ’s (among others). Many moms have luck with plain old olive or coconut oil. With any of these, be sure you are using a very small amount, or use a fleece liner.
For me, one application clears up any redness, and if one of my boys isn’t feeling well, a preventative layer serves as a barrier against acidic or just repeated bowel movements.
What is your favorite rash cream?
This post contains affiliate links.
Welcome to The Great GroVia Giveaway, sponsored by Diaper Junction! Diaper Junction is giving away fantastic GroVia prizes on multiple blogs. Be sure to check out the other blogs, since each one is awarding their own prize, and you can enter every one to increase your odds. A total of 8 prizes will be awarded.
Diaper Junction has a wide selection of GroVia products, including tons of packages, shells, disposable, organic and stay dry inserts, and my favorite, GroVia wipes. They also have GroVia wet bags, pail liners, trainers, AIOs and more.
I’ve used (and reviewed) the GroVia H&L shell, organic inserts, wipes and newborn AIOs, and I’d love to try the snap closure shells and stay dry inserts.
Diaper Junction has discontinued prints on clearance as well, and you can get free shipping within the U.S. when you spend $49 or more. You also earn 5% back in stash cash and they will reward you with a coupon for your next order when you write a product review.
Shop Diaper Junction, “like” Diaper Junction on Facebook and follow Diaper Junction on Twitter. You can also subscribe to Diaper Junction’s mailing list, their blog and their Youtube channel, so you don’t miss a thing!
Giveaway: One winner will receive a GroVia One Size Diaper “SAMPLER” Package (shell & 2 soakers) in his/her choice of stay-dry or organic soaker, print or color and closure, subject to availability (ARV $31.50) Entries go in the Rafflecopter form.
Be sure to enter the giveaways on the other blogs as well, to increase your chances of winning: Cloth Diaper Blog, Cloth Diaper Geek, Kelly Wels, All About Cloth Diapers, Dirty Diaper Laundry, Padded Tush Stats and The Cloth Diaper Report. Each blog has their own prize to give away and you have to enter on each Rafflecopter form to be entered for their prize.
Maria wants to live in a world where cloth diapers are the norm and moms can make parenting choices without judgement. When she’s not chasing her 18, 14 and 11-year old kids around, you might find her checking out the latest gadgets, organizing something (again) or exercising in the fresh air. Read More »
