Birth Motherhood Personal Posts

I’m an Obsessive Planner, but This Doesn’t Bother Me

I’ve mentioned before that I’m an organizer, a planner, a worrier and an obsessor. I know I drive my husband totally nuts by not resting until I’ve worked out minute details of even hypothetical situations.

So, it seems kind of funny that someone with my personality doesn’t schedule a c-section as soon as the lines show up on the pregnancy test and/or have repeated ultrasounds until I can see the gender.

In fact, not only am I not bothered by not knowing the gender or baby’s birthday, but I actually enjoy it. Weird, huh?

We didn’t found out the gender of any of our children, so I have boy clothes (though they are the wrong season) girl clothes, and some gender neutral clothes. As it turns out, I didn’t have as much gender neutral clothing as I thought I did, so we did buy a few outfits. Clothes are ready, diapers and blankets are ready…they just aren’t pink or blue. 🙂

It is a little weird wondering if this weekend was our last as a family of four, and not knowing when the baby will decide to arrive. As of the date I’m posting this, I’m either 40 weeks 1 day, or 40 weeks 3 days, depending on what date you use. I’m not gonna lie, I’m on the edge of my seat waiting and wondering. It doesn’t help that I’ve had Braxton Hicks contractions for the past two months, that have recently gone from annoying, to uncomfortable, to somewhat painful.

I’ve had people comment that they couldn’t stand to know know the gender etc. since they couldn’t plan. I guess I feel like I did plan, and we are prepared. *shrug* Really, I think this feels less like something to plan and more like a big gift! More of a surprise than a project. 😀

I’ll be honest that I am starting to feel like a watched pot though, hee hee!

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Winner Winner Chicken Dinner

Diaper Rite Pocket Diaper Winner

Diaper Rite Winner

After deleting some duplicate entries, there were 368 unique entrants into this giveaway, and 1125 entries in all.

The winning entry is #692, which is PunkRockChic. Congratulations, I sent you an email so you can claim your prize!

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All In Two Diapers Cloth Diapers Giveaway Inserts Natural Fiber Natural Fiber Diapers One Size Diapers Review Snap Closure

Lil Helper Cloth Diapers Review & Giveaway for $110 Package (CLOSED 12/20) U.S./Canada

Lil Helper 1

If you missed my post about Lil Helper Diapers last month, I hope you’ll check it out. I already liked this company a lot before I had even touched one of their diapers!

Take a look at this video they made (it’s short!) and watch it all the way to to end (read the credits too!) You can really see their style and humor come through, just like you can on their website!

Lil Helper 2 package Lil Helper 3 diapers

Lil Helper sent me an awesome package of their products to try.

Lil Helper 4 bamboo

The Bamboo Cloth Diaper in green.

Lil Helper 6 original

and the Original Cloth Diaper in gray stars print.

Lil Helper 7 inserts

As I’ll show you below, all 3 diapers are the same size, shape and concept, they simply have different materials in the shell and soakers/inserts. Lil Helper also sent me an extra of each cloth insert type.

I made a short video to show the diapers a bit better than I can with photos. Yes, I’m aware my videos are terrible and my prego brain makes me forget what I was going to say halfway through my sentences. 😉

Lil Helper 20 diapers side Lil Helper 21 diapers front

As I said earlier, the 3 diapers are very much the same, they differ only in materials used. I have Charcoal Bamboo (CB) pictured in blue, bamboo (B) pictured in green and original (O) pictured in gray/stars.

Lil Helper 22 diapers snaps

All 3 diapers have snap closures with a hip snap to avoid wing droop. (shown L to R – O, B, CB)

Lil Helper 23 diapers fronts

Every diaper comes with a large and small snap in insert. The Original diaper comes with organic cotton inserts. The Charcoal Bamboo diaper comes with charcoal bamboo inserts, and the bamboo diaper comes with organic bamboo inserts. (shown top to bottom – O, CB, B)

Lil Helper 24 diapers inners

The Bamboo diaper has a silky soft bamboo inner. This is amazing fabric. I want bedsheets, undergarments, shirts etc. made out of this! So far, it has stayed just as soft and silky after several washes, which is not the case for other bamboo products I have. The charcoal bamboo has an organic charcoal bamboo inner, and the original diaper has microfleece. The shell has a snap in the front and back to hold the insert. (shown L to R – B, CB, O)

Lil Helper 25 diapers back Lil Helper 26 leg elastic

Lil Helper 27 front panels

They all have rear elastic, leg elastic, snap closures (with overlap), and a snap down rise to fit 7-35 lbs. (Bamboo in green, charcoal bamboo in blue & original in gray star print.) The charcoal bamboo (blue) diaper has a bamboo PUL outer that is so soft, I love it! The outer of the bamboo (green) diaper seems much nicer than standard PUL. It has a softness to it, and isn’t as “shiny” as some PUL. The original diaper and bamboo diapers come in 8 colors and 3 prints. The charcoal bamboo diapers come in 4 colors. The diaper colors are bold, yet soft. I love them. The diapers with inserts retail for $20 for the original, $23 for the bamboo and $26 for the charcoal bamboo.

Lil Helper 28 inserts Lil Helper 29 small insert alone

Each diaper you purchase comes with a set of small and large inserts. The inserts snap together, then snap into the shell. When using the diaper on the small setting, you can use the small insert alone to make it a bit trimmer for a smaller baby that doesn’t need as much absorbency. Because the large insert has snaps on top to accept the small insert, it’s recommended that you not use the large insert without the small on top. I swear I read that on their site, and now I can’t find it. I suppose it wouldn’t be any more irritating than an exposed hip snap other diapers have, eh? (shown L to R) Original, Bamboo, Charcoal Bamboo, small insert pictured in diaper is bamboo.)

All inserts are interchangable, so you can use any of the 3 insert types in any of the 3 shells. Purchased separately, the original cotton inserts sell for $8, the organic bamboo inserts sell for $9, and the charcoal bamboo inserts sell for $10. Lil Helper calls their diapering system “all in one” since it doesn’t need a separate cover, but I consider it an “all-in-two” (AI2) since it consists of an outer diaper shell and a snap in insert. If the shell isn’t soiled, you can reuse it with a fresh insert.

Since the diaper shells are the same aside from materials used, I’ve measured each size just once, to avoid redundancy (and boring you to tears!) I pictured the small in bamboo (green), the medium in charcoal bamboo (blue) and the large in original (gray/stars.)

Small (bamboo) measured folded & stretched (as always, my measurements aren’t an exact science!):

Lil Helper 30 small bamboo folded Lil Helper 31 small bamboo stretched

Lil Helper 32 small bamboo front Lil Helper 33 small bamboo side

Lil Helper 34 small bamboo back

Medium (charcoal bamboo):

Lil Helper 35 medium charcoal bamboo folded Lil Helper 36 medium charcoal bamboo stretched

Lil Helper 37 medium charcoal bamboo front Lil Helper 38 medium charcoal bamboo side

Lil Helper 39 medium charcoal bamboo rear

Large (original):

Lil Helper 40 large original folded Lil Helper 42 large original stretched

Lil Helper 41 had to unsnap to stretch

I had to unsnap the insert in order to stretch the shell on this one.

Lil Helper 43 large original front Lil Helper 44 large original side

Lil Helper 45 large original back

My son is 2 1/2 and about 28 pounds. I put him in the medium setting in all 3 diapers. He is an extremely reluctant diaper model these days. My husband already told him we’re replacing him with a “new diaper model.” (LOL.) Therefore, these diapers are definitely not on him all nice & smooth & pretty. I have to slap a clean diaper on him as quickly as possible, then try to get him to stay still long enough to take pictures! (Especially hard using a new diaper for the first time, when you have to figure out which snaps to use!) They may look a little bunchy in my photos, but that’s just the nature of diapering a Speedy Gonzales, not a reflection of diaper quality. They performed wonderfully nonetheless!

Bamboo:

Lil Helper 46 bamboo medium Lil Helper 47 bamboo medium on 2.5 yr old

Lil Helper 48 bamboo med side Lil Helper 49 bamboo med back

Charcoal bamboo:

Lil Helper 50 charcoal bamboo Lil Helper 52 charc bamboo side

Lil Helper 53 charc bamb back

Original:

Lil Helper 54 orig Lil Helper 55 orig

Lil Helper 56 orig side Lil Helper 57 orig back

I had to unsnap the front of the insert from the shell on the original, in order to pull the rise up (next time I’ll know to leave the back unsnapped, putting most of the absorbency in the front.) The original insert shrank a good bit, so it restricted the expansion of the diaper. That really isn’t a big deal considering that many AI2 systems have just 1 snap anyway.

I loved the bamboo & charcoal bamboo shells & inserts, and I don’t dislike the original shell. However, I really don’t like the original inserts. They were very flat & trim when brand new, but after washing them they were bunchy and fluffy. I had a hard time keeping them contained in the diaper enough to put it on! I will just use the original shell with one of the bamboo inserts!

Lil Helper 8 wipes Lil Helper 9 wipes

Lil Helper 10 wipes pre prep Lil Helper 11 wipes pre prep 2

I also received three ridiculously soft bamboo wipes (a 5 pack is $10.) Above is what they looked like/measured when brand new.

Lil Helper 14 wipes after prep

Lil Helper 12 wipes after prep meas Lil Helper 13 wipes after prep meas 2

Of course, they did shrink a little bit and got a bit pilly (above is how they looked after washing) but they are still way softer than any other wipes I have, even after many washings.

Lil Helper 15 wet bags Lil Helper 16 wet bags

Lil Helper also has wet bags.

Lil Helper 17 zip wet bag Lil Helper 18 drawstring wet bag

Lil Helper 19 filled wet bags

The drawstring wet bag retails for $6, the zipper wet bag retails for $8. Both easily hold 3 diapers and are available in 8 colors.

Overall, I’m very impressed with Lil Helper. They are a great company with great products, a great mission and a fun website and attitude. The diapers and inserts are made with premium materials, but since the shells can be reused with fresh inserts, the overall cost is much lower than similar diapers. See this diaper on my newborn.

Be sure to “like” Lil Helper on Facebook, follow Lil Helper on Twitter and check out the Lil Helper blog.

Giveaway: One winner will receive three Lil Helper Diapers in his/her choice of colors. One Original Cloth (ARV $20), One Bamboo Cloth (ARV $23) and One Charcoal Bamboo Cloth (ARV $26.) Plus 3 additional liners-one of each style (Original ARV $8, Bamboo $9, Charcoal Bamboo $10) and a drawstring wet bag (ARV $6) and zippered wet bag (ARV $8.) The combined retail value of this prize is $110! Entries go in the Rafflecopter form.

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A Merry Fluffy Christmas Winner Winner Chicken Dinner

Merry Fluffy Christmas Winner

MFC winner

345 people entered this giveaway, with 762 entries in all. The winning entry is #5 which is Nicky K-B.

Congrats Nicky, I’m sending you an email so you can claim your prize!

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Cloth Diapering Mailbox Mondays

Cloth Diaper Advice – Mailbox Mondays 12/5/11 – Family Not Supportive of Cloth

family not supportive of #clothdiapers via @chgdiapers

Monday is cloth diaper question day on Change-Diapers.com. Once a week, I publish a reader submitted question, and ask my readers to answer 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.

Stephanie says:

People always judge me for using cloth diapers. My family is not really that supportive of the whole thing. I guess since they all used or are using disposables, they think I should as well. What can I do to convince grandma (and others) to use our cloth stash while babysitting? I already have AIOs for them to use and don’t make them clean poop. I just wish I had some more encouragement close to home…

It’s funny that cloth diaper users are sometimes judged, when it seems we are often accused of judging disposable diaper users!

Most of my family doesn’t live near by, so I actually cloth diapered for nearly two years before my in-laws even realized we used cloth. In fact, I’ve kept the majority of my parenting decisions to myself after fuming over snarky remarks made early on about choices to use Attachment Parenting methods, buy organic foods and so forth.

We don’t have babysitters, so for me it’s easy to address any possible judgement with a shrug and a “who cares what you think” (said in my head of course!)

I find it ridiculous that anyone would have a problem with an AIO cloth diaper, especially if they didn’t have to do a thing with them after they took them off! Disposable diapers should be changed every time they are wet or soiled as well, (even though we all know some people leave them on until they’re sagging) so there’s really no extra work involved for a babysitter to use cloth!

It think sometimes people just can’t get out of the mindset that disposable and/or more expensive products must be better, and you’re just old fashioned (or poor) if you go “old school” with cloth diapers, breastfeeding, making baby food etc.

I don’t know, I don’t get people! So I’m going to ask my readers!

Have you dealt with judgement for using cloth? How did you handle it? Were you able to get family members to come around?

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