Rumparooz Lil Joey Newborn Cloth Diaper Review

Jul 14,2011 / By Maria / 22 Comments

Rumparooz Lil Joeys are eeny-teeny, snap closure AIO newborn diapers. They are sold in 2-packs for $29.95. Most retailers sell them in packs of 2 of the same color, but Diaper Junction (affiliate link) allows you to choose two different colors.

It was hard to choose from 12 colors and 6 prints, but I chose lazy lime and platinum.

These are some of the tiniest newborn diapers I have seen, plus they have an umbilical cord snap down. I’d expect them to fit all but the smallest babies. They are estimated to fit from preemie/4 lbs up to 6 months/12 lbs.

They are smaller than even the smallest setting of the Rumparooz one-size diapers.

The umbilical cord snap down can of course be used unsnapped as well!

The inner is super soft, with the same gussets the one-size has. It’s much narrower to fit tiny babies without added bulk.

The sewn in soaker does make the diaper a bit on the fluffy side!

Here are the measurements (folded and stretched with the snap down snapped and unsnapped):

My model for now:

In a preemie disposable and the Rumparooz snapped down:

Newborn disposable and the Rumparooz unsnapped:

It even fits around his tiny chicken legs.

Naturally, my model isn’t a heavy wetter, so I can’t speak on the absorbency. I actually think this would be a great diaper for the newborn baby photo ops. There are so many colors available and they are just so.darn.cute. At under $15 each, they’re also not the most expensive newborn diapers out there. See this on my newborn.

FTC compliance: I paid normal retail prices for the above items. I was not compensated for this post and all opinions are my own. This review is not sponsored, endorsed or approved by any cloth diaper company or retailer.

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Buzz Away Extreme Natural Insect Repellent Review (and my Mommy Fail)

Jul 13,2011 / By Maria / 9 Comments

I have been meaning to buy some natural insect repellent for the kids for like, forever. But I didn’t. I’m not completely sure why. Mostly because it’s expensive, and I was afraid to pay $10+ for something that wouldn’t work. So what finally pushed me over the edge? Feeling like a total loser of a Mommy when my son was eaten to bits. He’s apparently extra tasty (or it might just be that he’s a messy eater and usually covered in food of some sort!)

On Wednesday the 29th, we were outside playing before bedtime. As we were coming inside, we noticed an enormous lump on my son’s temple area, along with a tiny bug bite on the corner of his eye. I was about 2 feet from him when he was bitten because I told him not to rub his eyes when he had sand on his hands! 🙁 I didn’t take a picture because I didn’t think much of it, but this is what he looked like Thursday morning (you can see a little remaining redness on his temple and the other bite near his eye):

It got worse as the day went on, and this is what he looked like by the evening (to add fail to fail, he got another bug bite above his eyebrow in the morning, just before we went to buy the bug spray!):

I actually had two people at swim lessons ask me what happened because he was so swollen! I’m not one to rush off to the doctor, but I did call Thursday afternoon. The nurse told me to expect more swelling, to call if it wasn’t better by Friday, or got better then worse. She also said that I could give him some Benadryl to help with the itching. We had some dye free generic Benadryl from when my daughter had an allergic reaction, so she gave me the dosage and I planned to give it to him before bed in case it made him tired. (It ended up making him crabby, but didn’t make him sleepy, LOL.)

Here was my poor boy before bed:

Well the nurse wasn’t kidding when she said expect it to be worse in the morning! Look at him on Friday morning. 🙁

Thankfully by Friday evening he was just about back to normal:

I chose Buzz Away Extreme because (drumroll please) it was the only bug spray at the organic store! LOL

It really does have natural ingredients. Active ingredients of the Buzz Away Extreme DEET Free Insect repellent are: Castor Oil (8%), Geranium Oil (6%), Soybean Oil (3%), Cedarwood Oil (1.5%), Citronella Oil (1%), Peppermint Oil (0.5%) and Lemongrass Oil (.25%). Inert ingredients (79.75% total) are Purified Water, Palm Oil, Glycerin, Lecithin, Sodium Bicarbonate (baking soda), Citric Acid, Sodium Benzoate (a preservative that is naturally occurring in some foods and chemically produced and added to foods & cosmetics) and wintergreen oil.

It smells like a citronella candle. Not my favorite, but tolerable (except when you apply it, then drive in a car with closed windows, pee-yew!) A little goes a long way (it was $9.99 for a 4 ounce bottle) and it does seem to work. It even kept gnats away. My son has gotten one more bug bite since we bought it, and that’s because I didn’t put it on him (le sigh, when will I stop with the mommy fails?)

If I come across another natural bug spray, I will definitely try it, but for now, this is just fine!

Have you found a great natural bug spray, or do you have a home remedy that works to keep them away?

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Winner Winner Chicken Dinner

Smartipants Little Smarti Newborn Cloth Diaper Winner

Jul 12,2011 / By Maria / No Comment

201 people entered this giveaway, with 351 entries in all. The winning entry is #207, which is Carrie (just Carrie, no initial!)

Congratulations Carrie, I’m sending you an email so you can claim your prize!

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Bummis Swimmi Review Update & Giveaway (CLOSED 7/19) U.S./CAN

Jul 12,2011 / By Maria / 11 Comments

It’s been over a year since I posted my Bummis Swimmi review! I actually bought it the winter before when I thought we were going to do YMCA swim lessons, but we ended up not. I bought the turtle print then since it’s hard to come by a swim diaper in the winter, but I really loved the clownfish print. We call this “the fishy diaper” in our house, but there’s actually another print called fishy!

I hadn’t actually tried the medium diaper from last year on my son, but I assumed he’d need a new one since he’s over 23 pounds now and the medium is supposed to fit 15-22 pounds. I figured it wouldn’t hurt to have a spare anyway!

Like most swim diapers, the swimmi isn’t absorbent, it’s just intended to catch, ahem, messes before they make it into the pool. Unlike an unstuffed pocket, the swimmi will allow the water to flow through, so your child won’t be waterlogged with a gallon of water in their diaper! The mesh inner is quite soft, and the Velcro closures are really easy to use. There are no laundry tabs, but I just close the diaper up to wash it and it works just fine.

No surprise, the large is a bit bigger than the medium! The small is estimated to fit 9-15 lbs, medium 15-22 lbs, large 22-30 lbs and x-large 30+.

Here is the medium (turtle print) and large (clownfish print) measured folded and stretched:

Here’s my son at around 23 1/2-ish pounds and 25 months old in the medium. This is what it looks like at more than a year old, just some pilling. Sorry, my guy is not exactly a willing model anymore so the photos are pretty so-so!

It still fits him really well, and he’ll get a lot of use out of it! Of course, if your child is close to the top of the weight range (or over, like mine is!) it makes sense to buy the next size up to get more use out of it. Even with a little extra “junk” (fabric) “in the trunk” it’s quite trim under a bathing suit.

Here is is (same day) in the large:

Using a Velcro closure swim diaper with no swimsuit (on a baby who has discovered the joys of riiipppping Velcro) might lead to some streaking, but it’s really easy to use and works great under a swimsuit, or on a smaller baby alone.

Giveaway: I am offering one Bummis Swimmi to a reader in his/her choice of size and print (subject to availability, I reserve the right to make substitutions.) ARV $14.50.

Here’s how to enter: All entries go in the form below. I love comments (great way to remind yourself you entered) but comments do not count as entries. One entry per person please (not per day.) If other members of your household enter, I ask that they enter for themselves and that you do not enter on anyone else’s behalf.

Mandatory entries include your name and email address.

You may receive a bonus entry if you “like” The Change-Diapers Fan Page.

I will accept entries until Tuesday, July 19th, 2011 at 9:00 P.M. Eastern. I will select a winner using random.org’s true random number generator and notify him/her by email. Winner has 48 hours to respond before the prize is forfeited and a new winner is chosen. View my giveaway rules page for complete details. This giveaway is open to residents of the U.S. and Canada.

# of entries received as of giveaway close: 229

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FTC compliance: I paid normal retail prices for the above items. I was not compensated for this post and all opinions are my own. This giveaway is not sponsored, endorsed or approved by any cloth diaper company or retailer.

Disclosure: This giveaway is not sponsored, endorsed or administered by, nor associated with Facebook. By entering, you release Facebook from any responsibility and understand that the information entered on this form will not be disclosed to Facebook.

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Cloth Diaper Advice – Mailbox Mondays 7/11/11 – Black Spots on Diapers & Cover for Fitteds

Jul 11,2011 / By Maria / 8 Comments

Do you have cloth diaper issues? On Mondays, I answer reader submitted questions, and ask my readers to weigh in as well.

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.

Sarah says:

I am puzzled at what this is and why I started getting them. Little black dots in some of the diapers. Not like a stain, but just little black dots. What is this and how can I get rid of it?! It just started in the past month or so. My diapers are in such good condition besides this. I would send a picture but I am not sure how using this form. Thanks!

Sarah

Hi Sarah. It’s hard to say without seeing them, but the first thing that comes to mind is mildew.

Is it all of your diapers or just some? Is it on the inserts and diapers, or just the inserts? How often are you washing? What is your wash routine? How are you drying the diapers?

I’d suggest washing no more than every 2-3 days, consider keeping your pail or wet bag open, use hot water to wash (I’m sure you already do!) and make sure the diapers get dry fairly quickly. Hang (or lay) them in the sun if you can. If you have a bathroom that won’t get steamy while you’re drying the diapers, consider hanging them in there so you can turn the exhaust fan on to remove humidity from the air.

Has anyone else experienced back dots on their diapers? What was it? How did you get rid of it?

Laurie says:

Maria,

I have recently started using fitteds with covers as the overnight diapering solution for my one year old daughter. I bought two Mother-Ease one size fitteds with an air-flow cover and they work great. I also bought a Kissaluvs size 2 fitted which I love. However, I didn’t buy a Marvels diaper cover–I assumed the Mother-Ease cover would work over the Kissaluv fitted. It really doesn’t. Neither does an unstuffed Bum Genius or Econobum cover. The Kissaluv fitted is awesome for absorbancy and softness, so I don’t want to give up on it. Any thoughts on what cover (or unstuffed pocket) has the widest dimensions to cover any potential fitteds I might use?

It seems like the trend in cloth diaper covers is to make them trim, for use as an all-in-two system with inserts or trifolded prefolds (like the Econobum.) However, this means they don’t really work well over fluffier fitted diapers.

The most generously sized PUL cover I’ve used is definitely the Smartipants Smart-Fit Cover. I was able to fit it over my fluffiest fitted diaper with ease (see the last three pictures in that review!) The Thirsties Duo Wraps and Thirsties Covers as well as the Bummis Super Whisper Wrap seem to have a more generous cut to fit over fitted diapers.

For night time, I highly recommend a wool cover. They are breathable, have some stretch and give to them, and fit very well over fitted diapers!

I know there are fitted mamas out there, what is your favorite cover to use over a fitted diaper?

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