Econobum

Dec 29,2009 / By Maria / 4 Comments

>I got this free with an order by using a coupon code. Not a fan.

It consists of a nice prefold. I mean a really nice prefold. Not even in the same neighborhood (or country for that matter) as those Gerber diapers people use as burp cloths. Really.

and an extremely thin, cheap, one size cover. It comes in white only.

The prefold is unbleached cotton, so it had to be “prepped” by washing 3-5 times, which I did. Supposedly, you are able to trifold the prefold, and place it inside, rather than pinning or using a snappi, so that’s what I did.

Leaked instantly! (Probably not fully prepped) I suppose I should give it another chance, but I really don’t care to. I believe the intention is to re-use the cover, only changing the prefold (unless the cover gets really dirty).

At under $10 retail for a set of 1 cover and 1 prefold, this would be a very economical method of diapering, especially if you were to buy just a few, and fill in with plain old (decent) prefolds.

However, I feel that you’d be much better served to buy a few BG 3.0s (approximately 2x the cost of an econobum set), adding to your stash as you could (this is pretty much what I did).

I definitely do not see an econobum lasting through more than one child (I’d be surprised if it lasted more than a few months) nor would I expect it to have any resale value.

I’d definitely put this is the “penny wise, pound foolish” category.

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Pail or no pail

Dec 27,2009 / By Maria / No Comment

>Part of my going with the flow has actually been not using a diaper pail. I went from 3 to 6 to 12 to 15 diapers, so I was/am constantly washing. I was essentially using my washing machine as a diaper pail, which only became a problem when I was doing laundry (pretty much every other day).

When that happened, I just put the diaper sin the utility sink. That’s fine, but it can get a little smelly.

If my husband changes a diaper, he just puts the dirty one there, and I have to fold the laundry tabs and pull the insert.

I’ve been interested in trying a pail liner, probably one with a drawstring, to see if it would fit in my diaper dekor pail. However, since I wash daily, it seems like an extra step. It would work wonderfully if all diapers had their laundry tabs folded in and their inserts removed before being put in the pail, so I could just dump it into the washer and go. Otherwise I’ll be left wading through a dozen stinky diapers to find inserts & tabs. I’d probably still miss one and up with a diaper chain and an insert wadded up inside a diaper.

So the other thought was keeping a wet bag in the laundry room . I wanted to do that anyway so I had a good place to keep dirties after spraying. If I put them all in there, my husband could still just put the rare diaper he changes, into the sink. It’s a short trip to the laundry room, which is outside my kitchen, so it’s really no big deal.

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Smartipants

Dec 25,2009 / By Maria / 4 Comments

>Smartipants is the only company that did not respond to my request to use their images in my “wish list” post.

Still, I was intrigued by the claim that the insert would agitate out in the wash, and it was also the least expensive one size diaper I’ve seen so far.

It’s also the first one I’ve seen that doesn’t come with a doubler.

It has only a single row of snaps, and the insert agitates out because it has more of a “patch” than a pocket. Annoying to stuff for sure.

It was fine, but nothing to write home about. Even the ability to wash without removing the insert doesn’t entice me. If they were all you had, you could just change them & wash them. No tabs to fold over & no insert to pull out. For me, I don’t care. I usually grab the insert with the wipe, then lay it inside the diaper & fold it up. I have to use hand sanitizer after changing a diaper anyway, so who cares.

They’re also only about $3 cheaper than the Bumgenius, but appear to be much cheaper. Don’t forget that they don’t come with a doubler either.

I am realizing how economical the BG 3.0s really are, I just wish they came in more colors and some prints too!

Edit August 2010: This has been in our regular rotation for 8 months and is a favorite. It has held up well, is easy to use and doesn’t leak. It looked basic initially but looks can be deceiving!

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Blueberry bamboo

Dec 24,2009 / By Maria / 6 Comments

>When I had all of my new diapers hanging to dry, my husband picked this one out as the most expensive immediately. I didn’t ask him to choose one, he did it on his own. He said it definitely looked the nicest & felt the softest. It was sooooooo soft inside, I wanted to put my face on it! It wasn’t quite as soft after washing though.

The diaper came with the same cardboard sleeve that the minky diaper with the hemp/microfiber insert had, but it had an outer plastic bag with a “bamboo” sticker. It had a loose doubler like the minky one did.

When I opened it up, the inserts were a really soft material, not at all like the microfiber/hemp ones I received with the minky diaper. The sleeve’s fabric content listing was clearly not accurate, since these were NOT microfiber/hemp.

I couldn’t tell what they were, so I wasn’t sure if they would need to be prepped like hemp. To be on the safe side, I washed them separately 3 times, to ensure any oils were removed, and no oils (if any) were transferred to other diapers or inserts.

I finally found on their website that the inserts are bamboo/cotton velour. Still not sure how to prep them but oh well.

The diaper is really cute. I think it’s actually quite gender neutral, despite being blue.

The other Blueberry diaper I have has velcro closures, which I despise. They stick to every-freaking-thing and it takes super human strength to get them off the dang laundry tabs. Even my husband was surprised by that. So this diaper has snaps.

The inner and outer material, closure and inserts are different, but the two diapers I have are otherwise the same (ha, that sounds ridiculous).

Anyway, same good fit, I didn’t have any trouble with the snaps. I liked that there were two rows of snaps. The Fuzzibunz have a total of 6 snaps to do each time and it’s irritating and confusing.

I can’t imagine anyone who wouldn’t prefer this soft, squishy diaper against their skin instead of paper!

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Cloth Diapering Diaper Sprayers

Foray into Solids

Dec 23,2009 / By Maria / 4 Comments

>

My son has started a little bit of solid food so far. I bid a fond farewell to exclusively breastfed poop, which washes right out and does not need to be rinsed.

When babies are older, you can just flip solids into the potty and wash the diaper as usual.

However, if you have been through solids, whether your baby was cloth or disposable diapered, you will feel my pain here. Sweet potatoes go in and, well, sweet potatoes come out. Only with an even less pleasant consistency.

So what the heck do you do in that gross, in between stage? Well, I’ve heard of quite a few methods. Some people keep a scraper handy and scrape solids into the toilet and/or “dunk and swish” the diaper in the toilet. This makes me shudder for many reasons. One is because of the tablets I use in our toilet tanks to prevent the lovely stain at the water line that reappears hours after I’ve scrubbed the toilet. I don’t want that junk on my toilet! Not to mention putting my hand and his diaper in a cesspool of germs. YUCK! No offense to those who use this method, it’s not for me.

Some people use a diaper sprayer. It’s like a hand held bidet, looks like a hand held shower head kind of. You have to have a flexible hose on your toilet’s water line to attach it. You then hold the diaper in/over the toilet bowl and use the sprayer to blast the poo off.

This works for lots of people. They’re a little spendy, but if you google you can find instructions to make one with parts from a hardware store for about half as much.

I have a lot of concerns about this though. I believe it takes some practice to be able to spray without making a big mess. There is an interesting invention to get around this, but it wouldn’t fit in our tiny half bath.

Which brings me to my next concern. Whatever solution I use, it needs to be on the first floor, since that’s where I change most of my diapers. Our half bath is the bathroom we (including my 4-year old) use most, and the bathroom our guests use. So I am concerned about there being anything smelly, weird looking, or too tempting in there. By that I mean, I don’t want a curious preschool-age guest flooding my house in a “what’s this do” moment. Then there’s always the concern of it failing, since sprayers we have in sinks are not usually under constant pressure.

Which now leads me to my current arrangement. I have a utility sink in my laundry room.

The sink has a pull out sprayer.

It has normal water flow

That turns into a spray when you push the button on top.

We have kind of lame water pressure overall, but it seems to do OK.

Is spraying my dirties off in here gross? It’s not like we’ll be preparing food in here or anything, and doesn’t it all end up in the same place? *shrug* For now, It’s working! Of course this is with my son eating a tablespoon or two of food, when it gets even grosser, I’m sure I’ll have to do some pre-scraping, even if I continue to spray in here!

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