Just What I've Been Looking For

I am just so excited to write about what I found at that store today!  I've been thinking about an easier way to take care of messy diapers.  You can get a shower head to hook to your toilet, but I feel like that will splatter everywhere...You can also just use a spatula (which is what we were planning on doing,) but it does sound a little weird.  While I was brainstorming, I said to myself, "Self, what if there was a liner on the inside surface of the diaper that I could unsnap and lift off the diaper in order to make clean up easier?"  I thought I was a pretty smart for thinking of that, but then if the snap was covered it'd be super gross to try and unsnap it.  Plus, it's just one more thing you need to wash.  So, today at the store I found exactly what I've been looking for.  I'm so glad someone invented it!  They are...biodegradable liners!  The texture is kind of a mix between a dryer sheet and toilet paper.  They're pretty sturdy - so it doesn't break when you pick it up or dump it off - but it's also very soft.  They come in a few different sizes and brands.  The ones I found were made by GroVia, Bummis, and Imse Vimse.

You simply rip a sheet off the roll and put it on top of the inside surface of the diaper.  Then, when the diaper needs changing, you peel off the liner, throw it into the toilet, and flush!  There might be a little excess mess that needs to be cleaned off the diaper itself, but it sure beats scraping/spraying it all off (in my opinion).

You can buy a roll of 100 sheets for $6-$12.  GroVia seems to be the best deal with the nicest texture.  I can't wait to actually speak from experience after trying these!

New Find!

So today I happened to come upon an adorable cloth diaper store downtown.  Even though we have already chosen Rumparooz One-Size Diapers, I just keep looking at every possibility, to make sure we picked the one that best suites us.  I've been looking into the hybrid diapers like GroVia and gdiapers because I like that they have biodegradable options.  But, like I stated in my previous post, that route is simply too expensive!

I've been thinking it would be easier if you didn't have to stuff the insert in to the pocket of diaper.  I know you can do this with pre-folds and covers, but that was not quite what I was looking for.  Today I found that GroVia makes a diaper that looks like a cover, but you snap the insert on top instead of putting it in a pocket.  It's basically like putting an already-folded pre-fold into a cover.  The snaps help it from moving around and getting bunched up.  One GroVia diaper (including the inserts) costs $24.95.  If you just buy the outer shell, it's $16.95, and one set of 2 inserts costs $16.95.  They aren't the cheapest diaper, but they are very easy to take care of. 

BumGenius also makes a similar diaper called the Flip.  It is almost exactly the same except it doesn't snap down to the cover.  It does have a small flap on both ends to put the insert under to help it stay in place.  They supposedly catch everything, so you don't have to wash the outer cover as frequently - definite plus!

Aren't these such a great idea?!  Both of these diapers are a One-Size Diaper, which means they have several adjustable snaps (GroVia has velcro at the top), to adapt to your baby from birth to potty-trained.  

If anyone has tried these, I'd love to hear how you like them!

 

Hybrid Diapers

The other day, a friend and I were in Babies R' Us, looking at how much regular disposable diapers cost.  Then I found biodegradable inserts and covers.  They were made by gdiapers.  Now, I am fully on board with cloth, but I had to check these "hybrid" diapers out.  They are similar to pre-folds because you buy tons of inserts and a good amount of covers.  The gdiapers covers are $16.99 for one, and they come in specific sizes.  They are slightly adjustable around the waist, but it is most like a diaper cover or a perfect size diaper - you have to buy multiple sizes to go from newborn to potty-trained. 

Then you have the biodegradable inserts.  They are very appealing because you can flush them, but they are not appealing to the wallet.  One bulk size of 128 medium inserts costs $52.  If a baby needs to be changed 10x/day, then a box of these refills will last approximately 13 days.  Therefore, you would need about 2 packages to get through each month, spending over $100 PER MONTH on just the refills!  Not to mention buying about 20-30 covers before they are potty trained.  

If your main concern is being earth-friendly, then by all means, use this style of diaper over the typical disposable.  But, if you are looking to be earth-friendly AND cost efficient, this isn't the best option.

gdiapers covers and refills 

       

GroVia is another brand that makes hybrid/biodegradable liners.  Their costs are almost exactly the same.

Newborn Cloth Diapers

We registered for 20, One-Size Rumparooz diapers. We are not completely sure if we will be able to use them right away because they might cover up the baby's belly button, which needs to be exposed in order for the umbilical cord to fall off. However, the diapers are made to fit babies as little at 6 pounds, so once the cord does fall off they should fit perfect. If the umbilical cord is an issue with the Rumparooz, we will just buy a box of newborn disposables to use for the first week.

Many cloth diaper brands have a diaper designed for newborns and their cord. The Rumparooz brand is called a "Lil' Joey." Cute name huh?  Kissables is another brand that makes  newborn cloth diapers. We decided not to invest in any since we would only be using them for about a week. I have a friend who purchased 4 Kissables, so I can't wait to see how she likes them =)  Below is a picture of the Lil' Joey's.  The kissables look exactly like them, but I can't find a picture!

                                                             

                                   

Diaper Details

I thought I would share what exactly the Rumparooz are like. They are actually made by Kangacare, which is a company that makes all sorts of diapers and accessories. Below, I've included the official description of the Rumparooz. They come in all sorts of colors and prints - I chose a few of my favorites to show you =) If you'd like to read more about the other products made by Kangacare, visit kanga-care.com.

The Rump•a•rooz® Onesize Cloth Diaper has 4 sizes which are adjustable by the rise snaps on the front of the diaper. The Rump•a•rooz® is the first onesize diaper that starts fitting at 6 lbs, no more waiting for your newborn to put on a few pounds before wearing cloth diapers! Available in both Snap and Aplix (Velcro) closure, the Rump•a•rooz® are a pocket diaper system. Each diaper comes with a "6•r soaker" which has 6 absorbency and size setting to best customize the fit and function of the Rumparooz for your child. The 6•r soaker is inserted in the pocket opening on the inside of the Rump•a•rooz® to make the diaper absorbent. The Rump•a•rooz® diaper itself is made of a PUL (1000 thread count polyester interlock knit with a urethane laminate) which is waterproof. The inside of the diaper, which lies against baby's skin, is a scrumptiously soft microchamois which is 100% hypo-allergenic and no-pill.






Recycle... Reduce... Reuse... Rump•a•rooz®
*NEW* G2 Design!

Rumparooz

When we got to the store, I told the lady that we were really leaning toward FuzziBunz, but wanted to see other One-Size diapers as well. She showed us a brand called Rumparooz. I had seen the name online before, but never looked into them. Turns out, those are the ones we liked the best! They are almost exactly the same as FuzziBunz, but they have a different way of snapping that allows you to fold up the diaper to fit them better when they are smaller. We also liked their inserts better. The smaller insert is contoured for a more comfortable fit for newborns, and the larger insert covers the whole entire diaper and is much more absorbent. They also make it so you can snap the two inserts together for more protection if they are a heavy wetter. And finally, the part my husband loved the most, is the double gusset inside the diaper. This is designed to hold everything in and make the clean up a lot easier.

Cloth Diaper Winners

After months of research, we have chosen a cloth diaper! My husband and I went to a small cloth diaper store where the owner gave us a hands-on tutorial on all of the different diapers. Before going there, I read all about the different types of cloth diapers - All in One's, Prefolds, Fitted, One-Size, etc. I was pretty overwhelmed when I started because all I knew was that they were more eco-friendly and supposedly a money saver. While we are looking to save money, we are also looking for an easy option. We have had a lot of people try to discourage us from using cloth and we knew that if we were going to do it, we were going to do it the convenient way. Yes, you can save more money upfront with certain styles such as pre-folds and covers, but we are looking for the long-term, multi-kid savings.

We decided that the One-Size diaper would probably be the best fit for us. It has several combinations of ways to fasten the diaper to the size of your newborn all the way up until they are potty trained. By not buying several sizes, we would only have to get a total of about 20 diapers as opposed to 20 diapers of 2-3 different sizes. I mostly researched Happy Heinys, BumGenius, Smartipants and FuzziBunz. I read a lot of reviews that said any type of velcro did not last near as long as snaps. I liked FuzziBunz the best because of the way they snapped, the adjustable elastic in the legs, and the overall, positive reviews.