Diaper Update

Yes my life is that exciting right now that I need to post a diaper update, lol. My original diaper post was all about the various diapers we had tried and which we were using for different times, etc. I'd like to update with a couple of new reviews.

Before I get into the diaper talk, I'd like to talk about wipes for a minute. Since the beginning, we've used Seventh Generation wipes... good for the heiny, good for the environment. I even subscribed to auto-ship from Amazon.com. They are good wipes and we haven't had a problem with them, unless you consider how much we go through. They are a little smaller than other wipes we've tried and I end up using way too many for each diaper change. I bought Huggies Natural Care wipes in a pinch when I ran out one time (and I can't get the Seventh Generation ones in town). They are good-sized, thick and always nice and moist. I've only used them sparingly so I haven't noticed any issues with them and Connor's bum. Then while at Target one day I needed some wipes for the diaper bag and decided to try Target brand's unscented wipes. These are also good-sized, moist and have a texture to them to help clean the bum better, and they're cotton. Yes it'd be better if they were organic cotton (since cotton is the dirtiest crop when it comes to pesticides), but I can let that slide. They're a better value overall...good quality, cheaper price (plus 5% off with my Red Card)... so I'm making a switch and hopefully will save some money. I may even consider doing cloth wipes in the near future...

Ok, diaper time.

Let's talk gDiapers first. We were using these at night and when out and about when Connor was in the size small. Then we moved up to the mediums and Connor would leak at night sometimes. Not to mention I was trying to change him less at night when possible so as to not fully waken him. These no longer work for night time. So we would use them when we left the house or when I was behind on diaper laundry, but I find my self using them less and less now. I would definitely prefer these over disposables, which we have greatly diminished our use of, but the cost of the refills for these are more than I care to spend right now... so I won't be buying anymore refills on these and will just use up what I have. I may use them in the future from time to time if I get a coupon for the refills, as I do prefer these to the disposables.

As for disposables, we still use Huggies Pure & Natural when we use them but I'm happy to say we are using them much more infrequently. Once we could no longer use gDiapers at night, I was using these primarily and only needed to make about 2-3 changes a night (previously I was changing him every time he got up to eat which sometimes was every 2 hours). I don't like the fact that I sometimes find bits of the gel/crystals from the diaper on Connor's skin when I changed him, but it didn't seem to cause any actual skin issues.

I'm so over buying disposable diapers though when I wanted to save money by using cloth diapers.

I really like the Bambino Mio pre-folds & covers and we use these during the day pretty much all the time now, even if we have to leave the house. I bought a couple Planetwise wet bags (which I love) for when we're out and about. The pre-fold are super absorbent and I only recently started having some leakage issues but it was because it was time to move up in size. I like that they'e 100% cotton so they're nice to Connor's sensitive skin. The velcro is super strong and holing up well, and helps make for faster diaper changes. Some things I have learned now that I've been using them...I bought one too many packs of smalls. I thought I'd need three to keep me from doing laundry every day, but two would've been enough. Though I will say that having the extra has come in handy when I can't get the laundry done in time. I'm glad I only got two packs of the bigger ones though since I'm not using the them night. I've decided they wouldn't work at night as Connor doesn't like to be wet (who would?) and he feels the wetness in these (hopefully that'll help with early potty training!), plus I'm not convinced they would last  very long at night without leaking and it's harder to double the pre-folds as they're pretty thick already. This is why we were using Huggies at night. Then I was talking to a friend who also uses cloth diapers but got a variety to see which she would like before investing a lot in one brand (almost wish I'd done this instead) and said that she uses BumGenious at night and they work great, no leaks. So I went to diapers.com (one of my new favorite sites and they're sister sites are great too) and ordered a couple BumGenious 4.0 one-size pocket diapers. I originally though I wouldn't like/want pocket diapers and that it'd be cheaper to go with the pre-folds.... but now I realize that's not going to be the case as I have to buy more covers in bigger sizes as Connor grows... oh well, at least they're good quality :). So back to the BumGenious diapers... we gave them a try and turns out, I love them! At least for nighttime. I don't think I'd like to deal with a poopy one but we'll see how it goes. I like that the material close to Connor's skin wicks away the moisture so he doesn't feel it and with doubling the inserts, I can get away with only one diaper change at night while he's still getting up to eat a lot and then they should make it all night once he's up less. It's also a big plus that I won't have to buy bigger sizes as he gets older and right now the larger insert gets folded a little on one end so I put that part in the front where most of the wetness goes for him. I also tried a Charlie Banana pocket diaper since Target is now carrying them in-store. They are softer than BumGenious, the fit is trimmer, but the inserts are so thick you can't really double and I ended up with a leak. So instead of buying that third pack of the larger pre-folds and instead of continuing to buy Huggies, I bought more BumGenious! Hopefully now our disposable use will be only when we take trips away from home and won't have laundry access. As for the the Bambino Mios... I will continue to use them throughout the day. Connor is wearing mediums right now which uses the larger insert and those go up to 21 pounds. When he grows out of them I'll see how many diapers he dirties in a day and see how many of the large covers he'll need. Glad I didn't buy a ton of those already since we may need less :).

I also went to the Great Cloth Diaper Change event held here in town back in April and one of the freebies in the goody bag was a coupon for Modern Cloth which is a great website for cloth diapers (and they just opened a storefront in Charleston, SC). I wish I knew about them earlier as they offer newborn diaper rentals and cloth diaper trials so you can try different brands to see which fit and which you like best. Oh well, I ordered more BumGenious from them as they were buy 5 get 1 FREE :). They have great customer service too and I highly recommend them!

I think I'm finally in a groove with cloth diapering and am so glad we chose to do it!