Confession

My biggest fear while pregnant was that Lilly was actually a boy... Why? Because her room was so damn pretty!! Funny enough... 3 1/2 months later... We are STILL not finished! One project left....

Cloth Diapering is thebomb.com

So back in the day when I found out I was preggo I joined this awesome birth club. On there one of the ladies mentioned cloth diapering. At this point I had no job and sat around all day doing nothing so I was kind of the "researcher" of the group. I thought this mama was bat-sh*t cray cray for thinking of doing cloth diapers... EW! Poop! In my WASHING MACHINE?!!! Do I have to touch it?!?! wtf???!!! BUT... I did my duty and found information on it for her.... I read this article and I was HOOKED. WHY DOESN'T EVERYONE DO THIS?!! GAH!! I did out the math and did you know that with the cost of a box of diapers at Babies R Us RIGHT NOW... it would cost about $4,200 to diaper your kidlet til they are 3?!! OMGAHH! And that's not including the cost of wipes! AND WHAT IF YOU HAVE MORE?! Oh my goodness....

*I am noting that all these images are borrowed from a google image search*

Well I became viciously hooked... but which were I going to get? Pockets? AIOs? Prefolds? Prefolds are those age-old things people typically think of when you mention cloth diapers. Uh, no. Not for me. I'm going for ease and convenience. And of course, cute fluff butt. These are prefolds:

 

Very basic... they are held with pins or these weird snappy things and are so stone age and have a cover you have to put over them to make them waterproof and yadda yadda yadda too much work.... but I guess they're good because you can literally make them fit any baby.

 

Other diapers come with snaps and/or Velcro... they are One Size (OS)... these are adjustable they SAY from 8-35 lbs. but Lilly is about 10/11 lbs and is JUST fitting into hers now. They say the fit best at 11 lbs+. For Miss Lilly I bought a newborn (NB) stash... thank god I did! She was such a peanut even these were too small! And it took her forever to move up a size. I bought an All-in-One (AIO) stash for her. And I had to input more because I didn't have enough for how much she was going and I was doing way too much laundry for my liking. These are the little dipes I had for MiniPreemieLilly. They fit her well up until about 3 months! I also have a tiny baby.... I still had a snap setting to move up but she peed too much for them to hold at this point.

 

THX NB AIO:

(THX <--- brand)(NB = Newborn size)(AIO = All-in-one)

 

They come in adorable colors! Yay! Note all the snappage.... the middle bottom snap is to snap down the middle for the umbilical cord as seen below. You can adjust them a few different ways to make them fit your babe.

Snapping down the umbilical cord.

Inside has those awesome Double-Gussets (DG) that hold in the mess really well. I love me some DGs!

 

What is AIO you ask? An AIO dipe is all you need! You just take it, throw it on, and then you're good to go! When you change you take it off and throw on a new one! Easy peasy. I love them but they are a tad more expensive and a tad more rare. And a tad more boring...

 

For my bigger Lilly stash - til the end of potty training I have One Size (OS) Pockets. Pocket dipes are a shell of sorts and then you open the "pocket" which is usually a hole at the top... and you put in an insert. What's great about these is that they come in adorable colors and prints, dry quickly, and you can double-up on inserts if you have a heavy wetter or for overnight sleep stretches... etc. Here are some pocket examples...

 

 

This is the inside of the dipe where you put the insert.

Different type of inserst.

 

Examples of adorable prints!

 

 

Finished product!

 

I love them.

 

THE PROCESS:

 

1. So you take out a dipe from your drawer or bag or whatever... and Stick it on their bum....

 

2. Wait...

 

3. Ew! Poop! Okay so you proceed to change as normal... unsnap, remove diaper... then you clean with a wipe or a cloth wipe... take out a new diaper and put on cream. I use coconut oil on her bum for every day use... (yes the regular kind you get at the grocery store). If it's solid you just warm it between your fingers and apply... if it's gel-liquidyish... then well just throw it on. If she has a rash I use California Baby Diaper Rash Cream. It's CD safe and works like a charm. Snap up the new dipe... send them on their way!

 

4. You proceed to take your diaper and throw it in your pail. REALLY? IS IT THAT EASY?? Yep. I take out my insert before throwing it in but you can do it before your wash too... I decided on this pail and I love it. Inside is a pail liner. I bought cheap ones of amazon but this is a great one. Come in many colors to match your nursery! You want two so when you throw a load in the wash you have one to put right back in the pail...

 

5. Move on with life!

 

6. You realize you're running low on dipes, or your pail is full. Time for laundry! You take the whole kit & caboodle (the pail liner with the dipes in it) and if you're savvy like me you can just take the bottom of your pail liner and shake it into the washing machine so everything falls into the washer. Presto-change... no mess being touched. (Let's get real here though we're moms - we pretty much wear mess as a fashion statement at this point).

 

7. Dipes are in! First you do a rinse (if you're breastfeeding - if you use formula you gotta get the poop out first with a sprayer which is also easy peasy). You can either do that rinse & spin cycle or a full wash cycle with no detergent - up to you. Then I wash on hot/cold with an extra rinse with Tide Original. NO FABRIC SOFTENER!!!! NEVER EVER EVER EVER EVER EVER EVER EVER USE FABRIC SOFTENER!!! FABRIC SOFTENER IS THE DEVIL TO CD FAMILIES!!!!! They will make your diapers repel and then it's like the kid is just peeing without a diaper on. It's a huge tragedy that involves stripping your diapers and a big fiasco you don't even wanna be involved in. Barf. So you do your wash. Then you do a rinse... I always did just the rinse & spin but I started doing a full wash cycle with no detergent to get them realllly nice and rinsed just because that's what I feel like doing so f*ck it, i'm gonna. Then dry them! That's it! Rinse, wash, rinse, dry! Boom... saved yourself $4,200.

 

Did I mention that cloth diapers have an awesome resale value? Sounds gross but it's well-known and accepted in the CD world... As mentioned in the article above she sold her stash for $14 less than what she bought them for... so... $14 to diaper 2 kids or $8,400? Hmm.....

 

If you go out you do the same thing except you have a wet bag or a wet/dry bag you put the diaper in when it's dirty. When you get home you just throw it in the pail. NBD.

 

YOUR WELCOME.



 



My Favorite Baby Products

Hello, Hello!

I wish I didn't suck so much with keeping up with this thing. I really like it! I assume it's the same as exercise... I lose interest quickly. Maybe I shall make a rewards chart for blogging as well? (More about that later)(I'm such a Sped. teacher).

Lilly is now 3 months and a little over a week. She loves talking about doritos, smiling, and chewing on her hands. I'm pretty sure she's teething. She's still breastfeeding like a champ and growing strong. I love her to pieces.

Here's some Lillysmiles for your viewing pleasure.

 

 

 

 

 

Ah I friggin love her.

 

Okay, so for the main event...

 

Being a FTM and now over 3 months in... I have gotten great use out of some many products.... other's not so much. Here is the grand list of my Baby Must-haves!

 

DIAPERING

 

1. Cloth Diapers: Probably my most favorite decision I've made as a parent. I friggin love these things. They are just like disposable diapers (now referred to as sposies) but you reuse them. ICK! I KNOW! OMG POOP IN MY WASHING MACHINE! Mmmmm biatch please... they're amazing. And so cute! All I do is do a rinse cycle (cause breastfeeding is awesome and the baby poop is water soluble) and then a wash with tide, a rinse and then a dry! They are super fab AND... I spent like... $370 for ALL my children rather than.... mmm... $4,200 with today's cost of diapers. And that's if they potty train by 3. And NO.... I never have to touch the poop. Silly!

 

I will go in depth in a separate post - complete with pictures!

 

2. California Baby Diaper Rash Cream: Cloth diaper safe, natural, and cleans up her rash SO quick. I now have 3 bottles at my house. Holler!

 

3. Cloth Wipes (and huggies vs. pampers): It just makes sense when you are cloth diapering.... you just throw them in the diaper and into the pail as you would a sposie in a trash can. Then you just dump them all in the wash together. No buying wipes? I'll take it! (A better description will go in the cloth diaper post)

 

I do use wipes when I go out in public for my diaper bag... I love huggies! I like the texture and how they feel... pampers feel weird almost scratchy to me... Idk I don't like em... but that's just me.

 

 

GEAR

 

1. Baby Jogger City Mini: Best. Stroller. Ever. One handed turning! Reclines all the way! Able to go jogging! The straps are very easily adjustable and it can grow with you! Did I mention the ONE HANDED FOLD! And it's super light. Lies completely flat! Yay! This was the one thing I was super snob about. I HAD TO HAVE IT. My bff had her youngin' almost exactly a year before I had Lilly... the one who spiked my baby fever! I watched her use her City Mini for a year while I lusted and drooled. Then I got my own! OMG I looooove it!  I went with the car seat adapter for my Graco Snugride Car seat since it was the same price as the Graco click-n-go option.... I felt I made the right decision. I liked only having to worry about one car seat... plus Lilly is already sitting in the stroller without the car seat since she HATES her car seat (Lil Miss Fussybutt). I also have the parent console which I love just as much as the stroller... and I will get the child tray and possibly the cooler (for hubs lol) when the time comes.

 

2. Infant Optics Monitor: Love this thing! It was SO affordable and works like a charm. It's a video monitor that has the option of shutting off the sound til she makes noise... I like it because you know she's quiet if the sound is off and you aren't wondering... did she make a noise? did I hear something?... you can also shut it off entirely and the video will come on if she makes a noise if you need to save battery. It has great range... is able to adjust in a ton of directions. It's great! Did I mention affordable?

 

3. SnugGlide Infant Car Seat Swing Frame: We plug her car seat into the swing while we get ready before we head out and she's almost always asleep before we leave. Seriously, most genius invention ever. It's wonderful.

 

BATHTIME

 

 1. Whale of a Tub: She loves it. She's a little jumping bean in there. I like that there's no cloth or crap that needs to dry and get will get moldy... fits in my huge sink and drains easily. Had I known there was a pink one I prob woulda went for it haha.

 

SLEEP

 

1. Rock N' Play: My godsend. It's this portable elevated piece of awesome that got my 1 month old to sleep through the night. We started bedtime routine on her first birthday... she slept 5 hrs straight. 8 hours by the end of the week and is now dropped her night time feeding at 3 months old. She is usually down by 7 and sleeps til about 6-8 a.m. Praise Jeebus.

 

2. Twilight Turtle: I can change her by the light of this... and it puts awesome actual constellations on her ceiling!! Love it... can shine in 3 colors. I give 5 stars to anything that that contributes to her sleeping through the night... We have the purple one to match her room :o)

 

3. Graco Sweet Slumber Sleep Machine: She sleeps by the sound of the waves every night. "Nuf said.

 

4. SwaddleMe: These we have a love-hate relationship with. The swaddling is amazing and is what makes her sleep but she can weasel her way outta these so it's kind of a PITA. It used to wake her up when she wriggled out... she'd have a hand flapping free at the bottom or her hand will be out the top and she's suck on her fingers waking herself up.... but being so affordable... it's great. I've tried the Miracle Blanket and that thing sucks. I've heard great things but it was awful. I was going to try the halo sleepsack swaddle but decided against it since we did not have much time left... We tried SwaddleMe's smallest version the SwaddlePod which is a lot like the Woombie... and it provides too much movement for her liking... so SwasddleMe it is! You can do it nice and tight but if your LO wakes up a bunch it will stretch out kinda and sometimes I ended up needing a new one by the end of the night.... So it's kind of a PITA but like I said.... sleeps through the night.

 

5. Johnson's Lavender Lotion: We use it before bed and sleepy sleepy.

 

CARRIERS

 

1. Boba: It's great! Quick and easy to put on.... We haven't used it much since she's in a phase where she doesn't like carriers of any sort... but Hubs can't wait til she's big enough to be in the backpack part!

 

2. Moby: Love it! Lilly looooved being in it when she was little and she would sleep and sleep and sleep! I could do anything! Clean the house, go shopping, groceries, cook! It was great. Sometimes it was the only way I could get anything done. Now she's not too big of a fan but I plan on using it more so she will be used to it again.

 

3. Seven Slings: Loved mine! I hear a lot of bad reviews but I liked mine a lot... I made my own version with different fabric and gave mine to a friend... I hope to be in production soon!

 

FEEDING:

 

1. Medela Double Electric Pump (vs. Ameda Purely Yours): I love my Medela! Mainly because I got a bunch of extra parts from the hospital meaning I didn't have to wash mine as much. I love that it has a let-down button and that you can adjust the whole thing with one knob.... the Ameda doesn't have either of those. Also, the flanges separate from the bottle/pump system thing so I can put it in to my homemade ghetto pumping bra.... the Ameda also does not have that. Ameda did the job though! Just not as convenient. Medela has a cool bag too.

 

**PSA - DID YOU KNOW YOU CAN GET A BREASTPUMP FOR FREE!!!???*** Call your health insurance! Ask about the free breast pump through the affordable care act!

 

2. Boppy: Well, Duh. Also great for sleeping... I just lay on my side and stick my shoulder in the circle. ZzzzZZzzz...

 

There you go! Over and Out.