Diapers- We are a hybrid breed!

*note- while I enjoy telling you my spectacle of life there is one issue- tending to the baby. He is highly curious and when mama is away for a minute he wants to see what I am doing so this blog was started about two weeks ago. Annnnnnndddddd. . . Go!*
While I spend my Saturday at home trying my best to wash a George Foreman grill that I am pretty sure I have destroyed. (Hey buddy, we got four good years out of you) I think about the baby shower that I am presently missing.

I love baby showers! Even though I could not go to my own I still enjoy seeing the happy people and the mother. . .so full of hope! I then begin to think about how some cultures do NOTHING for the pregnant woman but after she drops that kid she is SHOWERED with love, gifts and people to come over and clean the house and cook meals. . . Now I will take that!!! We are just obsessed with parties with cake I am beginning to believe anytime you now have divorce parties.

Now, I will tell you a secret. . . I like making a diaper cake. You know, a cake made out of diapers that the mama can use once the little one is here. . .

This is not my work of art btw.

I first made one with a sister in law for another sister in law shower. Since then I have done one other but if I have the space and means I can make a mean diaper cake complete with added baby toys and bottles inside. This shower was different because she did not want the throw away diapers. . . she wanted cloth diapers. She is going to attempt total cloth diapers. Now, this is slightly foreign to me but I give her much props on the matter. I knew we were going to be the hybrid couple that did both disposable and cloth diapers so let me give you the info I have on both.

Disposables- Our Go-to!

   We are currently using Pampers Swaddlers size 2 on our little man. I have actually used the Baby Dry which does NOT have the strip that tells you when the baby pee'd. The Baby Dry are actually pretty good in the evening when we are less likely to change him and try to not disturb his sleep. We have Huggies Natural Care but they are in sizes 3 and 5. I even accidentally bought an extra box to add to what I got from the baby shower. I tell you if you are ever going to a baby shower if I have not said this already I will say it again- BUY SOME DIAPERS!!! One month since our young son was born we never bought diapers and when I bought a small pack to get us over until hubby got paid oh my oh my! Twenty diapers were $10! OUCH!!!! Buy in bulk, don't buy the baby newborn diapers because they will be out of them either by the time they are born or within two weeks. Now, I hear some of you new moms rolling your eyes and pregnant women looking like, "Is that it?" No, there is something called "Blow outs" that all parents detest. Now, depending on how bad the blow out is I don't know of any diaper on the market that can stop all blowouts. We have had some with the Pampers and yes it got on his clothes and yes mommy was naughty and forgot to get him some back up clothes. (Good thing because we went to Old Navy and got him the cutest clothes on sale!) The only diapers that I know of that actually took a good beating and no poopie on the clothes were. . . *drum roll* Target Up and Up diapers! Yes, the store bought diapers were the tough agent. I don't know why I didn't buy a huge amount of those. I think I like cleaning up his poop off his back or something. Now, my mother in law uses them and instead of cleaning him off well and changing his clothes she leaves him in them until I get home. But he usually does it right before I get home so I get to cleaning him once I am home and THEN get to cooking dinner. ERG! 

Cloth, Pre-folds- Our Weekend Machine!

   Jonathan's room looks pretty bulky with a diaper pail for his disposables and his diaper hamper for his cloth diapers. OMG! I LOVE CLOTH DIAPERS!!

*insert picture here*

We are saving just a small amount of money in the whole scheme of things since it is only on the weekends and when either of us is not at work. I like them honestly because they are fashionable! I can't wait for my son to wear them in the summer when he is running around with no clothes on and just his diaper. LOL!!! I actually want to buy more for that reason. On trips we will take the cloth diapers and wet bags with us so we can spend less money on diapers on the trip but this is if we are taking a car trip though. I have a problem though with using oxy clean and soaking the diaper and insert for about ten minutes in hot water then washing them but I hope it does not cause a problem but it gets all the poop out. We got the expensive yet effective Bum Genius diapers but other moms I have spoken with also like the economically better Kawaii diapers. They are actually more stylish than the Bum Genius so I might just get those later on as I want to eventually get Jonathan on cloth diapers instead of the disposables- less trips to the garbage and it gets pretty cold in Chicago. It is enough that we have to take out the trash now we have to do more trips to throw away the trash and the diaper pail bags. If I can figure out a system for my mother-in-law and get her on board I will be shipping the rest of my disposable diapers to various ladies.

1. No, the pee and poop does not go through the diaper. Being lined with polyester I believe and having an insert in the diaper to absorb all the pee and poop does not make it an issue. (unless you are using diaper cream on the baby AND cloth diapers.)

2. How to get poop out. I personally rinse out the diaper and the insert in cold water first then soak the diaper in hot water. The standard way is to use a sprayer over the toilet but I think that is for when the baby is older and eating solid foods because my baby ain't doing that yet!

3. Of course it is nasty- when it ain't your child but hey, isn't changing their disposable diapers nasty too?

4. I have not had a mess issue yet with blowouts when it comes to the cloth diapers. Hence the reason we want to try and use them all the time!

Brands ( I hope I get all of them)

- Gerber (these are the ones you have to fold up, no cover unless you create one. Savvy DIY woman you!)

- Bum Genius (the cadillac of modern day cloth diapers. Highly rated!)

- Flip ( They look like Bum Genius but the niche with this brand is that they have inserts- organic, stay dry and disposable. This most likely would have been perfect for our little hybrid family!)

- Econobum

- Fuzzibunz (I know a mom who uses this brand and she loves them!)

- Charlie Banana (another popular brand. One or two of the moms in the mommy and me group have used it. No complaints.)

- Kawaii (Another mommy from the mommy and me group swears by these! Also a heck of a lot cheaper than Bum Genius!)

- g Diapers (You can purchase these at Babies R Us. I don't think they are too economically sound because the inserts and covers are purchased by size and not adjustable like the other diapers I am mentioning.)

- Hemp Babies ( Not too sure about these but if you are Super Vegan these might be right up your alley.)

- Royal Fluff ( I have two of their diapers. I love them! Of course I may ruin them because I wash them as if they were Bum Genius diapers which are slightly higher quality.)

- Jungle Roo (not sure at all about these. They are in the same category with Royal Fluff since zulily sells them together.)

* note- Bum Genius, Flip, Econobum and Hemp Babies are from the same company*

Most of these diapers you can purchase through the internet sadly unless you are like a cool, hip mama to be like my buddy in Racine, WI where they have a cloth diaper store. I have yet to find one here in Chicago and when I do you will be the first to know! gDiapers are stocked in the Babies R Us stores so if you want to try them out go for it! I purchase my diapers through zulily when they have sales (check my fb page as I post when they are selling cloth diapers- they usually have pretty good deals but they take FOREVER to get to your house!) I buy my diapers at cottonbabies.com and when I get to buying those Kawaii diapers I am hitting up amazon.com and eBay.com. Go forth and seek your diaper destiny!