Where did my diapers go!?

I have found that there is a magical place, like the place where those missing socks go, but this place is for cloth diapers.

I wash my diapers and while folding I do a mental count...8 here, one in the dirty bag, two in the diaper bag, one on the butt...12...got em all... Well...that's how it was going until a few days ago. Sunday night, I washed a load of diapers. Mason had just fell asleep, so I lay him down in his bed and run down to grab the clean diapers...to fold, and put away. I toss the clean diapers onto Mason's floor, in the dark, to start stuffing and folding. I sit down, and generally toss inserts to the left and covers to the right. One cover, one insert, fold, stack...repeat. I get to the end and fold my cloth wipes and load the diapers and inserts into their respective totes on the changing table. I count as I put them away...

I have 12 covers, and 36 inserts total
6 covers in the laundry...missing 6
1 on Mason (still sleeping soundly)
1 in the diaper bag
2 in the dirty bucket...missing 2....?

I search my daycare diaper bag...none...
I call daycare....none...
I ask dad (Pretending he actually changes a dirty diaper...lol)...none

I start to panic....

I search high and low, check the washer/dryer, my car, dads car...nothing
On a whim I search my laundry, dads laundry (why does their laundry stink so bad?), Mason's laundry...nothing...where are my (Mason's) diapers!

I give up...I figure they'd turn up...like that lost sock...

A few days later they still haven't turned up...two bright green diapers, my favorite! I start to wonder if the dog drug them off someplace...eew...

That night, we get a phone call from Jon's brother. He says something to the effect "those diapers you use are pretty neat!" (he has 2 boys ages 4&8) "We never had disposables like that when our boys were little"

My jaw dropped...What!? He threw 2 of my diapers away while watching Mason!

With out thinking I knew I needed to go dumpster diving to find my diaper! I get all geared up (rubber gloves, boots, jacket...it was raining...it was going to be messy), I walk out the door looking like I am ready for a mud fight. I begin to wish I had a gas mask of some sort when I open the garbage can. It's empty! It's Wednesday! It's garbage day! NOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (I may have yelled a profanity here) I missed it, my perfect diaper, gone!

I admit I may have welled up over my missing diapers.

I can just picture them, neon yellow, laying on a pile of garbage...waiting to be used, and used, and used, lying there...right next to my white Nike sock.

There is no magical place...no magical place for my cloth diaper to be found again...

Moral of the story: TELL ALL THE UNOBSERVANT PEOPLE IN YOUR LIFE THAT YOUR DIAPERS ARE NOT DISPOSABLE! MEN.... ugh....

Tips for Using Softbums

I thought, as my first 'cloth diapering' post I would post some pictures on how to use Softbums, tricks that I have found very helpful.

First of all...SoftBums are so easy to use. Like any new item, there is a small learning curve with them, but don't worry, in about two diaper changes, you will have it under your belt.


There are a few important steps to prevent leaks.

1. Tuck in the insert. After putting the diaper on baby, check the edges around the legs to make sure the insert is tucked inside the cover.

Here you can see the insert peeking out behind the leg. This will cause wicking from the insert to baby's clothes.

The insert is easily tucked back into the cover and wicking is no more!

2. Tighten legs...but not too much. I'd say that this is the hardest part to get right the first couple times. My rule of thumb is if I can see into the cover its too loose. I have found the easiest way to get the legs perfect is to put the diaper on baby, pull the elastic out of the opening, and while the toggle is in the cover, grab it and either squeeze and pull on the leg to loosen, or pull on the elastic to tighten. Doing it this way allows you to adjust it while on baby and not having to pull the toggles out of the diaper each time to adjust.

3. Velcro/Snap diaper tight enough. You can pull on the tabs on cloth diapers and they won't rip off...I find that folding the insert so the fold is half way up the velcro works best, then I tighten around that. This is easy to judge and you will learn after a few times of diapering. This keeps the insert in place and helps prevent it from slipping down and bulging up while keeping wetness in.

Personal Tricks:

For the best fit: I have found, that if I pull the majority of the gathers to the front of the diaper it fits him a little better and even a little trimmer!

Gathers Pulled to Back--the diaper doesn't lay flat:

Gathers Pulled To the front--The diaper lays flat...

If you watch the video below--First I place the diaper under baby...and then fold the insert. When I am ready to pull the cover over the insert I stretch it out and wiggle it back and forth to get the insert inside the legs (I actually had to pull the insert out of the leg in the above pics). After it is stretched out, I roll it up over baby and velcro in place. ...Again, this is what works for me, you will develop your own method.

How I rotate covers:

If my covers only get wet, I place them, fleece side out, on the end of the changing table to dry. By my next diaper change the cover is usually dry so I place a new insert in it and away we go. I usualy try to keep a mental note on diapers that have been through this rotation a few times and then try to diaper with those when I expect a BM. I highly reccomend a cloth diaper pail liner. Sarah sells some awesome ones on her website. I just throw mine in with the diapers, and when they are out of the dryer I open the bag, throw them in and carry them up to Mason's room. It's like a built in laundry basket!

**New Blog Features**

The SoftBums Cloth Diapering Booklet is available in the left hand column.

Below, there is a place to enter comments, ask questions, etc.

And, there are links to some wonderful reviews of SoftBums in the left hand column as well!

Video of SoftBums diapering

Enjoy

Megan Schultz

Welcome to the new blog!

Good morning everybody!

Quick intro: My name is Megan Schultz, I met Sarah a couple months ago when I bought my first set of Softbums. Since she is a fellow mom and Minnesotan, I offered her help if she needed any. She asked for some help with her blog, keeping it updated, etc. So here I am, doing my best...

If you've been visiting the blog lately, you've probably noticed it has changed a few times, things haven't worked smoothly, etc. Well, I think I got it up and running! If you notice any problems please email me at: MeganSchultz@gmail.com.

Check out the new menu bar, with links to follow Softbums on Twitter and Facebook. There is also a nice link to Softbums and different areas of the Softbums website. From the menu bar you can jump to Softbums' home page, category, or to a specific package! On the end, under 'Retailers' is a list of retailers carrying Softbums. Under this category also I stashed the RSS Feeds for both comments and posts.

I have put together a little slide show of babies wearing Softbums on the top left corner (my little boy -Mason-is pictured in his orange Softbums). If you have any photos of babies in Softbums that I can add to that slide show please email them to me (Meganschultz@gmail.com)! Just for fun I have put a poll up about cloth diapering. On the right side you can see all the 'logistics', followers (Join us!), archive, profile and welcome message! On the way bottom of the page, you can see any recent Tweets!

If you haven't already, join us on Facebook and Twitter, and be sure to check out the Softbums home page at http://www.softbums.com/!

Thank you for your patience!

Megan Schultz

Congrats Moonjunio

Moonjunio has claimed her free basic pack she won! Your beautiful daughter will love her new set of red Organic Bamboo SoftBums!

The contest sparked over 150 entries! Thank you everybody for entering!

Pictured here in her yellow SoftBums diaper, sooooo pretty!

And the Winner is....

The winner of the Soft Bums basic pack is.....MOONJUNIO!!!!

Thank you everybody for all your posts and entrys! There were over 150 entries for the basic pack! It is great to read all the posts and see how long everybody has been CD!

MOONJUNIO: Please email svanbogart@gmail.com with the following information:
Full Name:
Colors you want:

Insert: either Microfiber/Bamboo

Mailing address:

Phone Number:

Congrats to the winner, and stay posted for more giveaways!