Original Sprout

Ok, this is a little off the Cloth Diaper topic but I just had to write a little post about it.  


I love cloth diapers because of the all natural factor and preventing chemicals next to my babies skin as much possible.  I found these all natural vegan, hair products for kids at a local kid's haircut salon Kiddo Klips.  So I may as well keep chemicals off their heads and butts if I can!  


Maybe I have been hiding under a rock to not have heard about these products until now, but whatever the case may be, I LOVE them!  

The Free & Clean formulas in our natural baby products contain soothing organic botanicals & are ultra-gentle making them the perfect choice for baby’s sensitive skin.Our bestselling 2-n-1 Baby Shampoo & Body Wash, along with our Scrumptious Baby Cream, & Natural Hair Gel moisturize, nourish & protect baby’s hair & skin without harsh chemicals, hormone disruptors & other common offenders.

I purchased the Miracle Detangler and Natural Styling Balm.  They are wonderful, and I am just waiting for my husband to have time to go with me so we can get the rest of the product line.  They are designed just for kids.  Each of them have Rosemary which naturally repels lice (handy if your little ones are in daycare/preschool) and they each are reactivated with water.  This means I can put a little fo-hawk in my boy's hair today he can sleep on it tonight and just damp hands in the morning and he is set to go.  No reapplication gunk!  

The products are light and SMELL AMAZING!  My 17 month old daughter has the awkward baby hair, where its not long enough to do anything with yet, but just long enough to get in her eyes.  I put some of the detangler in her hair damp after washing and blew dry (we live in MN, its nice to have them used to the blow dryer to prevent cold wet heads out in the morning) her hair and it had so much volume it didn't get in her eyes!  I don't really think this is the purpose of the product, but my point is that it does not weigh baby's hair down!  

The ladies at the salon said that they recommend parents to use it on their kiddos before swimming, it will help coat and protect hair from chlorine.  BEST YET, a 1 oz bottle, was $3.50!  STEAL!!!!

I just thought I would share my little find!  

March Calendar Bum BUZZING!!!

It is so EXCITING to see everybody waiting to find out what the March Calendar Bum will be!  

Stay tuned, it won't be long!  

(I don't even know what it will be yet!)

SoftBums Cloth Diapering Book

Have you seen the SoftBums Cloth Diapering Book!?  It is FILLED with tons of information about the SoftBums diapering system!  

http://www.softbums.com/assets/Reusable-Diaper-Information-Booklet.pdf

(Click on the cover to be taken to the book!)

Mommy Monday #1

I have decided one thing for sure when it comes to Cloth Diapering Moms (dads & families too).  People are PASSIONATE about their diapers, and that is putting it lightly.  As a mom, it is so fun to hear other people's stories and how cloth diapers have been incorporated into their lives.  

So, I have decided to try to feature a Family who uses SoftBums every Monday.  Lets call them "Mommy Mondays".  Now, just because they will be called Mommy Mondays does not mean that Daddy Mondays won't exist as well.  I would JUMP at the chance to post a story from a Cloth Diapering Daddy!  So if you have one, please submit (see below).

Mommy Monday #1.  

Meet April and her sweet little girl-

I'm not really sure what initially lead me to cloth diapers. We try to live a pretty sustainable life so maybe it was the idea of filling a landfill with who knows how many disposables over my child's time in diapers. I really started researching cloth during my pregnancy. My mom and my husband's mom thought I was crazy. I knew I was going to have to find an option as close to disposable as possible to convince them. You should have seen the look on both of their faces when I showed them modern cloth diapers. They both used cloth but they were picturing flats, pins and plastic pants. I found all of the options for cloth completely overwhelming. 

A friend mentioned her sister uses cloth diapers on her kids and LOVES it. Even though I pretty much settled on the type of diaper I was going to use, I wanted to get an opinion from someone actually using them. She gave some pros and cons regarding the brands I'd selected. Then she told me about SoftBums. She preferred them because of the strong velcro that really stood up to long term use. I looked up the SoftBums website and checked out some videos and figured I needed to sample one. When the one I ordered came in the mail, I was impressed. I'd ordered a sample diaper from FuzziBunz and BumGenius and I could immediately tell the quality of the SoftBums diaper was superior. When I showed them to my husband, he picked the SoftBums diaper over all three. 

We were able to start Hailey in her SoftBums at two weeks once her cord stump fell off and we haven't turned back since! Okay there was a little hiccup in the beginning. I only ordered about five covers and maybe ten pods. We quickly realized we were going to need a lot more than that because every single diaper change she would poop and it soiled the cover. That's when I learned about DiaperSwappers.com. I was able to purchase additional covers and bamboo pods at a discounted price because they were gently used. I guarantee you wouldn't be able to tell today looking at my stash which ones were used and which ones were purchased new. 

We now have a stash of about twenty covers and twenty to thirty pods. I honestly thought I would use disposable diapers more. I thought for certain I'd want to use them on short outings or even on trips but I love my SoftBums too much to use anything else. We have traveled twice with our SoftBums and were able to use them our entire trip. We use Planet Wise hanging wet/dry bags and we store the covers and pods in the dry pocket and the dirties in the wet pocket. We even use cloth wipes while we're out because they are so easy.

Thank you so much April for telling your story, and we are so happy your SoftBums are working well for you!  You have a precious little girl and you sound like a wonderful Mommy!

Keep up the great work!

If you have a story you would like to tell, please email me softbumsguru@gmail.com.  Please include pictures if you have any and a story about your life and cloth diapers!

Snaps vs. Velcro

SoftBums comes mostly in hook and loop and now some are available in snaps.  


How do you make the choice between the two and what are the pros and cons?



Hook and Loop


Pros:

• Simple
• Most resemble disposable diapers (benefits for secondary caregivers)
• Easier to get on wiggly babies than snaps
• Infinate adjustment sizes--no jumping a half inch up or down
• Smooth-lay flat

(to the left is a 3 year old diaper, still in use)




Cons:

• Hook and loop wears and pills
• Babies can remove hook and loop diapers
• Wash can get tangled up

SoftBums' hook and loop is superior.  I still use the 6 SoftBums I started out with.  In fact--they are some of my son's favorite.  His favorite color is orange, our orange diapers are 32 months old and still heavily used.  They are his nap time diapers and I'd be lying if I said he hasn't had a fit because his orange night time diapers are dirty.  Pictured in this post is one of his favorite orange diapers.  Used-worn-loved and fully functional.  

Snaps

Pros:

• Don't wear out
• Harder for babies to remove themselves
• No tangled laundry

Cons:

• Take a little more time and dexterity to put on 
• I feel like snaps tend to pull and the tabs don't lay as nice as hook and loop tabs
• Not as custom of a fit as hook and loop

The first is the inside microfleece, pilly but soft.  I know this is not the same fabric that is still used in their new diapers and the new fabric does not pill like this.  

Next is the leg opening and label--it is SoftBums!  The elastic is still great too.  Never replaced ANY of my elastic in any part of the diaper.  It is not like new, but the stretch is very similar.  

I know the above pictures are obnoxiously large, but I wanted you to see how well this diaper holds up.  The felt in the hook and loop is from my green cloth wipes we had at one point.  

If we assume that this diaper was washed 1.5x a week for the past 32 months, it's been through my washer just under 200 times.  I've had 3 washers since then!  

Whatever your choice is when you choose SoftBums it won't be wrong.  The hook and loop is top of the line and will last as long as the snaps.  

It's all in the details.

It's always hard to adjust to change, explain our reasons and justify actions.  It's even harder to trust somebody with your kids and your fluff.  We started using cloth on my son at 4 weeks of age, it was at this time I realized I needed to learn how to explain in detail and never assume anything when it comes to taking care of my kids and their fluff.

We all cloth diaper for our own reasons.  Usually reasons include environmentally friendly, financially responsible, chemical free, organic, cute, etc etc.  In our home we (me, and my hubby was drug along) choose cloth mainly because it made since financially.  


Well, shortly after we got started using our Softbums, my husbands family came up to visit.  I hadn't shared the fact I was using cloth yet with anybody other than my mom and husband mainly because I got a lot of questions and judging looks that I didn't want to deal with.  So, family being family wanted to "help" change my little boy's (2 months old) diaper.  I was doing laundry in the basement and heard a lot of commotion upstairs, something about an explosion diaper.  I was soon greeted in the basement by my Mother In Law holding my half naked son asking where the diapers were.  Now while I love my in-laws, common sense is admittedly not a forte in the family.  I walked with her up to the changing table and began showing her the cloth diapers.  


She picked up quickly and had the system down pat within the day.  


I loved the extra help, got a nap in, and got the chance to do some catch up on housework (just call me Monica Geller *Friends*).  It was Monday--garbage was picked up that morning--perfect day to haul out all the other garbage in the house.  

While proceeding to take garbage out, I made it to the kitchen garbage, it seemed awfully heavy.  Just being curious I looked inside...not one, not two but 6 diapers.  SIX!  Six of my lime green, orange and blue SoftBums, rolled up and thrown in the garbage!  Did I forget to tell her they were cloth?  I thought it was a given that cloth diapers weren't disposable.  Where was my husband, not noticing 6 trips to the garbage can throwing away my new fluff!?  This is what I get for napping!


I was busted, digging through the garbage.  My mother-in-law enters.  "Why are you pulling dirty diapers out of the garbage?"  Me: "Because they are cloth"  Her: "Oh, you recycle?"  Me: (to myself) are you kidding me right now!?**Rolls eyes**  So I begin to explain that cloth is washable and we re use the diapers...it was like trying to explain physics to a toddler.  


Then I realized what happened when I was downstairs doing laundry.  They threw out a diaper, a lime green, barely used, SoftBums diaper..and insert.  My heart sank, trash already had come and gone. I still ran outside to look--gone.   


All I can do is picture that lime green diaper in a landfill--so sad.  


Details matter.

Why Softbums should be #1 in your stash

Instead of listing 100 reasons that Softbums should be first in your stash, let's skip to number 1.

Versatility, versatility, versatility!

Every Baby, Every Way--Easily!

SoftBums will fit your baby.  From the sweet little newborn to the screaming toddler.  From the babies who have itsy-bitsy thighs and so skinny you can count their ribs, to Michelin-Man thighs that don't fit into a Bumbo seat and the bellies so big you wonder how their belly button hasn't popped out.  SoftBums will fit even your baby!

This is my son, birth and then 6 months--note thigh size. 

How?  The exclusive Patent Pending toggle system hidden within the cover!

The cover can be adjusted by pulling the elastic through the small hole in the front of the shell or by squeezing the toggle through the shell.  The legs can adjust so small its hard to get two fingers into the leg opening at the smallest setting.  They also adjust large enough to fit a toddler who is 35+ pounds.  

Many people wonder if the diaper has to be adjusted each time that you put the baby in the diaper.  No.  Adjust once and go.  Of course it will have to be adjusted as your baby grows but not every time you diaper, or wash.  Check the tightness of the legs as you're double checking that your insert is tucked in.  

What about the waist?  The tabs on both the hook and loop and snap SoftBums diapers have the ability to cross over allowing the diaper to get o-so-small in the waist.  The design of the diaper prevents tab droop as well.  

Another reason SoftBums is so versatile is all the ways you can use it.  The Echo system is primarily an AI2 while the Omni offers the pocket option in addition to an AI2.  The design of the covers and the corresponding SoftBums pods are so perfectly designed for one another.  The flare in the back of the pod helps keeps the shells clean, and they are extra long which allows for a custom absorbency (under for girls, front for boys).  

There is only a slight design difference between the Omni and Echo shells.  The Omni is a little wider in the crotch to allow the user to stuff it full for night time/nap time/heavy wetters without gaping (gaping=like trying to close a too-full suitcase).  The Omni is a great option for daycare, daddy's, babysitters, in-laws, just stuff and go.  The Omni still has the snap so it can be used as an AI2 as well.  

SoftBums uses the highest quality hook and loop, microfleece, and organic fabrics.  These diapers will last for more than 2 babies--mine have!

These shells also work great over many different options, prefolds, custom inserts, home-made inserts, dish towels, sposies, etc they will fit--perfectly!  

To top this off, if you ever have a question--SoftBums is always happy to help.  

Calendar Bums by SoftBums Giveaway!

 

Giveaway to WIN a NEW Firecracker Echo Shell!

1 for you and 1 for a friend that you refer to like our FaceBook page!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Calendar Bums! February 2012

Miss Stella is in LOVE with her SoftBums!

We have some fun news for you from SoftBums this year!

Calendar Bums!

Do you remember that oldies song "Calendar Girl"? We will be introducing a new limited edition color or print each and every month as part of our "Calendar Bums" campaign.

To kick it off, February's color is of course red for LOVE! This beautiful Firecracker red color, another blast from the past, is back for a very limited time and we're sure you'll enjoy it.

They will be available for purchase at your favorite retailer and at www.SoftBums.com beginning Valentines Day February 14th. If your favorite retailer doesn't carry SoftBums products yet be sure to let them know they should!

Stay tuned for every month's new Calendar Bums release!

More exciting stuff on our SoftBums blog: I Love Cloth Diapers

What stinks more?

A very common question or misconception of cloth diapers is that they stink. 

My answer: Um.  NO.

I think disposables stink, chemicals and the fragrance they add...yuck.

Bottom line is if the diapers are washed correctly they don't stink at all...well, unless you have a bomb waiting to be changed. 

I am that person who jams my nose in my diapers after going through the washer to make sure they are stink free before throwing them in the dryer.  Repeat after they come out of the dryer.  I get right in there and sniff away.  

There are all sorts of fun ways to wash your diapers and it can be a small lesson in chemistry but you will soon learn what works for you and your family. 

Remember whatever you do, NEVER EVER EVER add fabric softener!  Thats asking for buildup and stink, and less absorbant diapers.

Here are some options:
Purex Free and Sensitive --what I use.  Simple, cheap, easy to use.
Rock n' Green
WAHM-check out www.etsy.com for different ones


The key is to use detergents that do not have any softeners in them and do not cause a buildup on your diapers.  


I prefer to use Purex because it is easy to get, and is made by a big enough company that it has standards.  I have heard of many people who have had loads of diapers ruined by WAHM or the less popular brands of detergents.  Lots of water and little detergent is the key.  


See the link to the left in our cloth diapering book for more information on washing.

How do you store your fluff?

I am always looking for new reasons to shop and lately I've been wondering if there is a better way to store my fluff than what I have been doing.  So I looked on google.com and found lots of different ideas on how to store diapers.  

I found lots of good ideas but also decided people who love to cloth diaper, really love their cloth diapers (Hi kettle-you're black), and probably have way more than they need (again...not pointing fingers).

Post your fluff on Facebook and tag us!  We want to see how you store your Softbums!

What in the world is EC?

I found myself asking this question about a year ago when at a baby expo.  

EC stands for elimination communication.


If you've ever wanted to know about it, here is a great website I found.  I don't know anything about it so check out the link!  :)


Elimination Communication

Almost like buying a minivan

Not that there is anything wrong with a Minivan, they are awesome vehicles.  I just have sworn not to buy one.  


What is almost "worse" is taking this step...coloring pasta for toddlers to string on yarn.  *sighhh*

It worked great, was easy, and the kids loved it.  


Take your favorite string-able pasta--wagon wheels, macaroni, rigatoni, etc etc and put some in their own baggies...one baggie for each color.  

The key is to add about a teaspoon of rubbing alcohol for about each cup of pasta with your food coloring.  I used 5-6 drops of food coloring for each one.  

Massage the pasta in the bag and let it sit for 5 minutes (or until your done doing each color) rotating the bag so the color is even.  Then dump them out on a cookie sheet with plenty of paper towels to absorb the excess and let them dry.  

Find some yarn and I found it to work good if you use book tape and tape the top couple inches so it is stiff and easy to thread the pasta on the yarn.  Wallah.  Fun for hours...or longer for moms who get to vacuum up the pieces after they fall on the floor and shatter.  It's all for the love of the kiddos. :)  Enjoy!

Fun Things to Do!

Even though the winter here in Minnesota, isn't so much of a winter, I am still looking forward to the hot sweaty-ness of summer. 


Which had me looking for fun things to do with the family while I should have been studying.

A good friend of mine had taken her family up to Duluth, MN to see Thomas the Train.  I decided to look it up.  


Needless to say I am so excited to see my 3 year old's face when we see Thomas.  


If you have a little one who LOVES Thomas, check it out!  Thomas goes to many cities around the nation and tickets for 2+ are $18 a piece (at least in MN it is), under 2 are free.  


Here is where you can find Thomas.  

Cloth Diaper Liners

The business end of cloth diapering can be enough to turn a newbie away, or on a long day make even the most veteran CD'er question why they are doing this.  


I've been there.


Then I figured there has to be something out there to help--other than a diaper sprayer.  


I found out about flush-able diaper liners.  Which look like a dryer sheet--but much softer, have you. Seem so simple!  


Super easy, I just put one in the diaper baby pooped, pull the whole thing out and in the toilet, bye bye mess.  Much-much easier.  


Now, these things aren't the SOFTEST things in the world, they aren't scratchy either, but they do their job.  They don't inhibit the wicking of the fleece or the absorbency of the diaper in the least they keep the solids on top so you can easily toss.  I'd have questions if they would work as well if they were in the diaper for a long time, they can bunch and end up like a bad toilet paper wedgie.  However, with softbums, the contour of the diaper seems to hold the liners in place pretty well and I've only had bunching of the liners after a nap (I don't use them at night time).  I tuck the liner around the insert so the edge is between the back of the pod and the inside of the cover.  Done.  

There are a zillion different brands and you will see people posting that you can wash and re-use them.  I think that is false.  I have accidentally put a few through the wash (that weren't poopy) and they come out in one piece yes, but use-able, no.  They look like a wadded up paper towel.  I've tried several different brands and have never had one come through the wash as re-useable.  


Take a look, if you flinch at poopy diapers this is worth a try.  


Here are some ideas:

 Kushies, Flushable, Biodegradable,  Cloth Diaper Liners, 100 Sheets for $10.15 (Amazon.com)

Bumkins Flushable Cloth Diaper Liners, 100 Sheets for $7.99 (Amazon.com)

Bummis BioSoft Liners, ?? Sheets, $8.00 (Amazon.com)

Imse Vimse Flushable Diaper Liners, 200 Sheets 13.95 (Amazon.com)

Real Nappies Flushable Bioliners, 200 Sheets, $13.49 (Amazon.com)

Your design.

If you could design your own cloth diaper, what would you do? 


Anything from the fit, to the style, color, versatility, what would you do?


I have been blessed with a) two healthy kids and b) a boy and a girl.  And through having one of each gender I have a pet peeve that boys get totally jipped when it comes to clothing selection and girls get jipped in toy selection.  I love both of my kids, equally but differently; I have a thing for boy's clothes for some reason.  Girls clothes are all pink and frilly but boys have so many different themes, characters, etc. I can dream up so much stuff, but I can't do it because I lack the ability to put thought onto paper.  

That being said...I picture this.  A boy's diaper, red with a fancy applique of the Superman logo on the butt!  A little blue cape that can be removed via snaps which hooks on either sides.  It could be Batman, or your favorite superhero!  Name me a little boy who wouldn't look so cute in them and love them!?  But, living in the land of Laws and "All Rights Reserved" Lord knows this would only take 7 million bucks to even dream up.  

So I challenge you, tag your favorite design/print/fabric you'd love to see on your baby's butt on our facebook page!  

What do you do with poo? Blog repost-from dads

Typing that title just made me laugh… don’t know why, but it did. Maybe it just seems like something really funny to be writing about. Or maybe it just brings back a lot of fond memories of disposing of my son’s poo. I am sure one day when he is older and brings home his first girlfriend I will say something embarrassing like “You know, I used to clean your poo from your cloth diapers…” Anyways, I digress…

When you use a cloth diaper, what do you do with the poo?

The reason for this post is that I noticed that someone out in Google-land found my site using the search-term “Cloth diapers what to do with the poo.” An interesting search, indeed, that made me realize that in my post about cloth diapers (here), I didn’t actually explicitly answer the burning question of, “Hey, what the heck do you do with all that darn poo!?!” So here goes…

Well, you obviously can’t throw it in the garbage, as you would when disposing of a disposable diaper. So, the next best place to put it is… are you ready?… drum roll please… badabadabadabda…. the toilet!

Actually, the answer is not that simple. If it were, I would be doing something productive with my life instead of writing this blog post.

The answer is in fact a complex function of the liquidity factor of the said poo, the age of your child and the stickiness factor of the cloth diaper.

To try and put it simply, (although this is indeed an art that comes with a lot of practice and experience), here are some general guidelines:

1) Your child is a newborn: Generally the poo is runny and liquidy with very few clumps. This all just gets absorbed into the cloth, with the exception of a few small clumps. Simply place in the laundry basket or directly into the laundry machine and go wash your hands. Don’t forget to take your child off the changing table first though.

2) Your child is several months old: You get various mixes of poo at this stage, but generally the approach here is to rinse the diaper out first and then put it in the laundry basket or laundry machine. Now you really need to wash your hands, and probably go have a beer too.

3) Your child is over 1 year old: The poos at this age tend to be fairly solid and can easily be dropped into the toilet bowl just by dangling the diaper over the bowl. This is where the stickiness factor of the diaper comes into play. The Bamboozles diapers that we used were good in the sense that the poo just rolled right off of them, hardly leaving any trace poo on the diaper itself. If there is a large amount of trace poo remaining on the diaper, you can wipe it off with some toilet paper and throw the toilet paper. If the poo was liquidy, see point 2 above.

Stage 1 and 3 are probably the easiest. Stage 2 can be a bit more gross but is manageable. Just think of it this way: you will be diaper changing for a shorter period of time overall. So a bit of investment now will pay off dividends in the future.

Happy diaper changing and feel free to comment if you have any other ideas on the famous question of “what to do with the poo” hey… that rhymes… neato. Cheers folks.

Reposted from:
http://thedadjam.com/baby/cloth-diapers-and-what-to-do-with-the-poo/

Not just a diaper bag

Who says now that you're a mom you have to be frumpy!?  

I have a diaper bag from OIOI and I love it!  

Specifically, I have this one.  However mine is black and white with a yellow interior.  LOVE!

They are durable and big!  I had a friend once tell me when I was expecting my first child, "Don't buy a big diaper bag, all its for is diapers."  Ummmm.  ERRORONEOUS!  What is in my diaper bag?  Here is the list:

1. 2 Softbums diapers

2. Disposable wipes

3. Forks and spoons

4. Play-doh

5. Bibs

6. Ibuprofen/Tylenol

7. Misc. Money (yeaaa....kinda, only $4.36)

8.  Expired Coupons

9. Cars

10. Mini Magnadoodle

11. Mommy Ibuprofen

12. Keys

13. Cereal Bars (smashed)

14. Random Goldfish crumbs

15. Camera

16. Unsure

17. Hat

18. Random Mitten?  Never seen this before

19. Random Business Card 

20. Disposable Placemats

21.  Finger nail clipper

22. Small bottles of J&J Soaps

23. Q-tips

24. It isn't in there because I just used it but an extra pair of pants and undies for the potty training toddler.

And other un recognizable trash at the bottom

But whatever, my OIOI bag isn't nearly full.  It has stroller straps 2 different options for straps, and plenty of compartments but not too many where you can't fit anything big in.  It is well designed.  I am not telling you to go out and buy an OIOI, but just to consider what a diaper bag is.  It will be your Purse while you're toting around your wee ones--its a 3 year investment, at least.  Get something that will hold up, and that you can fill up.  You won't regret it.  Promise.

I love this one-It doesn't even look like a diaper bag...

Another Brand:

Purse, diaper bag, Purse?  Huh?

Want to see more Diaper Bags?

Need to waste 5 minutes, check this Fun Diaper Bag Quiz I found.  

Don't forget the men in your life.  The last thing they want to be carrying around is this (while I love the girlyness--my hubby would protest):

Picture a guy with a baby toting one of these, while baby wearing: 

It makes my uterus ache.  I need to have another baby...which we have names picked out for...it makes me hopeful daddy is in.  Baby in 2014 (after I finish school)?  I think so!  I digress.

In the scheme of the whole baby thing, the diaper bag seems like a side step.  It, however, is a big deal.  It will be your friend while stumbling your way through newborn to toddler stage.  Enough room for a manual breast pump, formula, bottles, fluff or sposies, wipes, food, snacks, toys, and enough room for mommy's things.  Shop wisely!  

Post your favorites and must haves in your diaper bag!