Rarpz Review

I was asked to review Rarpz pocket diapers. Rarpz is a company out of New Zealand. She sent me two of the cutest diapers! One is a little shark (with a fin on the back of it) and the other is a glow in the dark Halloween diaper. 

They are made of minky which is a super soft fabric. The inside of the diaper is super soft microfleece. The inserts are half bamboo and half microfiber. You fold the insert into thirds and then stuff it into the diaper. There is elastic around the opening of the pocket. 

Sorry for the sideways picture 

At first I was a little nervous to try these diapers out. First of all, I do not like pocket diapers. I've tried many brands and I usually end up selling them because pockets just don't work for us. And secondly, I do not like minky. As nice as the fabric is, I've found that minky really leaks and wicks around the legs. I've tried multiple brands and for some reason, minky diapers all do that for us. But that is not the case at all with Rarpz diapers! They are such great diapers! We've been using them for both kids (2 month old and 30 month old) who both happen to be very heavy wetters. We have never had a leak in these diapers. I tried them out for naps on the first day and both kids slept longer than usual. They held up perfectly.
The inserts are very absorbent. I love that they are made of two of the most absorbent materials. The inserts are easy to stuff and can hold a ton of pee! They fit perfectly on both kids. They are a tiny bit bulky on my 2 month old but it doesn't bother her and they work great. (All other One Size diapers are still bulky on her as well.)

 How adorable are these Shark Pups? 

 On my 30 month old who is around 28 pounds. 

 On my chunky 2 month old. She's around 11 pounds.  

 Perfect for Halloween! Are these so adorable?

Glow in the dark! 

I must say that these are now one of my favorite diapers. I've been set on my favorite brands of diapers for the past year and no other diaper I've tried has come close to becoming my favorite. (Trust me, I've tried a ton!) Until these came along! These are the first diapers I reach for after they come out of the wash. I can't wait to buy more of these awesome diapers!

Visit their Facebook page or their shop. They have such unique and cute diapers. They have different colors of 'Shark Pups' so even girls can wear them. They also have really cute 'Pumpkin Butts' which are similar to the Shark Pups. They do amazing custom work too.

The winner of the giveaway will receive a Halloween glow in the dark diaper. The giveaway will close on the 23rd at midnight. The winner will have 24 hours to respond to an email to claim the prize (that way you can get it in time for Halloween). The email address that I will use to contact you is the email associated with your Facebook profile so make sure you check it and our Facebook page for updates.




*Rarpz recommends washing the glow in the dark diapers in cold water to help keep the glow in the dark intact with the fabric. I have been washing ours in warm for about a month and the glow in the dark is still intact.







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My Favorite Diapers for a Newborn

This was my first time cloth diapering a newborn and I had no idea what to expect so I bought a whole bunch of different kinds of diapers to try out. My son was 7lbs 9oz. when he was born. I wasn't sure if I should expect a small baby or a large one (My sister has 8-10 pounders). I mostly bought AIOs and a few hybrids. Everyone told me to not buy so many AIOs and to just buy prefolds and covers. I wish I would have listened to them. In total, I believe we had 25+ AIOs (XS BumGenius, lil Joey's, GroVia NBs, etc), 5+ fitteds (KissaLuv 0, Nifty Nappy, WAHMs, etc), 0 prefolds, a few covers, and a few hybrids (gDiapers). We had a few other sizes (smalls, mediums, and OS diapers) as well. I loved lil Joey's at first. They fit perfectly and were so cute! I had about 8 and we mainly used those and NB GroVias for the first few weeks. They both fit perfectly under her stump. Other diapers fit but went over the stump and I wasn't too fond of that. A lot of other cloth diapering moms who I've talked to have had no problems doing it though. 

After about 2 weeks, my daughter started peeing a ton and most of her newborn diapers could not hold it all. I tried adding more absorbency to the diapers but she would still pee out of them in an hour. We did not get our money's worth out of all of our diapers. To be quite honest, most of the diapers were only used about twice. I bought a lot of them new and have lost a lot of money on them. If you are in the need for newborn diapers, BUY USED! Don't waste your money like I did. I ended up buying prefolds, covers, fitteds, and more size small gDiapers around this time. I stopped using our BumGenius AIOs (which didn't get much use out of them at all), lil Joeys, and GroVia NBs.
So what were my all time favorite diapers? I would say gDiapers and RagaBabes were hands down my favorites. (They are also my favorites with my son too!) I've tried a whole bunch of different brands and styles and these are what worked best for us.

My daughter was 7lbs 4oz. when she was born. She was about 4 days old in this picture sporting a tiny gDiaper. They worked great! They never leaked for us. We used their disposable inserts in them. They even fit under her cord stump too! The only thing I didn't like about them was that they gaped a little in the front. It never caused leaks but I just didn't like it and just moved her into smalls. 

 About a week old in a NB RagaBabe. She wore the NB size for about 6 weeks before moving into size small. I don't really have any complaints about these diapers. They are wonderful! 

 This is an old style gDiaper in size small. These were great when smalls were too big and tiny's were a little too small. She was about a week old here. They fit perfectly under her cord stump as well. 

Here she is in a size small gDiaper around 7 weeks old. She is now moving up to size medium (or the old style mediums which work great). She has grown quickly and is getting so chubby! I have no clue what she weighs now but I'd say around 9 pounds? Maybe a bit more.

My advice? Buy more of a variety. I had mostly all of the same brands and after 2 weeks, I didn't have hardly any diapers that worked for us. Skip out on the expensive diapers and go for cheap prefolds and covers. Only splurge on a few nice diapers for daddy or on the go. Buy size smalls and even mediums. My little girl has grown out of everything SO quickly! She started wearing OS diapers at 6 weeks old. If you have any questions or are wondering about a certain brand, feel free to contact me or leave a comment. We have tried a lot of different diapers so I might be able to help and let you know what I liked or disliked about that brand.

The Silver Liner Giveaway!

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Review ~ The Silver Liner Swiffer Mop Pads

I was asked to review a Swiffer reusable mop pad made by The Silver Liner. I happily said yes. We have a Swiffer Mop and as much as I love it, it's expensive! The costs of the refills and the mop pads really add up quickly! I really hate wasting those pads and throwing them away into more landfills. We try to use a regular mop more often but the Swiffer is more convenient and easier to clean up little messes (and trust me we have tons of those with a 2 year old). I really like the Swiffer but I also don't feel like it cleans all too well. The mop pads are thin and don't seem to pick up all the dirt too well.
I was so impressed with the high quality of the mop pad that The Silver Liner sent me. It is made of microfiber and topped with a special fabric that is perfect for sticking onto the velcro on the mop. It stuck on the mop well and didn't come off when I was mopping. I was worried about it because our kitchen floor is really rough and is hard to mop with any kind of mop. The day I received the pad in the mail, my son dropped a plate that had a bunch of ketchup on it. I pulled out the mop and started to test it out.
I sprayed the area like normal but it didn't push all too well so I added a little bit more mop spray and it worked great. It picked up the ketchup right away and didn't smear it around at all. It seemed to work better than the disposable mop pads. I mopped the bathroom (which is tile and is smoother than the kitchen) and it worked great. It picked up the dust and lint a lot better than the disposable pads too.
I had my mom test it out too and she said she really liked it and that it cleaned a lot better than the disposable pads. My mom is weird about all my 'natural/crunchy' types of things. She is very hesitant on trying new things and is stuck in her own ways. So for her to say she liked it was a big deal : ) We both really love this and are going to order more. They are amazing!

You can see she also makes Swiffer duster refills and Swiffer dry pads which would be great for wood floors!

You can like her Facebook page here. You can buy these reusable mop pads and tons of other awesome things in her Hyena Cart and Etsy store. These mop pads are only $5 or $9 for 2. It's a great deal and will end up saving you a ton of money!

Review ~ The Silver Liner Mama Pads

The Silver Liner asked me to review a panty liner and I happily agreed. The liner is flannel but she also makes them with minky (my favorite!). The liner is 8 inches long which I think is about the perfect length. There are snaps on the wings which secures it in place. The liner was comfortable to wear and breathable. It worked fantastic! I couldn't help but notice the excellent sewing skills as I was looking over it to review. You can tell that everything she makes is high quality. I've been able to wash it a few times and it still looks brand new. I would highly recommend these pads to everyone! 

Some of her other mama pads she's made before. (Made with minky) How wonderful do these look?! 

The Silver Liner makes a wide range of amazing products. Not only does she made awesome mama pads, she also makes wipes, wet bags, breast pads, Swiffer reusable mop pads, dust pads, duster refills, and more! Everything is priced very reasonably. An all flannel 8 inch pad (like the one I reviewed) is only $3.25. What an awesome price that is!

You can find her on Etsy, Hyena Cart, and Facebook. Make sure you go and like her today!

Heather's Naturals Hiney Helper

I was asked to review Heather's Naturals 'Hiney Helper'. It is a rash cream that is safe for cloth diapers. (I personally do NOT recommend using ANY rash cream without a liner. No matter the brand, please always use a liner to protect your diapers!) Here is a list of ingredients from her site "All natural unrefined shea butter (purest form and highest grade eases skin irritations), calendula oil (antiseptic and anti fungal), beeswax (anti bacterial), almond oil (soothing to inflammation), and grape seed oil (rich in fatty acid)."

The products comes in a 2 ounce tin which is the perfect size for the diaper bag (or just around the house). It was pretty easy to get out of the tin which I didn't expect. It rubbed into the diaper area well and left the skin soft. My little guy doesn't get rashes very often any more so we haven't been able to test it on rashes very much, but the few time he did get a rash, it helped clear it up very quickly. This is a great product and a great mom behind the business! 

You can check out her Facebook page. She currently doesn't have a website up but is working on getting one up. You can contact and order through her FB page. 

Buns Up Baby Review and Giveaway!

Buns Up Baby is a One Size pocket diaper. It has a snap down rise like most OS diapers do. It comes with one microfiber insert. The diaper I received to review is minky on the outside with a PUL (waterproof) lining, and soft micro suede on the inside. It is made to fit babies who are about 8-35 pounds. 

My son is almost two and is a super skinny kid (maybe 25 pounds?). We had the best fit with the diaper snapped down all the way. That surprised me because he is usually on the second snap setting on every other OS diaper.  

It was pretty trim for a OS diaper (which I usually find a bit more bulky than sized diapers). We still got a good fit with the diaper snapped down on the second snap setting. I just found it had a little droopage in the butt when it was wet. 

The only down side to this diaper is that I do not think it would fit smaller babies very well. You may need to wait until your baby has some meat on their legs before putting them in this diaper. On the flip side, I do think it would fit larger babies better than other OS diapers as well. Other than that, the diaper was great! We didn't have any leaks and the fit was great. I don't usually like pocket diapers but I did like this one. I love the minky on the outside too! It is so soft.
The diapers are made in China but the Canadian based mom designs everything about the diaper. She makes sure they are perfect before they leave her door. They are only $9.99. You can buy her diapers (or even wetbags, diaper pail liners, and extra inserts) here.

Heather's Naturals Heavenly Hush Review

I was given the opportunity to try out a new amazing bath product! Heather's Naturals Heavenly Hush is a blend of lavender essential oils and oatmeal. It leaves your child's skin soft and has a wonderful scent to it! When I first got the package the smell of lavender was powerful. I was a little worried it would be too strong (I don't like too many scents especially strong ones) but it wasn't strong once I added it to the bath. 

The directions say to add one teaspoon to the bath water and let it dissolve. I added one teaspoon but I couldn't smell anything so I ended up adding one tablespoon instead. The oatmeal never fully dissolved, however there were only small pieces left in the bath.

My son loves it! He likes to try to pick up the little bits of oatmeal and splashes around a ton. I really like this product and would recommend it to everyone! I thought it would leave more of a scent on him but it didn't. I was kind of hoping the lavender would help calm him for bedtime but nothing calms him down before bedtime. (He's always a very hyper, active boy.) The only thing I wasn't too fond of was that it left a few little bits of oatmeal (very small) in his hair. His hair is kind of long but it brushed out and wasn't a problem. I really love this product and will continue to use it at every bath! 

Thirsties Duo Fab Fitted Review and Giveaway (Sponsored by All About Baby Boutique)

All About Baby Boutique asked me to review a Thirsties Fab Fitted and I gladly accepted. I have heard great things about these diapers. I received a size 2 (which fits 18-40 pounds). The outside of the diaper is a super soft cotton velour. The inside is mircofleece which is a stay dry material. The soaker is microfiber topped with mircofleece. 

Here is a picture of it snapped down on the smallest setting. 

Here it is on the largest setting all the way unsnapped. 

The inside!

A side view of the inside. You can see that the soaker is not fully attached. I love this feature because that means it dries faster and it's easier to add an additional insert!

My son has the rise snapped down all the way. He is about 25 pounds (I am totally guessing. I actually have no clue, but he's pretty small).

This diaper is SO absorbent. I love this diaper. I'm mostly an All In One kind of girl but we do have a few fitteds. This one is by far the most absorbent one we own. I love that there are two sizes to choose from and it's not your standard One Size diaper. We never get a good fit with our OS diapers but we got a perfect fit with this diaper! It is a little bulky but it doesn't bother me or my son.
I'm very confident that this diaper would be great for nights too! If you added a really great hemp insert under the opening and paired it with a great wool cover, it would be bullet proof!
Want to buy it? The awesome Thirsties fitted is only $17! Buy it here.
Want to win it? All About Baby Boutique is sponsoring a giveaway for your chance to win one for yourself! Please remember to say a big thank you to AABB for sponsoring such an awesome giveaway!

*All opinions are my own.