Thursday, September 27, 2012

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.

Saturday, May 12, 2012

The Silver Liner Giveaway!

Enter to win a $5 code to The Silver Liners Store!
a Rafflecopter giveaway

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!

Tuesday, May 1, 2012

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!

Thursday, February 23, 2012

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.