Econobum Diaper Cover | Prefold & Happy Heinys Pocket Diaper Review

I just love the funny names for cloth diapers, Econobum and Happy Heinys being the latest I've tried out after scoring major clearance deals. While my Thirsties are working just fine (especially the Duo Diapers), I figured I'd like to try out some other options since I'll need to get some bigger sizes in the not-too-distant future.

Econobum

Reasons for Purchasing: This is a one-size waterproof cover with all sorts of adjustable snaps so it can be adjusted to fit as your baby grows. It also came with a one-size cotton prefold (something else I wanted to try out). The prefold is rectangular and can be tri-folded the long way or the short way depending on how big your baby is. Plus, I loved the price...I got this on clearance brand new for $5.95 (that's the cover AND the flat) plus free shipping from Cotton Babies!

The Verdict: The cover works great paired with our birdseye weave cotton flats, much like our Thirsties wraps. I like that you can adjust the size to fit. However, I am definitely a velcro girl. When trying to get a flat and cover on a very mobile, very wiggly baby, velcro is my friend. I've heard people who prefer snaps say that they like them because babies can't get them off as easily and they don't stick to anything in the wash. We don't have a problem with Shay taking her diaper off once we put her clothes over them and most cloth diapers with velcro these days come with laundry tabs that you stick the velcro to so they don't stick to anything in the wash. They've worked great for us! I haven't actually tried the prefold paired with the cover. Instead I used it to stuff the Happy Heinys pocket diapers in addition to the insert we got with each diaper since they didn't seem thick enough to hold up overnight...worked great! While I like the convenience of the prefold, I think it was too wide or too long depending on which way you folded it. I much prefer using our flats because I can fold them to custom fit Shay's cute little baby bottom and they're not as bulky. Plus it just seems to me that prefolds are more of a pain to launder since they require a longer dry cycle.

Happy Heinys

Reasons for Purchasing: The one complaint I have about the Thirsties wraps I have is that they leave red marks around Shay's legs. They don't seem to bother her and disappear fairly quickly after they're off but I wanted to see if there was something else out there that wouldn't leave those marks. These Happy Heinys have custom milled fleece around the legs instead of gussets with elastic bands directly touching baby's legs and claim to not leave red marks. Like our Thirsties Duo Diapers, they also have a very soft fleece lining in the inside of the pocket. Also, can't beat the price on these either...$8.96 each (that's the pocket diaper AND an insert) PLUS 5% off with a coupon code PLUS free shipping from Abby's Lane!

The Verdict: Well, jury's still kind of out on this. I love the colors I got (hot pink & lavendar). The velcro seems good and they're pretty simple to stuff and get on baby. The problem is that I ordered them in size medium which are too big for Shay at the moment. I did put her in one overnight as an experiment and prepared for a wet mess in the morning. However, I was pleasantly surprised that, while too big, it did not leak. And she didn't have any red marks. The thing I wasn't so crazy about is that the diaper is so wide. She was practically doing a straddle after I got her in the diaper. Luckily she didn't seem to mind and slept, well, like a baby all night. For now, they're great back ups for overnight diapers in case we get behind in laundry (we have 4 Duo Diapers for overnight at the moment). It'll be interesting to try them out when Shaybug gets a little bigger.

Disclaimer: I am not paid to review any products on this blog. I just figured I'd share what works (and what doesn't) for us.

Adventures in Cloth Diapering, Part 3

More cloth diapering supplies made their way to my house this week! It's really sort of addictive...I want to try so many different products but I think we're well stocked with everything we need at this point. I bought another Planet Wise cloth diaper pail liner (this time in raspberry) so we could rotate that with the other one when we do laundry. Wet, soiled cloth diapers + No place to put them = Bummer! I also ordered some more Thirsties Fab Wipes that really live up to their name. They're really plush and come in a bunch of cute colors. We only use the disposable, pre-moistened wipes for the huge messes (which we don't have to deal with much since we're practicing E.C. with Shay).

The item we got that I was most excited about was an 11oz. bottle of Thirsties Booty Luster!  I'd been wanting to try this for awhile now. I'm a fan of the Bordeaux All Natural Butt Paste which I blogged about in this post.  The only bummer is that you aren't supposed to use any sort of diaper rash cream with cloth diapers as it gets into the natural fibers and blocks absorbancy. So, I finally bought a bottle of the booty luster which is supposed to be cloth diaper friendly. I love the ingredients list:

Aloe Vera, Vitamin E, water-based Extract of Coconut, Honey, Grapeseed Extract, traces of Glycerin, Avocado Oil, Humectant Moisturizers, and other Organic Ingredients.  Thirsties Booty Luster is free of petroleum, alcohols, animal products, parabens, sulfates, DPGs or any dilutants; nor are any of our products ever tested on animals.

So far, so good! Shay seems to like when we spray her with it as she starts cooing. Then you just wipe dry and away you go! She's never had diaper rash, something I hope continues.

While we're on the topic of cloth diapers, I really haven't tried anything other than the products I've blogged about. While I'd love to, my bank account says otherwise! Which is why I try to win free cloth diapers in the hope that I'll be able to try other brands/styles out. Abby's Lane, one of the two online stores I buy most of my cloth diapering supplies from, has a lot of giveaways, the latest, greatest being on the owner's blog, It's the Cloth that Counts. This is a giveaway of 10 sets of Econobum diapers. Incidently, I love all of the funny/cute names they have for cloth diaper brands!

Adventures in Cloth Diapering, Part 2

Okay, we're sold! Jeff & I are loving the cloth diapering so far. After the initial adjustment period, it seems so easy now. We're sticking with the flat diapers with covers for day and the duo diapers for night.

Because you aren't supposed to use diaper rash cream with cloth diapers, we put Shay in a disposable the other night with her Boudreaux's All Natural Butt-Paste as her little bum appeared to be getting a little red (no rash, but we wanted to take preventative measures). Jeff actually discovered now that he's used to the cloth diapers, he actually finds them easier to put on Shay than a 'sposie.  Incidently, we really like the all natural butt paste. I recognize all of the ingredients and feel better about putting that on her than other stuff with mile long ingredients lists, half of which I cannot pronounce let alone recognize. I want to try the Thirsties Booty Luster which can be used with cloth diapers and is supposed to be a good, all-natural diaper rash preventative, but another time.

Once we decided we were going to commit to the cloth diapering thing, I went ahead and purchased a couple more covers, duos, a Planet Wise cloth diaper pail liner in lilac and Thirsties Fab Wipes. I figure, hey, if we're going to go cloth, might as well go all the way. This way, we can nix the Diaper Genie II Elite bag refills and baby wipes off of our shopping list. We can just toss the flats, covers, duos & wipes all into the Diaper Genie pail lined with the cloth liner and then toss everything into the wash when it's full. We just got our stuff in the mail the other day so haven't had much time to try out the cloth wipes and liner but I'll test 'em out and report back. I do have to say, everything is so cute and in such bright, fun colors! We now have diapers and wipes in orchid, rose, honeydew, mango, meadow, ocean, white, etc.

2nd order of cloth diapering supplies:

Thirsties Covers & Duo Diapers, Fab Wipes & Planet Wise Cloth Diaper Pail Liner

Cloth Diapering, First Impressions

This weekend marked the first time using our new cloth diapers!

I diligently washed and re-washed the cotton flats until they reached so-called maximum absorbancy. Also gave the covers and duo diaper inserts lots of face time with the washer and dryer.  Then proceeded to fold all of them so they were all ready to go like little soldiers armed for battle :)   

Diaper covers/wraps by Thirsties

The verdict? 

The diaper covers came in a bunch of pretty colors and certainly look cuter than disposable diapers. They made some red marks around Shay's legs where the gussets sit (but then, so do disposables). Red marks aside, they seemed comfy enough for her and not too tight around the legs.

While easy to fold, the flats were hard to get on her due to the fact that she has learned how to roll over and immediately wants to do just that the moment you put her on her back which translates into a very wiggly, kicky baby on the changing table.  Not so much of a problem when putting on something with velcro, but the flat has nothing to hold it on until you can pull the cover over it.  Though I know that flats aren't meant to completely wick away moisture from baby like many cloth diapering products on the market, I was hoping for at least a little bit more absorbancy.  Shay's not one to fuss because of a wet diaper so we weren't thrilled that she was just sitting in the wetness, though there was no leakage.

The duo diapers are a huge hit though!  They have a buttery soft microfiber fleece liner on the inside and a multi-layer microfiber terry & hemp insert.  We were afraid that a cloth diaper wouldn't hold up without leaks overnight as Shay really gets a disposable wet but these did an excellent job of keeping her feeling dry while containing all of the wetness.  And, while she may inherit the famous "Burton Bubble Butt" someday, she didn't have a cloth diaper induced bubble butt from these.  Trim, soft, absorbant, cute...an overall winner!  The only downside is that they are much more expensive.

All that said, the flats are very affordable and easy to launder so I'm willing to give them more time. Jeff wasn't so eager at first and wanted to go ahead and get more of the duo diapers right away but this morning he commented that he'd give the flats some more time too. So we'll see how this goes. Wish us luck!

Shay modeling her orchid colored cloth diaper

Diaper by Thirsties, Body by Shay!

Adventures in Cloth Diapering, Part I

Another thing no one ever tells you before becoming a parent is just how obsessed you become both with what goes in your baby and what comes out, not to mention how to best deal with the latter!  Before getting pregnant, I thought it was a simple matter of disposable diapers.  Period.  Of course, as a new parent, I wanted to get the best I could for baby Shay.  We ended up going with Huggies Pure & Natural diapers made with organic cotton (and a higher price tag!) until Shay out grew the newborn size.  Next came the diaper cake and package of Nature Babycare disposable diapers courtesy of friends from baby showers. 

At this point, my mom bought us a big Sam's Club size box of Huggies Little Snugglers.  No organic anything and I worried about whether these would irritate baby's sensitive skin.  However, with the price of diapers, I wasn't about to let these go to waste and Shay did just fine with them.  I attribute no diaper rash or irritation due to the fact that we started practicing elimination communication or E.C. with Shay when she was 5 weeks old.  Check out the book Diaper Free Baby and this blog posting from Angela at healthnutforlife.org for info. on the premise of E.C (which makes perfect sense to us!).  That and we make sure that, after wiping baby clean, we use the new clean diaper first as a fan to dry any moisture on the skin before putting it on her. 

Now, the whole time we've been putting Shay in disposable diapers, I had every intention of trying to go the cloth route.  Jeff & I have gotten big into recycling over the last year, making runs to the local recyle drop off near our home on a weekly basis.  So part of my wanting to try cloth is for environmental reasons.  While I definitely don't consider myself in the hippie tree-hugger category, I do try to make small differences wherever I can whether it's recycling, using more natural cleaning products (my favorite lately being bi-o-kleen), buying organic/local, etc.  I figure trying cloth diapers will be another way we can try to live "greener."   Not gonna lie...another big reason is, while cloth diapers are an investment initially, they are defintiely a cost savings over disposable diapers in the long run.

So with those reasons in mind, why has it taken me so long to finally order cloth diapers?  I started researching, got confused with the sheer amount of choices out there, then got overwhelmed.  BumGenius, Fuzzibuns, Smartipants, Tiny Tush, Gro Baby.  These are just a handful of names of different makers of cloth diapers.  While they certainly sound cute, it was overload for an indecisive individual like myself.  All-in-ones, pocket diapers, flats, pre-folds, fitteds, hemp, jersey, cotton, snaps, velcro...Ahhhhhhh!

Enter another diaper cake, this time from Jeff's parents and this time filled with Pampers.  I gotta admit...I was a little relieved that diaper cake #2 would buy me a little more time to figure out the whole cloth diaper situation. 

So what's an inexperienced new mom to do?  Make like the Beatles and "get by with a little help from my friends" (minus the drug reference!).  Big thanks to Angela (see blog link above), who took the time to message me a whole bunch of info. on her experiences with cloth diapers and even bring a few samples to CMT for us to try. 

Armed with a better understanding of some of the choices and an aresenal of websites, I started price hunting which is a force of habit before ordering anything online.  I ended up purchasing covers from Abby's Lane and birdseye weave flats from Cotton Babies.  Both have free shipping and I ordered everything on Friday morning and already got an email from Cotton Babies with shipment tracking that shows the flats are supposed to arrive tomorrow (Monday).  Pretty impressed with the speed from this company!  I got a couple each of extra small Thirsties covers,  size 1 Thirsties duo wraps, and size 1 Thirsties duo diapers.  They come in a bunch of pretty colors so Shay will have a pretty baby bum :)  That and I won't have Sesame Street characters on her diapers anymore like the ones from aforementioned diaper cake!  I'm hoping Jeff likes the flats because they seem pretty easy to fold and are by far the cheapest liner to pair with the covers.  If not, we'll try some other options.  I'm a little nervous about how this is going to go, but let the experimentation begin!  I'll have more on our cloth diaper adventures in a future blog.  Wish us luck!