Cloth Diapers Compared

Green Quiz Quest

2010-05-05T02:59:00.000-06:00

Hey, just wanted to let you all know that there is a scavenger hunt starting in July, and there’s going to be a TON of cloth diaper shop sponsors, and Rockin’ Green too. Great way to add to your stash, for free!

“The Green Quiz Quest is an online scavenger hunt that will help bring customers and businesses together that both are in favor of protecting the Earth. The Quest will offer the fun of the Scavenger Hunt with the reward of prizes for Seekers and offer additional traffic and new clients for the Sponsors. The Green Quiz Quest runs from July 1, 2010 to July 31, 2010.”

There are pre-registration prizes… check the facebook page.
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Green-Quiz-Quest/114683445216805
Website: http://greenquizquest.com/
Sign-up: http://greenquizquest.com/seeker-sign-up/

change of focus

2010-04-11T00:27:00.000-06:00

i've been convicted that i need to be focusing on other stuff right now, priorities that i let slip because of my new obsession in cloth diapering. perhaps later, when some pressing projects are done, i can turn back to this, but right now i will only do cloth-diapering stuff in my off-time, which means few to no updates on this blog for a while. thanks for following, reading, commenting, and encouraging. :)

I'm back!

2010-04-07T01:51:00.000-06:00

I figured out how to make a blog button (look on sidebar)! And I am working on a spreadsheet of all the various attributes of a diaper (particularly pockets)... what else do you think should go on here? What attributes do you look for when you're trying to find that perfect diaper?

Type of diaper - pocket, aio, ai2, etc
Type/s of closure (front unless otherwise noted) - 1-row snap, 2-row snap, aplix, etc
Type of adjustable rise - 2-row snap, 3-row snap, adjustable elastic, etc
Outer fabric
Inner fabric
Type of insert (if included)
Method of enclosure (for pockets) - front open, back open, back elastic, front flap, etc
Method of placement/attachment (for ai2) - snap locations, length/type of tuck in front/back
Laundry care
Prepping
Country of origin
info about company (age, products, etc)
waist circumference (smallest-largest settings)

rise (smallest-largest settings)
thigh circumference (smallest-largest settings)
recommended weight range
special features (inner gussets, etc)

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And how is my new-to-cloth diapering doing? I've learned that one-size snap is a steep learning curve for beginners. Yup, I've had my share of leaks, and I think it's mainly been user error. Figuring out fit on a skinny-waisted, chunky-thighed baby has proved challenging. On some diapers more than others. Unfortunately, the one I struggle with the most is Katydid.

But there are some diapers that have been dummy-proof. The best yet? I think it might be Flip. But Flip isn't my favorite diaper. Which one is? That's for another blogpost. :)

And the last and best bit of news? There might be giveaways in the next few weeks!

one week!

2010-03-27T00:57:00.002-06:00

It's been one week since I've started cloth diapering! I was able to make the complete switch... just had to wash diapers ALOT initially! And I so want to write more and talk about Haute Pockets and Rumparooz and so forth, but I've been double-whammied. My first postpartum period started (4 months. ah, well), and wow, no one told me the first one is such a doozer! And now that the first few days are past... my tooth flared up! I'll be having a root canal Monday. :-x

Anyway... so more posts and comparisons soon, just can't promise how soon.

And I REALLY want to start posting tables of comparison (Consumer Reports kind of idea)... so you can tell at a glance which diapers have a microfleece inner, where each diaper was made, how the rise adjustment is set up, how the inserts come in and out... and just a whole ton of info like that. The table idea is really what i want this blog to be about.

Photos!

2010-03-25T02:03:00.005-06:00

I will try to incorporate photos into almost every post from now on, but here's the catch-up photos, beginning with my very first stash photo!

From left to right:
white Haute Pocket
Vanilla GroBaby
2 orange Baby Kangas
sage Fuzzibunz
green Tweedlebug
twilight Katydid
black Baby Kanga

Missing from the photo - another black Baby Kanga, and the melon Katydid which is a bit darker and richer than the orange Baby Kangas.

Here's a pic of baby wearing the Katydid in melon & twilight; :

Fuzzibunz in sage

Tweedlebug in green:

And Baby Kanga in black:

Enter one-of-a-kind, the GroBaby system

2010-03-23T07:19:00.003-06:00

GroBaby is one of those diapers where you start to wonder if maybe there really is something to all the hype. I got the only snap available, a vanilla. GroBaby told me that they will be releasing more colors in snaps next month. They also offer a snap conversion at their store for a reasonable price ($3.50 atm).

That said, this diaper is really thoughtfully and innovatively designed. It's an AI2 essentially. You snap the insert onto the shell, and as each insert gets used, you unsnap and snap in a clean one. Thereby needing less covers. The cover is soft and stretchy, yet holds up very well, and it has a mesh lining which is very smart for covers. The snaps are very strong and durable, yet not difficult to snap/unsnap by hand. The rise fit my baby well on medium. The insert is very absorbent and was shaped to give coverage where it was needed without adding bulk where it's not needed (unless you have a blowout). The two noticeable downsides are that the insert's front snap is not high next to the tabs, but low -- right where the most pee would be -- so you're gripping a soggy insert to unsnap it. And you have to wash (hot/cold) & dry it 5-6 times before use. With just one insert, I gave up after 3 washes and figured I'd wait several uses/washes before I tried night.

I can see how people would fall in love with this, but it really is just a glorified cadillac A12... and not the best to hand to your hubby/relative/friend without a tutorial. But I like it well enough that I'm considering buying a set of inserts.

Fuzzibunz vs. Katydids, part 2... and a third contestant, Baby Kangas

2010-03-23T06:49:00.003-06:00

Comparison

So I washed the diapers and found that the Katydid's rise snaps were still snapped when they came out of the dryer... so it must have been user error. I played more with the fit and found that my chubby-thighed baby needed full rise in order to fit well. (I plan to have pictures, I've just been out of sorts because my first postpartum period started. ugh) So I was willing to give Katydids a second go. They seem to do fine on everything, and not excel at anything. They're trustworthy, but a tad difficult to figure out the snaps -- but that's to be expected when a first-timer decides to jump headlong into one-size snaps. No wonder beginners usually have a huge stash of bumGenius 3.0 sized.

The same can be said for Fuzzibunz, they're difficult to figure out the snaps. I'm hesitant to hand either of these to hubby or relatives without a hands-on demonstration... was I doomed to do all the diapering henceforth?

And this is when my Baby Kangas arrived. I got them used off Cloth Diaper Nation. The pockets are zippered on the outside... the old ones are just that, the new ones have a inner flap to help hold the insert in along with keep the zipper far away from babyskin. But that's not what interested me. It was a single row of snaps. I snapped it on the medium rise and... boy, this was easy. It fit like a charm, and that night when hubby diapered baby and asked which diaper to use, I pointed him straight to the Bab Kangas and let him at it, no explanation needed.

I realize that so far most of the comparison has been from a beginners perspective with definite needs/goals in mind as I review these. I hope to, though, start comparison charts once I can figure out how best to warp blogger to my needs.

the start of a new blog

2010-03-23T05:13:00.001-06:00

(I got fed up with wordpress, only to come over here and encounter different problems! But I think overall blogger will be easier to wrestle, particularly as I learn tidbits of html to tweak it.)

I am a new cloth diaperer, with a 4 month old son (born Nov '09). When I was a kid, I helped my mom cloth diaper one or two of my younger brothers - we used a diaper service and wet pails.... pins and prefolds... it stunk. My introduction to modern cloth diapering came about before I was pregnant as I was browsing a new find at the public library, the Mothering magazine.

After researching online, discovering brands, WAHMs, mommy blogs and myriads of giveaways, I decided to go with one-size (to need less diapers and thereby hopefully less investment) and snap (because aplix/velcro was not as reliable long-term). And now, here I am, finally cloth diapering.

One thing that frustrated me while learning about cloth diapers was the reviews. There were definitely exceptions, but most of them seemed to say, "yup, this diaper did good, I liked it" and it was hard to tell what there was to like about it, what there wasn't... and how to figure out what would be best for me besides the general diapering systems (AIO, pocket, prefold/cover, etc). And how this diaper compared to another... when I couldn't figure out how they were different and how they were similar. And getting exasperated trying to remember where to find all my pertinent information.

And so this blog was conceived. A place where diapers can be compared side-by-side. A rundown of each diapers specifics. A help in figuring out what diaper would work for you. Nothing beats actually having the diaper in hand, but a reference would be rather useful - both before building your stash and adding/modifying it.

I am considering doing giveaways, as they are so fun, and they are darn good at attracting readers... we'll see. One idea I had was to do a Q&A with a diaper shop (which might choose to do a giveaway), and start building a pageful of diaper shops, with their own reference/comparison tools.

I also like the idea of challenges... Fluffy comes calling, asking if it can take on Cottonballs. Or readers vote that they want HempBaby compared with HempBottoms. Or even a WAHM wants to take on a big guy.

So if you like and/or are interested in any of these ideas, please comment below or email me (simplymerry/gmail).

And let the games begin!

I started cloth diapering today

2010-03-19T02:53:00.001-06:00

The detergent arrived (Crunchy Clean… thanks for the fast shipping, Banana Peels!) and so i was finally able to prep my diapers. I couldn’t find much online about prep… so i just washed/rinsed/rinsed. I have two Katydids and one Fuzzibunz so far (more in the mail!). I fell in love with the Katydids online, but I think I might actually prefer Fuzzibunz. Time will tell.

Comparison

I loved how Katydid sewed a label (all four sides) onto the inserts so it was easy to figure out which was which (fuzzibunz had a hanging tag like you have with everything).

The snaps on the Katydid were very easy to figure out, but the Fuzzibunz wasn’t, as it was a triangular setup.
The Fuzzibunz inside was definitely softer!

And the major difference for me? The rise. I had no trouble putting the first Katydid on (medium setting). Then *just* before I put on the Fuzzibunz, I read Beccalynn’s blogpost about the sizing of the thigh elastic (Fuzzibunz rise adjusts by internal elastic adjustment). I didn’t fully read the instructions (oops!) and assumed that “2″ meant medium. I adjusted it to “3″, and it fit well when I put it on. No problems there! But back to the Katydids... when my husband put on the last diaper of the day, the other Katydid, we had troubles with the snaps, particularly the rise snaps. They kept unsnapping. :-/ I think I might have put the insert in wrong, so it might have been pushing against the rise snaps.

So, I think I really prefer the elastic adjusting of the thigh versus the snap rise, for one-size diaper. I tossed the diapers into the washer, and hopefully I’ll have them ready for another trial tomorrow, maybe try a night-time.