Monday, March 22, 2010

Fuzzi Bunz REVIEW

FUZZI BUNZ

Putting the Fuzzi Bunz (with both the newborn AND regular FB inserts) on Mitchell for naptime went well. I wish the rise was a little higher, perhaps closer to his belly button, but they don't appear to dig into his belly at all, so that's good! He woke up, and although the inserts are soaked, the diaper did not leak at all!!

I like this diaper because it has adjustable elastic around the legs (even comes with a spare set of elastic that is changeable without seam ripping and sewing) that works like the adjustable elastic in Old Navy's toddler jeans. This is helpful for diapering a younger baby or maybe a baby with skinny/chunky thighs! Also, the waist is adjustable using snaps rather than velcro, which I like because I've had both my boys take off the regular ol' disposable diaper with the velcro-like tabs before. I don't really trust velcro very much in the laundry either, it gets kinda weird and gross. So snaps are perfect for me! And, it's soft on the inside, not at all like disposables!

What I don't like about the Fuzzi Bunz, is that you cannot adjust the rise. This is supposed to be a ONE SIZED diaper, fitting newborns through potty training toddlers (7-35 lbs, I believe). I can't imagine this diaper on a newborn because it seems like it would take up half of its little body. Other one-sized diapers have snaps on the front to adjust the rise of the diaper. After his nap, his tushy was a little moist, though not like it was when I took off the disposable before his nap. Also, I wish they had custom hemp inserts. It comes with two microfiber inserts which are kind of thick and add a lot of bulk between his legs.

In all, I like it! I might not use it on a newborn, but I like the diaper. It's soft, it doesn't leak, and it FITS! I may find some other hemp inserts so I can layer microfiber on top of the hemp and take out some of the bulk of having two microfiber inserts.

Rating: 7.5 out of 10

Cloth Diapers

So, I've recently decided to try cloth diapers. After talking to people who have been doing it for a while, I decided I wanted to go with a pocket diaper. So I bought several gently used cloth pocket diapers from a couple really great sites (www.diaperlab.com for four of them). I have to say: I ABSOLUTELY LOVE CLOTH DIAPERS!!! We only have six so far, so I'm either washing laundry twice a day, or I have to go back and forth between cloth and disposable.

What do I love about them?
1 - I love that they keep Mitchell's little tushy DRY! He's a VERY heavy wetter, and when I take a disposable diaper off of him, his heiny is wet and sometimes has what I think is little tiny pellets of the gel from the diaper on him. When he gets diaper rashes, this is awful and it hurts him so much. Ben & I agree that cloth diapers may cut back on both the number and the severity of diaper rashes for him. When I take a cloth diaper off, his little bum-bum is as dry as can be.

2 - They are CUTE! Have you seen how adorable some of the prints are for cloth diapers? These aren't your grandma's cloth diapers!

3 - They're EASY! After being washed & dried, I stuff the inserts back in. Then they are prepped and ready for diapering. Merely take off one diaper and put on the other, same as disposables (only with snaps instead of velcro, though velcro is also available). That's it! Pull out the inserts and throw diaper and inserts either into a diaper pail, wet bag, or just into the empty washer rather than into the trash.

What I don't like?
1 - You have to use special detergent. To wash, I pull the inserts out and wash the diapers and inserts together in hot water with Country Save detergent, then I dry them without a fabric softener sheet. Enzymes and softeners and brighteners and such can build up on your diapers to make them less absorbent, so it's important to use the right detergent. I usually use the ALL Free & Clear, but it still has stuff that will build up on the diapers. However, this isn't a BIG deal, other than it's more expensive, because with all the skin conditions in our home, it may end up being helpful.

2 - It's a little gross to change poopy diapers. However, when is it NOT? You've still got to wipe stinkies off of little tushies, disposable or cloth. If it's a hard chunk, you just dump that into the toilet and flush. If it's not so hard, you still just pull out the inserts (which you CAN do without touching anything gross) and throw it all into where ever you put your dirty diapers. It really isn't that bad. PROMISE!

So, all that said...
Which diapers do I like the best?
What do they look like?

Well, I'll save these two questions for tomorrow!!

Friday, March 12, 2010

HORRIBLE BLOGGER!

I am absolutely TERRIBLE at this! My last entry was JULY and now it's MARCH!! Obviously, the way I was trying to blog was just not working. I'm going to try some different things and see what works for me. So bear with me as I try to figure out this whole thing!!