My thoughts on cloth diapers...

When I first started doing my research about cloth diapers, I came to the conclusion that I would not like prefold, flat or fitted diapers. Prefolds and flats just seemed too complicated, especially flats. Flats are just one big piece of cloth that you fold to make a diaper. There are many different folds depending on your preferences and the size of your baby. Prefolds don't require as much folding but there are still different techniques to get them on your baby. Once you have the flat or prefold on your baby you can either pin or snappi it in place. Once it's on you have to put a waterproof cover over it. That just sounded like a lot of work especially with a wiggly 7 month old. The most popular cloth diapers are pockets, all in ones and all in twos. Pockets and all in twos require you to "stuff" them with the absorbent insert. All in ones don't require any stuffing, but they take much longer to dry. Fitted diapers are just like all in ones but they require a cover because they don't have a waterproof layer. Fitted diapers, on average, are more expensive than the other options. There are some really cute fitted diapers out there though, but I didn't get why you would spend so much on such a cute diaper, only to cover it up. I ultimately decided on pockets and all in twos with mostly microfiber inserts. With my nice little stash, I hit the ground running and started cloth diapering my 7 month old. I loved how cute they were on his little bum and loved the fact that we were not sending as much trash to the landfill. I was very happy with my decision to cloth diaper!
Fast forward a few months to today and my views have changed slightly, although I am still loving cloth diapering and my pockets and all in twos...I am now in love with flats, fitteds and natural fibers too! My little man loves to be in his walker and bouncy seat, but we were having a LOT of compression leaks with our microfiber inserts. I started doing some research on compression leaks and learned that microfiber was notorious for being the cause of compression leaks. I had a few cotton prefolds that I had for inserts but I was slightly intimidated by them, although looking back, I am not sure why. I dug them out and gave one a try, it worked! No compression leaks! I don't have to change his outfit multiple times a day now! After that discovery, I started to look into what other options there were for natural fibers. I found a few hemp inserts that I decided to try and immediately loved! There was also the option of flats...with a little less hesitation than before, I decided to try them out. I learned that you can use flannel receiving blankets as flat diapers. I had quite a few of those laying around so I learned how to fold them and tried it. It was so trim and absorbent and much easier than I had imagined, I was in love! While doing my research, I learned that fitteds are mostly made with natural fibers and are good for wearing coverless so that the baby's bum can get some air. After a bit of a rash, I decided that a fitted diaper would be a good addition to my stash. It is so cute and soft and since it has snaps it is very easy to use!
I love all the different options that I have now that I have a bit of confidence using cloth! I have only been using them for a few months now but I am so happy with my decision and as you can see in the photo below, I think my little man likes them too!

Sunday Snapshot: Mmmm...

Baby Blankets

I had a little time to myself yesterday so I decided to take full advantage and get some sewing done. With the baby more mobile now and with the dog running around, it is hard to get sewing done because I have to use the living room floor and coffee table to work.

With my alone time, I was able to get 2 blankets done! I wanted to make one for my little boy and one for a gift. I am in love with the minky bubble fabric that I found at Joann Fabric. It is so soft and warm and cuddly! I made one blanket today with the white minky bubble fabric for the back and a quilted blue/white/brown baby fabric for the front. The other blanket is the pink minky bubble fabric for the back and a dot/swirl flannel fabric for the front. I am happy with how they both came out and now I want to make one big enough for me to snuggle up in!

Diaper Deals

Right now Kelly's Closet has a coupon code for a free diaper cover (guaranteed value over $13) with a purchase over $49. Just enter the code FLATSCHALLENGE at checkout. You can also get free shipping with a purchase over $49 (no code needed)! They are also offering double diaper dollars for a limited time, 2 points for every dollar spent! Points can be redeemed for store credit.
225 points = $10
500 points = $30
750 points = $50
1000 points = $75
They have great customer service and lots of product to choose from. It may be because I live in Maine (home of Kelly's Closet), but I have always received my orders very quickly. Lots of incentive to buy some diapers!

Have a great weekend and have fun shopping!

Using the power of the sun

My husband put a clothes line up for me in the backyard a few weeks ago and I finally got a chance to use it the other day! The sun does such a great job at getting stains out of my cloth diapers and it might just be me, but they seem so much more fresh when they have been blowing in the breeze. I am looking forward to a summer of line drying and hopefully saving some money on our electricity bill by not using the dryer as much. Here is a shot of some of the diapers drying in the sun and a shot of the little man who gets to wear them.

Sunday Snapshot: Swinging into Spring

My first Mother's Day

I know it's been a while since I have posted but it is due to the fact that my computer is still broken. I now have a new way to post, but I will get into that later in this post.

This past weekend I celebrated my first Mother's Day. I spent the weekend at my parents house with my husband, baby and dog. We had a great weekend and beautiful weather. We were able to get out and take a walk around town on Saturday and my husband and I were even able to get out for a date night Saturday while my parents babysat.

Before we went out, my husband asked me if it was ok if the baby gave me his Mother's Day gift tonight instead of in the morning because he (the baby, who is 10 months old) was too excited to wait for the morning. I told him that if he was THAT excited then it would be ok if he gave it to me early. So my husband took the baby and they went and got my gift out and handed it to me. When I opened it, I discovered that I was the new owner of an iPad2!!! This is something that I had been talking about for weeks but did not think that there was any way that I would be able to have one since I don't have a job (well one that pays money that is). My husband told me not to expect something like this every year but he knew how much I wanted one and wanted me to know how much he appreciated everything that I do for him and our baby. Love him! So now I have a new way to blog and I am loving it!

That was a great way to start my first Mother's Day and Sunday proved to be just as good. We all got up Sunday morning and went out to breakfast. My Mother-in-law Joined us for breakfast as well. After breakfast we all went for a 5+ mile walk while the baby took a nice long nap in the stroller. After our walk we went back to my parents house for lunch. Shortly after lunch we packed up the car and headed home. That night, since it was still so nice out, we decided to grill and eat dinner outside. It was the perfect way to end a great weekend. I could not have asked for a better Mother's Day!

I have a few projects that I have been working on and a few that I can't wait to start. Now that I have a way to post, I am hoping to post about them soon. Thanks for reading and to all the other Moms out there, I hope you had a great Mother's Day as well!

Sunday Snapshot: A Walk in the Woods