I am very nervous to type the following confession. But I have to be honest. If I try and act like someone I am not, I will get found out sooner or later and will lose the trust of my readers.

Please don’t leave me once you hear this.

I have switched from cloth diapers to disposables. That’s right. I am adding to the landfill problem and putting chemicals on my baby’s tushie.

I bought a box of disposable diapers today. I will be selling my cloth – mostly for the cost of shipping – to some good friends. This is really earth-shattering news! For 2 years I blogged about cloth diapers. I created video reviews of the most daddy friendly brands and wrote about the best cloth diapers for newborns. I connected with other moms in the cloth diapering community and made some amazing friends.

That is why I have to be honest. I still support cloth diapering and think it is an amazing way to save money and cut down on carbon footprints. But will not do this anymore. Before I explain why, let me just answer some possible comments/suggestions I might get.

What was it you hated the most?

Honestly? The smell of dunking and swishing poopy diapers. And the smell of ammonia in my night time diapers or diapers that sat in the pail too long.

Did you try a diaper sprayer?

Nope. We only have one bathroom and a door that does not latch. I have a hard enough time keeping an eye on my 3 kids, I don’t need them spraying each other with such an accessible weapon.

Did you try stripping?

Oh my goodness sakes yes! I tried every single natural detergent under the sun. Tide was all that worked. In fact, stripping is another reason I don’t like cloth diapers. I don’t enjoy spending 1.5 days washing and rinsing and re-rinsing diapers.

Don’t you hate the smell of a disposable more? All those chemicals!

Actually, I really like that I can pitch the poopy diaper in the outside garbage can and not have to smell it again. And the perfumy smell of sposies? I don’t find it overpowering at all.

What about blow outs?

Thankfully Lucy is 13.5 months old and her poop is a lot more solid now. I don’t have to worry about it.

You are potty training. Potty training while using sposies is so much more difficult! Cloth makes it easier.

Tell that to David! LOL! The only way he is successful is if he goes naked. If he wears undies he will pee in them and refuse to go pee if I set the timer. Naked he is perfect! Cloth or sposies, doesn’t matter. His pee does not discriminate.

Don’t you feel guilty about all the money you are wasting on disposables?

I refuse to allow myself to. Mommy guilt is ugly. I think of all the things I can feel guilty for, this will not be one of them. Yes I have spent quite a pretty penny on my cloth diaper stash. I spent countless hours researching the best diapers too. But the truth of the matter is with 3 kids under 4 years old and my new work-at-home jobs, something has to go. All that time I spent rinsing, washing, folding and stuffing my diapers I will now spend with my kids. There is only so much time in the day and I decided to give up the joys of cloth diapering for the convenience of disposables.

So what are your thoughts on cloth diapering now?

They have not changed! The only thing that changed is my life got way too stinking busy so I had to let something go. I still think organic cloth diapers are the best thing for our babies. They sustain the earth and can help support moms that stay home and support their kids with their business.  Cloth diapers remain the most beautiful, soft, squishy, amazing things I ever put on my babies. Nothing beats the cuteness of a cloth diapered bum! I still give cloth diapering advice and share my wisdom to help others cloth diaper successfully.

Perhaps I am over dramatizing it a smidge. Perhaps I am not taking my decision seriously enough. All I know is, when life gets crazy and you make decisions as a mother and a person that benefit yourself mentally, everyone benefits. No one is perfect.

A Merry Fluffy Christmas CLOTH DIAPER **GIVEAWAY**

Welcome to the 2nd Annual “A MERRY FLUFFY CHRISTMAS!”
This is my first year participating and I am very excited! This is a huge blog hop and you can win on every single blog (if you happen to be that lucky) – that is a LOT of fluff! Cloth diapers are not only adorable but they sure do help that budget too!

How “A Merry Fluffy Christmas” Blog Hop Giveaway works:
You will have until 11:59pm EST on December 5th to enter in our prize package below.

There will only be ONE winner for each participating blog.

Please remember to read ALL instructions on each blog, as each blog’s entry methods are different.
And don’t forget to visit ALL OF THE PARTICIPATING BLOGS for more prize packages to win! You can find the Linky at the bottom of this giveaway post.
That’s it! And good luck!

Giveaway!

One Mama Dweeb reader will win One (1) AppleCheeks Little Bundle & $25 to Kelly’s Closet!

Required Entry: 

Comment on this post with your favorite brand of cloth diaper!

Extra Entries: (Leave a separate comment for each entry)

• Subscribe to Mama Dweeb via email
• Subscribe to Mama Dweeb via RSS (coffee mug button in header)
• Follow Mama Dweeb on twitter and tweet! (You may tweet 2x per day. Leave URL of tweet in this post)
  You may use the tweet button at the top of this post or use the sample tweet below:
  #Win AppleCheeks Little Bundle & $25 to @KellysCloset from @MamaDweeb #FluffyXmas #clothdiapers http://bit.ly/uBYJpb

AppleCheeks sponsored the bundle giveaway, I am sponsoring the gift certificate myself. Open to USA & Canada. Giveaway ends December 5th at 11:59pm CST. Winner will be drawn randomly via plugin. Winner has 24 hrs to respond to my email or I draw another winner. 

Linky of other Merry Fluffy Christmas Giveaways

All week these fabulous bloggers have been joining forces to celebrate the grand re-opening of Diaper Daisy! You can visit them for information and even better – Diaper Daisy sponsored giveaways!

Monday – Pickles and Paisleys
Tuesday- One Smiley Monkey and Me as a Mommy
Wednesday- Mama B
Thursday- Baby Dickey
Friday- Mama Dweeb
Saturday- Little BGCG and Dibs!
Sunday- Goodbye Disposable, Hello Cloth

Diaper Daisey now has more products for you to choose from. Plus, they have all the cloth diapering accessories you could possibly need. They have wet bags, pail liners, snappis, and they even sell diaper sprayers. I totally need a diaper sprayer.

I am hosting a giveaway for $25 to Diaper Daisy. This is a fabulous prize – you can purchase your dream diaper or even a handful of useful accessories. So good luck!

Readers, it has been far too long since I gave away any fluff.  Look at this pretty pocket diaper I got in my swag bag at BlogHer!  It is a BabyKicks Hemp pocket diaper and the snaps just pop on that white PUL!

Since I appreciate you all so much and love giving away fluff, I am going to give this to one lucky Mama Dweeb reader!  It is a one-size pocket diaper made of 55% organic hemp and 45% organic cotton. It has bamboo fleece that is soft against baby’s skin.

One of my favorite features is the “air gusset” that surrounds the baby’s legs. Here is the description from the Babykicks web site:

Air Gussets are made of a special fleece material and contain no PUL, which allows for even more air flow to help prevent rashes. The Soft fabric does not leave red marks on baby’s legs, but still protects against leaks and blow outs.

This diaper retails for $20.50 and comes with one insert.

Win it!

One Mama Dweeb reader will win the BabyKicks 3G pocket diaper in white, just like the one in the top photo!

Required Entry:

Tell me your favorite place online to chat about cloth diapers and/or read about fluff!

Extra Entries (1 each unless specified):

•  Subscribe to Mama Dweeb via email
• Enter my Amazon.com Gift card giveaway on my Facebook page
• Comment on any other non-giveaway post, and leave a comment here with which post(s) you commented on. (unlimited!)
• Follow Mama Dweeb via Google Friend Connect (in footer)
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• Follow Mama Dweeb on Twitter and Tweet. (Limit 2 tweets per day, at least 1 hr apart. Must leave URL of tweet in comment)
  You may use this as your tweet or click Tweet button above the post:
  Fluffy fun #clothdiaper #giveaway! Hope to win Babykicks one size pocket from @mamadweeb http://bit.ly/relWJq open to USA & CAN!

Fine Print:

Giveaway is for one brand new, never prepped/used Babykicks 3G pocket diaper and hemp/cotton insert.  Giveaway open to USA & Canada addresses and ends October 10th, 2011 at 11:59pm CST.  Winner has 48 hrs to respond to my email before I draw another winner. This is a diaper I was given at BlogHer and this giveaway has no affiliation with Babykicks.

All the anticipation culminated on Saturday when I opened my priority mail box and saw that pretty diaper in real life! I was one of the lucky bloggers that was given a chance to see these prints even before the retailers did. Ilana, co-owner of AppleCheeks, did not let on a smidge what they looked like. And I have a girl and a boy in diapers. Was it going to be gender neutral? Girly? Super boyish?

Here is Lucy in the “Wild Child” print!  Isn’t she “eat her up” beautiful? I was so excited to see a gender neutral print. I am really upset that I didn’t have her blue and brown bow for the picture, it would compliment this diaper so well.  A special surprise on this print are the apples in between the zoo animals. AppleCheeks really paid attention to details with this one!

Here is a close up of the two prints. And good news! Their storage sacs also come in these two prints as well!  The one on the left is called “Delicious” and the animal print is “Wild Child.” Personally, I don’t think one is more girly or boyish than another. I’d put either one on my boy and girl!

You wanna see my reaction when I first opened the box? It’s fun and thought I’d share:

The Cloth Diaper Report //// Change Diapers

All About Cloth Diapers //// 29 Diapers

Kelly Wels

Me As A Mommy //// Mama B

Baby Dickey //// Momotics

Win It!

One Mama Dweeb reader will win a $25 gift code to AppleCheeks online store!

CLOSED: Congrats Brittany!!

I received the dipe to review. All opinions are 100% mine!

I am so excited!! It is almost time for the Printalicious event!  This is a HUGE giveaway event/blog party to celebrate the brand spankin’ new release of prints for AppleCheeks pocket diapers!

Who? AppleCheeks owners and creators Ilana and Amy will be LIVE Streaming on Ustream.tv! They will be chatting cloth, answering questions sent in by YOU, and giving away some huge prizes! (one of which is a Sunshine Kids car seat!! No joke!)

What? UStream is a chat platform in which you can watch Ilana & Amy on live TV while chatting with fans in a chat box! They have embedded this platform onto their Facebook page so you won’t have to go far!

Where? http://ustream.tv/channel/printalicious & http://facebook.com/applecheeksdiapers

When? Mark your calendars for June 8th, 2011 9-10pm EST.

Why? To party it up AppleCheeks style! They want to show their appreciation for their fans with prizes and fun.

How? RSVP on their blog! Your RSVP will enter you to win prizes as well as give them a little info for their records.

I will be one of the lucky bloggers that gets to review their brand new prints! So I will be partying at this event, please RSVP so I will see you there! Plus, I’d love for a MamaDweeb reader to win the Sunshine Kid’s Car Seat

I did it!! I am so freaking excited!!

Do you remember when I was complaining about how disappointed I was that the Rockin’ Green Hard Rock and Funk Rock failed to cure my ammonia? If not, click the link – you can read stories of others who were disappointed as well.  I didn’t have ammonia smell until Lizzie hit closer to 2 years old, then I got rid of it, and it came back when David turned 22 months old. Something about that toddler pee is just super duper laden with ammonia and if you don’t clean your diapers well enough they will stink – especially the overnight diapers.

Am I right?

Well, to cure the ammonia problem I tried Hard Rock and Funk Rock. It didn’t work. I emailed Kim the creator of Rockin Green and followed her directions. Read that post for all I did and it still didn’t work.

So I ordered Eco Sprouts since supposedly it works better than Rockin’ Green. First I stripped with Dawn detergent, then rinsed a bunch of times and then I soaked all night in Eco Sprouts and then washed 3 more times in Eco Sprouts.

The result:  Ammonia smell was mostly dead. (a la Princess Bride).  I wasn’t knocked down by the pungent odor in the morning, but a quick sniff revealed a slight smell of ammonia. Their website says to do a full soak all night in ES detergent when you first get it. I might have ruined that process by stripping with Dawn before soaking, but I can’t imagine how that would do it. And since my water is so hard I used 1 more tablespoon than the package says I should.

Rockin’ Green – FAIL
EcoSprouts – FAIL

Then I bought Crunchy Clean, the hard water version. I also purchased a few additives, since my water is hard.

Wait – what is hard water? How can I tell if I have hard water? And why does hard water affect cloth diaper cleaning?

Hardwater.org.uk defines hard water as:

Water described as “hard” is high in dissolved minerals, specifically calcium and magnesium. Hard water is not a health risk, but a nuisance because of mineral buildup on fixtures and poor soap and/or detergent performance.

In a nutshell, hard water has so many minerals in it, the soap in the laundry is working hard to fight the minerals that it doesn’t even clean the pee/poop effectively. You can tell if you have hard water by looking at your faucets and soap sudsing capabilities. If your faucets have white crusty residue, and/or if it takes quite a bit of soap to make suds then you have hard water.

So that was my problem – my hard water was not cleaning my toddler boy’s pee very well.

My solution!

I washed David’s night time diapers in this exact way and he woke up without even a hint of ammonia!

One regular cycle with 1/4 cup Borax only

One heavy cycle with extra rinse with a sprinkle of Borax, 3-4 drops Tea Tree Oil, and 3 large Tablespoons of Crunchy Clean hard rock version.

********************

That’s it! I had to add Borax and Tea Tree Oil with the Crunchy Clean, that is all!

I am so happy to have this problem resolved and I hope my solution helps you too!

Kinda makes me sad to write this. Everyone loves Rockin’ Green. Heck, I even wrote a glowing review of the Rockin’ Green Cloth Diaper Detergent. But if you read that review I mention, ever so slightly, that I had ammonia with it.

Then I stripped with Dawn and switched to Tide.  I have very hard water and Tide has helped get my diapers clean in the past. I always used about 1/4 scoop for each load and never noticed build up. After switching to Tide I had no ammonia issues for an entire year!

Almost one year to the day, I am discovering ammonia again! I stripped with Dawn (but not the original blue formula) and sprayed Bac-Out on every single diaper before putting it into the pail. Ammonia was still there but not as noticeable, and only in the night time diapers.

Then I really wanted to give Rockin’ Green another chance! Instead of asking to review her Hard Rock and Funk Rock, I purchased them.

I followed the package’s directions and stripped with both formulas. Sniff, sniff. Still there!

I emailed the creator of Rockin’ Green, Kim, my dismay and this is what she wrote back:

When it comes to Tide, it can really take a while to pull it all out honestly. Generally the first few washes does nothing but pull out the old tide that is in your diapers, which can cause the stink to be worse in the beginning. In our lab tests, it has taken up to 20 washes to even start to see a breakdown of the coating that is created with Tide. So it’s pretty heavy duty stuff that bonds with the fabric.

My suggestion would be to soak overnight again with 5-6 tbs, and then follow up with several washes with nothing. Then when you do the funk rock soak, do the 4 tbs as prescribed on the package and do it for about 90 minutes. (if you are doing a lot of diapers that could help) and then do a wash with nothing, then a regular wash with 2 tbs of hard rock and an extra rinse.

Sigh. I was in for a long time of stripping and washing. But I wanted her products to work, so I followed them exactly. Well, almost exactly. Instead of an overnight soak I soaked them for 6 hours during the day (I forgot before going to sleep that night).

Tons of water and soap later, my diapers and washing machine smelled fresh! That is, until David wore his diaper for longer than 1 hr. Then the ammonia was terrible!

I had this problem with another all natural cleaner – Charlie’s Soap.  But they even admit that their detergent doesn’t work with hard water! Stinkin’ hard water!

I just felt like I had to share my frustration – I know that Rockin’ Green and all those products work for lots of people, but just not for me.  Natural soaps mixed with the minerals in my hard water isn’t getting my diapers clean. I have tried Calgon, and that seems to help but it is pricey and it works as well as just Tide.

I am going to try one more thing before resorting to my regular Tide usage – Eco Sprout.  Top To Bottom Baby Boutique is located in Omaha, NE.  They said this SAHD (stay at home dad) created detergent is all natural and works in hard water to effectively clean your diapers and eliminate and prevent ammonia. I even read a review on Queen of the Snot Princess. So, I pre ordered a small bag for $11 and will try it for myself.

I will keep you posted! I want to find an all natural detergent that works, otherwise it is Tide all the way and stripping every so often!

Closed! Out of 470 Comments, the winner is Tamara Sz!

I am participating in the Diapers Etc Blog Party – the hostess is the fabulous Calley from Eco Chic. Her blog is a hub of all things baby and eco-friendly.  I love reading her posts on breastfeeding, cloth diapering, and green cleaning to name a few! And now she is starting to host fun & eco-friendly blog and twitter parties!   This blog party has 20 participating bloggers, and they will all link up at various times this week, and every single one is hosting their own $25 Diapers Etc gift certificate giveaway!  WooHoo!

You see, Diapers Etc just recently went under a site redesign and now they are back, bigger and better!

Every blogger on the tour will have a different post about cloth diapers, mine happens to be about why I love them.

Easy for me!

Since this is the week of love, I thought I’d answer “why does Annie love cloth diapers?”

Because I want to make baby poop fun!

The first time I saw a Goodmama Diaper, it was love at first sight.  But I refused to buy it. Yet. I needed to convince Josh that it was ok to spend $35 on a diaper. That was going to be pooped in. So I did the math and told him we could switch to cloth to save money. I bought prefolds and covers at first. Then he couldn’t use them.  So I bought one Goodmama and he liked it!  Yes!! It fit Lizzie so well (she was a year old) and looked so beautiful on her. That was the end of that! I added cute fabric to my prefolds and bought diapers in bright covers and cheery prints.

Seriously my friends – if I am going to be changing diapers all day long, I might as well have some lovely diapers to fold and be happy as I do it. Disposables are not cute – no matter what jeans print they try to put on them. I really do love folding my cloth diapers! It is one of the few chores I look forward to doing every day.  And it is so fun to put these cute diapers on Lucy and David. Let’s face it – cute clothes are not always comfortable or practical, but cute diapers? Now there is something I can feel good about spending my money on.

No, the baby poop itself will never be fun. But putting the diapers on before the poop – that is the fun part! And Lizzie loves helping me change her diapers and fold the diapers.  I love my cloth diapers, I do!

Buy It!

Purchase all your cloth diapering needs from the new and improved Diapers Etc!

Win It!

One lucky Mama Dweeb reader will win $25 to spend at Diapers Etc!

Required Entry:

Go to Diapers Etc and tell me what you will buy if you win.

Extra Entries: (1 each unless specified, leave a separate comment for each thing you do)

• Subscribe to the Diapers Etc Newsletter
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  You may use this as your tweet or click the Tweet Button beneath the post

#Win a $25 Gift Card to @DiapersEtc on @MamaDweeb! Ends 02/28. http://bit.ly/g0u2xf #giveaway #clothdiapers

Giveaway ends 02/28 at 11:59pm CST. Winner will be picked randomly via “And the Winner Is” and have 24 hours to respond via email before it goes into a live giveaway drawing. Giveaway open to USA addresses only.

All opinions are mine, I received nothing in connection with this post, giveaway item is sponsored by Macy’s PR, and I am solely responsible for this promotion

Lucy is now 6 weeks old and 11.5 pounds, and save for night time, we have used cloth diapers ever since we came home from the hospital. You

can see my first post about what diapers I preferred from birth to 6 weeks old.

Now that she is chunking up she is fitting in other one size diapers, but I have found a few are still not quite fitting her perfectly.

First, a few pictures of my favorites that fit super well right now!

Applecheeks is NOT one size, they have 2 sizes – but this is Lucy in her size 1 envelope diaper. Love it!  It is trim and fits perfect. Lucy is getting really thick around her middle – must be all that nursing – so the snaps are meeting at the very edge. According to AppleCheeks their size one fits approximately 7-20 lbs and size 2 fits 18-35 lbs.  Lizzie and David were both about 20 lbs at 4 months old so she will get at least another 1.5 months out of this size.

David is a very solid boy with a thick middle, I think he is about 26 pounds. His size 2 diapers are well worn in since we got them in March last year and they have a lot of life left.

I am very sad that Nifty Nappy will no longer be making cloth diapers – her one size diapers fit Lucy right away and fit her so well now. I am in love with fitteds and wool.  They are such a cute combination and, I have noticed, leak less in car rides. At 11.5 lbs Lucy is officially wearing her Nifty Nappy diapers on the regular setting – no special folds required. But her waist is getting super fat and I might have to skip a hip snap soon.

And as far as fitting David – they fit him great, except for the hip snaps don’t meet and I have to skip a few to get them to fit. If you don’t mind some snaps against the skin, then the fit is still wonderful.

Rumparooz also fit Lucy from birth.  These pocket diapers come with 2 different inserts – one is smaller and thinner for newborns and then you can snap down the larger one or unsnap it for larger babies.  Lucy has started, since nursing non-stop, to pee so much more! Thank goodness her super-peeing power came with her growth spurt – now she fits into the snapped-down, larger insert.  You can see Lucy wearing the larger insert above – and the Rumparooz is snapped on the medium setting.

Oh, and yes – the inner gussets do catch the runny poo.  She has tested them quite a few times already.

Lucy was not very happy to model other diapers, but here are our experiences with diapers that don’t quite fit yet.

Happy Heinys Pocket Diapers: They are wide and even snapped down the lowest setting, they have a huge rise. They are perfect for David, he has lots of room to grow. Also, when I did get them to fit Lucy, she experienced leaks. I think she is just too small yet.

Goodmama Fitteds: I think maybe David stretched them out by using them as his only night time diapers for the past year, because they do not fit Lucy yet. I tried the serged fitteds and turned and topstiched fitteds on her, both folded down, and both were bulky between her legs. I will try them on her again when she hits 15 lbs.

And a short list of diapers that fit her really well: Softbums, Fuzzibunz size small, Kawaii snapped down.

We have grown out of her orange edge prefolds. They still work very well trifolded in a cover, but I cannot pin them anymore. Plus she is peeing way too much for them! I like regular size prefolds with a doubler and when Lucy is happy enough I am going to write a prefold post with my favorite folds.