Mother-Ease Cloth Diaper Giveaway

Mother-ease has a great introductory offer for anyone who wants to try their cloth diapers and covers. For a special low price you can get a cover, liner, and fitted diaper with shipping included, one per customer. I received a Mother-ease Introductory set to review with Esther. I chose the Sandy's small in bamboo terry along with an airflow cover in size small. A friend of mine always raves about the airflow cover, so I was excited to try these.

If you read my posts this week on newborn cloth diapering, you already know some of my thoughts on these diapers. I had a big stash of Kissaluvs that Esther quickly grew out of but the Sandy's small is much more generously sized. At about 11 lbs, it fits Esther well and also has some room to grow. For pictures comparing the sizes, see my post here. This is one of the softest diapers we have, the bamboo is great! As for absorbency, I do have to include the liner each time I use the diaper. I wish that the liners came with the diapers rather than being sold separately since I think they are pretty necessary.

The cover is great also. It is a nice big size with a good fit around the legs. The elastic is soft enough to not pinch or leave marks. It fits well over any of the fitteds and prefolds that we have. My comparison post on diaper covers is here if you want to read more.

Back in September, I reviewed Mother-ease training pants. If you read that post you already know that the Mother-ease factory uses 100% green power! The prints for their covers and training pants were specially developed to represent environmentally sensitive regions of the world. Very cool; a great company to support. If you decide to make a purchase from Mother-ease, please let them know that you read about them on my blog.

I have an introductory set to give away to one reader! This includes a white cotton small Sandy's diaper, a liner, and a medium savanna print cover. To enter the giveaway, leave a comment and tell me why you cloth diaper. Leave another comment if you're a follower of my blog for an extra entry. I'll close this on March 27th at midnight. If you're new to my blog, take a look around. I have lots of baby product giveaways going on this month you won't want to miss!

*Giveaway closed. Congrats to Isi and Jas' mom!*

Newborn Cloth Diapering: Pocket Diapers

(This is part of a series on cloth diapering. See my post on fitteds and prefolds here, and a post on covers here.)

Fuzzi Bunz Small - These are probably my favorite diapers on Esther. We use these at night and whenever we're going out somewhere. They are very absorbent but the fleece inner keeps her dry. I didn't try these until she was about 10lbs. At that point they fit nicely and I expect to get quite a bit more use from these. We have had poop leak once or twice out the legs but most of the time its contained pretty well. These are great diapers, I think I could go with a whole stash of just these.

BumGenius One Size- These are a great fit on the small setting. I was using just the tiny insert but we've moved up to the bigger insert snapped down to the small setting. The suedecloth inner is great at keeping Esther dry which is nice for night or going out places because she can stay in the diaper a bit longer. We reach for these often and like them. The only drawback is that over time the velcro wears out, Julia has a stash of these that I need to repair so that Esther can use them too.

Fuzzi Bunz One Size - I reviewed this diaper a couple of months ago on Julia. I was curious to see how well it would work for a newborn. After tightening the leg elastic, it is very similar to the small Fuzzi Bunz. Its baggier in the bottom, but not too much. As Esther grows it will be nice to be able to customize the fit just by loosening the elastic a bit.

Swaddlebees - This is a nice trim fitting pocket diaper with fleece stay dry lining. One drawback is that the velcro is too close to the top of the diaper and ends up scratching Esther's tummy sometimes. The fleece lining also kind of shows around the leg and I'm afraid this diaper just won't contain messy newborn poop very well. I haven't it enough to be sure though.

Flip Diaper - I'll include this here, although its really a hybrid diaper. You can read about it at Abby's Lane. I like how the cover fits, its tight enough around the legs and the stretchy tabs at the waist are nice. The insert doesn't contain newborn poop very well, I usually end up having to throw the whole thing in the wash because it gets on the cover. I also tried this diaper on Julia and it fits nicely on her but she pees through the insert pretty quickly. I'd love to get a few more pieces of this system, the pink Zinnia color is adorable.

Summary -

If you haven't noticed, I can't make up my mind about which diaper system I like best! Fitteds and covers are great for containing newborn poop. I also like using cute wool covers, although I suppose I could always use wool over a pocket diaper too. Fuzzi Bunz are probably my favorite. ...who knew there was this much to think about with cloth diapers? What's your favorite system?

Some of my favorite stores to shop for diapers are Abby's Lane, Ecobuns, and Nicki's Diapers. Abby's Lane offers free shipping and 5% off everything when you join their yahoo group (purple button at the bottom of the page). If you happen to order from them for the first time, mention that I referred you and I'll get a small credit. Thanks!

Newborn Cloth Diapering: Covers

(This is part of a series on cloth diapering. See my post on fitteds and prefolds here, and a post on pockets coming up soon.)

Dappi Nylon Pants - These are a pull-on cover, and actually were my favorite for when Esther was just born. I reached for these covers the most until her chubby legs outgrew them (this is the newborn size). The elastic on the legs is nice and soft so it doesn't pinch or leave marks. The cover is big enough that its easy to pull on and has plenty of room for the diaper. These are very inexpensive, 2 for $6 at Nicki's Diapers.

Thirsties - These are my favorite diaper cover overall. I like that the leg gussets help keep leaks contained as opposed to some other covers I've used that wick moisture through the elastic. They have a wide range of fit and are generously sized. There are lots of fun colors to choose from with this diaper. We used x-smalls for a while, but quickly outgrew them. In general I think you could skip that size and just get smalls. The one in the photo is a small. It has cross-over tabs so you can make it fit a pretty tiny baby.

Mother-ease Airflow - Another great cover! This one looked huge to me, but actually fits nicely. Its tight enough around the legs, but the elastic is soft so it doesn't pinch. It snaps at the sides and has separate snaps for the legs and the waist. It comes in cute prints and is generously sized to fit any diaper underneath. I received this cover for review and have a fitted diaper and cover to giveaway - check back soon for that.

Swaddlebees Wool Cover Small - Although I like wool covers, I'm not impressed with this one. I think the cover is over a Kissaluvs fitted in this photo. Swaddlebees just seem to be too trim fitting, I can't get it to completely cover the diapers and it ends up leaking moisture out the sides.

Stacinator Wool Cover Small - This cover is just enough bigger than the Swaddlebees that it works well for us. Its stretchy and has enough snaps that it will fit for quite a while. I like using wool because its breathable, but I do have to be careful to change her frequently so that wetness doesn't leak through too much. Its a fairly bulky cover, but works well. You can see the size difference in the picture below, the Stacinator is on the bottom and the Swaddlebees on top:

Aristocrat - As you can see, this one is quite bulky as well. This is my absolute-no-fail cover. Julia uses a large one of these at night and doesn't ever leak through it. Esther hasn't worn hers much yet, but it will be great for night time over a pocket diaper, or for use in the summer with just a t-shirt top. Its very thick through the wet zone but still soft and comfortable. This is a size small and should fit Esther up to 20lbs. I like these so much that I got the longies also:

Aristocrat Longies - Esther hasn't worn these much yet, they are just kind of hard to pull on squirmy newborn legs. I like the fit one her and think she'll get more use out of them as she gets bigger. This is basically an aristocrat cover with legs added on. I think its cute.

Sleep Sack - I crocheted this sleep sack for Esther to wear at night. It hasn't really worked as well as I thought. The idea is that the bottom is open for diaper changes, but really its easier to take it off than to try and bunch all of the fabric up to reach her diaper. Lucy and Julia think she looks like a mermaid in this. I may stitch the bottom shut to keep her legs warmer and then she could just wear it around the house (it wouldn't work in a car seat).

Longies - This is another one that hasn't gotten much use yet. As she gets older it will be easier to get these on and off of her. I loved using longies with my other girls and got tons of compliments when they wore them out somewhere. I have a super cute skirty that I made also in a bigger size.

That's all for today. Check back soon for another post on newborn diapering (pockets) and a giveaway!

Newborn Cloth Diapering: Fitteds

I posted a couple of months ago about the cloth diapers I was planning to use with Esther. Now that I've tried them all out, here are some pictures and my thoughts on the different kinds. I'm going to do this in a couple of parts - fitteds and prefolds, covers, and then pocket diapers. Hopefully this is helpful. Let me know if you have further questions about the diapers and I'll try and answer them for you.

Kissaluvs Size 0 - These are a very popular newborn diaper. I don't get it. At four weeks (11 lbs), I put them away because they didn't fit Esther anymore. They are cute, but extremely small. From the first time we used them, they've been on the last snap setting. The front kind of poofs out, but the legs are too tight. We didn't use them right away because we were waiting for the meconium to be gone and then with my mastitis we just used disposables for the first two weeks. I use a doubler in them each time which makes them pretty absorbent. They do hold in the poop explosions too; we haven't had any leaks. Kissaluvs are cute and have a snap down part for the umbilical cord. I just don't like the fit.

Note: These are Kissaluvs version 1. I've since learned that they have a version 2 that is much more absorbent.

Happy Heiny - This is a size small. Its a bit bigger than the Kissaluvs, but still on the small side. It definitely needs a doubler to make it absorbent enough and we're on some of the last snaps already with this one too.

Mother-Ease Small Sandy's Bamboo - This diaper has a much better range of fit. I love that the bamboo is so soft and nice. I actually received this diaper for review, and have another diaper and cover set to give away. Look for that coming up soon! This diaper is bigger than the Kissaluvs and Happy Heiny, but it does still fit snugly around the legs. Because its so soft and squishy, it doesn't seem too bulky on Esther. I think it will fit her for quite a while yet. The absorbency is okay, not great. I have a doubler that I put in this one as well. That seems to be the case with all fitteds though, if they are absorbent, they are too thick and don't dry well. I do like this diaper and wish I had more than one of them.

So that you can see the difference in size, here are the three diapers together. Mother-Ease, Happy Heiny, and then the Kissaluvs:

Prefolds:

Orange Edge Prefolds - These are a special newborn size prefold from Green Mountain Diapers. I didn't try them on Esther until about four or five weeks and they were already too small. I do like them, they are nice and wide which makes them easy to snappi on. They are also very soft and seem absorbent enough. I may get rid of my Kissaluvs and just keep these for newborn use. Although I'm still not sold on whether or not prefolds keep in that explosive poop well enough.

Yellow Edge Prefolds - This is what we are using now that the Kissaluvs are outgrown (well, sometimes, Ross doesn't like using prefolds). They are nice and wide, but not too long like a regular prefold would be. These are also a special size from Green Mountain Diapers. Prefolds are the most inexpensive diapering option and they last the longest as well. These are working well for us right now, although I don't think they hold poop in quite as well as fitteds. I like that they are organic cotton and are nice and soft.

Check back soon for posts comparing covers, another on pocket diapers, and the Mother-ease giveaway!