Fitted diaper? Yes please!

Two posts in one day? Woah. :) I just wanted to say how EXCITED I am that I am figuring out the deets with a fellow Cloth Momma on her making me a fitted diaper for J. SO SO SO SO excited! I love being able to decide MY diaper. Instead of shopping around looking for something I want, I can tell her my input & she can help me achieve my diapering goals. If I want a certain print, odds are, I can get it. If I was this material instead of that, I can. If I want the soaker hidden, it shall be. On the other hand, if I want a tongue type soaker, my will be done! It's an amazing feeling. :) I look forward to working out the whole thing & getting a new diaper. Who knows, perhaps this is the start of a new diaper company? Never know!

Rain, Rain, You Must Stay!

Such a dreary rainy day! Normally I hate rainy weather. I dislike my pants & shoes getting wet & I don't like not seeing sunshine. But after this dreadful drought we've been in, I'm so thankful for this all day rain! It's not 100+ degrees & the burn ban has been lifted. It's amazing to stay inside with the boys & listen to the sounds of the rain. We got quiet & I had T describe all the sounds he heard. It was very educational without intending to be. I admit, it's hard to find activities to do while cooped up, but it can be done! :)

Detergent & Wash routines

Cloth diaper routine... Some people hate theirs, some love it, some don't mind it either way. It all depends on the simplicity of it. I used to be one of those folks that HATED diaper washing day. That was until I stumbled onto Little Love Buns. It's a clean rinsing detergent with many yummy scents! I'm currently using Strawberry Watermelon & it smells amazing! I was using a more "name brand" detergent that would never rinse clean. Bubbles, bubbles, everywhere. Now I'm not saying if you see bubbles, worry. If your diapers have no repelling uses, smell clean when out of the washer & dryer (if you dry in dryer), & smell just like urine after being freshly peed on, then they are clean & you're good. But if you have weird smells coming from your diapers, you have an issue. Whether it be build up, using to much or too little detergent, or using the wrong detergent for your water conditions. The number one key I want to point out is make sure you are using enough detergent! I know us as CD mommas tend to think less is more, but too less is just simply not enough. They have to get clean. Don't back off your detergent because you're too scared to use too much. Use what you're told. I know that many people are thinking, "But it always says to use 1/2 the recommended amount.." Right, most companies say that. But you are dealing with poop people. If you're using CD safe detergent, use the recommended amount. If you have hard water, use a little more. If you have overly soft water, you might need a little less. But always start with the recommended amount. If you are using a non approved CD detergent I recommend you try LLB. BUT I have heard great things about Tide. But I don't think you should cut that by 1/2. One lady said, "Would you wash your clothes that were soiled with 1/2 detergent? No. Because they wouldn't get clean.." So you need the right amount of detergent & water to sufficiently clean those diapes!

My wash routine after finding LLB is so easy.

1. I do a cold wash/cold rinse cycle. To wash off poop & urine so I'll be washing with CLEAN water. *VERY IMPORTANT STEP*
2. Warm/Hot wash with 3 tablespoons of LLB.
3. Two cold rinses *I only need one, but it's force of habit to "Make sure they're rinsed"
4. Hang dry covers & natural fiber AIOs. & throw microfiber in the dryer. 

Done! It's easy for me. I don't constantly obsess over bubbles or build up or stink. No stripping in almost a month now, when I was stripping atleast once or twice a month because of detergent build up. It's such a refreshing change.

Now head over to Little Love Buns to get your hands on some detergent. They're having a BLOW OUT sale today, and the 48/96 loads bags are $6!!! GO! :) 

Does OS really fit "from birth to potty"?

So I ordered from my favorite cloth diaper site, Kissed by the Moon. Like I tend to do, I ordered Mystery Fluff. What's mystery fluff you ask? *Gasps* Only the greatest thing IN. THE. WORLD. Okay okay, the shock has worn off. Mystery fluff is a little bit like fluff Christmas. (with about 25% off retail prices!!) As in, you don't know what you're getting, but you know it's good! You can even make your list out and send it to Santa (Aka Tami). :) So head over there & check it out! ... Now that you're back, I'll continue. I ended up ordering Loved Fluff (Gently loved diapers) & Accessories fluff (no diapers, just fluff accessories!) & in my Loved Fluff, I got my FIRST bitti tutto! I love it. But it tempted me to try out all my one size diapers to see if they TRULY are going to fit my little monkey from birth to potty as they claim. So I nominated my slender, 40 lbs, 4 year old to model a couple of my various brands of OS diapers & here are the results!

This is a One Size Bumgenius in Mirror. Rise is kinda small but it fits. I think it qualifies to extend to potty training.

Probaby the best fitting. THiRSTiES Duo Diaper Size 2. It really fit him well.

OS Happy Heineys Aplix. He still had room in this!

The bitti tutto is not pictured bc he said it was hurting his hips. It also left red marks on his inner thighs. Now, I know most kids being potty trained are not going to be 4 years old & 40lbs, but he's all I had to test on! My winner out of the ones I tried (HH, BG, THiRSTiES, and itti bitti) would have to be the Happy Heiney's with Thirsties coming in a VERY close second.

What's your favorite OS birth to potty diaper? What has worked or is working for you? What has or didn't work? Leave me a comment!