Tushies

This will be my final post on disposable options while traveling options, at least for now. Previously I've talked about why I dislike disposables, and Flip disposable inserts. I also briefly mentioned that I had a tried Tushies and wasn't impressed.

Well, I'm here to tell you all that I was wrong. This option, which I originally dismissed, has actually become my favorite.

But first, I'll tell you why I wasn't too fond of it at first. These diapers have absolutely no gel in them, which is wonderful if your baby breaks out like crazy from the gel. The diapers are made out of cotton which is great!!!! However, the diapers are pretty thick, and are very stiff, their tabs are old school 90s tabs, so they are sticky instead of the fake-velcro that are on most of todays disposable diapers. Half the time the tab would unstick, and the diapers would fall off pretty easily. Which is no good, and instantly turned me off on these diapers.

So how did Tushies become my favorite vacation diapers? My wonderful husband couldn't find any of the clean diapers one morning when he was letting me sleep in, and so he found the Tushies and he put on one Audrey, and then he put a Flip cover over the top of it. It fits perfectly over the Tushies, and if the tabs unstick throughout the time they are being used it doesn't matter, because the Flip cover keeps it in place.

Another thing I loved is that since it's an entire diaper in a cover, all the mess is totally contained. It drove me crazy that when we used Flip disposable inserts that when she pooped the poo got all over the cover, which can be extremely frustrating and can cause some anxiety while on vacation (running out of covers is no fun when you are in the middle of no where, trust me!)

Another great thing about Tushies is their sizing, it's newborn, small, medium, and large. When I bought Huggies for a week long cruise I was so worried I might choose the wrong size because I had no idea which "number" she wore!

I hope that these few posts have helped you all with choosing what type of disposable options for traveling for long periods of time :)

My New Must Have Items

I said previously that I'm having big stink issues with my diapers.

No one likes stink, it's gross. And nothing is worse than having your husband crinkle his nose every time he walks upstairs, but is too polite to say anything about the stink. (Except of course, when he mentions the stink!)

First, I needed a new detergent. I had been using Tide (I've also tried Charlie's Soap, Rockin' Green, Bio Kleen) because it was the only one I felt actually got my diapers clean, and they didn't smell like poop when they came out of the wash.

However, I could tell they were starting to build up pretty badly, so we needed a change. I was at my local Cotton Babies, and asked what they recommended, I explained my issues (stinky diapers, build-up, terribly sensitive baby) and was told that I should try a liquid soap instead of powder, the lady suggested Mountain Green.

One thing I love about Cotton Babies (besides looking at an entire store of fluff!) is that their section of laundry soap is all cloth diaper approved, which is wonderful! I don't have to stare at the soaps hoping one will jump out at me.

Now, as to my thoughts about the detergent. I do like it, it gets the diaper clean, it seems to help Audrey's poor bum, and not irritate her skin. My only issue is that it has no smell, which isn't a problem to most, but I feel like my diaper should come out smelling nicely...well, they didn't. They came out smelling like clean poop.

That's where this second "must have" item comes in handy. It's called Bac-Out! It's wonderful! I put a little in the pre-wash, and when my diapers came out they smelled so pretty and wonderful! No gross smells, just clean. I think I'm going to start buying it in bulk (or just make a stock pile.)

I always thought that in order for clothes and diapers to smell "clean" they had to have a scent, but with the combination of Bac-Out and Mountain Green my diapers come out with no smell, none at all, it's like smelling (clean) air!

It's Okay!

I don't know about you all, but sometimes I feel like life is swallowing me whole.

At the end of August my husband returned to school. He is going to be an accountant...in 19 VERY long months (no I'm not counting down or anything!)

There is homeschooling, cleaning, dishes, laundry, playdates, sewing, scrapbooking, and the cloth diapers.

And yes, sometimes some of those things get pushed to the back burner.

Because at this very moment I am 4 months pregnant and all I want to do is sleep.
However my four-year-old and one-year-old completely disagree with this idea.

In the midsts of all this Audrey's rash occurred again, my diapers began to smell horribly and the girl's room needed a constant air-out, otherwise the room smelled like poop, which could be made worse by the heat we were having.

So I'm here to tell you all, that when life feels like it's crushing you, it's okay to go to the store and buy a (small) package of disposable diapers and take a break.

Are disposables still bad for the environment? Yes, of course.
Do disposibles still have yucky and dangerous chemicals in them? Yes, they do.
Are disposables still expensive? Yes, they are.

But is your sanity important? YES.

Make sure you buy the small package, because otherwise it might be hard to come back to the light :)

Also, make sure you wash your diapers, because otherwise they still stink!

But, yes, for the past 5 days Audrey has been in disposables, along with heavy duty cream over her sores (which actually can't be used with the cloth.)

With one less thing to do, my motivation has gone up, and now that I have a big basket of clean fluff, life is good again. And full of cloth.

But look out, because there will be there will be some fun things coming up. New detergent reviews, new shop reviews, new products, and a few giveaways.

Next month is my 1-year-anniversary of being a cloth diapering Mama, and you'd better believe there will be a celebration! :)