Review: Sbish OBF

So, I have hopped onto the Sustainablebabyish bandwagon.  And oh my goodness, how fabulous is Sbish?

Really, truly, Sloomb products don't need me to write praise about them, as they have a pretty large following -- a wonderful facebook community of Sbish lovin' mamas, of which I'm now a member.  But, for the sake of all things wonderful and squishy, I'm going to spend a few moments raving about the wonderful, amazing, squishy, Sloomb OBF -- organic bamboo fleece fitted diapers.  They come in a variety of fun and fabulous colors, which makes me want every single one of them.  In fact, they're soon releasing a series of Hunger Games colors.  Fantastic, indeed!  (I'm only slightly obsessed with THG)

But anyway, I know -- they seem a bit pricy.  Well, not seem -- they are a bit pricy, in the grand spectrum.  They're my most costly fitted diaper, running at $24.95 a pop.  But seriously, they are 100% worth it!  I have a very heavy wetter, and it sucks up every ounce of urine in a heartbeat.  She can go twelve hours, multiple nursings during that period (we do 1, sometimes 2 dreamfeeds + I nurse her to sleep) and have no leaks.  It's amazing!  This is the only diaper I've used, so far, that can contain the crazy amounts of urine that my little darling releases during her sleep periods.  Combine it with Sloomb wool and well, killer combo!

For me, the ability to absorb and not leak is a high priority.  This is what makes me love the OBF.  It's still soft and squishy, and works well to absorb all that I need.  We were having major issues finding the perfect solution for a nighttime diaper, because Aria -- the little stinker, I love her so -- wakes up if you change her in the middle of the night.  So we try to avoid it at all costs, otherwise it can take 2 hours to get her back to sleep once all is said and done.  If she doesn't wake, we don't fuss with her.  (And most nights, she doesn't wake -- or only half-wakes to nurse and zonk once more)

These are also very easy to use -- no pins or snappis required, since they're snap diapers.  Grab and go, which is great when you have a squirmy little baby like mine.  :) 

However, it is not stay-dry, so I suggest adding in a stay-dry insert of whatever brand you prefer, to keep it from being cold and damp against your little darling's skin.  Also, they shrink -- I suggest highly that you size up when buying an OBF.  They are not deal-breakers for me, however some people consider them to be cons. 

And, of course, like any fitted -- they need a cover.  I suggest wool, but anything works, and we've paired this with multiple covers.  So far, so good with any and all!   If you're looking for a good nighttime solution, heavy wetter or not, I highly suggest you trot over to any Sloomb retailer -- like Ju-Ju Monkey, which happens to be local to me -- and place an order when they're available.  These may not be the most common household name for the cloth diaper world, but they are a pretty sought after diaper and can sometimes be difficult to come across, unless you know where to look.  :)

See, doesn't she look happy in her OBF, topped with some wonderful Sbish shorties?

Close-up of an OBF in action -- without a cover.

She's very happy about her OBF-clothed bottom! ;)

So if you're looking for a fitted diaper that will be well worth every dollar you put into it, I highly suggest trying a Sbish OBF.  Hopefully, you will be as pleased as we have been with the results!

Ode to the prefold diaper + changing times.

If there's one thing I'm so tired of hearing since becoming a mother, it's, "Well when I was your age and having kids, we did this..." 

I understand, changing times can sometimes be difficult for people to accept.  However, I do lots of research on the majority of my parenting decisions -- at least, the major ones.  And however different they are from times past, they're what my husband and I personally believe to be the best decisions for our baby.  And sometimes, when people make these comments, it's just in revelry -- like when my mother saw a pocket diaper for the first time, then got nostalgic remembering how she pinned a billion diapers when she worked in the hospital.  That was a (rare) cute moment of the former-mommy commentary.  And I'm not trying to say my mom's bad with this, or any one person in particular; my mom's pretty good about being low-key in terms of interference, and I hear these comments from lots of people.  But sometimes, enough is enough.

The most common one, for me, is hearing about babies sleeping on their backs.  The positive side is that Aria hates being on her tummy, for tummy time, sleeping or anything else, so nobody really tries to argue that I should be putting her on her tummy.  But I still get comments when people see the bald spot she's worn into her hair, or when they see her sprawled on her back with her arms splayed.  However commonly I hear it, this one perhaps bothers me the least, since I couldn't get her to sleep on her stomach if I wanted her to -- which I do not.

The one that most bothers me is hearing how I am doing it "all wrong" by following BLW and not giving my daughter rice cereal.  I do not judge anyone who uses rice cereal, purees, whatever.  I also don't judge people who formula feed, yet I get tons of comments about when I'm going to wean her from the breast -- and she's only (almost) 5 months old!  These comments get under my skin, and I sometimes find it difficult to bite my tongue when I hear them.

However.

Lately, I've fallen into an obsession with something that some people may feel is a bit archaic. 

Prefold. Diapers. 

I know, so many people think I'm nuts.  Pocket diapers, AIOs, AI2s, disposables -- they're all "so easy" to just slap on and go, no fuss.  And I own plenty of pockets, a few AIOs and AI2s as well.  But I have a deep fondness now for prefolds, as well.    I'm not quite "old school" because pins terrify me, so I use snappis.  Maybe one day I'll get bold enough to try... maybe.  lol. 

I'm still learning how to do the best folds with prefolds, and have had a few accidental pee leaks from poor folding, but we are getting there; and no explosion of poop has escaped even the poorest bikini twist!  ;)  So however much I sometimes scoff at the old-school views of parenting... I have to tip my hat to the prefold diaper. 

Whoops! (+ zoo)

I haven't posted in awhile -- I have a bunch of reviews saved in Word that are just waiting for photos to be inputted into them, but I've been really unambitious with getting them done.  We haven't installed our AC unit in the main area of the house, so last week I mostly napped/hid in my bedroom because the rest of the house was over 80 degrees throughout the day.  Therefore, we weren't very ambitious here.  But tomorrow my father-in-law is coming to help install the unit, so finally, my life can resume normalcy!

That means, this week, I'll be slamming a bunch of reviews and other nonsense onto my blog.  :)

But for the moment, a few photos from our visit to the zoo this weekend.  We had such a blast, and Aria loved the goats and the butterflies!  (sadly no photos of the goats because we were swamped by a bunch of kids attending a birthday party, but next time... we will get goat pictures.)

My favorite; the regal peacock.

Too cool for words.

 

Watching the butterflies!

These guys were a little too noisy for Aria's taste.

I hope everyone had a wonderful Memorial Day weekend!

Country Bum-Kids, review

So, I love ordering products from WAHMs.  I love supporting local businesses here in my area, and I just love being able to support mamas like me who choose to stay home with their kiddos.  I wish I had some fantastic ability or creative outlet that I could use to make some extra cash - instead, I just spend cash on cloth diapers.  :3  Whoops?! 

Anyway, I recently placed an order with Country Bum-Kids for a Mockingjay diaper.  I had caught a few Hunger Games diapers out there on sites, but never found one I liked, or for a price I liked, or in a pocket diaper format.  I didn't want a fitted because having it covered would seem like a waste!  And some were a bit out of my price range.  So, I hunted and finally posted on the WAHM group on facebook, asking who could make me a Mockingjay diaper.  I received a ton of responses, but went in order by who posted and I am so glad that Trina from CBK was my first!



Is that not super cute?  My lighting was off as it was a quick snap of the iPhone camera, but it does say, "May the odds be ever in your favor" on the butt.  How. Fantastic?!

Anyway, Trina was a joy to work with for this, and boy is she fast!  I placed the order, she got the embroidery over a weekend (the wording needed to be changed from the original format she found as the quote was incorrect) and then boom, I paid and boom, diaper was at my doorstep.   Seriously, it was incredible.  I've had in-stock diapers take twice as long to appear in my hands. 

The quality rocks!  It has a ton of snaps, so sizing options are bountiful.  It's super soft, absorbs very well and hello, it's got a mockingjay on it.  Epic!  It is definitely a favorite, and already has been worn quite a few times.  Anywhere we go that it's visible, someone asks me about it or comments about how awesome it is.  And the functionality is to die for; not to mention, this mama makes affordable and high quality customs.   Aria wore this bad boy for 4 hours with only one insert, nursed 4 times during that period and took a nap

So I highly suggest taking any custom orders you may want to CBK.  Trina is a very efficient worker and is thorough in answering questions - not to mention was exceptionally patient with all of mine.  :)  You won't be disappointed! 

(I have to admit, I already have placed another order with her... eek!  Excitement!)

Oh, and another comment, Trina also does diaper credits.  As taken from her FB page:

"CREDITS: I do something not a whole lot of diaper makers do (if any do), I will take diapers you don't want as credit towards a NEW diaper! They must function or be something I can fix. I'll give credit depending on the condition of the trade diapers. Just let me know what you have, message me with pictures of them and let me know if there are any defects and I'll know if I can fix them. If I cannot fix them I cannot accept them. I will give you an estimate of credit solely by pictures and information you provide (this estimate is not guaranteed). Please thoroughly look over the diaper and note any defects, take pictures, etc. I will point out any flaws I find that you did not mention when I get them and if it's something I cannot fix it I can send it back to you or you decide if you want it thrown away but you will not get credit for it. If this is done repeatedly, I will no longer accept credit diapers from you. They must be shipped to me, at that point, I will look them over and confirm credit amount and reimburse you (through credit) for part of the shipping cost to me. I am an honest person and also a parent. That is why I came up with the credit idea. I like to save people money when I can."

So - go place an order with Trina, because you'll never regret it!

Happy Mother's Day!

I have been blessed with the most wonderful, amazing mother in the world.  I hope she has a great day, even though I cannot be with her today.  <3

My beautiful baby girl gave me a card last night that daddy helped her sign, and seal with her drool (lol) and a nice set from BBW of aromatherapy bubble bath and lotion to help mommy relax.  So while she played with daddy last night, I got to savor a nice bath, read and enjoy some wine.  It felt amazing!  I am so entirely blessed.

Cutting this short to enjoy my day with my loves, but wanted to wish everyone a Happy Mom's Day!

do you believe in magic?

Personally, I believe in the wondrous excitement of having gotten a half-decent night's sleep.  I don't know if I would call it magic, but it's some sort of wonderment to wake up and realize, "Hey, she slept 6 (or 7, 8, 9) hours straight - awesome!"  

Just as 4 months was steadily approaching, Aria began marathon sleeping.  I remember a few nights of her sleeping 9 hours where I would wake up, engorged and leaking, and panicking that she wasn't alive.  I'd reach out and just barely shake her, poking fearfully at her... and those bright eyes would pop open while giving me this, "Mom, what the heck?!" look in a frenzied manner.  Whoops!  We had a full week of 8+ hour nights, which was awesome!  I admit, a (very tiny) part of me began to almost miss the late-night feeds, those cuddle sessions with my baby when nobody else in the world (or in my house) was awake.  A very small, minuscule portion of me.  

Apparently Aria didn't get the memo that it was a small portion, because she suddenly began sleeping less - usually 3-4 hour stretches.  And I was getting tired and wondering, "Why did I miss these sleepless nights?"  Granted, I should be grateful for the stretches she did, but selfish me - I had a taste of more and I wanted it back!  

We determined pretty early into the regression that although sleep regression is typical around 4 months, another issue was also the swaddle.  I won't go into the long saga now, but I'll say I am a believer in the swaddle, at least for Aria.  When we stopped swaddling, she stopped sleeping.  I'm not even kidding, she'd be up from 11pm until 5am, without shutting an eyeball.  It lasted about two and a half weeks - pure hell - until we decided to try swaddling again.  She hates it and always fought being swaddled... but she'd sleep.  It was beautiful. 

way back when we first came home from the hospital. <3

She is now, however, almost 25 inches long - a leap from her original 19.  Thus she no longer fits prettily into her cute little velcro swaddles.  And a blanket?  Forget it, she busts out like nobody's business.  We tried swaddle after swaddle method and the only thing to work was a fleece kiddopotamus swaddleme.  But we knew swaddle weaning was quickly approaching, and we were scared.  Or, I was because I feared a lack of sleep - my OH was kind of like, "Well, okay."  

Anyway, I had heard from a few people about this Magic Merlin's sleepsuit.  Right, okay, whatever.  I ignored their comments, read the website and was no way paying 50 bucks for some sleep suit when she has a thousand and one sleep sacks that had been given to her.  That being said, she's never been able to sleep longer than one (dumb luck, perhaps) two hour stretch in a sleep sack.  Normally she wakes up every 15-30 minutes in one.  

So I kept swaddling, and as it began falling lower and lower on her body as her legs grew, the more restlessly she slept as she spent any half-waking moment trying to squirm free.

Cue CraigsList, and a listing for the Magic Merlin sleepsuit.  A girl in my birth club was trying to convince me to try one, and when I found a listing for a lightly used one for 20 bucks, I said okay.  I'll try anything at this point, I just want sleep.  

I'll be darned, the thing works.  I don't understand how.  Or why.  But it works.   She still sleeps in her rock and play beside my best.  She still comes into our bed after she wakes up for the first time each night - usually around 4:30-5:30am.  Hey, that's fine.  I can nurse her in bed and we both drift back off to sleep.  In fact, she's still in my bed while I type this, waiting for Jayden to arrive (whole other story).  But it works!  We went back to sleeping about 6 hours straight - sometimes more, never less - before waking for eating and going right back to sleep.  She doesn't flail, she sleeps soundly... it's fantastic.  Needless to say, I am now a believer.  

Review: Rumparooz (aplix & snap)

Double gussets.  I absolutely, positively love double gussets.  They contain even the messiest of messes; some of Aria's largest blowouts have been in double gusset diapers and have thankfully not escaped.  That being said, the double gusset feature is what attracted me to Rumparooz diapers.  So when I had the opportunity to buy a RAR diaper - aplix style - I leapt at the opportunity.  I was skeptical about the aplix at first, but more on that later.

First of all, doesn't she look so happy to have a heiny embraced in wonderful cloth diaper love?

There she is, rocking the RAR Whale Tale in aplix.  And I tell you what, that aplix is tough!  I haven't had this diaper for very long, but it doesn't get cruddy in the wash and it's strong enough that, should she decide later to undo her own diapers, she won't have an easy task before her. 

And well, I think that pattern is absolutely adorable!  Who wouldn't love that??  As taken from their website, here's a bum view!  (Aria hates tummy time so any time I tried snapping a photo of her own bum, she's thrash and squeal and cry and it wasn't working well... lol)



Adorable!

Anyway, this diaper has lots and lots of room into which she can grow, and is a very soft diaper, inside and out.  Like I said, I praise the double gusset feature!  The inserts also are super-absorbant and we have had no leak issues, and she's worn one of these for 5 hours straight during an unexpected naptime without a double-insert.  Hurrah for dry pants!

We also have snappies, and I love them just as much.  I do have a fondness for snap diapers over aplix, I won't lie.  But for this brand, I'll make an exception over my aplix disliking.  I'm still not convinced I would trade all my snaps... but they're still a great addition to the stash!

I find that RARz not as trim as some of Aria's other diapers, but they do contain any and all messes she's made and I just cannot help but love these diapers.  I find myself reaching for these more often than some of the other brands in my possession.  I know what Aria will be asking for at Christmas this year! ;)

Check out their site or find a retailer near you, because I assure you, you will not regret purchasing one (or more) of these lovely diapers!