CuteyBaby Diaper Review

So after a few weeks of testing and using these diaper (I have two) in my cloth rotation there are several things I like and one thing I really dislike about this brand. I'm going to go through all the features so you all can see, however here is a quick run down on them from the CuteyBaby website! :)

One of CuteyBaby's main features is the attached insert. This insert stuffs easily into the elasticized inner and stops you from having to figure out which insert came with what diaper. I don't know about anyone else but I have NO idea which micro-terry inserts belong to what diaper anymore because very few companies actually label their inserts. Charlie Banana and FuzziBunz are two of the only ones I know of out of what I own.

The attached insert is also two separate layers, very similar to Kickernappies LoopyDo and SuperDo inserts which means extra fast drying for YOU! This insert is very absorbent and very soft. (I'm talking rub on your face soft even after several washings!)

This is just a picture of the inside and how the insert looks while stuffed. It's also easy to add additional inserts and doublers to maximize your absorbency if you want to. The other wonderful thing about having the elasticized inner is you don't have to unstuff to wash! The insert just falls out while washing so no dirty hands! It also acts like gussets so that messes are more inclined to stay IN the diaper!

Despite the looped insert the diaper still fits pretty trim which is nice. I myself am NOT a fan of the bulk.

Another feature I really like is the hip snap which helps customize the fit of the diaper even more. This diaper is a Large for babies 20-40lbs and the hip snap is what really makes it able to fit my 22lbs chubber. :)

Do you hate diaper chains? CuteyBaby has added REMOVABLE velcro to completely eliminate the diaper chain. Unfortunately this is where we start to run into problems with this diaper. Either the velcro square isn't large enough or it's just a flawed design but I have several problems with it.

The tabs end up sitting fine but you can see on the right side how it isn't quite laying flat against the body of the diaper. This drives me nuts. I am constantly redoing the closure trying to get it to sit right so that it doesn't bother me while my son squirms and gets frustrated that I'm taking so long to get him back to playing.

THIS is what it looked like after just FIVE MINUTES of my son moving around and playing. The diaper is still securely on. That velcro isn't going anywhere and it's a little hard to get it off when you're getting ready to put it in the pail, however I want it to lay flat and despite my best efforts it never ever does. If you can live with this then I'm sure these diapers will more than please you, I'm just picky I guess. :)

All in all I love the diaper but the fact that the tabs don't lay flat is going to be it's down fall. I'll be sending them both out in the next few weeks to have them Snap Converted to solve the problem. Then I don't have to worry about diaper chains OR removable velcro giving me a hard time. However these have made it through the two hour naps and then some of a 10 month old who's crawling, moving, and shaking with no leaks. Frankly anything that doesn't leak is good in my book!

****** Additional Info: Because the question of how to get your diapers snap converted has come up, I'll cover that here really quick. You can do them yourself if you have the tools to do so and feel comfortable with it. I don't have a snap press personally but I know some really GREAT Work at Home Moms who snap convert diapers for a living! :) One of my favourites is Lauren's Little Lovies.

You can find her on Facebook here: http://www.facebook.com/LaurensLittleLovies1

Or Etsy: http://www.etsy.com/shop/laurenslittlelovies

Fluff Isn't Just Good for Your Wallet

Today I experienced something that proved to me Fluff was for more than just your Wallet. It was for more than just your Baby's Bum. It was more for more than just the Environment. And while these three things are the main selling points of Fluff and what really drives the market and campaign for a better world. Fluff is also good for the soul.

I always understood the concept of being excited to get mail. Real physical tangible mail. I think in a day of technology, where it's so easy to send a text message or email, the whole idea of physical mail has been lost on us. Instead of running to our mail boxes to see what we've gotten, we slog down the path in dismay of what bills we have received. Because really that's the one thing we know is going to be in that mailbox. Bills. And no one likes bills. Bills ruin the day and remind you about all of your adult responsibilities and that really is just no fun.

Sure we order things for our selves and we are happy to get them. But the feeling is different when it's a Fluff package. I can't explain what makes these packages just so unique and soul healing than any other package. They are just so much... MORE! Maybe it's the promise that they contain. The promise that your baby's bum, which is attached the child you will lay down your life for, is going to be wrapped in the best stuff possible. The promise that you're helping pave the way for a better future for your child. I'm not sure what it is, but it touches your soul in a special way.

I know part of what makes Fluff so exciting is finally getting to see your purchase in person. Each cover, prefold, diaper, and insert is so different and unique. They all snap, velcro, and fold differently. And we all know the pictures on your screen are always a little different from the actual thing. I've shopped for Fluff in stores before and have never gotten quite the same feeling about it as I do when I receive it in the post!

So when I had a horrible day yesterday, as I was reminded of bad things all day that I wanted for forget about, I reminded myself before bed that I would have Fluff coming in the mail. I fell asleep with this promise and at 1PM this afternoon was happy when that promised was fulfilled. On my porch was a pile of packages and in some of those wonderful packages was my Fluff. It was like opening a treasure chest or Christmas present. And as I oooed and ahhed over my wonderful purchases, showing them to my ten month old who tried to eat them, a little piece of me healed.

My pile of treasure!

Kangaroo Care: Why it's so Important

NICU Can be the Four Most Terrifying Letters




We were ecstatic when we found out we were finally pregnant. After two years of trying to conceive I had been starting to go to the doctor to have fertility tests done. Normally after six months they say you should get checked but it didn't really start to worry me until about a year and a half later. The funny thing is I never really got around to the advanced rounds of testing. Almost like magic on our 2 year Anniversary we found out we were expecting. I can still remember the almost dreamlike state I was in. I couldn't believe it had finally happened. At this point you don't worry about all the things that can go wrong. And while I know my NICU experience wasn't as long and as devastating as many others, those five days and the week following were scary enough for any first time mom.

My pregnancy went perfectly until 13 weeks when I began to have problems. Spotting had me rushing to the OBGYN (when it's your first baby you'll jump and go over the littlest things), however upon examination they said there was no active bleeding but that clearly there had been some earlier. Speculation was it was my body expelling what had probably never been a viable embryo, something that never would have popped up on the ultrasound, but that my other child was doing very well. Basically I had lost a twin.

After this I started having contractions and cramping that were severe every month when I should have been having my period. I never spotted again but it was enough for me to raise concerns. The doctors I went to told me not to worry about it even though research said I was 13-20% more likely to have a pre-term baby because of these events. At 20 weeks I was diagnosed with mild placenta previa that managed to resolve it's self by my 26 week check up that would have placed me on bed rest. Still I continued to have signs of preterm labor. At 34 weeks my labor had to be stopped with three shots and a prescription for Terbutaline. At the end of 35 weeks I was having every adverse side effect of the drug and was taken off of it. Needless to say I was told it'd be less than a week before I'd be having my child and I knew it was still too early.

At 36 weeks and 3 days my son demanded it was time to come into the world. Children born after 34 weeks but before 37 are considered late preterm. They often look like healthy full term babies but can be very deceiving and be very sick. My son was born with a nuchal cord, respiratory distress, an insanely high Bilirubin count, and suspected abdominal sepsis. They placed him on my chest for only a moment before rushing him down to NICU. I barely had time to say hello. Four hours later I was finally wheeled down to see my child. A scalp IV, cords everywhere, and nasal cannula terrified me but the fact that he wasn't on a ventilator was a blessing. However his vitals still weren't that great. I was only able to spend 15 minutes with him before they wheeled me away to my room.

The next time I saw him he was in an incubator. No one had bothered to call my room to inform me of the change in his condition and it was clear to the first nurse who saw me staring at my baby through the plexi with a terrified look on my face. She was able to explain that it was for photo-therapy and that it was nothing to be too worried about but honestly you can sometimes only think the worse when you're caught off guard like that. It was this visit that I noticed something amazing. When I took my child out of the incubator to hold him after a few moments I happened to look at his vitals. They had gone up. I'd only heard of Kangaroo Care in passing before this and seeing it actually working before my eyes was the most amazing thing on the face of the planet.

Every opportunity I had after that I spent with my baby in my arms. I was loathe to hand him over to anyone else but did so reluctantly when requested. My husband having noticed the difference also took to holding our son without his shirt on. Despite my son's difficulties, his fighting spirit pulled him through faster than all of the NICU Doctors and Nurses had expected. After the first two days he stopped crying like a NICU patient and really showed off the set of lungs he'd been given. The nurses constantly joked that he certainly didn't SOUND like a NICU baby. They also said he was one of their fastest recovering patients to date. When we brought him home his Bilirubin counts were still on the high side but with plenty of sun and a LOT of cuddle time in the Moby Wrap he recovered perfectly within the week.

Because of how much baby wearing and Kangaroo Care have helped my child advance from the premie he was to the healthy ten month old he is today I recommend it to anyone I can. Baby wearing and skin to skin Kangaroo Care has been a blessing to my little family and I'm not sure we would be where we are today without it.

Spending some quality time with Daddy

Mr. Happy Go Lucky at Ten Months!

Rockin' it with Rockin' Green

So most of us Cloth Diaper experienced Mamas know how awesome and fantastic Rockin' Green Detergent is on our Cloth Diapers. A good chunk of us even use it on our regular clothes too and don't even bother with other kinds of detergent at all. However some of you may not know that Rockin' Green has lots of other AWESOME purposes when it comes to getting stuff clean that doesn't just apply to your basic laundry.

One of my favourites is an alternative use for Funk Rock.

I don't know about anyone else, but I have one cat that's a bit stuck up when it comes to how pristine his litter box is. IE: One cat used it before me, it must be scooped again now before I can use it even though you just scooped it before they used it. This leads to a few problems and the particular feline in question often pees on things I really wish he rather wouldn't. Items including my child's car seat.

Prior to cloth diapering and RnG I would try OxiClean and various other products to get the particular cat smell out of items. Because of the frequency of the problem I've become very sensitive to THAT particular smell. Other family members haven't been able to smell it on freshly wash clothes when I have and it drives me crazy!

Finally I was staring at the car seat one night and happened to think of the Funk Rock, something that was specifically made to remove the ammonia smell from Cloth Diapers. On a whim I threw it in with the car seat cover and let the washer do the work while I made up almost a paste out of it to take to the straps and apply with a wash cloth.

One wash. ONE! That's all it took and I was no longer smelling ANYTHING but nice clean and fresh car seat. ONE! This was almost shocking to me and made me so happy I began doing a dance around my kitchen where my washer is. I had previously washed the car seat in another Cloth Diaper detergent and didn't have anywhere near as good results as I had with this wonderful product. The straps? They were perfect after I rinsed the RnG Funk Rock paste I'd made from them. I was blissful and decided I needed to attack other items in my house now because of this.

My futon cover and futon had long been a lost cause and were on the verge of being disposed of. No longer! Putting Funk Rock into the cleaning solution in my Bissel Little Green Machine fixed the problem in a snap! Loads of laundry on items that had residual stink from cat urine were now wonderfully clean again. After recommending this solution to a few other people I know they had success in getting pet stain smells out of their carpet using my idea too!

My house is now back into blissful happy smelling land for the most part! (I need to order more Funk Rock now that I ran out! Haha!) And I have the wonderful Rockin' Green Company and their Funk Rock to thank for it!

So if you want to make your life a little simpler, throw a few tablespoons of Funk Rock in before you start your cleaning ritual when it comes to Pet Mess Clean Up! It'll help a ton! :) I hope you all have as much luck with this as I do.

Sbish and Then Some Giveaway

To get the ball rolling Pandora's Cardboard Box is hosting a giveaway! Prize items will include a set of Sustainablebabyish Organic Bamboo Fleece Doublers and few fun sample items!

****So the prize was supposed to be 3 OBF Doublers from Sbish but since I think Mami's and Papi's is out it looks like the prize is going to be upgraded to either a Large SBish Flat and goodies OR a SNAPLESS MULTI-FITTED! Everyone Ooooo and Ahhhhh now! :)*******


And the winner issss!! Jessica DeJarnatt!!

The Pre-Fold!

Some of us Mommas have been talking about Over-Night Cloth Diapering solutions for those of us with babies who re-enact Niagra Falls in the wee hours of the morning. Prior to discovering the solution I'm about to impart I had been solving the problem with a Pampers Baby Dry disposable and a Cloth Diaper Cover of ANY kind over it. It could be a pocket diaper without the inserts, a Blueberry cover. Anything worked. But I wanted an ALL CLOTH solution, not just what I'd been doing.

I'd tried pockets with extra inserts, pockets with a prefold inserted, covers with a babykicks flat, covers with just an Sbish flat, covers with an Sbish flat and an insert. I was running out of ideas. Finally I bought some Sbish Doublers that I had been hearing amazing things about!

When they arrived that night I decided to try something. I'd been told hemp was more absorbent than most others so I chose my BabyKicks pre-fold. I placed my Sbish doubler in the middle, folded it around the baby, put on a Snappi, topped it off with a Blueberry cover and said a prayer as I put my son to bed that night.

Come morning, no leaks. And we haven't had a leak once since I started using this combination for overnights!! I'm exstatic to say the least!! So I'm including some pictures as to how I folded this all since some Mommas were interested!!

Step 1: Place your prefold down and put your doubler down the middle.

Step 2: Fold the excess prefold over the doubler. Some of you may not need to do this depending on the sizes of your prefold and doubler and how they fit your baby. I do.

Step 3: Tri-Fold. You want the back to flair out so you can wrap them around your baby as the 'wings' of your diaper.

Step 4: Place baby on your folded diaper and bring the front up. This is where you can see the great advantage of how I've folded this diaper for a boy. As the front is the biggest wetzone for boys the extra folded over layer really helps increase how much absorbency can be achieved here.

Step 5: Pull your wings around and apply your Snappi to keep everything in place! This may require a little fiddling until you get it just right but you'll get better and faster with it every time you do it. Trust me, I screamed in frustration the first four times. Hahaha!

Step 6: Put your favourite cover on the baby!! For this solution I highly recommend the Blueberry cover. Make sure the cloth isn't peeking out around the cover anywhere so it won't wick!! Blueberry is really great because of the inner gussets which prevent prefolds especially from peeking around the diaper and wicking onto clothes.

And you're done! :) You now have a happy Overnight cloth diapered baby!!! I hope this solution works for some of you Ladies out there with Niagra Falls Wetters!!

**** For those of you wondering here exactly is the list of items used!****

X-Large Babykicks Prefold

Large Sustainablebabyish Organic Bamboo Fleece Doubler

Red Snappi

One Size Snap Blueberry Coverall in Blue Summer

The model in the pictures is my 10 month old son, Liam. :)