Yes, that’s a cloth diaper underneath that strategically placed finger. We saw that today and thought how nice it is to see cloth getting great placement in a popular book. Intentional or not, it sends a nice message that yes, everybody poops, but using a cloth diaper as you train to leave diapers altogether is the best option.

I’m happy to say that bumGenius! 3.0 one-size diapers were my introduction into the cloth diapering world. In the soft light of a hospital room with my newborn sleeping soundly beside me and close friends and family crowded around, my best friend gave me three adorable one size bumGenius! 3.0 diapers and I fell in love for the second time that day. Okay, “in love” is pushing it when compared to the love surging through me for my little girl, but I was hooked on cloth right then and there.

Once we were home from the hospital, I tried to use a BG on my daughter almost right away. Because it didn’t allow room for her umbilical cord, I found I had to wait until it fell off until I started using all three of my cloth diapers as often as they were clean. Soon, I was on the internet buying more bumGenius! and eventually other brands and over the course of the next four months, I was able to fill my stash.

Because I’ve used bumGenius! diapers since my daughter was a newborn, I really have a good understanding of how they work during different diapering stages. bumGenius! 3.0 diapers have been my staple diaper since I became a mom and I’ve come to trust them. The only thing that has ever frustrated me about my trusty 3.0s was that they didn’t have the snap option. As my hook and loop closures became more and more worn out and began to snag all of my other diapers in the wash, I started using my bumGenius! after all my other diapers were dirty, and of course for baby sitters.

So, when I found out that bumGenius! came out with a one size 4.0 diaper and that snaps were now an option, I was ecstatic.

Here are some of the new features of the diaper and how they’ve worked for our little girl:

Closures

I love the snaps. They are durable and never hook on my other diapers in the wash. Also, the tabs are stretchy which seems to keep the front panel from sagging like some of my other snapping diapers do. I’ve heard through the grapevine that the new hook and loop closures are made from a stronger aplix so the wear and tear on them should be much less than the aplix closures on the 3.0.

Colors
My 4.0 is in the color Bubble which is a super light purple. I like that bumGenius! finally came out with purple but I’m sad about how light their new colors are. They’re almost white. I miss their bright colors a lot, but I don’t mind the change either since I already have all of their old colors.

Fit
The fit is wonderful. The diaper is cut slightly larger than the 3.0 diapers which gives it a more generous rise. However, I checked, and when it’s snapped on the smallest rise, it still gets just as small as the 3.0 can. The larger diaper seems to only affect the larger snap settings. I think this is wonderful because it means the diaper can fit a larger range of babies.

The inner layer
The microsuede is so soft. I don’t know if they changed the microsuede inner layer from the 3.0s to the 4.0s or not, but it stays super soft wash after wash and allows poop to shake off much more easily than it does from microfleece. I’m always a fan of easier poop removal. And, as always, I love the stay-dry properties of microsuede.

Durability
I’m very excited at how easily the elastic can be removed. The threads that secure it to the diaper are easily visible. I can see how simple it would be to rip the seams apart and thread a new elastic into the diaper. This, in addition to the option of sturdy snap closures, means that the new bumGenius 4.0 has a much longer life span than the 3.0.

Leakage
The only time I’ve ever had a bumGenius! diaper leak was when my daughter was a newborn. Though they fit larger newborns, they don’t always have a snug fit around the skinny newborn legs which can cause that messy newborn poop to easily escape. Once she reached about 14-15 lbs and her legs got chunkier, the diaper never leaked again. Since I’ve never used a bumGenius 4.0 on a newborn, I don’t know whether or not the newborn leg fit has been corrected. In any case, now that my daughter is 18 lbs and nearly a year old, the fit is wonderful and leakage just doesn’t happen even overnight. In fact, in the month or two that I’ve used my BG 4.0, I don’t think it’s ever leaked!

bumGenius! is a reliable cloth diaper brand and it is always one of the first diapers that I get for mamas who are new to cloth. It’s reliable, and very user friendly and always has been. It’s nice to know that with the 4.0 version, the things we know and love about this brand have only gotten better!

Becca is a part time Spanish Teacher, a part time Stay-at-home-mom, and the wife of the best husband imaginable. Becca’s absolute favorite thing to do is to spend time with her little family. She also enjoys doing anything crafty – from making jewelry, to writing, to sewing, to photography.

You can read more about Becca at her blog, Becca’s Cloth Diaper Blog.
www.etsy.com/shop/clothdiapermommy
Get %15 off your first order and Free Shipping at Diapers.com with code BECC7547. $49 minimum order.

I decided to use cloth diapers somewhere around conception. In fact, it never occurred to me to use disposables. I was a cloth diaper baby, and so was my brother, so why would I think of anything else? I hadn’t even put much thought into the waste involved in disposables, but once I did……. was I shocked! You are doing the best thing for your baby and the planet, so again, congratulations!

In the beginning, I was a cloth diapering cave woman. I was living in the dark ages! I had NO IDEA how many options were out there. I was under the impression that I was going to use a prefold, some pins, and some plastic pants until my little one was potty learned. BOY WAS I WRONG!! This newer generation of cloth diapers is insanely versatile, cute, affordable, customizable…….the list goes on. You don’t even have to thread a pin with a shaky hand through a pile of cotton! I could go on and on about this, but instead, I’ll give you my best advice for starting out.

Whether you have a newborn, or a one year old, I’ll let you in on what I found that works, or what I wish I would have had out of the gate. The “tool kit”. These are the items I recommend you get right away, to make your life easier so you won’t become weary of cloth in the beginning. If you haven’t had baby yet, get these items FIRST! Put them on your registry, set a side some cash, whatever you need to do to get these items in your household before baby arrives.

These items may seem obvious, but if you haven’t had a baby before, or you haven’t cloth diapered before, you’ll quickly learn why I state the obvious :)

1.) A quality diaper pail. The last thing you want is a stinky house, or nursery. Be sure to get your self a DSQ (diaper service quality) diaper pail. They are easy to clean, with a big lid for tossing the diapers in, and contain smell better than cheaper models. Most have a little slot on the lid to place a citrus deoderizing disk, so you don’t get a whiff of foul diapers each time you open the lid. This is the one I own. I love it. No stink, and it doesn’t break the bank.

2.) A pail liner. This is for the simple fact that you don’t want to toss the soiled diapers into an un-lined pail. You can get disposable liners, but it’s easier in my opinion to get a washable liner. This way you can dump the whole mess in the washer and go. If you are like me, and have to walk to a laundry room, this is a necessity! There are plenty out there, but this is the one I use, and I love it. It fits perfectly into the pail I mentioned above. But there are many others that work just as well.

3.) Detergent. I suggest getting this ahead of time so you won’t be left with a pile of stinky dirty diapers and nothing to clean them with, which will send you running to disposables without looking back. BE PREPARED!! Set yourself up for success by having your detergent on hand and ready to go. You might have to experiment to find the right one for you, so I suggest buying several different sample packs before committing to one brand. The type of detergent you use is detrimental to protecting your new investment.

4.) Prefolds. Unless you have a newborn over 10 lbs, or are starting cloth diapering later in the game, most of the diapers on the market marked as “one size” aren’t going to work on your baby fresh out of the oven. I have NOT tried them *all*, but I can honestly say that a vast majority of what’s out there won’t fit your munchkin until probably the 2nd or 3rd month, depending on your baby’s birth weight and shape. Prefolds are great for cleaning up messes, a rag for your shoulder, to protect bedding from accidents, the list goes on. I think everyone should have some prefolds weather they are cloth diapering or not. Don’t buy cheap prefolds from the store, get yourself some DSQ prefolds. I would suggest getting at least 12 to start with. Preferably 24-30. The more you have, the more time you can go between washing. You’ll have roughly 10-12 diapers a day with a newborn, plus diapers for wiping things up etc…..24-30 is your best bet to start out with.

5.) Snappi’s. A snappi is a little device that replaces the need for pins. It secures a prefold without a new mommy having to worry about accidently sticking her precious newborn, or herself. This is a must-have item in my house! You only will need two to three in the beginning. Get more later if you like them.

6.) Wipes, of course. If you are going to be using reusable wipes, I suggest getting at least 24 of those so you don’t run out and have nothing to wipe with during that first day. Remember, the more you have, the longer you can go between washing. If you are using disposable wipes, go ahead and get quite a few extra packages so you won’t find yourself with no wipes at that 3:00 am feeding!

7.) Baby Powder. Sounds simple right? Well, for the most part it is. Just look for a baby powder that’s cornstarch based, not talc based. There’s nothing wrong with talc, but cornstarch is silkier and softer, and some babies are sensitive to talc. As fun as it is, try and stay away from scented powders, they may irritate sensitive skin. Baby powder is a great way to keep baby’s bum from chaffing regardless of what type of diaper you choose.

8.) A small wet bag for outings. So now that you’ve decided to cloth diaper, you can’t just throw away your soiled diaper after diaper changes on the go! Get yourself a wet bag for your diaper bag, and you’ll be good to go. Planet Wise makes a great wet bag for carrying around soiled diapers. They pretty much keep in the stink so you won’t offend anyone else and they contain the moisture so it won’t get on everything in your diaper bag. These are actually great to have weather you use cloth diapers or not. They can carry swimming suits, dirty shoes, gym clothes, whatever! They are washable and re-usable and aid in cutting down waste. I love these bags!

So that’s about it. That’s all you will REALLY need to get started. Everything else after that is either luxury, or can wait until a later date. By having these items on hand and ready to go before you begin cloth diapering, you will have a better chance for success and will be less likely to run crying to disposables out of frustration.

Rebekah Harmon-

I’m a new mommy to a beautiful baby girl, and a wife to a touring musician! My 2nd full time job is as an artist at a label printing company in central California. I started cloth diapering when my little girl was born in April of 2010, and love every minute of it! I love spending time with my family. Our favorite activities include camping, fishing, going for long evening walks, swimming, and pretty much anything that gets us outside!

My cloth diapering blog link: http://tideebums.blogspot.com/
My mom/family related blog link: http://bexbuiltafamily.blogspot.com/

The sprayer was a great tool; I just needed to learn how to use it well. My first rinsing attempt lead to a bath, for myself and for the bathroom. As I navigated the gentle tweaking of the valve to get just the right amount of water pressure, the water and organic matter went flying. I tried again, hoping it would get much better. While my next several attempts got much easier, it was still messy.

I decided to bring the dry pail into the bathroom and pull it close to the toilet. This helps prevent dripping (huge move). I also used to lift the toilet seat before spraying. I did not want to get it dirty. However, the lid, actually, helps keep the splatter to a minimum. If you put the diaper sprayer below the level of the toilet seat, it works.

In the end, I learned a few things. Bring the pail to where your sprayer is located. Open the pail ahead of time. Pull out the liner, if it is a pocket, before rinsing off the bulk of the poop. Put the insert in the pail. Then, fold the diaper in half (opening side down) with the inside out. Rinse in a downward motion. Put the sprayer close to the fabric on a lower setting to prevent tones of splatter. It may take a little longer to rinse, but it will prevent bathroom clean up.

If you are using an all-in-one, you will most likely need to wring the diaper. I have heard that you can use tools (aka. tongs) to hold the diaper and press it against the side of the toilet bowl to remove the access water. I, admittedly, have never tried this myself.

My conclusion is that sprayers are great. They take some getting used to, I still am; however, it helps keep the diapers from staining as horribly. Cloth diapering can sometimes be a labor of love, but overall the sprayer makes it a little bit easier.

Ashley Williams is a 24 year old first-time mom to an amazing little boy and wife to a great husband. She is taking a year off school to be a stay at home mom. Before going back to become a Pediatric Nurse Practitioner, Ashley considers herself a “cloth diapering, baby food making, sling carrying, warrior momma” and loving every minute.

In her free time Ashley cooks, scrapbooks, goes to a mother’s bible study, watches TV, and sleeps (if she’s lucky).

I’m always looking for ways to continue that love outside of the nursery, to make every day an earth day, and I believe you all are doing the same. I’ll be posting green tips as I find them, but I’d love to hear from you all as well. I’ll group them together and turn them into a one-click online resource for parents who are just getting started on their eco-conscious journey.

Today’s Green Tip: Green Cleaning
When I was growing up, my parents made decisions that were about being less eco-conscious, more about being cash poor. Whatever their motivations, the end result was that we used what we had versus buying expensive disposables. In our house, there were seven kids and only one income. For us, baking soda was akin to a miracle.

• Round one: baking soda plus toothbrush. For the first 30 days or so, it was the combination we used it in our mouths to clean our teeth. Not so tasty but it did the job.
• Round two: scrub around the sink fixtures. A little bit of baking soda and water kept those faucets sparkling clean.
• Round three: Baking soda plus vinegar or lemon juice. Who needs expensive cleansers when you can combine two natural ingredients that do a foamy, fizzy, delightfully clean dance over soap scum and bathtub rings?

We also used baking soda to clean countertops, baking soda to freshen diaper pails and baking soda in our carpet to absorb any smells. With all the chemical options on the shelves, isn’t it nice to know that one of the best and most versatile cleansers is eco-friendly, inexpensive and non-toxic?

Do you use baking soda? Let us know how it worked (or didn’t work) for you!

Whether you use reusable diapers or disposable ones, diaper changing can become a masterful feat once your little one reaches the age where they discover there is a world all around them that begs to be explored. When my daughter reached about four months old and was becoming an expert at rolling over, I suddenly felt like I had to be Mrs. Universe in order to adequately change her diaper – and that’s using a pocket diaper, the easiest cloth diaper out there! She didn’t just roll over – she rolled over and grabbed the bars on her changing table, making it nearly impossible for me to turn her onto her back and successfully change her diaper.

Now that she’s older, her second favorite thing to do on the changing table (aside from rolling over), is to grab the dirty diaper while I’m taking it off. And forget about the snaps! Though they are my preferred method of diaper closure, they double my diaper changing time, and yet I need to use them even more than before since her curious fingers are quickly discovering how to undo Velcro.

So what can I do to make this new challenge easier? Skip the diaper?

Yeah, um… so this really isn’t an option for my 8 month old and is better suited for a potty training toddler. But sometimes, when she rolls around and resists all my efforts to change her, letting her hang around naked seems perfectly plausible. I mean, we have hardwood floors and a mop, so… Okay, okay, bad idea. A more plausible option is to distract your curious baby.

Replace her interest. Give her something to play with. Sometimes I’ll give my little girl a toy, or her pacifier, but usually she isn’t interested in those things when I change her diaper. She wants to touch the dirty diaper or the diaper area (ew!) so I’ll give her things that I’m using at the time: a clean baby wipe, her pants that I just pulled off, the clean reusable diapers that I’m preparing to use – all of these distract her long enough for me to be able to get rid of the old diaper, clean her off, and then quickly attach the new one.

Sing and dance. Sometimes, if I sing an upbeat song like  “Jesus Loves You” or “Father Abraham” and add some clapping and nerdy dance moves my daughter is delighted enough by the change of pace and my voice, to forget the interesting dirty diaper, which it buys me the 52 seconds I need to switch it out for a clean one before she even realizes it happened.

Tickle her. My baby girl loves nothing more than for mommy to tickle her tummy or to blow raspberries on her little belly button. When she’s not only enthralled by things she shouldn’t touch, but angry to have to stop playing long enough for me to change her, a good tickle puts her in just the right mood I need her to have for her diaper change to go quickly.

Say no. Though some parents would disagree, this is a great opportunity to teach your child some discipline. I really want my daughter to learn that mommy and Daddy are her authority and that she needs to listen to us and to other people that God has put in authority over her. Saying “no” is a great way to do that. I’ve taken to showing her what no means. When she rolls over or touches things that I don’t want her to touch, I say “No” and pull her hands away or put her back in the diaper changing position. She’s starting to learn and behave appropriately which is exciting for me when she’s about to touch something really dangerous and I can’t run to her in time.

Face, it, despite the fact that your little one has suddenly become an acrobat with a will of their own, you still have to change their diapers. Mopping the floor every hour or two just isn’t an option, and despite what you’ve been told, it really isn’t easier than the diaper wrestle. So re-strategize, re-group and do what it takes to get the job done! Go on now, change that reusable diapers!

Really, the only thing you absolutely must have for changing your baby is a flat space.

One good place for that is the cargo area or the “way back” as my sisters and I used to call it when we were little. Only in SUVs, vans or stations wagons are the cargo areas actually large enough to change your little one, though maybe an old Buick might have a trunk that’s spacious enough.

Besides having ample space, the cargo areas generally have a durable surface such as wipeable rubber or a removable (and thus easily cleaned) indoor/outdoor carpet. Both of these components make it ideal for changing your baby’s diaper. However, when traveling, the cargo area is often filled with, well, cargo rendering it useless for your specific need at the moment.

The rear seats, especially when they’re bench style seating, are also good places for changing your baby’s diaper because they’re flat. Unless you have leather or vinyl surfaces, the drawback to using a seat is the possibility of messes that will stay wet for a few hours even when cleaned. If someone is actually occupying those seats during your trip, you need to be very careful of such messes as your passengers may end up having to sit in them throughout the duration of the ride.

Another downfall to using seats is that it’s easier for your baby to roll off them though, granted, they don’t have too far to fall. When changing your baby in a back seat, it’s important to use your hand to restrain them and also it’s very important to have a changing pad that will stop unwanted messes from making their way into the seats.

If your rear seats are filled with either people or cargo, then you may have to use the front seat of your car to take care of your baby’s toiletry necessities. In this case, you may want to recline the seat which will give you somewhat of a flat surface—though unless you drive the Batmobile, it may never lay entirely flat. In this case you are not only on a surface that someone (namely me) will be sitting in, you are also in a very confined space with lots of bells and whistles surrounding it such as gear shifts and radio dials.

Changing your baby’s diaper in the front seat is very challenging, but it’s the route that my husband and I generally take when traveling since our cargo space is filled with pack n plays and strollers and our back seat is occupied by the carseat.

Finally, if it really boils down to it, diapers can, in fact, be changed on your lap. This will lessen the amount of flat area in which you can work and will also increase the chances of soiled clothing (to yourself, mainly) but if all else fails, I can tell you from experience that your lap is a viable option. Granted, you do have to grow a second or third pair of arms for such an endeavor but if your husband or wife is especially understanding and helpful (as mine is), then they’ll gladly share their limbs with you to hold flailing legs and curious fingers out of harm’s poop’s way

For all of the above scenarios it is important to have all of your diapering-on-the-go accessories on hand rather than waiting in the back seat once your baby lays diaper-less.
1) You’ll need a changing pad. I like to use a prefold on top of my changing pad as an extra absorbent layer. That way if my princess decides to relieve herself, it doesn’t roll off a waterproof surface and onto surfaces like seats or laps.
2) Grab your baby wipes. I like to not only have my little travel case handy, but to have one wipe out and ready to go—two if I know she’s got a poop bomb ready and waiting like a hidden land mine.
3) Your wet bag on hand is an absolute must. It’s well and good to have it waiting for you in the diaper bag but if you have limited space and arms and you know you won’t be able to keep curious fingers (or toes) from investigating for long, put that sucker in the wet bag and zip it up right away.
4) A clean diaper. I know that seems too obvious to even put on this list, but when you’re smelling poop and simultaneously trying to hold down a kicking baby while grabbing all your necessities, Mommy brain may just kick in and temporarily paralyze your senses. I find it especially useful to place the clean diaper ready and waiting underneath the soiled one before unfastening it so that my baby’s bottom is exposed to as little air time as possible, thus lessening her opportunity to soil the car.

Whether you use cloth diapers or disposable diapers, changing them in the car (or any other mode of transportation) is not easy. So, going into your journey prepared for every eventuality is an absolute must. With a little preparation and a lot of creativity, though, you can handle anything!

While browsing our news feeds the other day, we came across a most unusual question – certainly one I hadn’t before seen. A concerned mother posed whether or not cloth diapers were hindering her child’s ability to learn to walk. In other words, because he wore cloth was it taking him longer to learn?

Now, it’s not uncommon for a mom to worry about these kinds of things. If a tooth doesn’t show by a certain time, if the child hasn’t rolled over on his own by so many months, we panic. We wonder if our baby is off some kind of cosmic schedule, and if tardiness in learning a particular life skill portends an endless pattern. First, let’s all take a deep breath, and remember this very important factor about a child’s development:

It will happen when it happens.

This particular question we found came from a mother of a 13-month-old who still struggled with the first steps. If you’re around kids who are practically tap dancing at 11 months, we can see why you’d worry. Know this, though: if a child takes a bit longer to walk it’s not abnormal, and doesn’t necessarily mean anything else is wrong. Babies listen to their natural instincts, and while it’s good to encourage and help them along the way, they probably won’t respond well if Mom is stressed out.

Do cloth diapers determine when a child learns to walk? Whether wearing cloth, disposables, or nothing at all, it makes no difference. So don’t ever think using cloth is a hindrance to your child’s development. If anything, you’ve started to instill eco-friendly values that are sure to remain as your child grows.

Mobile customers Watch the segment here.

Feel free to share this link with your friends, family and neighbors and then give us a shout here on the blog about your “green mission.”

Yes, there are people out there who prefer to cling to the adage that if something is too good to be true, it probably is. While this mantra may hold weight when it comes to things like get rich quick schemes, with regards to cloth diapers it’s a safe bet that these wonders are very, very good. Still, some parents are reluctant to try them, and deliver any number of excuses not to bother. Let’s take a look at the top five and see how they stack up against parental concerns.

1) Cloth diapering isn’t really cost effective. It’s natural to check the prices of an individual cloth diaper and suffer mild sticker shock. When you’re shopping for diapers for the first time, you’ll see one cloth priced around fifteen to twenty dollars as opposed to 20-30 disposables for the same price and think you’re getting the better deal if you buy the latter. Think harder about it, and you’ll realize you can buy ten cloth diapers for about two hundred dollars, and those disposables will cost much more over three years as you buy box after box to keep your baby dry.

Yeah, yeah, we’re ready for the “but the cost of cleaning and the water bill” argument. Of course, you’re not going to toss a diaper loaded with baby poop in the washer. However, taking a few seconds to wash off the excess (usually with a quick dunk in the toilet) and running a small load may not make so much a difference in your water usage. Talk to anyone who uses cloth, and do the math to see how it can work in your favor.

2) I can’t use cloth diapers on my baby at night, they won’t work. Really, now? Makes you wonder what parents did back in the day before disposables were invented. Certainly they didn’t have their babies sleep in an empty tub, or set them on some kind of contraption that captured all the icky stuff.

Your baby can wear a cloth diaper at night, and you won’t wake in the morning to a horrible mess. When you use a pocket diaper with a good cover, perhaps doubling on inserts if you think there will be heavy flow, you’ll find your baby is just as dry as he would be with a pair of Huggies. If you’re thinking of transitioning and this is the deal breaker, buy one with a few inserts and give it a night time test drive, and gauge the results from there.

3) We can’t travel with cloth diapers, it’s such a hassle. Again, you have to wonder how our forefathers managed to expand to the west coast if they couldn’t move their families due to such concerns! Whether you’re going away for the weekend, or embarking on a lengthy vacation, don’t feel you have to make a temporary move to disposables to make the trip easier. You can store all the baby’s essentials in your travel bag, just make sure you bring along a special wet bag for the soiled cloths and some detergent. Thanks to technology it isn’t difficult to track down a Laundromat if needed, and hotels do offer laundry service. Be resourceful and do your research before you leave the house.

4) I’ll just have to buy more anyway as my baby grows. Well, maybe, maybe not. It is possible you may need to replace a cover or two as you go along, but if you know where to shop, you’ll be surprised to know that some brands are actually adjustable. The covers feature snaps that fit to your baby, so when he grows, you simply use different snaps. Brands like bumGenius!, FuzziBunz, and GroVia offer diapers one could feasibly use from birth through the potty training years.

5) All those soiled diapers are going to stink up the house. No lie, even if you buy a pail for disposables and use a scented liner, you still risk a stench. So don’t think that cloth diapers are any worse; in fact, you can head off the problem with a good pail, strong liner, and scented inserts that handle the odor. You likely will not wash diapers daily, but you can keep a pail around for several days until it’s time to do a load without needing a gas mask to enter the nursery.

When you think about it, too, five dirty cloth diapers as opposed to twenty disposables…which do you think will stink more?

Any more arguments against the cloth alternative? Before you doubt, try them out!