Giveaway #5 -- Gift Certificate to Earth Angels Diaper Company

I recently found myself in a very unusual predicament. It was a place I vowed I would never go. I had encountered a situation that I was having a hard time remedying.

And so . . . I resorted to plastic. You know, disposable diapers. Gasp!

I had taken great pride that no plastic had touched the glorious bum of my Mr. Smiley. He had made it approximately 15 months with his bottom only covered by soft cloth.

But then teeth came. August heat came. And a slight weening came. After which, the rash came. I pulled out all of my natural and not so natural tricks to heal the nasty nuisance that plagued my gentle little boy.

Finally, I took a trip to Walmart and bought some supposedly environmentally friendly disposable diapers. The manufactures lured me in with their enticing white and soft green packaging, ensuring me that 100% organic cotton was used. It worked. I shelled out the extra money to sooth my guilty conscience. I really felt like I was letting the world down by contributing to the landfill. To those of you who use disposables, forgive this post and move on, but I was genuinely mortified to buy disposables. I prayed that no one would see me purchasing the equivalent to a bad word in our household!

I know that I am being dramatic. But this was a serious mothering challenge to me. Embarrassment. And it dented the organic budget. I seriously don't understand how people afford disposables . . . even if you buy the cheap kind.

And not to mention the smell! I could go on, but I'm going to "shut it," and explain our next giveaway.


Enter Julia from Earth Angels Diaper Company. Carisa (who else?) from 1+1+1=1 and Lil' Ladybug, had listed a bunch of her favorite diapering resources. I looked through the various websites, but Julia's site stood out to me . . . there was a big, large and in charge, comment/question form.

And I used it.

I must admit that it really required some squelching of my pride to ask for help. I've been doing this gig for 5 years now . . . and to run into a cloth diapering problem that I couldn't solve . . . well, it brought my self-esteem down a bit.

Julia graciously replied with several questions, of which I answered . . . and set about putting her suggestions into action. I am happy to say . . . the problem is resolved and we are back in the cloth diapering business. But because I had such a great experience with Julia, I really wanted to bring her WAHM business some attention and asked if she would do a giveaway.

She said YES!

In exchange, I had to do a cloth diaper review. Can you believe it? (Secretly, I was overjoyed at the opportunity to review a diaper. I really hoped it would be a diaper with all of the bells and whistles, since I mainly use prefolds.) Julia didn't disappoint!

I was sent a Large Green Acre Pocket Diaper. When I first received this little diaper . . . I laughed and thought that it was a joke. There was no way it would fit on my 30 lb child! But it did. In fact, it is a perfect fit with a little room to grow in.


Having sewn my own diapers before, I initially questioned the construction of the diaper, but as I used the diaper . . . I think they are geniuses. For starters, the diaper snaps shut on the waist opposite of any diaper I have ever used. As a result, you don't have leaks because the side of the closure that is near "pee" stays close to the skin, and the dry part of the diaper overlaps with the snap closure. Get this, no snap touches the skin so no tattoo snap marks! The pocket for the insert is slightly recessed below the waistline and keeps the liner from creeping out of the diaper. The fleece that Mr. Smiley's bum comes in contact with, is so soft. Too bad underwear isn't made out of that stuff! (Is it wrong to think that?)

And probably the best part about the diaper . . . no leaks . . . none.

I am going to ask for some for Christmas. (For Mr. Smiley, not me.)


Oh, and on a side note. I also tried Charlie's Soap . . . we have officially switched to this brand. You won't believe how clean my diapers are. Plus, my laundry room smells naturally good. And Julia also threw in some amazing smelling baby wipe solution beans. I used to only use water, but I actually began to look forward to poopy diapers, because the wipes smelled so insanely good being immersed in the Baby's Breath Wipe Bean solution.

OK . . . maybe I'm going overboard.


Want to know what you're playing for?

Giveaway #5
$25 Gift Certificate from Earth Angels Diaper Company

RULES

Please, please, please . . .do not put more than one entry per comment. I will be using www.random.org to pick the winners. So if you would like for your comments to count, leave individual comments.

All options are worth 1 entry, unless otherwise stated.

1. (Mandatory) Visit Earth Angels Diaper Company and leave me a comment telling me what color Green Acre Designs pocket diaper is your favorite.
   
2. Tweet about this giveaway, making sure to include @GranolaMom4God and leave a comment back at the blog.
   
3. Become a follower through Google Connect on Julia's Diaper Discussions blog page (I am counting on you being honest). While you are at it, become one of my fan's if you aren't already!
   
4. Become a follower of Julia on Twitter or Facebook . . . leave separate comments for this.
   
5. Purchase something from Earth Angels Diaper Company and receive 5 extra entries. Be sure to leave 5 comments stating that you did buy from Julia. Tell us what it was!
   
6. Find another blog post I wrote about cloth diapering and share with me something that you learned.
7. Leave a comment and tell me how you would use your $25 at Earth Angels Diaper Company.
   
8. Put my blog, http://www.granolamom4god.com, on your blog roll in a continuously visible location, not just a blog post.
   
9. Grab my button and place it on your blog for all to see!
10. Grab Julia's button and place it on your blog.
    

Remember, only #1 is mandatory. The rest of the entries are optional, but you MUST comment separately for each one.

The Fine Print: I will email you when you have won. You cannot win more than one giveaway. I must have your email address to alert you to your prize. You can include that in your comment or email me separately at thegranolamom4god@gmail.com. You must respond within 24 hours.

Contest ends 10/5/09

Cloth Diapering 101--How I Cloth Diaper

My mom cloth diapered and my mother-in-law cloth diapered. My husband wanted to cloth diaper. Cloth diapering represented a mothering choice to be studied, conquered, and employed. Nobody I knew was cloth diapering at the time, which made it all the more appealing to me.

Logically, it made sense to cloth diaper--it was and is cheaper. But more importantly, we felt it was a call from the Lord. Why? Simply, cloth diapering allows us to be a good steward of our money that God gave us and of the earth He has provided for us to live on and use. Additionally, we are protecting our children from dangerous chemicals leaching into their skin. These are a few of the reasons it made sense to cloth diaper.

Writing this much requested post has proven difficult. There are numerous websites containing great information regarding the cost, variety, and reasons to cloth diaper. Why should I reinvent the wheel? Thus, I have decided to explain "how" we cloth diaper, in the hopes that you will see that it is easy to cloth diaper, and perhaps even addicting. I know that may sound odd--but there is great satisfaction in using cloth.

Hands down, using cloth diapers is cheaper than disposable diapers. It also gets cheaper with each child. My favorite type of cloth diaper is called the Chinese Prefold. It is the true work horse of cloth diapering. There are many fancy cloth diapers out on the market (All-In-Ones or AIOs, fitted diapers that use covers, and pocket diapers), but only the prefold remains the cheapest, most durable, extremely forgiving, absorbant, and virtually leak-proof diaper. I have tried the diapers that include all of the bells and whistles, but with each child I always go back to prefolds. (The stack of diapers on the right have been used for three children, and could be used for another child. (No I am not dropping any hints that Baby #4 is on the way.). By the way, if I am using a fancy diaper, I like Fuzzi Bunz. I have heard the BumGenius are good, too.

Don't think that you can go buy these durable diapers at Babies-R-Us or Walmart. No, you typically need to order them online. (Check out my friends at Toasty Baby. They even offer a cloth diapering service where they will wash your child's diapers for you!) Prefolds are typically $1.50-$2.00/diaper. They come in three sizes: infant, premium and toddler (as shown on the left). Most people only have to buy infant and premium diapers. However, if you have mammoth children like us, you will eventually need to buy toddler prefolds, leading up to potty training. Many people are worried about the Safety Pin to fasten the diaper. Worry no longer! Instead of using Bobby Pins, I use a thing called The Snappi. It works much like an Ace Bandage clip.

To contain the wetness or poop inside the cloth diaper, I typically use a wool cover. There are many to chose from, but I really like the Babyology wool covers found on Ebay. I also have been known to use Bummis Super Whisper Wrap, Kushie Diaper Wrap, or a Prorap Classic. All of them work well and have withstood three children and many washings. The great thing about all of these covers is that you only wash them when they become soiled. You use the cover, let it air out, and use it again. The manufacture states that you can use it up to five times before washing, but I must admit that my covers get used until they either have poop on them or are starting to smell of urine.

Let's talk about wipes. If you use cloth diapers, why on earth would you continue to buy packs of wipes? Thankfully, I am handy at sewing, so I just bought a yard of flannel and made about 30 wipes (per child in diapers). I love having colorful wipes. I have heard that you can save about $300/year by using cloth wipes. I wet my wipes with water and put them in a normal wipe case for outings or in the wipe warmer when we are at home. You can just add water to them or make your own wipe solution .

Perhaps you are wondering, what happens once I take the diaper off. Easy! If you comply with the instructions on the disposable diaper package, why not just go ahead and do cloth diapers? The directions state that you have to dump solid poop out. No big deal! By the way, when your baby is just on mother's milk (and even formula) you don't have to rinse the diaper off before you stick it in the wash,; it comes out in the wash. For example, let's say Babe E has a poopy diaper. I use my cloth wipe to clean his bottom and stick the wipe into the diaper pail. The diaper pail is lined with a water proof bag. I place the poopy diaper in the bucket that you currently see on top of the white pail.

You don't have to buy a fancy diaper pail. I recommend that you get a pail that is actually a trash can with a pedal to lift the lid, when you are in a sticky situation! When you have a chance, grab your bucket, dump the poop into the toilet and flush. Some people actually get diaper showers, but I just get as much poop of off the diaper as I can with either a wipe or toilet paper. I stick the formerly poopy diaper into a medium waterproof bag that I have in the bathroom.

When your diaper pail gets full, wash your diapers! Your washing machine doesn't get dirty either. Mine still looks and smells clean! When your child starts eating solid food and has firm poop, you can line the diaper with a rice paper liner that is biodegradable and can be flushed.

Helpful websites to assist you in cloth diapering:

• diaperjungle.com
  
• Real Diaper Association diapering facts including the health, environmental, and cost benefits to cloth diapering
• The Diaper Pin offers answers to frequently asked question such as getting started, washing instructions, diaper pail options, folding of the diaper, securing the diaper, and a cloth diapering dictionary
  
• You do the math, calculate the cost difference between cloth and disposable
• Diaper Kit provides pre-cut diaper fabric and you do the sewing