Tiny Tush Trim Hemp Diaper Giveaway & Review

In keeping with my Earth Week theme I'm ending this finally Friday with a cloth diaper giveaway! 

A few weeks ago I received the Tiny Tush Trim Hemp diaper to review.  We have been battling night leaking for months since Avin is such a heavy wetter.  Most of our nighttime solutions make Avin look like is trying out to be a baby sumo wrestler but that wasn't the case with the Tiny Tush Trim.  The TTT as I'll call it was really trim.  Because it is a fitted diaper made from 80% hemp and 20% organic cotton the entire diaper is super absorbent.  It is made with hidden snaps so all that is against your babies skin is the soft hemp/cotton. 

We really liked that it had an absorbent contoured snap-in liner.  We layered two more thin hemp/cotton doublers underneath the liner for a soft, super absorbent diaper.  If you have a tiny newborn baby you could actually just use the contoured snap-in liner as the diaper.  I liked that I didn't have to unsnap the liner to wash it.  I tossed it in the diaper still snapped in and it came out the same way.  Since it only attaches at one end it allows the liner to agitate separately from the main diaper.  The drying time on this diaper was the same as our microfiber liners.  (Some of our fitteds take two 70 minute drys) 

The diaper has all snaps and no Velcro or "hook and loop closure".  It has snaps vertically to adjust the size of the rise and horizontally to adjust the waist size.  This diaper fits newborn to 35+ pounds.  For a one-size diaper you can't beat the trimness of this diaper.  Even with a diaper cover on there is very little bulk.  This quickly became our go-to diaper for overnights especially once we tried it with a wool cover!  Because of that I never did manage to get a picture of Avin wearing it, because bedtime is no time for a photo shoot in our house! I'll include the stock photo for the diapers -that's really what they look like :)

Tiny Tush is giving away one Tiny Tush Trim to one lucky reader. 

Mandatory Entry:  You must sign up to follow me via google friend connect or RSS feed then visit the Tiny Tush website and come back and tell me something you loved!

Extra Entries:

Follow me on twitter @diapermom  Tiny Tush on twitter @TinyTush (1 entry)

Tweet any unique tweet about this giveaway that includes @diapermom and @TinyTush (1 entry per tweet, up to twice per day)

Follow Tiny Tush on facebook

Grab my button and put it on your blog - make sure you leave the URL where it can be found in your comment (3 entries)

This giveaway is open to US addresses only, void where prohibited, must be 18 to enter.  Giveaway will end Friday, May 14, 2010 at 11:00 PM.  One winner will be chosen via random.org.  Winner will be notified by email and will have 48 hours to respond or a new winner will be chosen.  Please make sure you leave your email address in your comment so I can contact you if you win.  One entry = one comment.

Cutey Baby Wet Bag Giveaway & Review {CLOSED}

Congratulations to comment number 69!
What is a wet bag? Basically it is a waterproof zippered bag made to hold wet or soiled items. Why do you need one? Because they are a lifesaver for diaper changes and dirty baby clothes! I had the opportunity to review a Cutey Baby Wet Bag recently and now I am a wet bag convert. I used to keep those tiny little blue plastic bags in my diaper bag but by the end of the day I ended up with several different ones going and my whole bag smelled like baby powder.

The Cutey Baby wet bag is made out of PUL (the stuff that makes cloth diapers waterproof). The design is super simple but so helpful. At the end of the day I take my diapers and clothes out of it and toss it right into the wash. When I'm not using it the bag folds up small for storage. The bag easily fits 5 bulky diapers, wipes, and a shorts/t-shirt.

Cutey Baby is a great company that produces great modern cloth diapers (see my previous review). Their wet bags are available for purchase.  Click the link on the left hand side of this post to see all the cute prints they are available in!  Make sure you go check them out because Cutey Baby is giving one away to one of my readers!

Mandatory Entry:
Visit the Amazon.com link and then come back and tell me what pattern you would like to have if you win.

Additional Entries:
Follow my blog via Google Friend connect (1 extra entry)

Follow me on twitter and tweet any unique tweet about this giveaway that includes @diapermom AND @CuteyBaby (1 entry per day)

Follow Cutey Baby on twitter

Follow me on Facebook

Follow Cutey Baby on Facebook

Add my button to your blog (3 extra entries)

This giveaway is void where prohibited.  Open to US residents age 18 and over.  Contest will end May 13, 2010 at 11:00 PM CST.  Please leave your email in your comment so I can contact you if you win.  One comment = one entry.

Bottombumpers Diaper Pail Liner Giveaway & Review {CLOSED}

Congratulations comment number 68~

Thanks to Strawberry Kids I received a Bottombumpers Diaper Pail Liner to review.  Strawberry Kids had so many great items to choose from, including organic items, cloth diapering supplies, and breastfeeding accessories, that it took me forever to settle on the Diaper Pail Liner.  Once I did I was so glad that I chose the Bottombumper Diaper Pail Liner!  A diaper pail liner had been on my wish list for a long time but it didn't seem like a necessity so I had been putting off purchasing one.  I use a kitchen trashcan as a diaper pail so at night when I took the diapers down to wash I would wipe up any obvious spots in the pail then spray it down with Lysol and once or twice a week I would wash it inside and out with a disinfecting cleaner.  I'm a germ-a-phobe so it seriously grossed me out to be sticking my hands down in a dirty diaper pail.  The pail liner is made of durable 2mil PUL waterproof knit which is basically the same thing that outer part of many cloth diapers are made of.  It prevents urine or feces from leaking out of the bag and getting your pail dirty.  The liner is a generous 50" circumference to fit stainless steel step cans and 13 gallon trash cans (which is what I have), it is 30" tall to go in and over the edges of the pail, and has white fold over elastic to grab the sides of your pail and keep it in place.   At night when I take my diapers down I simply pull out my pail liner and toss it in the wash with my diapers.  No more scrubbing out dirty diaper cooties from my pail!  It works great for me because it is easier to carry down my stairs than the big trash can and when we travel it works as a dirty laundry bag for the entire family!  The Bottombumpers liner comes in White, Butter, Light Blue, Sage, Baby Pink, and Red.  The sage is what I chose and it is a light shade of green that goes great in Avin's nursery.  I no longer think of my diaper pail liner as a luxury item- it is definitly a necessity and I'm thinking about getting another to use while the diapers are in the wash!

Strawberry Kids is giving a Bottombumpers Diaper Pail Liner away to one of my readers!

Mandatory Entry:  Visit the Strawberry Kids website and then come back and tell me what item(s) you would LOVE to have. 

Additional Entries:

Follow my blog via google friend connect (1 extra entry)

Follow the Strawberry Kids blog Mom to Bed By 8 (1 extra entry)

Follow me on twitter and tweet any unique tweet about this giveaway including @diapermom AND @strawberrykidss (1 tweet per day 1 entry per tweet)

Follow Strawberry Kids on twitter

Follow Strawberry Kids on facebook

Grab my button and put it on your blog then leave me the link in your comments (5 extra entries)

Sign up for my RSS Feed on the left hand side of my blog (2 extra entries)

This giveaway is open to US addresses only.  One winner will be chosen using Random.org on May 28 at 11:00 PM CST.  Please make sure you leave your email address in your comments so I can contact you if you win.  One entry = One comment.  Contest is void where prohibited.

Sugar Plum Baby Fitted Diaper Review

How many times have you been woken up in the night by a screaming baby and when you go to pick them up out of the crib you find them soaked from a leaky diaper? Nothing ruins your night like trying to juggle a screaming baby, find new jammies, replace the sheets on the bed, and hunt down another clean blanket. We were having that kind of night every night with our cloth diapers because Avin is such a heavy wetter. I'm not kidding, I think when I go to bed he gets up and drinks a gallon of water or something...the amount of urine he can produce overnight is amazing. We tried double stuffing, switching to fitted with a cover, adding hemp/cotton doublers nothing was working for us. UNTIL I found Monkey Toe Diapers and her wonderful Sugar Plum Baby Night Diaper!

When this diaper came in I was expecting it to be like all the other fitted diapers we had tried. In some ways it was but in lots of ways it was so much better! This diaper comes with snap closure so Avin can't take it off during the night. The interior of the diaper is so soft! It is made from velour and I confess to rubbing the clean diaper on my cheek and sighing because it was just so soft. The entire diaper is absorbent but when you snap the soaker in you add an additional 6 layers of protection. Lay down the included doubler and you're looking at 10 layers in the wet zone! This diaper is pretty bulky on Avin because he is long and lean but it is super absorbent and that more than makes up for the bulk. I like that the diaper is made from bamboo and organic cotton. The bamboo/cotton combo is great for increasing absorbency. It also makes me feel good to know I am putting organic natural fibers next to Avin's skin.

The quality of this diaper is top notch. The material is high quality and super soft as I mentioned before. The snaps are sturdy and attached securely. The seams are nice and neat. Because of the design of the diaper when you remove the soaker it unfolds to the size of a large wash cloth. Because the double, soaker, and diaper are three different pieces the drying time is super quick (half the time of our other fitteds).
Susan Mraz is the owner of Monkey Toe Diapers and she was a pleasure to work with. Her shipping time was quick, just a few days. When I opened the package the diaper was wrapped in tissue paper, tied up in ribbon with her business card attached. I felt very fancy and it tickled me to be getting a diaper in such a nice wrapping!

I highly suggest Monkey Toe Diapers for your overnight (or any) diaper needs. You can find them on facebook and twitter. Hurry and follow them because when they reach 200 fans/followers they will give away a Very Baby One Sized Fitted or Pocket Diaper!

Cloth Diaper 101: You CAN do it!

I am a cloth diapering momma! I'm proud to say it and I'm always looking for opportunities to share information about cloth diapering. I have to laugh because as excited as I am about cloth diapering I can't compare to my husband. He's given more cloth diaper tutorials to our friends and family than me! :) We love cloth diapering, and while we understand it's just not for everyone, we can't imagine having it any other way. We started cloth diapering Avin at about 3.5 months because disposable diapers kept him with diaper rash and to be honest we just couldn't stand to spend $100 plus a month on diapers. We invested $200 in 24 diapers (23 BumGenius & 1 Happy Heiny) and we have never looked back. In this post I'll take you through the different types of cloth diapers, frequently used cloth diaper terms, washing cloth diapers, and cloth diaper accessories.

Types of cloth diapers:
Pocket Diapers (example: BumGenius 3.0) Pocket diapers have a "pocket" that you stuff with some type of insert (usually microfiber) and the outer part of the diaper is waterproof so no seperate cover is needed. These are easy to use, dry quickly and are very user friendly.

Fitted Diapers (example: Sugar Plum Baby or Tiny Tush) Fitted diapers are a super absorbant diaper that are made to wear with a waterproof cover. These are a great overnight diaper choice due to their absorbancy but the dry time for fitted diapers is somewhat lengthy.

All in Ones (example: BumGenius AIO) AIO's are just what they sound like. They are the most like a disposable diaper style. They are not as absorbant as the pocket or fitted and their dry time is very long.

Prefolds (example: Econobum) Prefolds are the cheapest of all the cloth diapers. They require you to fold a liner and place inside a seperate cover. They dry quickly but can be confusing to fold.

One Size Diapers (example: Fuzzi Bunz One Size) One size diapers are usually pocket diapers with a series of snaps on the front or hip that allow the diaper to grow with your baby. They can be rather bulky on small babies but they save a lot of money because you can use the same diaper from birth to potty training.

Hybrid Diapers I'm not sure "hybrid diaper" is an actual term but it is what I use when I refer to my Flip Diapers. The Flip Diaper system uses a cover that can be paired with either a lay-in cloth liner or a disposable liner. gDiapers and GroBaby also offer similar options. They are great for daytime travel when you don't want to pack along a large stack of cloth diapers.

Everyone has their own preference and motivation for choosing a specific diaper. Some things to ask yourself when you are planning your diaper purchase are 1)How important is cost to me? 2)Will my baby stay still long enough to put on a prefold and cover? 3)How important is the length of time it takes to dry? 4) Is a trim fit more important than only having to buy one set of diapers?

Once you decide what kind of diaper you think you would prefer I suggest you go to your local cloth diaper store and actually look them over. Cloth diapers come in so many fabrics and prints that you may find out you love something else even more. I purchased half of my diapers new and half used. Purchasing your cloth diapers used saves even more money and is perfectly safe for your baby. You will want be familiar with some common cloth diapering abbreviations before you buy.

Frequently Used Cloth Diaper Abbreviations:

AIO - All in One diaper
AI2 - All in Two diaper (typically a pocket diaper)
CD - cloth diaper
CPF - Chinese prefold
IPF - Indian Prefold
DSQ - Diaper service quality
EUC - Excellent used condition
GUC - Good used condition
F&C - Free & Clear (used referring to detergents)
PUL - polyurethane laminate, a material used to make diaper covers/wraps
Woolie, Shortie, Longie - Refers to diaper covers made from wool
Seconds- Second Quality Cloth Diapers are diapers that have some (usually minor) flaw in the design or construction of them.
'Sposie- A Disposable diaper
Diaper Pail Liner - Usually made of PUL, fits inside a trash can or diaper pail to hold dirty diapers
Wet/Dry Bag - Usually made of PUL or similar material, used to hold dirty diapers on the go

Washing Cloth Diapers: I had wanted to cloth diaper before Avin was born but I had heard horror stories about the time and effort required to keep cloth diapers clean. I kicked myself when I found out that those stories were true 30 years ago! Today's cloth diapers are nothing like what our mom's had available to them. Caution: You do have to use cloth diaper detergent! All cloth diapering mom's have their own method for washing so I will just share mine. When we change Avin's diaper I toss the dirty diaper into a kitchen trash can that has a diaper pail liner in it. (If it is a poopy diaper I wipe it out with a wipe and toss the solids into the diaper genie). Many people use a diaper sprayer and rinse out into the toilet. At the end of the day I take the liner full of dirty diapers down to the washing machine. I seperate the diapers out into their different pieces (we use AI2 and fitteds) and I do one COLD rinse. Then I do one Heavy Duty HOT wash with 2 scoops of Rockin Green Cloth Diaper Soap with an extra COLD rinse at the end. You must use some type of cloth diaper detergent because other detergents contain elements that will cause your diapers to stop absorbing and start actually repelling and leaking. Some popular brands are Charlies, Rockin Green, and Tiny Bubbles. Once the diapers are washed I usually hang any piece that has velcro or elastic up to dry and I toss the rest in the dryer. You do not use fabric softner or dryer sheets with cloth diapers. If you get stains setting your diapers out in the sun to dry will clear most of them up.

Cloth Diaper Accessories: When you use cloth diapers you don't have to HAVE to have anything special except the cloth diaper detergent and cloth diaper safe diaper rash ointment. Diaper rashes are rare with cloth diapers but they do still happen occasionally. You cannot use regular diaper rash ointment (Desitin, Butt Paste, etc) because they will coat your diapers and cause them to repell liquid. You need a cloth diaper safe ointment. My favorite brand is Sweet Cheeks but other popular brands include Grandma El's and Northern Essence.


Some people use a diaper sprayer which connects to your toilet and works like a mini shower for your diapers. I don't have one and I don't have any issues with my diapers.

A couple of things I do have and LOVE are: 1) A small wet bag- mine is made by Cutey Baby and holds about 5 dirty diapers. It is a super cute print and fits down in my diaper bag. It's great for storing both dirty clothes and diapers. When you get back home you can toss the bag itself in the washer for easy clean up. 2) A diaper pail liner- I just recently got a diaper pail liner and now I can't imagine life without it! Before I would spray my diaper pail (aka a kitchen trash can) down with Lysol Spray everynight when I emptied it and once or twice a week I had to scrub it out with a disinfecting cleaner. Now I just pull the liner out and toss it in the wash with the diapers. It also made a great dirty clothes bag when we traveled this weekend.

Of course no matter what type of diaper you use you still need wipes to get your baby's bottom clean. I still use mostly disposable wipes for poopy diapers but I use cloth wipes for hand and face washing after meals and other quick clean ups. Cloth wipes can be as simple as baby wash cloths wetted in water. For more great in-depth information about using cloth wipes please visit The Eco-Friendly Family.

If you have any other questions or comments regarding cloth diapering please feel free to leave a comment. I'm no cloth diapering expert, just a cloth diapering addict, but I'd be happy to share what I know.

My Earth Week Theme is Cloth Diapers!

I've been thinking about Earth Week and all that we do to try to be earth friendly in our home. We recycle everything we can (paper, cardboard, aluminum, tin, steel, plastics). We turn off lights when we aren't using them. We try to conserve water by turning it off while we brush our teeth. We buy organic foods when we can. I try to purchase items in recyclable containers only. All those things are great but I don't think any of them has as big an impact as our cloth diaper use.

According to the Clean Air Council: An average child will use between 8,000 -10,000 disposable diapers ($2,000 worth) before being potty trained. Each year, parents and babysitters dispose of about 18 billion of these items. In the United States alone these single-use items consume nearly 100,000 tons of plastic and 800,000 tons of tree pulp. We will pay an average of $350 million annually to deal with their disposal and, to top it off, these diapers will still be in the landfill 300 years from now. Americans throw away 570 diapers per second. That's 49 million diapers per day.

If you choose to cloth diaper, 24 diapers is usually adequate to diaper one baby for two days. Cloth diapers can be used for multiple children and will biodegrade quickly when you are done. Many cloth diaper brands now have one-size diapers that you can use from birth until potty training. Cloth diapering is not just earth friendly it is wallet friendly!

I won't list all of the scary things contained in the disposable diapers because there are just too many to list but you can visit the Real Diaper Association for all the details. (WARNING: You will be horrified at what disposable diapers contain!)

This week I will be posting a series of posts related to cloth diapering that includes: Cloth Diaper 101, a couple of cloth diaper reviews, a wet bag review, a diaper pail liner review.

Green Giant Giveaway! {CLOSED}

Congratulations to Heidi Comment #29!We just finished a very yummy supper of loaded chicken and Green Giant Simply Steam® Garden Vegetable Medley. I love Green Giant vegetables because they come pre-seasoned in a microwave package that you just toss in and cook in 5 minutes. They have been the perfect size for Derek and I to have a serving each with no leftovers. Now that Avin is moving on to table foods we'll probably switch to eating the Family Sized Bagged Vegetables. I wanted to share some really interesting things I recently learned about Green Giant.

For Green Giant, it´s all about trying to live up to the name by working every day to care for the land, the people who grow our vegetables and the families who share our vegetables at their tables. Throughout its century-long history, Green Giant has worked to reduce its environmental footprint through many measures including:

Reducing the amount of land and water needed to grow vegetables

Packing vegetables in smaller, lighter cans, so it takes less fuel to deliver them to supermarket shelves

Utilizing traditional seed breeding methods over the last 35 years to double the amount of sweet corn grown on an acre of land

Teaming up with growers to install a more efficient irrigation system that can reduce water use by more than a million gallons a year;

Switching to more earth-friendly paperboard to package frozen vegetables, saving approximately 54,000 trees annually in the process.

Green Giant is now celebrating the 40th anniversary of Earth Day by giving $200,000 to The Nature Conservancy to help fund an innovative project that will encourage greener farming practices to repair and protect a natural treasure - the Root River, one of Minnesota´s (home to Green Giant) best trout streams.

To learn more about Green Giant´s sustainability program or make a donation to The Nature Conservancy, visit http://www.greengiant.com/sustainabilityduring the month of April.

I received a "Seeds of Change" prize pack that includes one VIP coupon valid for a free package of Green Giant frozen vegetables, in addition to a mini herb garden, an eco-friendly bamboo utensil set, and a 100% recyclable grocery tote. It was provided by Green Giant through MyBlogSpark. My mini herb garden (Chives, Basil, and Parsley) is living in my kitchen window and is starting to sprout! My husband has to take care of it though because I've got such a black thumb that I've been known to kill plants by looking at them.

Green Giant and MyBlogSpark are also providing a "Seeds of Change" prize pack to one of my readers! This contest is open to US Residents, 18 and over, void where prohibited. Contest will close on Earth Day, April 22, 2010 at 11:00 PM CST. Please leave one comment per entry (5 entries = five comments). Please leave your email in your comment so I can contact you if you win. One winner will be selected using Random.org.

Mandatory Entry: Go to http://www.GreenGiant.com/sustainability and come back and leave me a comment telling me something you learned about the sustainability program.

Additional Entires:
Follow my blog via google friend connect

Subscribe to my feed on the left hand side of my blog (5 extra entries)

Tweet any unique tweet about this giveaway using @diapermom (Up to 3 tweets per day)