Another Diaper Update

So, now that it's been a month of cloth diapering, I can honestly say I LOVE our cloth diapers. We had a few small issues along the way that were not nearly enough to make me want to quit or even issues with the actual diapers, but I will mention them so it doesn't look like this road was completely bump-free.

Problem 1 - Detergents. I ended up having to try two "diaper friendly" detergents (no enzymes, brighteners, dyes, blah blah blah) only to find out that as our regular Tide that we already used works the best... It is not recommended on a lot of cloth diaper sites because they use brighteners, enzymes and dyes, but then on the Rumparooz website it recommends you DO use a detergent that has enzymes because they claim it helps with stink and other build up.

Problem 2 - Skinny legs - At first, Harvey's skinny thighs didn't quite fit into a few of the diapers we had. FuzziBunz sized ones, Just Simply Baby, and our Bum Genius ones. Now, he fits into them just fine and I even like the BumGenius ones quite a lot now.

Other than those problems, we really have had a great experience. Oh I will also mention it took me about a week to get a washing routine down once I finally settled on a detergent to use too. Our HE machine makes it a little more difficult but not hard.

Now that Harvey's legs are getting bigger too, we don't really have any leaks. There were also a couple times that we knew he would've exploded out the back if it had been a disposable and were grateful he was in the cloth so we didn't have to clean his clothes too. Even the few leaks we have had have only been from sizing issues (around the leg) or the way we put the inserts in and not the actual diapers.

My favorite diapers! They have changed now that he's a little bigger too. I am really loving the Rumparooz (I bought two more of those and will probably buy one more soon), the FuzziBunz One-Size Elite (I bought two more of these also), and the Bum Genius (I am looking at buying a few more of these ones soon to replace the gdiaper stash that he's growing out of). The Bum Genius and Just Simply Baby didn't quite fit him around the leg until a week ago and so I couldn't really have an opinion on them before that even though we used them anyway. He is also finally fitting into the Just Simply Baby (JSB) ones around the leg too as of the past few days so I'm starting to feel better about those too. I don't think I'll get more of them, but I do like them and their inserts actually fit nicely into the Bum Genius ones so I usually put the hemp JSB inserts into the Bum Genius diapers when he's going to be in it longer like his longer sleep at night.

Other diapers. Now that he's bigger, we are actually having issues with the other ones that we used to love. He seems to have outgrown the small gDiapers. He leaks through them about 3/4 of the time now unfortunately so I haven't really used those since last weekend. I'm thinking it's probably because of sizing but I don't know and I don't really want to get more inserts/liners for that one since I'm liking other brands anyway. The GAD diapers are now really difficult to get on him since they are side snapping ones. He usually cries when we put that one on him for two reasons. It takes us longer to put that one on than the others because with side snap it is hard to get a good fit. Also, the setting that makes it tight enough around the bottom of his leg on these make it too tight at his thigh and he screams because it pinches him, unfortunately that means that the setting that IS comfortable for him right now means we risk leakage if he poos a lot because it leaves a little gap around the bottom. I was going to buy more of these ones at first because I loved them at first, but after a month, these ones are probably on the bottom of our list now. I have also noticed the most wear on these after a month. They were brand new when we got them and on one, a snap is loose and threads are coming undone. I'm sure if I e-mailed the woman she'd help out, but since I don't really like these that much anyway I don't really care about replacing them. The one redeeming thing about these diapers is that they hold a LOT when they do fit. The inserts are really great. I may get their inserts and just use them on other diapers for night-time in the future.

Overall cloth has been a really great experience for us. I am loving everything about it now. Nick and I really like them and the no rashes and less leaks deal.

How many faces can Harvey make in 90 seconds?

After Harvey eats, more often than not he's pretty sleepy. When he is REALLY out after a feeding, he has the funniest facial expressions and his eyes even roll around. I finally was close to our camera when he was done eating today so I decided to take a little video for you all. I don't know if this will entertain others the way it entertains us, but we sure think it's funny. So, enjoy the minute and a half of Harvey's many faces before he decided he still had a few burps stuck in there. :)

Three Weeks

Hello world! My name is Harvey. I am three weeks old now. Life is going by pretty quick for me and I am already getting really close to being able to smile. Mom and Dad sing me funny songs and tap the tune out on my cheeks and I think it's pretty fun. Some of my other favorite things are staring at the pictures on the walls, meeting new people, eating, taking naps, going for walks with mom and dad, going for car rides, hanging out with Mom and Dad, bath time (if it's warm enough for me) and I can't wait to get even bigger to do even more fun things. I am always finding new things to stare at and try to figure out how it works. Last night Mom & Dad weighed me on a scale my Great Aunt let them have, and I am already growing fast, topping off the scale at 9 pounds 11 ounces. Aren't you impressed? Not bad for refusing to eat the first 48 hours of my life, eh?

Some things I don't enjoy are getting my clothes and my wet diapers changed. I try to hold in some extra pee so when mom and dad change me I can let them know that I disapprove of the current activity. They're starting to catch on though and just open the diaper and leave it on me for a few seconds til I can't hold it in any longer, so I need to come up with something new soon. After I get a clean diaper though then I get to eat a large helping of milk. I love eating and I can't help but make happy tummy noises (you know, those cute little grunts of satisfaction in between gulps) when I eat. After I eat, I'm usually pretty tired, but sometimes I like to just be held and hang out with mom and dad for a bit before I drift off. Once I get tired, I like to be wrapped up nice and tight in one of my many cozy blankets. I'm still getting the hang of this whole hand-eye coordination thing, so if I don't get wrapped up tight enough I tend to poke myself in the eye or grab my cheeks and give myself a scratch and that kind of hurts. Some times if I'm having trouble falling asleep, I like to listen to the dryer. Mom and Dad would use a fan in my room, but the one they had died on my birthday. They had it on in my room and then it just pooped out in the middle of the night. The Wal*Mart by us didn't have any fans for sale yet (only heaters) so whenever they hit the stores for the summer season, I'll probably get my very own fan to help me sleep better. Well, not much else going on in my first three weeks. I'm enjoying life and can't wait to meet all of my family some time soon!