Many of you have already experienced a washing session, but if you haven’t, you will likely do so today. I am so amazed and humbled and in awe of the blog posts, tweets, notes, and forum threads regarding the Challenge. Some of you are going above and beyond the rules. Others are finding new and exciting ways to fold, wash, or cover your flats. I’m going to be posting links to some of these awesome finds this week, but I want to wait since I know there will be more to come! Today is a short post but I’ve got another Vlog for you and some pictures!
Our day yesterday was quite good and easy. Granted, there weren’t any poops. This means today I am in for it! Overnight both boys had flats on. Everett wore a diaperbag folded flat (tutorial on Padded Tush Stats) in an Econobum Cover and Fletcher wore a pad folded flat in a Weehuggers overnight. I washed diapers and hung them to dry this morning so hopefully in a few hours they will be dry. I talk all about our first day and washing in the vlog.
Diaperbag fold- used overnight for Everett
Pad folded flat in a Flip OS cover
close up
seeing some sunshine
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All-in-Two’s, are waterproof shells (covers) with replaceable inserts. This definition means you could use virtually any combination of waterprof cover and soaker pads, but there are many cloth diapers designed for this purpose.
Most All-in-Two’s are One Size Fits Most diapers using a snap down rise or Leg Elastic Sizing. For my video I have shown the Ragababe Organic 2 Step, Best Bottoms, and Gro Baby/ GroVia brands. These are only a small representation of the brands available. Since I started blogging 2 years ago when Gro Baby was released the concept has taken off inspiring many similar systems.
The point of an AI2 is to save more money by having to buy fewer “pricey” diapers, and AI2‘s are space savers when going out or traveling. Many AI2‘s can also be used with disposable inserts.
Pros:
Less expensive than a full set of AIO‘s or Pocket Diapers
Still Easier to use than flats or prefolds
Trim
Typically One Size
Easy to Use
Variety of soakers (inserts) in every material type including organic and stay dry.
Can mix and match soakers with shells of multiple brands by laying them inside other systems. Not all snaps are compatible with one another.
Cons:
Depending on the system, liners can get wet after the baby pees.
When the baby poops it often soils the cover.
Inserts can shift when when baby moves potentially causing a leak.
When changing the diaper you need to touch the wet/dirty inserts to remove them (but using a cloth wipe is the best solution)
Slightly more time consuming to change than removing a whole diaper, then replacing with a new one.
I have to admit that AI2‘s are not in my favorite list of diapers. I do see their value as a way to use cloth diapers without spending too much money. If you wanted to buy 6 one size shells at 17$ each and 24 one size soakers at 8$ a piece you are only spending 300$.
You can learn more about the many types of cloth diapers by watching the other entries in my Intro to Cloth Diaper Series.
At last, the day is here! After many set backs, I can now post the Flip System Video Review.
The Flip Cloth Diapering system is an innovative “create your own adventure” sort of cloth diaper. The staple of the system is the cover, a waterproof, one size cover using the same snap down 3 step rise system as the Bum Genius. The inside of the cover is laminate PUL that can be wiped clean between uses. The closure uses snaps. To absorb the messes, Flip has given you three options. A stay dry, microfiber soaker which is one size. An organic cotton soaker that can be folded to fit different sizes. And, disposable inserts which are dye and fragrance free, to make traveling with cloth diapers a little easier!
Ease of Use ✰✰✰ With so many options, there are a lot of different things to learn when using the Flip. The Stay Dry insert is easy enough, and is even marked with a stitched line and wording letting you know where to fold for the size. The organic cotton insert has a grid pattern. While this seems helpful, and it can be, I prefer to just fold where I see fit. You can do that, but since the stitching makes a “crease” it stays folded better where the lines are. The disposable inserts are very skinny, and there is lots of excess room on the sides. Length wise, you can fold it to fit if you need to. But, if you aren’t careful, you could have leaking because there is room for error with these. I think practice will help you get the hang of how each insert should go, and if you need to fold one way, or another way. But if you get a leak or two in the beginning, don’t despair! Just rethink how you are using the insert! Bang for the Buck ✰✰✰✰ A good economical choice with a lot of options. There aren’t many cloth diapers with the choice of a disposable insert. Even the 4.95 for a pack of disposable inserts goes a long way if you only need one per change. Because the Flip is just a cover, you also have the option of buying less expensive, or even pre-loved prefolds to use as inserts also. The cover can be purchased alone for 13.95, a great price for a stand alone cover. If you buy the kits, ranging in price, you save more money than buying separate inserts and covers. The disposable inserts can only be bought alone, they do not come with any kits. Performance ✰✰✰✰ I personally found the stay dry and organic inserts to be sufficiently absorbent. The Organic insert washed up soft, and has stayed pretty soft (I use Ecover cloth diaper safe softener on occasion to keep things soft!). Overnight use went well for us, but my son isn’t a very heavy wetter. The stay dry insert is a little slim, and can move around some. It didn’t cause a leak, but if you have a bowel movement, there is a good chance that it will make it into the cover as well. Absorbency was good for us. I was impressed that the stay dry insert looked so simple, and worked well. It seems almost too easy! I used the disposable inserts for a flight I took recently. We had him in a Flip, packed a rolled up cover (which gets tiny! Super handy for the diaper bag!) and lots of inserts. I had enough to last me for more than a day, and it took up no more space than 3-4 cloth diapers. I used 2 inserts overnight before we left and had no leaking! And over the day I used 1 insert for each change. On one occasion I knew I couldn’t change him for a couple of hours, so I used 2, one folded in front for extra protection. This worked great for us, and held all of the pee, no problems. I was nervous, they look so thin, but they held up well. Fit ✰✰✰✰ The sizing looks identical to the Bum Genius, and the method is the same. With snap closures you lose the ability to cross the tabs over, something to consider for small babies. If using the organic inserts, there is going to be some bulk. You get shelf booty in the back, like usual with trifolded prefolds in a cover. The stay dry insert is very trim, but the cover sized to a medium and a medium set insert will have some excess fabric. It will be smooshed down by pants or shorts though. The same holds true for the disposable insert. It is VERY trim, but there might be some extra fabric in the cover. The legs and waist will fit the same. The Flip is a good fit on my son’s legs and waist, same as the Bum Genius. You may find you have to adjust the cover differently if your baby is borderline sizes, depending on the insert you use. Overall- In theory, I love the idea of the Flip. You have a variety of insert choices, and having a cover capable of using disposable inserts works great for traveling. Sometimes, too much choice can be a bad thing! It makes organizing your stash harder, and you may find you don’t reach for the “different” diaper, unless of course you have a whole stash of Flips! I think if you are new to cloth diapers the Flip has a lot of potential. It is pretty easy to use once you get things down. It is affordable, and the colors it comes in are attractive.
Some of the drawbacks- the inserts can move around, the cover feels very thin and unsnapping makes me nervous that I am stretching the PUL, and all of the Bum Genius colors aren’t available at this time.
Still, it was a fun diaper to use, and I see why the makers of Bum Genius came out with the Flip. It answers a lot of need in the market. And, the Flip makes a good cover for your own fitteds and prefolds too!
If you are ready to try them, you can visit my sponsor, Kelly’s Closet (my affiliate link), who was kind enough to send the Flip for me to review! At this time all purchases over 49.00 get a free package of Flip Disposable Inserts using the code FLIP at check out.
I have some bad news! A software update has jeopardized my video reviews and stalled them for a few days until we can fix the issue. I use a combination of Flipshare and Windows Movie Maker (the old version, Windows 7 does not support audio dubbing). The Flipshare update does not allow exporting videos as .wmv as it did before. Why? Who knows? And not only exports them as .mp4, which is not supported by this version of Movie Maker.
I’m pretty sad about this, as I was planning on dubbing and posting the AMP Duo Pocket review today, and the Flip review tomorrow. I have another, non video review, up my sleeve I can post instead. Please check back for the reviews soon! I know the Flip one has been much anticipated!
The internet has made it back into my (new) home. I wasn’t expecting to be without for so long, so I have lots of catching up to do. Unfortunately all of my videos are made on the desktop, and it isn’t hooked up yet since the room it will be hooked into just got electricity today. I know a lot of you are waiting for the Econobum and Flip review. In due time, I promise.
In the meantime I will be posting some reviews and giveaways not related to cloth diapering.
This post has been submitted to the ParentingbyNature blog contest. I wrote this post and decided after the fact that it would be a perfect fit. I am really proud of this particular post, and when I wrote it I was almost crying! I hope if my post is selected as a finalist that you will vote for me. Thank you!
Many of you know that I attended ABC Kids Expo this year. Attending also gave me the unique opportunity to attend the RDIA‘s (Real Diaper Industry Association) keynote meeting as press. I live tweeted the event as much as possible, but missed quite a bit since my son was a tad cranky. We were out of our time zone and things were just difficult. The fact that Pampers has been slyly dropping “facts” about cloth diapers being bad for our babies (see this post) made me think back to Jen’s, creator of Bum Genius and Cotton Babies, outgoing keynote speech at that meeting. Jen was the Chairperson of the RDIA and gave the reigns over to Leah Carter who is the woman behind Better for Babies (Little Beetle cloth diapers).
Jen gets loads of credit for helping usher in the modern cloth diaper revolution. Without her Bum Genius 3.0, and now the supremely affordable Econobum line and versatile Flip line, some parents may have never even heard of cloth diapers or attempted them. I began with Bum Genius 3.0′s because of their rave reviews on Diaper Pin. I was able to convince my husband to cloth diaper after showing him the 3.0′s that I purchased in North Carolina. My first brand new cloth diaper purchase; it felt so good and I fondled them forever. I put them on a teddy bear while I anxiously awaited the birth of my son. My point is the Bum Genius is a household name for cloth diapers. Ask any cd’ing mama if they have heard of them and they say yes. You can find them at some Targets even!
In the speech Jen made she notes a few things that could be coming for the industry. First, that disposable diaper companies will be (and obviously already are) taking notice of the cloth diaper industry. This means a few things. One, that they will step up their efforts to slander cloth diapers by releasing either bogus and unverified scientific evidence about the healthiness of their diapers and the harmfulness of cloth. This is evident in the Pampers quotes. Two, that they may even try to fund (and influence) studies to back up these claims. This isn’t unheard of; already there are studies claiming that disposables are no worse or even better than cloth diapers on the environment. This study says the water used to wash diapers and the manufacturing of the diapers is just as bad as throwing THOUSANDS of diapers in the landfill. Third, that if they can’t beat them, they may join them. Meaning, big companies like P&G could begin making their own cloth diapers or buy out an existing smaller cloth diaper company. This one actually scares me the most. I shudder at the thought of a behemoth company making cloth diapers. I love supporting cloth diaper companies because the majority of them are small, family run, companies started by Stay at Home Moms. Even the larger companies like Bum Genius are still run by the orginal creator. Jen’s story is pretty amazing. She started her company from nothing and is now the most recognized cloth diaper brand. No matter what you think about her, her company, or her diaper you have to respect her commitment, business savvy, and ability to start so many families on cloth diapers. We were a Bum Genius family, and still use them as the workhorse of out stash. There are plenty of diapers I like more, and plenty I like less.
What I am trying to convey is that cloth diapers are making a come back. If P&G, a multi-million dollar company, is shaking in their boots about what this means for their profits then we know we are on to something. Getting the message out about our “real” diapers is crucial. The more they slander cloth diapers, the more we have to praise them. Think back to when you began researching cloth diapers. What if you heard that they weren’t really that great for the environment. Would you have believed that? Maybe. Or what if you were told cloth diapers would give your child a cold or impair their ability to learn. A little crazy but you didn’t know any better. Maybe you would have thought twice about cloth diapers. Just maybe, you would have picked up a box of Pampers. We have to spread the message more to combat these falsities and outright lies. If our community bands together and continues converting moms, aiding them in their research, showing off our diapers at play groups, changing our babies in public, putting our babies in baby legs and cute fluff, and evangelizing on Twitter, Facebook, Mommy Forums, and blogs, we can grow our grassroots cloth campaign. We are all onto something great that is bigger than ourselves. I know this sounds overdramatic, but I am extremely proud of our cloth diapering community. We help one another, we care about the earth, our babies, and the futire. We have begun a new era, but we have also come full circle. Our grandmothers didn’t have a choice but we do.
I want to quote Erin Kimmet, creator and President of Thirsties, who said this in a Q&A I had with her (not published yet but I have to share this now. I love it) “I hope that when my kids have kids of their own, and when my grandkids have kids, they will refer to the past 30 years in history as the diaper-dark-ages! And they can brag about how their mom was a part of the diaper revolution!”
UPDATE: Kelly’s Closet has generously offered to send the Flip and Econobum for review. I am very grateful to them for making these reviews happen. I know the videos will help parents who are trying to decide between the two, or who are wondering how the Flip/ Gro Baby systems differ. I am also so happy at the comments I have received to far. Thank you all for helping me decide, and to those of you who emailed or commented that you would allow me to borrow your own diapers for the video. I am really truly beyond amazed at all of your kindness. You all have assured me that keeping the blog going is the right thing to do as well. Though I may sometimes skip a few days, I am still here. But family is first! I can’t wait to bring you these reviews and the other diapers waiting in the wings. Plus, December is going to be amazing. I can’t wait to tell you what is in store. Just think Fluffy Christmas!
I am conflicted about doing a Flip and Econobum review. For those of you who aren’t familiar with the brands, these are new diapering systems from the makers of Bum Genius. The FLIP is a snapping cover with a snap down rise to make it one size, and you can use it with stay dry inserts or organic cotton or disposable inserts. The Econobum is meant as an introductory cloth diaper. It is 9.99 for a plain white snapping cover, and it comes with a one size prefold that is divided is squares to fold different ways for different sizes.
I aim to bring readers video reviews of diapers to help you decide what diapers are best for your family, and to help you compare them to others you may be considering. I have done reviews of diapers I own, and at this point, am usually sent the diapers to review. To bring you as many reviews as possible, I have to do this. Otherwise, I would spend more money than I have buying diapers for reviews.
Bum Genius doesn’t really send diapers out for review at this time. This is fine, not everyone does! But, I know a lot of you are interested in seeing a video of the Flip and Econobum. I was very close to buying them both last night but then I talked myself out of it, for good reason. 40.00 for them all. I am saving my money to buy the longies being knit for my son’s first bday.
If you want to see a video review of the Flip and/or Econobum, keep me in mind while shopping for diapers. If you are shopping at Kelly’s Closet, use my affiliate link. I made a percentage of the sale, which I can turn into diapers to review. Or, if you just happen to own a diaper store that carries these items and you are reading this, consider sponsoring the diapers to be reviewed.
There have been many diapers I have wanted to buy to review, but again, I have to be rational. Do I need more diapers? Absolutely not! Should I be pouring money into this website instead of my son’s birthday? No again. But I would still like to do my reviews!
Day 1 in Vegas has been equally frustrating and awesome. We has a 6 am flight to Chicago. That didn’t go so well. There was so much fog that we couldn’t land and had to circle over lake michigan for over an hour. Missed my connecting and after some sniffles was able to be bumped up on the standby list. Baby and crying mom equal sympathy. We made it to Vegas and my luggage was there! I want to say that Fletcher was amazing. I took a shuttle to the hotel and after a shower and quick lunch we made it to ABC Kids Expo.
After spending 3 hours there I don’t even feel like I scratched the surface.
Now, what you have all been waiting for… What is the Econobum?
Here it is.
Snaps, one size cover that comes with a one size prefold. The prefold is divided in sections, it looks to be 12 squares. This is supposed to aid you in folding it down for smaller sizes. The cover only comes in white.
Price: 9.99 with one prefold and one cover. For less than 150 you can get enough of these to create a whole stash. They are made in Egypt.
What else did BG have up their sleeve?
Their second new item…
Flip!
Flip is a multi purpose system. It is the same sizing as their other diapers, and it functions like an all in two. You can use it with one size micro fiber inserts that have a stay dry top layer. You can also use it with an organic cotton insert. And they also have a disposable insert you can purchase seperately. This cover comes in zinnia, moonbeam, and ribbit signature BG colors.
Cottonbabies has already put these items on their webpage so give it a look. I will tell you more about what I think of them soon. You will be able to buy them through CB late October. Retailers may not get the Flip until January.
I am also really excited about the new Beco carrier which will allow babies to face forward. They have some really good ideas on how to keep the baby and parent comfortable while holding your baby. Plus, their prints are fab!
Beco Gemini front facing and more
The biggest highlight of the show so far was actually a new product by Kissaluvs. It won’t be out for a few months but I will ne reviewing it is the near future. I am really, really impressed with this diaper. When you finally get to see it you will say, “why didn’t I think of that?”
Many of you have already experienced a washing session, but if you haven’t, you will likely do so today. I am so amazed and humbled and in awe of the blog posts, tweets, notes, and forum threads regarding the Challenge. Some of you are going above and beyond the rules. Others are finding new and exciting ways to fold, wash, or cover your flats. I’m going to be posting links to some of these awesome finds this week, but I want to wait since I know there will be more to come! Today is a short post but I’ve got another Vlog for you and some pictures!
