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Better4Baby: What kind of one-size diapers should I get?

Better4Baby: What kind of one-size diapers should I get?: "I see this question a lot so I’m thought I would throw my two cents into the mix. What kind of one-size diapers should I get? What are the ..."

What kind of one-size diapers should I get?

I see this question a lot so I’m thought I would throw my two cents into the mix.

What kind of one-size diapers should I get? 

What are the kinds of one size diapers systems are you considering using. 

There are four main types: 

Snap down rise adjustment: 

By far these seem to be the most popular kind on the market.  Most brands of these claim to fit 12 pounds and up.  And therefore will not fit most newborns.  I found my skinny legged 10 month old (he was that old when I started my cloth diapering journey) did not fit well in snap down rises. He seemed to change sizes from week to week (both bigger and smaller size changes) and leak if I didn’t catch the size change.  Often this would happen to my husband who did not really understand how the snaps worked for the most part. 

Button hole elastic adjustment (in the legs and sometimes waist as well): 

These have quite a bit of adjustability to them, and can often fit a newborn all the way to potty training.  I’ve tried one button hole adjustment system and I am currently working out the best way for these to fit on my now 22 month old.  I must admit I do not love the way they are fitting on him but they do not leak it is more of an aesthetic thing for me.  I just dislike the way they look in the front on him.  But I believe this is very much because of him being a skinny boy. But I have contacted the maker and she has offered to give me some tips and I am holding judgment until I see if it will make difference.

Elastic/rope toggle adjustment (in the legs): 

These, to me have the most adjustability.  Most of these systems will fit a newborn, right up to until potty training.  I tend to use these more often out of all my other diapers. But my current favorite brand does not often come in snaps. So I converted mine as my baby, ok toddler, likes to take his diaper off and the snaps prevent him from doing this (for now). 

Fold down rise adjustment (with or without snaps): 

These can be very similar to the snap down rise but differ in that they are folded down at the top rather than snap down rises that fold down under the Velcro/Aplix or snaps used to close the diaper.  These are also very versatile and some brands do clam to fit newborns but may be very bulky for quite a while. This I have not used in a small form when I received the ones I have my baby already fit into the largest setting so I don’t have any real personal experience with them. 

So if you have a new born or a small baby keep in mind some one-size styles won't fit for a while. You may want to buy a few size small or x small to use before you will be able to use your one size diapers.  But for larger babies, 3 months and up, most one-size diapers will fit great.

Sized diapers also have a place as well.  I have 4 large all in ones I use with a hemp doubler for overnights.  And I’d love to have small and extra small diapers for my next newborn.   But I see most sized diapers as a waste of money.  Why should I have to buy a new size every time my baby grows a bit? 

Better4Baby: Nursing in public: Why I don't cover up.

Better4Baby: Nursing in public: Why I don't cover up.: "I've been asked many times by non breastfeeding friends what they should do when they see me nursing my little one. 'Where should I look? ..."

Nursing in public: Why I don't cover up.

I've been asked many times by non breastfeeding friends what they should do when they see me nursing my little one.  "Where should I look?  Why don't you put a cover on? Why not go into another room?"

My reasons are personal ones and it may be different for other people but for me at least, my answers to the previous questions are this:

Where should I look? 

At me, the baby, or where ever you are comfortable looking.  As long as you are not trying to stare down at my breasts, we'll be fine. 

Why don't you put a cover on?

Because my baby never liked it when I tried to use one, when he was a newborn he would cry and scream when he was covered or in the dark.  We literally had to sleep with the lights on for the first few weeks of his life or there would be no sleeping.  So a cover was abandoned quite quickly as he would not nurse as soon as I put it on he would let go and cry.  When he got older he just threw it off anyway so what's the point then?

If you use a cover that's great for you but not everyone can or wants to.  After all it is another thing we have to keep in that already overflowing diaper bag.  LOL

Why not go into another room?  (Notice I didn't say bathroom, my friends know that would be gross to ask anyone to eat in there, including babies.)

I am not trying to make you uncomfortable.  I just need to feed my baby and I don't want to have to leave what we're doing or our conversation to go be board for 15 to 20 min.  By the time I get back I will have likely forgot what I was doing or saying.  So why not do it now and get it done. 

What I use to Cloth Diaper

I did not spend a lot of money on my cloth diaper stash.  I wish I could, mind you, but I did not.  When I was pregnant my mom bought me a name brand set of prefolds at a nationwide chain store.  Research about these told me they were nearly useless when it came to absorbing anything (especially pee).  Plus at that time I knew nothing about prepping diapers.

When I begin to research cloth diapers more I read on one of the forums I was in, that you could use old receiving blankets as flats.  Well I had a ton of these and being as broke as I was I researched this option more.  It turned out that any mostly cotton blanket could be folded and made into a flat diaper.  But these need covers.  And I was not about to buy any rubber pants. 

A friend of mine told me she used to cloth diaper her son and still had everything but there was mostly only newborn sizes.  She looked through her stuff and found she had a medium cover and lent it to me to use along with 2 one size pockets.  So I started looking at folding styles.  Found one that worked for me and went full speed ahead. 

Along the way I have picked up 4 all in ones (great for daddy or baby sitters), 2 fitteds, 2 of my own covers (friend has hers back now), a few hemp doublers and am always searching thrift stores for cheap receiving blankets (50 cents or less). 

Why did I stick with the blankets?  Because used ones are cheap and they have cutes prints unlike the birds eye cotton flats I’ve seen. 

Better4Baby: We're going Live!

Better4Baby: We're going Live!: "We are very excited to announce that Better4Baby.com went live today! Please send a link to your friends and family and remember we will be..."

We're going Live!

We are very excited to announce that Better4Baby.com went live today!

Please send a link to your friends and family and remember we will be giving away a special gift to one of our users one we reach 100 active users on our forum! As always we appreciate your support.

The Better4Baby.com store is currently in the process of product selection. We appreciate your patience on this matter and of course we will let you know when the store is active and ready for business.

Thank you all once again for your support!

Breastfeeding and choices before going to formula

Most people can breastfeed and we here at Better4Baby think that’s wonderful.  :D  But there are a few people who can not for one reason or another and most skip straight to formula. I want to tell you about some choices you can consider before making that bottle of formula.

First and foremost Breastfeeding from ones’ own breast is best.  But if that’s not possible because of latch or other similar issues, seek help for this; most of these problems can be corrected.  Contact the La Leache League and Lactation consultants they started doing this kind of thing to help people just like you.  Even if your milk has dried up you can try to relactate.

 Pumped milk from the mother is your second choice.  Pumping is hard work but is worth it to most moms who are dedicated to doing it.

Milk from another nursing mother directly from the breast is third.  If you have a friend or person you trust that can do this it is a wonderfully helpful thing for your baby.

Fourth milk pumped from another mother.  There are places to find people who will do this for you.  Milkshare and Eats on Feets (recently renamed Human Milk 4 Human Babies) is two great organizations dedicated to helping moms feed breast milk to their babies.

Fifth milk banks sell breast milk to mothers and hospitals that can not get breastfeeding to work or get breast milk any other way.

So I encourage you to consider these options before going straight to formula.

Better4Baby: On Babywearing

Better4Baby: On Babywearing: "Some people hate that term others don’t care what it’s called. I am in the “I don’t care call it what ever you want” camp. And w..."

On Babywearing

Some people hate that term others don’t care what it’s called.  I am in the “I don’t care call it what ever you want” camp.  And while I am not a hard core baby wearer who would never be caught dead pushing a stroller but I see some great advantages to using these carriers.

I own a SSC (Soft Structured Carrier); Mia Thai, an ABC (Asian Baby Carrier); a wrap and two different types of slings (a ring sling and a pouch sling).  My favorite is my SSC, but when my little one was a new born I loved my wrap.  As he got bigger my preexisting shoulder pain became a problem and that’s why the SSC is now my favorite.  If not for that I would have stayed with the wrap forever, I’m sure.  :) 

Strollers have great features now a days, cup holders, snap and go car seat adapters, storage baskets, places for a second child to stand or sit, and I love my stroller for days when I need a place for all my stuff.  LOL Sometimes it’s great to walk though the mall with my drink in the cup holder my sons drink in his cup holder my diaper bag hanging off the side of the stroller and my purchases stuffed under.  But some places I love my carrier are:

A crowded theme park.  I have done both a stroller and a carrier.  In a stroller my son would get fussy around nap time and want to be held and nursed.  Nothings wrong with that but it’s hard to find a great place to stop when you’re in a crowd.  Not to mention trying to maneuver the thing around people who can see you and don’t care enough to let you by.  In my carrier he wants to nurse too when he gets tired and I had no trouble at all moving around to find a place to sit down and nurse.  Often times if my son is in his carrier he doesn’t even need to nurse to get to sleep and will just fall asleep on my back and when he wakes up is ready to nurse. 

At the aquarium one time, I brought my pouch sling and my stroller.  I started with him in the stroller and he was not interested in any of the exhibits, even though he had been before with daddy (and no stroller) and loved them.  Once I put him in the sling he became very animated and was pointing and “talking” about everything, I realized something then.  The stroller made him lower and he couldn’t see as well as when he had been up in daddy’s arms.  Once he was up a nearly my eye level he could see. 

Nature preserves.   Unless you have a heavy duty big wheeled stroller the dirt and/or uneven paths are going to be tricky to navigate.  Same goes for hiking on or off trails.

When walking the dogs. Have you ever tried to hold two leashes and a baby stroller at the same time?  Not fun.  And if you get a hook and hook the leashes on the stroller like I did, I had a hard time keeping the stroller going straight (because the dogs are always going in a different direction) and also keeping the stroller from bumping into the dogs.  

At the mall.  Yeah I know I said I like the stroller at the mall but I like the carrier at the mall too.  :)  When I’m not planning on buying much and when I do plan to let the little man play in the play area I love my carrier.  I don’t have to worry about finding an elevator to go to the other floors, and I don’t have to worry about leaving my stroller outside the play area to be messed with or stolen.  And if it’s crowded it’s much easier to get around with out the stroller.

There are many other times and places I prefer my carrier to my stroller, but now I want to hear form you.  Where are your favorite places to use your carrier?

Better4Baby: First Give Away

Better4Baby: First Give Away: "We will be randomly giving away a special surprise when we reach 100 active users on our forum. To be entered all you have to do is like us..."

First Give Away

We will be randomly giving away a special surprise when we reach 100 active users on our forum. To be entered all you have to do is like us on Facebook (Here) and then sign up for our forum (Here) and then use it. :D It's that simple.

Why Cloth Diaper?

I think everyone who has ever noticed someone else using cloth diapers wants to know WHY? What would make them want to keep the poopy diapers and wash them YUCK! I can’t lie I was there. I could not stand the thought of having to wash poop. And then I learned that some people stand over the toilet and scrape the poop off with a spatula? WHY would any one want to do this to them selves? After all disposables aren’t that bad are they? That is actually a good debate, between some different view points. One side says that using cloth diapers use too much energy to wash them and hence make a significant environmental impact that you where trying to make up for buy using cloth diapers. The other side says that there is no way enough energy put into washing them that can over come the environmental impact of throwing disposables away, even if you do scrape out the poop first, (Did you know that it says on all disposable diaper packages you must scrap out the poop before throwing away? It does. Go check yours, I’ll wait. See it’s there, in small print but there). If you don’t scrape the poop out you are throwing a biohazard martial away and that’s illegal in most places if not all. But the environment is not why I started doing it.

Of course there are the nasty chemicals in disposables. There are lots of places that tell you what they are like this one and this one but I’m not going to repeat what they already say so well. But you can use the non-chemical or non-gel ones out there. There are diapers like this and they are sold on the internet and health food stores and are easy to get. More expensive maybe but if you can get them great. But the chemicals in disposables are not what made me want to cloth diaper either.

Cloth diapers are cheaper in the long run. Sure in the first few months of cloth diapering it can cost a pretty penny but after you have bought all the diapers you need (I said need, not want) you don’t have to buy any more hopefully ever. There are cheep options; I certainly have not spent much on my stash. And I have what I need. But low cost didn’t sell me on them either.

Cute OMG there are some very cute ones out there. I want a girl to put some of those cutie ruffle butt ones on and there are some awesome prints and things for boy now too. But also not what made me do it.

So what was it you ask? What made me want to wash poop? Peer presser. OK not really but I do have a lot of friends that are using them and watching them do it, made me realize it might not be as bad as I thought. Then reading around on the internet made it really look easy. I joined a few forums and read them asked some questions. Then I made a decision. I would try it after all I already used cloth feminine pads. Hip Green Baby has a trial package to order for a very reasonable price to see what brands you like. Well I talked to my hubby and we decided we would get this trial and try for one week and see what happened. That week turned me from maybe interested in cloth diapers to committed full time cloth diaperer. I put them on our baby and he loved the soft feel, you could tell because he eyes lit up when I put the first one on him. He could tell the difference (almost anyone can feel the difference between paper and cloth) and it felt good to him. His poop did not fall into the toilet as easy as some moms I read said it would. But after a couple of shakes most of it fell in. And the rest the washer washes out with no problem. When I discovered flushable liners, any shaking or swishing I did before was over. Pull out the liner and drop it into the toilet and flush gone.

So that’s it that’s why I did it. I tried it and fell in love. Maybe you will to. After all as parents aren’t we always going to be telling our kids “How do you know if you don’t like it if you haven’t tried it?”