Fluff Mom Mondays

Tell us about yourself! What is your name? How many little ones do you have? How long have you used cloth diapers?

I'm Justine mommy to two little munchkins, Seamus who is 3½ years old and Kieran who is 9months old. I've used cloth diapers for just over 5months now. I also have a blog where I talk about my life and sometimes have some reviews and giveaways (family/children products) http://sliversun.blogspot.com/

What made you decide to use cloth diapers?

I wanted to use cloth with my son but it just wouldn't work back then, we lived in a tiny apartment with coin-op laundry and the machines hardly ever worked. I had the chance again

to try cloth with my daughter, but it took some persuading to get my husband to agree to it. I wanted to cloth diaper her from the get go but dear ole hubby said no, that was until his hours at work got cut so badly that we couldn't afford disposables.

What was the first cloth diaper you bought?

Our first diapers were 2 prefolds that I made out of old t-shirts, then we got some Gerber prefolds and lucked out and found a Bummis cover at a consignment shop in town. I was then blessed by a couple ladies that I'd met off of a mommy site, one of them sent me an awesome Thirsties Duo cover and the other sent me a box full of fitteds and pockets. I've since found a love for pocket diapers and those are the ones I stay on the look out for.
I've also noticed how much garbage we were going through while in disposables and am so happy to not be putting more into our landfills

Tell us about your cloth diaper stash (numbers, sizes, types, brands, etc.):

I have mostly pockets, some fitteds, and some prefolds. I'm trying to ween the fitteds out because right now I'm just not feeling the snappi love and only 2 or 3 of my fitteds have snaps on them. I love my pockets, I have a variety of brands, some WAHM ones, and some of the bigger known ones. I have about 17 pockets, 2 FuzziBunz(one OS and one Medium), 1 BG 3.0, 1 Whamies, 1 BumJoy, 4 Cooshie Toosh(I believe lol), 4 Kawaii Baby (though only 2 are usable right now, bad elastic), 2 Nubunz, 2 that I made out of fleece and flannel, and some other unknown WAHM ones. I have my 12 original Gerber prefolds that I've dyed and some I've added flannel to, to make them work a little better and I also have 6 Bummis Organic Cotton prefolds, and 6 newborn Indian prefolds.

What is your favorite cloth diaper? Why?

I love pockets, they are easy for me to do, and they are more trim fitting then my fitteds. I love that I can make them more absorbent at naps and night by adding to them, and thinner during the day. I really like my Whamies OS, BGOS and FuzziBunz OS. The FB OS did take a little for me to love it cause I couldn't get it to fit her right but after a couple days I figured it out and now love it.

Tell us about your wash routine

I first run a cold rinse cycle, then I add a tiny squirt of Dawn, some baking soda and then some Rockin Green, I wash on Hot and 2 rinses, sometimes I will run another hot wash and 2 more rinses if I have time.

Have your friends and family been supportive of your decision?

They thought it was weird at first, but now my sister in law wants to CD her future children. My mom didn't think it was too weird because she clothed me for a little as a baby, she was just amazed by how much they've changed. And my brother...he calles me a hippie (lol)

Any challenges with using cloth diapers? What did you do about it?

We are battling stink right now, and I'm still trying to fix it, I need to try the vinegar route to see if that will help. I also wanted to use cloth wipes and it took hubby 3months or so after we started cloth diapering to let us fully switch to cloth wipes for her, it took a bad diaper rash and her screaming from disposable wipes for him to agree to the switch.

Your best piece of advice for someone new to cloth diapering

Try different kinds, what works for one person may not work for another

Your favorite scripture, quote, or anything else that you'd like to add?

Some days it can be frustrating/annoying to wash diapers but in the long run its saving money and our earth.

Flower Duet Giveaway

I don't know about you, but I LOVE fresh flowers! They brighten my day, so my husband will occasionally surprise me with a bouquet. I have no talent at arranging them, however. I usually just stick them in a vase and fluff them up a little bit, so when Casey (of Bummas Wipes!) sent me a copy of the floral arranging DVD that she made with her sister, I was excited!

I immediately popped the DVD in and learned their techniques. They are so easy to follow, which is great for a beginner, such as myself. They walk you through some of the basics, like chosing the best flowers and how to optimize freshness. They show you actual flowers, which really helps you see how to pick them out. FlowerDuet then goes on to show you how to create variations of the European Wrap or Hand-Tied Bouquet. After watching the video, I'm sure that I will be able to create a beautiful bouquet the next time my husband surprises me. You can check out a preview of the DVD by watching their youtube video.

{Buy it}

You can order a copy of the FlowerDuet DVD on their website.

{Win it}

One lucky reader will win a free copy!

Mandatory Entry (this entry is required and must be completed before other entries will count): Tell me your favorite type of flower, or tell me the mix of flowers you would chose for the perfect bouquet.

Extra Entries:

- Follow my blog using Google Friend Connect

- Follow me on twitter @FamilyofCloth AND tweet about this giveaway. You may tweet once daily. Be sure to leave to permalink of your tweet!

- Subscribe to my blog via email or with a reader

- Grab my button and put it on your blog. Just leave me the address of where you put it!

- Enter my Baby's First Phone Call giveaway

- Enter my Bummas Wipes Giveaway

- Comment on any one of my non-giveaway posts.

- Vote for me as a top mommy blogger by clicking on the box

This giveaway is open to all readers worldwide and will end 2/2 at 8 p.m. CST. Winner will be chosen via random.org, and will have 48 hours to respond to a notification email, or a new winner will be chosen. FOTC received a DVD for review purposes. No compensation was given for this post.The opinions expressed in this review are my own.

Bummas Wipes Review and Giveaway

I have a confession to make. I don't use cloth wipes.

I tried them once, early on, but they were single-ply flannel wipes, that smelled like wet paper when I put them into the wipe warmer. They didn't clean well, and they were a pain to use. I quickly abandoned the idea of using cloth wipes, and happily went back to the disposables. After using them exclusively for 10 months, there came a change in my son's poop that had me re-evaluating that decision. We were blowing threw disposable wipes at a high rate of speed, which seemed so wasteful. I also started to do a little bit more research into how disposable wipes are made. Just like with disposable diapers, the disposable wipes are made with plastic materials along with alcohol, perfume, chlorine,and dioxins (all nasty stuff that I don't want anywhere near my son). I hit the internet searching for a better option.

Bummas wipes are small soft, luxurious baby-sized cloths made especially for drying baby's bottoms (helping to keep diaper rash away), but they also have a variety of other uses (I love when one thing has multiple uses!) They can be wetted to replace wet wipes, or you can use them dry to block surprise squirts (especially from the boys), or anything else you can come up with. They are small enough to be used on the go, but big enough to wipe up large messes. They are soft and gentle on baby's skin, but they are strong enough so that you can use them over and over again without them pilling, shrinking, or fading.

I was excited when Bummas sent me one of the Wild Ones bunches to try out, although when it came time to give up my disposable wipes, I hesitated. In fact, I let myself run out of the disposable wipes before I even opened up the Bummas package. I created my own wipes solution and soaked all of the wipes, rolled them up, and put them into my wipe warmer. They are the perfect size, because they fit into the warmer without having to be folded, saving me a step! Check it out!

So how did they work?

I'm in love with my new wipes! I can't believe I let myself go this long before using them. They are so convenient. I just grab a roll out of my warmer and wipe up my son. And I love the fact that it only takes 1-2 cloth wipes, instead of the 8-10 disposable ones. They fit perfectly into my warmer without having to fold.

{ Buy it! }

Bummas wipes are $16.99 and are available for purchase on their website.

{ Win it! }

Bummas is giving one of my readers the chance to win a set of wipes! To enter, simply visit Bummas.com, take a look at all the color sets that are available, then come back here and let me know which one you would choose if you won.

For additional entries, you can do any of the following (be sure to leave a separate entry for each thing that you do):

- Follow my blog using Google Friend Connect

- Follow me on twitter @FamilyofCloth AND tweet about this giveaway. You may tweet once daily. Be sure to leave to permalink of your tweet!

- Subscribe to my blog via email or with a reader

- Grab my button and put it on your blog. Just leave me the address of where you put it!

- Enter my Baby's First Phone Call giveaway

- Enter my FlowerDuet Giveaway

- Comment on any one of my non-giveaway posts.

- Vote for me as a top mommy blogger by clicking on the box

This giveaway is open to all readers worldwide and will end 2/2 at 8 p.m. CST. Winner will be chosen via random.org, and will have 48 hours to respond to a notification email, or a new winner will be chosen. FOTC received a set of Bummas wipes for review purposes. No compensation was given for this post. The opinions expressed in this review are my own.

Fluff Mom Mondays

Tell us about yourself! What is your name? How many little ones do you have?

I'm Janet. I'm a full-time WOHM, working as an engineer in the auto industry, married for almost 10 years to Barry. I have one son, Alex, who is 19 months old. Alex was a preemie, born at 27 weeks, 1 lb 7 oz, and has a lot of breathing issues; he came home on a ventilator but is now only on it when he's not feeling well. We're hoping to be rid of all the tubes in the next year and a half or less.

Alex at 2 days old

How long have you used cloth diapers?
Alex's premature birth complicated our cloth diapering journey. We had a whole stash ready for Alex's eventual homecoming, and a daycare lined up that would take cloth (yay!). He outgrew the first stash before he made it out of the NICU at 9 ½ months old, so I got to buy a whole new stash all over again (which was a lot of fun, in all honesty), and his medical needs have made daycare an impossibility for the time being.

So, in total, we've been cloth diapering for about 10 months. I realized recently that the smell I most associate with hospitals is the smell of disposable diapers, so I think if we have another child, we'll be cloth diapering from the very beginning.

Over at http://ourlittleacorn.blogspot.com you can read about things going on with us – diapers, special needs, parenting, and whatever else strikes my fancy.

Alex at 2 months and about 3 lbs

What made you decide to use cloth diapers?
We had always planned to use cloth diapers. I remembered using cloth diapers with my younger brothers, and then I found out there were such easy versions available now. We try to be environmentally friendly, and I had a lot of heartburn about how much trash disposable diapers would cause.

When I realized how much less expensive used diapers could be, or even that I could win diapers for free in various contests, the challenge of finding what we needed became a nice entertainment break from the NICU.

Furthermore, we had a horrible time with diaper rash in the NICU. It was apparent to us that Alex's skin needed more air, and that he needed to be changed more frequently, and disposables encouraged some of his caregivers to leave changes indefinitely rather than staying on top of it.

pic of Alex w/ Pocket diaper

What was the first cloth diaper you bought?
Our first purchase was infant prefolds, quickly followed by more prefolds, covers, some Happy Heineys, and two lovely Minkee Pockets that I can't remember the brand name of.

Alex's first day at home, 9 ½ months

Tell us about your cloth diaper stash (numbers, sizes, types, brands, etc.):

Out of rotation:
a dozen or so small AIOs and pockets (mostly no-name; one BG 2.0, one of the minkee ones, I think 2 Happy Heineys)
2 dozen infant prefolds
2 dozen more infant prefolds dyed in various solids and tie-dyed, and 3
preemie prefolds, all of which are in use as burp cloths
2 or 3 small fitteds
a half dozen small and extra small covers.

There's also a handful of medium covers out of rotation. Most of these were bought used, but a couple were bought new with baby shower money when we thought Alex was coming home at 4 months old.

Current rotation:
7 covers - Out of that, one is heading towards worn-beyond-usability, and 2 more are going to be outgrown soon. Almost all of these were new.
3 dozen flats. All bought second hand, though 2 dozen were still new in package. We've mostly only used these when we took a long trip out of town recently.
26 premium prefolds (some dyed, some bleached). All bought used.
18 Imse Vimse contours - 3 new, the rest bought well used. Many of the used have holes, and ought to be patched. These are a really great "one size" diaper solution for our nurses who aren't so used to figuring out cloth diapers, since all they need is a snug cover
8 WonderWorks pockets - bought used, not our favorites. 2 more of these have serious leak issues and are out of rotation.
1 AI2 - It's cute, green, and embroidered, but I can't remember the name
off hand. I won this one.
1 Smartipants pocket - I love this diaper, and the snaps - I won this as
well.
16 BG3 - a white one that I won, the rest were bought barely used, in
yellow, orange, and 2 shades of green.

Addtionally, we've got several snappis (most bought used), a half dozen pins (which we only started using now that we've got flats), 3 hanging wet pails (2 of which get used as pail liners, one of which I won; the other hangs in the laundry room for any diaper changes that happen downstairs), and numerous smaller wet bags (almost all of them purchased new - we use them to segregate things in the massive diaper bag/emergency medical kit). We use cloth wipes too, most of which I made in a frenzy one weekend – they're either flannel/flannel or flannel/fleece.

I'm still shocked when I write this all out, because I never intended to have more than a couple dozen diapers total. But…it works for us. It gives a little flexibility on when laundry has to get done (and extras for days where things get puked on), and to do whatever works best for the day's plans.

Alex in July w/ diaper cover

What is your favorite cloth diaper? Why?
Our go-to diapering solution is prefolds and covers. We have 6 nurses who take care of Alex throughout the week, and most of them manage just fine; prefolds are more forgiving of diaper creams and such, and convincing some nurses that Alex doesn't need to be plastered in cream has been a challenge. They also seem more forgiving of washing routines. Our favorite covers are the new Thirsties Duos.

Alex w/ original Thirsties cover

Our out-and-about choice is pockets – mostly one-size BG 3.0s (largely because I caught a good deal on gently used ones locally), but my personal favorite is our one and only SmartiPants diaper – it fits perfectly, never leaks, and I love the snaps.

Tell us about your wash routine

Except in very unusual circumstances, we wash diapers every other day.

We do a double (cold) rinse. Then we wash on hot with about a half cup of a mixture of equal parts regular Tide, Oxy-clean, and baking soda, and a cup of white vinegar in the softener dispenser. We finish with another double rinse on cold.

We're in Michigan, so much of the year, line drying is out of the question. Even during the summer, we were often bringing still-damp diapers in off the line at dusk and throwing them in the dryer.

Alex, after a bath – see the bag of diapers in the corner?

Have your friends and family been supportive of your decision to use cloth?

Mostly. Our family members are somewhat hands-off because of Alex's medical issues, but both my husband and I were cloth diapered, so it's not a huge deal either way. Our friends think it's funny that we're being so "trendy" but agree with the idea of less waste. A lot of people generally think we're crazy for using cloth diapers with a special needs child, because it's "just so much more work" but really, we find it's not – washing diapers is easier than running to the store for another package of disposables.

Any challenges with using cloth diapers? What did you do about it?
We've had some leaky diapers, and we've given up and taken them out of rotation. In this case, reviews when I bought them were great, but I'm finding more and more bad reviews on that particular brand after it changed ownership.

Our biggest challenge has been convincing nurses that putting a microfiber insert from a pocket diaper into a contour or prefold as a doubler is not good for Alex's skin. I try not to be too picky about how his clothes get put away, since the nurses often fold and put away his diapers and other clothes for us, but this is one thing that drives me nuts. We've got multiple signs up in the room, and we've talked with each of them, but sometimes it slips through the cracks.

Alex all dressed up for a New Year's wedding

Your best piece of advice for someone new to cloth diapering
Don't go out and buy "a whole stash" of just one type of diaper. Buy a few of several different things, because no matter what your friend/sister/neighbor says, what works on their child may not work on yours, or it may not work for you at a certain point - either in terms of fit, or in terms of function, or in terms of your daily routine.

Also, don't assume some particular type of diaper is too hard or too easy just because everyone else says so. We love our flats, and would put them back into regular rotation if we were convinced the nurses could figure out how to actually attach them to Alex successfully :)

Your favorite scripture, quote, or anything else that you'd like to add?

One of my new favorite quotes is, "I've met the villagers, and I don't want them raising my child." We try to be mindful of the influences in Alex's life, and try to ensure that we surround him with people who care about him and are interested in helping him grow up to be a caring, thoughtful, independent, and responsible adult. We are thankful every day for the blessing of his life, and that it appears at this time that he will outgrow all of the medical issues he faces.

Fluff Mom Monday

Tell us about yourself! What is your name? How many little ones do you have? How long have you used cloth diapers?

My name is Heather Boger. I have a 17 month old daughter. I own www.greenbabygreenmama.com, an organic baby boutique.

What made you decide to use cloth diapers?

The disposable diaper statistics! How many tons of garbage are created with each baby in disposables??

What was the first cloth diaper you bought?

The first cloth diaper I ever bought is not sold at Green Baby Green Mama because it didn’t live up to my standards for durability!

Tell us about your cloth diaper stash (numbers, sizes, types, brands, etc.):

My diaper stash includes Drybees, Fuzzibunz, and Thirsties.

What is your favorite cloth diaper? Why?

My favorites depend on what I’m doing. At home I like fitteds, overnight I like pockets, and on outings I use all in ones.

Tell us about your wash routine

Cold rinse, hot wash, cold rinse. So easy.

Have your friends and family been supportive of your decision to use cloth?

Not at first! But my once skeptical Mother can’t stop raving about cloth diapers now!

Any challenges with using cloth diapers? What did you do about it?

At first I didn’t realize that you need to give them a really thorough clean once a month. To do this I just run a cold rinse, then a hot wash with detergent, then repeat hot washes with no detergent until you see no bubbles. It’s easier than it sounds!

Your best piece of advice for someone new to cloth diapering

The more diapers you have, the easier it is to cloth diaper!

Your favorite scripture, quote, or anything else that you'd like to add:

Stick to it! It’s so rewarding to know that you are doing something so beneficial for your child and the environment.

Baby's First Phone Call

The last thing I wanted to do after the birth of my son was to make a ton of phone calls to let people know all the details. I wanted to spend those first few hours bonding as a family, not on the phone. I had also been in labor all day, and I was recovering from an unplanned c-section. Most of our friends and relatives learned about The Boy's birth through word of mouth the next day.

I recently became aware of a new service called Baby's First Phone Call, which is an automated call tree that allows new parents to notify friends and family of the arrival of their bundle of joy without the hassle of making dozens of individual phone calls. What a great service, and something I wish I had known about back then!

Baby's First Phone Call makes it incredibly easy on a new parent. All you have to do is set up an account before the baby is born, and enter the names and phone numbers of all the people that you would like to notify when the baby is born. Once your baby is here, you only have to make one phone call where you will leave a personal voice-mail message. This is a great way to share the details of the birth, such as weight, length, hospital room number, or whether or not you would like visitors. The service then calls each number that you submitted, and plays your personal greeting. Callers also have the option of leaving a return message that can be heard by the new parents at their convenience. It's that easy! Baby's First Phone Call offers a variety of packages to suit your specific needs.

Buy It!

Baby's First Phone Call offers a variety of call packages to suit your specific needs. Visit their packages page to learn more!

Win It!

Baby's First Phone Call is generously offering 2 of my readers the opportunity to win a $50 gift certificate! Want a chance to win? All you have to do is visit Baby's First Phone Call's Call Packages Page and let me know what size package you think you would need. This entry is mandatory, and must be completed before additional entries count.

For additional entries, you can do any of the following (please leave a comment for each thing you do):

- Follow my blog publicly

- Subscribe to my blog via email or with a reader

- Follow me on twitter

- Enter my Bummas wipes giveaway

- Enter my FlowerDuet giveaway

- Tweet this giveaway with the following message: "Win a $50 gift certificate to Baby's First Phone Call from @FamilyofCloth http://tinyurl.com/yalgjnc #giveaway" You may tweet once daily.

Contest is open to US residents. Giveaway ends 1/29 at 8 Central Standard Time. Winner will be chosen via random.org, and will have 48 hours to respond to the notification e-mail, or a new winner will be chosen. Family of the Cloth did not receive monetary compensation for this post. All opinions expressed in this post are mine.

I Hate Cancer

I hate cancer.

My family and friends have had their fair share of cancer, and I absolutely hate it. If you get a chance, please pray for my sweet friend, Lindsey. She was recently diagnosed with breast cancer. For the 2nd time. She is an amazing woman, with an incredible faith. She just underwent surgery where they found 13 of 16 lymph nodes with cancer. Her tumor was recently sent off to be studied and researched so that the best treatment plan can be developed. If you could specifically pray for this perfect treatment.

Please also pray Psalm 30:2 over her. "O LORD my God, I called to you for help and you healed me."

W.o.G. Wednesday

"The Lord makes me very happy; all that I am rejoices in my God. He has covered me with clothes of salvation and wrapped me with a coat of goodness, like a bridegroom dressed for his wedding, like a bride dressed in jewels."

- Isaiah 61:10 (New Century translation)

For my first W.o.G. post, I'm happy to share one of my favorite verses. I found this verse last year during one of my quiet times, and it jumped out at me. It's not always easy to maintain a positive attitude, especially with all of the demands of day-to-day life, but I am always be happy in the Lord. I can always rejoice in Him. He loves me so much that He has given me salvation and "wrapped me with a coat of goodness." What an awesome image of God's love for us.

Holiday Hiatus

Happy New Year (a week late)!

I don't know about you, but I'm always excited about beginning a new year! It's always fun to start fresh. This year was filled with so many blessings (including the birth of our first child and moving into a "new to us" home). I took a small blogging break over the holidays (with the exception of the Fluff Mom Mondays series) so that I could focus on my family during our first Christmas season as a family of three. Now that the holidays are over, I'm ready to get back into the blogging groove. I have several new and exciting reviews and giveaways scheduled to begin soon, so be sure to be on the lookout for those. I'm also excited to bring you a new series on Wednesdays, called "Word of God Wednesday" (an idea I borrowed, with permission, from Monkeys on the Bed). I'm not big on New Years resolutions, but one of my goals this year is to spend more time growing in a closer relationship to my Lord and Savior. In order to help hold myself accountable, I plan to use these W.o.G. posts to share any scriptures or insights I may have come across for that particular week. I pray that these posts also inspire you in your own walk.

As the new year starts, I'm also committing myself to continue making "greener" choices for myself and my family. With all of the toxins that we're exposed to on a daily basis, I want to make good decisions about foods and products that I bring into my home. I'm starting small, with mini goals such as using reusable shopping bags (I'm forever forgetting them in the car), setting up recycling bins in the home, and replacing "disposable" items with reusable ones (such as napkins and paper towels). I already buy organic when I can, but I'm also going to commit to utilizing the local farmer's market when it begins in the spring. I also hope to bring reviews and giveaways of great "green" products.

I'm excited by all that God has in store for us this year!

Fluff Mom Monday

Tell us about yourself! What is your name? How many little ones do you have? How long have you used cloth diapers?

Hey! I'm Margaret, a cloth diapering, breastfeeding, babywearing, SAHMama to a little 5 month old AppleBlossom and married to a fabulous Enginerd. We have been using cloth diapers since we came home from the hospital at birth and then got out of the bilibed. You can find me over at my

Creative Madness that Makes me Myself where I share my latest quilting activity and reviews of books, baby products (including cloth diapers), and anything else that finds my fancy.

What made you decide to use cloth diapers?

My sister is a homeschooling, navy wife, SAHM to five and she cloth diapers and so when I was expecting my AppleBlossom it was not even a second thought that when I decided to CD.

What was the first cloth diaper you bought?

The first cloth diapers that I acquired was the infant sized Bummis Organic Cloth Diaper kit that includes Bummis Organic prefolds, a few covers, fleece liners, a wet bag, and flushable liners.

Tell us about your cloth diaper stash (numbers, sizes, types, brands, etc.):

After the Bummis kit, I got some Kissluvs fitted diapers (and this combination still seems to be my favorite). Then I was onto BumGenius Organic OS AIOs because they were such a great sale in getting rid of the velcro ones over the snaps. And then... more and more. To this day, my stash consists of 6 tiny g's (prototype gDiapers), 6 small gDiapers in one each of got chocolate brown, golly molly pink, gEarth, grasshopper green, go fish blue, ga ga pink, and 2 orange, 2 vanilla, and 12 gLiners - we use these with the gInserts that we toss although I would love to try the gCloth some day. Then also I have: One Bambino Mio nappy and cover in newborn dots, small white and medium dots, a single Bamboo Baby AIO OS with velcro in sage, 2 Blossom Pink and 3 Twilight Blue bG AIO OS with velcro, two total Imse Vimse AIO with snaps in small and medium, a FuzziBunz pocket OS in butter yellow, 3 FuzziBunz pocket small in sage, pink, lavender. Then... 6 white small Bummis Super Snap covers borrowed from my sister, and in small a green super brite, a white super brite, a froggy pond Super Whisper Wrap, Celery SWW, two white SWW, Flower SWW in small and medium, and then just recently a Medium Super Stars in Yellow and Sage. In fitted diapers I have a Mother-Ease Sandy's side snap in small, a Kissa's organic NB size fitted, 6 natural colored size one (older) Kissaluvs and a new berry purple V2 (from ThanksMama.com). Lastly I also have a Kushies ultra AIO sized Infant. We are still using the small size on my itty bitty. Yet I have dreams of what I want to acquire for my medium stash consisting of more Kissaluvs in size one (as soon as the purse can afford it!) Bummis covers and we'll see what else seems to be my cup of tea.

What is your favorite cloth diaper? Why?

My favorite is the Kissaluvs fitted diapers with Bummis covers although I do like the Bummis prefolds as well. AppleBlossom is a heavy wetter and she seems to be the happiest in her Kissaluvs. We use them for naps and nighttime, nothing else would work during the night with her quantity. She is an interesting wetter and holds it and goes all at once in a large volume. This we assume will come in handy when we get to potty training. I do love the Bummis prefolds, they fit perfectly in the covers and they are ever so soft. I do plan on getting a good few for our medium stash as well. We've never had a problem with leakage of fluid or otherwise with either diapering format.

Tell us about your wash routine.

For washing, it's prewash cold with Charlie's Soap if they're really dirty, just water if not, then wash cold with CS, wash warm or hot depending on the load, and into the dryer twice. We've also started using OxyClean with Vinegar to work on ammonia buildup, but that's still an experiment in progress.

Have your friends and family been supportive of your decision to use cloth?

As with my sister being in cloth diaper routines it was nothing new to my family. DH was all on board with both the idea of savings with cloth as well as avoiding the chemical exposures with sposies. Other individuals are give and take. One thing that we often get from various people are questions on where and how to get started, I'm always more than willing to let people know on how to start their cloth diaper addiction.

Any challenges with using cloth diapers? What did you do about it?

I really have not come across any challenges in my effort of using cloth with my baby. It just makes more sense and works out that way. We're lucky.

Your best piece of advice for someone new to cloth diapering:

My best advice for someone new to cloth diapers is to try out a sample of various types of diapers before investing in a stash. No matter what you buy it will be money well spent and you'll still have savings over what you would have spent on sposies. But, if you get the ones you really want, you'll be so much happier in the long run than with some types that you only kinda like. For example a fabulous store Diaper Junction has a 30 day trial of all sorts of types available and I highly recommend it. I did not know about it in time to do it, but because of my sister's experience I had a pretty good idea as to what I would want.

Your favorite scripture, quote, or anything else that you'd like to add:

"You can never get a cup of tea large enough or a book long enough to suit me." - C.S. Lewis