Cloth Diapering from a Not-So-Crunchy Momma!

There is a lot of debate going on in the baby world these days, about Cloth Diapering vs. Disposables.
A popular term for Cloth Diapering momma's?
Crunchy.
If you're anything like me, you're already lost.
What I've figured out so far is that I am about as crunchy as a burnt marshmellow.
My husband? He's somewhere in the Cool-whip category.
However, as crunch-less as we may be, I still feel it necessary to be informed about things like Cloth Diapers, in case we need to know someday in the future.
Luckily for me, one of my favorite blogging mama's has just made the cloth diaper switch herself, & I have been learning all kinds of things from her about them.
She is an absolute treasure trove of information, she's gorgeous, & she has one of the cutest babes evah!
If you don't follow her already, you should...just as soon as you get done reading this post!
So without further adieu, I give you "Mrs. Trophy Wife"!

Cloth Diapering from a Not-So-Crunchy Mama
by Mrs. Trophy Wife & Sullivan

(Pippy Comment: Holy cuteness!)

When I first told my husband I wanted to cloth diaper, he looked at me in disgust and said, "No way! There will be shit stains all in them." So, I dropped the subject.

Then life happened. Sullivan was born, and we quickly realized he was extremely allergic to Pampers. We switched to Huggies only to deal with at least one "blow out" a day and diapers soaked through to his clothes. Fed up and exhausted, I called my husband (over Skype. He's deployed, by the way), and said, "I'm switching over to cloth." I began my research of all things cloth. My Type A OCD personality led me to be overwhelmed by the hundreds upon hundreds of choices. Where the hell do you even start?

So when Pippy asked me to do a guest post on cloth diapering for mamas that aren't sure where to begin, I jumped on the idea. Hopefully, my obsession with cloth diapers will help you make a decision about what's best for you.

1) Making the Decision: If you're environmentally concerned, obviously cloth diapering is the best way to go. Our water bill has not increased since starting, and I line dry anytime it's nice out. Better for the diapers. Better for my wallet. If you're concerned about rashes or chemicals in the disposables, you can't beat cloth diapering. We haven't had a single rash since we started using them. Oh and money? We've spent about $600.00 on cloth diapers and we're set for Sullivan and the next baby or two. You can expect to spend about $1,600 every two years on disposables. Then you add in diaper creams, wipes, garbage services. It really adds up. The initial investment might seem high, but just look at the numbers in the long run. It's also VERY possible to cloth diaper for under $200.00. If you go with Prefolds and Covers, you can easily cloth diaper economically.

2) Starting Out: Start with a trial program. You never know what's going to work best for you and your baby. A good trial will have some of everything. The basics are;

Prefolds-Old school. Have to pin or snappi them in place. Need a cover.
Fitted-Soft and fitted. Requires a cover.
Pockets-Just like it sounds. They have a pocket you can stuff with inserts to make as absorbant as you need.
All-In-Ones-Most babysitter/daddy friendly. Work just a like a disposable. You put them on, take them off, stick them in the laundry. Not necessarily the cheapest.
Hybrids-Have a "Snap-In" insert so that you can re-use the cover.

The trials will let you try whatever you want, send back what you don't, and learn what you like in a cloth diaper. My advice? Don't cloth diaper a newborn if you're not sure if you want to stick with it. I was so overwhelmed as a new mama with my husband deployed, I probably would have given it up if I tried right away. You can start cloth diapering any time. Sullivan wasn't cloth diapered until he was three-months-old.

3) Traveling:
Super easy. Grab yourself a wet bag, stick it in the diaper bag, and you're off. For longer trips, take a pail liner instead so you have extra room. If you get one that's zippered, you can keep smell at bay. Easy peasy, for real.

4) Laundry:
Simple again. Get enough diapers, usually about 24 per child, to do laundry every other day. Cold Rinse, Hot Wash, Cold Rinse and a tiny bit of cloth diaper friendly detergent. Hang to dry, or tumble dry. Whatever works for you.

5) All or nothing:
It doesn't have to be. Don't start cloth diapering by tossing all your disposables and becoming immediately dependent. Ain't gonna work. You can cloth diaper part-time, during the day, during weekends. WHATEVER WORKS FOR YOU! Don't pressure yourself.

6) Enter Giveaways:
If you're looking for a way to cloth diaper cheaply, just do a quick google search and enter some of the hundreds of cloth diaper contests. I've won twenty-six diapers. Seriously. And no, I don't spend my life entering contests. I keep a list of ones I'm interested, check them every day. It takes probably ten minutes and is so worth it.

So, that being said, be sure to check out my "Month of Fluff" on my blog http://www.exploitsofamilitarymama.com if you're looking to win some great diapers. I'm also doing lots of reviews, so you can read about them and enter what interests you. Also, email me with ANY questions at: mrs.trophywife@ymail.com

Finally, enter Pippy's Coddlelife Bottle giveaway! SO cool.

~Mrs. Trophy Wife

What I'm doing...& what you should be.

Personally, I'm chill-axing on my grandparents couch, about to walk down to the dock & get a little sun on my pasty white self.

While I would LOVE for all of y'all to be here hanging out with me, I know that's probably not possible.
So, be with me in spirit...& go sign up for my Coddlelife giveaway by clicking "here".

Seriously, pregnant or not, mommy or not, everybody knows somebody who has a baby, & who doesn't like free stuff??

So what are you waiting on?
Go sign up...like now!

Have a fantastic weekend lovelies!!!

Because everyone wants to be a winner! {Coddlelife giveaway!!}

I have BIG news for y'all today!
As I have been preparing for Pipsqueak, I have read thousands of reviews on thousands of products trying to decide which items I should have ready in my arsenal.
And I'm gonna be honest, Sometimes, just browsing can be totally overwhelming.
Like bottles for instance, there's so many! How on earth do you decide which ones to get?

So I turned to my blog friends for help & they introduced me to a bottle that I can't wait to try when Pipsqueak gets here.


This is the Coddlelife Polypropylene Bottle with Peristalic nipple.
I know what you're thinking, "Say what? Can I get that in English please?"

Let me break it down for you:

• Extra stretchy peristaltic nipple elongates and is molded to fit the inside of the baby's mouth.
• The nipple is designed to be longer which ensure the baby's lips flange widely & enable wide open latch which prevent nipple confusions.
• New advanced one-piece venting system helps to reduce colic, spit-up and ear infection. It is easy to use with no extra parts to wash.
• Microwave, sterilizer, and dishwasher safe.

If you're anything like me, you're probably still thinking something along the lines of "Yeah, that's all well and good, but how do I know it's going to work? Can it really help with Colic? I want to talk to somebody who's actually used these things.."

I didn't have to look very far.
2 of my favorite mommy bloggers were ready & willing to sing Coddlelife's praises!

"Hands-down, the best part of the bottles is the nipple technology. So many mothers recommend Dr. Brown's bottles because of the venting system. Which is fine & dandy but Dr. Brown's has SEVEN PARTS. If you run your dishwasher often, that may not be such a huge deal, but if you hand was like we do...that is SEVEN parts. With at least eight bottles per day. You do the math. Coddlelife? From what I understand, it has basically the same idea as Dr. Brown's where air does not mix with fluid. Sucking pulls only fluid while tubing-bits spits the air out the back. With only TWO parts. Nipple & bottle, same as the bottles we were using before."

~ Blair @ "The Heir to Blair" (<- click here to read Blair's entire Coddlelife review)

"After using several brands of baby bottles, I have found that Coddlelife works best! It keeps my little boy from swallowing too much air and mimicks the breastfeeding motion so he has no problems switching between nursing and taking a bottle. Because our family has had such a great experience with these bottles, we have stopped using other brands and now exclusively use Coddlelife!"

~Alyssa @ "Adventures of a stay at home mom!"(<- Click here to read Alyssa's Coddlelife reveiws)

Now for the really exciting part....

The amazing folks over at Coddlelife have graciously given me the opportunity to pass one of these fantastic bottles on to one of YOU!
How cool is that?

There's gonna be TONS of ways to enter this one... so your chances of winning are pretty awesome.

Here goes:
Mandatory Entry: Be a follower of my blog. (1 entry)

Additional Entries:

1. Leave a comment about something neat you learned on the Coddlelife website. (1 entry)
2. Follow me on Twitter @pippy1208 (1 entry)
3. Follow Coddlelife on Twitter @coddlelife (1 entry)
4. Become a Coddlelife fan on Facebook (1 entry)
5. Tweet this -> "I just entered @pippy1208 's @coddlelife bottle giveaway! You should too! http://tinyurl.com/2e4mwh5" (1 entry, max. 3x's a day)
6. Put my button on your blog! (1 entry)
7. Vote for me on Top Mommy blogs (1 entry, max 3x's a day.)

You have to leave a seperate comment for each entry for them to count.

That's a total of 8 entries!! Plus the ones you can do more than once!
That's pretty good odds if I do say so myself!

The winner will be chose using random .org on Monday, May 3rd!!
*Open to US residents only*