Posts by Category: diapers

CAN Challenge – fastest diaper change

Posted by on June 23rd, 2012 | 0 comments »

When Cotton Babies introduced the Freetime, they really meant it!  A diaper that would be so easy to change it could save you time!

Celebrating since Father’s Day and sparking a challenge for the speediest diaper changer, the CAN Challenge is happening through August 4th, 2012.  There are excellent odds to winning Freetime diapers as well. Eligible participants may be dad, grandpa, friends, or a brother, so encourage your male companion to step on in to Nurtured for a change.

Customers generally say it’s the dads who are the toughest critics for choosing cloth diapers.  Be it 12 seconds, 6 or 4, we’ll add the diaper changing times to our leader board each week.  The fastest time wins a Freetime diaper.  The overall fastest time wins bragging rights too!

In the end, there will be one winner. Cloth diaper-loving men from all over will be competing for the following grand prize from Cotton Babies:

  • 24 Cloth Diapers (BumGenius, Flip or Econobum!  You choose!)
  • BumGenius Diaper Sprayer
  • Diaper Pail and Liner
  • 24 BG Flannel Wipes
  • 1 Case of BumGenius Laundry Detergent
  • BumGenius Bottom Cleaner
  • Wetbag

How to time the change:

1. Place baby on the official diaper changing mat. Baby must be wearing a diaper.
2. Participant places hands on the official diaper changing mat.
3. When hands are lifted from the official diaper changing mat timer starts.
4. Timer stops when diaper is changed, secure, and hands are placed back on the official diaper changing mat.
5. Retailer reports* official participant time to The CAN Challenge.
  • One diaper must be taken off and changed into another diaper. A diaper cannot be    secured over the top of another diaper.
  • This is the real deal diaper changing people so no “imitation babies” (aka dolls) allowed    … just real live BABIES!!!! :) If you are an expecting family may we suggest begging    and borrowing a baby from friend or family.
  • If you are concerned with the privacy issues of changing the baby in a public place,    they may change the baby behind a screen or behind closed doors as long as the    official staff time keeper witnesses the change it can happen in any place within the    registered location.
  • Participants must be 15 years of age or older.
  • Registered retailer employees and their families are not eligible to win.
  • Retailers are responsible to report times to The CAN Challenge by August 5, 2012 at    11:59 pm CST. Cotton Babies, Inc. (bumGenius, Flip, & Econobum) is not responsible    for entries that have not been properly reported.
  • Multiple entries per participant are acceptable.
  • Any personal contact information**** collected during The CAN Challenge is for    documentation only, not for Third Parties.
*If an official recorded time seems completely unreasonable Cotton Babies, Inc. reserves the right to question, investigate, and ask for further evidence (A re-do with video documentation to be officially entered).
** Limit one winner per household.
****Phone numbers must link to participants NOT to retailers. Any phone number entries linked to a retailer will be disqualified.

 

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BumGenius 4.0 solid sale!

Posted by on May 18th, 2012 | 0 comments »

Our friends at Cotton Babies love their customers and have brought back a fan favourite on sale now until supplies last!

Buy 5 bumGenius 4.0 solid colour Diapers, get the 6th for free!

We have an excellent selection of snap and hook & loop bumGenius 4.0 for you to choose from! See you soon!

*6th diaper must also be a solid colour option; Genius and Artist Series diapers are excluded from this offer.

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Flip Cover Buy 2 Get 1

Posted by on May 18th, 2012 | 0 comments »

It’s buy 2, get 1 on Flip covers! A versatile cover like this deserves much praise. I recently took the Flip on a 5 day trip. Given the patented stretchy tab sides and 3×3 one size snap system this diaper cover by Cotton Babies works wonders in fit and function.

Excellent as a cover over many diapering options, I chose to travel with the Flip stay-dry inserts.  The stitching of the sizes on the  stay dry Flip insert  was straightforward for Grandma to help do changes and she raved about baby’s skin staying so soft.  Leak free in design, the Flip was superior (ahem, Genius)  in handling mess during baby’s transition to solids stools- you could also add a liner to match perfectly to the rectangle shape of the Flip insert too!

I once had a mother exclaim how excited she was to buy one more cover since it meant she could last through to another day of laundry!  Buy 2 because you’ll need them. Get the 3rd one because it saves on laundry.

These were already a part of my every day diapering since Sweet Potato was about 10lbs, but it was great to see the Flip excel for traveling.  It’s also an excellent diapering system for two children, and is a choice system for apartment laundry.

This sale makes me love the Flip even more!  I hope you’ll give it a try!

Be sure to check out the additional options this hybrid diaper offers: I personally love the absorbency of their organic cotton Flip insert and sell many a pack of Flip disposable inserts for the cottage season or boosting a Flip Trainer during overnight potty learning.  This system covers it all (pun intended).  Happy diapering!  

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GCDC 2012- cloth diaper advocacy

Posted by on April 25th, 2012 | 0 comments »

This was my 2nd year planning the Great Cloth Diaper Change.  In the last year I’ve struggled to balance work with events and life.  I’ve renovated a store, started a child in primary, moved households not once but three times, not to mention been pregnant and had a new baby.  In the fog of post partum I’ve been holding cloth diaper workshops and planning a major event.  Why?  Cloth diaper advocacy.

In hosting the Great Cloth Diaper Change last weekend and a year prior we brought out enthusiastic attendees, some excellent sponsors and a lot of media attention.  We celebrated Earth Day by organizing an earth friendly event.  No one can deny cloth diapers produce much less waste that their disposable counterparts.  The media love to hear this once a year and also look at how cute cloth diapers are on happy babies. The topic continues on, however, for my daily work at Nurtured and also my daily life with a baby in tow!

Years ago I sat on the other side of the fence and simply thought cloth diapering would be a lot of work.  During that same time I also looked at a blistering, severe diaper rash, tried my best to cure it and was deeply disappointed in the outcome.   If that’s you, just try one cloth diaper (or pick up our rental kit) and see for yourself.  Cloth diapering options and benefits are very attractive even to the biggest skeptics.

What a beautiful bottom baby number 2 has had since day one…I dare say.

Here’s a few things I love about cloth:

1.) There’s always a clean diaper ready, waiting

2.) The cloth diaper creates a perfect environment for skin  - Those that switch from disposables to cloth are amazed when they hear or see each diaper change does not require a barrier bum cream.

3.) Sunshine- just when I think the fabric/staining of a diaper is showing it’s age, sunshine and water prove me wrong!

4.) Health!  Proven stories from customers and friends tote the health benefits of cloth diapering. From NICU babies to children with asthma cloth diapers keep a  lot of chemicals out of your child’s environment.  I’ll mind the bunnytrail and introduce talking about using wool, natural fibres and body temperature later…

5.) Cleanup is easy-  breastfed baby’s stool is water soluble! Just toss into the wash! Other accessories make potential mess avoidable or simple.  Also, since cloth provides a texture for mess to adhere to, notorious diaper blowouts do not occur.

6.) Affordability! Frugal moms say if you stash away a $20 bill each week of your pregnancy, you’ll have your diapers paid for even if you use the most expensive style.   This is leaps and bounds better than the dollars you’ll spend each week/month running to the store to buy a pack of diapers.  Financial experts say you can pay for university just by cloth diapering.

I’m never more proud of the parents that make the switch in the diapering years to cloth and live to share the benefits with their friends and health providers.  I’m never more impressed by the parents that choose cloth before baby number one has arrived.  The increase of cloth diapering enthusiasts out there impresses me.  I am thankful you give me reason to stay busy and happily working as a small business owner and proud mom in the cloth diapering community.  Thank you for joining the Great Cloth Diaper Change 2012.  We look forward to hearing the outcome of setting a new Guinness World Record (TM).  In the meantime, it’s business as usual, continuing with the daily work of supplying you with the best diapers for your baby, planning a flurry of future events and living a passion for cloth diaper advocacy.  Hope you had a great Earth Day weekend!

 

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FuzziBunz® Mystery Print Promo – Buy 6 Diapers Get Two Free!

Posted by on August 15th, 2011 | 1 comment »

A deal like this does not happen often!

Nurtured is proud to participate in the buy 6 Fuzzibunz One-Size diapers get two free FuzziBunz® promotion from August 15, 2011 through September 30, 2011.   We love Fuzzibunz One-Size diapers for their brilliant design for easy care and amazing fit, fantastic warranty and keeping your little one’s bottom happy.  Afterall, FuzziBunz® revolutionized what parents previously knew of cloth diapers when they first introduced a pocket diaper in 2000.  FuzziBunz® makes cloth diapering easy! If you haven’t tried a FuzziBunz® diaper yet, this is a great way to add to your current (or upcoming) cloth diaper stash.  We know you will love them.

Note: This special promotion is not valid with any other offer (including Nurtured’s discount when you buy 12 or more).  Nurtured Products for Parenting is not responsible for any missing information regarding eligible purchases.  In addition, customers must retain copy of original receipt for any future warranty claims.

 

Overview:

  • Customers are eligible for 2 free FuzziBunz® diapers for every 6 FuzziBunz® diapers purchased – they will receive 1 FuzziBunz® solid color diaper (Perfect Size or One Size) and 1 FuzziBunz® mystery print (One Size or Medium Perfect Size).
  • There is no limit to the number of free diapers the customer can receive. Customer is eligible for 2 free diapers for every 6 diapers purchased on the same receipt. If 12 diapers are purchased, 4 free diapers are given. If 18 diapers are purchased, 6 free diapers are given, etc.
  • Customer must fill out the Rebate Form (located HERE) and mail their receipts [dated from August 15th, 2011-September 30, 2011] and UPC codes to FuzziBunz® to receive free products.  Envelope must be postmarked October 15, 2011.
  • For US and Canadian customers only.


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Father’s Day 2011

Posted by on June 20th, 2011 | 2 comments »

BirthDAYS, Father’sDAY, EveryDAY

My son Sam turned five last Thursday and because he has a mid June birthday it is always around that “special day” for dads. Each year Father’s Day takes on a different meaning to me. The one question I always wonder is what my son will think when he thinks back about the kind of dad that I was. Just asking myself this question implies that maybe I could be a better dad. As I read over the posts about other dads on our Nurtured Facebook page I am certain that I can sometimes do things a little better. There are some powerful and emotional feelings that one gets from reading over those submissions about others. I tip my hat to the many dads that were mentioned. Keep up the good great awesome work!

I have had the good fortune to be a stay at home dad since March 2010. It has been within this time that I have seen so many things through the eyes of my little guy – this little person that I really only knew when I was home after a day at the office or back from another 2 or 3 night trip away from home; and there were many of those in his first 4 years. I’m still embarrassed that when my son wasn’t even 8 days old I was hopping on a plane to cross the country when I probably could have skipped the trip entirely. I guess it takes some of us a little longer to put perspective in place!

My wife was doing an amazing job of helping Sam grow and prosper but I was missing many of those moments – moments that I could never get back. To make matters worse I was missing some of the moments even when I was home because it always seemed that something else had to be done or I was too tired, blah, blah, blah. What a crock…

I am a better man now that those times are behind me since living the past 15 months through the eyes of my little man Sam. He is a good boy (well 90% of the time anyway). I’m so glad that we will be welcoming another child in October – there is no way I will miss any of those future moments with him or her and those yet to come with Sam.

I wonder what the response would be if I asked the dads from the Facebook comments yesterday whether a birthday, a Mother’s Day, a Father’s Day, an anniversary or any memorable date is really any different to them from any other day? Of course, the actual dates will always hold special sentimental meaning, but do these men really think that these are special one-of-a-kind days that happen only once a year so they need to be on their best behavior? I don’t think they do.

I think those gents have chosen to make sure that they try their hardest to make everyone’s “everyday” feel like it is their Mother’s Day, their Father’s Day, their birthday, their anniversary or whatever day it is that makes that person feel special. What do you think? If I am right then what a wonderful way they live life.

There is truly no way to know and / or quantify the best dad in the world. I suspect that there would be a lot of ties for that so called first place. Just close your eyes and imagine a bunch of cloth diaper cladded 2 year olds play wrestling over whose dad is the best. There would never be a winner – there never could be a winner. (And no I do not subscribe to violence ☺)

Reading about one dad’s journey really moved me after a few short sentences from his wife. I have never met J.P. Bremner but I am truly inspired by him to be a better dad. I contacted his wife Sacha to learn a little more about what life has been like for them since being diagnosed with his illness. With her permission I am sharing that with you now:

“My husband was set to leave with the military to Afghanistan, but an optometrist appointment (for pressure he was having in his eyes) 2 days prior to his deployment changed our lives in a way that could never have been imagined. J.P was diagnosed with a Glioblastoma Multiforme which is a very aggressive stage 4 Brain Cancer. He has had 95% of it removed by surgery, has undergone 6 weeks of radiation and chemotherapy, and continues to do chemo monthly. The prognosis of this type of cancer varies, but can be bleak as the cancer usually returns within a year we are told. We are hopeful that with J.P being so young, this will help him beat the average survival time of this horrible disease.

As of right now J.P is doing well. We are taking things day by day, and as with any cancer there are certainly good days and bad days. We try our best to take in the good days as they come, and try to get through the bad days the best that we can. J.P continues to go to work as much as he can despite how sick he feels some days (we are very fortunate to have the financial support of the military to cover all of his medical expenses etc). He can be described as someone who loves to work: work on cars, work on our house, whatever can keep him busy. Since I have known J.P he has always wanted a garage, so we built one for him with funds from a benefit family and friends had for us, and it makes me smile every time I see him working in it. He is an amazingly strong husband and father, who our little girl (Sophie) adores, and as I mentioned in my post, he always makes time for the little moments with her, and I know he will continue to be the same amazing father to our baby boy that is due in September.

Sometimes I look at our situation and try to understand why this is happening to us, and it breaks my heart when I think about what the future may hold (which I try not to do) But I try to remember that we never really know what life is going to hand to any of us good or bad. It sounds so cliché, but we really do have to live each day to the fullest that we can. I read a quote by Oprah the other day that really expressed how I try to live each day, it went: “Breathe. Let go, and remind yourself that this very moment is the only one you know you have for sure.”

At Nurtured, we would like JP to accept our Nurtured Dad of the Year Award on behalf of all of those other awesome dads out there.

I cannot imagine facing every day with the reality of having Stage 4 Brain Cancer – that fact alone would make me try harder to be the full potential of the parent I can be, and that my child wishes I were. I would cherish every moment with my family, not knowing what the future holds. It would be so easy to give up, to give in, to stop fighting, but instead one needs to remember that having a family should inspire you to live each day to the fullest with no excuses and no regrets. All of us at Nurtured sincerely hope that JP will beat this disease forever and be there to see the birth of his second child, to see his children’s first day of school, their high school graduation and live a long healthy life. We know that there are other men in the world facing seemingly overwhelming challenges. We wish them well also.

I’ve been told that JP is kind of shy. From one Dad to another JP I want to say that you didn’t win the right to accept the title on behalf of dads out there because of pity. You won purely on the strength it must take you to get up out of bed and live not just for yourself, but for Sacha, Sophie and your yet to be born son. You deserve to represent other dads as they try to be the best they can be.

JP and family will enjoy a two-night stay at one of the fantastic inns and resorts in our beautiful province, White Point Beach Resort. A well deserved opportunity to take a break on behalf of all Dads (and Mom’s). A well deserved opportunity to just breathe in the air.

I would really like to thank Jolyn and Gillian for helping me with my inaugural post on the Nurtured Blog – my first ever blog posting on any blog. I really only wanted to put a few things down for others to read so if you have made it to the end I thank you.

Happy Everyday Everyone!

Follow me @NurturedDad

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How to Wash Cloth Diapers in an HE Machine

Posted by on June 8th, 2011 | 1 comment »

One of the questions asked most often about cloth diapering is “how do we wash them?”.  While the diapers themselves are easy to launder, there are some key points to remember about washers in general.

As we have switched more and more often to High Efficiency (HE) machines, it seems that for many of us, our soaping habits have not. If, like me, you’ve had the washer repairman out to visit (because your baby socks infiltrate the gasket of the machine if you don’t put them in a lingerie bag to wash. Hint: use a lingerie bag.), you learn a lot about how to care for your HE machine from the horse’s mouth.

The most important advice? Less detergent. We are advised to never use more than a tablespoon of detergent in your HE machine in any situation, with your regular laundry.  Also, because so many of the detergents advertise as “cold water”, this means that if you’re using a little too much, it can reside in the drum, and if you’re washing your diapers in hot water, the hot water dissolves the detergent then dumps it onto your diapers, which can create stink and other issues. Because we come from a culture of “lather, rinse, repeat”, where more is better, it can be hard to break our detergent habit.

Paul Flynn of Savage used to see the effects of too much soap every day when he was an appliance repairman. He’d get calls from customers who had foul smelling front-loading washing machines. The build-up of mold and mildew inside the tub is created when too much liquid detergent is used, creating a food source for bacteria. “The whole reason this problem exists is the fault of detergent manufacturers,” Flynn said. “They tell us to use too much detergent.”

The soap residue coats your machine, the excess suds wreck the spin bearing, and pretty soon you’ve got a $400 repair bill.

However, because HE detergents work differently from regular laundry detergent, it’s important to realize the HE detergents have active enzymes to work throughout the wash cycle, and are designed to work with much less water. Normal detergents really serve to break the bond of dirt to clothing, while the water and agitation do the actual work in a wash cycle.

Another important thing to remember is that the ‘sanitize’ cycle is not recommended for diapers- it can delaminate the PUL and cause deterioration of the fabric. Realistically, the sanitize cycle can work if you’re using a washer cleaner, if your washer gets smelly.

A washing machine cleaner should be used with no clothes in the tub on the hottest or preset “clean” cycle, about twice a month. You can using baking soda, vinegar, or a commercial HE washer cleaning  product to eliminate and prevent mildew, fungus, and odor from your washing machine.  After each use, make sure to leave the door and the detergent loading tray open to allow air to circulate, and wipe  the gasket to ensure there is no debris or pooled water.

If you are washing diapers, make sure that your regular detergent isn’t interfering with your diapers by using products that do not contain oils, as many natural products have citrus or palm oil based surfactants. This can be an issue when the oil encounters cold water and coagulates in the drum, only to be dissolved by the hot water  and redistrubuted on the diapers. A way to make sure this is less likely to happen is to do a load of laundry in hot (say, whites or towels) before your load of diapers if possible, or change detergents for all your laundry (I switched to using Allen’s for everything, and the bottle still lasted me over a year). My towels were definitely more absorbent using this method too. Allen’s Naturally was invented to give people who have multiple chemical sensitivities a gentle detergent, so it does a great job on regular laundry as well.

So when it comes to high efficiency machines, a little TLC goes a long way.  Make sure you read the manual for your washer, read detergent labels carefully, and remember that when you’re dealing with detergent, less really is more.

Special thanks to Karen, aka Queen Sherpa, for her guest blog!  The team at Nurtured is always offering tricks of the trade with every product inquiry.  Several weeks ago Karen presented me with several links for the blog she thought every HE owner needed to read.  Those links and the daily discussions in store have led to this helpful write up by Karen herself. Best of luck and certainly keep stopping in, calling or opening an online ticket for the discussions and problem solving. -Thanks for all the inspiration!

 

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32 Weeks

Posted by on January 20th, 2011 | 3 comments »

32 week belly

Probably as many have seen me around the store as have not, but in case you haven’t, here is what I’m looking like these days – in the last weeks of my third pregnancy.

I had planned to chronicle this, my last pregnancy, week by week, detail by detail, but life has literally passed before me with a lot of decisions to be made and a lot of preparations to make in order to accommodate a new baby into our lives.

The first trimester was the longest, with persistent nausea, fatigue and hunger. I can’t really complain, Smith’s Bakery and Fred’s Whet Cafe probably experienced higher than average sales as a result of my hunger. Have you ever eaten a slice of Smith’s Bakery Pizza? Do you realize how large they are? Now, I was eating two of these per day. HUNGRY. Nausea for me is never that bad, and in fact has lessened with each pregnancy, but there were days that it just wouldn’t leave me, which made those particular days long, especially with two other children to care for.

With the thirteenth week came energy – I was super woman, able to take on just about anything, and made good use of the time and energy I had. And just like that, the twenty-eighth week rolled around, and Scotian shook his head, lamenting I needed to ‘hang up my cape and crown’. I’m slowing down appreciably, wanting to be asleep by 7:30 pm. All in all, I feel good, this pregnancy has been easy…and when it’s easy, it is also easy to focus on other things, which is why I haven’t documented this pregnancy at all.

As per usual I’ve gained a significant amount of weight – 40 pounds and counting – everywhere. I’m not too concerned, but just before I found out I was pregnant I had began running, lost ten pounds and really enjoying it. In fact, I ran right up until about the third month, when it just got the better of me.

I’ve been taking better care of myself – just look at this team of professionals:

Which also perhaps helps to explain my lack of pregnancy-related complaints, of which I had FAR more last time(s). I also discovered the Tres Tria co-sleeping pillow, which has worked wonders to relieve the aching pain in my hips at night. This pillow is so comfortable and will come in very handy when the baby comes – we will be co-sleeping if for no other reason that there is no space left in our current home for a crib, and we’re not ready to move just yet! Good to have a barrier so the baby doesn’t roll out of bed, and our son likes to crawl in with us in the middle of the night, so it will help create a barrier between siblings.

I have been on the search for a good nursing bra for the store, and on Melissa’s recommendation I’m trying out some bras that have enough support for pregnancy and room to grow for breastfeeding. So far, I’m very impressed and hope to have them in the store very soon!

I’ve also been devouring books at an alarming rate. I have read lots of pregnancy books, so this time I am moving on to parenting books. I just re-read You Are Your Child’s First Teacher, which has reminded me of the calm, Waldorf approach to parenting that I try to incorporate into our daily lives. It’s a fantastic book that begins at conception and birth to age 6, perfect for the spread of my children!

I’ve been working on Christiane Northrup’s Mother Daughter Wisdom since the store opened in 2009. It’s a long one, and I’m still not finished, but it is truly fascinating and has helped me understand my own mother, our relationship, and my daughter. It’s a great read!

There are several more books still to come, though my time is starting to run out.

I also feel a burst of creative energy while I’m pregnant – part of me knows it will be a while before I get back to my own creative pursuits and part of me feels propelled by the energy of creating a new person. It’s a fantastic time.

You’re probably wondering about diapers? This baby will be cloth diapered from birth, I have a bag of newborn diapers packed for the hospital. After three children my stash varies considerably, but I’ve got:

All in all I’ve probably got about 36-40 diapers. While I normally recommend a minimum of 24 for a newborn, given that I have two other children and have collected a lot of these over the years (I have bought a lot of new though, who can resist?), I’m happy to be able to stretch my diaper laundry a little further!

Don’t even get me started on baby carriers, that’s another post for another day, but I am really, really looking forward to a new ring sling, which is my personal favourite newborn carrier!

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Cloth Diapering Multiples

Posted by on July 12th, 2010 | 3 comments »

twinsLately we’re seeing a rise in the number of multiple births, and also a rise in the number of twins that are cloth diapered. At our cloth diapering workshop this past week, an expectant mom was asking if she “was crazy” to want to cloth diaper twins. I assured her that not only would she save at least $6,000 over the course of her babies’ time in diapers, but that a growing number of families with multiples are cloth diapering. Case in point, here is a guest post from Dr. Jennifer Salib-Huber, ND, our family’s naturopath, family friend, and now mom of three children, including four-month old fraternal twins.

“Adventures in Cloth Diapering Twins

I’m not sure “adventure” is really the right word, as it’s been a pretty smooth ride. But, I have learned a few things along the way that I hope will help other parents who are considering cloth diapering their twins.

“Are you crazy?” is a question we’ve been asked many times when people hear we are cloth diapering our twins, but I really think you’d be crazy not to. Aside from the cost savings (which is significant), cloth diapering is the obvious environmentally conscious choice, especially given the number of diapers you will go through with twins. The laundry factor seems to be the stumbling block for some, but it’s really not that much of a consideration. We do diapers every other day, which is only 1 extra day per week compared to when we were cloth diapering our older daughter; the difference being that the load sizes are larger, and, when you have twins, laundry is a daily chore anyway, so what’s an extra load, right?

Despite the costs involved in the initial purchase cost of your stash, the long term savings are real. My husband and I ran across a gentleman in a store who saw the diapers on the twins and commented that he had considered cloth for his child and decided against it because “it wasn’t worth the cost”. I’ve heard this from others before and it could not be further from the truth. Our original roughly $600 investment diapered our first daughter for 30 months and will likely take care of the twins for as long as they need it as well. Consider that disposable diapering costs can come in around $2000+/year for each child’s first year, then after 3 children the costs to cloth diaper will only be around a tenth of the costs of the more wasteful, disposable route.

Having difficulty choosing which diapers to use? Here are a few thoughts:

We have a stash of 30 or so pocket diapers that we’d used with our daughter. While some of these fit the twins right away, others took some time to grow into so it was nice to have another “system” on hand. Keep in mind that many twins are born prematurely and may not fit some diapers at birth because of they are on the smaller side. On the suggestion of a friend, I decided to give prefolds a try. Pocket diapers are convenient because they are easy to use, but prefolds are inexpensive and don’t have to be stuffed, which is a huge advantage and time saver. The same can be said for fitted diapers. We were lucky to inherit a Bummis (prefolds) newborn kit and a half-dozen or so fitted diapers, and I strongly urge any parent to consider adding these to their diaper stash. Newborns poop a lot; expect to go through 30+ diapers a day in the early days. This is where the prefolds came in so handy! Now that they are 4 months old, we usually go through 15-20 diapers a day, and are mainly using our pockets again. We’ll probably add a few new ones to our family of diapers (can’t wait to try the new FuzziBunz), but for the most part are using the same diapers we bought 3 years ago! With respect to the various brands of pocket diapers, I suggest buying a few of each kind as you can never predict which will fit your children best. bumGenius and FuzziBunz diapers fit our son really well, but Happy Heiny’s are the best fit for our daughter. I’m sure that will change over time, but it’s nice to have the different kinds on hand. Most of our pockets are one-size, but I like having a few sized diapers as well, as they generally provide a trimmer fit. As for disposables, we do keep a few on hand, but we don’t even go through a package per month.

For our family, the decision to cloth diaper our twins was an easy one. We’d done it before, and had no hesitation about doing it again. But, if you are worried about the time and initial costs involved, don’t be. Cloth diapers are a worthy investment that you can feel good about. Good for your kids and good for the planet. And, there’s nothing cuter than two little cloth diapered bums.”

April’s note: The best selling cloth diapers for families with multiples at Nurtured are bumGenius pocket diapers and FuzziBunz. Velcro closures are wonderful for bleary-eyed middle-of-the-night changes (and very caregiver friendly too, as hopefully with multiples you’ll have lots of hands helping out), while snaps are very durable!

If you’re cloth diapering twins, what tricks and tips have worked for you? What brands of cloth diapers are your favourites?

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Welcome Spunky to the Team

Posted by on July 24th, 2008 | 1 comment »

We’d like to welcome Spunky to the Nurtured team as official showroom/office organizer. Any of you who have been in lately may have witnessed his work in action. His strengths include unfiling, building towers out of Fuzzi Bunz, and wearing diapers on his head while smiling coyly at all the Moms.

Welcome to the team Spunky!

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