Mason, striking a pose in his new swag

Opps! My bad!  Sorry!  For those of you following the diaper thing I never concluded the story and let you know exactly the way Eliza and I have decided to dress Mason’s bottom.  We had tons of choices and thanks to the great staff at Baby Awareness we knew exactly what we were getting into.  We had the option to go with pre folds, pockets, and all in ones.  

The pre folds are most like what you think of when you think of cloth diapers.  However, today’s pre folds can be equipped with colorful little form fitting covers.  Plus, you don’t have to use safety pins anymore.  Modern pre folds come with handy new widgets that help secure the pre fold (by widget I mean thing-a-ma-gig that I’m not sure of the name but its really good at its job).
 
The all in on cloth diapers are very similar to current disposables.  You treat them the same way except for the fact that you have to wash them.  These guys are a little bulky and can take up some space in the wash machine.  What you are paying for is the convenience of taking the diaper off and throwing it in the hamper.  These diapers are cool because they are equipment with a wicking layer that helps keep baby dry.

The diapers Eliza and I went with are pocket diapers.  To us they seemed to be the best of both worlds.  Pocket diapers have the wicking layer that helps keep baby dry, a cool pocket where you can stuff absorbent pads, have sizing options so the diaper grows with baby, and yes they come in an assortment of sweet colors.  We went with two brands; Fuzzi Bunz and Bum Genius.  However, a few weeks into this project I have to say I’m partial to Bum Genius.  They are easier to stuff and the sizing options are much easier to manage.  Each brand came with two absorbent pads and is equipped with a sweet one year warranty.  I know what you’re thinking.  I also flashed back to Tommy Boy and thought of taking a S**T in a box and writing warranty on it too.  The warranty protects against any miss hap that may take place with the snaps, elastic components, sewing or workmanship.  Both of these diaper makers have won awards and seem to make parents and babies happy everywhere.  I know the Szymanek’s Hawaii are happy with the choice they have made.   

If cloth diapering is something that you are interested in I would definitely do the research.  The material needs to be handled correctly, requires specific detergents, and can get real messy if you screw things up.  As I have stated earlier Eliza and I had our hands held through this decision by a great staff at a super baby store; Baby Awareness.  If you live on Oahu check them out for anything baby related.  If you don’t live on Oahu catch a flight and I’ll give you a point in the right direction.  Or, you can find a small baby shop near you that offers good advice, customer service, and is knowledgeable about their products.  I’ve provided a link to Baby Awareness to give you a head start.  If you check out a spot and they start throwing diapers you know nothing about in your bag and start ringing you up without explaining the differences you are probably in the wrong place.  If this happens exit quickly and never look back.  If the staff is open to questions, eager to talk, and has some personal experience with the products you may have found the place to begin your new diaper journey.  The people at baby Awareness are so good that they have narrowed down the best detergents depending on which part of the island you live on.  Really!  It has something to do with hardness of the water.. Ask for Ashley she knows.   

I hope this diaper thing has been helpful.  Mason seems happy as ever in his new diapers and three weeks in none of the diapers have pooh caked to them, as much as a stain, or smell like a sewer; which is awesome.  I have probably made some mistakes in describing the different diapers and defiantly left good info out regarding the pocket diapers we went with.  To cover my basis I have provided some links below.  One of them is a top ten list for cloth diapering, one is the link to Baby Awareness, the others are links to cloth diaper pages.  Check out the gdiaper link.  When I first began this decision it was forwarded to me and I was pleasantly surprised by the info.  Supposedly they are the best of both world’s; cloth and disposable.  I even think you can compost them.  If I didn’t live on the 25^th floor of a downtown apartment I’d probably be putting Mason to work.  As always make sure to talk to someone who knows a little more than you and is willing to share before making a big decision.  Don’t go treating cloth diapers like your first home or car purchase and go with your favorite color or the one with the cool sun roof and fancy options you’ll never use – Cheers People!!!!                                      

Baby Awearness 
Top 10 Reasons to Cloth Diaper
Bum Genius  
Fuzzi Bunz 
gdiapers