Recently I received an email from FuzziBunz thanking me for reaching out to them. I will have to say, that of all of the diapers I have reviewed on my Blog, this is the first company to reach out back to me!

I started this Blog because I love cloth diapering, and before I was a mom I was an Internet pioneer, programmer and designer. This Blog has been my outlet of motherhood! I never expected it would become something more, or that those I wrote about would reach back to me.

Thanks FuzziBunz! http://www.fuzzibunz.com/news/monday-mama-julie-phipps-labonte-attributes-cloth-diapering-to-helping-her-save-thousands-of-dollars-each-year/

In my time with this Blog, I've noticed that FuzziBunz are one of the most active with Social Networking, and regularly use it to involve their customer base. I believe that this is one of the most progressive cloth diapering companies today who understands their customer base and has nothing to hide. It's no wonder they are one of the most successful cloth diapering companies today. I've learned much as an Internet Marketer from cloth diapering, and from FuzziBunz!

Type of Diaper: 

Pocket-Style

Average Unit Cost: 

$19.95 each (Includes one pocket diaper with 2 inserts and spare adjustment elastic)

Suggested Best Uses: 

Travel Diaper, Caregiver Diaper, Daytime Diaper, *Night-time Diaper

Availability:

Many online and bricks and mortar diaper specialty shops carry FuzziBunz around the world.

*Night-time use in my personal experience has depended largely on situation (growth development, wetness levels and fit). At times I have had periods of great success using extra pocket stuffers, while other times my little bub just wets too much at night and we've had leaks with not just this diaper, but many diaper styles.

FuzziBunz One-Size Diapers

FuzziBunz were the very first cloth diapers I bought for my Stash. Out of the thirty varieties included in my 1 week trial program from The Extraordinary Baby Shoppe, these were my favorite to use.

The FuzziBunz cloth diaper style that I tried was Perfect Size, (which were indeed, perfect for my little guy). I chose to buy the One-Size style to maximize my budget. Due to the sizing nature of these diapers, I have waited a few months before making a review in order to provide feedback on the experience.

How It Works

Best Features

What I'd Like To See Enhanced With This Product

There isn't much fault I can find with this diaper. I've been using these diapers for eight months and have only had one very small period where I had trouble achieving the perfect fit, but this quickly remedied itself within a couple of weeks when my little guy grew into a new size.

It would be cool to see some neutral tones and a black option added to the color variety, specifically for little boys where clothing variety tends to be more neutral on the scale.

I'd also like to see more options for stuffers in terms of absorbency and bulkiness. While there are a lot of options available at my favorite diaper shop, I have noticed that other shops are more limited in stock based on their list of suppliers and stuffer variety is a must for different periods of wetness and size.

References & More Information

We've hit the seven month marker and while there's a lot of fun and discovery at this age, many old patterns still remain. Despite claims in my birth-mom community that their babies are sleeping through the night, my little guy is still waking up like clockwork wanting to breastfeed. Other moms in the same position as me have asked what the "secret" is to having babies that sleep through the night, and once again the term CIO has come up.

CIO is short for Cry-It-Out. It is a theory of parenting based on 'tough-love' practices and while there may be some instant results to common perceived problems like getting your baby to sleep through the night, this approach has never felt right to me.

These discussions in my group did have me wondering if I was doing the right thing by indulging my baby in his feed-on-demand schedule overnight, and out of sheer frustration I even considered trying CIO after a marathon of sleepless nights this past week. Rather than act on my frustration, I decided to get a book from a source I felt I could trust.

While I've always known that my natural method of parenting has been loosely based on theories presented by Dr.s William and Martha Sears, I didn't buy The Baby Book until this week, along with The Baby Sleep Book. I jumped right to Chapter 3 in The Baby Sleep Book which discusses how and why babies sleep the way that they do, and everything started to make sense... including why some babies will naturally sleep through the night even though mine does not.

Bottom line is that this book has reinforced by gut instinct to nurture on-demand and avoid sleep training methods like CIO. The long-term effects of training a baby to do something they aren't ready for can have some very negative long-term effects that will make later childhood more difficult. So while my baby may not be sleeping through the night at seven months of age, I know he'll get there in his own good time when he's developmentally ready for it and he won't develop any confidence or trust issues along the way.

If you are frustrated by lack of sleep because your little one isn't letting you get much shuteye, please read this book. It takes a different approach to helping you teach baby to do things... more than I can explain in a simple blog post. Best part of all is that the practices described make sense, and neither you or baby willwon't shed a single tear while employing the methods outlined within them.

Baby Led Weaning

Just before my son was born, I purchased a stretchy wrap made by Maman Kangourou. I specifically wanted a wrap, and it was the most attractive and appealing brand in the only store I thought to go looking for baby things at the time... 'Babies 'R Us'. It's the same basic idea as a Moby, but as an added bonus it has a pocket on the front panel to stuff cloths, pacifiers, and just about anything you need while going about your business wearing your baby. It's also made in Canada... a big plus for me.

I've used it almost every day from doing housework to working at my computer as he snoozes comfortably. Not only is it a staple of attachment parenting concepts, I can get a lot more done when wearing him because he is happier to be with me than not.

My son is a big boy. At just over 3 months he is 24 inches long and weighs nearly 17 pounds. We recently decided to try the wrap while shopping. I decided I definitely prefer carrying him while shopping instead of using the stroller. He's still too wobbly for the seats in shopping carts, and the stroller just doesn't have enough storage to get a full load of groceries. I've tried using my Mommy Hook to dangle a basket off of, but that too is awkward because the handle is long and flat and the basket tilts to the right or the left.

For the first time, I was unhappy with my stretchy wrap. After walking around the huge Costco store for a bit, the wrap started to stretch out too much, and my son was not as secure as he was when I placed him in it. His weight and the up and down movement was pulling on the fabric and causing the hold to loosen up to much.

I have also learned quite a bit more about Babywearing than I knew while pregnant. One of the best resources I found was the information and forums over at http://www.thebabywearer.com/.

We were given a couple of used carriers of the Babies 'R Us variety before our son was born, and we had by this point tried them out. One was a very dated Evenflo carrier ( of questionable safety), and the other an Infantino Snuggli carrier. The Snuggli wasn't bad but it had way too many buckles and straps to fiddle with every time we put it on. Neither my husband or I were happy with either of them. I was almost turned off from soft structured carriers altogether.

Mei Tai's and Soft Structured Carriers Inspired By Them

After researching various slings, wraps, and other styles of carriers, I narrowed down my search to two styles of carriers: a Mei Tai or a Soft Structured Carrier based on the Mei Tai style. A Mei Tai is a simple Asian baby carrier that has been used for centuries comprised of four long straps attached to a square panel. Similar to a wrap, the idea is that the baby is secured to your body with the square panel by tying the four straps around your shoulders and waist.

There are several Mei Tai manufacturers including handmade styles by WAHMs (Work at Home Moms) to established brands such as the Babyhawk Mei Tai. Several soft structured carriers have been based on the Mei Tai design, including the Ergo Baby Carrier, another product I was interested in largely because of its' simplicity in design as well as the thoughtful accessories built into the carrier like pockets, pouches and a hoodflap to keep sun and wind off of baby.

The same Diaper Shop that let me try a variety of different diapers before buying them also has a Carrier Loan program with a variety of slings, wraps and carriers to choose from. They also carry both the Babyhawk Mei Tai and several varieties of the Ergo. I decided to try them both, starting with the Babyhawk.

The Babyhawk Mei Tai

I love this carrier because it is so simple to put on, and folds up nicely to fit into a diaper bag or even a large handbag. The best feature is the neck support, which makes this carrier great for doing work around the house when you have to bend over quite a bit. It took my guy a little getting used to as he's familiar with being in the lotus position against my body in the wrap, and having his legs spread apart is a new way to be carried.

If he was smaller he could have easily into the carrier in the lotus position, which would have made this a great carrier right from infancy. I didn't get a chance to try a back carry with him in this, but because of the neck support I can see that this is something we could do as his head is still a bit wobbly on his neck at 3.5 months old.

One thing to note is that the standard Babyhawk strap size is intended for average framed women (up to size 12) and smaller framed men. If you are a larger framed lady, or you will be sharing this with your husband who is taller than 5' 8" and has a waist larger than 38 inches, you are going to want to opt for the larger strap size in order to do all of the tie styles (which you will need to do for larger babies).

You can either buy one of these "As Is", or you can custom design one yourself on the Babyhawk website at http://www.babyhawk.com. Shopping for one of these things is just as much fun as using them! You can pick from a variety of front and back pattern styles, add pockets, a toy ring and a hood for baby to your Mei Tai.

The Ergo Carrier

When it was time to turn in the Babyhawk I was certain that I had already made my decision on which carrier to buy. When I got home and unraveled the Ergo in all its' padded canvas glory, I was skeptical that I would like it as much as the simple, compact Babyhawk. I adjusted the straps as I was shown by the shopkeeper to fit my frame (which is still a generous size 14 three months after giving birth with an above average bosom due to breastfeeding). The waistband fits me at the most let out setting, but it would not fit around my husband who is a large 6'2" man who also gained a few sympathy pounds during my pregnancy. To remedy this problem here is a waist extender available for the Ergo.

I put the Ergo on in the Front Carry position, and followed the instructions to put my baby in the carrier. As a first-time Ergo wearer, I had to try this a couple times until I had the straps adjusted comfortablly and securely. Once I did... I was immediately sold. This thing is comfortable! I'm also thrilled that once you set the strap mechanism, provided someone else doesn't use it you will only ever have to do up two buckles to secure your child, making it even quicker to put on than the Babyhawk.

This is also the only carrier that I would be able to breastfeed in due to the position of the baby and the maneuverability for me. I managed to do it a couple times in my wrap, but not without a lot of fussing. The fit in the Babyhawk was just too tight for me to do this in.

The thoughtful safety features on this carrier are well designed, including a safety loop by the waist buckle in case the buckle comes undone while you are carrying so baby won't slip out or off.

Although there is no head support, there is a hood that can be secured with snaps to the carrier frame that can be used for light support ideal for sleeping. As such, I wouldn't use this carrier for an infant without their Heart to Heart Infant Insert until your baby can hold their head up themselves, which my son has only been able to do for a couple of weeks. I would have liked to try the infant insert if my baby was younger and smaller.

What Did I Decide To Do?

Although I'm not finished with my stretchy wrap and it will still give me some situational use, I am definately going to get another carrier for activity based carrying like shopping or working around the house. I know for certain that I will be buying the Ergo. I can see us getting use out of this carrier for the next two years. I would also also like to pick up the Babyhawk for carrying in my purse, around the house tasks and earlier back carries. It all depends on cost, and carriers at this level aren't cheap!

The answer? We're not quite sure!

Go ahead, take a peek at the ingredients list on a package of disposable diapers. On the most forthcoming of packaging, it will read something like Diapers, Cosmetic Ingredients and some may even list Petroleum as an ingredient. Now perhaps I'm out of my mind but this reads all wrong to me. Isn't the product inside the packaging the diaper, and the ingredient what is in the diapers?

Before becoming a mom, I worked as a Graphic Designer. Package Design was one of many projects I worked on for a variety clients who manufactured cleaners and pharmaceutical goods. From my experience, this listing "diapers" as an ingredient to me appear to be a regulation loophole.

There is a regulation process that evaluates products containing materials considered hazardous and provides information back to the manufacturer to supply on the label. The term for this information, which not only outlines potential Hazard warnings but also supplies First Aid measures to be taken is called an MSDS Sheet. This is why you see a hazard symbol on a bottle of bleach warning you not to dunk your hands into it, and what to do in case you (or your little ones) do!

Are we to assume that diapers don't contain materials that are hazardous? I think the manufacturers certainly want us to think so, but on close inspection of today's modern diaper... I was a bit suspicious of the construction. The most obvious ingredient that warrants explanation are those tiny gel beads inside today's disposable diaper that soaks up liquid unlike anything nature invented and hardens into a firm, bulky mass. My cousin-in-law uses this reaction as an indicator that it's time for a diaper change.

After much digging, I have found that the substance is called Sodium Polyacrylate. Is there an MSDS sheet for Sodium Polyacrylate? There sure is, and here's a bit of what is contained on that sheet:

Hazard Identification
May be harmful if swallowed. May cause irritation. Avoid breathing vapors, or dusts. Use with adequate ventilation. Avoid contact with eyes, skin, and clothes. Wash thoroughly after handling.

First Aid Measures

FIRST AID: SKIN: Remove contaminated clothing. Wash exposed area with soap and water. if irritation persists, seek medical attention.

EYES: Wash eyes with plenty of water for at least 15 minutes, lifting lids occasionally. Seek Medical Aid.

INHALATION: Remove to fresh air. If not breathing, give artificial respiration. If breathing is difficult, give oxygen

INGESTION: If swallowed, induce vomiting immediately after giving two glasses of water. Never give anything by mouth to an unconscious person.

So if there's an MSDS sheet for Sodium Polyacrylate, and it's in the Diapers, why aren't these ingredients and their warnings listed on the packaging? How are diaper manufacturers getting away with not telling us about hazardous materials in the diapers?



When I was researching this chemical, one chemist remarked that,

"by definition, it's nontoxic. Pretty damned unhealthy to eat, though". 

Perhaps that is to mean that provided it's sealed within the diaper it's harmless? The same chemist goes on to say that as someone who likes kids he wasn't concerned about this chemical being in diapers because,

"what kid is in the habit of eating his diapers and has the physical strength to tear one open"?

Well to that, I would turn around and ask what happens if  (and when) a flawed diaper bursts as it is unfolded due to a faulty seam? They have been known to do this, and frequently! This stuff then leaks all over your baby, who of course rubs his little hands in it then shoves his fist into his mouth! Even worse, how would you even know what to do about it... you haven't been told what it is, what to do about it, or even that it's in your diapers!

In the same article a chemist raises the point that cloth diapers produce ammonia which indeed is toxic, but I argue that it's not the same thing. Our bodies produce ammonia naturally as a waste breakdown bi-product which means we are used to some exposure to it. We do not produce Sodium Polyacrylate.

I'm no crazy tree-hugging fanatic either. I'm an average late 30's first time mom who has adopted some green ideals because they make sense financially and  are better for my family's health. I chose cloth diapers because I wanted to save money and reduce the level of exposure my son has to potentially harmful substances. I'm writing this article because I am genuinely unnerved after learning about this in a recent CBC news article. I used disposables the first week my son was born when we were stuck in a hospital room for 5 days, and I didn't know this stuff was in the diapers I was putting on him in his first year of life.

Had we known what was in those diapers, we would have used cloth from day one no matter how inconvenient it was for my husband to run home to do the laundry every other day!

References

http://www.cbc.ca/news/health/story/2010/05/28/f-disposable-diapers.html
http://www.sciencestuff.com/msds/C2688.html
http://msgboard.snopes.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=76;t=000993;p=1

Type of Diaper: 

Fitted

Average Unit Cost: 

Costs vary as follows:

Cotton:

Newborn Size (6-12 lbs)	Small Size (8-20 lbs)	Large Size (20-35 lbs)	Toddler Size (35-45 lbs)
$10.75 each (unbleached) $13.75 each (organic) $11.25 each (colours)	$11.75 each (unbleached) $14.75 each (organic) $12.25 each (colours)	$12.25 each (unbleached) $15.50 each (organic) $12.75 each (colours)	$13.50 each (unbleached) $17.25 each (organic)

Bamboo:

Newborn Size (6-12 lbs)	Small Size (8-20 lbs)	Large Size (20-35 lbs)	Toddler Size (35-45 lbs)
$13.25 each (unbleached)	$14.25 each (unbleached)	$14.75 each (unbleached)	$16.50 each (unbleached)

Suggested Best Uses: 

As a diaper, specifically for heavy wetting situations (really great as an overnight diaper).

Availability:

Unbleached variations are a common item carried in most specialty diaper shops. Colour varieties are harder to find.

Sandy's^TM Diaper by Mother-ease

How It Works

At first glance, the Sandy's Diaper by Mother-ease doesn't look like anything special, and might even turn some people off with its appearance. Although the colour varieties are cute (if not somewhat pointless since they should never be visable with a cover on), the overall shape of the diaper is unappealling. Looks aside though, when you try one of these diapers you will absolutely fall in love with them. They are probably one of the most comfy diapers on your baby because the elastic isn't tight and really stretches, and the bamboo variety in particular stays velvety soft. More importantly, they soak up an amazing amount of liquid and I have yet to have a leak from one of these diapers.
The diaper goes on your baby very easily using 2 rows of adjustable snaps, one row at the hip and the other at the waistline. There is a small amount of adjustability in each size so you should always have a perfect fit on your baby when using the appropriate sized diaper.

Best Features

Hands-down the best features about these diapers is their fit, feel and absorbancy. I keep a few of these on hand for night-time because I want my little guy to be as comfy as possible overnight when sleep periods are longer and bum changes less frequent than during the day. They are super easy to put on, and work with any kind of cover you like. I use them in combination with both Wool Soakers/Longies and regular covers (eg. Thirsties Duo Wraps).
There is an added lining of material sewn in between the inner and outer layer which accounts for the increadible amount of liquid that these diapers hold, but if you find you need even more absorbancy you can easily throw in a hemp liner or two and still not worry about leaks.

What Could Be Better About This Product

There are two things that I feel could be improved with these diapers.
First, I found the cotton varieties to be very scratchy when washed properly. Since you can't use fabric softeners and the detergents you use are free of any fabric-treatments, the cotton terry can become very stiff when washed under these conditions. I chose against buying the cotton varieties because in my trial program they had a Sandy's Cotton diaper. I almost didn't buy any of these diapers at all until the lady at my favorite Diaper Shop suggested I try the Bamboo (which seem only to get softer with each wash).
Second is the number of size variations. Four sizes can get very expensive if you use these diapers exclusively. The price of them is pretty close to what I paid for my One-Size Pocket Diapers (which I don't have to buy covers for), making them one of the most expensive cloth diapers on the market. I wish they would experiment with more snaps to reduce the size varieties even down two two versus four. Until then, frugal cloth diaperers like myself will only use these for certain situations that call for extra absorbancy.

References & More Information

Mother-ease Official Website: http://www.mother-ease.com