January's Spotlight Mom

Name: Shannon
Hometown: Richmond, VA
Children: Jess (8), Emmy (2), Bri (10 weeks – pictured)
Occupation: HR Specialist

Why do you use cloth? I had never cloth diapered before and I really didn’t think we would have… until circumstances changed. I looked into it many times but never did anything to make the move until we had our third daughter, Bri, who had diaper rash and was allergic to the disposables. So we tried cloth diapers and within 24 hours her bum looked so much better. We have been using them ever since!

What is the one thing you could watch your baby do forever? Sleep! I have so many pictures of my kids sleeping.

What is the best parenting advice you ever received?Just be the best mom you can be!

What is your absolute favorite cloth diaper brand and why?We really don’t have a favorite brand yet because we are still searching for that perfect one (Ed. note: Shannon has been using cloth diapers for just three weeks – way to go mama!). It may take us a little while to find that right diaper.

What is the strangest comment you’ve received from someone who found out you cloth diapered your baby? I haven’t received any yet because we just started. However my husband is on board and that is all that matters.

What is your favorite guilty pleasure? Playing on the computer and working on my blog.

Putting Rockin' Green Cloth Diaper Detergent to the Test

As a detergent manufacturer, I have a little bit of a dirty secret. You may find it a bit shocking to find me in the aisle of the grocery store buying detergent. My laundry room is littered with detergent boxes, bags and bottles. All with someone else's name on them. The reason behind it is simple. The only way that I could make a better detergent, is to test everything else that is on the market. And find out why it works...or in most cases why it doesn't. In a recent testing round I did wash after wash with some of the "other guys" cloth diaper safe, clean rinsing formulas and was shocked at the amount of bubbles that were produced. I was even more shocked, when I had to do 2, 3, 4 plus rinses to get everything out of my washer. One popular brand in particular, I had to do several empty washes just to get the foam out of my machine! Which was what inspired me to create this video.

When you are washing clothes, soap buildup isn’t that big of an issue. If you do a load of towels with no soap, chances are you will have a washer full of suds. Towels lose absorbency over time because of detergent buildup, but most people just assume this is normal and replace towels every few years because they stop holding water.

But washing diapers is a whole new ballgame, and buildup can really mess up your diapers. The more rinses you have to do, the higher your water bill and the more wear and tear on your diapers and washer. All of the suds and such are gone from Rockin’ Green in the first rinse, because it was designed to have just enough for cloth diapers and nothing more. We aren't a clothing detergent that just happens to be OK for diapers, Rockin' Green was created for the soul purpose of washing diapers. Though, it will really really rock a load of towels or baby clothes...

By Kim- Owner and Creator of Rockin' Green

Dads and Dipes: The Art of Persuasion

I’ve always wanted to cloth diaper because I wanted to help save the planet. However, my husband hasn’t always shared my enthusiasm for environmentalism; I knew I’d need my best persuasion skills to get him on board. Just in case my skills didn’t cut it and cloth diapers went over like recycling, I was fully prepared to play the “I’m pregnant! Do what I want!” card. I figured if it came down to it, I would take on the brunt of the responsibility myself until I could wrangle him into doing them too.

Since I didn’t actually want all of the diaper responsibility for our upcoming little bundle of joy, I carefully planned my strategy for getting him to see how wonderful cloth diapering could be. I decided my best bet was to go for maximum impact right away and tell him how it would improve our bank account.

I initially approached the topic armed with lots of financial research. To my surprise, our first discussion about cloth diapers didn’t even start with the questions I expected, (like, how much will it cost?) To my benefit, he had no experience with any diapers, let alone cloth, so he mainly wanted to know what would be involved. I explained that it would require us to do more laundry, but they would be so much better for the baby, our bank account, and the planet.

The first time we talked about cloth diapers, I had very little understanding of modern cloth diapers, but I did the best I could to explain prefolds, covers, and laundering methods. In hindsight, I really am surprised he was willing to listen to me at all since I didn’t even try to win him over with the easiest types of cloth diapers!

He asked me to do more research and give him details. So, I learned all I could about all-in-ones, all-in-twos, fitteds, one-size diapers, detergents, wet bags, where to buy diapers, etc. While I was spending all this time doing internet research, fate was smiling on me and making my persuasion job a lot easier. Our friends started cloth diapering!

About the same time I was feeling ready to bring them up again, my husband comes home from work and says, “Bill and Jacqui are cloth diapering. If Bill can handle it, then I’m sure I can.” It was that simple. He was willing to cloth diaper. It just became a matter of what kind and how many. I’ve always known the best way to get my husband to do something, is to convince him that another guy will do it too. I just never imagined that this strategy would work for cloth diapering. (In case you are wondering, we bought the same diapers and the same number that Bill and Jacqui did.)

If your husband needs a little convincing from another guy, I’m willing to lend you my husband. He’s now a bona fide cloth diaper enthusiast. He’s helped me diaper AND launder from day one. He loves them and feels just as good about our decision to cloth diaper as I do.

I will also say I am extremely proud of my husband. Cloth diapering has had its challenges and he’s been willing to tackle them all with me. In fact, he probably does the dirty diaper laundry more than I do! ☺

By Angie L.

Super Bowl Coupon Savings- Valid 2/6 & 2/7

Stock up on some cloth diaper fluff with our Super Bowl Coupons!

2 coupons to choose from at any of our DiaperShops.com stores!

Kelly's Closet, FuzziBunz Online, One Size Diaper Store, Happy Heiny's Online, or Bulk Cloth Diaper.

Take $7 off an order of $120 or more with discount code TOUCHDOWN

Take $3 off an order of $60 or more with discount code FIELDGOAL

Sorry, no previous or pending orders discounted. No exceptions. Limit 1 code per order. Limit 1 use per coupon. Valid 2/6 & 2/7 only.

Remember- Free shipping on orders $49 or more at our flagship store, Kelly's Closet, with over 400+ items to choose from.

Free shipping on ANY SIZE order at our sister stores!

Fluff Friday 65

A big thank you to Kim of Rockin' Green for sponsoring our Fluff Friday 65! Stay tuned for a great blog & video post about Rockin' Green next week.

Fluff Friday:
2 bags of Rockin' Green Cloth Diaper Detergent

Visit our Rockin' Green product page and let us know what scent you would like to try (or have tried) AND if you could create a scent what would it be. Your comment MUST have both the scent you would like to try AND a suggestion of a new scent in the same comment. You should leave your comment before Thursday, February 11th at 7pm EST. (You can only comment ONCE PER GIVEAWAY, NOT PER DAY.)

Other ways to enter:

1. Become a follower of Rockin' Green on twitter. Come back to the blog and comment to let us know you are following Rockin'Green AND put your twitter id.
2. Become a fan of Rockin' Green on Facebook. Come back and comment that you are now Rockin' Green facebook fan.
3. Being a follower of our blog or subscribing to our blog, gives you one extra comment PER GIVEAWAY, NOT PER DAY. Simply post a comment saying that you are a follower.
4. Commenting in other posts during the week will give you ONE EXTRA comment PER EACH comment that you make. Simply post a comment on this one saying the title of the post where you wrote your comment. So, what are you waiting for?? Participating in other posts pays off!!!
5. Advertising the giveaway in a forum or other blog gives you ONE extra comment PER GIVEAWAY, NOT PER DAY. Simply post a comment saying that you are a advertising and where.
6. Using our button on your blog (or starting to) gives you one extra comment PER GIVEAWAY, NOT PER DAY. Simply post a comment saying that you are using it and where.
7. Being a fan of our Facebook group gives you one extra comment PER GIVEAWAY, NOT PER DAY. Simply post a comment saying that you are a Facebook fan.
   
8. Being a follower on Twitter gives you one extra comment PER GIVEAWAY, NOT PER DAY. Simply post a comment saying that you are a follower and your Twitter ID.
9. One entry for signing up for our newsletter at Kelly's Closet. Post a comment when you sign up or if you are already signed up.
10. Tweet @diapershops fluff friday @rockingreensoap #clothdiapers giveaway Enter at http://www.theclothdiaperwhisperer.com/ . Then come back and comment that you tweeted.
11. Tweet any unique tweet with @diapershops #clothdiapers. Cut and paste your tweet and post as a comment. You can get 1 entry for EVERY unique tweet!
12. Being an affiliate of Kelly's Closet. Please post your affiliate id in your comment.
13. Place an order at any DiaperShops store between 2/5-2/11. Post your order # and order date in the comments.
14. Leave a product review at Kelly's Closet and return to the blog and comment which product you reviewed.

Have questions?? Visit our FAQ's.

How? We will draw one winner randomly with an "Online Number Generator" and will make a post with the winner on Friday, February 12th. It is the responsibility of the winner to contact us to claim their prize.

Who can participate? US Residents are welcome!

Important note about the winner: If we haven't heard from the winner by the closing time of next week's giveaway, we will choose another winner that will be published TOGETHER with next week's winner.

Good luck, and don’t forget to tell all your family and friends about the giveaway! In case that you don't win, what a better person to win than a friend of yours!!

Fluff Friday 64 Winner!

This week's Fluff Friday winner is: eidolons!

She will receive:
2 - BabyKicks One Size Bumboo Diapers with Joey Bunz insert

CONGRATULATIONS!!!!!! Please, contact us ASAP so we can get your winnings out to you!!!

Cloth Diapering Gone Awry

When I first informed my family I would be using cloth diapers on my daughter, they were all very supportive. My mom even drove more than 2 hours with me to the closest brick and mortar store which carries cloth diapers so I could check them out in person before deciding to buy. When my daughter was a newborn, we used mainly Kissavlus Fitted Diapers in Size 0 with Thirsties Diaper Covers during the day and bumGenius One Size 3.0 pocket diapers at night.

As soon as I put that first cloth diaper on her, I was hooked, as was my husband. My parents were equally impressed and we couldn't get enough of her cute, fluffy butt! We had no issues with leaks, blow-outs, etc. and couldn't believe how easy they were to use. However, that hasn't always been the case for Kendall's other caretakers - my mom and daycare!

A few months after my daughter was born, my husband and I decided it was time for a date night. My parents came over to baby-sit (certainly not a chore in their minds!). We laid out all the cloth diapering supplies, instructed my mom in which diapers to use when and left. When I arrived home that evening, my daughter was sleeping soundly in her crib. My parents said they'd had no issues with diapers or otherwise and went home. Little did I know what I would find when she woke up later that night.

When Kendall awoke for her early morning feeding, I laid her on the changing table and unsnapped her pajamas. Her bumGenius diaper looked a little larger than usual, and I noticed the velcro tabs weren't quite as tight as I normally put them. I was surprised there weren't any leaks, as her legs were still pretty skinny and she was only about 10 pounds, but when I opened the tabs, I discovered my mom had inadvertently used the bumGenius pocket diaper as a diaper cover over the Kissaluvs Fitted diaper! Not only that, but the Kissaluvs fitted was on inside out! No wonder there were no leaks; she was certainly protected! How my mom was able to get the Kissaluvs fitted snapped on the inside is a mystery to me! My husband and I got a good laugh.

Eventually I went back to work when Kendall was 3 months old. We were fortunate to find a daycare that would continue to cloth diaper her. During her first week, there was a bit of a learning curve with the diapers, and each night I couldn't wait to see what would happen next with the diapers. Usually the diapers are just on a bit looser than I would prefer, but one night, Kendall's bottom felt a little funny - it turns out, her diaper was on backward! How they managed to get her bumGenius diapers fastened in the back on a wiggly 3-month old, I'll never know!

After some careful guidance for Kendall's grandmother and daycare providers, we haven't had any other wacky diaper applications. However, with each misstep, we've never had a leak! Now, if only I could get the diapers to wash themselves....

By Elisabeth M.