Buttons Cloth Diaper Review (and a Giveaway)

So everyone knows I have a love affair with all in two's.  Well the love definitely extended to Buttons cloth diapers.  I was sent a Buttons cloth diaper shell and a daytime small insert and a daytime and nighttime doubler so I could use it with both kiddos to review.  And it met and exceeded all my expectations.

The company says the diaper will fit 9-35 pounds and I totally buy this.  It worked well on Owl from the beginning.  I started cloth diapering him at a week old and he weighed just under nine pounds and it was slightly big but by two weeks and just over nine pounds it fit him well.  It fits Destructo now at 32 pounds and 40 inches.

The inserts are thick and very soft.  They worked even as an over night diaper for Destructo so are very absorbent.  The covers can be wiped clean if the diaper is just a very wet diaper.  This diaper system required less start up expense since you can get buy with less covers since they can be reused.  The diapers have double gussets around the legs to help contain the poop better.  And trust me this comes in handy with newborn breastfed poop.

Info via Buttons

All in twos have all the convenience of all in ones such as not having to stuff diapers, taking up less room in a diaper bag, and being less bulky on baby.  But they also have the added benefits of being a less expensive system and being much faster drying since they are separate components.

He refused to stop jumping on his bed so I could get a good picture

Overall I highly recommend this diaper to my readers.  They have an adorable fire truck and barn yard design which I love but also really bright happy solid color covers.  It is an awesome system and works well for young infants as well as toddlers.  So if you are in the market for a good all in two, be sure to check it out.  Or you can enter below to win a cover, daytime insert, and a doubler.

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A Cloth Diapering Journey (and a Giveaway)

The journey of a lifetime begins with a single step.  The same is true of my cloth diapering journey.  That first step was going to a local cloth diapering store and buying my first diaper.  It was a small blue Bottombumper.  Yeah I learned a valuable lesson with that diaper.  I do not like side snaps whatsoever.  Lesson learned. 

Every part of my cloth diapering journey has been like that.  A step forward and a valuable lesson, tip, or trick learned.  First thing I had to learn was how to prep my diapers.  What lessons did I learn there?  Well that diapers are fairly resilient first of all.  I was terrified I would destroy them by making one mistake.  Well a lot of mistakes later such as forgetting them outside over night while sunning, forgetting them in the washer for a day, or in the case of one blue Happy Heiny letting them hang out under the deck hidden for six months.  It still works to this day.  

The next step of my journey was once Destructo was born and I was learning how to get a good fit on cloth diapers.  My best tip and words of advice is when you think you have the diaper on tight enough, put it on tighter.  The red marks won't actually hurt the baby as much as I used to think they would.   For more tips and tricks I had written in a previous blog post, click here.  Click it.  You know you want to.

So finally my diapers are prepped and I have put my first one on my kiddo.  Well the next logical step is to fall in love with a totally different type of diaper than I currently own.  WHAT you say?  Yeah.  I confess it.  I am in love with hybrids.  I had mostly pocket diapers as this is what my family who cared for Destructo while I worked preferred.  But then for some reason that I still can't remember, I tried the Grovia hybrid.  My mind was blown.

First off with hybrids it takes up far less room in a diaper bag when you are out and about.  When you need an make shift swim diaper, wah lah just unsnap the insert.  You can get by with far less diapers since you can reuse shells if it is just wet diapers.  They are as convenient as all in ones since you don't have to stuff pockets but dry much quicker.

The very first step into cloth diapering.  Maybe this is why he has a fire truck obsession!

A valuable step in my cloth diapering journey was learning to contend with the criticism.  I mean for real whatever poop catcher you use is truly no ones business.  But people like to make things that aren't as main stream their business.  My very favorite criticism is "But I don't want to get poop on my hands."  Yeah you might want to think twice about having kids.  The gross factor is very high with kiddos.  I have been spit up on while changing a poop diaper and then as I got him cleaned up, he peed on me.  The trifecta of nasty.  See this post for more stats and facts to contend with these types of situations.

Things went along swimmingly for six months.  Then one morning I took an overnight diaper off and nearly fell over from the ammonia smell.  That was a huge learning experience.  My top tricks of the trade for nasty ammonia issues rinse all diapers even just pee diapers.  Leave your wet bag open.  Know your water type (and if it is hard water use Calgon.)  Don't use too much soap especially in hard water.  For more info about my wash routine and what I did to conquer ammonia, read here.

Once I got that figured out, the next leap in my journey was figuring out how to deal with my son's recurrent yeast infections.  That boy pooped a billion times a day and kept yeast from getting diaper rash so easily.  I learned that a barrier diaper cream is a necessity.  Coconut oil works wonders but for overnight I preferred Grandma El's.  Sun, drying the diapers on high for short periods of time, and tea tree oil and/or grapefruit seed extract.  You can read more here.

A diaper sprayer is a necessity in my house.  When spraying diapers, put them very low in the toilet to avoid poop water going everywhere.  Oh but once you start spraying diapers, don't hang your wet bag on a door.  Trust me they get heavy.  For more cloth diapering accessories I like, go here.

Overall cloth diapering is a journey of a thousand steps.  I constantly realize better ways to do things and find new diapers I must have or different styles I want to try.  It has also been a fun journey the second time around since Destructo was a skinny chicken legged little dude and Owl is a chunker with chubby legs.  I get to learn a whole new way of getting diapers to fit properly.   Cloth diapering... it's an addiction.

Be sure to enter to win a 100 dollar Kelly's Closet gift card giveaway and hop around to all the other blogs to read the other tips, tricks, and hacks of cloth diapering.

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I am an affiliate blogger for Kelly's Closet. No compensation was received. Affiliate links may be present in this post. Clicking these links doesn't cost you anything more, but helps support this blog and my family. Prizes are sponsored by Kelly's Closet.

Ahhh naptime

Naptime.  Both boys are in there respective rooms.  One asleep, one fighting it but silent save for his elephant lovey making noise as he tosses and turns.  Silence.  SILENCE.  If you have ever met Captain Destructo you know he is never silent.  Or quiet.  Or even just moderately noisy.  He is noisy with a capital N.  So it is only quiet up in here (yes I sang that part) when he is asleep.  

So I sit here staring at the wall.  I can hear the birds.  I can hear the washer washing my dirty diapers.  And boy are there a lot of diapers to wash.  Every other day a full load.  I forgot how many diapers you change with a newbie.  I can hear car doors slamming, my dogs collar jangling, and the ocean sounds from Owl's sound machine.  So quiet.

You would think I would be productive in this time.  My kitchen is a mess.  I have two baskets of laundry folded to be put away.  You know before Destructo dumps them out and I have to fold them again.  Heck my garden could desparately use weeding.  But it is silent.  I like silence.

I think the quiet moments are what I miss most about the child free life.  Maybe the only thing other than peeing alone and the ease with which you can leave the house that I truly miss.  I know hear airplanes from the local air show flying overhead and mowers mowing the house across the road's lawn.  But the quietness is my downfall.  My bed starts beckoning for a power nap when the house gets quiet.  And my hubby wonders why I don't get anything done.  I guess it is because it is the one time of day I can think.  This is also the reason I stay up until 11 or later and need said power nap.  

But as much as I enjoy the silence, the sounds that fill the rest of the days are worth it (most days haha.)  Destructo laughing, teasing my hubby, singing songs (with half the words incorrect.)  Owl giggling, babbling to anyone who cares to glance his way.  The noise that comes from the toy on the bouncy seat.  It plays a song.  So annoying but awesome because my baby can pull the toy and make it make that sound and that means he is developing on time.  

The swing plays fake bird sounds as the mobile turns.  I love it because it makes Owl so incredibly happy to look at that mobile and isn't that what we all want for our kids?  Happiness?  Even if some days hearing the stupid fake birds chirp makes me crazy.

There is always fire truck noises here whether from a toy or from a little boy.  I think he is nearly as loud as an actual fire truck.  It is so obnoxious.  But on the other hand, maybe I should just be thankful that my little boy is passionate about things.  Because being passionate about things is a great trait to have when you grow up.

Even the sound that I dread.  That of a child waking me from my sleep to help them, feed them, comfort them.  You know what?  They are only going to be this young once.  They are only going to need me this much once.  I will never be this needed again.  I will never be this loved.  And that is what keeps me going on the days when the noise is deafening not only physically but also mentally.  My children will never be this young again.

Top Ten Most Popular Blog Posts

So in case you guys ever wondered what my most popular blog posts are here they are in most page views order.  Okay so no one ever wondered this but me but whatever.  And I have been blogging here for nearly two years.  Crazy how fast time flies by.

1)  Great Car Seat Safety Blog Post

2)  Great Toddler Activity Blog Post

3)  Top Ten Things I Wish I had Known as a New Breastfeeding Mom

4)  The Bare Essentials Baby Registry

5)  What Traits make a Spirited Child "Spirited"?

6)  Pro-Breastfeeding Post from the Alpha Parent

7)  My Mastitis Experience more Aptly Named the time I was hit by a double decker bus

8)  Favorite Things Giveaway

9)  Check out my Guest Post!

10)  What I would put on a Cloth Diaper Registry

Well in a way that is depressing.  One is a giveaway post, three are just other blog posts I found interesting and shared, and one was a guest post for another blog.  Oh well.  I think I will do another blog post about my favorite ten blog posts I have ever written.

Stay tuned.  Next post is a Buttons diaper review and giveaway!

My Love Affair with All in Two's

When I was a newbie to cloth diapering and still in the researching stage, I decided to go with pocket diapers.  I preferred all in ones for the easy factor, but they are typically pricier so I went with the middle ground route.  I got a full stash of pockets.  They go on like a disposable diaper.  I could stuff them ahead of time so that they were ready for caregivers.  They are a bit cheaper than all in ones.  You have the flexibility to stuff them more or less depending on what your baby needs.  And on and on and on.

What I didn't account for was how much I was going to like all in two's.  Well how did you even try an all in two if you had a full stash of pockets you might ask?  I have no clue.  I think it was the glowing adorableness that is a Grovia owl diaper.

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I mean come on owls are adorable with their big eyes and hooty hoot self's.  

So I think what happened was I was "window" shopping at where else but  and saw the Grovia owl diaper and was like huh what a cool idea of being able to reuse the shell.  Hmm even though I have a full stash of diapers more diapers would be nice.  I could wash every third day and my diapers would get less wear therefore extending their life.  Must have the all in two's.  So a full stash of Grovias quickly wound up in my mailbox.  Ooops.

If you are curious about these Grovias I speak of, you can read the full review here.  I can say I would really like to try Best Bottoms sometime since you can wipe out those shells and reuse them whereas Grovias are a mesh type material and if they get poop on them, have to be washed.

Okay now that I have come clean with  my shopping addiction, you might ask why I like all in two's.

They are so easy.  You have a shell and an insert.  Snap in the insert and you have a diaper all ready.  No stuffing.  They are less bulky than pocket diapers which is nice to get pants to fit when you have a chunker.

Look at that chunker

They also take up far less room in your diaper bag.  You can get by with less diapers since you can reuse the shells for wet diapers.  They dry faster than all in ones but are as convenient as an all in one.  Most of them have hybrid options so you can use a disposable insert if you need to.  Overall I just really like this diapering system.  So their you have it.  My love affair with all in two's.  They are the first diaper I reach for and I get upset when I run out of inserts and have to resort to pockets.  I will say though that with Destructo they never worked for overnight as I couldn't get them absorbent enough even with the boosters in them.

If you have any interest in all in two's, click on the Kelly's Closet banner below and get shopping.  You will quickly be sucked into my torrid love affair and feel like you are cheating on your current diaper stash.