Where To Buy Cloth Diapers

After being a dedicated Pampers user for several years, I discovered cloth diapers and haven't looked back. I didn't really know how easy cloth diapers could be nor how well they could work (in our case better than disposables). You can read about some of my experiences and discoveries with cloth diapers here. I also wrote a quick review for gDiapers here; gDiapers are a hybrid diaper: part cloth and part disposable (and in this case flushable or compostable also).

Now I would like to recommend my favorite places for buying cloth diapers. Jillian's Drawers was where I bought my first cloth diapers. I tried cloth diapers for $10 (no risk, all new diapers) with their Changing Diapers, Changing Minds Program. I would highly recommend this program as well as this store. Their website also gives a thorough description of each diaper and their personal experience with the diaper, which is helpful when you are not familiar with cloth diapers. Jillian's Drawer's customer service is above and beyond, and they are more than willing to answer all the silly questions moms new to cloth diapering have.

I have also purchased diapers from Nicki's Diapers. She has a wonderful selection and offers free shipping on all diaper covers and pocket diapers. Additionally, I really appreciated that her shipping prices for other items are based on actual shipping costs.

Speaking of free shipping, Abby's Lane offers free shipping on ALL items to an address within the U.S. And she ships quickly. Her selection is not quite as big as the others, but she carries the most popular diapers.

I have also purchased cloth diapers from diapers.com, but their selection is limited. Target is now carrying some popular cloth diapers online (bumGenius and Fuzzi Bunz plus others), and I believe in a few select stores. Note: I would definitely recommend Chinese Prefolds or Indian Prefolds over the Gerber diapers sold at Target, although some people do use these successfully.

Occassionally you will find a store that sells cloth diapers locally, but for me (in the midwest) that just wasn't the case. All of the online stores I have listed accept payment with a credit card (types vary) or PayPal. Target doesn't offer PayPal, but does accept gift cards online.

Additionally, amazon.com carries several different types of cloth diapers. If you are interested in purchasing diapers through amazon.com, would you consider starting at my Amazon store, Seasons of Learning. I have picked out the most popular cloth diapers that qualify for Free Super Saver Shipping.

e-mealz Review

I recently tried out e-mealz.com. This is a website that sells weekly meal plans for the main meal of the day. You can choose meal plans that use ingredients from a specific store or according to your dietary needs. I really liked the variety of meal plans that they offered, and that is what made me decide to choose e-mealz originally. The Dave Ramsey endorsement had plenty of sway in convincing my husband it was a good idea to try it also! Basically, you pay $5/month (although you have to pay for three months at a time) and you get a dinner meal plan that includes seven meals for each week. A shopping list is also included.

I really, really liked that the menu and recipes were all on one sheet of paper. The recipes were all fairly easy and the recipe for each meal was included on the same sheet as the menu. It was nice to not have to search here and there for a recipe or flip through several pages -- it was all neatly posted on my refrigerator. I was also very pleased with the numbering system on the grocery list which made it very easy to find the ingredients for a specific meal if I decided to eliminate or double it.

I didn't like that I had to log into the website each week to access my menu. It would be nice if the PDF could be emailed to me each week. I also found that the grocery list made my shopping take longer because of its small font and organization. Although the setup of the shopping list made sense to me before shopping, I found that I could shop easier if I copied it off onto my own list. And sadly, I was disappointed in the cost of the meals. I must make a disclaimer that I am a very frugal shopper and meal planner, and that is perhaps why these meals were too expensive for me. The website (as well as each shopping list) does include approximate prices for each week, if you want to know if it will fit in your budget. I would have liked to see the recipes a little more season appropriate also. For me, I can't imagine using my oven in July to slow cook chicken for 6-8 hours; I try to limit oven use during the hot summers! Additionally, a trial period or the option of paying one month at a time would have been better for us, since I had to pay for the whole three months even though I found it wouldn't work for us after a couple weeks.

I can't give e-mealz a bad review, because I think that it would work well for many people. If you are not in the habit of making a regular meal plan, I think it could help to get you into that habit. However, if you are accustomed to preparing your meals rather inexpensively it might not be a great help to you. If they only had a trial period, I would recommend that everyone give it a try!

bumkins SuperBib

Although the bumkins SuperBib could be used as soon as you start to feed your baby solids, I started using it when my baby began to eat Cheerios and other sorts of food that usually end up in the high chair seat. This bib is made out of a waterproof, lightweight material that does not fade or retain stains and odors. It has a "catch-all pocket" and a generously adjustable Velcro closure. My baby is tiny, and it has always fit him well, and although it appears as if it would fit bigger babies well, I do not have any personal experience. In case you have a larger baby, I did try it on my four year old, and it fit his neck well . . . but it was, however, a little snug on my thirty-four year old husband! The washing instructions for this bib are to hand or machine wash and hang to dry. It also cleans up very well with a washcloth (or a quick rinse in the sink) in between washings, and it dries quickly. It is made of a thin material which makes it nice when you need to pack it into a bag (other bibs take up much more space). Because this bib is more pliable than other waterproof bibs, it appears as if it would be more comfortable to baby, and it is much easier to put on a fidgeting baby who is ready to eat. Unlike the bibs I used four years ago, this bib will not flake off pieces of its waterproof layer, because it has no extra layer -- the material itself is waterproof. It costs about $8 per bib (or less if you buy a 3 pack), which is a little more than I would normally spend for a bib, but I definitely think that it is worth the price. I think that a three pack would be plenty for full time use, and you could easily get by with only two. The only negative things I can come up with are that you need to remember not to put it in the dryer (although I did once accidentally and haven't had any problems), and because it hangs to dry it has a slightly wrinkled appearance after washing. In my opinion, these are pretty trivial cons.

How Long I Have Used It: 6+ months

Biggest Pro: Waterproof with a catch pocket

Biggest Con: A little pricey

My Overall Rating: YYYYY

Update: After using this for 18+ months, I would add that if not cleaned promptly, the white edges do get a little dingy -- not really stained, just not as white as before. I have been rotating two of these bibs for 18 months, 3 meals a day, and that is the worst I can say about it! The pocket actually holds standing liquid in it -- and that seems to happen on a regular basis around here!