Just as most cloth diapering people, I occasionally use disposable diapers. Since plastics and the chemicals found in disposable diapers are a concern for me, I do try to look for diapers that contain as few of those chemicals as possible.

Over the past few months, I’ve tried diapers such as, Nature Babycare, gDiapers with gRefills, Moltex OKO, Seventh Generation and PC Green. With every brand of these “eco” diapers, I found something lacking. Then I discovered Broody Chick diapers, the first 100% compostable diaper on the market. So far this diaper is my favourite disposable diaper.

When I received the diapers in the mail, I was very surprised by the packaging.  The diapers are sold in a cardboard box which I have never seen before.  I’m used to seeing disposable diapers in plastic or compostable bags.  The other thing that surprised me was the expiry date.  It makes me think that there’s something more natural in those diapers.  Unfortunately, I do not know all the details of the components making up this diaper.

What I like about this diaper:
1. Chlorine free
2. More “breathable” than diapers with plastic components
3. Fragrance free
4. Diaper and packaging are fully compostable
5. Created by a Canadian mom
6. The diaper does not smell as bad as other disposable diapers when dirty. Whenever my daughter wore disposable diapers in the past and peed in them, I thought she pooped the smell was so bad. I suspect that those who use disposables all the time are used to that smell, but to me that smell is quite strong.
7. No leaks even overnight.
8. No marketing on the diaper itself.

What I don’t like about this diaper:
1. The tabs are not stretchy. Even though I did get used to this, I still hope they will change those tabs.
2. Contains SAP (Super Absorbent Polymers)
3. Cost – I can’t find the diaper locally, so I have to pay to get it shipped from British Columbia

Overall, I really like this diaper and I even ended up using it for night-time for a bit because my daughter was such a heavy wetter at night that the soaking wet cloth diapers affected her sleep. Since last night, I’m back to cloth though because she wets her diapers a lot less now at night than she used to.

If you’re interested in purchasing this product, please check them out at the Ecobotts store. In case you decide to purchase from Ecobotts, please check their Facebook fan page for coupon codes.

I have not been paid to write this review. The Broody Chick diapers were purchased by me.

Please see the results of the survey below.  Thank you everyone for taking the time to fill it out!  If you would like further information regarding the survey, please do not hesitate to contact me.

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1. How long have you been using cloth diapers?
Answers varied from around 1 month up to 18 years.

2. How many children have you cloth diapered?
Most said 1.  The highest number of cloth diapered children was 6.

3. Have your family and friends been supportive?
Yes: 84%
No: 16%

4. What was your first cloth diaper purchase and why?
The top 5 diapers:
1. Prefolds
2. BumGenius
3. FuzziBunz
4. Happy Heinys
5. gDiapers

The reasons included, cost (Prefolds), convenience and/or recommendations.

5. Which type of cloth diapers is your favorite?
Top 5:
1. Pocket
2. Fitteds
3. AIO
4. Prefolds
5. AI2

6. How many cloth diapers do you own?
1-5: 0%
6-10: 1%
11-15: 6%
16-20: 8%
21-25: 17%
26-30: 18%
31-35: 6%
36-40: 9%
More than 40: 35%

7. How did you acquire most of your cloth diapers?
Most people bought the diapers themselves. A few people made them, received them as gifts, traded them or won them in giveaways.   A couple of people also mentioned Miracle Diapers as the source.

8. What are your top 5 favourite diapers?
Top 10 answers:
1. Prefolds
2. FuzziBunz
3. BumGenius
4. Thirsties
5. Goodmama
6. Happy Heinys
7. BSRB (Bagshot Row Bamboo)
8. GroBaby
9. GAD (Green Acre Designs)
10. Smartipants

9. If you use pocket or AIO diapers, which of the following do you prefer as the inside lining?
Top 5:
1. Microfleece
2. Bamboo Velour
3. Suedecloth
4. Bamboo Fleece
5. Cotton Fleece

10. What type of fastening do you prefer?
Snaps: 66%
Velcro/Aplix: 21%
Snappi: 12%
Pins: 1%

11. Why have you decided to cloth diaper?
Top 5:
1. To save money
2. For environmental reasons
3. Chemicals in disposables are a concern
4. Allergies to disposables
5. Cloth diapers are cute

12. What laundry detergent do you use for washing cloth diapers?
Top 10:
1. Rockin’ Green Soap (This is by far the most popular detergent among those who filled out the survey).
2. Charlie’s Soap
3. Tide
4. Country Save
5. Purex
6. Soapnuts
7. All (Free and Clear)
8. Crunchy Clean
9. Nature Clean
10. Arm & Hammer

13. What’s your favourite diaper rash cream?
Top 5:
1. Burt’s Bees
2. California Baby
3. Northern Essence
4. Lanolin
5. Weleda

Quite a few people said they haven’t needed any with cloth diapers.

14. What is the biggest challenge you encountered with cloth diapering?
- Finding the right detergent that wouldn’t cause rashes and/or detergent build-up
- Initial cost
- Night-time cloth diapering
- Smell of dirty diapers (once babies/toddlers start eating more)
- Ammonia build-up
- Figuring out a good washing routine
- Travelling with cloth diapers

Some answers that I wanted you to see:
“I have to handwash all my diapers nightly because we don’t have a W/D”.

“Honestly, not getting angry with people at the grocery store with cases of disposables in their cart!!! We just want to yell at them! It is so much more cost effective to cloth diaper, just as easy and you aren’t ruining the environment for the child you obviously have!”

“Hmmmm, when to stop buying?  Lol. Finding the perfect fitted.“

“My toddler started leaking at night when he was about a year old. No number of doublers solved the problem…I used disposables at night for several months…and then I tried wool longies and it solved the problem!
I started getting smelly dipes when I used AIOs for my toddler. I think AIOs are great for little ones (who don’t pee much, don’t eat solids, and get changes really frequently) but I don’t like how they turn out for older kids. I also found that the stink was worse with synthetic fabrics–so even though I started with a full stash of microfleece inners/microfiber cores, I’ve slowly been replacing them with hemp, bamboo, and cotton. It seems to come cleaner and be less susceptible to the stink!!”

“My boyfriends family wouldn’t even try to learn, and then they were always putting sposies on him when he was there, and that kind of felt like a slap in the face, that they didn’t respect our decision”.

“rash overnights on my toddler.  Her urine is just too acidic to be sitting in any cloth diaper for more than 3 hours.  I’ve tried everything from creams to liners, to different fabrics, stripping, baking soda in pockets, wool vs. PUL vs. fleece covers…everything; and nothing seems to help but a disposable and some cream for overnights.”

“My husband. He hates them”.

“Getting the heavy-duty diaper cream we use out of the microfleece liners. Due to my son’s medical condition, not using cream isn’t an option, and getting that stuff out is almost impossible!”

“Buying too many, LOL. My addiction makes me think I won’t save any money, although I still will even with diapering costs. Plus I can use them for my next kids! “

15. Do you ever use disposable diapers?
YES: 75%
NO: 25%

What I found interesting is that most people who said “no” also chose “Allergies to Disposable Diapers” as one of the answers to question #11.

16. If you answered yes to the above question, which brand(s) do you use?
Top 10:
1. Pampers (This was by far the most popular brand).
2. Huggies (Regular)
3. Huggies (Pure and Natural)
4. gDiapers with gRefills
5. Seventh Generation
6. Kirkland/Costco
7. Nature Babycare
8. Target Brand
9. Luvs
10. President’s Choice (PC) Green Diapers

17. When you shop for cloth diapers, which of the following matters to you in a baby store?
Top 10:
1. Low price
2. Great customer service
3. Low shipping cost
4. Friendly store owner(s)
5. Large selection of cloth diapers
6. Fast shipping
7. Availability of American/Canadian cloth diapers
8. A lot of cloth diapering information on the store’s website
9. Large selection of cloth diapering accessories
10. Large inventory

Yesterday, I received a blog award from The Cloth Diaper Report. It’s wonderful to hear that a great blogger like Emi from The Cloth Diaper Report enjoys reading my blog.  Thank you so much Emi!

The Best Blog Award rules are:
To accept the award, post it on your blog together with the name of the person who gave it to you and his/her link. Pass it on to 15 other blogs you have recently discovered and think are great! Remember to contact the blogs you choose!

1. The Cloth Diaper Report

2. Newly Wed, Newly Bred!

3. The Modish Mamma

4. Domestic Dork

5. That Girl Blogs

6. Grudgemom

7. Mama Notes

8. My Green Family

9. Happy Green Babies

10. All About Cub

11. The Eco Chic

12. thinkPINK

13. The Cloth Diaper Experiment

14. Mama Rose

15. Natural Mommie

Recently, I re-designed my bamboo fleece inserts for gDiapers.  The original inserts had two rectangular doublers of the same size attached at one end.  I found this a little too bulky for walking toddlers.

So, in order to remove some bulk and to make walking a little easier, I decided to make the second doubler a contour one.  The contour doubler can be either attached at both ends or it can be snapped in.  The snap-in version, allows for more thorough cleaning and faster drying.

The new insert is seven layers thick which should be enough for most babies.  If you have a heavy wetter, then another layer of bamboo fleece could be added.  If you have a light wetter and would prefer less bulk, the insert can be made thinner.

If you’re interested in giving this insert a try, they are available at the Doublers and Wipes Etsy shop.

Today, I thought I would change the topic again for those who are sick of hearing and/or reading about cloth or disposable diapers.

In this post, I wanted to tell you about a very talented artist and jewellery designer from beautiful Northern Ontario.  Her name is Julie and here are a few examples of her wonderful artwork:

To find out more about Julie of Wabi Brook Studio and her work, please visit the following sites:

• Website: http://wabibrookstudio.com
• Blog:  http://wabibrookstudio.blogspot.com
• Twitter: http://twitter.com/wabibrookstudio
• iCraft: http://icraft.ca/wabibrookstudio
• Etsy: http://www.wabibrookstudio.etsy.com