Missing a Survey?

Is there a survey on this site that you think we need to add? Email me at paddedtushstats@gmail.com or post a comment anywhere on this blog and I will set up a survey for that diaper ASAP

Thursday, September 29, 2011

Babykicks 3G One Size Pocket Diaper

Image courtesy of www.babykicks.com

Wednesday, September 28, 2011

Giveaway winners!

My apologies for the delay in posting the winners of the giveaways. Now that daughter is home and better, I can get back to tackling PTS work.

Congratulations Debbie M, winner of the Best Bottom Diaper.
Debbie, you have 48 hours to claim your prize.

Thanks again to Best Bottom Diapers for sponsoring the giveaway.

Congrats Libby H, winner of the Softbums Omni!
Libby, you have 48 hours to claim your prize.
Special thanks to Softbums for sponsoring this giveaway.

Congratulaions Michelle B, winner of the Little Boppers keychain. Michelle, you have 48 hours to claim your prize. Thank you Little Boppers for sponsoring this giveaway!
(I am sorry the image is not available. I have tried a bunch of times and for some reason it won't come up!)

Thank you to everyone who entered the giveaways and thank you for your continued support of Padded Tush Stats.

Saturday, September 24, 2011

Fuzzibunz OR Rumparooz giveaway for one lucky winner AND 50% off the book Cloth Diapers for ALL PTS readers!

In celebration of the Padded Tush Stats detailed video and written review of Cloth Diapers: A Hip Mom’s Guide to Cloth Diapering, Kelly Wels has agreed to sponsor an awesome giveaway for your pick of either a Fuzzibunz One Size or Rumparooz One Size diaper, as well as a Hip Mom Tattoo that says, “I’m a Hip Mom and Love Cloth Diapering.” (If you win, you get to pick whether you want the Fuzzibunz or the Rumparooz—and if you want to compare the two you can check out the PTS table here that matches diapers up against one another!).

ALSO, Padded Tush Stats readers get an awesome discount on the book from now through 9/30. You can click here to get the book HALF off! Just use the code TUSH at checkout!!!! HALF OFF people! Stock up to have a nice stash of gifts!
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Giveaway ends  10/15/2011 at 11:59pm PST. Winners are picked via random.org
Any entries submitted after that date will not be considered in the drawing.
Winner will be notified via email and will have 48 hours to claim the prize.
Please fill out the entry form for your chance to WIN. Thanks Kelly Wels!

AND while you are waiting to find out whether or not you have won, check out the book review of Kelly’s new book HERE.

Book Review: “Changing Diapers: The Hip Mom’s Guide to Modern Cloth Diapering”

One of the biggest issues I have struggled with is how to introduce a Mom to cloth diapering. I strongly believe that MOST people out there would end up cloth diapering if they were educated on it or at least gave it a try. I have tried to come up with a perfect Baby Shower gift to introduce cloth diapering, but worry it may appear too pushy to just force a cloth diaper on someone. Plus, if you are wanting them to really try it, you’d need to buy a diaper, wet bag, and a few other things to really have them give it an honest shot. That’s why I think Kelly Wels’ book, Changing Diapers: The Hip Mom’s Guide to Modern Cloth Diapering is a neat idea on what to give a new Mom.

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In this post I am going to give you my take on different aspects of this book.  But first, a video review (what I talk about in the video review is different from what I write about below, so I suggest looking at both):

Video Review


Attitude
“There isn’t a cloth diaper police. You will find whatever diapering system suits you and your baby (whether cloth or disposable) by experiencing diapering firsthand.” (p.9)
I’ll be honest, baby books have been banned from my house. I got tired of feeling like I needed to be on ONE side of some mothering debate. No matter what book I read, I felt like motherhood was polarized—baby wear or baby bucket, babywise or on demand, homemade food or jarred, cry it out or soothe to sleep, cloth diapers or disposables. This book didn’t have that attitude. Wels gave an open tone, making it clear that there are parents out there who might just find that disposable works better. I felt like she spoke kindly and unforceful about it (often I find that cloth diapering advocates can sound like they are preaching a religion. I’ll confess, I may have been that way in the past myself!).


History and Statistics
“The Real Diaper Association reports that an estimated 5 to 10 percent of babies in the US wear cloth diapers at least part-time.” (p. 12)
Wels brings her experience in the cloth diapering industry to give a great historical account, complete with my LOVE….STATS! It was neat to have a background. I think I would rather the section be a little bit farther towards the back of the book. If anyone else is like me, they only give the first third of a book a good, close read, so it would be neat to have a simple guide to cloth diapering in the very beginning. But, nevertheless, this information is so interesting!


Honesty
“Cloth diapers can cost about 6 cents per diaper change, depending on which type of cloth diaper you choose. Disposables, by comparison, cost 36 cents per diaper change according to www.diaperdecisions.com (p. 28).
When I started cloth diapering, I found that it cost quite a bit more than what many of the cloth diapering websites had estimated. I was impressed to see what I feel to be a close-to-honest estimate of what a cloth diaper may cost (don’t get me wrong, you can cut corners by using Swagbucks or flats). I also felt like she was up-front and honest about the leak issues associated with cloth diapers. When I researched cloth, I was under the impression (from numerous sites) that my days of leaks would be over when I cloth diapered, but they had only just begun. Wels outlines what causes the leaks, and also provides some helpful tips on how to fix them (which I wish I would have known back then!).


What causes you to hesitate
“If buying single-use items were truly better for the environment, why do we wash our clothes or dishes after each use? Isn’t it cheaper to just manufacture these products over and over again?” (p. 32)
Wels definitely covers different questions people have had about cloth diapering, including the popular, “Is cloth diapering really helping the environment?” And I think the quote above is a great rebuttal to that. She also covers the convincing the husband topic which, as you guys know, was the toughest part for me.


Lingo-Free Basics
“Today’s cloth diapering world is filled with a maze of terms that can be quite confusing and even downright frightening to a new mom who simply wants to know how to cloth diaper her baby.” (p. 48)
Amen sista! I could not understand the terms at all when I was learning about diapers. I felt like every cloth diaper definition included some random lingo I didn’t get. For example, what exactly is an INSERT? How does that differ from a DOUBLER? Is the insert in addition to what is already in the diaper? Wels clearly outlines these definitions in a lingo-free zone. She has a great section that describes (with illustrations!) what the different terms mean. I also like that on pages 84-86 she outlines exactly what you would need. She also has tips on different issues such as traveling with cloth diapers, cloth diapering twins. I love the simplicity of her advice, and I only take issue with the fact that she says to use “1/4 cup of detergent.” That may be true, but I think it would be nice to clearly indicate that the amount of detergent may need to be a serious tweaking process, especially if someone has hard water, an HE machine, etc. She does indicate that cloth diapering is a process that may need some patience as you work things out, but I would have loved to see that specifically in reference to washing diapers.
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Other Parents
“’I like that my kids’ poop won’t be preserved for 500 years in a landfill. That’s not a legacy I think they would like!’ – V.C., Plattsburg, NY (p. 69)
The book is filled with quotations from other parents about their experiences cloth diapering. Like this one above, that totally made me giggle! You know me, I like to hear the voices of MULTIPLE people when making a decision (which is why my reviews are based on how the diaper worked on several babies, not just one). So I love that 25% of the book (ha, you know I had to drop a stat!) consists of quotes from other people about their experiences. I sometimes wished they were a little shorter or important statements were put in bold, simply because I normally like to read Parenting books with a skim (don’t worry, I didn’t skim this one since I am reviewing it for you!).


Cloth Diaper Resources
“Just be careful not to let overzealous review sites taint your decision. Rather, look at the websites of each brand, talk to trusted sources you know, and test drive a diaper for a day and see what you think.” (p.87-88)
I like how she lists some cloth diaper resources. This was written before the release of Padded Tush Stats, so it is my hope that I would make the list as a valuable resource. But I do feel like it is appropriate and necessary for me to briefly give you my little schpeal on why I think I might be a helpful, unbiased resource for people who want to cloth diaper. My reviews are based on the voices of many, not solely my own. And when I present a review, I do not hold voices back. If someone doesn’t like a diaper, the stats don’t lie. I am also honest when I perform my own reviews (you can see through most of my reviews where in one category or another I will give a low score of a “1”). I also have the attitude that every cloth diaper works well for at least some baby, so it is my aim to help pinpoint WHICH of those babies would work best with that diaper. So I hope my positive tone may not come across as “overzealous", but instead as a fun matchmaker who seeks to pair up a baby with the diaper that will work best for him/her. I also don’t want people looking into cloth diapers to see my site and all my stats and be overwhelmed. I have a “New to Cloth Diapering” page with definitions, as well as some recommendations that I have based on my experience trying MANY different diapers, and on the overall consensus of my survey respondents. I want people to know they can come to my site and at a quick glance, check out my MASTER table to compare how different diapers work with different baby types (chunky, rash prone, heavy wetter, etc). Whew! What a tangent, but I just HAD to get that off my chest. But I LOVE that Kelly shows a wide variety of cloth diaper websites, so that you can look at different places to make an informed decision. She also gives a brief overview of cloth diapers. I would love to see more WAHM companies on the list, but totally understand that she can’t include everyone.

So there ya have it, there’s my review. I am so excited to see a comprehensive cloth diapering book out there that talks to people who don’t know all of the lingo of cloth diapering. I am definitely excited to pass this on as a great baby shower gift. I was still struggling with the fact that this is may be forcing cloth diapers too much, plus I don’t want someone who has already decided not to do cloth to feel like my gift is a waste! That is why I plan on also enclosing an Amazon gift card with this message:


"I hope you will enjoy this book as a neat guide to cloth diapering. I have enclosed a gift card to Amazon, which carries a large selection of cloth diapers. But if you choose not to cloth diaper, you can also buy disposable diapers, baby clothes, or even massage oil so your loved one can rub those tired feet! I’d also be happy to answer any questions you may have. Best wishes and hugs!"


I was provided a copy of this book by Kelly Wels, but all opinions in this post are honest.

Monday, September 12, 2011

A good Mom pulls over to fill ‘er up—why running on empty isn’t good for us or our kids

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Several years ago, while my husband and I were driving to a conference of mine in Santa Barbara, we noticed that we were getting close to needing to fill up on gas.  We checked each exit sign for several miles, trying to see if a gas station was available.  Unfortunately, we found nothing. We came to where our road ended and we could go right or left. In each direction, we could see nothing but darkness. We turned right and headed towards Santa Barbara. We could see the glow of cities over hills ahead of us, but as we came over each hill in hopes of seeing a valley of a city, we found nothing. It was scary. By this point, our gas light had come on and we had already driven thirty miles with it. It was late at night, since we left after work, and we didn’t know what to do. I remember my husband trying hard not to accelerate too much as we made the long drive in search of a gas station.

After going far past the point of what our car should have done, we finally found one.

I have thought about this experience a lot of times, especially since I have become a mother. I realize that I have suddenly started to test my body’s ability to run on empty. I have been pretty notorious for running on empty for most of my life. I have heard the same “You are doing too much” lectures for at least thirteen years. And, while I do stress about the workload, I somehow scrape by. But now that I am a Mom, I am finding that the dark and lonely road of running on empty simply isn’t fair to my children.

Just this last week I finally reached my max. Since my youngest was teething, I was getting very little sleep since he was waking up every 1-2 hours. My husband definitely helped, but with this fussy bugger (my son, not my husband!), it took the two of us to help console him.  When I had just one kid, this would have been fine, I could just spend the day napping when they nap (I say this, but never did it). But with two, I have to be up at 7:30 when the oldest is up and I can pretty much BET their naps won’t overlap (and don’t even try to convince me that I can “train” their naps to coincide…I’ve tried!). So this week was definitely torture. Each day began with the struggle for me to get out of bed. I finally reached my breaking point on Thursday when I literally COULD NOT get myself out of bed. I was exhausted. I could hear both children awake, but as hard as I could try, I couldn’t get up (obviously I eventually did). That scared the begeebers out of me and I contacted my Mom and had her help watch the kids while I went to Kaiser to see if there was something wrong with me. Of course their answer was to slow down.

So my Mom and sister in law graciously volunteered to take the kids Friday night so that I could sleep. It was so great for the kids. They both loved spending time with their cousins, and hubby and I enjoyed a nice, quiet evening at home (I kind of laugh at the fact that we still closed baby gates after us). I slept for a whopping twelve hours—obviously I needed the rest.

The whole weekend was absolutely wonderful. I couldn’t believe how just one night of sleep could help refresh me. It was just the gas stop I needed in order to fill back up. I have started to realize that this “running on empty” attitude I have had in life isn’t acceptable as a mother. I am just now starting to realize that a good Mom pulls over and fills ‘er up before things get scary. I definitely have too many things going on right now, but given where we are at in life, I know I can’t drop anything. I need my jobs, and I obviously need (and want!) my kids. I have a LONG journey ahead of me and there are many miles I have to travel until I know I can feel relaxed (or at least a little less stressed), but I am so grateful that I have people to help fill me up and I am so grateful that this week taught me that it’s OK to take the help.

Good moms don’t run on some super mobiles that don’t require gas, all good Moms need to pull over and fill up.

Sprout Change All in Two Diaper Survey

AMP Fitted Diapers Survey

AMP Stay Dry All in One Diaper Survey



AMP All in Two Diaper Survey


AMP One Size Duo Survey

AMP One Size Pocket Diaper Survey

Sunday, September 4, 2011

Blueberry Bamboo One Size Deluxe Diaper Survey

Image courtesy of www.blueberrydiapers.com

Blueberry Minky One Size - Snap w/ Microterry Inserts Survey

Photo courtesy of www.blueberrydiapers.com

Saturday, September 3, 2011

Smartipants One Size Diaper Survey

Friday, September 2, 2011

Organic ERGObaby Carrier

Image courtesy of www.ergobabycarriers.com

Sport ERGObaby Carrier Survey


ERGObaby SPORT Carrier

Performance ERGObaby Carrier Survey

Image courtesy of www.ergobabycarriers.com

Coming soon to Padded Tush Stats.....Baby Carrier Reviews!

I have had a lot of requests from people to do statistical reviews of baby carriers based on the builds of baby wearers. I know I am petite and went through fifteen (YES, FIFTEEN) different carriers before I found one that fit my frame well. So these new surveys will help all of us out in picking out baby carriers that work for our body types. I hope you will take a chance to fill out surveys on carriers you have tried (as I post them) and I will post the stats as soon as I get enough. Don't forget that completion of surveys here give you extra entries in any current and future giveaways.


So in the next few days you will see a few of these baby carrier surveys posted. I am so excited about this,  I hope you are too!!!

Blueberry One Size Deluxe Diaper Survey

Image courtesy of www.blueberrydiapers.com

Blueberry Minky One Size Bamboo w/ Microterry Inserts Survey

Image courtesy of www.blueberrydiapers.com

Dinkledooz Winner!

Congratulations Michelle B, winner of the Dinkledooz One Size Pocket Diaper giveaway!

You have 48 hours to claim your prize (I will email you as well). Email me at paddedtushstats@gmail.com

Congrats!

Thanks to everyone who entered. Also, check out the THREE more giveaways I just posted.

Thanks Dinkledooz for the giveaway!

Softbums Omni Giveaway ends 9/15

Well, in the midst of coming out with some pretty cute prints, Softbums has offered to host a giveaway here at PTS!



Winner of the giveaway will receive a Softbums Omni diaper
Giveaway ends 9/15/11 at 11:59pm PST.
Winner selected via random.org and will have 48 hours to claim the prize.

Good luck! And don't forget you get extra entries by filling out surveys here at Padded Tush Stats!


Little Boppers Cloth Diaper Keychain Giveaway

Are you kidding me? How stinking cute! Little Boppers has graciously offered to host a giveaway here at PTS for a CUTE Cloth Diaper Keychain.



Please fill out the form below to enter.
Giveaway ends on 9/15/11 at 11:59PST.
Winner selected via random.org and will have 48 hours to claim their prize.

Good luck!

Best Bottom One Size AI2 Diaper Giveaway

The makers of the Best Bottom Diapers have graciously offered to host a pretty SWEET giveaway here at PTS for a Best Bottom Shell and THREE (yup, THREE) inserts.


Giveaway ends 9/2/11 at 11:59pm PST.

Winner is selected via random.org and has 48 hours to respond. This is open to US AND Canadian residents.

If you are interested, please fill out the form below. Good luck!

Thursday, September 1, 2011

One Size Diaper Project–6 to 6 1/2 Months–16 pounds 14 ounces

The One Size Diaper Project is where I take biweekly photos of my little guy in one size diapers. Hopefully this can help you see (and read about) how a baby grows into different one size diapers.
When I started the One Size Diaper project, I knew this day was coming…the day of CRAWLING. I knew diaper changes would be tough…and boy are they! But I figure that would make my reviews of this stuff all the more helpful, since I will know how diapers work on wiggly babies! Pretty soon the pictures for this project will just be blurred images of a fleeing baby!
So anyway, here is the little guy in diapers. He is now 16 pounds, 14 ounces. At the doctor’s office he was ranked “Average” size  on those lovely charts (remember when my little guy was plummeting in weight? I am SO happy to see him Average now!).
This is my current obsession. This is the Sprout Change diaper and I love it. I think the inserts are awesome and I like the fit across the tummy. This was a surprise to me, since I am not a huge fan of the side snapping diapers, but with how the snaps are on these, I love them.  I do wish they were easier to change sizing on so that I can have both kids wearing them (they are kind of like Fuzzibunz with the whole button elastic thing).
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Best Bottom Diapers – still obsessed with these. I love that the Softbums inserts snap into them as well. This is my favorite diaper for the diaper bag because (1) I can put in a one size Softbums insert so it can fit both kids, (2) I can wipe the inside down much better (I normally don’t take AI2s in public because the covers aren’t as wipeable and therefore hold stink), (3) it is easy to adjust the size between kids, and (4) it takes up less space.
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Softbums Omni – still, another obsession (I’m telling you guys, AI2s are the way to go when you have two kids because it takes up less space in the laundry…meaning you do less laundry!)
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Dinkledooz One Size Pocket (he is in all pockets at night. Snaps for when I put him down, velcro diapers for the middle of the night because Zombie Mom will inevitably snap a chunky thigh..it hasn’t happened yet, but I don’t want to take any chances, I know my limits).
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Sunbaby One Size Pocket
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Bumgenius Elemental
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Itti Bitti Tutto One Size Snap in One (I find this diaper to be kinda bulky, especially in the bum)
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Wahmies One Size Pocket (this has worked well on the little guy, but unfortunately I can’t get it to fit on my older one)
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Bottom Bumpers Side Snapping AIO – this is looking a little less bulky than before, don’t you think? I am enjoying it on my toddler who is potty training.

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Bumgenius 4.0
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Go Green One Size Pocket Diaper – this one is doing great on fit. I just find that the double gussets are GREAT for trapping poop, but tough to clean.
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Tiny Tush One Size
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AMP
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Daughter insisted that “BABY” make a special appearance. Here she is working an XS Bumgenius AIO

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Green Child Creations – this one I have had for a few months, but have never been able to get the pins through it! I finally had success with a soap bar, but it is still tough to get a good fit around the legs.


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Wild Mountain Mommies One Size Pocket Diaper. Still having trouble getting the Zorb prepped (it’s been over 10 washes and still not absorbent enough! Bummer!)
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Gro Via AIO. This is working pretty solidly, but again, I prefer this side snapping on my potty training little one.
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