Sunday, May 24, 2009

A Cloth Diaper Giveaway and a Poll! Giveaway Closed!

The Giveaway

Diaper Style is excited to share the first Rocky Mountain Diaper in a print and Holy Cow is it cute!
In collaboration with Tracie, the Mom behind Rocky Mountain Diapers, we will be giving away 1 Rocky Mountain Diaper in Moovin' Lemon to 2 lucky families.

Rocky Mountain Diapers are a great fitting One Size diaper. RMD’s have an Internal Adjusting Snap System that makes the diaper fit like a glove. No More Exposed Snaps on the Front of Your One Size Diapers. (Click on the link to see more styles and colors)



The Poll

We all have different reasons for using cloth diapers and I am curious to know what your top reasons are. Please rate the following reasons by order of importance:

~To save money $$?
~Health benefits?
~Environmental reasons?
~Because its cute?

How to enter the giveaway:

There are 3 ways to enter and 2 chances to win! Please leave a separate comment for each entry that you complete. You don't have to have a blog to win, just leave an e-mail address to contact you.

Entry Options:
1) Participate in the poll by leaving your comments here
2) Blog about the giveaway and tell me about about it here
3) Twitter or write on your Facebook about the giveaway and leave a comment about it here

Contest ends on Friday June 5th at 6pm. Good Luck

Wednesday, May 13, 2009

And the AppleCheeks Cloth Diaper Giveaway Winner is......

Congratulations Melissa (Faith for the Journey blog)!!!!
You are the winner (Chosen by random.org) of the AppleCheeks Starter Kit Giveaway.

*I will be contacting you soon!

Thanks to everyone that entered! I had fun reading all your comments. We love to host giveaway's.....there are more to come, so stay tuned :)

Monday, May 4, 2009

AppleCheeks™ Starter Kit Giveaway!- Closed



Giveaway now closed!!! Winner will be announced shortly!!!

In collaboration with Ilana and Amy, the WAHM's behind AppleCheeks™ We are giving away an AppleCheeks™ Starter Kit ($140 value)!

Many of you know that I love the AppleCheeks™ Envelope Diaper, it is truly one of my favorite and first reached for diapers in my stash. I am so excited to be able to share this fabulous diaper with you!

AppleCheeks™ is now offering a pre-packaged starter kit that makes it so simple to try out this amazing system! Each pre-packaged starter kit includes:

* 3 AppleCheeks™ Envelope Covers, in either size 1 OR size 2, in pre-determined, gender-neutral color assortment.
* 9 One-size inserts, in either hemp OR bamboo.
* 1 Storage Sac, size 1.
* 3 super plush bamboo terry wipes.
* 1 BONUS hemp booster.
* Printed care instructions.
* Our amazing tutorial video on DVD.
* Our gorgeous, full-colour, durable and reusable box!


I first got my hands on the AppleCheeks™ Envelope Covers last September and have been feeling the love ever since. Here are a few reason why....

-It is super cute on the baby. The gathers at the legs, tummy and back are especially adorable.
-It is trim fitting.
-The colors are beautiful.
-It fits great on all sizes of babies. The well placed snaps offer simple adjustment to easily fit babies with thick waist's or chubby thigh's.
-The AppleCheeks™ Envelope Covers come in two sizes, Size 1 fitting from approximately 7 - 20lbs, and Size 2 from 18 - 35+ lbs.
-It is virtually leak proof. In fact I can't even remember a time that it has leaked.
-It is easy to stuff. The pocket opening is in the middle of the diaper and large enough even for Dad's to stuff with ease.
-And even better, it is easier to un-stuff. You do nothing.....the insert simply falls out in the wash, you never have to touch a wet insert again (love it!)

AppleCheeks™ has a great video tutorial on how to use the diaper as a Pocket diaper or a cover. Check it out here.

You have 4 chances to win the opportunity to feel the AppleCheeks™ love for free. Leave a separate comment for each entry.

1)Leave a comment here.
2)Tweet about the giveaway, or become a Diaper Style fan on facebook. Leave a comment here telling me about it.
3)Blog about the giveaway and leave a link to your blog here.
4)Subscribe to Diaper Style's blog.

You have until Wednesday May 13th at 9pm to enter. Winner will be announced soon after.

Sunday, May 3, 2009

Cloth Diapering Dictionary

This dictionary was created for those of you who are new to cloth diapering. In the beginning it was a bit overwhelming for me trying to figure out all the new vocabulary and diaper terms. This is a great resource of some basic terms that will make your cloth diaper shopping experience much less confusing.

AIO ~ All-in-one Diapers – these diapers are fitted diapers that have an outer waterproof layer and the absorbent material all in one piece. These diapers are ideal for babysitters, grandma’s, daycare, and for people who want the ease of a one-piece diapering system.

Thirsties AIO

Contour diapers – Contour diapers are shaped like a diaper but have no elastic in the legs, or attached closures. Contour diapers usually need to be fastened with a pin or Snappi and require a cover.

Diapers – Diapers come in a few different styles: Flat Diapers, Prefolds, Contour or shaped diapers, fitted diapers, pockets and All in ones. For more info. on each diaper please see respective description.

Diaper Covers – Covers are used on pretty much every diaper with the exception of AIO and Pocket diapers. Covers come in several styles. They are usually contoured and fasten with snaps or Velcro. Very few covers pull-up, like underwear. Covers are made from many different materials such as: polyester, PUL, vinyl, fleece or wool. Fleece and wool are both breathable materials that require a little extra care but provide the most natural protection.

Thirsties PUL Diaper Cover

DSQ ~ Diaper Service Quality – DSQ is an industry standard term for the highest quality in prefolds. Prefolds that are DSQ are durable and absorbent enough to last for more than one child.

Doublers – Doublers may be added to any diaper system to increase absorbency. They are made of little pads that fit easily into a diaper, and are made of many different materials. Doublers are great for at nighttime, car rides or trips to the mall to help prevent leaks.

Fitted Diapers - Fitted diapers have a contoured shape and elastic around the legs. Instead of tape, they fasten with Touch Tape (Velcro) or snaps. A waterproof diaper cover is necessary when using a fitted diaper. Velcro fitteds are much easier to use especially if you have a wiggly infant. Make sure to always use the laundry tabs to secure touch tape before washing.

Happy Heiny Fitted (Heiny Huggers)

Flat Diapers -Flats refer to the single-ply square shaped diapers that our mothers and grandmothers used (these are your mothers cloth diapers ; D). The flat diapers that you find in a store, such as Target or Walmart, are not effective for use as cloth diapers, but do make excellent burp rags!

Hemp - Hemp is a course fiber made from the inner bark of the hemp plant. Hemp is considered a renewable resource and is becoming increasingly popular for use in diapers because of its durability, absorbency, softness and natural anti-microbial properties. It is also grown without the use of chemicals and can absorb up to 80 times as much as cotton.

Inserts – Inserts are the absorbent materials used in pocket diapers. Insert can made of Hemp, Bamboo, Microfiber, ZORB and a few other materials. Inserts come either shaped to fit in the diaper or in a square that can be folded to fit in the diaper. Generally the Microfiber are pre-shaped and the Hemp or Bamboo come in easy to fold squares.

Apple Cheeks Hemp Insert

One Size Diapers- OS diapers are usually a pocket diaper that is adjustable for use from newborn to potty training, Although they usually don’t fit properly until about 8-10 lbs. OS diapers sizes are adjusted with snaps on the outside front of the diaper or the newer version which adjust with elastic in the same way that children’s waist bands adjust in their pants. These diapers are great for a family that has more than one child in diapers at a time and also save a few bucks because you only have to buy the one diaper, not size up each time they grow.

Rocky Mountain OS Pocket Diaper (Internal Adjustment System)
bumGenius! OS Pocket Diaper


Pre-folds - Pre-fold diapers are rectangular shaped diapers that are thicker in the middle. The sides usually have a thickness of 4 layers. The middle section can have 6 or 8 layers. This gives pre-folds greater absorbency in the middle. You will often see prefolds defined as 4-6-4, 4-8-4 or more rarely 2-4-2. These numbers will tell you how many layers of cloth in each section from left to right. Pre-folds are the cheapest alternative in diapers. They can be enclosed in a Velcro or snap fastened cover or they can be pinned with diaper pins or snappi fasteners.


Pocket Diapers - Pocket diapers are the most customizable in their absorbency. They usually have an outer layer of a waterproof material and an inner layer of a stay dry material, such as microfleece, or suedecloth. Pocket diapers have an opening between the 2 layers to form a pocket. In the pocket you put an absorbent material called an insert. Many pocket diapers are sold with an insert, or you can buy them separately to meet your individual needs . Pocket diapers are great for nighttime use, because you can customize the absorbent material. During the day you might use 1 insert, while at night you might use 2 or more. Pocket diapers also conveniently close with snaps or Velcro.

PUL ~ Polyurethane Laminate – Polyurethane Laminate is a fabric which has had a waterproof laminate applied the back. This makes for an extremely thin, soft fabric that is also waterproof and easy to care for.

Quick-dry – Quick-dry products open up or come apart in the dryer so that they dry quickly. For example, a quick-dry diaper might have a snap in soaker that you can take off for washing and drying. A quick drying insert may be sewn in a loop so that air can get through it and cut your drying time in half.

Soakers - The term soaker has two different meanings in the cloth diapering world. The term can refer to the middle part of the diaper, which is made from an absorbent material such as cotton, and is anywhere from 2-6 layers thick. Soakers can be sewn into the diaper, snapped onto the inside of the diaper, or laid inside the diaper. Sometimes snap in and lay in soakers are referred to as “quick-dry”. The term soaker can also be used to describe the knit wool diaper covers.

Wet Bags- Usually made with a cute outer print and an inner layer of PUL waterproof fabric. The bag closes with a zipper or velcro to keep smells and wetness where they belong. Wet Bags are great for trips to the mall or to Grandmas house. They also work great for toting wet swimming suits from the pool.

Wool - Wool is a fabric made from the fleece of sheep or lamb. It is water repelling, and has natural antibacterial properties and breath ability. These 2 features are what make it popular for use as a diaper cover. Wool covers are generally washed every 2 -3 weeks or sooner if they get stool on them. Regular lanolizing is also necessary for them to be water repellant.

Saturday, May 2, 2009

Why choose Cloth Diapers?

There are many reason why cloth diapers are making a big come back....

-The Economy! Financially cloth diapers just make sense (or cents ;D). Times are tough for many people these days - cloth diapers can save well over One Thousand dollars per child, one thousand dollars people!!
Plus you can reuse them on the next child to save even more or sell them to other cloth diapering families when your child is no longer in diapers.

-The Environment! Cloth Diapers are reusable and renewable, a better choice for our Earth.

-Better for Baby! Cloth Diapers are chemical free, cute, soft and breathable. Disposables contain traces of Dioxin, a carcinogenic toxin, among many other undesirable things.

To read more about the benefits of using cloth please visit The Real Diaper Association (RDA)

A Husbands Perspective

Kyle is so supportive of me not only using cloth diapers but also my business. He decided he wanted to write this article and post it on the Diaper Style website. I thought that I would share it here too....


When my wife approached me about cloth diapering, I was quite skeptical. I wasn’t sure that it was for us. Or rather, for me, because she seemed pretty convinced. Cloth diapering seemed a little old fashioned. Something my mom would have done (She did actually). I had the impression that it was lots of gross hard work that required some special training to do it right (a credit to my Mom). We had three kids under the age of 5 when my wife started cloth diapering. Life was pretty full as it was. I just want to try a few she said. We’d save a lot of money she said. Finally she got my attention.

It’s been a year now and my attitude about cloth diapers has changed completely. I’m a pretty typical husband. I work a full time salary job, which pays most of the bills. My wife, other than her web business, is a full time mom. I help around the house, with chores, laundry, dishes, diapers, putting the kids to bed, reading stories, I'm trying to make the list sound long here :), but quite honestly she does most of it.

I don’t launder the diapers. She handles that part and even though there is a pang of guilt that I don’t help with that part of it, I let her do it. She has tried to convince me that it isn’t complicated; it’s the same as a regular load of laundry, etc, etc. Someday I may take on that part. But for now, with my stereotypical male involvement, I’m just a diaper changer.

And for the typical diaper changer, cloth diapering is not any harder than using disposables. For our newborn the process goes like this: I take off the diaper, clean the baby’s bottom with wipes. I then wrap the wipes into the cloth diaper when I’m done, and walk the soiled cloth diaper to the diaper pail. The distance isn’t any farther than to the trash, where I would have taken a disposable if we used them. I get a new cloth diaper and put it on her. The Velcro tabs work identically to disposables and putting the new diaper on is just as easy. The whole process isn’t any smellier, messier, nor does it take more time or effort.

That is it for me. It is pretty much exactly the same effort for me since my wife started using cloth. I have not been affected by the switch to cloth. On the other hand, I have noticed that there have been zero blow outs. In disposables for a breastfed newborn the probability of a blowout for us is about 50/50. I also have noticed that we don’t cover the diapers with pants or a skirt as often since they are so cute by themselves. That makes the diapers easier to get to. You don’t have to undress them to get to the darn thing and then redress them afterward.

Most importantly for me is that I don’t see us as fanatics, crusaders, etc. I definitely don’t feel like one. It just made sense on so many fronts to switch. I do recognize that look others give when they find out that we do cloth. The stare is a little longer and you can see the wheels turning in their head. Maybe they are thinking that you’re their newest hero for “doing your part to save the environment” or just a little nuts. I can tell you I won’t feel nuts when the money we saved and invested over the coming years pays for our child’s college.

- Kyle Dugger

Kyle with Halle, she is now 3.