Diapers and Wipes

   ok, ok, ok. Diapers and wipes are everything. It's such a big decision! You wanna pick the right ones. What company? What kind? Cloth or disposable? Do I want to save the environment or just be lazy? Is it lazy to do disposable? Is it better than washing the cloth ones? What do I do with the dirty ones? What diaper pail do I get? How often do I have to throw the trash out? Where do I put it all? Where do I change the baby? What else do I need? Baby powder? Diaper rash cream? A hose attached to my toilet? WHAT?
       CALM THE HELL DOWN. It's poop and pee. Really not that big of a deal. Do you really wanna spend hours stressing over what you use for 1 second to wipe poop of your baby's butt with!? Getting poop off your favorite pair of pants or expensive carpet, now that's something to spend a little time  on but diapers and wipes.....no.

Here's what you do:
     1.Get a great friend to throw you a baby shower.
      2. Relax

Really? really. If it's truly a great friend. She will find a way to encourage people to bring diapers along with a cool gift for the shower. No to mention, everyone knows you will need diapers and will usually buy some anyway. If you're lucky you'll have at least 3 or 4 packs of newborn size and 3 or 4 of size 1. This way you'll have at least a few weeks covered no matter how big or small your baby is. If you're even luckier to have different kinds of diapers then you get to try them as you go through them and decide which ones work best for you. When they're newborns, it really doesn't matter. They wear them for like 2 hours before you freak out and change them anyway. They don't keep them on long enough to make a difference. Mind you, some babies are sensitive. If your baby breaks out or has any reaction to the diaper then yes you have to get rid of the rest of those diapers and try the next kind. Most babies don't. They really don't care what diaper you put them in.

Generally speaking:
    Some people need and swear by the yellow line. Some diapers have a sign in most cases a line that changes color that shows on the outside when the diaper is wet. I thought this was amazing before I had the baby. Now, I'm glad I didn't stick with those. Yes, it's a great way to learn when a diaper is wet. But I'm glad I learned other signs and ways to check a diaper so i didn't feel depended on "the line". I can tell if Nico needs a change without having to take his clothes off to see the line on the diaper. Learning how the diaper feels through the clothes when you put it on compared to just before you change it, is a better thing to learn. Being sensitive to the smell is also helpful but as babies get older their gas can be deceiving lol


I tried Honest diapers first because I thought I cared. I didn't want chemicals in my diapers. Honset company uses natural stuff and they have designs! Two things that mattered to me, until I came to my senses.
Yes, they're cute. Yes, they're great. Yes, I felt better about using them so I don't regret my decision to start with them.
No, I don't like how expensive they are and you use so many when they're newborn. No, the designs really don't matter cuz even though they're cute you never see them because SURPRISE your baby wears clothes. Duh. No, because they don't use chemicals they are thicker than other diapers and I felt like they stretched out the onesies. No, because they felt like bamboo: a little stiff and straight.


Money started to get a little tight so we switched to the most recommended diaper: Pampers Swaddlers. Everyone says they're the best. I think they're the most popular.
Yes, they worked great. Yes, They're soft inside and out. Yes, thinner than Honest and cheaper.
No, there is a mesh webbing that I think keeps the wet diaper from the baby skin. I didn't like it because I felt little strings of mesh would get caught in baby's rolls and parts. I was always picking tiny strings, like lint, off my baby. My friends didn't experience this but I didn't like it.


Money got even tighter and went switched to Luvs. The saying goes "Live, learn, get Luvs" and "Second time moms buy Luvs". I totally agree. We have used Luvs most often to date.
Yes, they're cheap and not in quality. Most moms think because they're cheaper they must not be as good. I loved Luvs. Worked great. They were the thinnest in my opinion. Really flexible, didn't puff up when wet.
No, I hated the little monkey on the diapers, no reason why just hated him. Eventually, Nico got to size 3 and started blowing out of them. Apparently this is something only some babies do. But about 200 diapers in to size 3 they stopped holding his poop. I was constantly changing his clothes and mine because he blow out of them. Don't laugh! It'll happen to you, just wait. A blow out literally means poop blowing out of the back of the diaper and up his back, soaking through his clothes and onto yours or his car seat or whatever he happens to be sitting on.


When we were at our lowest point we bought Publix diapers. Why did I include this particular picture? because it has Publix COOKIES! OMG I love their cookies. I love Publix too. I miss Meijer sooo much but dang Publix BOGO is the bomb and so are their cookies. OK, back to diapers:
Yes, they worked much better than i thought. We used them longer than I thought because they worked well.
No, they look cheap but hey they just catch poop so who cares.
I don't really have an issue with them but I liked Luvs better so we switched back to Luvs.


Now at 6 months old and after the Luvs explosion phase we use Pampers Cruisers. The blow outs stopped and I have only have one issue with them. They puff up a lot when they're wet. It looks and feels like he has a wet diaper but once you get it off you see it's not really full, barely has pee in it and I end up wasting a lot of diapers this way.

WIPES

I'll be quick. Whatever kind works best for you. In the beginning I suggest the sensitive kind. After a month or so you can try different kinds. They all have different thicknesses, smells, materials, blah blah blah. Make sure you buy the container first and then just get refill bags after. It's cheaper than always buying new containers. You don't need a fancy warmer or anything like that unless your house is super cold. A cold wipe in the middle of the night probably doesn't feel so great on your butt. Other than that I wouldn't waste your money. Room temperature wipes are perfectly fine.


Everyone knows Pampers Sensitive wipes. I used them. They work fine. But when I had the string issue, mentioned above, I changed both diapers and wipes to avoid this.

I had my hubby go to the store and just buy three different kinds of wipes. He bought all Huggies but different kinds. I was upset at first but realized as I used one then the other how different they all really were. I learned that I don't like sented wipes but the unsented ones smelled too. I can't explain how unsented smelled like nothing which smelled like something to me. I know I'm weird but hey. My baby, my opinion, my blog, my choice. I thought the One and Done wipes were too thick and the Fresh ones were smelled way too strong. Besides that I don't mind the others.


Huggies sells these SUPER cute travel wipe cases. They don't hold as many wipes as the wipe refills but that means less space it takes up in the baby bag. It's cuter than a plastic bag. You can refill them. I have had 3 of them come unglued and the top white piece comes off. But they're like $3 so i just buy a new one.

So, lessons learned: Don't stress about diapers and wipes. Use what people give you. when you find something you like then buy more of those....simple.

DONE. BOOM.

****Update: Nico is now 18 months old and surprise my opinion has changed. Since poop has gotten more serious with more grown up foods, I use Huggies One and Done wipes and Pampers Cruisers. Haven't had many issues. Nico still leaks every once is a long time at night but that's usually because he had enough milk and juice between dinner and bed to come out of his eyeballs.