just some tings.

I recently went to another baby fair with D, my only SAHM kaki (haha). We meet up on a fairly regular basis because we are constantly shopping, or window shopping. More often than not, we go home with a little something after some coffee. This time, I stocked up on another load of Bumwear diapers and inserts. More colourful diapers (there’s a superman colours diaper – red diaper with blue lining, very vibrant!). And this is on top of the other 10 inserts I bought probably a month ago?

Both of us use Bumwear reusable diapers on our kids, though she uses a hell lot more of other brands of diapers as well on her son who is 1 yr 10 mths old. I got my first pack of reusable diapers as a gift from Donald’s colleagues for Oliver. Donald chose the colours and we decided that we would prefer the NV inserts (which can be clipped onto buttons) than the microfibre ones which have to be inserted into the pocket (which would be more secure for very active babies)

first set of bumwear

I had initially seen Charlie Banana diapers and were really keen on their colours. Cheapie hubby said “no”. Meh. I obsessed about it for a while and then got over it cos my mom had bought us a whole pile of the old school prefold muslin diapers. I remembered folding them when I was a kid for my cousins. Afte folding like 10 prefolds, I got REALLY sick of folding them. Not to mention the soaking and how quickly we go through them when Ollie was a newborn. At the peak, we went through 12 prefolds a day.

Poor washing machine.

We delayed using the Bumwear diapers because the disposable liners looked weird in it, and when Ollie was doing wet poos, liners were a lifesaver! We figured we’d wait for his poo to become a little bit more solid and we would switch. Haven’t looked back since!

We chose the NV inserts because of the smooth suede-like material on one side (goes on the baby’s bum), plus it doesn’t go into the pocket. We did not want any poo to get onto the diaper, instead we rather it be on the insert so that we could wash the insert only, than to wash the entire diaper, so that worked really fine for us, or rather me. I’ve just got this thing against poo..urrgh. Haha.

iguana butt

So Ollie’s been in these diapers since he was about 4 months old, and he has gone from 2-3 inserts a day to about 4-5 a day now, depending on his liquid intake. The diapers really hold the moisture in very well, and will not soak through if the diaper is not soaking wet. Wet is okay, but not soaking wet (i.e., can squeeze pee out kind). I have had an instance where Ollie’s insert was soaking wet, and there was a damp patch on my shorts when I sat him down. Mushy poo (like mashed potatoes) sorta “flakes” off the smooth surface of the insert when I spray it off, even easier now that he is doing more solid poos due to solid food intake. Wet poo is of course another story altogether. Having said that, it comes off the fleece really easily, although you would have to pre-wash the insert before throwing it into the washing machine.  The diapers also allow for adjustment for sizes with the buttons and Ollie’s still happy wear them, with his butt sitting snugly in them.

At present, we have about 8 diapers and 32 inserts (actually 10 diapers and 34 inserts, but I have been told to save 2, specially chosen by the grandma, for the next kid…*roll eyes*). We probably don’t need that much diapers and inserts for now if I was religious with my laundry but I need to cater for wet weather and days where I will strip wash the inserts and diapers.

We are pretty happy with diapers and Ollie does look so cute with those prints!

Update: (18/03/2013) the elastic bands around the thighs for some of our Bumwear has been stretched over time and lost their elasticity. One option was for me to tighten it using the buttons (button it tighter). Over the weekend, I found out that you can bring your Bumwear diapers back to Bumwear for them to replace the elastic bands. The costs are S$12 for replacing all the elastic bands on the one-size diapers, and S$6 – S$8 for the elastic bands around the thighs. The follow up service is great too! Especially when one of the buttons came off, and they replaced the button FOC.