Happy Heiny's Sized Pocket Diaper Review

So I had purchased the Happy Heiny's size medium pocket diaper off of Nickisdiapers.com for $12.95 on sale. I was so excited to try it because I read that this diaper was one of the higher quality diapers compared to the ebay brand diapers. The shipping was super fast and the color of the diaper was exactly like the one on the website (candy pink).

The diaper I got was a size medium (14-25 lbs), with velcro on the front of the diaper to fasten around the waist.  The diaper itself fits very good on my daughter, it didn't sit so low that her booty crack was showing, and it wasn't so bulky that her pants couldn't fit around it. Notice that there are no snaps because this is not a One Size diaper. I have noticed on some diapers that the wings can be very wide and irritate the top of Autumn's skin, but this diaper has just the perfect size wing to where there are no leaks and no irritation. 

The inside of the diaper is made of custom milled-fleece, which differentiates from the common micro-fleece and polyester lining of some of the lower brand diapers.  Also this material helps reduce rashes and is very very soft, while polyester and micro-fleece is more likely to produce rashes for children who have very sensitive skin (but that's not in my case). The middle of the diaper is not too thin, so the insert (or pre fold) doesn't bunch up and create more leaks. Notice that the Velcro on the waist have laundry tabs so that they won't get stuck to other things.










The Happy Heiny's sized diaper has a similar feature to the Fuzzibunz diaper when it comes to the opening on the back of the diaper. The opening for the insert is at the very top of the diaper, with no piece of fabric to hold in the insert. If anyone has used a Kawaii Baby, or Babyland diaper, then they know what I am talking about. I personally prefer to have the cloth lip to cover the insert just because I don't want to have the insert slide up my babies back (especially if it's already wet).





One way that the Happy Heiny's diaper stands out to me is the leg elastics. Like most diapers, the leg elastics could possibly be too tight and leave red marks. The PUL material is normally sewn completely around the elastic, so the PUL material is causes the irritation around the babies leg. But THIS DIAPER doesn't have that. This diaper has the milled fleece sewn around the elastic so you're baby really does only touch softness. And when I had first purchased the diaper I thought that it would be a problem, but after looking online, this was completely normal and doesn't pose as a problem for leaks (and still hasn't leaked). I really really like this feature and wish more diapers did this because my baby has some chunky thighs.

Overall I really really like this diaper a lot and will probably be purchasing more in the future. In my opinion I feel that this diaper is as close as it gets to the functionality of a disposable. This diaper is my fiancé's go-to diaper when he changes Autumn because it's so simple to use.

Pros: Good fit, very trim, soft lining, good quality velcro, and great build for leg elastics.
Cons: The back insert is too open (but thats a personal preference).

Overall Rating: 9

Bumkins Cloth Diaper Review

So I recently just purchased the Bumkins Diaper cover off of Nickisdiapers.com. The website was having a sale of buy one get one free. So I had purchased two covers that were "One Size". When I had first received the covers I noticed right away that the website had given me the wrong diaper, but I didn't hold that against the diaper itself.

I had read previous reviews that had stated that the diaper felt very much like plastic. I have to completely agree that they feel like plastic (or a cheaper material). The front of the diaper consists of 3 rows of snaps to adjust the height of the diaper. The Bumkin Diaper Cover differentiates from other covers over the mere fact that there are 4 columns of snaps instead of 3, which makes the diaper slightly wider than other covers. I feel that this feature might be good for a larger baby, but for young or smaller babies it could possibly fit a little loose. The cover is secured in the front with Velcro. The Velcro tabs are fairly wide/large in comparison to other covers, but I never saw it as a problem.

The inside of the diaper has the PUL material to prevent leaking in the diaper. One thing I did not like was that when I first received the diaper, the snaps on the inside of the diaper was connected with strips of scrap material. It made the diaper look very cheap so I ended up cutting the strips of scrap material into little squares where the snaps were. Because the diaper itself is fairly wide, I did not have a problem putting a pre fold or microfiber insert inside of it without it bunching up.

Another thing I liked about the diaper was that it had a cover to hold the prefold/insert into place. Having this feature is another way to prevent leaks and to have the insert rise of the back. One of my favorite features about the diaper is that it has double-leg gussets, which will hold in blow outs and contain most of the mess. I especially like this feature because a lot of pocket diapers and diaper covers no not have this option.

One thing I absolutely do NOT like about this cover is that the elastic on the back is way way wayyyy too tight. I could have the whole cover on lose and there would still be red marks on Autumn's back.  If I had to rate this diaper 1-10, I would give this diaper a 6 for many reasons. (1) Cheap material (2) Used scrap material inside (3) leaves red mark's on my daughter's back and (4) the velcro tabs are bulky. What I do like about this diaper is that (1) it has the double leg gussets, (2) has a place to hold the prefold/insert and (3) the prints are very cute!

Pinching Pennies...

So since I have had Autumn, I have been trying to find better ways of saving money. For example: Nursing (saves a couple hundred dollars), cloth diapering (saves well over $2,000), making my own baby food (When the time comes). I mean who wouldn't want to save money, especially with the economy these days. So I was skimming through some blogs and I came upon a woman who blogged about her weekly meals and how it has save's her money.

Seriously, Bryon and I have been spending well over $200 every two weeks on groceries, and some of the food goes bad even before we eat it!!! So my new goal is to now make a weekly HEALTHY meal plan so we're not over buying and wasting food. And I mean it's so easy to live on a cheap meal plan like Ramen Noodles, but it's not healthy and you'll eventually get fat from it.  So at this very moment I am going to create my own meal plan for this week (lunch and dinners). If you have any tips on how you pinch pennies and some good meals you make let me know! <3

*Sunday      Lunch: Mandarin Salad
                    Dinner: Brown Sugar Glazed Porkchops, Sautee'd asperagus, and brown rice

*Monday    Dinner: Baked Cream Chicken, Corn, and Mac & Cheese

*Tuesday   Dinner: Hamburger filled Manicotti and Salad

*Wednesday   Dinner: Ricotta Stuffed Chicken, Mashed Potatoes, and Green Beans

*Thursday   Dinner: Baked Garlic Chicken, Steamed Broccoli, and Caprese Salad.

*Friday      Dinner: Steak Stir-fry

*Saturday   Maybe Take Out? Sushi??? :)


ALSO!!!!!! I was planning on doing all of my cloth diaper reviews on my youtube channel, but I have since changed my mind because I realized I don't like being recorded for a video. So I will be doing my reviews on my blog.

HAVE A WONDERFUL DAY!!!!! :)

Pumping At Work...

The first time you decide that you want to breastfeed your baby, pumping comes into consideration if you end up returning to work. I knew immediately that I wanted Autumn to be fed breast milk up until she was a year old, I did not want to use formula at all. My theory was "Why buy the cow when you can get the milk for free?"...Same concept, not only was it better for Autumn, but it was better on our wallets as well.
Once Autumn was born, nursing was so easy and I had no issues with my supply at all. But once I decided to start working again I knew that I needed to start pumping.

I ended up purchasing the Lansinoh Affinity Double Electric Pump because I read great reviews about it, was a lot cheaper than Madela's, and was made different so that the tubing can never ever get milk in it. So once I started working pumping was easy, do it every 3 hours and drink lots of water. Everything was going great!! Made more than enough for Autumn and I could stash some away in the freezer. Then as of 2  weeks ago my supply just decreased to half (from 4-5 oz to 1.5-2.5 oz) What the eff? How could this happen? My diet wasn't changed, I wasn't taking any medications, and I was consuming the same amount of water.

So I started scouring the internet thinking of solutions.  Taking Fenugreek, drinking Mother's Milk Tea, and pumping longer were some of the info that I discovered. So I did all 3 and I still didn't see any change in my supply. So then a very good friend had told me to pump every TWO hours so it tricks my body into thinking it needed to make more (which it kind of does).

So as of right now my stash of milk in my freezer is completely gone, and I now have to supplement Autumn's bottle's while she's with her sitter. At first I felt like a failure because I never planned on using formula, but now that I've been supplementing right now, I know it's only for Autumn's well being. No one wants a cranky, hungry baby. But hopefully soon my supply will replenish and Formula won't be needed.

My new #1 rule for pumping: DON'T STRESS OUT OVER IT!! Try to relax.

4 Month Postpartum Update

So I managed to completely forget my password to my blog...which is why I haven't posted in like 3 months. A lot has happened since then, Autumn is now 14 lbs and 6 oz and is now 24 inches long. In addition to Autumn growing, I managed to start my new job! As a Nanny!!! Which I absolutely love and I'm good at. The only tough part about working now is that I NEVER EVER see my fiancé anymore because he works odd hours...So the only time he really see's me and Autumn is on the weekends :(
That's the tough part, to all of the single mothers out there who have no support at all...I TIP MY HAT OFF TO YOU!! It is so extremely hard to handle a baby throughout the night and early morning without someone offering to lend a hand. But I manage to get through it and find it enjoyable (when Autumn behaves).

Also, Bryon and myself have decided to switch to cloth diapers! I know I know...you're probably gagging right now just thinking of having to touch and wash poop, but honestly....YOU DON'T HAVE TO!! Seriously, the only time I have to really handle the dirty diapers is when I toss them in the wash. And for the people who are now officially appalled by the thought of washing your clothes in the same washing machine as poopy diapers....fear no more, Bleach is officially my best friend. Every week I do a bleach wash so my washing machine doesn't start to smell funky and gross. But so far I LOVE LOVE LOVE using cloth diapers. The prints and colors are just too adorable...and theres so many options and types of diapers that you can choose from, Snaps...Velcro...Safety Pins...using microfiber inserts or just using cotton  Prefolds. There are seriously so many choices that it will probably confuse you at first. Bryon hasn't really jumped on the cloth diapering train yet...he's a little redundant to putting them on Autumn and what not. I think it's just because he's not used to it and isn't accustomed to it.

37 Weeks Pregnant 10/20/2011

4 Months Postpartum 3/10/2012

So far since I've had Autumn I'm finally starting to look (and feel) like myself again. I'm FINALLY back to my pre-pregnancy weight and have only managed to work out 4 times in the past 4 months. Everyone always asks me how I managed to stay fairly slim while pregnant and then lose all of the weight so quickly. Two words....STAY BUSY. The worst thing a pregnant woman can do is sit on her tush and eat eat eat whatever you want. And yes I know there are exceptions like being on bed rest and what not. But to all of the other women who have normal pregnancies...walking around and keeping busy was so important for not gaining too much weight. And I know that cravings will literally drive you crazy if you don't get it, and I gave in to my cravings, but in moderation.  As for postpartum weight loss, it's practically the same thing. Once you have your baby, planting your booty on the couch 24/7 is not going to help you get your body back at all. A week after I had Autumn I was vacuuming the house, doing laundry, walking around, and eating healthy healthy HEALTHY food. The hugest factor to losing the weight is eating right, especially if you're nursing. And never ever ever expect it to happen over night!!!

      

St. Patricks Day 2012