Cloth 101: Why do I have to wash brights 6 times?

If you purchased a new bumGenius cloth diaper or Flip cover in Clementine, Moonbeam, Ribbit, Zinnia or the new Dazzle and Sassy colors, you may have noticed a small sticker on your diaper that states:

"IMPORTANT: Prewash dark color diapers 6 times separately before washing with any other products."

This means is that for these brighter, bolder colors, we recommend washing them with like colors for the first 6 washes to avoid any transfer of dye to other lighter colors. These do not have to be 6 consecutive washes before your first use.

We like to use the analogy of a brand new, brightly colored bath towel or pair of dark wash jeans. Much like these products, we suggest washing them separately or with like colors to avoid any possible color transfer.

If you have bumGenius 4.0 cloth diapers or Flip diaper covers, your diapers are fully prepped and ready to use after the first wash. We recommend washing them with like colors until they have been washed at least 6 times.

For bumGenius Elemental cloth diapers, you will need to wash your new diapers 5-7 times before they are fully prepped. Items with natural fibers contain natural oils that need to be removed before they will be fully absorbent. More details on how to prep your natural fiber diapers can be found in our Cloth 101: How to Prep Your Cloth Diapers post.

This Just In: New "Hoot" Print from Thirsties!

New at Cotton Babies this week! Whooo do you know that loves owls? Many customers have been eagerly awaiting the arrival of this fun new print from our friends at Thirsties.

Easy to use and easy on the wallet, Thirsties Duo Wraps have an adjustable rise the allows a great fit twice as long. Two sizes will last from birth to potty training!

Completely waterproof yet breathable, pliable and comfortable for even the most delicate skin. Thirsties Duo Wraps' leg gussets provide advanced leak protection and the bindings are soft against baby's skin. Want to have fewer covers in your stash? The inside of Thirsties Duo Wraps can be wiped clean between uses.

Pick up "Hoot" in Thirsties Duo Wraps in both snap and hook & loop closures and also in the Duo Diaper.

Similar in feel and fit as the best selling Duo Wrap, Thirsties Duo Diapers are completely waterproof yet remain breathable, pliable and very comfortable for your baby’s delicate skin. The ultra-soft microfleece liner on the inside protects baby’s skin from wetness and also resists staining. The handy sleeve design features openings on both sides of the diaper between the microfleece and waterproof layer. The duo openings featured in Thirsties® Duo Diaper enable easy insert stuffing from either side of the diaper and also make for easy cleaning. There is no need to remove the soiled inserts when washing -- your hands will remain clean! Simply toss your soiled Thirsties Duo Diaper in the laundry and the inserts will agitate free from the diaper in the washing machine.

For other great new products added to the Cotton Babies catalog, be sure to check out our What's New category.

bumGenius and Change 3 Things Giveaway!

Happy Tuesday! To celebrate our bumGenius Buy 5, Get 1 FREE sale, we're giving away some of our favorite bumGenius items today!

We love hearing about how you spread the news of cloth diapering with other families, especially when you are sharing the vision behind our Change 3 Things campaign! Each prize pack for today's giveaway will include a bumGenius 4.0 cloth diaper, a Change 3 Things t-shirt and a bumGenius 4.0 cloth diaper in Bubble, Sweet or Artist Series to share with a friend interested in cloth diapering!

To enter today's blog giveaway for your chance to win one of our prize packs, share with your friends about Change 3 Things and report back here telling us how you shared! Three winners will be selected at random from all eligible comments to receive a prize pack from Cotton Babies.

Eligible entries must be posted no later than midnight Central time, Wednesday, October 12, 2011. U.S. Residents only. Void where prohibited by law. No purchase necessary to win. Winners will be drawn at random on Thursday, October 13, 2011 and notified via e-mail. (Please make sure Cotton Babies staff can see your e-mail in your comment or through your Blogger profile page.)

How UnderCover Mama Saved My Baby from Chickenpox!

A few weeks ago I noticed 2 itchy spots on my belly and back. I thought it was mosquito bites but had no idea how they got to my belly! Someone suggested it was poison ivy but again, almost impossible. A couple days later it turned into a blistery rash. As we were going out of town the next day, I decided to go to Patient First being that it was quite uncomfortable and I wanted to make sure it wasn't contagious.

The Doctor at Patient First took one look at it and announced, "That is definitely Shingles."  Shingles?! I thought that's for old people! She said that she's seen a few young people with it lately. So am I contagious? Only if someone comes into direct contact with the lesions. But I am nursing a baby! She said my baby was likely already exposed so there's nothing I can do about it anyway. Someone can contract chickenpox from shingles, but they wouldn't contract shingles. But my 8 mo old nursling has not had the chickenpox or the vaccine, and he's the only one who has been in direct contact with my belly!

Her only advice was to keep it covered, wash my hands, and take an antiviral. I was taken off work for a week as I'm a midwife and don't want to expose my patients - just in case. I called my pediatrician who wasn't concerned. It's not dangerous for a baby at 8 months to get chicken pox.

So we went on our trip as planned. And my baby never got the chicken pox!

I attribute it to my Undercover Mama! I LOVE the Undercover Mama and wear one all the time! It is great because it just hooks to your regular nursing bra and is much cheaper than a nursing tank. I like that it keeps my belly covered while I'm nursing as I wear a lot of T-shirts. I also wear it to sleep because nursing in bed makes for a cold tummy! I think because my Undercover Mama kept my belly covered all the time, my baby was never exposed to the shingles lesion.

Another great benefit of the Undercover Mama!

Cloth Diapering Boys vs. Girls, How do they compare?

Guest Post by Bert

You wouldn’t think that there would be that much difference between girls and boys when it comes to cloth diapering. Incorrect. I have learned over the past few weeks that stuffing a nighttime pocket diaper for Lady Bug is completely different than what I had been doing the last two and a half years for Buggie.

You see when little boys pee it fills the front of the diaper. Not rocket science, I know, but I promise you this never occurred to me! That’s the main reason I’m writing this…because I’m thinking that maybe you didn’t realize this either. Anyways, when little girls pee it fills the back of the diaper. And that, my friends, affects how you stuff your pocket diaper if you are using a newborn/doubler sized insert.

With Buggie we stuffed the diaper with the doubler insert in the front. Worked brilliantly with him and as he aged and his bladder grew we simply added more layers. Okay it was only a hemp (I LOVE hemp for a nighttime diaper by the way. It’s not bulky but it holds a lot of urine.) layer but it did the trick for us. So our diaper for Buggie looked like this:

Trust me that did not work for Lady Bug. We’ve had leaky night diapers for about a week and a half. Ben and I could not figure out why this kept happening. We were about ready to contact the diaper manufacturer and ask if other parents had this problem. That’s when it dawned on me. Was the extra insert even getting wet? So I grabbed her sopping wet diaper and pulled out the inserts. Sure enough the back of the diaper was soaked and the front part where the doubler insert was placed was practically dry. No wonder I’ve been changing crib sheets and mattress pads every day this week! It wasn’t the diaper’s fault. It was me! And let me tell you what a relief that was.

For Lady Bug the doubler needs to be placed towards the back of her diaper for optimum pee absorption. Her nighttime diapers need to look like this:

Noticed how the doubler is not in the front? That’s the key my fluffy fanatic mamas! I also will be using a hemp doubler on top of a regular insert. That diaper will look like this:

And as she grows and her bladder grows her nighttime diaper will probably be the same as Buggie’s was. It’ll look like this but with the doubler in the back:

Happy absorbent diapering my friends! I hope this spares you of many late night sheet changes. Don’t worry; I was happy to be the village idiot on this one!

Elizabeth (aka Bert) Anderson married her college sweetheart in 2005, and started her journey into motherhood in 2008 with the birth of her son.  She started blogging in 2009 as a way to keep track of her thoughts on being a first time mom, especially her struggle with postpartum depression, and as a way of reaching out to other moms who are struggling with the same things.  This June, Bert had another first in her motherhood travels - a little girl!  Even though she's newly a mother of two, Bert maintains that no matter how many children you have you will always be a "first time mom" because there's a first time for everything!  Visit her blog, at FTM. Bert is a contributor for She Thinks Media.