Wednesday, December 11, 2013

Season's Greetings and One Last Diaper Giveaway

Happy Holidays to all! We're celebrating by having one last diaper giveaway which will end on 1/1/14 at 12am. One lucky winner will receive a set of 4 cloth pocket diapers and a pair of legwarmers. All you have to do is click on the rafflecopter link and enter a comment on this blog answering the question, "What do you like best about cloth diapers?" It's just that simple! Open to USA residents who are 18 years of age and above. Winner will be able to specify "girl" or "boy" colors.



 
*Remember to post a comment answering the "why I like cloth diapers" question here on this blog page or your entry will not be valid.
a Rafflecopter giveaway

Tuesday, October 22, 2013

Most Recent Training Pants Review/Grab Bags Available

Here's a link to our most recent review. http://www.crunchymoms.com/bubbybums-extra-absorbent-trainer-review/
We have some factory seconds of cotton training pants that are listed at $10.95 for a grab bag of 4. They are available in 3T or 4T. These pants have flaws such as missing care labels, wrong size labels, stitching flaws on waist and leg bands (some not sewn as close to the edge of the band as they should have been). None of these flaws affect the wear of the pants; they just are cosmetically imperfect. Prints are assorted as boy or girl. 120 pair available as of 10/22/13.



Tuesday, October 15, 2013

Fall is Here!

Fall and spring are two of my favorite times of the year! So glad the cooler weather is coming. We've had some changes here: a) we stopped selling on Hyena Cart in July and b) we discontinued sales on Etsy this week. We weren't having any problems on either venue, but decided that it was time to let those go. Any items that were solely listed on Etsy have been moved over to bubbybums.com. Because of the season and the changing colors of the foliage, I am offering this cute cotton knit covered hybrid diaper at 25% off.

Thursday, October 3, 2013

Prevent Ammonia Burn with Proper Cloth Diaper Care

The following is an email exchange answering a question about ammonia burn. Of course, I have edited out the sender's email address and name. This might be helpful to someone else. Take a look:

I don't think the change in your milk is a factor. It’s likely chemical. The first thing I'd try is making sure your diaper pail/storage is ventilated. Since most diaper pails aren't, I'd use a rubbermaid type storage container with a few holes poked in the lid. Second suggestion would be to take the baking soda out of your laundry powder. Baking soda and ammonia form ammonium bicarbonate which is a skin irritant. Unventilated diaper pails increase ammonia production. If you try those suggestions with no improvement, then add 1 cup of white vinegar to the wash and that will definitely do the trick.

Stacey


On Sep 12, 2013, at 6:33 AM:

> I usually strip them once a week. I wash them in borax/baking soda/zote (very little) before stripping them, but I have been using this powder mix since April and I haven't had any issues until now. I only have the ability to wash once a week so they go in a diaper pail by themselves. My friend recommended me to ask you, I also teach cloth diapering classes to my community but I am at wits end with this issue. Do you think because my milk changed in May (birth to newborn) maybe that's why? Thanks!

>
> On Sep 1, 2013, at 11:00 AM, Bubbybums wrote:
>
>> Hi and thank you for the inquiry!
>> What are you washing your diapers in and how do you store them before wash day? I have a general notion of what's happening so let me know the answer and I'll give you some suggestions. How did you find out about my site? Always curious to learn how people found it!
>>
>> Stacey >>
>> On Aug 31, 2013, at 11:26 PM:
>>
>>> ------------------------------------------------------
>>>
>>> My son, 21 months, is a heavy night wetter. I have tried everything possible
>>> with cloth diapering at night but he seems to constantly get ammonia burn
>>> over a few hours. I currently have him naked on absorbent pad to avoid burn.
>>> My mom has put a disposable on him at night and he doesn't get burn. I was
>>> told to message you and get your advice.
>>> I have disposable diapers, but I have no idea what to do. Also, I strip
>>> diapers once a week, but he is p.t. during day time, so he wears underwear
>>> normally.

Friday, September 6, 2013

One Size Diapers without PUL

  • Labor day has come and gone, so what are we up to now? In the process of sewing some nice one size diapers with cotton velour (80% cotton/20% polyester-the backing of the fabric is polyester) and anti-pill fleece. I will also offer these in newborn size as well. As usual, the quality will be high and the prices will be very reasonable.
  • Hemp/organic cotton fleece inserts in three sizes are available at bubbybums.com. The inserts are made of two layers of hemp/organic cotton fleece with one layer of cotton fleece in between them. Very absorbent.
  • All clothing and past-season's shoes are now listed under "clothing/shoe liquidation" as we no longer intend to carry nationally branded children's clothing. Coupon codes are available on retialmenot.com so take a look and grab some bargains.

Monday, August 19, 2013

Coming Soon!

We've revised our brief style partially waterproof training pants! The previous style was bulky in the seat area and ran very large for size. We've corrected this by narrowing the soaker pad in the seat for a trimmer fit. Another perk is the addition of snaps on the sides. These will initially be available in sizes 2T and 3T. Initial color choices will include solid center of royal blue, brown, pink, green and bright yellow with coordinating print fabric on the sides.

New Beefed Up Boxer style training pants will be added to the site soon. Here's a preview:






Tuesday, July 16, 2013

How to Clean Cloth Training Pants and Diapers

Do you rinse and wash your cloth training pants and diapers only to find that they have an ammonia smell? Has your little one developed a skin rash or sensitivity to cloth diapers that he/she didn't have before? It might be due to the laundry process. Let's do a little microbiology refresher: some bacteria thrive in conditions where there's no oxygen such as a wet bag, sealed plastic pails, etc. E.coli, streptococcus, and staphylococcus just to name a few. But let me not get bogged down with name dropping here. Some skin infections, such as staph infections and impetigo are caused by these lovely microbes. "Ok, mother-nerd, how do I prevent this?", you're thinking that right now, aren't ya? 1. Shake off all solid waste 2. Rinse, rinse, rinse. Spray them down or just run them under a stream of cold water and rinse them well. 3. Store your cloth diapers or training pants in a ventilated container until wash day. That could be in a Rubbermaid container with holes punched in the lid, or an open pail. 4. Ensure that you're using enough laundry detergent. Sometimes the old eyeballing it technique isn't adequate. 5. Use the extra rinse cycle on your machine. If you're doing all of the above and still have ammonia odor try adding a little laundry detergent to your storage pail as a presoak while they await wash day. Try using one third to half of the amount that you would normally launder them with. 6. Add a cup of white vinegar in the washer. This won't work if you have really hard water, but does fine otherwise. I don't have a front loading machine, so make sure there's no contraindication to doing so if you have one of those fancy-schmancy models. Remember that fabric softeners decrease absorbency, so avoid using them when laundering diapers or training pants.

Saturday, July 6, 2013

"How Absorbent Are Your Cotton Training Pants?" With Video Update

I was recently asked this question in an email inquiry and decided to do a little test and see. The average 2-3 year old has a bladder capacity of anywhere from 3-7.5 ounces (90-225 ml). I tested 4 pair of cotton training pants (2T). I purchased Gerber, Hanna Andersson Training Unders, and Okie Dokie (JC Penney brand) to compare to my BubbyBums training pants. The priciest and heaviest pants were the Hanna Andersson pants. They weighed 2.2 ounces and have 4 layers of organic cotton that go up the entire center panel. All of the other pants have the absorbent layer in the crotch area only. The Okie Dokie and Gerber pants weighed 1.2 ounces per pair and the BubbyBums pants weighed 1.6 ounces.
Gerber Cotton Training Pants-Made in India.



BubbyBums Cotton Training Pants-Made in the USA.

Hanna Andersson Training Unders-Made in India

Okie Dokie Cotton Training Pants-Made in Thailand

My hypothesis was that the Hanna Andersson training pants would absorb the greatest amount of liquid since they had extra layers extending completely up the center panel. Here's what happened:
Okie Dokie pants absorbed 38 ml of water; Gerber pants absorbed 46 ml of water, BubbyBums pants absorbed 110 ml of water; and the Hanna Andersson pants absorbed 105 ml of water. Since 5 ml is not statistically significant, the absorbencies of the latter two pair are very similar.

I attempted to videotape the testing process but needed a helping hand to do so, therefore it is somewhat incomplete. After washing and drying the pants I compared them to a new pair of each brand to assess how much they would shrink. That might be helpful to view. Take a look.


Remember that the point of training pants is that the child will "feel wet" so they are more absorbent than regular underwear. If your child is a heavy wetter, say at the 7,5 ounces end of normal, you might opt for waterproof or partially waterproof training pants no matter what brand you choose.

Next week's blog entry will be on laundering cloth training pants and diapers.
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Wednesday, May 22, 2013

Extra Absorbent Multi-Size Training Pants Customer Review

I can't take credit for everything. A customer had asked me if I could make custom training pants for her. She was looking for pants that she could essentially use as a pull up diaper. That is where the idea for the extra absorbent multi-size training pants originated. Thank you Cary! She recently sent an email after receiving her pants and I am posting it here. These pants are even better than I had pictured! Thank you so much! If you want to add my review to the website/blog/whatever else, feel free! Here it is: I use these training pants as a pull on diaper for my very wiggly and heavy wetting 15 month old (21 pounds)! I also use them for my 2.5 year old (24 pounds) for overnight. They fit each of the boys like a glove with no leak problems whatsoever! It is hard to find anything to fit our very skinny 2.5 year old, so I am very happy to have found these :)
The difference in her custom pants is that the padding in the front extends to within 1 inch of the waistband for increased absorbency during night time use. If you have a similar need send an email to bubbybums@yahoo.com .

Thursday, April 25, 2013

Multi Size Cloth Training Pants

Extra absorbent multi size training pants have been added to the site. What makes these different? They have absorbent cotton knit terry lining and additional absorbent layers. Perfect for longer outings or if you just want added protection. We'll add new color choices in our bamboo multi size training pants within the next week: orange, green, yellow, lighter shade of blue and a few new prints as well.


Multi size Extra Absorbent Cloth Training Pants