Newborn Series: Kissaluvs NB AIO

*This is a preview of the Kissaluvs NB diaper. *
*After our baby arrives in June I will update the NB diaper series with our experiences of all the diapers we have tried out.*

Kissaluvs Newborn Diaper

A little about this diaper:
-Fits 5-15lbs.
-Super soft with stay-dry fleece inside.
-Breathable, waterproof and durable PUL outer.
-Umbilical snap down to protect baby’s cord and let it heal faster
-Gentle elastic that hugs and keeps leaks in.
-Specially shaped to fit your skinny-mini and chubby-wubby equally well!
-Available in 7 Awesome Colors: Spring Green, Lagoon Blue, Chocolate, White plus 3 new colors Butter, Hip Pink and Baby Blue

The Kissaluvs NB diaper is an AIO diaper which is great for every new mom who wants life to be as simple as ever. No stuffing required. Just simply put it on baby and your good to go.

Here is the diaper set to the smallest setting and with the snap down for the umbilical cord.
This diaper features one snap on each wing and two rows of snaps across the waist. For a higher rise use the top row of snaps, for a smaller rise use the bottom row of snaps.

The inside of this diaper is soft with the nice fleece lining.

One thing that I kind of dislike about this diaper is the snaps go all the way through the diaper and are up against the baby while being worn. I prefer them to be hidden under that last layer of material to keep them off of baby.
How do I think it will work for us?
I tend to have bigger babies and from other research that I have done online I think this will work well for us. It is one of the bigger sized NB diapers so I think it will have a nice fit with and without the snap down for the U.C. I actually bought this diaper from my sister in law who used it for a little bit on her daughter. Her daughter was smaller when she was born and so she didn't use it a lot right away. And once she started growing more they switched over to OS diapers and then still didn't use this one but when they did it worked well for them.

You can purchase this Kissaluvs NB diaper from the Kissaluvs Website or from any of their retailers. You can also find them occasionaly on various swap pages.

*I purchased this diaper on my own, opinions are of my own and my ideas/experiences may differ from yours. *

ChewBeads

ChewBeads!

I first came across ChewBeads during a random shopping trip. It was actually a business card that I found and I decided I needed to check them out. I found their website and saw so many amazing colors and styles. They also carry bracelets!

I was sent this gorgeous necklace to try out and review. It is the Hudson Necklace in Deep Sea Blue. So pretty!


The beads are so unique and like nothing I had seen before. They are made out of silicone which is the same material that nipples and pacifiers are made out of. They are BPA, PVC, Phthalates, Cadmium, and Lead free so you know that your baby will be chewing on something safe.


When I first got the necklace it smelled like rubber which wasn't too pleasing but I figured that it was like a "new car smell". It eventually faded as we used it.

We tried it out right away! She loved it!



One awesome thing that I loved was that they didn't make that horrible squeak noise when she rubbed her teeth on them. Hooray!

Here she is gnawing away!
So happy!


The clasp is a special breakaway clasp that will easily come undone for safety purposes.


It's clasp reminded me of my oldest daughter's dress up necklaces but much sturdier.


One concern that I had was the tiny beads that were in between the larger beads. I thought that they would be easily pulled off or broken when chewed on. NOPE! I even tried to bite them off myself! haha I was very impressed.


As you can see she loves them. They have a silky smoothness to them and she loves to rub them as well.

ChewBeads are designed for Mommy to wear while nursing (so baby can play) or anytime for baby to chew on.

My big debut was at a Christmas party. I wore it with a black shirt and everyone commented on how pretty it was and they loved the pop of color. I got to brag it was a CHEWBEADS necklace and that is was stylish yet useful! Kynlie even demonstrated how it worked so well.
The only downside I found was that if you have an especially drooly baby, you may want to keep a burp rag handy as they do tend to get quite slobbery.


Kynlie loves it so much she wanted to show it off herself!

We LOVE LOVE LOVE our chewbeads necklace and hope to get another one soon. We hope you enjoy yours as well!



Please note: chewbeads, are intended to be worn by adults, are not a toy and are not
intended to be worn by children


ChewBeads is generously giving away a necklace to one of our readers as well!
Fill out the form to enter the giveaway. Winner will be picked March 15th.

Here are some links you may need:
Cloth Diaper Addiction
CDA Facebook
ChewBeads Website
ChewBeads Facebook

Northern Essence

I have a confession.  Please don't shoot me.  I haven't used cloth wipes much in the past.  I know.  Keep reading. =)

One of the reasons is that when we first started cloth diapering, I made my own solution.  I know this works for a lot of people, and that's great.  Someday I'll try my hand at it again.  The problem was that, without knowing any better, I let the solution sit for way too long and it caused diaper rash issues.  So, I avoided cloth wipes too.  I wanted to use more than just water on wipes.

Northern Essence makes an all natural wipes solution that is great!  This solution, combined with a new stash of cloth wipes, has gotten me into the grove of using cloth wipes again - full time.  While the solution itself is great (more on that in a second), what makes Northern Essence a notch above other solutions is that they have a foaming pump you can buy!  It's awesome!  You can squirt the solution onto the cloth wipe or your baby's bum and it's the perfect amount needed.  

Now, back to the solution.  I was sent the Sensitive Skin Formula.  It has a really nice citrus scent (from the essential oils used).  It's also made from all natural ingredients and safe to wash with cloth diapers.  Because I was using the foaming pump, it has lasted us a long time!  The 2 oz. pump is perfect to toss in your diaper bag - much easier than trying to bring wet cloth wipes or a bulky spray bottle.  In fact, the reason this post is lacking pictures of the foam in action is that I took it to my in-laws house this weekend and forgot it there.  Oops.  It really does make diaper changes out of the house that much easier!

Traci, the owner of Northern Essence, was gracious enough to send me a sample of their All Natural Diaper Rash Slave as well.  I warned her that we don't have many diaper rashes here, so I didn't know if I'd be able to review it.  Lo and behold, we had a nasty medicine induced diaper rash...poor baby!  I am not exaggerating one bit, this salve is amazing!  Normally when we get a diaper rash we switch to disposable diapers and have to make a fancy cream to help heal her bum (her diaper rashes are far and few between, but they are bad!).  This time, I decided to give the salve a solid test run.  After two applications of the salve, her bum was looking much less sore.  Two days and it was gone!  That is the shortest time she's ever had a diaper rash.  And best of all?  We were able to keep her in cloth diapers.  Yep, the salve is safe for cloth diapers too!

DeeTergent

We are always having mama's on the CDA Facebook page ask about diaper detergents (so if you're here, and not there, definitely come join the fun!) Many detergent names come up, and what works for some, doesn't work for others. It's no secret that washing diapers can be a frustrating science experiment (for some!)

I happened across DeeTergent and had never seen them mentioned on our Facebook page when those detergent questions came up. I was thrilled when Dee agreed to a review and, quicker than I could imagine, I opened the mailbox and smelled a delicious Strawberry Shortcake smell....mmmmmm...It was also a flashback, as I had a toy growing up that smelled like this scent added to DeeTergent. Every time I've done laundry, I have little flashbacks! :-)

**This is where I should state that my youngest (my only one in diapers) has a super sensitive bottom. Even some "unscented" CD friendly detergents mess with his poor bottom, so I was very nervous using the scented on his diapers. As I washed the dirty diapers, I prepared for the worst by getting out fleece liners and the super-strength creams to fight off any rashes that would show up within a couple hours of the clean diapers being on his bottom...

DeeTergent got my diapers incredibly clean smelling - and FEELING. There were still some stains from a major poop, but the sun took care of that in a couple hours. But the feeling....I haven't felt our diapers this...clean since they were new!

I think the secret (well, it's smack on their "About" page, so not really a secret!) is that DeeTergent contains NO DETERGENT. DeeTergent is filled with "earth derived ingredients" - pH balancing ingredients, all-natural chelating ingredients, and biodegradable surfactants.

I had to look up "all-natural chelating ingredients", and in doing so, remembered why science/chemistry was never my strong point! But I learned that chelating ingredients are added to laundry products to remove affects of calcium, magnesium, and iron which cause hard water (since we have ridiculously hard water at our house, this could be why I felt such clean diapers after using DeeTergent!) For those unsure what biodegradable surfactants it just means that the ingredients break down better.

Back to my washing experience...

My husband works in a car parts warehouse and I tried DeeTergent on his greasy work clothes. While the stains on his clothes will be there until the end of time, his clothes too felt cleaner - I could tell such a difference!

I was simply floored by the difference my clothes and diapers felt. Even after using this "detergent" for a few weeks, I'm floored (and for those who are wondering how many times I really got to try this in a "few weeks" - our house is a laundry machine, so, my full size bag I received, I've just about emptied!) :)

I will say that after a few washes, my sensitive skin started to get a little itchy, but I think that was mostly due to the scent added. Today in our wash, I'm re-trying with DeeTergent, but adding an extra rinse cycle to see if that helps. But, I've always been sensitive to anything that isn't "Free & Clear."**

And what about Caedmon's fluffy bottom?

I was able to put away the diaper creams and "emergency use" fleece liners. Not even a hint of a rash - even with the Strawberry Shortcake scent!! I was so excited that I could have a yummy smelling "detergent" option, that worked amazingly well AND left his bottom rash-free!

DeeTergent is not lacking in the scent department! Go try and make a choice! Yum! I wish there was the Willie Wonka Smell-a-vision or whatever...seriously.

Be sure to stop by the DeeTergent Facebook and Twitter pages and let Dee know CDA sent you!

If you take advantage of this generous offer, let us know what scent you get!

**edit - I spoke with Dee and she said that I was the first person to ever report a reaction to DeeTergent, even with sensitive skin - I'm wondering now if the itchy feeling was just dry winter skin???

Ragababe on my babe :)

I just had to share how cute this diaper is on my cute lil babe :) My awesome sister in law Kristina was on a mission and found this diaper for me and I bought it! If she has a girl in June she will get to enjoy too :)

This is a Ragababe AIO diaper with leapord print. Addyson is sporting it very well if I do say so myself. It has a PERFECT fit on her better then any cloth diaper I have put on her! It is snug around her lil legs so there is no leaking issues what so ever. I am also able to get it snug enough around the waist too, which some diapers I am not able to do so. This one is a small and she weighs about 15lbs. Ragababe has a stay dry liner along the babys bum and she does awesome with it. She has been having issues with getting rashes so bad they bleed with cloth and I was getting frustrated. She has been using this one for about a week now and has had NO issues what so every with the rashes.

This is Addyson in her new favorite diaper or should I say Mommy's new favorite diaper! Hope this helped some of you with questions. I know its not a lot but I had to share my experience with the diaper. I would recommend this diaper for anyone who has a tiny baby and that has rash issues! These diapers are VERY hard to come by and when they do they are not cheap but they are WELL worth the money. You can look on ragababe's website but they only stock on certain days and once a week.