Reusable swim diapers

I don't know if your kids are like mine, but they want to have some form of water day everyday! One of the drawbacks to water day though, at least to me, are the disposable swim diapers - among other things, they are so expensive. With our twins, we go through one pack of these every week and a half to two weeks. Considering our water days start in May and end in September sometime... well... you can do the math!

So, imagine how excited I was to read about reusable swim diapers on one of the blogs I follow. Now, I swear I don't live under a rock, but I honestly didn't know these were out there! They are available on-line on many sites (even Amazon, some with free shipping). The i Play brand is also available locally at Buy, Buy Baby at Easton. Given the math I laid out above, even though June was almost over and thus two months of water days, I decided to buy the twins a couple of the brief/underwear style to go under their suits because we would still save a ton (both money and waste). I like them a lot and the twins think they are cool because they look like underwear (they like underwear, they do not however want to use the potty... but that's another blog post altogether). I wish I would have known about these years ago when my first child was born!

Just in case I am not alone in not knowing about these, I thought I would share this great option for swim diapers/suits with everyone!

Sale Tip: Right now all Buy, Buy Baby swimwear is 30% off, which includes the i Play swim diapers they carry. That makes the i Play reusable swim diapers (brief/underwear style) only $6.99 each! They also take Bed, Bath and Beyond coupons, as well as their own (so $5.59 each if you have a 20% off coupon - you can use one coupon per each diaper/suit). I didn't think you could use them on clearance items, but apparently you can! I believe the clearance just started so they still have a ton of sizes of the underwear type swim diapers for boys and girls, from infant to 3T for sure (they might have 4T as well, I just wasn't looking for those). The i Play brand also makes swim suits and swim trunks, as well as swimsuit/rash guard sets for boys and girls - all containing a built-in swim diaper. Bargain! They also had a ton of these still in stock. If you are interested, but are set for this year, think about next year! Check out the styles on the Buy, Buy Baby website, then call to find out if they have the size and style you want in the store.

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Below is information on the different types of swim diapers available.

This was written by Tiffany at Nature Mom's Blog, and can also be seen there:

In the summer time many moms might reach for those nifty disposable Swim Diapers so that our little ones can enjoy public pools, waterparks, and waterplay without worrying about accidents. Most public pools even require that kids who are not potty trained wear swim diapers. But did you know that you do not have to go the disposable route? There are many swim diapers on the market that can be bought for about the same price or even less than a package of disposable swim diapers. Cloth swim diapers can be reused over and over again and even last for one or more subsequent years or be used for your other kids. They are a prime example of a product that allows us to avoid the wasteful and silly purchase of a product we will use for a few hours and then throw away. Swim diapers are snug and they hold in solid waste effectively. They only difference between the two is comfort… since cloth swim diapers won’t sag or get waterlogged, AND they can be kept and reused. Both are big benefits in my estimation. Oh and they are waaaaaay more adorable than paper disposable swim diapers! Just look at my cutie above in his pink swim diaper.

Here are some cute swim diapers you may like:

The Swimmi! – I have used Bummis (diaper covers) and Swimmis for 5 years. They are a tried and true brand and they have several colors and styles.

Imse Vimse Swim Diapers – Another brand I have used and loved for years.
i Play Ultimate Swim Diaper – These below are board shorts but they also have the briefs for girls or boys. I like the the fact that these look like a regular swim suit though! They also have a complete suit for girls and rash guard sets for boys and girls.

Sun Smarties Adjustable Reusable Swim Diaper – So cute!!! I love the tie!
For pool days I have the found the best bags to carry wet suits, swim diapers, sandy flip flops, and pool toys are the Envirosax bags… so cute, the moisture doesn’t leak through and they are so easy to wash. You can get them at Reuseit.com
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How about you? Do you use reusable swim diapers? If so, what brand do you like best and why? Any tips? Or additional brands not listed? Please share!

Saving Money Via Cloth Diapers

One Member Asked: We'd like to save money in the diaper department. How do we go about using cloth diapers? Where do we start?

Here are the answers we received from fellow members:

We use cloth diapers and have from the start. We use BG AIO 3.0 They are great. We still use disposables when we travel, but 88% of the time, we are cloth. People will scoff at your decision, but it really is a huge financial relief. It is an investment at first (we have 42 diapers), but lots of people got them for us as gifts, so that helps, too.

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I cloth diaper my twins. I also did it for cost reasons. I know that the prefolds are the most cost efficient, but it was too many steps for us. What we did was get the One Size Pocket diapers so that we won't need to buy different sizes as the babies grow. At first they are bulky, but the babies aren't mobile at that point anyway. I think most people like snaps better than velcro for several reasons. They look newer longer, and they are harder for babies to take off when they get to the age where they want to be naked.
For what it's worth, I like these brands in the following order:

1. Blueberry (expensive, but awesome. I got mine during a sale of last years colors/patterns so they were super cheap. Not sure I'd pay full price for them)
2. Haute Pockets (bulky, but they hold a lot)
3. Happy Heiney (only liked them once I figured out I needed to add a hemp or bamboo doubler to add more absorbency)
4. Bum Genius
5. Fuzzi Bunz
   

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We use cloth and I love it! First do some research and decide what kind of diapers u like- prefolds, all-in-ones, etc. I picked FuzziBunz because a good friend used them and highly recommended them. Plus I liked how they looked. If I had to do it all over again I would pick an AIO. I really like the FuzziBunz but I spend a lot of time assembling them.
Good luck!

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Mothering Magazine has a lot of great information on cloth diapering. They're online at http://www.mothering.com/. I think u can purchase a pamphlet for a couple bucks compiling all their info on diapering.

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I would recommend cloth diapers around 3 months. When they are really little, they poop 5-10 times/day. It is just too much work esp. w/ twins.

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Safemama.com has a great comparison/review of cloth diaper brands - check it out here.

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I bought a lot of cloth diapering gear before the twins came, but it ultimately didn't work out for us. Here's my advice based on my experience:

1 - make sure your caregiver (if you use one) is willing to use cloth and follow your laundry instructions 

2 - don't pre-buy a bunch of "one-size" diapers (I went with BumGenius) just yet. it will look bulky and ridiculous on a tiny baby. Those can wait until they're 6 months or so. Get something meant for really small babies. Bumgenius has an all-in-one that comes in XS.

3 - if you're open to it, consider ebay and craigslist. I sold mine that way (barely used) and it's a great way to save money

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I wanted to do cloth at first too but decided against it after doing research. They are VERY expensive and you have to keep buying larger sizes! It is not like years ago when they were much cheaper than disposables. You also have to figure in the cost of detergent & electricity.

 

Another factor is TIME. Such a precious commodity when you have twin babies! Here is an example of babies X2... we started out breast feeding, the babies had some trouble since they were preemies, so I had to pump & suplement w/ formula. 16 bottles a day + pump equipment to wash & sterilize! It was NUTS! Most days were so busy that I often didn't get a chance to pump until 6PM!

 

It was/is often overwhelming. The best advice I could give is to PRIORITIZE and give yourself LOTS of grace! Figure out what is most essential b/c that is about all you'll have time for!

 

If cost is the major determining factor there are lots of ways to cut costs. I bought in bulk from "diapers.com" for a while. "Diapers.com" has ways for you to earn credit toward diapers via referrals. Also contact diaper companies for twin deals and free coupons. I've also heard of "bulkdiapers.com". I have found diapers that I love that I can get more cost effectively from Target (their generic brand).

 

If you go the cloth route, try buying diapers second hand on-line also making your own detergent is very quick, easy & CHEAP!

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i am expecting twins in October and cloth diapered my 2 1/2 year old son from 6 months on and plan to do the same with the twins. There are so many options out there it is really hard to say what would be best for you and your family. The most economical way would be to use prefolds which are the kind your grandma used that are rectangular and have a thicker area in the middle and waterproof diaper covers. It's really easy, just fold the prefold into thirds and place it into the cover and then the cover goes on with velcro like a disposable would. You could do that for about $300 birth to potty training for the two of them. Of course there are many many other options out there as well, some that may be easier for you. Check out diaperpin.com for info and diaper brand reviews and diaperswappers.com is an online message board where you can ask question and buy/sell used diapers. I have gotten a lot off of diaper swappers and been very pleased.
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Any other advice/experience on the subject? Please let us know!

Diaper/Wipes Deals

For CHEAP wipes, check out this site (valid for the week of Feb 21st - Feb 27th)
http://moneysavingmom.com/2010/02/cvs-unadvertised-huggies-wipes-deal.html

For CHEAP diapers, if you have never used www.diapers.com, be sure to check out this website. You can get $50 worth of diapers for $25 via $10 savings code and a $15 dollar rebate. Don't need diapers? You can get pull-ups and overnights this was as well!
http://moneysavingmom.com/2010/02/diapers-com-deal.html