OsoCozy AIO: A review!

I'll be honest, I was hesitant to start using AIOs. I've heard they are super absorbent and very convenient, but take FOREVER to dry and let's face it, if you are in this for saving money, as most are, and, infact, I am, the price can be very hard to swallow! When I found the OsoCozy diaper brand I fell in love with their products. Each time I have been skeptical because they are budget priced and I've heard time and time again you get what you pay for, but it's not true with this line! So far I haven't truly disliked anything I have tried from them! Their fitteds are our overnight solutions and I just adore the stay dry better fit prefolds! So I finally bit the bullet and tried the OsoCozy AIO!

 

 

 

 

The Pros

 

I really liked how absorbent these are. No, you can't leave them on for hours on end, but they are great for outings when you don't want to change them as much, and they are great for nap times. They really hold a lot of liquid.

These diapers are also really easy. They close with a hook and loop closure just like a disposable diaper and there is no stuffing, snapping, folding, fastening, or anything else involved! They are perfect for daycare, beginners, middle of the night changes, and daddies! My husband loves that he doesn't have to stuff them like our pockets or fold and secure them like our prefolds. Instead he just puts it on exactly like you would a disposable diaper! Easy peasy!

 

 

The Cons

 

Honestly the only con I could find is that they take a long time to dry. There really is no avoiding that since they are so absorbent, so of course they not only soak up pee, but water from the washer. These puppies went through once with the rest of the diaper laundry and THREE more times by themselves, that's right, by themselves! For a total of FOUR runs through the dryer! Do I have time to wait and not wash clothes because the dryer is taken by one diaper? No. I'm a working mom with two jobs, a blog, two wonderful boys, a husband, a dog, and a house that all need my attention! I do not have time to let diapers dry for hours, I generally have at least a load of regular laundry and a load of diaper laundry each day, sometimes two or more loads of laundry and one of diaper laundry! I just don't have the time or dryer space.

 

Bottom Line

 

These are great for daycare, babysitters, when mama is sick, or nap times. Would I use them all day every day? No. Am I totally in love with this diaper? Eh. I'd rather just use OsoCozy fitteds. They are a little cheaper, really absorbent, and don't take nearly as long to dry! If one took me so long to dry, how long would a huge load of nothing but AIOs take me to dry? Do I hate them? No. Will I never use them again? No. I will keep them on hand for sure, and probably use at least a couple times a week for naps and such but I do not foresee myself reaching for them first. I do plan on buying more OsoCozy fitteds to add to my stash over time and I may buy a couple more AIOs and just keep them aside for when my husband feels sick or I'm sick or whatever. (My husband works nights so he is the one who watches the boys while I'm at said two jobs, bless his soul.)

 

Would I recommend them?

 

Yes, yes, and YES! If you already like AIOs, I would recommend them. If you want to try an AIO, I would recommend them. Honestly, they are great diapers, they just aren't right for our entire stash!

 

Where can you buy them?

 

You can find OsoCozy AIOs and other OsoCozy products at Mama's Emporium!

GroVia Mighty Bubbles: A Review!

So I have been trying different things for a while, and I honestly have been meaning to review a bunch of the things I have tried but I've got so caught up with trying awesome stuff, work, family, and much more, that I haven't gotten a chance. I wanted to review BacOut next but I recently tried these and love them so much I just HAVE to gush about them!

 

I'll start off by saying we have hard water so we strip frequently anyway, usually about twice a month. We have also been struggling with ammonia lately so we have been stripping more often. The methods of stripping vary, as discussed in a previous post of mine. I have used a few different methods to strip and for the longest time my go to was RLR. RLR powder is $1.74 a packet making it affordable, but a little pricey if you are doing it often. You use one packet per strip unless you have an HE washer, then you only use half a packet. However, at Mama's Emporium you can buy GroVia Mighty Bubbles for $8 for a pack of 10 packs or $14 for 20. That makes them $.80 a pack for 10 or $.70 a pack for 20. This is a super great deal because one pack does it all. It is HE safe, neutral, has no alcohol or ethers, no ammonia, and is phosphate free. Unlike RLR, the ingredients aren't top secret, they are printed right there on the back of the package. All you have to do is pop it in your washer with your diapers, wash on hot with no detergent, and do an extra rinse. No other detergent is needed, although I prefer to wash my diapers with detergent before I do it.
If you are using an enzyme free detergent like most cloth diaper safe detergents, Rockin Green and EcoSprout (my favorite!) come to mind, you will need to use them regularly, because of the enzymes, and it's a good idea to use them every 6-8 weeks anyway just to make sure your diapers are at their freshest and most absorbent.

 

 

Here I took a picture of it next to the bag and the cup holder of the high chair to show it's size.

Where can I buy GroVia Mighty Bubbles?

You can buy GroVia Mighty Bubbles at Mama's Emporium A delightful store in Aurora, CO ran by a fellow mom who is dedicated to bringing you the best products at the best price. She even has an online store that I frequent! She offers layaway, wish lists (with 10% back on all completed wish lists!), and registries.

Bottom Line

Love them! They are more affordable than RLR and strip better. So far it's really helped with our ammonia issues, as well as our hard water build up. I plan on using them occasionally to keep my diapers at their freshest and most absorbent. They can be purchased at Mama's Emporium online or in Aurora, CO. I give it a 5/5 for functionality, affordability, and ease of use.

This review has been done in partnership with Mama's Emporium. If you are interested in helping me bring a review or giveaway to my blog, please email me at blueturtlesweetie@gmail.com!  

Why Cloth Diaper?

While everyone's reasoning for Cloth Diapering varies, there are a lot of things to consider. You can cloth diaper for one reason, or any combination of multiple reasons. Some people do it only for the cute factor. Some because their little ones are allergic to disposible diapers, some to be eco friendly, and some for the cost effectiveness. There is no right or wrong reason to cloth diaper, and there is no wrong or right reason not to cloth diaper. You don't have to cloth diaper all the time, many people only use cloth at home. Some don't use it overnight or when they are out and about. Some daycares won't allow the use of cloth so parents decide to only cloth at home and when they are out and about with their little ones, not while at daycare during the day. Whatever works for your family is the best thing to do! There is no right or wrong in cloth diapering. Here are just some of the reasons you may want ton consider cloth diapering:

Cost Effectiveness

This is one of the most common reasons for mamas deciding on cloth diapering these days. I know I save about $122 a month just cloth diapering 1 baby. The savings are even better if you plan on cloth diapering more than one child either at a time or after each other.

http://www.diaperpin.com/calculator/calculator.asp is a website you can use to calculate the cost of disposables versus the cost of cloth! I was using a box of diapers every week at $25 for my newborn. I was also using 1 box of wipes at $11 every two weeks between my two children. That comes out to $122 a month that I no longer have to buy! What could you do with an extra $100 dollars a month? What could you do with an extra $1200 a year? Pay off some debt, put some money in savings, buy more cute things for your babies, take a trip, or spend it on cute diapers! Whatever you want!
The cheapest way to cloth diaper is by using prefolds or flats and covers. Econbum are some cheap, good covers that I use. They are available exclusively at cottonbabies.com. You can also find them used at diaperswappers.com, the diaper swap board on BabyCenter, your local Craigslist, etc. You can also use prefolds in pocket diapers!
Another cheap option is "China Cheapy" diapers. I have some Sunbaby Cloth Diapers that I love! I also love love love my Alvas even more than Sunbabies! You can get them even cheaper by buying them without inserts and using prefolds with covers and stuffing the pockets of the Sunbaby diapers with the prefolds. Alva is another brand of China Cheapy and so is Coolababy. You can even join a co-op and buy diapers, especially China Cheapies at a much better price because you are going in on a big wholesale order with other people and paying wholesale prices! There are also many other cheap and/or free ways to cloth diaper! Plus who wants to run to the store in the middle of the night because you run out of diapers? With cloth you won't ever have to!

Environmentally Friendly

Cloth diapers are much more environmentally friendly! There aren't any extra materials or chemicals going into landfills. Even when your cloth diapers aren't good enough to be used as cloth diapers or you are done having children, you can still use them for other things! Prefolds make amazing burp rags and cleaning cloths just to name a couple! Plus it will save you gas because you will make less trips to the store which will help the environment and your pocketbook! 

Cuteness Factor

Another main reason a lot of people get into cloth diapering is because they are adorable! Have you ever been buying diapers, trying to decide between Winne The Pooh and Sesame Street characters and thought "I wish they made rainbow/blue/pink/red/camo/ diapers." or "I wish you could choose the colors and prints of my diapers!" Well with cloth you can! If you find a fabric you like, there are WAHMs who will let you send in your own fabric and make the diaper of your choosing from it! My personal favorites so far are my galaxy diapers! I got one from The Diaper Addict (a WAHM you can find on facebook) and one from A Sparkly Baby (another WAHM you can find on facebook) I got covers made from the Galaxy PUL from both of them and I am still, months and months later, beyond in love with them!

Comfort

Let's face it, cloth is more comfortable, especially for babies with sensitive skin! Have you felt a diaper? Not only are they scratchy but they are full of chemicals. Who would want to sit in wet paper like that? I know I wouldn't. I also know I wouldn't like the gel they have in them absorbing not only all my pee but all the moister from my bottom! Some babies get really bad rashes, some are just plain allergic to disposables, and some just get super dry down there or have other complications because the absorbent gel does it's job too well by soaking up all the moister in your sweet babies bottom as well.

Potty Training

Potty Training, or Potty learning (PT and PL respectively) can be easier and happen earlier because of using cloth diapers! Because the baby can feel the wetness better than they could in a disposable that has the gel to soak up wetness, children are apt to learn quicker the sensation of being wet and start noticing the feelings that come right before being wet, therefor leading them to learn how to use the potty earlier and easier than their peers in the disposables.

Like I said, you could be trying cloth for one reason, multiple reasons, or maybe your own reasons and none of these at all. That's fine! Whatever reasons a mommy has for cloth diapering or not cloth diapering, they are right. <3