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 Diapers: A Review!

I started out cloth diapering with simple prefolds, one snappi, and econobum covers. Since the beginning of my cloth diapering journey I have constantly been trying new things out. I know when I first started I had no clue what to get or where to start, what was good, etc. I will say what is good for one person is not what is good for everyone, you have to find your own groove and what works for you. The same goes for different babies. What works for one of your children may or may not work for the next, so I am a firm believer in experimenting and trying a little of everything, then when you have your next baby (if you have another baby) you will already have one or two of everything you tried before to try on them. For instance I didn't think that what worked for others may not work well for us. I got a BUNCH of sunbaby diapers (china cheapy) They worked alright, but as I tried more (Alva, JCTrade, OsoCozy, etc) I realized that while they worked OK, they were not what was best for my son. So I sold all except a few that I keep on hand for laundry day and my future children, then I invested in other things that work better for him.

 

GroVia

 

GroVia is a cloth diapering company that makes a wide range of products. I love their wipes and the mighty bubbles laundry aid for stripping so I thought, why not try their diapes? I recently got a GroVia diaper and snap in insert (AI2) from Mama's Emporium. When I first tried it out, I will admit, I HATED it. It has a mesh inner and is water proof, then there are snaps you snap the insert into. The insert is kind of small and funny shaped, and because I have a boy who is a heavy wetter, I wasn't loving it! I tried it a few more times and hated it more and more with each turn! Then I won a GroVia Organic Cotton Booster from a Mama's Emporium raffle. I thought "Great, something for the stupid Grovia that doesn't work!" My husband urged me to prep them and try just in case, since I got it for free from the raffle, it might make me love my GroVia or it may make no difference and then there was no harm done! Well I tried it and LOVED it! My son had a massive poopy right after I put it on him and the booster contained the poop and he wasn't soaked like previous times! There wasn't even a slight leak. I was over the moon! I tried it another time and, like I've mentioned before, he is a heavy wetter, we still had no problems. We won a two pack and have only used the one.

 

Final Verdict/Bottom Line?

 

Final verdict is I love GroVia, but only with the organic cotton booster. I have heard they work better for girls but I have no complaints once I used the booster. You can buy them online at Mama's Emporium. Try them with the Organic Cotton Booster or not, but if they don't work for you alone, try them with, it may just work better than you thought it would! 

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!  

OsoCozy Fitted Diapers: A Review!

I don't know about you, but one of my favorite things to read on a blog is a review! I love hearing how real people, especially real moms, like or dislike products. I love when they are able to share their experiences and I think those kinds of posts more than anything help me make decisions on what I would or would not like to try. One problem I run into though is that some bloggers get all excited about being offered something to test and they give it a positive review, or spin the review in such a positive way, even if they really don't like whatever it is or won't use it ever again after the trial period. Not all bloggers are like this, some won't even review something if they don't like it, as mama always said, if you don't have something nice...but there are some awesome bloggers who will be honest with you about a product or service's flaws, it's cons as well as it's pros! This is the kind of blogger I want to be, and plan to be. If you would like to partner with me for a review please email me at blueturtlesweetie@gmail.com or get a hold of me through my blog.

 

This blog is brought to you by the letter M...Just kidding, it's done with the cooperation and support of Mama's Emporium!

 

Mama's Emporium is a delightful store run by an awesome mama. The owner, Amanda has a brick and mortar store in Aurora, CO, but she also has an online store which I frequent all the time! I love her site because she uses customer input to decide what she will and will not carry, and she uses almost everything she carries so she stands behind her products 100%. I also love that you earn rewards points for each purchase, which can really add up! I have used my points to get a FREE baltic amber teething necklace and am currently saving up for a shark teething toy/baby toothbrush! Or maybe just a gift certificate! Mama's Emporium also has AWESOME customer service and is very knowledgeable about cloth diapering and parenting in general. She doesn't just carry cloth diapers and accessories either! She also carries teething remedies, toys, books, essential oils, cloth diaper detergents, lotions, CD safe diaper rash creams, natural cleaning products, baby wraps and carriers, and so much more! PLUS she does registries and layaway! I have never had a negative experience with her, and I swear I'm not just saying that because she's sponsoring this review. I would tell you if I'd had a bad experience because this blog is all about learning and growing in my cloth diaper journey and helping others to learn and have a positive experience in theirs!

 

So...on to the good stuff, the diapers!

 

I was originally looking into fitteds because we are still searching for a good nighttime solution. The problem is fitteds are generally more expensive. I started cloth diapering because, well, we needed to save the money! So I am very budget minded when it comes to cloth diapering. I prefer prefolds and covers just because it's cheaper. I prefer china cheapies, again, because they are cheaper. But neither of those have been working for nighttime, no matter what I stuff pockets with or how well I use the prefolds. When I got the chance to do a review, I of course jumped on it!

 

OsoCozy is supposed to be a more budget minded brand of cloth diapers. They are less expensive than other brands for sure. I've always assumed you kind of get what you pay for with fitteds. I've heard of a lot of mamas having problems with cheaper fitteds and I will be honest, I was skeptical that these were going to work. We put it on my son one night with a simple Econobum cover. Cheap but works. I'll say this, my son is a heavy wetter and he's also a tummy sleeper which makes finding a good diaper to last the night even more difficult. Even disposables don't work very well overnight and it seems no matter what we put on him he ends up waking up to wet sheets. We literally have been waking him up twice a night to change him. So back to the night we tried them. Well when he woke up the next morning he was happy and his sheets were dry! He seemed like he was in a much better mood and I was happy because I didn't have to change his sheet, and I didn't have to wake him up twice to change his diaper! The fitted and cover held it all in and were easy to take off! I thought maybe I was just lucky, so I washed a load of diaper laundry and tried again. Same results! I've now tried it four different nights with three different covers and I can say for sure that OsoCozy fitted diapers are awesome!

 

I already loved OsoCozy better fit prefolds, but now I am very happy to say I think OsoCozy is a great brand. It's the best of both worlds because they obviously make quality diapers that work well but they also will not break the bank! I honestly think we have found our night time solution! I seriously cannot think of anything I didn't like about the diaper's use. I will say the laundry tabs don't keep the velcro hooked and the velcro ends up sticking to things in the laundry, but it is such a minor annoyance in a big long list of pros, it won't keep me from buying more at all!

 

 

 

You can buy OsoCozy fitteds or add them to your registry at Mama's Emporium. 

 

Don't forget, if you'd like to partner with me for a review and/or giveaway, let me know! blueturtlesweetie@gmail.com

UPDATE: OsoCozy will no longer be making velcro closure for their fitted diapers. This is really saddening to me because I love that feature, it makes it easy to take off and put on. Mama's Emporium still has some velcro, I would get in on that while you could.