Attention All Diapering Mamas (and Papas):

THESE SITES HOST NEW GIVEAWAYS EVERY WEEK. THE ITEMS MENTIONED IN THIS POST ARE NOT NECCISSARILY THE ITEMS GIVEN AWAY THE WEEK THAT YOU READ THIS.

Okay, now that I got your attention...

I know some people are avid disposable users and some are avid cloth users...some are in the middle, BUT I'm pretty sure we all have something in common...

WE LOVE FREEBIES!!!

So, I have found two sites I thought might interest all "camps".

First, I found The Cloth Diaper Whisperer. Every week they have a giveaway of cloth diapers & baby items called Fluff Fridays. This weeks is for one Bumgenious diaper and 3 pairs of Baby Legs. Everyone can use Baby Legs, even in summer! I have had to throw a blanket on my 7 month old numerous times in the grocery store...which of course he just pulled right off! These would have been great!!! As for the Bumgenious, It's a great night time diaper for anyone using cloth or considering even using it part time. It also is a one size which means it will fit the baby from a little older then newborn until potty training! So you could use it as your night time diaper for the life of the diapering years (if you like it, you would want to buy a couple more though unless you want to wash it everyday)! Even if you don't want the cloth diaper, I'm sure you can find another mama who would, and if not, you could always sell it! (Obviously though, the idea is to use their giveaways, not sale them, I'm just sayin'.) 98% of their giveaways are cloth diapers [shocking I know! ;)]. If you've ever considered even trying cloth diapers, this is a great way to do it!

The second one I found is Diaper Discussions. They are having their second ever "Pimp Your Stash"giveaway. This week they are giving away a wet bag by "Wet Happened?" ANY parent can use these! They are not only for storing cloth diapers while out, but they make great re-usable bags for any wet things. Ever been out swimming and put the bathing suits in a plastic bag...and still ended up with water where it didn't belong??? Wet bags would be great for this purpose! They would also work well for toiletries that you don't want to leak onto everything else. Diaper Discussions will be holding these giveaways every week so keep your eye out for items you might can use whether you are cloth diapering or not.

Green Factor: They giveaway reusable baby items including wet bags & cloth diapers.

Saving Green: FREE!!!

I put their buttons on this blog, in the far right hand column, to help you keep up with them easily.

Going Cloth - gDiapers with cloth inserts

I have recently begun switching to gDiapers with cloth inserts. I am using the Hemp & Bamboo G-Flappers from Nappy Shoppe. They are VERY absorbent!!! They fit the gDiapers perfectly! And dry in a regular length of time in the dryer. I haven't hung them outside to try yet, since I've been washing them at night, so I don't know how long that would take. I haven't had any leak problems with them. The only leaks I've had were when I didn't take the extra half a minute to check the fit of the gDiaper and didn't have it quite right.

A few tips:

*I think it's worth the time, while you're looking into gDiapers or while you're waiting for them to come in the mail, to watch the videos on gDiaper's website about fit. I watched them multiple times, watched multiple other videos about them on YouTube, and read fit tips on the gDiapers website and also on other blogs/forums. I did all that while I was looking into them. Because I took the time to educate myself on proper fit, I put them on correctly from the beginning. And when I did have a leak, I knew exactly how to prevent it next time.

*Make sure you get the G-Flappers pre-washed a few times before you rely on them for great absorbency. It took 2-3 hot washes & hot drying before they were as super absorbent as they are now. I've gone up to 5 hours on my 18 month old and 4 hours on my 5 month old (by mistake) and they didn't leak!

*If you use gDiapers with cloth inserts, they come out to be much cheaper then most other options. If you want to use prefolds with covers, then those would be cheaper I believe. But otherwise, gDiapers come out cheaper then all-in-ones, pockets, or disposables. As for electricity an water, they save that as well. GDiapers and their snap in liners can be washed with the regular baby laundry. Then the inserts just take up a SMALL load. I just run a pre-rinse (in cold), wash in hot (standard cold rinse), and then rinse again in cold if you can smell any detergent left (most of the time I don't need this though). You can line dry them and save the electricity from the dryer too.

*Want to save even more money with gDiapers? You can buy gDiapers second hand or even new on Craigslist or Ebay. You can also do what I did and cut the price down a little by buying the starter kit. It gets you two outer pants, 3 snap in liners, and 10 flushable inserts for $26.99. This cuts the price down per gDiaper to $13.49 instead of $16.99. Plus you get an extra liner and the flushable inserts which are great to practice getting the fit right. I got mine at Babies R' Us to save shipping. I'd also advise keeping an eye on their website (even better, join their mailing list) for specials. They seem to be always offering some kind of special.

*If you want to save money on the G-Flappers and know how to sew, you can order the fabric straight from Nappy Shoppe and sew them yourself. I priced the fabric at a couple online places (only a handful for 4 types of fabric total) and from the few I checked, Nappy Shoppe seemed to have GREAT prices. If you happen to live in the Dallas area, you also have the option to save the shipping and pick up from her.

If you have any questions about using G-Flappers and gDiapers, don't hesitate to e-mail Sharni. She is the owner of Nappy Shoppe and is VERY friendly and helpful. I sent her multiple e-mails for probably about 2 weeks before I ordered my G-Flappers from her. She has always responded right away and with more information then I even asked for (good thing!).