BumGenius 4.0 Vs Charlie Banana

My Diaper Station

I don't know if it is a good thing that there aren't too many modern cloth diapering brands in India yet.. the all - in- ones, two - in - ones, pockets, prefolds jargon can be skipped for take - it - or - leave it!

Apart from the flip system, the only choice i have is between bumgemius (bg) and Charlie banana (cb) pocket diapers. There are a couple Indian brands as well.. but I am still mustering the courage to go there.
So I have bought a few of both which I use for nights, traveling and for back up incase my baby feels 'poopy' that day.. which has become a regular since we started solids.

Through the day I stick with flip system organics.. nothing like cotton for hot Indian summers. (review here)
As for BG VS CB, here are the key differences I noticed while using them. Its not about the technicality of the diaper but my feelings towards them.

Fit: my baby is tall and lean. CB sits a low rise, narrow at crotch... Looks just like an undie. BG on the other hand is wider and sits high on the waist.. like grandma undies! Having said that they both retain poop very well.. unlike the disposables which had my baby's back smeared with his shit once. No joke that!

Inserts: BG has a thinner and obviously wider microfiber which is a better option than CB'S; which is thicker, shorter and on doubling the insert makes baby's behind like J Lo's.

Also inserting the inserts in CB is a pain due to the narrow crotch area.. no man can get his hands in it for sure! It's a struggle for any non petite individual. Sometimes I feel I might just rip it apart if I used more strength! BG wins here.. takes half the time to get a BG ready for use.

Colours and prints: if you get addicted to cloth diapering I am sure it is CB to blame.. They are cuteness.. BGs are so practical, understated even in the colours they offer... It's like BG is my hubby and CB is me - Drama queen.

Flaps: BG flaps open at the rear end while CB is front. To me CB is more convenient that way because all poop is contained in the vicinity unlike for BG where it can slip into the flaps while trying to shake it out. It did happen and the work got messier. You can avoid this if you pay attention and hold the flap side but if you are alternating between the two brands and mindlessly hold the front (default side for me) while shaking the poop, Shit will happen for sure!

Staining: my diapers are largely stain free except for a CB insert and a BG cover which have retained some brown spots. I am just not able to make any sense of this. My baby was under medication at that time but there were other pooped diapers too.. and I have washed and washed and washed.. BG is fading thankfully but the ugly CB insert shows me his ugly face every time I put it out to dry.. I even tried placing the insert under direct sunlight for an entire afternoon! Even my hair would have bleached by then!

Now for some other random info that might just help you ( or not ) to make up your mind (that is if you really must choose), CB is very active on facebook with a new feed almost every day and lots of contests and giveaways.. Ofcourse that makes more sense if you are in the U.S.

On home turf, CB is distributed by redlily.com.. a strictly mediocre site with zero information available on the diapers whereas BG comes through smartbaby.in and you have to visit them. Those guys will talk you through their products and really help you if you are new to cloth diapers. They know their stuff. Oh and if you must talk brand value, BG replicas are available in the market.. go figure!

Below image has BG double insert left and CB double insert right. As you can see, Charlie Banana is butt deceiving!

UPDATE:  CB has started leaking profusely after 6 months of continuous use. BG still going strong. Have been stripping both the diapers regularly but am not able to solve the problem. Hoping internet comes to the rescue..OR baby just decides to man up to the potty.. just to let you know, he thinks the potty seat is a toy. Not even a drop of pee goes in it but as soon as he is off it, his bowels scream ACTION!

Wipe it off

It was not always like this. There was hard work,diligence and pride of workmanship.. sometimes work was thrice a day.. sometimes in the middle of the night.. the load was small though.. but as time went by it got bigger, stronger.. almost exploding off the nappy.
The warm water- sterilized cotton balls routine started getting messier. Needed around 6 cotton balls to swipe clean the area..then some more for my clothes and almost everything in the vicinity of the poop. ( my baby has this amazing ability to poop while nursing!)
He turned 3 months and out went the cotton and in came the baby wipes! They were handy, did the job well and smelled sooo good... In this short span of time I went through a few brands.. was so excited to smell them all..to lay my hands on as many baby fragrances as possible. ( crazy addiction!)

But then came the rude shock when i opened my first pack of Babyhug wipes.. they smelled like roses..lots and lots of roses..like those stalls where women sell rose garlands outside places of worship! God no! i don't want my baby to smell like that! That's when i started examining them closely...and here's what i learned:
Broadly speaking some wipes have a cloth like feel and some are papery thin. The papery ones I am not comfortable with as one swoop does not gather all 'shit' and when it does, it cleverly deposits some on your hands.. Then some are silky and papery ones.. how on earth will it clean the poop? It's like trying to wipe your secretion with satin...who does that? Guess the ones at Libero do.. oh but those wipes smell so good, you almost want to cuddle it!
So these cloth ones and almost cloth ones like Himalaya, J&J and my go to wipes MeeMee are just divine. though Himalaya is a tad too wet.. so you have to air dry your baby's bum for a nano second more..don't see how that would be a problem.. but just so you know, you know?
Anyway, back to MeeMee..i Love them.. they smell good, are thick cloth like..so i end up using less and i got a pack of 80 for 99 INR!!! THE CHEAPEST AND THE BESTEST!
 Now all was going well with these wipes, till i saw Mothercare ones on sale..I HAD to try them out! Thought i would love them from the first whiff! But i didnt. Nopes..far from it.. ok..so they had the same thickness like J&J and Himalaya but they smelled like fresh lillies! ok, i love that smell..ON ME! (caps indicate my level of disappointment). they do the job alright..but wait a minute what does it read? 'Paraben free'..so do other wipes have paraben? does it really cause cancer? but if they don't contain paraben. wouldn't it get bacterial contamination? i don't have an answer.. but i did start reading on all the ones i was using.. some were recyclable like Himalaya, Libero and Pampers. NONE were biodegradable (which means that if you throw a used wipe into the garden, mother earth will not engulf it and sprout a flower from it!) MeeMee and J &J mentioned nothing..No recyclable logo, no paraben free..no..nothing!! Infact, other than mothercare, none of the ones i used mentioned anything about paraben!
This thing about being a mother, it suddenly makes you responsible..not just about your baby but also the world you will leave behind for him..so out goes my MeeMee wipes..unless they tell me they can recycle it (you know, like that Levi's ad)..Responsible parenting can be heart breaking at times :( Going back to my ever faithful Himalaya and pampers..oh, i didn't tell you, pampers are wonderful!! they are thick, smell baby like and are recyclable! yeah, but they cost 100 INR more than Himalaya..Worth it? Maybe not..Oh and the baby hug ones, i don't care if they sprout a flower after disintegrating, they are not touching my baby's behind!

P.S: If you do know anything concrete about paraben. do let me know. i am quite on the fence about it!

To Soap or Shower?

I am a fan of Himalaya baby products, with them being all herbal, organic, hypoallergic and oh! that baby smell of their products (you know that subtle, sweet, powdery smell that makes you go hmmm...). They tick all boxes on my baby list.

But when you have two different products from the same brand for the SAME purpose, how do you choose?
To soap or shower, is the question?
I have tried both the products on my face and on my baby's skin..and here is what i found..

Himalaya Moisturizing Baby Soap: (INR 35 for 70 gms)

• Contains Almond Oil , Olive Oil and Vitamin E. 
• It cleanses really well. Gives a squeaky clean feeling after a bath.
• It DOES dry out the skin. it dried out my skin so i am sure it dries out my baby's skin.
• However, if you bathe your baby after an oil massage, the skin does not feel dry.
• If you don't, you might have to top it up with a body lotion.
• It goes a long way so is very easy on the pocket. (lasted me three months!)
• It DOES NOT have the 'no tears' formula. But my baby has not had a problem with it so far.

Himalaya Gentle Baby Bath: (INR 70 for 100 ml)

• Contains Fenugreek, Chickpea and Green Gram (i know chickpea is really good for the skin, being bought up on besan and malai bath rituals. My skin is still quite soft)
• It is extremely gentle on skin. Didn't feel any tightening on my skin so am hoping it's the same for my baby.
• Now, when i bathe my baby after an oil massage, i realize that i keep lathering him but i still don't get that clean feeling that the soap gives.
• Without an oil massage, it feels like the perfect soap for my baby. 
• Don't need to apply lotion later either.
• No tears formula is always a plus!
• A little steep on the pocket ( if you don't stop lathering till the baby feels absolutely clean, you will sniff out the product in one month's time!)

So which way do i sway? The baby shower, baby!! Ok, so i do take a tad too much of the product to get the desired result but saves the pains of using a lotion later ( and in this heat, it can't be a good idea). Also ease of navigation..no slippery mess..slipping out of hand to land on the other end of the bathroom can be difficult situation with the baby in one hand, you know!)

Parenting for Dummies: Spock Vs WTE - First Year

I am sure there are some pediatricians who double up as therapist and listen to all the issues that new parents have. Mine is a little bit different. 'Doc, he was awake all night, crying..almost howling..we tried EVERYTHING' will be met by the response, 'Oh, he is gaining healthy weight, nothing to worry about'. OK. 'Doc, he is not feeding like he used to. gets distracted after 5 mins'.'Oh, he is gaining healthy weight, nothing to worry about'. 'But Doc..'Oh, he is gaining healthy weight, nothing to worry about'. I almost always am disappointed after my pediac meeting because i had so many stories to share and all he could do was weigh him and cut me off..:( Thats my baby, not a sack of potatoes, you know!
Ok, i get it. my baby is growing well and healthy and i should not hyperventilate at every instance..but if you were there that night to see how bad the colic was, you would DEFINITELY say something was up with the little one.
So, why am i going to this emotionally redundant doc? Well, he is the one the big smart ass baby (AKA Hubby)  went to for the first eighteen years of his life.. you see, there is an 'emotional' connect. now, for his medical skills, i must say, he is fantastic! but is that enough for a new mother? Maybe not...
There is almost always a way out, if you only look!
My mother got me 'Dr. Spocks Baby and Childcare in India' as a gift the day i delivered and i had picked up 'What to Expect - The first year by Heidi Murkoff'. Yup the same series of the world famous 'What to Expect when Expecting' when i was expecting.

Now, Dr. Spock is very informative about the first three months, giving some amazing advice on how to attend to a new born, how to nurse, gadgets that are needed, suffocation hazards, etc. now post that, he just goes through the other months stressing on the important milestones like teething, solids etc in a very doctor - like fashion. so even though there is real good information, its all cold..just like my pediatrician's office.
'What to Expect - the first year' was quite the unexpected.. imagine the scenario: Its 2:00 A.M, you have barely slept for 4 hrs in the last 24 hrs, your energy levels are at an all time low and your baby is crying miserably - meaning crying his lungs out - going all red- even stops breathing in between the screams!!! everyone at home is running around like headless chickens.. "is he still hungry", " why does he not sleep","did you not feed him", "is it colic"..OMG!! What did i do to this tiny thing..Oh god!! Make it stop!!! And from the corner of your eye, you notice this book lying on your shelf. You never bothered to read it before.. who has the time?! frantically you browse through it to find some answers and then, you see questions..like the ones you have..And there are answers!! There are real people who have been through what you are going through..and someone has answered them.. that someone also knows what i feel like right now!!! There is Hope, for me, as a mother.. i have found someone who will help me through it...
That night was long.. extremly long.. co relating the symptoms with the book, we narrowed it to colic. we were reassured. administered drops.. walked up and down the house with him on the shoulder, turn by turn, every family member..till he finally was at ease and went off to sleep.
The next morning, we were all smiling. me the most..i gained a new sense of confidence and pride.. i could do this.. we could do this..
So, just to be doubly sure all was ok, we visited the doc in the evening, and he said: 'Oh, he is gaining healthy weight, nothing to worry about'