Diapers, Diapers, Diapers all Day Long

With twins you never change just one poopy diaper. You think you can get away with it. You smell that stench, you figure out which baby is producing it and you always think to yourself, "OK it's just one. I can handle it." But sure enough as soon as your done the stench will rise again and you'll find that the other child has made a mess in his pants as well.

When the boys were newborns Craig and I had a routine in order to avoid the double duty diaper changes. We'd get up, feed them, Change their diapers, put them to bed and then fall asleep as fast as we could. If we stayed awake we'd hear the sound of a baby filling his diaper. Then we would have to change it. And, as I'm sure you can guess, we would have to change the other one too.

Yes Diapers are a major part of our lives. And I prefer to change as few diapers as possible, but I also feel a responsibility to be a thrifty mom and wife. So Craig and I have gone through a few different brands, and I thought I'd share what we have found out.

At first we had the Huggies Newborn diapers- we got these as presents from people. They have a little cut out for the baby's umbilical cord, which seems great but was the cause of many leaks for us. We went through 3 or 4 pajama's a night sometimes. Of course, we found this could all be avoided if we pointed their little guys down. But before we discovered this we switched to Size 1 diapers.

As far as size 1 went, we had some Huggies but mostly Costco's Kirkland Brand. We loved these diapers. And they became the diapers we ended up purchasing. But I started to feel a twinge of guilt because I hadn't really researched the price on the Kirkland brand of diapers. I just assumed they were the best deal- Kirkland usually is. I soon discovered that they weren't. It was hard for me to give up my nice diapers. I loved the Kirkland brand! But I knew what I had to do.

After finding that another brand was cheaper my guilt, to save us money, led us to buy Wal-Mart's Parents Choice diapers. They were awful! We had to change the boys twice as much. If we didn't change them twice as much we would end up changing clothes on top of diapers- and in the winter this sucks! Lots of snaps. And Even when there wasn't a leak, the poop still got all over the boys clothes during the changing process. My husband and agreed that buying cheaper diapers to save money didn't really save us anything if we had to use twice as many.

So back to the Kirkland brand we went, and We've used it ever since.

Then my mother introduced me to Sam's Club- another buy in bulk store. Sam's Club is affiliated with Wal-Mart, so I'm thinking there are Sam's Clubs in other states as well. Anyway. . .I went with my mom and discovered that they had a diaper brand that was about 10 cents cheaper per diaper than the Kirkland brand. I was a little hesitant to try them. After all Craig is unemployed and I didn't want to waste money on a crummy box of diapers again. I read the box over and over again to see what is said about anti-leakage protection, and I finally decided to take a chance.

***FYI: Sam's Club also has Beech Nut Baby Cereal in bulk. I was super excited to find it!***

I brought the diapers home and so far they have worked out great for us. They seem to work just as well as the Kirkland Brand.


So I know this was a little long winded, and maybe kind of boring, but I hope someone can find the info useful.

Back to Basics

When it's sleeping time I usually know they are not hungry or thirsty, and so I assume they are crying for no good reason and usually I get upset. Then my husband comes along and gives them teething tablets, Tylenol or gripe water and magically the crying stops. Me, I'm standing in the corner slapping myself on the head thinking, "Why didn't I think of that? It was so simple!"

We usually get into habits when the boys go through phases. When they were little we always gave them gripe water when they couldn't sleep because they spit up a lot and always had the hiccups. When they were teething we'd give them teething tablets or Tylenol. Then slowly the phase ends and I, for some reason, forget medicine exists.

The other night my big boy decided he didn't want to be asleep anymore at 3:00 in the morning. Slowly my husband and I started to loose our tempers. We even remembered to try the teething tablets, the Tylenol and the gripe water. I wished I was in a state to comfort my son, but sadly I was not. Finally, after an hour or so of crying, I gave him some watered down apple juice and he went to sleep.

The next morning I woke to find he had a little pebble of a poop stuck in his little bum. I immediately felt the urge to smack my head and exclaim, "Why didn't I think of that? It was so simple!"

All I would have had to do was check his diaper and he probably would have been fine. But neither me nor my husband thought of it because the little poop produced no smell. Therefore leaving my poor big boy in an uncomfortable state for the rest of the night.

I quickly mixed him up a beverage consisting of Karo Syrup, apple juice and water to fight his constipation, and he has returned to his normal happy self.

And Mom and Dad's list of "Basics to Try Before we Get Upset With the Crying Baby" now goes as follows:

-Teething tablets
-Tylenol
-Gripe Water or Gas medicine
-Check their diaper
-Give them a drink

P.S. Mixing Karo with water works for newborns who have pooping issues. We mixed about a milliliter of Karo with two ounces of water when the boys were newborns.