A Diaper Bag That Holds Everything AND Looks Good

With two children still in diapers (OK, one is in pull-ups), I can't escape the house without a diaper bag. For short trips, one of my small diaper bags works fine - a couple of diapers for each of them, some wipes, and maybe a change of clothing.

But for an entire day out or an overnight, when I need full changes of clothing, snacks, sometimes meals, sippy cups, sunscreen, lots of diapers, and any accessories for the day, one diaper bag rarely holds it all. We often must resort to two diaper bags - one to hold diapers, clothing and supplies for changes, and the other to hold food, drink and eating accessories. It's a pain to lug two bags around, and the second bag is often our backup bag - the ugly diaper bag given out by the hospital.

Enter Ju-Ju-Be. I was asked to review their new diaper bag, the WannaBe, a bag designed to hold everything you could need for a day out. I was skeptical that it could really hold enough to take my two kids out for a day at the pool or for an overnight stay with a friend.

When it arrived, my first thought on opening the box was that the pattern is beautiful. I received the citrus/green, and the colors are so vibrant and bright they make me smile just looking at the bag. As I lifted it out, I was then surprised at just how large this bag is!

I'm happy to say, this diaper bag holds everything. It has several generous sized pockets to keep things organized, including a large insulated pocket for drinks and snacks. It even has a pocket for your iPod. A pocket on the exterior is useful for keeping items for yourself, while two removable, see-thru wet bags are great for keeping wet or soiled items away from everything else. (Or for keeping more delicate items away from wet items!)

If you're going to the beach, the WannaBe has an amazing feature. After loading up everything at the end of the day, unzip the bottom of the bag to reveal the Sand Trap mesh bottom. Give a good shake to get all of the sand out of the bag while keeping everything else in place. Genius! There's also a towel holder on the outside of the bag to hold a rolled up beach towel.

You can carry the WannaBe in two different ways. First, the tote shoulder straps can be adjusted for the most comfortable single shoulder or arm carry. But if you are hefting a full bag across a beach to get back to the car, use the backpack straps to distribute the weight and free up your hands.

The Ju-Ju-Be WannaBe is an amazing diaper bag, and I'm in love with just how useful it is. Even after the girls have left diapers behind, this will still be a go-to bag for trips to the beach. It's stylish design doesn't scream "diaper bag" like so many do. The bag is also waterproof, machine washable, and the lining has an anti-microbial treatment.

Want to win a Ju-Ju-Be diaper bag? I'm giving away one of the BeLight diaper bags (it's a small diaper bag, great for short trips) in the color of your choice! To enter, visit the Ju-Ju-Be site, then leave a comment here telling me which bag color you like the best. Contest ends August 29 at 11:59pm eastern. One winner will be chosen at random after that date. Be sure to leave a way for me to contact you if you win.

And if you aren't the winner, check out the Pink Room at the Ju-Ju-Be website for the Real Mom Giveaway. Each week Ju-Ju-Be gives away one diaper bag of the winner's choice (ANY bag!) - enter by answering the question of the week.

**This contest is now closed.

Win a Huggies Summer Essentials Kit!

Edited to add: This contest is now closed. Congrats to the winners, Dorene and Misguided Mommy!

Have you been out in the sprinklers or the backyard pool yet this summer? We have several times already, because Cordy loves to be outdoors splashing in the water.

But if you've seen her, you know she's pale. Ghostly white. Meaning that if she goes outside on a sunny day she has to be coated in sunscreen, wearing light colors, and if we're lucky, we keep her in the shade.

Huggies sent me a gift pack of their summer products, including swim diapers, sunscreen (how did I not know they made sunscreen?), UV sensors, a shovel, a pail, and beach ball.

While we're already big fans of the Little Swimmers swim diapers (Cordy has to have them for school), I really haven't seen the UV Sun Sensors until now. They're stickers in cute sea-themed designs that change color to tell you when you need to get out of the sun. Stick them to an arm, a hat, or anywhere that gets good sun exposure, and then let your kid play. When the sticker changes color, it's time to go in for a bit or put on more sunscreen. I think we'll be getting a lot of use from these.

Fish-shaped sun sensor on Cordy's arm

You can win your own Summer Essentials Kit from Huggies! I have two to give away, and all you have to do is leave a comment here by 11:59 PM Eastern on July 3, 2008. After that date I'll pick two winners at random to receive their own pail filled with sunscreen, Little Swimmers swim diapers, Sun Sensors, a beach ball, and a shovel. Good luck!

Save Some $$$ On Diapers

A while back, I asked people for recommendations on diapers, after Pampers had changed their design and were no longer as leak-proof as they used to be. After trying many types on Cordy, we found the Luvs had the best leak protection of any diapers out there. Rarely do we have a leak, and when we do, it's usually because someone gave in to her begging and let her have five cups of (watered-down) juice in a very short period of time.

Little did I know that we would also come to appreciate the cost savings as well. She's still in diapers, and the Luvs are cheaper than other brand name diapers as well as being better quality, too. Saving $4-6 per box of diapers adds up quickly.

I just found out that Luvs is offering a $5 off coupon starting June 25 (Wednesday). There are a limited number, so be sure to get to the Luvs website first thing on June 25 to snag one of those coupons. Sure, Luvs are already cheaper than other diapers, but why not get another $5 off, right?

To promote this coupon offer, Luvs brought in Anita Renfroe (remember her awesome Total Momsense video on YouTube?) and asked her to do a follow-up song. I love her, and the new lyrics she's created are a lot like the first song: funny and oh-so-true. Be sure to check it out - you can also forward it on to friends to let them know about the coupon, too!

All The Gory Details From Camp Baby

Seems like nearly everyone has written their recap about the Johnson & Johnson Camp Baby event from last week. I could sound all writerly and say I needed time to digest the event for a proper write-up, but the truth is I've just been so busy catching up from being gone three days and working on school assignments. And it is incredibly hard to condense three days worth of information into one post, so I was a little intimidated, too.

Wednesday

Conquering my fear of flying was a little difficult when I took my seat on a plane where the cabin was only slightly wider than my SUV, with about as much head room. But we made it there safely, and I quickly found the Camp Baby representative, who ushered me into a Suburban. I learned that all of our ground transportation for the event was being sponsored by GM. I've seen GM at other blog events (like BlogHer 06) and I've always been impressed with their outreach.

At the hotel I checked in and was told that I could get something to eat in the hospitality suite. Since I traveled during lunchtime, I was hungry, so I quickly dumped my luggage in my room (stopping to notice the gift bag of Neutrogena products) and set off to find the hospitality suite. When I got there, I immediately ran into Belinda and Carmen, who were already chatting while Belinda twittered. The food was a bit of a let-down at first: some fruit, nuts, and soda. I was expecting something a little more substantial. Tracey arrived shortly after that, and asked if we could get some food with a little protein, like hummus. Poof - hummus and pita triangles arrived! Later, we tried this same trick with "something sweet" and poof - cookies arrived. Yum.

That evening everyone gathered for the wine tasting with Ted Allen. Confession - aside from him being male, I couldn't have picked him out of the crowd if asked. I've never really watched any of the shows he's been on. He was very patient through all of our chatting (C'mon, many of us haven't seen each other since July! We want to catch up!) as he guided us through food and wine pairings. I've always preferred white wine to red, but I got to try a few reds that might change my mind.

We were all feeling warm and happy, thanks to the wine, and then Lori got up and reminded us that Thursday's activities would begin at 7:30am. (Ack!) Still, it wasn't enough to convince us to go to bed - many congregated in the bar afterwards, and Kristen did her podcast live from just outside the bar.

Thursday

All of the morning activities were in one (very nice) room. They clearly were thinking of us when choosing this hotel. Each row had a desk with outlets to plug in laptops. Genius! The programming for the day began with a talk about teaching your children to sleep by Dr. Jodi Mindell. Most of us could identify with our children having at least one issue with going to bed or staying asleep, and we all learned we don't get enough sleep. (Wait - we knew that.) We were all given a copy of her book as well.

Other morning programs included a talk with "Dr. Germ" who told us that there are germs on everything (and then I watched the poor germaphobes in the room squirm in their seats), and a nutritionist who I didn't care for at all. I mean, she had some good points, but she also insisted that there was no problem giving artificial sweetener to kids, and organic milk was a waste of money, because there's nothing wrong with antibiotics and artificial growth hormones in milk. I might mention that even Wal-Mart, who I trust with my health about as much as I trust George W. Bush with searching for alternatives to oil, recently decided to remove growth hormones from all of it's private label milk.

We also got to see a J&J employee answer questions about the safety of their products. She had clearly anticipated that we would have questions about parabens and phthalates, and proceeded to tell us that there are good and bad versions of these chemicals, and they use only the "good" ones. I don't think she convinced anyone in the room - many of us have read the research and know the dangers. But she was honest about not knowing just how much animal testing they do with their products - I appreciate that she didn't try to talk around that question.

We then heard Tina Sharkey from Babycenter talk about how the internet has affected the way moms connect and interact, and while she was a great speaker, she said little that the mom bloggers in the room didn't already know. Those stats she gave? We're the ones making those stats.

The best session in the morning had to be Dr. Scott Jens talking about the InfantSEE program, which works to provide babies under a year old with free eye exams. I'll be blogging more about this in another post.

After lunch, we were split into three groups so we could rotate through three different sessions. One was a feedback session, some of which I talked about here. I felt a little like we were beating our heads against a wall. There were so many of us trying to get across that we are VERY concerned about the chemicals in our children's bath & body products. Several challenged J&J to make one product - just one - free of parabens, phthalates, artificial fragrance, etc. and let us prove to them that there is a strong market for it. I hope our suggestions will be given serious consideration.

The next session was "What's Happening Down There?" where the greatest amount of twittering took place. This session discussed the issue of uterine prolapse and other gynecological issues that can affect women who have had children. Honestly, I think it was too much for this crowd to handle. I'm in nursing school, and just finished my unit on reproductive health, so it didn't bother me, but many women were (justifiably) horrified at the topic. But I felt bad for the speakers, too. How would you like to be giving a lecture and look up to see this:

The laptop brigade can be intimidating.
(photo by Glennia - found here)

By the time I got to the final session (hairbraiding), I was burned out, along with everyone else. Silliness ensued:

Dana (Mamalogues)

Catherine (Her Bad Mother) (photo by Glennia again - found here)

Dinner was held at The Frog and the Peach restaurant, and while the dinner was simply amazing, that wasn't the story for the evening. GM sponsored all of the cars that took us to the restaurant, but I have no idea who they hired as drivers. As a group of us were being driven to the restaurant, it quickly became clear that the driver had no idea where he was going. We drove from one end of New Brunswick to the other, still not arriving at dinner. Even worse, the driver was listening to ultra-conservative talk radio, and we were all stunned into silence at what we were hearing.

If it wasn't for Sarah and her GPS, we might have never made it to the restaurant - two blocks away from the hotel. It took 20 minutes to get there.

Sarah saves the day.

Nintendo had several Wii systems set up at the restaurant, including one that featured the new Wii Fit. I can simply say that I will be lined up to purchase the Wii Fit when it is available in May. (Karianna has now pointed out they are available for pre-order on Amazon now.) They also surprised all of us with a DS Lite and a copy of the game Brain Age 2. Being a geek, I already have a DS Lite, but the game was a welcome distraction in the airport on the way home.

Friday

Again, we had to be in the lobby way too early for my liking (7:00am). We checked out of our rooms, stowed our luggage with the hotel, and went to the J&J headquarters for breakfast. We had a great presentation about the history of the company and some information about the blogs they write. We gave a little more feedback, again asking for more product information on their website, and they seemed genuinely interested in our thoughts.

After breakfast, we returned to the hotel to visit the product expo, where we went table to table with our pretty bags, trick-or-treat style, collecting full size samples of many of the products Johnson & Johnson makes. Another genius moment - the event coordinators anticipated that we wouldn't be able to take all of our loot on the planes, so they provided boxes and FedEx labels to ship it all back to us. (Side note: It's been over a week now. I'm still waiting for my box. Where's my box?) From there, we all waited in the lobby for our moment to be whisked away to the airport to return home.

Other random thoughts about the event:

• Lori and the entire event staff did a kick-ass job making sure everything went smoothly. Honestly, I don't think I've seen an event run so well, often going above and beyond to make sure we were getting what we needed (and a lot of what we wanted).
  
  
• I fully expected to have a lot of product information pushed at us. I realized this was a business trip. But I wish they would have put together a morning of product information and then have sessions that weren't necessarily related to a product. It became a game after a while to identify the pitch. Dr. Germ = Purell. The nutritionist = Splenda. Hairbraiding = J&J hair care products. Even the "down there" session = lube, pads, and the surgical materials used to fix a prolapse.
  
  
• Twitter is the greatest invention ever. If it wasn't for Twitter, I might have been bored through some of the presentations. But knowing that half of the room was on Twitter discussing how good looking the eye doctor was, or throwing out links to research that countered things being said. It was like a second discussion going on without having to bother the person talking. And having those who couldn't be there following along with us made it a party.
  
  
• I think J&J learned a lot from us, and we learned from them, too. I didn't realize that some of the products I use are made by J&J, and I didn't know about some of the community outreach projects they participate in. I hope they learned from us that many mom bloggers are smart, highly educated women who really do want to know more about the products we use, and have a serious concern about the safety of what we're using for our families. We want full disclosure - you might think we're not interested in chemistry and research, but we are.
  
  
• Did you know J&J has a blog? More than one, actually.
  

While there were some problems with the initial invitation process, the event was interesting and entertaining. I appreciate that J&J wanted to meet with us and listen to us, and I'd like to see more blogger outreach. (And I'm not talking about sending us press releases and expecting us to post them.) If you really want to know what moms think, go to the mom bloggers. We're some of the most opinionated women out there, and we're often happy to tell you exactly what we think. Even if you don't want to hear it.

So thanks for a fun event, J&J, and I hope we didn't tell you too much that you didn't want to hear.

Let's Talk Poop and Goop

It's a mom blog, so I have to talk about poop, right? Well, this isn't exactly about poop - more like the after-effects of poop.

Both of my daughters are stealth poopers. They will either do it when they are across the room and then avoid me, or they will hold off until bedtime, waiting until the middle of the night to let it all out. As you can imagine, keeping that against their sensitive, fair-skinned bottoms for so long can lead to diaper rash.

So when the Parent Bloggers Network asked me to try out Diaper Goop for their diaper rashes, I was intrigued. The name was, well, a little odd. But I hated the pungent smelling diaper creams we were already using, with only so-so results, so I was ready to try anything, even if it had a strange name.

When our supply of Diaper Goop arrived, I was impressed that it was in a tub and not a tube. There's nothing worse than trying to squeeze the right amount of cream out of a tiny tube while wrestling down an unwilling preschooler with a sore butt who is yelling "No cream! No cream!" With Diaper Goop, I can unscrew the lid and have it ready to scoop out when I need it.

Unlike the thick white paste we've used before, this is a slightly sticky, clear yellowish, uh...goop. Goop really is the best way to describe it. It's a lanolin based product - when I opened it for the first time, my mind was immediately taken back to those early breastfeeding days of cracked nipples. It's very similar, right down to the smell, which I find more pleasant than the white paste.

Does it work? Yes! Mira provided a chance for us to use it within 24 hours of it arriving at our door. I dabbed some of the sticky goop onto her red bottom before bed, and by the next morning, the redness was gone. Other experiences have yielded the same response: the rash is generally gone within 12-24 hours.

The really impressive part is that it helps Cordy with her rashes, too. She has a number of food allergies, and the reaction usually appears as the food is on the way out. If she's eaten something that bothers her, as soon as the poop touches her skin it causes a rash, and sometimes blisters if it is there too long. These are very painful rashes for her, and as a result she hates to have anything applied to them. While she still fights me to put anything on her rash, the Diaper Goop does seem to clear up her allergy-related diaper rashes better than the white cream did. It must be more soothing, too: I haven't noticed her doing her I'm-in-pain, wide-legged cowboy walk lately.

I've also discovered that Diaper Goop can be used on more than just red bottoms. Got a cut? Add some goop to help it heal faster. Dry, cracked cuticles? A little goop moisturizes and heals. And although I'm done with breastfeeding, I'm sure it works as a perfect nipple cream, too. Don't let the name fool you - this stuff can be used for any incident of dry skin or minor wounds.

The folks at Diaper Goop were kind enough to send us a few containers of their product, and I know I'll be giving them to friends who are currently pregnant. Well, I'll give at least one away - I might want to keep the others for myself.

Win your own! Parent Bloggers are giving away two containers of Diaper Goop. Leave a comment on their post to enter the contest.

An Open Letter to Pampers

Dear Pampers,

I have been a loyal customer for over two and a half years now. We started out with Swaddlers on our not-so-little baby girl, then progressed naturally to Cruisers. We tried other diapers, but always came back to yours, because they were the most absorbent, most leak-proof diapers out there. My daughter has what you might call a wide butt, and most other diapers simply couldn't cover it well enough to keep everything contained within. I also liked the soft, cloth-like feel and the velcro tabs.

However, you have recently changed your product, and I don't know how to tell you this, but...well...they suck. Really suck, honestly. Your new Cruisers seem to be cut smaller and more narrow than the old style, and based on our use, seem to hold about half as much as they previously did. We rarely had a wet-thru with the old Cruisers, but with the new ones, she's wetting through roughly every third diaper. I've had to resort to changing her diaper every hour or so to keep her from leaking through. How hard is it to create a diaper that can hold out for at least two hours?

Our daughter weighs about 38 pounds and is two and a half years old. Your diapers should still fit her. In fact, with the new design, you even created a new Size 7 diaper for 41+ pounds. We tried the new size along with her old Size 6 - they both leaked and barely fit her. She's not an overweight child, she's just tall and solid-built. Not all toddlers are skinny wisps who live on air and dust bunnies. Mine appreciates her food, and has inherited a solid frame, so she needs diapers that are wide enough to meet her needs.

So lately we've been scouring the stores looking for the "old-style" Cruisers. Luckily, you changed the font on the packaging and added a tiny amount of extra decoration to the diapers, so we can spot the old style packages. (Hint: if the name "Cruisers" has a capital "C" on the package, it's the old style - new one have a lowercase "c".) However, I'm so fed up with these lousy new diapers that it's time for us to find something new.

Pampers, you have disappointed me with your new design. I used to highly recommend your product, but now I must warn everyone away from your diapers. My laundry chores have increased dramatically since we bought these new diapers. With a new baby in the house now, I don't have time to deal with leaky diapers, more laundry, or changing diapers twice as often.

I can't understand why you chose to mess with a perfectly good design. My only guess it that it was profit motivated - you wanted to create a cheaper product. Well, if that's the case, you certainly created a cheap product. I hope you will reconsider these design changes and work on creating a product that is truly leak-proof and highly absorbent. Until then, my children will be wearing another company's diapers on their little bottoms.

Sincerely,
Tired of blowouts

Ending Leaky Nights

When it comes to diapers, we're connoisseurs. In the early days, we had small packages of nearly every kind of diapers, trying out each brand and off-brand, and judging each of them like a good wine.

"This one has good coverage, but the texture is too plastic-y."

"Great at preventing leaks, but has an unpleasantly strong odor."

As my big baby grew into the Amazon toddler, and we realized potty training was nowhere in sight, finding good diapers has become a real challenge. Not only is she big, but she has a large bladder to go with her size, so only the best diapers survive more than an hour or two. It also doesn't help that at 35+ pounds, finding diapers that fit isn't easy.

We've been trying out Huggies Overnites diapers for the last month, courtesy of the Parent Bloggers Network, and overall they have passed most of our tests. It's common for Cordy to have a nighttime leak at least once a week, so we were hoping that these diapers would stand up to the Iron Bladder of the Thirsty Child.

Using the Huggies Overnites diapers, we didn't have a single leak on nights with just urine. They even held up on nights when she had a late dinner with three cups of milk right before bed. However, they didn't do so well when a night poop entered the equation. Cordy has never been one for solid poop - her sensitive digestive tract usually produces something a little more loose. Adding that on top of a night of pee was just too much for the diaper to handle. (It's too much for her normal diapers to handle, too.) Thankfully, those nights were few.

Like the other diapers we use, I like that the Huggies felt more like fabric, with velcro tabs instead of sticky tape. I know I wouldn't want crinkly plastic underwear, and I won't put my daughter in anything that doesn't feel soft against her skin. These felt very nice, and were absorbent enough to keep her skin dry and rash-free.

My only complaint is the cut of the diaper. I know Huggies promotes their baby-shaped fit, but I don't think they've met my baby girl. Trying to get these on Cordy's large, solid frame involved some squeezing, but this is the largest size they offer. Size 5 is supposed to fit 27-40 lbs, but they felt too tight on Cordy. I always worried they were cutting into her, and I was nervous about the coverage on the sides, even though they never leaked under normal circumstances. I'd suggest either making a larger size in these, or perhaps cutting them a little wider to accommodate toddlers who are long-waisted with large frames.

Overall I was happy with the performance of Huggies Overnites. While we probably won't use them again for Cordy, due to the size issue, there's a good chance we'll use them in the future with our next daughter.

Win them! Want to give Huggies Overnites a try? Click here and leave a comment on the Parent Bloggers post to be entered to win a free package of diapers!