Update: Store brand infant formula, naturopathic doctor and diaper reviews

I'm happy to report that Austin is doing great on the Private Selection Organic milk-based formula (we purchase it at Fred Meyer but can also be found at QFC). We have noticed he has a bit more gas once in a while but remedy this with the gripe water.

Also, the naturopathic doctor we went to truly was the answer I was looking for. We started Austin on probiotics and used the calendula cream on his little rash under his neck (which he had for about a month) and the rash went away completely in under a week. Which = not needing to use steroids on our baby! What baffles me is this: (As far as I know, today from what the naturopathic doctor told us) Premera will not reimburse for natural means of remedying a rash, but they did cover the steroid cream at 100% like all other prescription medications (and let me clarify this is Microsoft's Premera plan). I don't understand it. As if we aren't giving Big Pharma enough money (this will needed to be elaborated on a whole other post!)

Diapers

Below is a list of diapers we have tried and notes we have kept in mind after trying them.

Pamper Swaddlers (for newborns) - the first diapers we tried. Hated them. Every single diaper he went through or blew out with a huge poo. Not to mention the "absorbent gel" that ended up on his little.... stuff. Which the packaging says you can "wipe off" and it "won't harm the baby". But, we no likey.

Huggies (size 2) from Costco - my parents were here when Austin was born and decided after the Swaddlers fiasco to buy another diaper which equals my parents going to their favorite store (EVER!) and buying us a gazillion diapers that come in a huge box. We liked these although they were a bit big on Austin for the first few weeks until he gained weight, but they did contain all of his... um, waste product.

Costco brand (size 2) - we liked these as well and we dare say they worked better than the Huggies brand (and we were also curious if the same company manufactured them since they looked very oddly similar).

Target brand (size 2) - out of desperation one night and not wanting to trek to Costco and stand in line with the rest of the drones buying 10 years worth of mustard and other unneeded products I took a trip to Target and came back with their brand of diapers which were super-cheap. They worked great. Although, we did notice that the design of the diaper changed once everything "Target brand" was renamed "Up and Up".

This is the part where I started cloth diapering during the day. It has worked great and even Scooter is into it, which surprises me because he seemed a bit reluctant to try it at first.

Seventh Generation (size 2 and 3): We've been using these for the past couple of months and really like them. They work just as well as Huggies if not, better. We recently had to move up to size 3 as Austin's butt seemed huge in the size 2 (he's getting chunkier, which I adore). (Note: I've read reviews on this brand of diaper in newborn size not being good, but size 1 and up work well).

Whole Foods 365 diapers: These work pretty good, but we like the Seventh Generation brand better. Austin would leak occasionally in the 365 brand and I recently noticed why: They're a bit more stiff than the Seventh Generation brand so they don't hug the body as well. Although, we are actually using this brand this week and we haven't had any problems. A plus with this brand: I swear it holds his weight in liquid. Seriously. Although stiff, they can hold a TON.

Which all of this talk reminds me...I better go make sure Austin doesn't need his diaper changed.