Kookabums/Kookabear Kids

Wow.  So even after months of saying nothing about this brand of diaper, I am still getting [annonymous] comments and feedback about the inner workings of this company.

Let me preface this review by stating that I love supporting stay-at-home mom/mom based businesses.  I really would love to give a good review in this case, but just keep reading and you'll see why I cannot in this case.  I don't want to lead others astray, and then cause them to hate their cloth purchase.  For future reference, if you have a high quality cloth diaper and great customer service, I'll be happy to review your diaper for you.  This is the ONLY diaper that I have been this dissatisfied with.

A little history:
I found a link on diaperswappers.com to the Kookabear Kids website.  Diaperswapper members had the opportunity to purchase diapers for $10 each.  A great deal.  Melinda (the owner) was most likely flooded with orders, as this price is well below her retail price.  I ordered three.  There was no note on the site about estimated delivery date.  I assumed incorrectly that she had built up stock and would simply ship items out.  Wrong!  Not that this was a terrible crime or anything, as I've waited for other SAHM diapers too, but I knew ahead of time that I would be waiting.  My invoice receipt said that my diapers would ship in 4 weeks.  Sheesh! FOUR WEEKS?!!?!

Please note, any communication between Melinda and myself (where she emailed me) went to my spam box for some reason.  She finally contacted me after 5 or 6 weeks through a friend that also ordered a $10 diaper.  So I searched my inbox and found an email that she'd sent, one week earlier stating that she was out of one of the fabrics I ordered.  MY FAVORITE ONE.  Bummer.

I got over it, picked a different pattern and kept waiting.  Older blog posts show my frustration with waiting.  She mailed them to my old address.  I sent her emails, and checked with her, and was assured she'd send them to Savannah, but low and behold, she shipped them to Evans.  Thankfully I am good friends with my former neighbor.  He intercepted the package, and I met up with him to get it.  (I just had to wait until I made a trip to the Augusta area to get it.)

So I meet up with Brad, all excited to get my new diapers after all this time.  I rip open the package in the car, and, ***what a letdown*** they look horrible!  The stitching was crooked, the leg gussets/elastic looked like she slopped them together, and the snaps didn't coordinate that well with the fabric.  On top of that, the argyle print was cut out the wrong direction.  There were blue pen markings on the PUL on the inside.  (These were AI2's with snap in liners).  The liners were snapped into the covers crooked.  Overall, they were terribly constructed.  I complained to Melinda, and tried them out.  LEAKED almost EVERY TIME.  These diapers were no good.

She emailed back saying that she was having problems with the materials used on the soaker pads, and that she was going to start using some new more natural product (bamboo I think).  She said she was changing her diaper from an AI2 to and AIO and that she'd refund my $ or send me new diapers.  I chose the new diapers like a doofus.  After being surprised by the workmanship, I confronted her, and this is what she said,

"Honestly, I didn't realize that they were so shoddily made and I am somewhat suprised myself because I have had such good feedback too... ;( I have been going through so much personal stuff lately that I have to admit I have been a little distracted. That is why I practically quit selling things until I listed some tester items yesterday.

I can happily refund through paypal.

I can also simply remake your order and see if it is better for you. You are more than welcome to keep the ones you have as compensation for all the crap you have been through with me.

I finally got a serger so I am serging my inserts now and I am hoping that will really help. I am also going to quit using microfiber and exclusively use the bamboo hemp combination because it is easier to work with and I find customers really like the natural fibers for baby.....

Just let me know what you would like to do.... I have to say I am very sorry.... "

I felt bad for complaining, but had her remake them, as $40 was too pay to not expect something, so I gave her another shot...it was my "compassionate" way of helping her since she was obviously going through something.

Fast forward a few weeks:
I get my new AIO's.  They are much better than before.  One of the four was backwards (how it closed) than the other three.  I thought that was weird.  The stitching isn't perfect, but it was improved and acceptable.  She added tags, which was a nice touch.  They looked really cute off of Jonas.  However, my son is chunky, and they were made smaller.  So they were too tight to really let him wear.  I put them on him a few times, but they leak.  Not sure if it was product malfunction this time or that they don't fit him well (30 lbs at the time), but in either case, I was tired of dealing with it, and didn't want to sound like a mooch.  Melinda also offered a freebie for blog reader, that I was going to do when I reviewed the diaper.  So needless to say, due to the dislike of the diapers, I decided to NOT host the giveaway (not to mention her customer service diminished after she sent the 2nd batch) because I was worried the prize would never show up.  I tried emailing her about the sizing of those 2nd diapers because I just wanted her to know that she should upsize them a little now that they were AIO's, but I've never seen any more contact from her. 

I was told that I would get some extra inserts with my second order because of all the cr@p she put me through.  I got the worst looking scraps of fabric.  They were all different, they were different shapes, some were serged on the top, some were really long pieces.  All were crooked and stupid.  What a waste of time. 

So I can't recommend Kookabear Kids/Kookabum diapers to you at this time.  Others are having issues with her too, and from what I can tell, she's avoiding those who have issues with her.  It is sad because the prints and the idea of her store, to have modern diapers was very good, it was just poorly executed.  :( 

Stick with some other brand for cloth diapering your baby....

(I thought I had better pics with the diapers but this is all I could find...you can barely see his punk diaper.  Oh well, he hates it too.)

Blog Revamp

So I suppose this in a way is the "first day of the rest of my blog"... he he he! I totally wanted to revamp this blog. As I (rambled) mentioned in the "about me" section, this blog has had many purposes. Thank you to my followers for staying with me, though I've given you nothing to read or look forward to in a LONG time. I actually deleted some of my blog posts that were long posts of pictures just to help your browsers load faster. I realize some of you may have dial-up. I will post pictures, but not long strings of them as before...if you want to see a bunch of pictures, add us on facebook. :)

So the evolution begins (this would be an appropriate type of evolution)...from a blog strictly about craftings, to a blog for my design company, and finally to a more personal blog of sorts. I hope to keep this up better, and to not bore you! :)

I suppose I credit my inspiration to a new blog style to a few folks. ClassiclyAmber for one never ceases to inspire me with her homesteading/crafting/mothering/creative posts on her blog. Check her out, she is super cool... http://classiclyamber.com/ She was super helpful in my transition to cloth diapering too! Tell her I sent you her way! Don't forget to check out her etsy shop while you're there.

Another credit is due to many "friends" on diaperswappers.com. I have many times gotten wrapped up in other mom's blogs after clicking signature links in different forums (my favorites are the FSOT--buying used, diaper chatter Q&A--lots of good info here, and the thrifty families forum--inspirational!) I say that, and then note, that there are many liberal moms on there, so beware. Some I have little in common with (besides cloth diapering) but they have grown to be very helpful members of my life...and I'm learning a lot. I love some of their blogs...even if some people (liberal or not) are weirdos! Others those, I'd love to be more like! :)

A last credit (for now) goes to Collin at www.hip2save.com. She gives great "heads ups" about how to use (and stack)coupons. Links to printable coupons, sales, freebies and more! She is an inspiration. I am trying really hard to only buy things we use, even if the things we don't are cheap (ie, Not just buying them because I have a coupon). She makes this very difficult w/all those great deals. :) She is also my inspiration for my new coupon organization...you'll make fun of me for sure so I'll wait to share about it until another day.

Well, today was spent (unpacking a bit--we are in an endless cycle of packing and unpacking until this house sells!) working on editing pictures, laundry, playing with my chubster, reading (currently "Take Two" by Karen Kingsbury), playing Mario Bros a bit on the Wii, ordering photos online from my lab, paying bills (ugh) and FINALLY ordering some wet bags. Much needed wet bags! I also started working on some birth announcements for my friend Schylea (pronounced Chalet in case you wondered) and her new baby girl Emree. There's a sneak peek of her newborn session on facebook if you're a friend or fan.

I was pretty bummed that the Library was out of Dave Ramsey's book that I've been wanting to read. So instead of getting that and "Bringing Up Boys" by Dr. Dobson like I wanted, I got "Believing God" by Beth Moore, "Screwtape Letters" by CS Lewis--not sure about this one, "Parent Talk" by Kevin Leman (one of my favs), "The New Strong-willed Child" by Dr. Dobson (I read today that he and his wife will be retiring from Focus on the Family, FYI), Photoshop Elements/Lighting Techniques, and the "Take Two" book that I alredy mentioned. Don't think I'll get them all done before they are due in 2 weeks, but I am 1/4 of the way through the first one, so there is hope. Finished "Divine" by Kingbury late last night (we stayed up too late because we took an afternoon nap, oops!). One of my "resolutions" was to read/learn more. Especially since I have little interaction w/adults. I always want to keep learning new things.

NEW CLOTH! :) I got new cloth in the mail when I got home from NC last week. We've used it for almost a week now, and only had one leak! This is huge for my super soaker chunky boy! ;0 The leak occurred on the way to Savannah, and it was my fault for not changing him at a stop...I made him go the whole ride, and gave him juice/milk. Ooopsy! Live and learn! Anywho, they are Kawaii brand, and while I think the sudden interest in the company might have overloaded April, the owner, I am very pleased with our purchase. They fit a bit looser than the other one size (meaning, they should fit 8lbs to 35 lbs, birth to potty training) pockets we have. All are worn as big as they go, but these Kawaii give him more room. Did I mention they are adorable, minky prints? See the website if you're interested, www.luvyourbaby.com. IT is a very terrible website, but you'll see the product. Free shipping on orders of 10 or more. I got mine off ebay, 12 for less than $100. Search "Snazzy cloth diapers" to find the listings. My personal favs are the cow print and the leopard prints. :D I hope to talk Jon into ordering some more of the nighttime and regular type (non-minky) w/our tax return (if we get one this year, fingers crossed, on our knees praying!).

Okay, I'll update more later. This is probably information overload for one night. Look forward to some more ramblings coming soon!

Until then...God Bless!
Meredith