This post was created in partnership with DockATot but all thoughts and opinions are of my own.

If you don’t know my love for DockATot yet, where have you been? Haha, since we discovered it and started using the DockATot Grand with Sophia at 9 months we saw a night and day difference in her sleeping habits (read more here). We were determined to start our next baby with the DockATot right after birth and were so impressed with the multiple uses we were able to use our DockATot Deluxe for besides co-sleeping (read more here).
Obviously we are now DockATot pros and we are constantly getting questions from those considering if they should invest in one (yes you should and you’ll thank me later).

The question I wanted to dedicate a blog post to is:

Can I just buy the Grand from the start?

I mean you can do whatever you want to do at the end of the day BUT I would not recommend it. When babies come out into the world, they came from this snugly secure environment (your womb) to this big opened world. The sensory overload is typically why it’s a hard adjustment for the baby the first few days or weeks. The DockATot Deluxe is created smaller to recreate a womb like environment by being cozy and snugly.

Side note: the things we had to do to get Sophia to sleep those first few months was insane. No one was getting any sleep. Using the DockATot Deluxe with Baby Anthony as soon as we got home from the hospital was amazing. We actually slept. All of us. Yes there were middle of the night feedings because that comes with the territory of having a newborn but we didn’t have to do anything extravagant to get him to sleep at night. He just did and that is because of the DockATot Deluxe.
The design of the DockATot Deluxe is for babies from 0-8 months old. Before you ask, yes that includes big babies as well. Baby Anthony was born at 10 pounds 8 ounces and has consistently been at the top of the charts measuring ahead and the DockATot Deluxe still worked perfectly for him. At 9.5 months, we finally decided to upgrade to the DockATot Grand. We have had our DockATot Grand for about two weeks now and the transition from the DockATot Deluxe to the DockATot Grand has been a very smooth transition, in fact I think baby Anthony has enjoyed the extra room to wiggle. We always start any sleep transitions with nap times first for a month before implementing those changes to bedtime as well. This has been a fool-proof method for our family and has made all transitions easier (this is also how we transitioned Sophia off the bottle).

Side note: see my other sleep tips here.
Therefore, I highly recommend starting with the DockATot Deluxe from the beginning as it was created to mimic the womb’s coziness. Your little one will feel snug and secure and sleep better and in turn you will sleep better.

Do you already use the DockATot? Have you been considering the DockATot for your family?

Figuring out the floor situation and light fixture will ultimately depend on how long we decide to stay in this home. I would love to paint the cabinet black but this bathroom doesn’t get any natural light and the current lighting sucks plus my shower curtain of choice is dark so I think painting the cabinet white would help brighten it up so right now I am leaning more towards white, what do y’all think?

And because I love seeing a good before and after, I took a few “before” photos to share before we get started (although these were taken after I did a much needed deep clean, haha).




As you can see there are some decor elements I already have on hand that I shared in my mood board. I do want to make note that the pitcher that I have is not the one I linked, I found mine at goodwill years ago so if you are on a budget I would suggest shopping around thrift stores and goodwill before buying new but if not, the one I linked is fairly similar to the one I have. I couldn't find a similar copper tub that was the same or similar sizing as mine which is why I didn't link anything (the one in the mood board is actually ginormous) and if I remember correctly, I bought mine at Target years ago so maybe try there first.

So now that you see were we are starting and were we would like to go with our hall bathroom, white or black cabinets?

Last month, I started a new mini series on the blog Cloth Diapering 101 sharing the All in Two diaper system. After taking a poll on Instastory, I went with the majority vote and am back to share all about All in One diapers. We currently only own one All in One in our entire stash and I do love the convenience and trimness of it.
An All in One diaper comes in, you guessed it, one piece and is most similar to a disposable diaper so you do not have to stuff or fold anything. We have a bumGenius All in One diaper  that we received from a friend and from what I can tell it is the bumGenius Elemental 2.0 as ours has two organic cotton inserts that are sewn together at the top and the bottom but separated in the middle and has no interior lining besides PUL (bumGenius Elemental 3.0 has one organic cotton insert and organic cotton lining sewn into the interior shell).

In theory, the inserts could be folded over to adjust absorbency where it is needed most but baby Anthony is a very curvy chunk butt baby so instead I tuck a hemp insert under the sewn in inserts for a custom absorbency whenever I feel it might be needed.

AIO Pros

• Very easy to use, similar to a disposable as there is no stuffing or folding.
• Great option for someone who may not be comfortable with the ins and outs of cloth diapering or for daycare providers.
• Depending on the brand, it can be trimmer compared to other diapering systems which also makes it a great traveling out and about running errands diaper. 
• Depending on the style, you may be able to customize absorbency (read above to see how we customize our bumGenius Elemental 2.0).

AIO Cons