Thursday, September 6, 2012

Cloth Diapering

Like many moms before me I decided to use cloth diapers.

My mom cloth diapered my sister & me and once I saw the adorable colors & patterns used for modern cloth diapers I was excited about the possibilities. Jus has super sensitive skin so I figured LBL would as well and knew cloth diapers would be gentler. Add the fact that it's far cheaper in the long run & I was sold.

While I was pregnant I spent a fair amount of time researching cloth diapers online and talking to the few moms I knew that cloth diapered. I decided that bumGenius 4.0s would be the way to go. Some moms recommend getting a wide variety of diapers & deciding which you like once baby is here  then ditching the rest, but I knew I wanted pocket diapers and everything I heard about bumGenius 4.0s was wonderful.

My cute baby in his cute cloth diaper

Our currents stash includes:
27 bumGenius 4.0 (with snaps)
14 bumGenius 3.0 (with Velcro bought used at Goodwill for $15 total)
2 Lotus Bumz (bought on Fab.com)
2 Flip Systems (I use cloth inserts but you can also get disposible inserts, a good option for day care)
1 Tots Bots (bought for the cute pattern, this is an all in one diaper so there's no insert to wash seperately)

The bumGenius 4.0s are my favorite and fit Rivers best, but the Lotus Bumz have nice fleecey insides & the Flips keep Rivers very dry. With the number of diapers we have I only have to do laundry about every 3 days (I often do it every 2).

We also have about 60 cloth wipes. I had read that using cloth wipes with cloth diapers is easier but I underestimated how much better they are. We started with about 20 cheap baby washcloths but have since added 6 Swaddlebees, 10 Charlie Banana wipes,  & I cut three flannel receiving blankets into wipes. We keep a spray bottle with 1/2 water & 1/2 California Diaper Area Wash next to the changing pad and spray the wipes. Then we can toss the wipes in the diapers and toss both in the diaper pail.

When I'm out & about I use disposable wipes but I often toss them in the wet bag with the diapers and usually end up washing them. I really dislike the disposable wipes, they fall apart in the wash & don't smell nearly as good as our solution.

Our diaper pail is a lidded trash can that I've tossed some Munchkin Arm & Hammer Nursery Fresheners into. I have 2 Kissa Antibacterial Liners that fit in the trash can we use as a diaper pail. When the bag gets full I empty it into the wash & toss the bag in too. (Yay! I don't have to touch poop!)

A cold rinse is followed by a hot wash with 2.5 tablespoons of Rockin Green Detergent then a hot rinse. I pull covers out to hang on the line and toss the liners & wipes in the dryer. Once Rivers starts eating solids we'll have to get the poop out of the diapers before washing them but I'm planning on getting a sprayer & Potty Pail to distance myself from my darling son's poop.

I'm not lying to you when I say that the whole process is super easy & a little fun. I was a little worried Jus would complain about the extra steps but he swears cloth is easier than disposible & willing changes Rivers' diapers.

I learned a lot from following Oh! Apostrophe's posts on cloth diapering but if you have any questions feel free to ask me! Below I've listed some of the helpful hints I've learned along the way.

-Diapers with snaps last longer than diapers with velcro closures (also, velcro gets stuck to the rest of the laundry)
-Cloth wipes, cloth wipes, cloth wipes (seriously, do it)
-When prepping your diapers for the first wash toss the covers in the dryer too, this will help tighten the weave & make them more waterproof
-Pick up some hemp inserts for night time use, we have two and they're so absorbant that I'm planning to get some more
-You can often get bumGenius 4.0s as buy 5 get 1 free and Cotton Babies will give you another 4.0 if your order is over $75 (which the 5 are)
-Your diapers will get stained (newborn poop is funky!) but if you lay them in the sun the stains will fade
-Make sure to have at least 2 wet bags for your diaper bag, unless you want to dig the dirty diaper out (I just toss the wet bag in the wash, too)

9 comments:

Jess Beer said...

I love this! I've been wondering which cloth wipes I'm going to pick and what kind of pail I'm going to use, and this is so helpful! We're building up our stash and currently have 26 of the BumGenius 4.0s - I'm hoping to do wash every other day with that amount. Rivers is so precious, I love the updates!

Leah Rife said...

Awesome post! I have been doing some researching on cloth wipes, and I think we're ready to make the switch. It would be so much easier to just throw them in with the diapers into the wash.

I'm going to share this with a friend who is considering cloth diapering...very well laid out and informative. I feel like I can never explain it clearly enough for others. :)

Danielle said...

We love our cloth diapers, too! We use the flips with prefolds and I think they're much better than disposables. I also love doing diaper laundry. There's something about a stack of clean dipes that makes me very happy. We've entered the stage of solid food and I actually just dunk the dipes in the toilet. It's not nearly as bad as I was expecting and actually much less of a mess than spraying.

Amy said...

I've always wanted to cloth diaper and people think I'm insane. I think being able to save money and to also make an impact environmentally is probably quite rewarding... not to mention having a boy potty trained at a much earlier age will be even better!!

I'm glad to see it's going so well for you!!

Mrs. Pancakes said...

I decided I wanted cloth diapers too but the ones I got were leaking..the fuzzibunz I was soo sad! But now I've discovered Kushies and can't wait to try them!

laundry tubs said...

great blog..its okay to use cloth so the baby won't have rashes..

s said...

My husband and I are not at the baby stage (yet) but we have started discussing everything and cloth diapers came up. After reading this, I think we would definitely consider cloth when we get to baby stage if it's as easy as you say it is ;)

Kelly said...

My parents did cloth diapers - and back then, I think it was just to save money. Little did they know they were also saving the earth! They come in so many fun colors now, your little guy is rocking it!

Scarlett said...

I appreciate this post as I have been thinking about using cloth diapers! Thanks for the info

http://essentialeatswithscarlett.blogspot.ca/