One of the reasons I love having this blog is so that Jake and I can look back on different seasons of life and remember what was going on in our family during that time.
I was reading some blog entries from when I was pregnant and was amazed at how different life is now.
It's crazy to think he was inside of my womb just 6 and a half months ago!
Anyways, in one of the posts, I expressed how I was trying to decide whether or not to 'take the dive' into cloth diapering.
I remember how hard that whole process was.
It felt like there were too many options and opinions to wade through when there was already so much going on inside of me, (literally!)
I just wanted someone to tell me what they do, how it works, and what all the pros and cons are.
Now that I feel like we've come up with a good system for cloth diapering, I thought I might write an informative blog post about it for anyone weighing their options.
I don't think I have the best method or use the best brands, but I like what we do and it works for us.
So, here we go.
The world of cloth diapering, Paurus style.
When thinking about cloth diapers, one major thing to consider is your budget.
Your budget decides whether or not cloth diapering is right for you, and also what kind of diapers to choose.
We felt like the money you save using cloth diapers instead of disposable, was well worth the extra time and effort it takes (this is not true for everyone, but definitely for us).
When deciding which diapers to use (your make and model so to speak) it can be a little overwhelming.
Don't make the same mistake I made and get lost in the thousands of reviews on the internet picking apart every single diaper and brand.
Reviews are very helpful (I totally took some advice from the reviews I read) but they can't tell you exactly how the product will work for YOU specifically.
(
This website helped me a lot to compare and contrast the makes and models. Click on "New to Cloth Info")
We didn't go with the cheapest option (pre-folds) or the most expensive (all in ones). We picked a nice happy medium price.
We use
Flip diapers which are made by the same brand as Bum Genius diapers.
The concept: an insert (either 'stay dry' cloth, organic, or disposable) is put inside of a colorful waterproof cover that you can wipe clean and reuse.
The covers have little snaps on them so they grow with your baby.
Pretty simple.
So, here are a few details about our routine
Izzy is 6 months old and just grew out of his "newborn" size cloth inserts.
We only bought 12 newborn inserts (they come in packs of 6) so this meant doing laundry every other day.
For the regular size diaper that he wears now and can wear until he's potty trained, we bought 24. Now we do laundry every 2 or 3 days.
Washing
Since we're awake at night and sleep during the day, every other night around 11:30 I hang all my wet clean cloth diapers on our line to dry in the morning sun that hits our porch. The sun is a natural way of bleaching the stains out of your diapers, and saves you a few extra dollars on the electricity bill. Score!
We keep all our dirty cloth diapers in a
wet bag in a diaper pail. It's a good idea to get 2 bags so that you have a clean one to use while the other is in the wash. You can throw your wet bag in the wash
with all of the diapers.
We also spray each of our diapers in
Biokleen Bac-out before putting them in the pail. This helps with odor and supposedly begins the cleaning process while in the pail.
You can't use all detergents on cloth diapers, so make sure you do some research first. I use Bum Genius laundry detergent because it's the only one strictly for cloth diapers that I can get at a local store. (All the rest I would have to order online)
Travel/Disposable
When I first started thinking about cloth diapering, I thought it was an all or nothing choice. For some reason it never occurred to me that I was likely to still use some disposables. To tell you the truth, we still put him in a disposable diaper overnight. It's just what works best for us.
It's not realistic to have Izzy in cloth diapers when we're doing lots of traveling. When running an errand here or there, or hanging out at a good friends house, I usually keep him in cloth.
But, if we're going to be gone for most of the day, or are going on a trip, we do disposable.
When we're out and about and have him in cloth, we always make sure to have a travel sized wet bag with us. My friend made me one, but I think I should buy another for the times that the first one is in the wash. You can find some really cute ones
online.
Thoughts, Tips & Products
-After giving birth, it's wise to stick with disposable for a few weeks. First of all, meconium is hard enough to clean off of a baby's bum, and would be very hard to clean out of a cloth diaper. And secondly, wait till you as mama are feeling up to the extra load of wash.
-Cloth diapering a newborn that poops 10 times a day vs. my 6 month old who typically goes once every 2 or 3 days is very different. Don't give up during those first 2 months or so. I promise it gets easier.
-Once you establish your routine, using cloth isn't complicated, time consuming, or overwhelming. It just becomes normal and really only means a couple extra loads of wash.
-When cloth diapering a newborn you also want to consider buying different covers that fit their skinny thighs a little tighter. We used
thirsties covers (size x-small) for the first few weeks before Izzy's thighs got nice and chunky.
-I chose snaps instead of Velcro for 2 reasons; one- they don't wear out as quickly and two- it's harder for curious little hands to remove a snapped diaper.
-When switching back and forth between cloth and disposable, keep in mind that babies can feel the wet a lot easier with cloth and will need to be changed more often
-Sometimes your diapers can get some funky smells or begin to repel liquid (bad news!) When this happens you need to 'strip' your diapers. I'm still pretty new at this one and can't give much advice, but here's a link to
someone who can.
-Most diaper rash creams actually can cause your diapers to lose their absorbency. Do some research before you buy! We use
CJ's Butt Butter. We love using the 'stick of butter' for in his diaper bag. It's perfect for on the go moments when you don't want to have diaper cream all over your fingers.
-Another handy product are
boppy waterproof changing pad covers. Trust me, you will have explosions.
-We love having a
diaper sprayer! This is just a little hose that you attach to your toilet and it assists in the sometimes messy process of cleaning out your diapers.
-You will also have to decide on disposable or reusable wipes. We use disposable, which means you need to have a place to put those wipes when you're done with them. We have a trash can just for disposable diapers and wipes at our changing station. In our diaper bag we keep a little
dog poop baggie dispenser. The bags are scented so you won't have any crazy smells coming out of your diaper bag.
So there you have it! It's not nearly has complicated as it feels and sounds when you're 7 months pregnant and are overwhelmed with which stroller to invest in. It's definitely worth considering and I'm thankful that we chose to "take the dive."
Now we get to enjoy our son and his pudgy baby diaper bum.
