If you are like me when you hear those mom's boasting about cloth diapering, breast feeding, etc., you picture mom's who whip their tops off in public to nurse, co-sleep with their kids until they are 8 and have babies wrapped in organic muslin that they then wash in the stream... I have quite the imagination I know but turns out "normal" people can cloth diaper too! Just let me think I'm normal, please!
First of all, don't buy into the whole "it's really easy" speal you hear from veteran cloth diaper-ers. It is like when I give my husband a recipe for dinner, say "don't worry, it's really easy" and am then surprised when he messes it up. It is easy for me because I have cooked it 100 times have been in the kitchen with Mom since I was a kid, and also have restaurant experience under my belt. So cloth diapering is easy...once you get used to it
When we first started cloth diapering I hated it, after about a week I finally decided we would just cloth diaper 2-3 days a week, and only because we had the diapers so may as well use them. I figured we would still save a little money as a pack of disposables would last longer. However the more we did it the more I got comfortable with it. At our house we didn't start cloth diapering until Cooper was about a month old, I really can't imagine worrying about laundry and stuffing diapers with this newborn who I barely know, along with the physical stress that comes with giving birth. At this point we cloth diaper about 60% of the time and are working toward using cloth more frequently
We still do not cloth diaper outside of the home, once we run out of gifted diapers we will probably cloth diaper more, but we have the diapers so why not? I also use disposables at night because he sleeps at least 8 hours if not longer and I do think the disposables absorb better and therefore equal a dry toosh. Once the budget has some give I will buy some overnight inserts and we will try cloth overnight. We also found for our son, cloth diapers actually worsen his diaper rash, so we will always have a few disposables on hand. I have heard of other mom's who only cloth diaper when their babies HAVE diaper rash, so the whole "every baby is different" thing is frustratingly true.
Now onto the diapers, we are currently using a handful of brands, they all have pros and cons but none to the point of "I won't use X brand" or "I will only use Y brand".
Lovely Pocket Diapers - I bought these used from a friend, they were in great condition, the ones I have come in newborn and one size. The newborn ones were not true pocket diapers, the insert was sewn in and they took forever to dry. Thanks to my handy dandy seam ripper, they are now legit pockets.
Pros: Not bulky and easy to use
Cons: the texture of the liners attract everything! They come out clean but with little pills from other fabrics as well as an abundance of pet hair.
Cost: $7 without shipping, new. I paid about 6 for each of mine
Sunny Babies - I get mine from shopdiapers.com, they ship from China so I have paid extra to get expedited (8-15 days) shipping. They are probably the cheapest or one of the cheapest I have found.
Pros: Come in solid colors as well as cute patterns. Cheap!
Cons: Bulky, the liner is 3-4 inches wide. They only have one row of snaps so I feel like it isn't the most secure fit.
Cost: $5-7 without shipping new
Alva - I also get these from shopdiapers.com so same shipping issue. They offer snap closures as well as hook and loop or self sticking.I really like the Velcro because Cooper has a Buddha belly and the key to no leaks is a tight diaper, I don't feel like I am hurting him when I get the diaper really tight because I don't have to stick my fingers underneath the snaps against his belly.
Pros: Very trim! Not much bulkier than a disposable diaper
Cons: It is so trim sometimes the goods come out the sides! I am sure this isn't an issue for girl babies.
Flip - The flip is a hybrid diaper, no pocket, just an insert that is "held" on each end by an edge of fabric. The great part about hybrids is you can just change out the insert, I have 2 covers so when I change an insert I use the other cover so the the most recently used cover can "air out". I can just use the two covers almost all day, I only have 2 slip liners but my Sunny Baby liners fit in them and I have an abundance of those. However I have a child who wants his money's worth when it comes to poo smear, he ensures every square centimeter of that diaper is graced with his poo! Thus the cover is no longer reusable, however this is the situation with a pocket diaper as well.
Pros: Super easy, since you just flip out the insert. The have two vertical snaps for a snugger fit.
Cons: No benefit for BM's
Cost: $16 new without shipping, I bought mine used, 2 covers plus inserts for $20
Wipes
I cut up several old t-shirts into squares then folded them in half, my sewing machine is having issues so a friend sewed the edged using a zig-zag stitch. I have a little bottle of warm water (I reused the "personal care" water bottle I was given in the maternity ward, as well as a bottle of what I call Butt Spray that is a mixture of organic coconut oil, Babyganics bath wash and water. After a true Little G poo I hose him down, wipe, thn polish and wipe with the butt spray!
Daily use and Care:
We have invested in flush-able diaper liners to help reduce the poo! Not all liners are flush-able so read the fine print. Poop still gets on the cloth but not as much, When we change diapers we immediately flip the flush-able liner into the toilet, for a poo diaper I rinse it in the sink with hot water and a little Oxy clean, I remove the liner and rinse it too. For a pee diaper I toss the flush-able liner then throw the diaper into the bag in one piece, the liner will come out in the wash.
I do not keep an actual Wet bag with water and solution in it, just diapers. Reviews seem to be mixed about wet bags, some say they work as a pre-wash, others say they just collect and grow bacteria. We currently use Charlies Soap, or if I am washing towels with it I might use our Seventh Generation liquid detergent. I throw a scoop of OcyClean in as well, I am hoping to find a product not tested on animals that actually works! Charlie's Soap (very ethical company with no animal testing) makes a spray but it is outrageously expensive for how much you get and has the most unpleasant smell! I am currently trying out Bac Out (which isn't tested on animals, yay), as a pre-treat spray, so far so good and it smells lemony and wonderful. I need to do a load with just the Bac-Out an no Oxy-Clean just to see if it works... but I fear change.
From what I have read diapers should only be washed at most every other day, so ideally you would want 2-3 days worth of cloth diapers to account for laundry. Leaving diapers wet or dry out in the sun will remove stains, but so will repeated washing's. This weekend we got a new (hand me down, but new to us) washer that has a heavy stain cycle and a sanitize heat setting, I am in heaven!
Air dry both liners and covers, you can dry covers in the dryer but they dry so fast on their own I don't see the point. If I am need of diapers stat I will dry covers and liners for 10-20 minutes after about 40 minutes of air drying. I just dry mine in my laundry room, they would dry much faster outside in the sun and wind.
Even if you just cloth diaper part time, that is still fewer diapers in the landfill, yay for anything that helps the Planet!
More diaper goodness to come! When the Mr. G gets a chance to help me, I plan on having Little G put on a diaper fashion show so I can post pictures!
