Cloth Diapers

I've written before about using cloth diapers, but briefly.  I get asked a lot of questions about our cloth diapers, so here is a Q&A about how we do things around here :-)!

Why do you cloth diaper?
This is the easy one...  There are many answers!  First of all, I am all about anything reusable.  I hate to throw things away or buy things that are disposable.  I try not to use paper towels, I use cloths instead.  I don't use disposable baggies, I use glass or plastic containers instead to store/send lunches, etc...  So for me, it was a matter of buying something to use and use and use as opposed to something that was designed to be used and thrown away.  Also cost was a big factor.  Anna's adopted, that cost lots and lots of money that I would gladly spend again in a heartbeat.  But in order for us to save that money, we had to cut back in lots of areas.  This was one way to spend a sum of money (much less than disposable diapers) and use it for Anna and all of our future children.  Another reason and certainly not the last, but I'll stop here, is the material.  I have researched what's in disposables and I don't like the idea of some of those things touching her bottom.  And I ask myself, would I rather wear paper underwear or cloth?  Dumb question, easy answer!  So I choose to put her bottom in something soft that will keep her dry and clean all day long!

Do they leak?
Well, until yesterday, I would have said... never!  I hadn't had any of her diapers leak, even overnight.  Yesterday we adjusted the rise on her diapers (they're one size fits all) and I had to adjust the insert accordingly.  I did not, and therefore had lots of leaks... It was user error, not diaper error...  And no different than if I put the wrong size disposable on her... In this case, all I had to do was wash them and try again!  However, when she did leak once overnight, I adjusted the absorbency for the following night by adding a hemp doubler inside.  That fixed it, she just needed more absorbency as she was eating more, makes complete sense!

How often do you have to do laundry, isn't that a pain?
Well, babies come with laundry.  I don't know that anyone would disagree.  Especially Anna who is like a super spitter baby!  I actually do her diapers every day, it's easiest for me because I don't like laundry to pile up and I don't like folding lots of it.  I'd rather fold a small amount each day.  It's a personality thing.  Most people I'd say do diaper laundry every 2-3 days without any issues.  And no, it's not a pain, I sit and stuff diapers in the evening when I'm watching TV, Anna's asleep and Jer's studying.  It doesn't bother me a bit, in fact it's relaxing!

Don't they smell?
No, in fact, this is one of the reason why I love cloth diapers!  I don't have stinky diapers sitting around in my trash can in my house or garage, waiting for Tuesday morning to come so the stink can be temporarily removed!  I have baby-sat A LOT in my life and I HATED walking into a house and knowing they had a baby due to the poop smell!  It was awful and no fancy pants trash can ever got rid of it!  All of Anna's poop gets flushed down the toilet.  No stink.  I have a regular trash can with a lid that has a cloth liner in it.  I throw her wet diapers in there, close the lid, wash the liner with the diapers and never have an issue with stink.  At one point her diapers were starting to smell a little bit and after asking our "diaper lady" (She owns the shop in town), I discovered that I was simply using too much detergent and it had built up in the diapers!  Easy fix, no more smell, way better than poop in my trash can!

What about the poop?  How can you possibly deal with that?
Well, for those who can breastfeed, it's easy, breastmilk poop is water soluble, it can be thrown straight in the laundry, no problem, not icky!  Formula is a different story.  It must be removed before washing.  So we have a handy dandy diaper sprayer!  It hooks onto the toilet and sprays the poop off the diaper into the toilet.  There is a learning curve, you have to figure out the appropriate pressure so that you don't end up spraying the whole bathroom, but after a few times, you get the hang of it!  It's nice to be able to flush her stinkyness down the toilet and not have to smell it!  It's not that gross, I don't ever have to touch anything icky, I just have to spray it and hold a clean part of the diaper.  I like to remind myself that it's significantly easier than going to the store to buy more diapers :-)!  Also, now that she's eating more solids, it makes it much much easier to just dump it into the toilet! 

What kind of diapers do you use, do you like them?
We use a combination of a few.  We have mostly BumG.enius 4.0's which are pocket diapers meaning there's a waterproof outside with a stay dry inside and a pocket where I stuff an insert or two depending on naptime/bedtime or playtime.  Those are my favorites, we've had no problems with them, they keep her bottom dry and they fit perfectly!  I also have a few BumG.enius All-in-Ones (Elementals) which have a waterproof outside and layers of organic cotton inside.  No stuffing required, just use, wash, dry, use.  I like these ones for their ease of use (one piece).  And I like the organic cotton next to her bottom, it's so soft!  The only issue with these is that the organic cotton isn't stay-dry so her bottom feels the wetness.  It doesn't usually bother her, I just don't use them for naptimes or long c!r rides because I don't want her sitting in wet.  The rest of the time, they're no problem, she doesn't seem to care if she's wet.  Finally, I have some Rum.parooz.  These are also pocket diapers.  I like these as well, especially because they fit her great when she was really small.  The fit of these is a little funny on Anna, she has no bottom, it's flat... These ones have double gussets which are extra elastic layers inside which keep poop in great (especially for newborns).  She's never leaked poop in any of her diapers (a huge plus compared with disposables, I worked in daycare, I've seen my fair share of blowouts).  I love my diapers and it's nice to have a little variety as I use different ones for different times!

How do you wash them?
Washing was something I just had to learn about.  You can't use fabric softeners, brighteners, or a few other things with the diapers.  This is because they're designed to absorb moisture.  All of those things can clog them and make them repel liquid (the opposite of how you want your diaper to work).  So I use a detergent called Planet.  They sell it at a few grocery stores here in town and I use the powdered.  In my HE front loader, I only need 3/4 of a tsp to wash my diapers.  They're clean and smell free every time.  I also use the Planet for all of our other clothes.  Anna's pretty sensitive and this detergent works great!  I do the diapers on a cold cycle first and rinse and drain the tub.  Then I throw in other stuff to make it a full load (at this point there's no icky matter left on the diapers, it's all drained out).  I run a hot cycle and then I do an extra rinse to make sure all of the detergent is out.  My washer has buttons for all of this, so it sounds like I do a lot, but really I throw it in there and walk away.  Then I hang dry my diapers and inserts.  I used to dry the inserts, but they dry in the same amount of time either way (they don't get totally dry with one dryer cycle).  And since I do diapers every day, I just always have some hang drying and some ready to use!  Its very easy!

How does travelling/leaving the house work?
Planetw.ise wet bags!  They're bags that are completely waterproof.  I throw the dirty diaper in it, zip it up and deal with it at home!  They're wonderful, I have two, and could use about 10 more!  It's so easy and I never have to find a trash can!  I change diapers in the trunk of the car all of the time, it's cleaner than most bathroom's changing tables!

What do you do about wipes?
Well, my desire to not have to buy anything disposable kicks in here too.  I use baby wash cloths.  They make great wipes.  I have spray bottles of water and I spray the wash cloth, wipe the bottom, and throw them in with the diaper!  If they have poop on them, I spray it into the toilet and throw it in the pail.  I don't even own wet wipes!  I also always have them available this way for dirty hands, food messes, spit rags, whatever Anna can throw at me!




Those are all of the questions I could think of right now, but if you have any others, don't hesitate to ask!  We love using cloth diapers, my hubby was skeptical at first, but he wouldn't do it any other way now!  Some of our family was skeptical at first too, but they've seen how easy it is and realized it's not as crazy as they once thought!  We even cloth diapered on vacation and had no issues what so ever!  It was just as easy as home and I didn't have to worry about rashes from disposables!  It was also nice because I could change her in the car and didn't have to find a trash can.  We have yet to buy a disposable and with the exception of the first two days we had Anna (before we could pick up a few more diapers, and we had some free disposables from the hospital) we haven't used any disposables on her at all!

Also of note, different people do things differently, this is the way I do it!  Different diapers work for different people too.  For us, we found what worked and we're sticking with it!