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!

More Natural

Over the last year, Jer and I have worked at making things around our home more natural.  I guess you could say we're "going green".  However, most of the things we're doing started with the intent of saving money.  Adopting an infant is not a cheap endeavor.  Insurance covers none of it and (with the exception of friends and family) there is no one really to "help you out."  Since adoption became as priority for us, so did our budget, and with that came an effort to cut costs in many ways.  While saving money was a reason for most of these things, there are other reasons too, like sensitive skin and allergies.  However, I certainly like the fact that we're worked to make our family more natural.  Here's a list of a few things we've been doing to save some money and make our family more natural.

1) Cloth diapers! 

This is at the top of the list because it was probably the biggest investment, but also the biggest return.  I absolutely love our cloth diapers.  We started buying a few a month after we were licensed to adopt in order to make less of a dramatic impact on our wallet.  We stocked up during some sales as well.  We have just now reached a point where where (as opposed to disposables) we've saved money.  For the first few months of Anna's life, we technically didn't save anything with the investment we put into it.  However, with the cost of diapers where it is, we would be saving money right about now.  We have enough diapers to last a few days and will not have to buy a single diaper for baby #2 when the time comes.

Not to mention, the fact that I know the materials sitting against Anna's bum and she has yet to get any diaper rash.  They're easy to clean and I throw them in with her regular baby laundry.  So I don't do any extra laundry because of them!  I could go on and on about how much I love them, but I'll spare you and just say I'm so happy we made that decision.  Oh yeah, and my favorite part... no stinky poopy smells sitting around in my trash can for a week!

2) Composting

This was more of a way for us to simply reduce stinky trash.  For so long there was just the two of us.  It took a whole week to fill a trash can in our kitchen which is nice because trash pick-up is once a week.  However, that also meant banana peels and apple cores and onion outsides?? were sitting aroudn in my trash can making it stink.  Talk about a bad smell!  So we decided to do something constructive with them, bought a cheap compost bin and started putting all of our scraps in it.  We also have a lot of yard waste due to some beautiful landscaping that came with the house and excessive amounts of trees and leaves.  So it works wonderfully and now it's been baout 8 months and we're just starting to see some wonderful compost that will really be great for our flowers, especially since I'm really good at killing plants!

3) Norwex

A friend of ours recently became a Norwex consultant, selling environmentally friendly cleaning products that are chemical free, but antibacterial, and just use water.  I LOVE my Norwex cloths.  I use them for pretty much everything and I love knowing that I am not using chemicals to clean around my house.  I have gotten rid of all cleaners and since I'm a compulsive cleaner, my house smells so much better and is just if not more clean!  They also have body cloths that pretty much eliminate my need for soap as well, they're better for your skin and clean as well, without the soap scum!  And they're still antibacterial!  And it's saved us a lot of money as I bought a lot of cleaners since I"m a little psycho about cleaning my home...

4) Shampoo/Soap

Speaking of soap...  I've stopped using the regular shampoos and conditioners.  I now use baking soda/water as shampoo and vinegar/water as conditioner.  This wasn't that much of a drastic idea to me as I've always had scalp issues.  As a kid, my mom would give me a good rinse with vinegar every few weeks to really get all of the chemical/other stuff out of my hair.  It essentially strips your hair and allows your natural oils to rebalance themselves.  This tremenously helped my scalp as a kid and contiues to do so now.  It makes it so that I don't have to wash my hair every day and can simply rinse it every other day (I'm one of those people that NEEDS to have a shower every day, simply to wake me up).  My hair is much softer and less frizzy and it just feels clean.  And not to mention, with hair as thick as mine, I go through shampoo quickly and franky vinegar and baking soda are way cheaper!

I also know that Anna has sensitive skin and so we use very little baby soap/shampoo on her, but the stuff we use is totally natural and while it's expensive, we've gone through a quarter of a bottle in like a month and a half.  It's worth it to me to hav eher hair nice and soft and not wiry and to have her skin stay soft.  We also use a really hard core lotion on her to keep her skin soft, when I don't do it well enough, you can definitely tell on her skin!

5) Laundry

Really the last way we've made a major change to a more natural way is with our laundry.  Much of this was spurred by a need to wash cloth diapers in a detergent free of lots of things.  At first it seemed more expensive, but I've quickly learned that's not true.  The one box of the natural detergent I use was purchased at the same time as the generic regular detergent bottle that cost 2x as much.  The generic bottle is just running out and the Planet detergent box hardly shows a dent.  I only have to use a teaspoon of it in our machine and it's going to last us for a LONG time!

We also no longer use any fabric softeners/dryer sheets at all.  I never realized how bad they are for your skin, until learning about cloth diapers.  My skin is so much better, it's always been sensitive to things and I've noticed a huge different.  And I don't have to worry about Anna's skin this way.  Saves us money on products and saves us money on skin issues!


So basically we've tried to elminate chemicals and use natural alternatives.  Fortunately in these cases, the natural alternatives are much cheaper and so much better for us!

Top 10 most used baby items

Well, I probably could have written my top favorite baby items long before I had a baby, after working in an infant room for many years... And it probably would be the same list (minus the cloth diapers, a few years ago, I would've thought that was nuts!:-) So here are a few baby items that I use most often and love and pretty much couldn't live without now that we have sweet Anna.

1) My Moby wrap and Mei Tei!  I love that I can carry Anna around (since she loves to be snuggled) and still get things like laundry, dishes, vacuuming, etc... done around the house.  It's nice to have her close and when she's fussy, putting her in one of the carriers instantly calms her down. 

2) The swing!  Anna LOVES her swing.  She likes to play in it and sleep in it and it's so fun to see her enjoy it! 

3) The infant sleep and play.  It's like a hammock/cradleish thing that we found for her to sleep in.  She HATED the pack n play, I think it was just too open for her, she likes to be swaddled and snug when she sleeps.  So we found this and she sleeps GREAT in it!  It's wonderful and it rocks, so putting her back to sleep at night is super easy!  We've started to have her sleep in the pack n play more during the day and she's doing better, so when we decide to move her to her crib, hopefully it goes weel!

4) Formula dispensers.  We have some single and triple dispensers that you can pre-scoop formula into!  It's life saver in the middle of the night and for going out places.  And since the formula scoopers are the same size as the opening of her bottle, the formula dispensers save us a lot of formula mess and waste!

5) Cloth diapers!  I love using cloth diapers even more than I thought I would.  They're so easy and her bottom always stays dry with them.  We had a little leakage issues at the beginning but soon learned we just weren't drying them enough.  Now we very rarely have a leak and if we do, it's usually when we're out and I just didn't change her as often as I do at home!  I just love the fact that her little bottom is covered in a soft material that keeps her free of chemicals and scratchy paper!  And it works well that the little 4 month old that I watch every day uses cloth as well, so I never have stinky diapers sitting around in trash cans until garbage pick-up.  My house doesn't smell like poop :-)!  Her little bum is just so cute in the diapers!

6) Cloth wipes.  Well, with my diapers, I use cloth wipes (actually, most of them are just baby wash cloths).  I just spray them with water from a spray bottle and wipe!  I very rarely have to use more than one (unlike the slimy store bought ones when you have to use a billion to get the job done) and again, they're nice and soft on her butt and don't make it raw like I've seen wipes do a lot! 

7)  Wet bag.  Since I'm on the cloth diaper theme... I couldn't live without my wet/dry bags.  They keep dirty diapers contained and I wash them when I wash the diapers.  They're easy to take with me wherever I go and they keep the smell/any fluids from escaping!  We just got a second one for a shower and it's been wonderful!

8) Miracle blanket.  Since she loves to be swaddled and she's a little escape artist, the Miracle blanket has been WONDERFUL!  She can't get out of it and she falls asleep almost instantly when we wrap her in it. We reserve it only for night time and that seems to help her distinguish longer sleeping times vs. naps! 

9) Dishwasher bottle holder thing...  Very practical and kinda boring, but we use it like 2 times a day.  It's got a place for all of her bottle pieces and keeps them contained and gets them washed nicely!

10) Finally, the play gym.  Anna loves to lay and play on it, it's got lights, sound, and a mobile that spins and she spends a lot of time playing on it!  Enjoy the video of her playing on it!

 So with that, we are so thankful to all of the people that have sent cards, gifts, and most importantly prayers.  We couldn't function without all of our family and friends and their support and prayers!  We are so blessed and so thankful!  It's a huge load lifted off knowing we are surrounded by people who love us and who love Anna so much!