Cloth Diapering

When you think about cloth diapers, you probably think about the kind your mother used on you.  Folding, pins, dunking, smelling, etc.  Or you think about very environmentally conscious people who live a completely green life.  I say this because that is what I thought cloth diapering was until my good friend introduced us to them.

These ain't your mama's cloth diapers.  And they aren't only for tree huggers.  They are for everyone who is trying to save a dime and likes the idea of not putting hundreds of diapers in our landfills. 

Plus the bonus is they don't stink, they are super easy to use, they don't leak, diaper rashes are slim to none, they come in cute patterns and colors and we HAVEN'T BOUGHT ANY DIAPERS SINCE REED WAS BORN.  And we don't plan on buying any either unless we go on a long vacation where we do not have access to a washing machine.

If you are interested in cloth diapering I suggest you check out cloth diaper whisperer at http://www.clothdiaperwhisperer.com/.  She has lots of great information there and can help you get started.  Here our set up if you are interested.

What we use:

We have 23 All in One (AIO) diapers.  This means that the cover and insert are all in one rather than using multiple inserts for one cover.  We got these because they are the closest thing to disposable in the way they are put on.  We thought this would go over well on the grandmothers and give us an edge in using them in daycares.  (Everything I have read says that daycares that do taken them only take AIOs).  Plus all the people I know who do cloth use AIOs and love them so we went with that.  Why not 24?  We just weren't given that many and I know people that do 12 or 18 so we figured we were good with the 23.  My preferred brand is bumgenius and we use their 4.0 with velcro closures mostly.  We have two that snap.  I like the velcro because I feel like we get a better fit.  I also have some Oh! Katy diapers with snaps and one Happy Heiny with velcro.  I don't feel like I get as good of a fit with the Oh! Katy diapers.   The Happy Heiny fits well but the laundry tabs do not stick so they get stuck on everything in the wash which is annoying. I probably will stop using these and get more bumgenius when baby number two comes.  I am anxious to hear more about the new Freetime Diapers from bumgenius.  No stuffing at all!  Learn more here. 

Our Set Up:

We have converted an old desk to be our changing table.  The diapers fit perfectly in the drawers.  The pail is underneath and the trash can for the wipes is by the door.

What our use/wash cycle is like:

Reed uses about 8-10 diapers a day.  I do wash every other day.  When I pull off a soiled diaper I throw the whole thing in the pail.  We have two pail liners from Planet Wise so that there is always a liner in the pail even when some diapers are being washed.  I typically wash the pail liner and the wet bag (see below in the daycare section) every other time.  When Reed starts on solids, I will use our bumgenius diaper sprayer (attached to our toliet) and clean them before putting them in the pail.  Since he is only on breastmilk there is no need to do that yet.  Every other day I take the pail liner full of diapers down to the laundry room.  It is at that point hat I separate the covers from the inserts.  I unsnap the inserts so that they get nice and clean. 

We do a cold wash with Bumgenius detergent with an extra rinse and then a hot wash with detergent and an extra rinse.  Then we dry on low.  You have to use a cloth diaper friendly detergent.  Otherwise the absorbency is affected and you have leaks.  Each container is $11 and they last us about 9 weeks.  Very affordable!


How Cloth Diapers Work at Day Care:

We found an awesome in home day care that gladly took our cloth diapers no questions asked.  But before we found Carolyn we were going to use the local Kindercare.  When I first mentioned that we used cloth diapers, they informed me that because they were a licensed facility they couldn't take them.  I was able to get them to take them by showing this document which clearly shows how they are to handle cloth diapers and a listing of cloth dipaer friendly day cares in NC which lists the Kindercare of Asheville.  With all that information and showing them our diapers they were all set to take them.

But we ended up going a different route because we just liked the idea of an in home day care better.  You have to do what is right for your family when it comes to childcare.  Ms. Carolyn (who we just love!!) had never seen the AIOs before and says how easy they are to use.  We send Reed to day care with 6 diapers and a wet bag.  We got our wet bag from Planet Wise as well.  It works great - no smell, no leaks.  Later it can be used for wet bathing suits and towels.  Carolyn just throws the whole soiled diaper in the bag and I wash them at home.  When Reed starts eating solids, Carolyn will be able to dump the contents before putting them in the bag if she wants to.

Here is his bag all loaded up with diapers and his wet bag ready for the week.

What if Baby gets a rash?:

You cannot use diaper rash cream with these diapers unless you have a liner in them.  I would be wary of creams that say they are cloth diaper friendly.  I used the California brand and still had leakage issues and it seemed to make Reed's rash worse.  If you need to use diaper rash cream, they sell fleece liners or you can use an old t-shirt cut up.  Using the cream will affect the absorbency unless you put a liner in.  I know first hand!  I was using flushable liners which are designed to make dumping solid BMs easier.  I didn't realize that the cream was going right through the liners and creating a barrier...we were leak city until I figured it out and stripped the diaper.  There are lots of tutorials online about stripping diapers.  I called the Bumgenius customer service and she directed be to scrub each diaper with Dawn with an old tooth brush after the cold rinse.  I then did 2 washes and rinses in HOT water and they were good as new.

We love, love, love cloth diapers.  If you have any questions just let me know!