Cloth Diapers: All the dirty details
Why?
I was one of those people who looked at moms that used cloth diapers and thought
"eeewwww, hippie.."
I just couldn't understand why you wouldn't use disposables. They are easy and convent, right? I became a parent and discovered how messy diapers really are. I had a child that would have a blow out almost every time she pooped. Seriously. It got old really fast. We tried every brand out there. Honest diapers seemed to be the ones that at least caught more and even had times where there wasn't a blow out at all. (For you moms who have experienced blow outs, you can feel how disparate we were to find a solution). Then one day I had some friends who were interested in cloth and I tagged along.
I was hooked.
There were so many different kinds and brands and styles. But best of all they were CUTE. And we only had to buy them once FOR ALL OUR CHILDREN.
What..? SOLD
My reason for switching was mainly cost. Josh and I had decided I was going to stay home with the kids for the first few years. This meant we need to find some ways to save money. Depending on what kind you get and how many you buy, you save around 2,000 for the first kid and 2,500 for all other children. You pay $0 on diapers for the 2nd and 3rd child. Throw in hand me downs and breast feeding and those kids don't cost you much!
The second reason we switched was that cloth never has blow outs (unless the diaper is not tight enough then you could have a leak but nothing like a blow out), and the kid never gets a diaper rash. Our girl has some sensitive skin so this was just icing on the cake.
I'm not a big environmental person who uses cloth to save the dump, however, I only take the trash out in her room maybe once a week and it hardly ever smells because there is barely any poop in her trash or left on the diapers, It all goes down the toilet!
Finding the perfect fit
The best advice I can give you when it comes to picking a style and brand is to buy a few and try them out. Don't buy your entire stash all at once. It takes some trial and error to find the diaper that will work on your baby and for you. You can find gently used diapers on eBay or Craigslist. There are also a lot of cloth diapers stores popping up. They are great because what you see online is different in person. With that said, we thought Flips were going to be saving grace and it ended in a flop.
Open prefold on the left and it folded in the "large" setting on the right. The picture on the right also has a cloth insert (Charlie Banana insert). Bottom picture is the prefold folded on the "medium" setting compared to same CB insert.
Problems:
It is a lot of material between the legs not matter how you fold it. Makena cried and became frustrated anytime she tried to stand because she couldn't really close her legs. It's a big diaper as well.
The material bunches easily and can soil the cover. We were changing the cover almost as often as we were the inserts.
Not a fan of the snap sizing. It's an all or nothing deal and it left material bunching at weird spots.
Stains easily. The fleece seems to wash out poo spots very well while the prefolds don't.
CB diaper on the left and Flip on the right
Advantages:
It's worked great as a night diaper for us. The prefolds are very absorbent, more so than most inserts. Since she was sleeping, it didn't matter that it was hard for her to move. She has slept 12 hours in one diaper and not leaked before. However, I just have to make sure I make it tight enough or it will leak out the top.
Traveling. I have heard CD (Cloth Diaper) users will use this one while flying and use the disposable inserts.
Our Favorite: Charlie Banana Pocket Diapers
First off, pocket diapers are a diaper that has an all enclosed "pocket" where an insert is put in to absorb all the mess. Each time you have to change the whole diaper since there is a fleece lining between the insert and baby's bum.
You can see the flap on the top of the diaper where the insert goes in. This picture shows the CB orange one size diaper (on large sizing) on the right and the Large white sized diaper on the left. We love the one size as they have a large size range and can easily adjust with the baby. It has a bra strap like sizing on each leg so you don't have to pick a set size but can change it to fit your babe's legs perfectly. I bought a pack of the large sized diapers because they can fit a little bit bigger kid and I am pretty sure Makena is not going to stop her massive growth anytime soon.
The inserts vary in size as well. You will get one small and one large with each one size diaper. We got 2 large inserts with the sized diapers. They send you two so you can have a insert that fits with the different sizing, but also to double stuff the diaper for long naps or night time, which has worked for us.
Fit
Makena is a chunk so I love the fleece that runs around all of the elastic (which isn't found with all pocket diapers). It should be snug but not too tight that it leaves big angry red marks. If it's too loose things will leak out, too tight is just painful. So it's a learning curve on finding the right sizing. One nice part is that cloth diapers sit like underwear do and not up high on the stomach/backs like disposables do. This seems a lot more comfortable to me, personally.
Also, lesson learned that I should have read the print as my daughter is wearing "bad boy" dipes haha
Process/Set Up
We didn't switch to cloth until after Makena was eating food so with EBF babies, you can just take the whole mess and throw it in wash as it's water soluble. This means it will all wash out including out of your washer. When you move to solids, you will need to get the poo off before it gets tossed in the wash. So those who feel putting poo in you washer, you aren't. I have a comfortable stash of around 20 diapers, (though I did just 12 more as they were on sale we will are planning for baby #2 soon). But 20 is a comfortable number that lets me have enough for daycare and at home, while only washing every other day. If there are any messy diapers, I just wash that night so it doesn't sit for too long. I wash at night and then hang dry them over night. By morning they are dry! If there are any stains I put them in the sun to sanitize and bleach the diapers.
I can stuff all the diapers in about 10 minutes. It doesn't take long at all to get them ready. I keep them in a draw at the changing table along with the liners.
Liners
Liners are amazing. We don't use a spray. That just sounds dangerous. They feel like a dryer sheet. Very soft and very thin. I love the Osocozy liners. They are $8 for a roll of 100 and I cut those in half because they are huge. You put the liner between the bum and diaper.
Then you just take it and flush it along with the poo! No need to touch the poo or have any in your wash. This is great for when you are out and about since you can flush it and not carry a messy diaper around with you.
WARNING MESSY DIAPER BELOW
I wanted you to see what it looks like AFTER you flush the liner.
Then I unstuff the inserts and throw it into the wet bag which can all go in the wash!
I recommend getting a smaller wet bag that you throw in your diaper bag for when you are running errands and such. It's just easier and it seals the mess from your car/stroller/diaper bag.
Extra Clean
When the diapers are looking dirty I just do a soak overnight with Rockin Green soap and they return all white and fresh looking!
I do pre-wash any messy diaper so it doesn't soak with poo.
For everyday washing, I use Honest detergent. There many kinds out there but you have to make sure they are good on cloth diaper. Most that you find in the store is NOT good for diapers as it leaves a residue and makes them not as absorbent.
Just some cuteness to end the post:
Any questions or something I didn't cover and you are wondering about, ask away! I am open to talking about anything.
Aww, Stephanie this is awesome! I've wondered about cloth diapers and why anyone would want to deal with the hassle-but your site is extrememly informative. I definitely want to give them a try. Great work!
ReplyDeleteSteph Hahn