This post is in conjunction with
Erin’s grassroots effort to get the word out on cloth diapering. My post isn’t an absolute start-from-scratch tome on cloth diapering, but it is a description of our adventures in cloth diapering. For a great, easy to understand description of the various types of cloth diapering systems, check out
Ask Moxie. (I’ll also put in a plug to check out some of Moxie’s other topics if you’ve got questions or issues with your kiddo. . . great, down-to-earth advice on everything baby.)
Moxie’s description of "the most common way" of cloth diapering is using a prefold with a cover. This is what Erin and a few other friends use, with rave reviews. Since it was Erin who convinced me to try cloth, we started with a prefold system. We used
Diaperaps. I’ll give you a brief description of our experience with those, but we have now transitioned to using
BumGenius. Mostly because of the reason Moxie said. . . prefolds were perfectly fine, but I ended up being swayed and dabbling in some of the fancier varieties and ended up with a more expensive way :-) ha!
I had 6 size small covers and 2 dozen infant size prefold diapers. Covers run about $12 each and you can get a dozen prefolds for around $15. It’s by far the most affordable way to cloth diaper. We started when Hayden was about 6 weeks old (he was just too small for them before that, weighing 6 lbs 13 oz at birth with skinny little legs). The idea is that if it’s just a wet diaper or poop only gets on the prefold, you can reuse the cover. The issue we had was that Hayden had very runny breastfed poop, probably 6-8 times per day. And that runny poop would get on the cover every time he pooped. So, I was going through my covers in less than a day. I experimented with various ways of folding and got to where we had poop on the covers maybe ever other time he pooped, using the Angel Wing fold. But I was still going through covers more frequently than I’d have like. I will say that we only had 1 or 2 occasions when poop leaked outside the cover (sorry, Aunt Janet!).
My dismay at pooped-on covers led me to try out some of the fancier pocket diapers. But at $16-$18 per diaper, they were a big investment. When Hayden was around 3 months old I ordered a pocket diaper sampler pack for about $65 and got 1 of each variety: FuzziBunz, Happy Heiney, Knicker Knappie, BumGenius. He had skinny legs so we had some leaking out of the leg hole issues with some of the diapers, but the Bum Genius worked great. I ended up ordering 3 more of those to use at night. It was much easier to get the Bum Genius on in the middle of the night when I was going in for feedings than folding a prefold and putting on a cover. I was still using the Diaperaps during the day. This worked fine, but I knew that Hayden was about to outgrow the size small Diaperaps. I debated whether to order another dozen bumGenius or the next size up in Diaperaps. I found a site that had a 15% off sale (definitely shop around at the numerous cloth diaper websites. . . one I like is
Baby Cotton Bottoms), so I went for it and ordered a dozen bumGenius. So, now, that's pretty much all we use. They are just so easy to get on him, even when he’s wiggling all over the changing table.
One thing that I’ve noticed is that as he has grown, changed size and shape, and changed his diet (meaning his poop changed), different systems worked better than others.
At around 7 months he started sleeping 12-13 hours at night with no wake-ups for feeding. In the morning, his pajama waistband would be wet because the diaper was so full. We tried doublers (an additional absorbent insert) and that helped, but he would still be wet. He started waking up at 5 or 5:30 a.m. and since he was wet, wouldn't go back to sleep. So, we now use disposables at night and he stays dry (and sleeps ‘til 7:30!).
We now have 14 bumGenius, which we use during the day with a disposable at night. This easily gets us through 2-3 days before washing. The beauty of the bumGenius is that they have snaps which makes the size adjustable, so the same diaper will fit babies from 8-35 pounds. The BumGenius comes with its own insert. On the smallest setting, the diaper is snapped all the way down, on the medium setting the outside cover is on the middle snaps (pictured below), and then you don't snap it at all when the cover is on the largest setting.
The bumGenius insert even snaps, so it will fit on any outter snap setting. This insert is snapped to fit in the cover shown above.
I couldn’t swallow making an $18 per diaper investment, and having to buy 14-18 diapers in 3 different sizes. This batch of BumGenius will last us through potty training. And after 9 months of use, they are still in great condition.
The one disadvantage to the BumGenius is that they are a bit bulky and take up a lot of space in the diaper bag. I usually only carry 1 spare. I take 2-3 disposables as back-ups. With the Diaperaps (at least with the size small) I could take 1 extra cover and 2 cloth diapers for about the same amount of space as 1 bumGenius. I'm sure in the bigger Diaperap sizes, I'd have some space issues, though.
We did like the FuzziBunz too. They snap, which is a bit of a pain (especially in the middle of the night) but the velcro strip on the bumGenius tends to pill a little bit. So, the snaps may hold up better over time. And when Hayden was 2-3 months old, the FuzziBunz didn't fit around his legs well and they leaked. We tried it again when he hit 15 lbs and the FB fit much better. I think it just depends on the build of your baby.
I’d say if you’re just starting, go for a prefold system. For less than $100, you can have 2 dozen diapers. If you do want to check out prefolds, browse around diaperpin.com. About 3 months ago I saw a vendor that was offering a great "intro to cloth diaper" package for around $100. You got several types to try (all-in-one, prefold, a few varieties of pockets) and they had a great return policy. Something like you could return ones that don't work for you for credit to buy more of the ones that do work. I wish I had started with something like that.
I use cloth wipes because I didn’t want to have to deal with a separate disposal system for paper wipes. I bought 24 cheap washcloths, which just get tossed in the diaper pail after I use them. When they are clean, I fold and stack them. Then, about 7-8 at a time, I put them in a little plasticware container and dump my water mixture over them. I always have wipes ready to go when it’s time to change a diaper. My water mixture is simply a few drops of baby oil and a drop or two of baby shampoo, filling the container to the top with water.
When I change Hayden’s diaper, I use a wipe on him, then fold it over and use that to grab the insert out of the pocket. . . toss everything into the pail. My hands never have to touch anything dirty! When he was exclusively breastfed (until 6 months) I could just toss everything directly into the diaper pail, whether it was pee or poop. The poop was just so runny, it came right out in the wash, no pre-rinsing necessary. Now, if it's just a wet diaper, I toss that straight into the pail. And then shake any poop into the toilet. We do have a toilet sprayer, like Erin and Parmy described, but I usually only need that once every 2 weeks. If you don't want to make that investment (~$35) you can get a cheap plastic spatula to use as a scrapper and dunk in the toilet.
You pull the insert out of the opening at the inside top of the diaper:
I use a cheap diaper pail by Safety First. It's the same one as Erin. Simple, but effective. I got a washable waterproof bag from Wahmies. I put that in the pail, put the diapers in that, then on wash day, just take the blue bag out and carry it down to the washing machine. Dump the diapers out, then toss the bag in with the rest of the load. It also has a little cloth tab on the outside. I put a few drops of tea tree oil on that after each washing and it keeps odors down.
(just so you can see the outside of the bag, and the tab for the tea tree oil)
My washing routine goes like this:
-Dump all diapers in
-Sprinkle in 1/4 cup of baking soda and about every 6th wash ~1/2 cup of distilled white vinegar
-Do a COLD quick rinse
-Sometimes I'll let the water fill, then stop the cycle so the diapers soak for a while (maybe a few hours maybe overnight)
-Finish off the rinse cycle
-Start a NEW cycle on HOT, EXTRA HEAVY, with a 2nd RINSE. At the start of this cycle I put in a tiny bit (~3 Tbsp) of Tide Clear Detergent.
-I toss everything in the dryer and run through 1 cycle on low heat. Then, I take out the bag and covers and run just the inserts and wipes through a second dry cycle to get them dry. In the summer, I'd hang them outside. Sunlight acts as a bleach and would get them nice and white!
Whew! That’s it. . . thanks for hanging in there! Now, don't you want your baby to look this cute! :-)
and Hayden's own personal cake
Celebration boys
and crafting!
