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-J

Cloth Diapers - Part 4

Warning: This post is intended for those seriously interested in or curious about cloth diapers only - anyone else may be subject to diapertalk overload, or what Mommies might call a blow-out...

The Lingo
I was terribly confused when I began researching diapers. Here are some definitions to help out anyone else confused out there:

Prefold Diaper - A rectangle of fabric with an extra thick panel along the middle. Wraps around baby, or may be folded in half or thirds, then placed in a wrap. DSQ (Diaper Service Quality) are the highest quality/most absorbent/thickest "ply".

All-in-One (AIO) Diaper - All one piece like a disposable. Outer fabric is waterproof, inner is absorbent. No assembling required! Just velcro it on.

Fitted Diaper - A soft fabric shaped with elastic at the legs and a waist that fastens with snaps or Velcro. Requires a cover.

Pocket Diaper - A moisture-wicking stay-dry lining inside a waterproof outer layer with an opening in the back for an absorbent pad, called an insert. The outer layer must be washed after each use along with the insert.



Flatfold Diaper - Traditional, large piece of fabric that you have to shape into a diaper and fasten to hold shape. What many of us probably grew up in. Requires a cover.

Cover- A waterproof/resistant fabric that wraps around an absorbent diaper (such as a prefold, fitted or flat diaper) and is fastened with velcro, snaps, or is a pull-up. These can be used multiple times between washings.

Snappi - A little T-shaped device that stretches to hold a prefold or flat diaper together by using little plastic grippy claws in place of diaper pins.

Thanks to LittleForNow for help with definitions...


Our Faves
A Cloth-eez prefold (~$2.50 each) with a Bummis Super Whisper Wrap ($11) and a Snappi ($2.50 and reusable - we own 2) to make the prefold stay in place is our favorite diapering option. Very simple, very cheap. We use this combo all the time. Only 4-6 wraps are needed because they are reusable until soiled with poo (they are super breathable). Approx 3 dozen prefolds works for us.

Kushies' All-in-One diapers (~$8 each) is our second favorite. Very simple, they just cost more.
We didn't start using these (we received 5 as a gift) until a few months ago because the small size was a bit big on Abraham.


The Runner-up
BumGenius pocket diapers - these seem to be really high quality and are supposed to be adjustable to basically last until potty training. We received 3 as gifts. The downside - cost up front ($18/diaper) and you have to stuff the insert in each cover...not as convenient as Kushies.

Others We've Tried
Kissaluv fitted diaper - we received 6 as gifts. To me these are cute but I have found them to be basically a fancy prefold. They still need a wrap. They are soft, come in fun colors and have adjustable snaps, but they are a bit pricey ($11.50/diaper vs $2.50/prefold).

Gerber flatfold cloth diapers - received one package as a gift. These don't seem absorbent enough unless I use two. They are so thin I wonder how long they will last with numerous washings? Also require pins or a snappi and a wrap of some sort.

Accessories - The Faves
Now some women think shoes and earrings when they talk accessories, but I'm an odd duck. I talk about diaper pail liners and other fun stuff:).

Our Blue Penguin liner has worked well. It's has a drawstring around the opening. I like that better than our Wahmies liner, which has elastic around the opening (the diapers tend to get stuck when dumping them - eww:)). I definitely recommend having two liners.

We use a small Bummis wet bag for out and about storage of used diapers. I like it. I also have no experience with other bags for comparison.

The Snappi has been a definite fave of mine. I like how it holds a prefold around Abraham nice and snug. When I've tried just folding a prefold in thirds and laying it in the wrap it seems to bunch up. And it's fast with no pins involved.

Wipes. We have used baby washcloths (we received a lot as gifts) and they've worked great! We wash them right along with the diapers. I squirt a tiny bit of Diaper Potion in a rubbermaid container and pour some freshly boiled water in with it. That lasts a few days, is very gentle, contains no harsh chemicals, and has worked well for us. Just dunk a rag in when needed or store some rags right in the water. The bottle is concentrated and will probably last me at least a year.

Detergent. This is really important. Using a bad detergent can cause rash problems and make diapers less absorbent. We use Purex Free & Clear and have never had a problem. I like this brand because it is inexpensive, can be bought locally, is fragrance free and a little goes a long way (we use 1-2Tb of the concentrated type). This is an excellent website that Kelly & April recommended, which compares detergents. At the bottom of that chart is helpful info on the problems of certain detergents.

A trash can. I think ours is a 13Gallon. It works. Nothing fancy. We use the dry pail method.

Random thoughts
1. Thanks for reading anybody who made it all the way through this. Ha!:) I hope this will help someone out there! I'd love to share more of our story if anyone wants to dialog (I'll spare the rest of you the endless details:)).
2. We now know of or have heard of a few more couples using cloth - yoohoo! There are also a couple families in our church considering it for their next kids and another sister-in-law of ours who is excited about using them on their little one (due in Sept!).
3. Really cool advice...if your baby is strictly breastfed, just throw poopy diapers in the pail. I read that the poo rinses out like yogurt while in the wash (it just goes into the septic tank like the toilet anyways) and sure enough, it's true! I didn't have to worry about rinsing poo until Abraham started on solids and never had problems with stains. Yes, another sweet benefit of breastfeeding!
4. When we were asking our "cloth diaper heroes" our gazillion questions, one reply they gave was that we would find a system that worked for us and in a few months be the ones answering questions...I couldn't have imagined that to be true while pregnant. It's amazing what 7mo of practice does:). I still have many questions though and am still learning! And I've yet to come across two people who do cloth diapers the same way!


Things I'm curious about...

There is such a thing as a little sprayer that attaches somehow to the toilet to spray off poo. I'd love to hear if it's worth it and if anyone knows what is a good brand to go with?

Anyone out there tried other brands of cloth diapers not mentioned above?

Cloth Diapers - Part 3

On a brisk November Sunday afternoon we rejoiced as our little one was born, our intense new son Abraham. Soon enough Jonathan suggested starting to use the cloth diapers. Abraham was about two weeks old, I was nervous, felt like I was jumping into a rushing river, and I panicked a bit when I saw a small spot of blood on the diaper. His little cord had rubbed against the diaper just a tiny bit. I felt awful! Change of plans, let's wait until his cord falls off to start. The next night off it fell. Time to jump on in what felt like the Colorado.



My first mistake was staring at all those lovely smooth, soft diapers about right up until it was time to use them. Bad idea. Do not wait until you are 1-2 weeks postpartum, hormonal, tired and just wanting to sleep and snuggle with your newborn to wash your new dipes. Each brand varies, but most require ~5 washings before their first use in order to strip the cotton of its natural oils so that it is absorbent.

Diapers finally washed, here's what we started out using:
Bleached Chinese Prefolds with the Bummis Super Whisper Wrap and Snappi
Kissaluv Fitted Diaper with Bummis Super Whisper Wrap
BumGenius Pocket Diaper

Let me be completely honest with you. I felt like I had no idea what I was doing when I started. I literally had the User's Manual (complete with pictures) from Green Mountain at my side as I placed a prefold around Abraham, then a wrap...Do the sides face in or out once folded - check, inside. The prefold is not supposed to slide under the little fabric panel in the wrap, right? Checking the manual...yup, that's right. Phew! The Snappi is supposed to be a Y-shape, not a T-shape...hmm, okay, I get it now.

The days passed and quickly I began to feel much more confident. Did our diapers have to match the pictures? No, I realized, there are no secret diaper police. I began to relax when curious onlookers watched me change Abraham. Kids had fun questions at church. "What are you doing?" Why was I taking the diaper home and not throwing it away? Adults had lots of questions, too. The most common being, "so how are you liking the cloth diapers?" To this day my answer is the same. "I really enjoy them...actually, I think it's fun!"



And that's where we're at in our cloth diaper journey. Something about it hits us at a pretty deep level. We realize now this really is what's best for Abraham. Plain and simple it's wise stewardship. We feel like we have invested the finances God's given us wisely (reusable on future Shupes!) and are glad to slow down those landfill piles a bit. Not to mention he's comfortable, not had major rash problems, and that as Sarah Z. said, there's an everyday spiritual humility to be experienced in cleaning those diapers.

I think next time I'll wrap up my thoughts with our faves and not-so-faves and a few random thoughts.

Cloth Diapers - Part 2

The experts should really be called our Cloth Diaper Heroes. Kelly & April C. and Aron & Sarah Z., two couples living thousands of miles from us, were invaluable resources to us. They both took the time to answer all of our questions (right down to the nitty-gritty, ooey-pooey details). In fact, Kelly and April even made a post of the questions (read it here!) for other confused folk out there.

Reading the real life experiences and practical advice of these couples was so encouraging to me. People out there were actually doing this, it was working for their families, and they were oddly enough, really really excited about it. They made comments about talking for hours gladfuly to anyone considering cloth and how cloth "seems like so much fun I don't know why everyone doesn't use cloth."

So, I took the plunge and registered for some diapers online. Would people think they were too expensive or weird? I didn't care. We were now more convinced than ever that cloth diapers were the best choice for our family. Receiving any as a gift would be a blessing, but we were prepared to purchase them all as well.

One might ask at this point, is all this research really worth it for something that just covers a baby's bum? If you're into saving money, here's an interesting article link.

The lingo all started to make sense after receiving a few different brands and styles of cloth diapers as gifts. All-in-One (AIO) diapers really are similar to disposables...Prefolds with a wrap are as simple as they sound...Pocket diapers - sure enough, just slide an insert into a pocket...Fitted diapers - okay, yup, they do need a cover. After feeling the fabrics, trying them on Jonathan's childhood teddy bear (I couldn't resist), and studying the product instructions (nice idea) things began to click when I poured over my research.

Well stocked, excited, still a bit confused and apprehensive, we awaited the arrival of our little one...

Cloth Diapers - Part 1

I have been dreaming of doing this post for a long time, so today I thought I'd whittle away at it.

When I became pregnant with Abraham, Jonathan and I decided that we would use cloth diapers. Why? I'm not exactly sure. Saving money was probably a big factor, it seemed more natural, produced less waste and seemed better for the environment. And for us, it just seemed to make sense.

Although my hubbie does have long hair, we're not exactly what you'd call hippies (driving a 2-ton dualie sort of rules us out of that category). I was actually pretty nervous about letting people know we were going to use cloth diapers. You see, the only two families we knew that currently used them live in Spain and New Brunswick! I had many people in our area tell me cloth diapers are great to use for burp cloths and washing cars, but seriously, for babies?

Visions of rubber pants, diaper pins, and scraping poo seemed to elicit snorts or looks of concern from some. I tried to explain, really, they've made it much easier! Others showed curiosity and listened patiently to my fumbled attempts at explaining current diapering options. I'd show them the neat websites I'd found and a video of a friend using a "prefold" to diaper his little girl. I studied the video carefully each time I'd show it.

Family were supportive but unfamiliar with the current options...AIOs, pocket dipes, prefolds, snappis, whisper wraps? Could the CIA even decipher this stuff? Sweet! My sister-in-law became pregnant and also planned to use cloth. We united our efforts and kept researching.

I began to feel overwhelmed. I was very excited (odd, yes) and determined to use cloth, but I began to drown in the sea of Internet information. I wanted to make wise choices, but had never even seen a cloth diaper used on a real person. Argh!

Feeling a bit embarassed, I sat down one night and decided to do what was best for our Little One. Humbly, I typed out every stinky, detailed, paranoid question that had been running through my head...and I called on the experts...