I'm not going on an exotic vacation.
And nope, I'm not having plastic surgery.
I've decided to try my hand at...
drumroll please...
Yep. Cloth-diapering.
When I asked Phin if he was excited about having the luxurious fabrics of BumGenius, BumGenius Organic, and Swaddlebees on his adorable little rump, here's the response I got:
(ok, so I didn't ask him. I just needed an excuse to post his big cheesy smile.)
"So why, Kate, after 2 years 2 months and 5 days of being a mom have you decided to embark on cleaning poop out of reusable diapers?" you may ask.
Well, when I asked the readers of SIMPLE what they'd like most to see reviewed, one of the top answers was cloth diapers. I didn't know how to break the news to everyone that I was a cloth diaper virgin, and so were my kids.
So I've done some research, and after alllll the cloth diaper websites I looked at, I found a FAVORITE! The Green Diaper store is helping me get started on my cloth-diapering adventure, and I have found them EXTREMELY helpful so far! (Keep an eye on SIMPLE for a review and COUPON CODE for The Green Diaper Store, btw.) After all my research, it was a no-brainer that the all-in-one diapers were for us! I got this sampler package to get me started.
So here's where you come in. I've got some questions for all you cloth diaper experts out there!
1. How do you go about washing out a poopy diaper? I realize you flush the mess down the toilet first, but Phin's diapers are U.N.B.E.L.I.E.V.A.B.L.E. There is no solidness to them...complete mush in the largest amount you can imagine. Blowouts are QUITE common. (He only goes every few days...so they're pretty bad!)
2. How often do you have to change pee diapers? Since Phin only poops every few days, I'm mostly dealing with pee diapers. I find he usually needs changed about every 3 to 4 hours. Is that pretty consistent with cloth diapers? More often/less often? Roughly how many diapers do you use in one day?
3. Do cloth diapers work well overnight? Do you usually have to change them throughout the night, or does one diaper get them through? (if there's no poop, of course.)
4. Has anyone noticed a difference (better or worse) with diaper rash/skin irritations with cloth diapers? Phin has a pretty nasty yeast infection right now, and Mylo had terrible contact dermatitis.
5. What's YOUR favorite cloth diaper?
2. How often do you have to change pee diapers? Since Phin only poops every few days, I'm mostly dealing with pee diapers. I find he usually needs changed about every 3 to 4 hours. Is that pretty consistent with cloth diapers? More often/less often? Roughly how many diapers do you use in one day?
3. Do cloth diapers work well overnight? Do you usually have to change them throughout the night, or does one diaper get them through? (if there's no poop, of course.)
4. Has anyone noticed a difference (better or worse) with diaper rash/skin irritations with cloth diapers? Phin has a pretty nasty yeast infection right now, and Mylo had terrible contact dermatitis.
5. What's YOUR favorite cloth diaper?
Well that's all I can think of for now. If I think of more, I'll do a part 2. ;)
Wish me luck!
Wish me luck!
11 comments:
Well, I've been at the cloth diapering thing for quite a while now, and even own my own shop, so maybe I can help out a little :)
1. Invest in a diaper sprayer/mini shower! This will be a life saver for you. It attaches to your toilet, and you just use it to spray the poop off the diaper. No dunking, swishing, and you stay clean!
As far as washing diapers in general, here's a good routine to stick to.
~Cold Rinse cycle with a bit of white vinegar (like 1/4-1/2 cup)
~Hot wash with manufacturer recommended detergents (and make sure not to use too much!)
~You may or may not need another rinse
~Dry on low, or air dry.
2. Most people will tell you to change when they pee, not let them sit in the diaper for a set number of hours. Maybe keep an eye on him every 2-3 hours. I wouldn't go longer than 3. I'm sure it isn't comfy sitting in a wet diaper :)
3. Night diapering can be a bit of a challenge, but that totally depends on your child. If he still wakes at night to nurse, then you may want to change him then. All-in-One diapers may not be the best for night, unless you can add extra absorbency. You can find diapers that are made specifically for night though, and they are usually great. My favorite is Mother-ease Sandys with two liners and a Mother-ease Air Flow cover. Even if the diaper is soaked, those covers don't let a drop through! Another trick is to put 100% polyester fleece pants over top. They prevent getting the bed wet at least! Or wool.
4. I definitely noticed a difference with rash! My daughter was always red in disposables. In cloth she was fine, as long as I didn't leave her in a wet diaper for too long. Remember, there are no chemicals in cloth :) Just try to not use any kinds of rash creams when he is in cloth diapers, especially if they have fleece inside. It will coat the diaper and make it repel. Not cool. Try cornstarch instead, to keep him dry (except not with yeast, cornstarch is a no-no with yeast. Get an anti fungal from your pharmacist).
5. My favorite... good question! I mostly loved the Mother-ease diapers. I used pocket diapers for a while (Bum Genius and Baby Kangas) but got really annoyed with them and sold them all. I prefer fitted diapers made of natural materials. I hate microfiber anything as it holds on to the smells really easily. I also really like the Bubu Bebe diapers. Of course, they are fitted diapers as well (that means they need a cover) but the Mother-ease covers are AMAZING!!! NO. LEAKS. EVER.
1. How do you go about washing out a poopy diaper?
What I did was rinsed them in our yard where no one walked LOL.. like in the corner part... away from things. Cause honestly.. to me if a dog can crap in the yard, why not our kid LOL. But I did use the toilet some 2.
2. How often do you have to change pee diapers?
I remember changing Taite like every 2 hrs? maybe sooner.. just depended on how much he had drank
3. Do cloth diapers work well overnight?
NO. I used cloth at night for a while and he always leaked.. i even put DOUBLERS in them to hold more pee... for me using disposables at night was the best option... 1 diaper a day was a lot less money than 5 a day.. or whatever.. so i still figured i saved
4. Has anyone noticed a difference (better or worse) with diaper rash/skin irritations with cloth diapers?
Taite had bad diaper rash in cloth or disposable... hes sensitive. But it wasnt anything a little airing out didnt fix. I let him go diaper free A LOT outside.. that helped him more than any cream on the market.
5. What's YOUR favorite cloth diaper?
I love bum genius... but they sometimes have issues w/ the gussets coming loose on the legs (the elastic goes bad early).. so because of that i dont recommend them any more.
I do love Hautes pockets...
And www.weeones.biz diapers. If I have any more cloth diaper purchase it will prob be from her shop. I like support WAHMS :)
Theres so many cool diapers tho. Have fun! stick with it. I did, so worth it.
If I wasnt having any more kiddos id ship you my lot.. I got like 30 diapers! :)
Oh!! and as far as washing I used my home made detergent.. worked great!
oh and i agree w/ stacey, get a sprayer :) if u dont want to hose off turdie-os in the yard.
Also wet bag is a must (a couple!)
and a good pail to put the diapers in with a pail liner.
I agree with the other comments on the mini-shower. It makes using cloth so easy.
I try to change my kids whenever they are wet. During the day I typically change my son every 2 to 3 hours.
At night I add an extra insert to my son's diaper and he goes about 10 hours without a problem. He is now 2 1/2.
I have to say that my son rarely gets a rash. Since cloth doesn't contain all the horrible toxins that disposables do (dioxin, sodium polyacrylate) I believe cloth diapered children have less rash problems.
My favorite right now is Fuzzi Bunz Perfect Size. I have a lot of bumGenius in my collection too. It is so hard to choose a favorite! I have also used Kissaluvs and love them.
Thank you for the complements to my store!
Lisa Carey
owner - Green Diaper Store
I will just add my expierence with cloth Diapers.
1. How do you go about washing out a poopy diaper? If they are that bad I just dunk it in the toilet. Yeah kind of gross but it works. And then try to wash them asap. Not dissing diaper sprayers, but I never used one and didn't think I needed it. I hardly ever had to dunk a diaper. LOL
2. How often do you have to change pee diapers? Mostly depended on how much Ethan drank. He drinks ALOT. I would change him from anywhere to 1 hour to 3 hours. He also pees alot...I mean alot. Most of the time his clothes were soaked by the time I got to him.
3. Do cloth diapers work well overnight? I did use cloth at night for a while. I added extra doubler to the pocket diapers. And that worked most for the first year. But I had to start using disposibles at night. Again I will remind you Ethan pees an extraordinary amount. LOL So he would even soak thru disposibles at night...either way I didn't win. LOL
4. Has anyone noticed a difference (better or worse) with diaper rash/skin irritations with cloth diapers? Ethan has never had a diaper rash....never. The only think that he has gotten is a touch red. I would use diaper cream over night and it was gone. I do think cloth will help the rashes tho..
5. My favorite diapers are the bumGenius 3.0. When I first started cloth diapering 2 and 1/2 years ago I got the bumGenius 2.0 in polar fleece. They were great. LOVED them...But now 2 1/2 years later...they are horrible. All of the elastic in the legs are shot, they are faded, and don't hold pee that well anymore. It could have been my fault tho....I won't get into that. Unless you want me to tell you. Call me.
But I still do love the bumgenius 3.0s I have 8 of those and they are still great. The velcro does go out on them as well. So they can send you a kit to change those out. Super easy. I also have a bamboo bumGenius and it is nice. Drea let me borrow a Haute and I love it. My mom even liked it. hehe
I will definately cloth diaper my next baby too.
Ethan is finally potty trained so we are good to go now. I can use the cloth at night and he hardly ever pees. YAY.
1. I just use part of a paper towel for a diaper liner - way cheaper than buying "official" diaper liners. And that does a pretty good job of catching most of the poop. So I scrape that into the toilet to flush. It works better now that my son isn't fully breastfed. Back when he was breastfed he, too, only pooped every 3 or 4 days. Now he poops 3 times each day! Totally different. I don't have a mini sprayer. I just scrape what I can into the toilet and then wash it out into the bathroom sink. I mean, come on; it's only poop, and you can always wash your hands after. lol. ;)
2. I think my son ends up getting changed every 4 hours. And whenever he poops. Pretty much I check him often: waking up, every eating time, before nap, after nap, bedtime. And I just change him when he needs it, which (like I said) is approx every 4 hours.
3. nope, I have a thing against diaper changing at night. It wakes the baby up too much and then it takes longer for me to get back to bed. :) haha! So I always just double diaper. And I've never had leaks. (yet.... knock on wood!)
4. I've never really used disposables so I can't compare. But occasionally (when teething) my son does get a bad rash, so we do nakey-time on the kitchen floor or outside; and we use Calmoseptine ointment. It's the best thing ever. And I haven't found it (or Desitin, for that matter) hard to wash out of the diapers.
5. I am definitely not a pocket diaper or AIO type of girl. I like my Chinese prefolds and my Prorap Classic covers. That's it. I have a little over two dozen prefolds and ten covers. and I only have to wash diapers (for just my one kiddo) every 3 days, or even 4 days sometimes. It's peachy. :)
Have fun on the cloth diapering spree! We'll look forward to hearing how you (and Phin!) like it. I so badly want more babies (I'm the one you emailed recently, and just had my 3rd miscarriage), and sometimes I stare at my son's newborn diapers and just cry wishing I had a little baby to put those tiny things on! Funny that cloth diapers can make me cry, lol.
The best way to clean cloth diapers is to pre-rinse them off in the toilet using a Hand Bathroom Bidet Sprayer. So convenient and if you are trying to help the environment (and your pocket book) you can give it a double whammy by virtually eliminating toilet paper use by using it on yourself also. That is what they were originally created for. I think Dr. Oz on Oprah said it best: "if you had pee or poop on your hand, you wouldn't wipe it off with paper, would you? You'd wash it off" Available at http://www.bathroomsprayers.com they come in an inexpensive kit and can be installed without a plumber. Now we're talking green and helping the environment without any pain. One review: http://jonathanandandrea.blogspot.com/2009/04/spray-it-or-scrub-it.html
oh you are gonna have to let me know how it goes! I've done traditional landfill diapers for the past 2 but might venture out into cloth for this 3rd child...
very exciting!
For cloth diapers there are many options to choose from. We use BumGenius brand diapers. I recommend greendiaperstore.com. It's a great place to get questions answered and purchase products from people who are honest and cloth diaper users themselves. =)
1. How do you go about washing out a poopy diaper?
I've been cloth diapering for about 1 year and my daughter has had profound blowouts in her short life! We buy Kushies flushable diaper liners from diapers.com. They are biodegradable flushable pieces of thin paper that you place between your child and the diaper. When baby has a BM you take the Kushies liner, flush it down the toilet and never have to fuss with dunking or spraying. I've done this for about a year and have perfectly stainless diapers and no poop on my hands. Even my husband raves about these liners. =)
For general washing for BumGenuis diapers--since they are made of synthetic fiber you do have to be careful which kind of detergent you use. Most BumGenius moms prefer Allen's Natural detergent. After much research and even a short stint of creating my own detergent, I tried Biokleen liquid FREE and CLEAR and it works like a charm! No residue, no odor, good for the environment, great for other clothes too. I've also found it best to hang diapers to dry. Of course if there's not time for that bumGenuis velcro stickiness is actually helped by being in the dryer cycle.
We wash once a week. Immediately after removing the used diaper we place it into the Diaper Champ ( kind of like a diaper genie only contains odor without all the twisting) and leave it until the week is up. It takes just about a week to get through all our cloth diapers. we don't rinse them, even if poop gets all over. Just wash them and you're done! It's so easy I can't believe it hasn't caught on yet. My husband always says, "if you can do a load of laundry then you can use these diapers."
2. How often do you have to change pee diapers?
With Bella we use approximately 5-8 diapers per day. She pees probably two times into her cloth diaper before we change it. BumGenuis inserts hold urine pretty well.
We use the pocket, one-size diapers so that we could customize for leak protection and because it seemed more economical for us.
3. Do cloth diapers work well overnight?
Overnight we put two large inserts into the diaper. Not once have we had leaks (if the diaper was fastened correctly) or unmanagable blowouts.
We do not change her during the night unless she wakes up complaining about a poopy diaper.
5. What's YOUR favorite cloth diaper?
Hands down BumGenuis. I'm especially happy with BumGenius recently since they switched from the velcro/hook and loop closure system to the snap front closures. I've heard that toddlers like to undo their diapers sometimes. And we're living proof. One evening we walked into Bella's room to find her covered in poop! The snaps are much harder to take apart. Too bad we're set already though. I currently have 27 bumGenuis diapers, 54 regular inserts and 7 hemp inserts for extra overnight wetness protection.
It's been quite a journey cloth diapering--especially having been raised as a city girl turned career woman. My family and friends gave me the strangest looks for switching to cloth. Recently though I did a calculation for how much we've saved since Bella was born and my total is up to $1,307.43. That's not a bad trade in my book.
Enjoy. oh, and I've been shopping with Angel Bunz/The Green Diaper Store since the start and they are just fabulous and so helpful. You can ask them questions by email and they get back to you immediately.
I am so happy with cloth diapering and how easy it's been for us. I'm also glad more people are catching on to how much it saves money...not to mention the health benefits of not putting all those chemicals next to your baby's skin.--And I guess if you're the type, it does some good for the environment too. =)
I forgot to say too that for boys (if you're using BumGenius) you put the fold-over part of the insert toward the front. For girls it's toward the back! I had a friend who learned that the hard way! lol.
We exclusively cloth diapered D until about 2 months ago when she finally grew out of her "Fuzzi Bunz" size small. We really just haven't gotten around to purchasing the next size. Let me know what you think of the bum genius as that's probably what we will go with next.
Post a Comment