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I never saw myself as a mom who would do cloth diapers. Ever.
My sister who was pregnant at the same time I was, was going to do cloth diapers. Whens he talked about them, having to buy covers, and the different kinds, the fuzzy staticy sound in my head just got louder and louder.
So we did disposables. The baby did well. She didn't care what she pooping or peeing in, or if there was anything there really.
But what did happen were two things.
1. Incredible rash. She got the most horrific case of diaper rash, that bordered on yeast infection (not vaginal yeast infection), that would have her screaming, and crying, and cringing to sit on her bottom. Nothing worked. We knew it wasn't normal diaper rash because it didn't respond to diaper cream, and according to the rash's behavior. (I'm a big fan of WedMd). So, after speaking to my one sister-in-law whose daughter had something similar, I picked up some generic Lotramin AD and used that when she would get such bad rashes. Lotramin AD is for athletes foot, which is a fungus. This rash behaved the same way, and responded well to the treatment. But we had to keep the stuff on hand, because we never knew when the rash would come back, and how bad.
2. COST. After buying yet another box of diapers at Sams club for almost 45 dollars, knowing that what I was doing was tossing everything in that box out because my daughter would pee and poop in it, I said, no more. There had to be another way.
My sister then welcomed me into the fold of cloth diaper converts. She loaned me a huge stack of Chinese Trifolds (very thick cloth diapers, flat, but with two seams running down the length of the diaper, thus dividing it into thirds, indicating where you should fold the diaper), and some covers. It took some practice, but we got it down. We ordered three covers, and bought some flats and some trifolds from Wal Mart or Target and began our journey.
I was given one main website to look at. I'll pass them on here: http://www.cottonbabies.com/
CottonBabies.com is one of the most well known stores for getting cloth diapers and cloth diapering supplies, and things of that ilk. Another great one is http://www.diapers.com/ who carries both cloth diapering and disposable diapering supplies along with a ton of other things.
In my looking at Cotton Babies, and talking with my sister, I kept coming across this one thing brand I liked - BumGenius. But they were expensive! 18 dollars a diaper! We found one BumGenius diaper at Target - someone had returned it there from an online purchase - and we grabbed it.
And, angels could have sung. the Bum Genius is a pocket diaper. So the cover is attacked to the lining. At the top of the diaper there is an opening for you to slide the provided absorbent core into it. The core is made from microfleece that is so absorbent that if the baby is little, (not a toddler) it wicks the urine away so quickly, that the lining of the diaper and the baby's skin remain DRY!
No more trying to lay out the cover, and then trying to lay out the folder diaper, and the lay the baby on top of that. No more.. No more diaper pooching out of the cover. just simple. and so darn cute!
We slowly built our stash of BumGenius diapers. At the same time, I was making cloth diapers, similar tot he bum genius, except they needed a cover. Imagine the diapers that pebbles and Bam Bam wore in the Flintstones, and you'd be pretty close. These were all in one diapers, meaning the absorbent core was sewn into the diaper itself. you put the diaper on like a normal diaper, and then put the wrap cover around it, there you go. Less hassle than the old school cloth diapers, but they still needed a cover.
Finally, we built the stash enough that all we use now are Bum Genius diapers. We use disposable diapers at night or if we travel. But that's it.
There have been no more incidents of rash. and while the start up cost for cloth diapers can be daunting, (typically a bum genius 3.0 cloth diaper - which means it grows with the child, from birth to potty training, One Size fits all) is 18 dollars. I have 14 in the stash. That means we've spent about 252 dollars on diapers BumGenius cloth diapers.
Now I know that's not right because we got some on discount and on sale. (Cotton Babies is great for this). But just think about how much you would be spending for disposable diapers? We easily surpassed that 252 dollar mark in the first couple months our daughter was alive!
Now the laundry question. Really it isn't a question. You put the soiled diapers in a bucket (we call it the diaper pail, and it's about twice the size of a large bucket of ice cream you get at the grocery store). We don't put anything in it. Some people do what is called a Wet Bucket or a Wet Diaper Pail. But then you get a slurry of liquid with your diapers? Eww.
We do a dry bucket. when the baby poops you shake out the stool as best you can, rinse it off (sloshing it around in the toilet) and toss it in the diaper pail.
Washing - Warm/cold Normal cycle. You don't have to use special detergents but you need to be aware that if there are brighteners or softeners in the detergent it will make your cloth diapers less absorbent. So Tide is pretty much out entirely. We use or own home made laundry detergent and it works great.
You can wash these with other things. They don't have cooties. Your pants will not smell like dirty diapers. If you prefer to do only diapers in the load then fine. But they won't contaminate your other clothes.
Dry on a normal cycle.
Ta-Da.
The next step is cloth wipes. Yes. I did just say cloth diaper wipes. I had no idea they existed until I got a complimentary pack in a diaper order. And when I saw them I went, what the heck?
All they are are squares of fabric, like a softer canvas? Almost a twill, like a khaki fabric - with a tight hem around them. And that's it.
So I went and made my own. I took flannel squares the size of large wash cloths and sewed them together two ply. Now of course I don't measure, so some of my wipes are larger than others, and I had to figure out how to make the zig zag stitch on my sewing machine work, but that's it.
Now what about the solution?
To quote my niece - Easy Peezey, Lemon Squeezey.
Get a squirt bottle, fill it with one part baby wash (Johnsons will work fine. Right now I'm using California Baby baby wash because I don't like at as much and I have to get rid of it) and a couple drops of baby oil, and the rest with water. screw on the lid, and there you go. Leave the squirt bottle out at room temperature so the fluid won't be "cold."
When you go to use a wipe, get the wipe, either squirt the child's bottom, or squirt the wipe in your hand, and there you go.
I found the biggest thing when it comes to using cloth wipes, is you can't be afraid of them. You can't be afraid of the poop. This is why I advocate using larger, or making larger cloth wipes, that way your hand is well covered.
Toss the cloth wipe in your diaper pail, and wash with your diapers. (Make sure you open up the cloth wipes and shake out any poop that maybe in it)
Like I said, I never thought I'd be a cloth diapering mom. heck I live where the world's largest Procter and Gamble plant is located. I've worked on the lines making Pampers, and to this day I can recognize the perfumes from Pampers a mile a way.
But I found a better way for my family when it comes to this. A way that's better for our daughter, a way that's better for our wallet, and a way that's better for the environment. When we used to have a full bag and half of dirty diapers out of our Diaper Champ, we now only ever have maybe a quarter of a bag, because we only use the disposables at night.
There are numerous cloth diapers. There's the BumGenius. There's the G Diaper (which answers the argument of "well you have to wash all the diapers right? and that costs money. The G diaper has a compostable, yes compostable absorbent core. It composts for your garden in I think one hundred days. If you don't want to compost, it is also flushable. Yes, flushable. totally safe.)
My point is, don't be afraid to try something new. You might just love it.
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