Cloth Diapers: Off the Deep End. Into the Rainbow

I have to be honest, I must say that I bought my cloth diapers on a whim because they were really really cute. Not like me at all. After I bought them, I was very willing to hate them and resell them. But alas, these other women weren’t crazy, it is actually easy, affordable, and super amazingly adorable.

As any self respecting Hippie, I looked into cloth diapers, but like many, there were just too many options, I got overwhelmed and quit. I was happy using disposables bought from Sams, and the start up cost didn’t appeal to our rice and beans budget. However, recently, me and my husband became debt free and were allotted each other ‘blow money’ to celebrate. At this time, I met two mothers who cloth diapered. They explained it wasn’t hard and directed me to diaperpin.com. This explained the different types in about a five minuet reading. From there I knew that of the like 7,000 times I would change Søren I was bound to stick him with a diaper pin, so normal pre-folds were out. I hate Velcro with a passion, especially when it comes to washing it, so after some looking I decided on One size Fuzzibunz. The website was easy and informative, then I found a chic who sold them for 13.50/diaper. So I bought 18. That’s 250 bucks. A lot of money. About what I would have spent in 5 months of disposables. There are many many sites dedicated to misconceptions about cloth diapers, but I will tell you a few that surprised me…

-They don’t leak, like at all. I even went for 8 hours (overnight) and he was still ‘holding it together’. He cant make it the full 12 hours unless I put 2 pads in one pocket. (no biggie, they each come with 2 anyways.

-Normal Arm and hammer detergent does the trick. (and you only use 1/4^th the amount you would on a normal load. Per Fuzibunz instructions- that’s 4 times less detergent than I was anticipating)

- I thought you needed to do 2 dryer cycles. But, they are more like swimsuits, after you normal spin cycle, they are very close to dry, and only a few hours of a sunny day to be sweet smellingly dry and soft. Honestly the entire clothes line process (up and down) takes about 2 minuets.

They are so cute- My baby is going to be naked most of the summer, its just how I roll. I know it’s a bad reason, but once you go cloth, disposables look so ugly!

You don’t have to buy brand accessories, I got my waterproof bag to use in my diaper bag at Target, and I use a $1.00 ‘lingerie’ bag from Wal-Mart to store dirty diapers in my laundry area. (needs to be breathable)

POOH Nasty. I Used the disposable-flushable liners and it makes pooh cleanup easy. I spent $20 and how I have 1,000 liners. This will last me about a year. I reconsidered cloth once Søren moved to solid foods and therefore was pooping solids. I have since realized that if I don’t add rice or oats to his food mixtures I get runny pooh, no fun for me or the diapers. This works well because I freeze Søren’s food mixtures and defrosting can sometimes cause a little excess liquid, mixing a little oatmeal makes feeding him easier too! (if baby does have diarrhea, it washes out of the fleece easily. No stains so far, even with bright orange pooh pooh.)

DreOct 29, 2011- What i have learned s6 months in...

So, I want to post a follow up. There are a few things i have learned in the past 8 months that this blog doesn't address. I love my fuzibunz, however, here are a few challenges...
1) the first thing. Oder. Wet diapers smell gross. There was a whole learning process. i used to but them in a bag next to the washer. this sucked. it stunk. I did two things to cure this problem. One is i store wet and dirty diapers in my diaper Jeanie. the lac of OPEN air flow cut back on smell. Then i decided to rinse them out before i put in the diaper Jeanie. Totally took care of all the odor. You do have to figure out how to dispose of your wipes-we use a covered trashcan. Rinsing out the diapers in your bathroom sink is really not a big deal considering you need to wash your hand after anyways.
2. Poop. the poop liners do work well,- however i have heard horror stories of them getting stuck in septic tanks. i also recommend you put a diaper sprayer on your toilet. (about 30 bucks)
3. I did need to strip my diapers because arm and hammer did cause build-up on my fleece diapers- causing a waterproof waxy surface that makes your diaper leak. You can get detergent that wont build-up but it's harder to find. I just used Oxi-clean to strip the diapers- getting them back to their normal absorbancy- about 1 time each month.
4. One more thing is you CANNOT use diaper rash creme with clothe diapers! it will RUIN the fleece. Statistically cloth is supposed to discourage rashes. But when soren gets a fever, it is often accompanied by diaper rash. So it's good to have disposables on hand in case your baby does get a rash.
So i hope that this helps! i love them, I would do it a million times again!

DreJan 14, 2012- what i have learned a year in ....

One more thing. We have completely cured our diaper rash problem by just using a disposable every night with diaper creme every night (it took me a while to figure out this creme is more preventative then prescriptive). If their is any irritation one night with creme and he is completely happy and smooth the next morning. Because he is getting older and sleeps 12 hours- we also put a clothe Diaper on top of the disposable to prevent leaks