Clothing Diapering Updates

I hit the jack pot this month with a few good finds/solutions.

1. Charlie's Soap: I had read about it but I hadn't actually tried it... and then I did AMAZING. It takes out stains and it washes the diapers really well. I went back to my usual 2 cycle rinse and we have had no diaper rashes. Score! I love it so much I want to use it on all of our clothes. *There was nothing wrong with the bumgenius soap we were using, we just ran out so I thought I would try something new.

2. Overnight wetting. We have tried a few things for our heavy wetter: 1. Putting two inserts in the cloth diaper. This actually works really well, it's just really thick to put under PJ's. And then you have to use more inserts/less diapers for the day, etc. 2. Putting two disposable diapers on. This works up to a point. I think if we went up a size, it would probably work better but he was waking up with his jammies soaked every morning. 

Solution: One disposable and put a cloth diaper over it. Genius! It works like a charm. It doesn't make his jammies too snug and he wakes up dry. Jamie likes to say he thought of this... he did not :) 

Clothing diapering is going well. I went back to just the 2 cycle rinse with the Charlie's soap. I rarely hang them outside (because I'm lazy and the Charlie's bleaches them). We use one disposable at night and usually if we are out but that's really because we have a bunch left from vacation. 

If anyone is considering cloth diapering, feel free to talk with me! I would be glad to help... share my mistakes :)

Cloth Diapering Whoops

Baby butt! This is such a hippy picture: cloth diaper and amber necklace :)

Yes, we are still cloth diapering! But of course, I just jumped right into it without really reading up on it so I've made some mistakes.

1. Do not use diaper cream with cloth diapers even if Dr. Google says you can use a little. It ruins them which creates more of a diaper rash. Now that we have most of the food allergies figured out (although occasionally we will still get a diaper rash from food), I started looking into the diapers.. and after researching (googling) I found out that I was creating a diaper rash from:
a. Using diaper cream
b. Using my HE washer to wash cloth diapers

Solution:
1. Strip the diapers (I would google this but basically you add Dawn soap and bleach with an extra rinse)
2. Use disposable diapers with diaper cream to get rid of the rash- VERY IMPORTANT! You might only need to use one disposable and it clears but it beats messing around and making everything worse. We do use disposables at night now and I put some cream on just for maintenance.
3. For HE washers:

• Add a wet towel to the wash
• Do an extra extra cycle (3 cycles)
• Add bleach to one cycle
• Wash less diapers in each load

*I'm still working with this one. I'm pretty consistent on the three cycles right now but I would rather just add a wet towel to the wash. And the second Jackson looks like he might be getting a rash I put bleach in the cycle. 

I will admit I was so ANNOYED that my cloth diapers were causing the rash.. until I figured out that I was causing it. Basically I took a week off messing around trying to figure it all out but now we are good. During that week off I did think wow disposables are so easy and then I though wow what I waste of $$$! hahah I would much rather spend that money on toys or clothes for Jackson! We are getting close to a year and I really think my new goal will be to use them until he is potty trained. I plan on potty training him early.. if possible. Right now we have at least broken even in our cloth diapering investment. Going forward we will be saving more and more with cloth diapering. 

*I should really say if you are working full time, I think cloth diapering would be really hard (time consuming). Now that I am only working two days it's extremely easy. And I started AFTER the newborn stage which I will probably do again with the next one.

Cloth Diapering 103

My update to cloth diapering. Yes we are still at it! We do use disposables when we travel, the beach, and I use on in the morning because it just makes my day a little easier. My goal is until he is at least a year but I would really like to go until he potty trains. Anyways you may come across some issues and they are easy to fix.

Problem: What is that smell?! Ok two months in his diapers starting smelling immediately when he would pee. It was bad. I was annoyed (this was during his teething phase).

Solution: Buy different detergent. We bought the Baby Genius cloth diaper detergent. Haven't had a problem since. My first suggestion would be to bleach them and line dry them outside to make sure that isn't the issue. But switching detergents is a common fix!

Problem: Staining. No one sees the part that does get stained and they are clean they just don't look clean.. so you don't really have to fix this but I'm OCD.

Solution: Line dry outside for 1..maybe 2 days if they are really bad. Problem solved.

How easy is that? And if you researched anything about Earth Day (which was on Monday) you would know that cloth diapering is also AMAZING for the environment.. and your baby :)

Cloth Diapering 102

Now that I have had a couple weeks of practice, I think I have it all figured out.

Line drying. How cute is that wet bag?!

Changing:

• The all in ones- throw directly into the wet bag and your done.
• The inserts you should remove and put them in the bag separately. This can be messy but if you put the diaper in the bag first then pull then insert out it's not as bad.
• Rise dirty diapers, take insert out, throw in bag.

Washing for a front loader:

• Dump everything and throw the wet bag in the washer.
• First cycle- cold, no spinning, extra rise. My washer always says this takes "51" minutes but it's more like 20-30.
• Second cycle- hot, medium spin, extra rise. Put 1/4 of the "normal" amount of soap in. This is where I was getting that wet dog smell- I was putting too much soap in. This usually takes the full hour..at least I think. I have never actually timed it but it takes longer than the first cycle.
• Line dry. I usually put them inside near a window and if it's nice out throw them outside.
• Done!

Once a Month Stripping: I'm not going to lie I was a little annoyed with the thought of this but I did it today and it was nothing.

• Same as before just during your second cycle add 1/4 cup of bleach. That's it. I bought chlorine free organic bleach from Publix. It was nice because it didn't have the bleach smell to it.

How easy is that? I typically wash mine everyday but you don't have too. It's my morning routine really- after breakfast I throw them in and have it all done before going to work. I really have no complaints!

Cloth Diapers

Yep, I did it. I switched to cloth diapers. Say what?! Ok I have a few reasons 1. Jackson was wetting through his diapers at night (because he is sleeping through the night :) ) the thought of paying more money for night time diapers seemed stupid 2. He constantly has a diaper rash which is most likely due to food allergies but hey his skin is so sensitive it could be the diapers....let's eliminate one more possible allergy 3. I started calculating the cost of diapers and about fell out of my chair. We are struggling (as in they said NO) with our insurance covering prescription formula and it is $88 a can. I even researched "relactation" (which apparently is possible but tough and then who knows if I could eliminate enough foods for it to be helpful to Jackson or produce enough for entire day) my thought was if we could at least cut down on diaper costs that would help with formula. 4. It is GREAT for him! Which is originally why I wanted to cloth diaper but I was scared.

So I did my research. Ok not really. On a whim I bought one diaper to try at night. Which doesn't really work because then how do you clean one diaper? So then I did some research. Here is my advice:

1. Buy cloth diapers at least 6 but you will need a lot more if you stick with it. I got ours Here

2. Buy a wet bag this is to place the diapers in after they are used. Wet Bags

3. Buy a sprayer to hook up to your toilet and pay a plumber to install it and you may end up spending $$ on a broken pipe that floods your guest bedroom, leaves you without water, and causing your house to smell from the wet carpet during a party you are throwing. I'm not saying that happened to us... No actually they are easy to install our pipes are just old. Sprayer

4. Figure out how to wash them with your washer. I have a front loader which is not ideal for cloth diapers. I just googled and read a bunch of blogs and so far so good.

5. Buy soap. I'm still using baby ganics.

6. Buy a drying rack. I got mine from target.

Random things I have learned:

1. AIO means all in one diapers. This is great if you don't want to get dirty (you don't have to take the liners out to wash) but it makes the diapers really bulky. I am using these for night time diapers. I think these would be a good idea to leave with your nanny because then you don't have to worry about finding which diapers still have the inserts in them- I would never make our nanny do the dirty work! 

2. Pocket diapers have inserts or what I call liners. These you should remove before washing which is a little gross. I am still figuring out when we should use which liner- thick vs. thin.

3. Snaps vs. velcro- the snaps take a little getting used too but it's not that bad- I mean you snap their onesies all the time same thing. I just ordered some velcro ones to try out. Velcro ones are probably better for daddy who leaves half of his onesies unbuttoned... and always leaves Jackson's pants off. Getting Jackson in pants is like wrestling a bucking bronco, he kicks his feet as fast as he can... you can't catch me!

Realistically cloth diapering is "gross" -er than disposables but I don't mind it- I mean babies are gross anyways at this point to you even flinch when you see poo, spit up, snot? It does take a little more time but I've got a pretty good system going. They are so cute! And you feel great every time you put a little chemical free diaper on your little one's booty! 

Week One of part time cloth diapering: His diaper rash is almost nonexistent! I can't wait to see what full time cloth diapering will bring. I haven't gagged once :) The sprayer is actually pretty cool and easy to use. The laundry I didn't even think twice about. The drying time is nothing. Maybe it's because I have a front loader but it's a half day at the most. I have started putting them in the sun to help with drying and with the "wet" smell. We have terrible water in Florida that makes everything smell which does concern me long term.. but I have noticed the diapers smell a little like you left your towels in the washer too long. I had one little stain but it's gone- this is because I didn't prep the diapers correctly. 

Now I'm waiting on my big order. I need to teach Jamie and the nanny how to cloth diaper- obviously I'm not going to make them spray anything. And we need to try it when we are out and about. Pictures on him in them to come!