Fluff

Isla's 'fluff'  a.k.a. cloth diapers hanging up to dry for tomorrow.

Fluff

Prepping cloth diapers this morning. Aren't they the cutest, tiniest things you ever saw? I put a fun-size candy bar underneath it for size comparison.

Going Cloth ~ A Year in Review

I have been cloth diapering for a year now and I haven't missed disposables at all. I've used them for long trips in the car, or when someone is babysitting Abric but that's about it. Note: I did leave Abric in cloth at home for a teen babysitter. Of course Abric decided to have a 'nuclear' diaper that night and the poor babysitter had to take care of it. Toxic, I tell you. It is diapers like those that make a diaper sprayer an absolute necessity. Other than that, cloth diapering is really not bad. You have to deal with #1 and #2 with any baby, whether you use cloth or disposables.

How do you wash diapers?

I have finally found the best detergent for cleaning diapers. It is important that you use something that has no enzymes or bleach. These components will reduce the absorbency of your diapers. I had tried using Method, but I will still having an occasional ammonia smell. Charlie's Soap to the rescue! I can get it on amazon.com or on soap.com. I love it so much that I use it for all of my laundry. And a great benefit is that it gets all the 'stink' out of our exercise clothes, too.

How I wash diapers: I push the diapers out of the wetbag into the washing machine. (Never having to touch them while dirty)

One Rinse-only cycle.

Then I put in one scoop of the Charlie's Soap and wash on normal setting. Warm wash, cool rinse. One more rinse cycle, just to make sure all the soap is out. I dry the inserts in the dryer and line dry the covers. Voila. I wash diapers every 2-3 days. It really isn't that much work and it is so fulfilling pulling softy, fluffy diapers out of the dryer.
What kind of diapers do I use?

I started out using gDiapers and Grovia. They are great to use for that transition from disposable to cloth. Now I am really loving flip diapers, thirsties covers with flip inserts, and my recent find: fuzzibunz. (see below)
Fuzzibunz are a pocket diaper, which means that the insert goes inside a pocket in the back of the diaper. The PUL cover is on the outside with soft, fuzzy fleece on the inside.

Thirsties are just a PUL cover and your either put an insert inside (I like the flip insert) or you can use a pre-fold. (See both pictured below.)

First of all, isn't that cover to die for cute?

Prefolds with snappis.

Not yo' Momma's cloth diaper.

(bye bye big safety pins!)

Although I do prefer the rectangular inserts over the prefolds.

Here is the flip insert. Flip also makes disposable inserts, if you want to use them for when you are traveling.

Was it worth it to 'go cloth' this past year? Totally.

Using disposables, calculating $40 x 12 months = $480.

($40 cost included diapers and wipes.)

So far, with experimenting with different cloth diapers, I have spent around $350 over the year.

My washing machine has an energy rating of $19 per year cost to run.

That doesn't account for water used or for when I have used the dryer. So let's just estimate $50 for both. That would equal $419 for the year.

In one year, I have saved $61. Not a huge amount, but savings is savings.

This is when I wished I would have cloth diapered all of my boys. Even cloth diapering Abric from birth to now, would have cost $40 x 33 = $1320. If I times that by 3 more boys, that equals $3960!! I feel like we have been literally throwing our money away over the last 10 years.

I'll get off my soapbox now.

Go ahead and try cloth diapering out.

I triple dog dare you.

Why I love cloth diapers

After 5 months of using cloth diapers, I must say that I am 100% converted. Why did I wait until my 4th baby to just go for it and try them out?

If you are thinking about trying cloth diapers, I do suggest starting with gdiapers, or any other hybrid diaper. (Hybrid meaning you can use a cloth insert or a biodegradable insert.)

You can purchase them from their website, or get the trial pack at amazon.com. I know that some Babies 'R Us may carry some.

I always thought that cloth diapers were going to be so much more work. They do take an extra step during the diaper-changing process, but you soon get used to it. Think of when you started separating your recycling from your garbage. After a while, I bet you stopped thinking about it anymore.

After using the gdiapers, I decided to try the Grovia diapers. I LOVE these!

They are also a hybrid diaper, but I use them with the grovia inserts, the gcloth inserts, or even the gdiaper disposable inserts.

Here are some of my top reasons for loving cloth:

• NO BLOWOUTS! Abric just experienced his first blowout in almost 5 months. We were at the store and he was wearing a disposable. I think I dealt with more poop from that than I do with a spraying a cloth diaper in the commode. (And I do highly recommend getting a diaper sprayer.)
  
  
• SUPER CUTE! You have to admit, seeing a cute, colored pattern on your baby's heiny rather than plastic is much more heart-melting. (Warning: seeing all the cute patterns and colors and wanting to buy them can be addicting!)
• WOULD YOU WANT TO WEAR PAPER/PLASTIC UNDERWEAR? 'Nuff said.
• LESS EXPENSIVE. Although you pay a larger sum upfront, you save much more money in the long run. Try $40 per month X 36 months = lots of moolah.
• ENVIRONMENTALLY FRIENDLIER. It can take up to 500 years for one disposable diaper to decompose.
• DIAPER RASH FREE. All of my kids have sensitive skin and suffered from diaper rash. I had no idea of all the chemicals in 'sposies. Once I switched Abric to cloth, his diaper rash has disappeared. The only time he has gotten diaper rash with cloth is when I have waited waaaaay to long before I change him. You do have to change them about every 2 hours.
• POTTY TRAIN EARLIER. Abric has been peeing on the potty for the last 3 months. He is more aware of when he pees and I am more aware of when he pees. He has even started pooping on the potty. This just amazes me because Harrison and Zane were both 3 years old before they were even interested in potty-training. Abric just turned 2.
• THEY DON'T STINK… not like you think. The #2 goes down the toilet where it belongs instead of sitting in a diaper pail or garbage can. The pee doesn't smell as strong because it doesn't react with the chemicals that are in the disposable diaper. You put the soiled diapers in a wet bag, made of PUL ~ Polyurethane lined fabric. It is water-proof and odor-proof. My favorite is the Kushies on-the-go wetbag.

Now, don't get me wrong, when you do open the wetbag to put the diapers in the washing machine, I would suggest doing it as quickly as possible or you might burn the hair out of your nose.

• FULFILLING. There is something absolutely fulfilling about pulling soft, clean diapers out of the dryer and knowing that they will be soft and comfy against your baby's bottom.

Ironic?

Does anyone else think it is a little ironic (and perhaps a lot funny) that my gDiapers order was shipped from a Mr. Bumgarner?

Diaper Changes (pun intended)

Cloth diapers have evolved a long way from the days when we remember our mothers swishing a long, rectangular piece of cotton fabric in the commode and then putting them into a big, plastic diaper pail with water to soak.

I was first introduced to the 'modern' world of cloth diapering from my friend, Meg, many years ago when Zane was a baby. I was intrigued.

Over the last couple years, my friend, Sheree, renewed my curiosity when she had her first baby and cloth diapered him. There was one thing that I couldn't stop thinking about: cloth diapers are cute! Look at that tiny tushie? Admit it. Cute!
Recently Sheree introduced me to gdiapers. They are a hybrid diaper: the gpant cover is cloth with a nylon snap-on insert. Inside that, what catches the 'mess' is a biodegradable refill, made out of wood pulp. You can flush it, toss it, or even compost it. This hybrid diaper was a great way to test the cloth diaper world. I did flush the poopy ones, but just tossed the wet ones because Andy and I were a little wary about the plumbing system. As long as you followed the directions, there weren't any problems. After one week, I was ready to move to the next level and go for all cloth. See below the little gpant, the snap in nylon liner (with orange snaps), and the cloth insert.
I bought the cloth inserts instead of the biodegradable ones next. It has been almost 2 weeks now and I'm wishing I had started before my 4th kid!
Look how happy Abric is! He loves the feeling of the cloth diapers. They are so soft. The cloth inserts are made of layers of microfleece (for softness) and hemp (for absorbancy). Because it is small, when I change the diaper I just take it out and put it in a wetbag made out of PUL fabric. This bag becomes your diaper pail. Just put the soiled diapers, liners, inserts into the bag to wait until wash day. (You do still need to put the poop in the toilet and rinse out the liner, but it isn't as bad as it sounds. You can get a diaper sprayer.) Once you are ready to wash your diapers, just put them into the washing machine by turning the wetbag inside out. You never have to touch the soiled items. The wetbag gets washed right along with all the diapers. I do a pre-wash, wash, and an extra rinse.

There is something very fulfilling about pulling fresh, clean cloth diapers out of the dryer. No more feeling the dread of "I forgot to pick up diapers at the store!"

One more thing, with cloth diapers you also use cloth wipes. I just use the stash of baby wash cloths we have acquired through the years. I use a solution of water with a few drops of tee tree oil in a water bottle. I spray the wash cloth I am going to use in order to dampen it. When finished, the 'wipe' goes into the wetbag with everything else.

Happy bum=Happy baby

Since switching over, Abric has had no diaper rash and no blowouts. (Blowouts happened practically every other day around here, with my children's effective digestive systems.) Nothing comes down the legs because of the nylon liner inside and nothing comes up the back because of the good fit with the wide, soft elastic. Modern cloth diapers have a better fit than disposables.

Speaking financially, I figured I was paying between $40-50 per month for diapers and wipes. Since my boys usually don't potty train until they are 3 years old, I figured we would spend around $600+ dollars by the time Abric potty trained. (40 x 15 = 600 )

So far I've spent $120 for my supply, which includes diapers, liners, and wetbags. I haven't figured out the water/electricity yet, but I'm figuring that they will just be absorbed into the utility bills. A couple extra loads of laundry won't make that big of a difference.

As an added bonus, Abric has peed in the potty twice since we began cloth diapering: once for me and once for Andy. I think the cloth is not only making him more aware of when he pees, but it is making me more aware of when he pees. We aren't planning on him potty training for a long time, but we wouldn't mind if he decided to do it sooner rather than later!