Diapering Baby Evan

 

I’ve meant to write a post on cloth diapers, mainly because when I was thinking about using cloth I was always so interested in what other people did.  I didn’t want to write it too soon, when I was still figuring things out, but I feel like I have a good handle on things.  So, there is no better time than now!

Why I Chose Cloth

I am not 100% sure why I chose cloth diapers.  I just new that I always wanted to use cloth if I ever had children.  Part of my decision is based on the chemicals and synthetic fibers that are put in disposable diapers (although I am away you can get chemical-free diapers from places like The Honest Company).  Another reason was because I didn’t want to pollute the environment with even more disposable diapers (although I am aware of the argument that washing cloth diapers uses up a ton of water).  And lastly, cloth diapering is way cheaper than disposable.  Yes, it was a bit pricey at the start-up but it is great not having to buy disposable diapers all the time.  And it will be even greater if we decide to have another child and we can re-use our diapers again.

 

The Diapers

I have a mix of a bunch of diapers.  I wasn’t sure which brand to use and so many people loved and hated different diapers that I had no idea which to go with.  When I had jury duty one of the other jurors said him and his wife loved FuzziBunz.  I had had another friend who used these also, so I figured they must be good.  I had also heard really good things about BumGenius and I had a friend who had used their organic AIOs (All in Ones – meaning, no stuffing liners into diaper pockets).  So, I decided to go with a few of these too.  So, I started building my stash and I registered for both FuzziBunz and BumGenius, just in case other people wanted to buy them for me (at about $20 a diaper, I needed all the help I could get).  The BumGenius come in Velcro and snap but I had heard people complain about the Velcro we stuck with snaps (although I did end up buying one Velcro and it’s fine – but I still like the snaps the best).

In addition to these diapers, my amazing aunt made me a bunch of diapers (the dinosaur diaper in the above picture is one of the ones she made me).  Yes, I said made.  She had found a pattern and her Jo-Ann Fabrics had all the material needed to sew up a few diapers.  I was super excited and hers were very adorable.  She made a selection of both snap and Velcro – both work really well but if I don’t remember to Velcro the diaper back shut, all our cloth wipes get stuck to them in the wash.

I also ended up getting about 8 Lil’ Joey diapers – they are adorable, tiny newborn sized diapers (in the first picture Evan is wearing a Lil’ Joey).  I love them!  My aunt also made newborn-sized diapers for the early days when Evan was too tiny for the regular sized ones (regular-sized were 8lbs to 32lbs or something).  When Evan was a newborn we also used pre-fold diapers with covers.  I didn’t mind these at all but it did take a bit of work to fold the diaper and secure it with the Snappi fastener, and then put the cover on – so hubs was against it.  So, once Evan outgrew the newborn size I didn’t buy more of the pre-folds.

My System

I have a pretty basic system – nothing that comes close to rocket science by any means.  We have two wet bags (to put the dirty diapers in) that hang on the door knob.  I bought two because when one was being washed I didn’t have any place to put the dirty diapers.  I usually wash diapers every day or every other day – it depends on what I’m doing and how low our stash is.  I think I have about 20-25 diapers, but I’m not sure because there are always some in the wash, some in the wet bag, and some drying.

Washing the diapers is pretty simple – I dump the contents of the wet bag (and the bag) into the washing machine and run a rinse cycle on cold.  Then I run a wash/rinse on hot/cold and I put the detergent in.  I usually use Rockin Green detergent but I left it in Vermont so I’ve been using our regular detergent (Honest Company brand) and it is working just fine – no smell or absorbency issues.  I then hang-dry them on our drying rack.  At first I dried them in the dryer but that took too long and I felt like it was a waste of energy.  Now I only use the dryer if I waited too long to wash them and I have no clean diapers.  They all air dry really quickly, even the few AIOs that I have.  Oh, except for the one BumGenius Organic AIO – this one takes a while and it is super stiff if it air dries so I always put it in the dryer when I’m drying other things.  Other than that, drying is never a problem.

Wipes

At first I thought I was going to use regular wipes, but then someone mentioned it’s more convenient to use cloth. And it is.  It’s much easier to throw everything all in the wet bag together rather than find a trash can for the wipe. I just use cheap baby wash cloths and soak them in water and then put them in a wipes warmer. The warmer keeps them moist (and warm – but that is a luxury on Evan’s part). I know some people have a diaper mix that is water with baby wash, but I just use water. It seems to work. And if I get lazy and don’t have a chance to soak and fold the wipes to go in the warmer – they just go in a pile and I use a squirt bottle filled with water to wet Evan’s tush.

Issues

So far I haven’t had too many complaints.  I had problems with the FuzziBunz leaking but someone suggested double stuffing them, so I did that and it seems to have prevented any more leaks.  I also re-adjusted the size just in case they weren’t fitting well.  I haven’t had any stink issues yet – all the diapers come out of the wash smelling clean (some are stained but I figure in the summer I can set them in the sun and that should get most of the stains out).

My one main complaint is the bulkiness of the diapers.  It doesn’t bother me that they are bulky, but it’s really annoying because Evan’s clothes doesn’t fit all the time.  Right now he’s in 3-6 month clothes but sometimes the bottoms are a bit tight pulled over his big, bulky diaper.  It’s not the end of the world but I sure wish there were more tush space in the bottoms of baby pants.  I think I might get some onesie extenders so that his onesies aren’t so tight – maybe that will help.

*****

So, that’s pretty much it.  I don’t regret doing cloth diapers and I’m really enjoying it.  When we are going out we sometimes use disposables (mainly because we have some that people gave us and I don’t want to never use them) because it is nice to throw them away.  However, we did use cloth when we went to my parents’ house – they didn’t mind us washing the diapers in their washing machine.  I think if we went on a vacation that didn’t involve staying at my relatives’ houses we would probably use disposables – I wouldn’t want to have to pay to use the washer/dryer at some hotel or something.  My favorite disposables are Naty by Nature Baby Care Chlorine-Free Diapers.  My friend gave us two packs for my baby shower and I like them a lot.  If we bought disposable diapers, I would definitely buy these.

What type of diapers did/do you use?

If you had a baby – would you use cloth or disposable?