Cloth Diapers?

[vintagelover229]

Just a fly by post since I just got my diapers in-these are all kawaii (but if anyone is interested I'm in a coop and they do sunbabies and a ton of other mom/baby products like glass water bottles-milkies/etc) and they are bamboo/micorfiber/new born and organic cotton prefolds with covers (under all the diapers lol).


Here is my "stash" I'll get more after the baby is born and we see what/where we need. I got a ton of diapers-total for about 250.00-and that includes 20 organic cotton prefolds-w probably 8 covers-and then I got 5 new born bamboo ones-8 of the 8-35lb bamboo ones-good night heavy wetters (the cow prints and a few others) so many I haven't counted there. There are a good 40 diapers there though-prefolds included (I think.)


I plan on making my own cloth wipes (if anyone needs directions I have links saved) and also my own liners (same thing-basic sewing which I have none of but I know I can figure it out) and wipe solution.

I bought biokleen bac-out enzyme remover to spray on the diapers (prevents staining/build up and bacteria growth so they don't smell) and I'm using soap nuts (same thing as eco nuts) on all the diapers (I've been using them for our laundry for quite some time now-and they work AWESOME) and plan on line drying the diapers when I can-and using an indoor line hanger in front of the wood stove in the winter time and if they need softened I'll throw them in the dryer for a few minutes.

Here they are! My husbands fav. are the dutch orange ones-the cow print and the jean print ones. He was wondering why I was fussing over diapers for months and when my dad brought them up he said a few different times (they are in the cradle right now) as much as I hate to admit it those diapers are SO stinking CUTE.

I still need to prep them-I plan on separating the different materials and boiling them after we have the crib and everything all set up. I just have no room to put them anywhere right now.

 

[pancake]

LC - the BBH night nappies are going well at the moment! They are quite bulky and I am having to use a medium Thirsties cover over the top (the small is almost perfect but I had a leak up the back the first time I used it so upsized). I'd like to use a wool Disana cover (the velcro one, not the pantaloon soaker, although we have that as well) but the combo is just too bulky, given that S wears a bodysuit and jumpsuit to bed.

I think I am going to have to get a couple more BBHs though... I have been rotating them with Flips (with a Flip trifold organic cotton insert plus an Applecheeks microfibre/fleece insert on top) and we had a leak through that combo for the first time the other night. I guess I know that S is getting enough milk though!!!

BlondeBunny - I use "regular" laundry powder for clothes (I don't separate baby clothes from big person clothes) and a low-residue, "eco-friendly" powder for the nappies. I use much more detergent for regular loads than for nappies, plus each time I do a nappy load, it goes through 3 cycles (rinse, wash, rinse) whereas clothes only go through one.

 

[phoenixgirl]

Detergent - I just use Tide (ultra powder HE). I used Rockin' Green and I used to have stains that took several cycles to come out, needed sunning, etc. If I got poop on my own clothes I'd use a fair amount of normal detergent, so I don't see why we treat diapers differently. If you have detergent build-up, you just need to do some extra rinses without detergent. But most problems are actually caused by ammonia build-up because you didn't use enough detergent, or strong enough detergent. My diapers never have stains any more. Oh, also I use Calgon for my hard water.

 

[lliang_chi]

My diapers (pockets) don't have any stains but is it totally ghetto of me that the inserts are stained (Ethan had prunes that day) and I don't give two squirts?

So, Ethan's started solids and his poops are more, well, solid now. They can plop off the diaper and be flushed down the toilet. I think it's time for a diaper sprayer.

Oh and just wanted ot share a story. We went away for the weekend last weekend. i wanted to do all the diaper laundry before we left. DH was totally lazy and said, just leave it we'll be back on Sunday (it was Friday) and we'll do it then. I did almost all of the soiled diapers except for one wet diaper that got left in the pail. Holy hotcakes the pail stank when we got back! I had to spray the pail down with Febreeze etc. Yeah thanks DH.....

 

[Kunzite]

Yuck, LC! We wash O's diapers every 3 days but I run them through a rise every night (so the same day) because I'm OCD about stink. Oh and funny story about inserts... I just found out a few weeks ago that DH rinses AND wrings out the insert when he sprays poo diapers!! Good for him I guess. When I questioned him (with a horrified look!!) he had something like a good reason (maybe OCD as well!) but I don't remember what he said for the life of me. I won't be doing that!!

 

[megumic]

Now that baby boy is here, we've slowly been integrating cloth diapes! So far it has been easy, with the exception that Callan has a terrible diaper rash/sores on his bum. I think it's from all of the newborn BMs that happen. We try to change him right away, air out, use cream, but nothing is working! Any suggestions? I've tried California Baby diaper cream, Earth Mama Angel Baby bottom balm and another, but my mom insisted I use Desitin which I know can cause repelling so I gave in and used Desitin with a sposie.

Any other ideas???

In the meantime, here's Cal's first cloth bottom!

 

[indecisive]

megumic- So cute!! Did the Desitin work? If it did you can use it with cloth diapers if you use a fleece liner. You do have to wash the liners separately though. They even say you can just get fleece remnants or cut up a fleece blanket to the right size. This is just what I have heard but I hope it helps!

phoenixgirl- I just went to a cloth diaper class and that is the exact advice they gave for detergent and washing. I guess I will have to try out Tide Ultra powder.

 

[lliang_chi]

Meg, Aw cutie pie!!!!! Ethan had a very stubborn diaper rash as well. We switched him to cloth. I used BalmX (zinc ox diaper cream) with fleece liners as Indecisive suggested. It took a LOOOONG time for his little tush to loose the pink-iness.

But aside from the diaper cream, I also would soak his little bum in warm warm after every BM and clean him off that way instead of using wipes. I think it helped his tushy feel better too. Then he'd hang out for 5 mins or so to air out, then diaper cream with fleece liner.

Also for one nap here and there, I'd let him nap with no diaper on, just towels/pad/prefolds underneath him to soak any messes. This was usually on days i was going to bathe him anyway. I think it took almost 2-3 wks for the rash to completely disappear maybe because his rash was pretty bad; it had little red flecks/pock-marked broken skin.

Fortunately since then (touch wood) haven't had any repeat rashes.

To keep in mind though, Ethan ended up getting pretty bad eczema on his legs because of all the warm water soaks he was doing for days on end. I got shea/cocoa butter that I rubbed on his legs after every soak (part of his 5 min air time) and the eczema eventually went away. DH doesn't like this "weirdo crunchy granola" remedies, so I also bought Aveeno Baby Eczema CREME (make sure it says cream or ointment, not lotion) that he used. You need something pretty thick and slather it on. But this also could've been exacerbated by when Ethan was born (Feb, so winter = dry GFA heat in the house).

 

[Loves Vintage]

Finally was able to order my tots bots in London and Jubilee. These have been unavailable for months! Thanks to mom's milk boutique. I had these on a notify me if available list, so did not have to engage in CD stalking, which I refuse to do!

The elastic on two of my tots bots is shot. Sad face. But, I guess it's good that I have two more on the way. All of my tots bots get washed pretty much every other day, so they have seen a lot of use! Can't complain.

Re: diaper cream. I've used desitin with disposables. It usually clears up a rash in one or two applications, and I used it sparingly when I did.

On another note, I ordered a new baby wash and sunscreen -- Episencial. Anyone know the database for looking these up in terms of safety? Or, YD, are you around?? I just ordered this brand because MMB sells it.

 

[pancake]

This thread is so great for the information bank - S hasn't had a rash yet (touch wood!) but I feel like I would know what to do now if she did. Our creams etc are different over here but I'm sure the principles are the same!

Meg - Callan and his cloth bum are ADORABLE! What nappy is that? It looks super-trim for a newborn nappy!

I have been having issues with wee smells these last few weeks. I think it's partly because S is on solids, partly we have a front loader and I haven't been doing any of the tricks to increase the water level (wet towel, etc), but even more because it's winter here and I haven't been able to dry the nappies on the line outside. I ended up trying a few things, but what worked was a) boiling inserts, and b) soaking inserts (microfibre and cotton) in dilute bleach. I know, I know, bleach is meant to be bad - but it worked really well! Then I just did a few extra rinses to make sure there was nothing left on the inserts, and they were fresh as daisies! I didn't bleach the ones that I boiled, and they came up well as well except that they became a little misshapen.

Also, I have started adding a little Canesten (anti-fungal/anti-bacterial) to the final rinse on the wash cycle (before my extra rinse).

S is now 6 1/2 months old and I've retired her medium Bambooty AIOs. She's now rotating through a large stash of pockets - BG 4.0, Charlie Banana, Fuzzibunz (I bought a couple of these to try but while I love the fit, I HATE how hard they are to stuff and much prefer the CBs for this reason!) and Softbums. At night she's now always in Baby Beehinds night fitteds with a Thirsties cover. I wanted to use my wool covers but they're just too bulky under clothes, so I'll switch to those once the weather gets a bit warmer and she doesn't need to be in a growsuit overnight.

 

[megumic]

Thanks everyone for the tips! The Desitin actually didn't work BUT Weleda Calendula diaper care did work AND it's safe for cloth. (Well, according to Jillian's Drawers it is, but it can also depend on the type of diapes and whether your water is hard/soft.)

LC we tried letting him go pants off party, but he pooped and peed on both of us on separate occasions so we decided that was not the best route! If I wasn't so nervous to bathe him alone, I'd def be soaking his tush more but I'm too scared to do it when DH is at work! Thankfully the rash is clearing up now - appreciate your advice

pancake, the moo diaper is a Blueberry mini coverall. It is a pocket, but we usually just use it as a cover. I have mostly swaddlebees diapes and the littler sizes have worked out well for Cal so far and he is btw 8 and 9 lbs at the moment.

 

[lliang_chi]

Meg, I'm glad that the rash is clearing up. Re: being nervous about bathing, maybe use those hospital basins (not sure if you snagged one).

Pancake, glad you're able to get rid of your ammonia smells. We honestly rarely line dry Ethan's diapers, but I find doing extra rinses before and after help a ton. Instead of doing a rinse-wash-rinse, I do 3 straight up wash cycles cold wash-hot wash-cold wash, with the first and last with no soap.

 

[pancake]

Meg - that's great that the rash is clearing up!

LC - thanks for the tips, I think I will do a long warm wash cycle with no detergent as the final rinse from now on. While we were on holiday last week, we had a top-loader machine in our apartment, and there were no smells then either, so I think it is just a volume of/exposure to water thing. The weather here is looking like it's finally getting fine again, so I need to get back into the habit of doing our nappy washes in the evening (and put the final rinse on before I go to bed) so that I can hang them out in the mornings! At the moment I'm missing the boat because I put them on in the morning, and with the length of time that our front-loader takes, it's the afternoon by the time I can hang them out.

 

[megumic]

Question...

We use prefolds and covers. When C poops, if it's a bigger poop it always seems to get on the edges of the cover as well. Is there a prefold folding technique to prevent that from happening, or is this just the nature of prefolds and covers? It is such a mess to clean up and turns a poopy diaper into a complete blow out because it gets everywhere! TIA

 

[indecisive]

Just wanted to share- BG Freetimes are buy 5 get one free.

http://www.abbyslane.com/Bumgenius-Freetime-Buy-5Get-one-free_p_620.html

 

[lliang_chi]

Meg, TBH the same thing happened with us. I just accepted that we'll always be dealing with that and didn't sweat that the poop got on his covers every now and then. As he gets older, he won't be pooping as much, or maybe we just get better at changing diapers.

 

[lliang_chi]

To clarify: We had a bunch of extra covers, so even if poop got on one cover, there were still a few others that were usable. Also we let the covers "air out" for a little while after a pee diaper. Not sure if it made a difference or not, but to me the PUL seemed a little damp with urine, so I let it air out and dry. Every time the cover got poop on it, I'd wash it. So the covers were washed probably close to every other day or something like that.

 

[Puppmom]

Long time no post here. I wanted to let you ladies know I've order some Alva baby diapers. I needed to bulk up my stash since the Fuzzibunz are getting a bit small and I hate the rush to do wash on daycare days. I feel a little guilty about ordering the cheapy international diapers but I really can't justify another $100 on a few diapers. I'm hoping they work well because we'll soon have two in diapers!

I think Bella uses and likes Sunbabies and I've heard the Alvas are comparable. We shall see!

 

[megumic]

Meg, TBH the same thing happened with us. I just accepted that we'll always be dealing with that and didn't sweat that the poop got on his covers every now and then. As he gets older, he won't be pooping as much, or maybe we just get better at changing diapers.

Haha, thanks! Just wnated to be sure I wasn't doing something wrong! So far I've found cloth diapering pretty easy. Haven't had any washing or repelling issues, which I think makes a huge difference as well. My fave covers are by far Thirsties and I also like the Flips because they fit well. And FWIW, we ran out of prefolds the other night so I put C to bed with a sposie, and lo and behold it leaked. The first leak ever -- and it was a sposie. Makes me feel solidified that cloth are the way to go for our family!

 

[lliang_chi]

I very rarely get leaks with the cloth. In the very beginning we did because we didn't point E's penis down into the diaper, so the urine would leak from the top. I've only had ONE poo leak and that was when he was too small for the kissaluv AIOs. Now that he's going longer between changes @ night, we do get leaks (urine) overnight depending on which diaper we used, etc. Daycare on the other hand... I've just accepted that they're going to do stuff the way they do it, and not going to get worked up over it. Sometimes I bring him home and his diaper is practically falling off. Dude, it's NOT that hard!

 

[yellowducky]

Finally was able to order my tots bots in London and Jubilee. These have been unavailable for months! Thanks to mom's milk boutique. I had these on a notify me if available list, so did not have to engage in CD stalking, which I refuse to do!

The elastic on two of my tots bots is shot. Sad face. But, I guess it's good that I have two more on the way. All of my tots bots get washed pretty much every other day, so they have seen a lot of use! Can't complain.

Re: diaper cream. I've used desitin with disposables. It usually clears up a rash in one or two applications, and I used it sparingly when I did.

On another note, I ordered a new baby wash and sunscreen -- Episencial. Anyone know the database for looking these up in terms of safety? Or, YD, are you around?? I just ordered this brand because MMB sells it.

Hi LV! That brand looks pretty good to me! Hope all is well!

 

[mayerling]

Does anyone else have leaks with Happy Heinys? Every time I've used them N has leaked through them...

 

[lliang_chi]

Mayer, I used to have leak issues with HH's but when I started double stuffing them, it got better. I still consider it a "day time" diaper.

 

[mayerling]

Well, I double-stuffed them and N was in them for less than two hours when he leaked through them. Definitely not my favorite...

 

[megumic]

Hi CD ladies. Hope everyone is doing great.

Wanted to ask if anyone else had a Bum Genius diaper sprayer crap out on them. The button on ours began to stick on, and now no water comes into the sprayer at all! I am super bummed and will be calling the 1800 number today, but wanted to see if others had a negative experience with the BG sprayer.

Also, does anyone have another type of sprayer? We have been struggling with cleaning poop diapes since the sprayer broke, so unless BG replaces it for free, we'll be in the market for a new one.

 

[Puppmom]

Meg, oh no! We have a BG sprayer and have for almost two years now with no trouble. BG customer service has been great in my experience so I hope they replace it for free.

From what I've heard, a lot of the sprayers have the same originating manufacturer.

Good luck!

 

[missrachelk]

Hi Mamas!

Laundry question from a newbie waiting for baby to come. I've got some prefolds from GMD and was reading over their pamphlet of instructions. They say not to store covers in the same pail with dirty diapers, and if possible not to wash them together. I think that's not what most people do in reality - am I right??

I'm also wondering about mixed types of diapers and wash temps. I have the prefolds and covers, gdiapers (some gcloth and will use the prefolds otherwise) fitteds like kissaluvs and hemp fitteds, as well as grovia hybrids. The prefolds seem to call for cold-hot-cold, but the grovias in particular say not to use hot, only cold- warm - cold. Would hot washes damage covers / pail liners / the liners of gdiapers to anyone's knowledge? The grovia inserts have a waterproof backing, that's what I'm assuming makes them call for no hot washes.

What do you do for mixed types of diapers? was on the cold first cycle then separate, or keep in seperate bins? Or just wash them all together, even with some hot washes thrown in the mix? I did read one tutorial on gdiapers about using a mesh lingerie bag tucked into the pail for the liners, so those can be washed with the rest but fished out easily as they don't go in the dryer. I'm wondering if a split pail (kind of like a recycling setup) would also be good if some diapers would do better by themselves (ie the grovia, then the rest could still be washed on hot)

thanks for any tips!

 

[megumic]

missrachel, I store my covers and prefolds in the same pail liner and wash everything together. Because I think it matters, we use a diaper sprayer for poops and bac-out on most diapes. I wash everything together and do a regular wash warm with extra water (HE washer) with Charlie's soap and oxyclean. Then I do a rinse and spin. My diapes come out stain free and stink free. I can only speak for covers and prefolds and bumgenius pockets because that's all we have. I think cloth diapes require convenience since they can be a hassle already, so I say do what is easy that will also keep the diapes ship shape.

Pupp, BG had a 1800 number for the sprayer and the anti-leak drip gasket had broken. They are sending a new one that I can install myself. So thrilled we don't have to buy a new one and the issue is easily resolvable!

Everyone keeps asking how the cloth diapes are going now that Cal is 7 weeks old, and I am always so so so excited to tell them it is a piece o cake! Honestly, we haven't had one major issue with cloth diapes and we love it so far!

 

[missrachelk]

thanks meg. I think keeping / washing them all together should be just fine.

This may seem like another dumb question - when you spray off the diaper, you wring it out, then put it into the pail? It doens't go in there sopping wet, right? And if bac-out is in the mix you spray that after using the diaper sprayer to get the poo off? The bac-out prevents stains and cuts down on odor in the pail (any other benefits?) I almost got some the other day but figured I'd make sure we 'need it' first.

 

[megumic]

We put ours in sopping wet...I'd be interested in what others do. I actually think the extra water helps keep them clean and helps weigh down the front-loading washer to put in more water. My basic understanding is that the more water in a wash of diapers, the better.

And yes, 1. spray out poops 2. spray on bac-out 3. toss in pail.

I don't think you *need* the bac-out, but I do think it helps. We've used it all along so I have nothing to compare it to, but my friend doesn't use a sprayer and doesn't use bac-out and she has stains.