Cloth Diapers?

[Loves Vintage]

Soooooooo, all of my FBs are repelling water! I used the recommendation I posted above and cleaned with oxiclean, and they are still repelling water. I did a little more research, and it appears my problem is our water!!! We have a well, which is apparently hard water. I will try Calgon water softener next. If that doesn't work, I don't know what we are going to do! Anyone else have well water and successfully CD? I think we did not have this problem with the kissaluvs because those are all cotton vs. fleece?

 

[Puppmom]

Charbie, I just saw your post! Glad I could help. I hope DH comes around!

LV, no hard water here but I've heard great things about Rockin Green soap. I read that it eliminates the need for softeners.

 

[phoenixgirl]

LV, I don't have a well, so I don't know if this will help. But I do have hard water and I do use FuzziBunz. I also have a front-loader HE washer. I've found that I have to do the following:

1. add a towel to the load (this applies to front-loaders only)
2. run a heavy duty cycle plus extra rinse on cold (75 min)
3. add detergent (Rockin Green), run a heavy duty cycle plus extra rinse on hot (75 min)
4. run a quick cycle on hot (40 min)

So basically I'm washing them for hours and hours. But if I do anything differently, like skip the last cycle, then they repel.

 

[Loves Vintage]

Puppmom, Thanks. I actually do use RG. It looks like our water may be the issue. Who knew laundry could be so complicated, right?

PG, Thank you! That is actually tremendously helpful. It seems the hot water is the key! I had been doing a cold wash with RG (because they weren't coming cleaning if I did a cold wash only, w/o RG, not sure why, since I have read that a cold rinse or cold wash to start should be sufficient), then a hot wash w/rinse, followed by an extra rinse. Both rinses are cold. Does your machine do a hot rinse???

So, I tried the oxiclean, which didn't really work, though I only did it once. They say you should try up to 3 cycles with oxiclean. I tried a hot soak instead with RG and just one scoop of oxiclean, followed by a regular hot wash with baking soda and RG, then 2 cold rinses (my machine does not have a hot rinse option.) They stopped repelling water!!! I decided it was the hot soak that made the difference. I actually forgot about them so they soaked for a long time. Since you do an extra cycle on hot, I'm concluding it's the extra hot cycle or hot soak that will solve the problem. I hope it continues to work.

Do you know what level of hardness your water is? We just had our water tested, and ours is 50 (don't recall what the measurement is) and the max is 200. I have no idea if 50 is even considered hard -- I just assumed we had hard water because I see on other boards that a lot of people have trouble with well water and repelling. I'll have to look into it further at some point.

We did wind up using disposables for a few days, which lead to a diaper rash, which lead to the need for desitin, which is keeping us in disposables for a bit now. I know they have CD safe diaper rash solutions, but I don't have any on hand so I'm just going to use the desitin for now.

 

[Kunzite]

The repelling diaper saga continues! Today I scrubbed all 27 FB by hand with blue Dawn and then ran them through two hot cycles. No go! They still repel. I decided that we would try our new BG for over night tonight so I washed it as well and then decided to test it... and it repels! So then I say, what gives! I pull out a new, never washed, Bluberry out of curiousity thinking that maybe I just expect too much and lo and behold, the water vanished on it in a second. So clearly our problem resides in our wash. I'm going to try RLR to get them clean and then try PGs routine above if the RLR strips them. I'm so down about this, I want to use my pocket diapers so bad!!

 

[SB621]

We tried out our second hand FB last week and we had leaks Does anyone have a tried and true stripping method? We tried running them through four hot cycles and that didn't work. I think we'll try RLR next but I'm curious what works for everyone.

I have heard you should boil them in hot water for 20 minutes.

 

[SB621]

We tried out our second hand FB last week and we had leaks Does anyone have a tried and true stripping method? We tried running them through four hot cycles and that didn't work. I think we'll try RLR next but I'm curious what works for everyone.

I have heard you should boil them in hot water for 20 minutes.

 

[Loves Vintage]

Kunzite, Did the RLR work? I wonder if you have hard water too.

*************

I think I'm ready to give up on my FuzziBunz, and I'm going to look for pockets that have a cotton layer closest to baby. I saw some on ebay with a flannel layer closest to baby, but not sure how these will work. Will they draw moisture away from baby just like the FB fleece layer does?

 

[Puppmom]

LV, would the BG suede cloth work? I found that the customer service reps at a lot of the cloth diaper outlets (jillian's drawers in particular) are VERY helpful so they may be able to point you in the right direction. The woman from JD spent 30 minutes on the phone with me TWICE.

 

[Loves Vintage]

Puppmom,

That's a great question! I don't know. I think it has to be cotton-based, and I don't know if the suede-cloth are. Fleece is synthetic, so the hard water causes a build-up. I think that's what's happening. GREAT IDEA to call Jillian's Drawers. I'll do that today. I joined a CD forum to ask about this and learned that RG makes a hard water soap called Hard Rock. http://rockingreensoap.3dcartstores.com/Hard-Rock-20-4590-Loads_p_9.html I had no idea, maybe that will work for the FBs. Something else for me to look into. I have to say, I am quite surprised by the disposables that I've been using! I am dealing with huge messes all.the.time! It's insane!! I had none of these problems with the cloth, that is, when they weren't repelling! Maybe I'm not making them tight enough? I've got both pampers and huggies. Blech!

 

[phoenixgirl]

I do use the Hard Rock Rockin Green. I used to also add OxyClean, but I don't any more because it didn't seem to be doing anything.

I'm not sure about the actual level of hardness of my water. I just know it's hard because it stains the shower curtain and humidifier filters with this orange tinge (which gets crusty on the filters), and I read that is caused by hard water.

 

[emilyalyse]

I'll jump into the conversation!

We just had our son on the 28th of February, and we've been using cloth diapers ever since we came home from the hospital (with disposables only being used for longer jaunts out of the house, etc.). We LOVE THEM.

We weren't at all sure what type/brand was going to be our favorite, so we got a little of everything to start with. CraigsList allowed us to find some wonderful all-in-ones, etc., and Green Mountain Diapers (online) was our resource for a majority of the rest. We ended up with a bunch of pre-folds, inserts, flat-folds, a few all-in-ones, etc.

I can easily say that my favorites so far are the combination of a fitted pre-fold (closed with a snappi) or a flat-fold done origami style with a cover (Bummi's and FuzziBunz are my favorites). I *always* use a liner. Especially with breast-fed poops, they're amazing, and mean that I don't have to rinse the diapers. Just toss 'em in a pail until I do the load of laundry.

I do a load of just diapers at least every other day (ended up getting a portable washing machine just for them), but more often, I've been running a load every night or afternoon (to let them air-dry through the night), which works out well for us. "Heavy" load, let it agitate a few minutes, soak them a good 20 minutes, and then let the load run its course (all-told, takes about an hour). When it's sunny out (it hasn't been lately), I'll let 'em dry in the sun (does a great job of bleaching!), but for the most part, they've been air-drying in house b/c of the rain/crappy weather we've been having.

I'm absolutely LOVING using cloth. Even my husband says he likes them a lot (and he was extremely diaper-squeamish to start off).

 

[Loves Vintage]

Emilayse - Congrats on your son! You should jump in on the newborn thread above too! We like pictures too!! Glad to hear cloth is working so well for you.

*****

Re: my FuzziBunz dilemma, I spoke with someone at Jillian's Drawers and she suggested I try RLR before giving up on them entirely. She explained that I will need to make the RLR part of my regular wash routine, starting with once every two weeks, though she thought I may have to use it more regularly. We'll have to see how it goes.

Puppmom - They are super-nice at JD. She also said the BGs were a cotton blend, so they won't solve the problem either. I would like to try them eventually, though, once I get past this laundry issue! Thanks for trying to help me.

 

[Blenheim]

LV - Silly question - but the first one that an associate asked me when I called a cloth diaper store for similar issues - how do you know that they are repelling? I was just using a turkey baster to drop water on them, and it was beading up, and evidently this means NOTHING. When they are on the baby, the baby puts enough pressure on them that it forces them in somewhat. It's only repelling when it's doing that when ON the baby and subjected to pressure. I have had this happen before. G was wearing just a diaper and standing, and suddenly I saw urine trickling out the leg gusset, shortly after my SIL accidently threw them all in the dryer with a dryer sheet. If they are just leaking, and water is beading up when you just drop it on top, then you may have other issues, like fit. (Who knew? I didn't until I asked them for help!)

 

[charbie]

Just wondering if anyone has experience with gdiapers? They have a "disposable" option that I think may help as I get DH on board, but not sure how people like them.

 

[Kunzite]

LV - the RLR project is on for this weekend, I'll let you know how it goes! I think we'll also call the water department to see if the can tell us if our water is hard. I also noticed in my quest to solve this problem that the water in our washer doesn't get very hot, so I'm wondering if that could be an issue too. Our washer heats the water so turning up the water heater wouldn't help. HMMM!

Blen - I'm so interested by your post!! We knew our FB were first repelling because we had leg leaks and the insert wasn't wet at all, but after all of my efforts to strip the diapers I've been using the water dropping method that you mention to test them. So how should I be checking if they're still repelling? Try them on O after every effort? That would explain why the brand new BG looked like it was repelling... maybe it just needed some pressure!

 

[Blenheim]

Kunzite - per the associate I talked to, the only way to definitively check for repelling is to check for leaking while on the baby, with dry inserts. So you def had repelling at first, but I would check this way again before you start to tear your hair out from all of the stripping efforts!

 

[swimmer]

Charbie, we use g-diapers when out and about (DH was not up to dealing with wetbags out and about). I use an older version of the disposable inserts but they are great for absorbing, I just don't like how when they are full the adhesive stuff sticks to the cover...the residue is sort of like rubber cement remains, so it comes off, but sort of annoying. Anyway, that was the older version and I hear that the newer version improved on that tremendously, I just got a great deal on the older version so stocked up. They have great gussets, hold a ton of pee, and the covers are excellent all around. I use them over nighttime cloth diapers all the time. Good luck getting him on board.

 

[Loves Vintage]

Blenheim - You're brilliant! Thank you! I think you may be right! I was using a similar water drop method, saw the water bead up and then slide around, not absorbing in. I've gone in a snap on the second snaps, and our problem appears to be solved!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Puppmom]

LV,

Charbie, we use Gdiapers. They're our spares and I keep them in the diaper bag for MIL when she's out. When I go out, I use a wet bag and a FB or BG. I like the Gdiapers and don't have the problems Swimmer mentioned because I use the newer version of the insert. There are a few things that make me prefer full on cloth to these - first, with a BF baby, their poop gets EVERYWHERE so you have to wash the liners almost every time they poop. For us - that was like 6-8 times a day! If I'm going to do wash, I figured I may as well wash the whole diaper. Second, N is a big boy so I would have had to buy Mediums then Larges. When he grows out of the Mediums, we probably won't replace them. Last, they're more expensive than plain old disposables unless you get a total steal. BUT - they are so dang cute and you can get a darn near perfect fit. We never had a leak with Gs either.

 

[Blenheim]

LV - Hooray!!!! I'm so glad to hear that it seems like they're working fine again.

 

[Puppmom]

We installed our diaper sprayer this weekend and I am in love!

 

[sctsbride09]

Hi Mommas! Have any of you used Wonderoos brand AIOs? There is a great deal on craigslist that Im wondering if I should grab, I dont have a baby yet, but I would like to get them to stock up if it is worth it. Thank you in advance.

 

[Kunzite]

Fingers crossed, but it looks like the RLR did the trick! We've only used the FB a few times over the last few days but I think the one small leak we did have was from fit. Even though O is 12 pounds and I have them snapped all the way in there's a little gap. We've been using Blueberries for night and really like them too.

 

[basil]

Hi!

I've read this thread like 4 times and I'm finally starting to get an idea of what "AIOs" and "FBs" are

I would like to try cloth diapering but I'm hesitant because DH is really not on board because it's "gross". I can't seem to get past that mental block of his. But my cousin is giving us 15 Bumgenius diapers for free so I said we should really try it out cause it would be so much cheaper. Cheaper is usually an argument that works with him

Before the baby is born, what else should I get? I am not completely opposed to using some disposables for the first few weeks, so I don't think I need a complete supply all at once. I was thinking if I got the 15 above, I could get some prefolds - since if we don't stick with it we could always use for burp cloths, rags, etc. down the road (my mom STILL uses MY cloth diapers as dust rags). How many do you think is a good trial supply? And how many and what type of covers would be best?

I also might get some GDiapers cause DH def likes the idea of throwing the insert down the toilet. So maybe he can do GDiapers and I can do cloth?

ETA: Maybe if I got this sampler pack http://www.jilliansdrawers.com/products/clothdiapers/diapercovers/diapercoversampler and some prefolds, do you think that would be enough?

 

[Puppmom]

BGs for $15.25 here!

http://www.happycottontails.com/index.php?option=com_virtuemart&page=shop.browse&category_id=38&Itemid=58

 

[Blenheim]

Basil - Have you looked at the Flip diapers? They're made by Bum Genius and my understanding is that they are basically like G Diapers (not as familiar with G Diapers), but that you can get both reusable inserts and disposable inserts. So if he really likes the idea of throwing them away, then he can use the disposable but you could still have that reusable option.

Prefolds are great as burp rags and as changing pads when you are out and about, and I don't think it would hurt at all to get some of them. Newborns will go through about 12 diapers a day. So if you will do laundry every 2 days, I'd figure 24 diapers plus a few for wiggle room. The 15 BG would definitely be included in that. We had I think 6-8 covers, but used exclusively prefolds when he was little and did diaper laundry every 2-3 days (with 36 prefolds), and so maybe something like your 15 BG, 12-14 prefolds and 3-4 covers. Or maybe mix some of the G Diaper or Flip ones in there too. Then if you decide that you'd like to be able to stretch diaper laundry a little bit further, you can get some extras then.

I love Thirsties for covers. The leg gussets really help to hold stuff in, they work equally as well on my skinny baby and on my friend's chubby baby, and they come in pretty colors. Proraps are super cheap and work reasonably well. You may also be able to use the G Diaper or Flip covers with prefolds - not sure on this one.

I still use my diapers that my mom got as hand-me-downs when she was pregnant with me as dust rags... Heehee.

Kunzite - glad to hear that it worked out!!

 

[basil]

Thanks Bleinheim!

Do you think the bumgenius will fit ok on an average sized newborn? I don't have them yet but some of the pictures they look kind of large?

I'll look into the Flips...that would be awesome if I could use them with prefolds too. That would save me having to buy a bunch of different covers, since the covers seem to be the expensive part anyway.

 

[Blenheim]

George was 7 lb 15 oz at birth, and I think average is something like 7.5 lbs? The BumGenius fit him from birth, but we mostly had him in prefolds and Thirsties covers for a while as I just liked the fit more. The BG had a little bit of a gap around the leg, and while I don't remember ever having a blow-out with them, I was just nervous about poo leaking out the sides. The Thirsties, on the other hand, seemed to leave no gaps for things to ooze out of. And the only time that we have EVER had poo containment issues with Thirsties was when we needed to move up a size.

These photos are both from 6 days old, so that you can see what I am talking about. They're usually at their lowest weight sometime just before or around a week, if I remember correctly, and then they want them back up to their birth weight by two weeks? Maybe? So I'd think he was probably at his smallest around here. And pants and sleepers did fit on him, but we were super lazy and found that BabyLegs removed one step of the diaper change process. He is not in them because his bum was too fluffy for regular clothes, or anything like that.

ETA - Sorry the second one is so big!

 

[basil]

Thanks! Those pics are awesome and adorable!

I placed an order at little lion since they were having a sale...I got a dozen infant prefolds and a dozen the next size up. I got 2 bummis NB covers and I think I'll eventually get a few Flip covers too. I also got carried away and ordered a dozen fitted diapers..so I think I am set now!

Did you ever try Thirsty Duos covers? They seem like they are more adjustable so would fit longer...but still can go pretty small for a newborn.