The Cloth Diaper Post

I've been waiting to post this for a while, but it's taken a bit (3 months after I originally took these pics) to put all the mumbo-jumbo that is cloth diapering for me into words that make sense.

That is why I like writing...I can write, pause to stop & think, no wait, delete what I just wrote, ponder what to replace it with, write again, proofread, decide I don't like what I re-wrote, delete again, oh heck, just save what I have & come back to it later.  See what I mean?  Speaking doesn't allow me this luxury, so I revel in writing.  As Matthew loves to remind me, I am horrible at telling stories & am pretty much a complete scatterbrain when I speak (& this was before I was pregnant & a mommy...Lord, help me).  It's a wonder that I chose teaching as my profession before mommyhood, but oddly enough, I never had this problem when teaching...things just flowed.  Real life is a completely different story.  Despite the fact that I am less than 3 months away from being "30 minus 1" as we refer to birthdays in my family, I am still incredibly insecure when it comes to aspects of myself.  And while I am in my most favorite stage of life & have everything I ever wanted (well, besides more kiddos, but they'll come later), I'm still in my 20's, so self-consciousness abounds.  Is it weird to say that I'm looking forward to my 30's?  From what those who have entered into that decade have shared with me, things slow down & you become more secure in yourself (a definite prayer request for me).  After all, in what other decade does your life have more tumultuous changes than in your 20's?  College, dating, first job (& sometimes more), marriage (for most people), first house & mortgage, kids (for some people)...all that was accomplished in only 8 years for me (& all of them [minus 1st kid] happened for me in the last 6 months of my 22nd year...that was a crazy, busy time).  Okay, your first decade of life has more changes...but that doesn't count (you have someone taking care of you & all your decisions are pretty much made for you).  So, how did I get on this topic?  Uggg, maybe my writing is more similar to my speaking than I thought.

OKAY, CLOTH DIAPERING, LYNSEY...FOCUS!

I was CD'd as a young one until disposables came onto the scene & my mom's baby shower-gifted CD Service ran out.  So (& I totally don't blame her for this AT ALL...have you seen what CDing what like in the early 80's...yuck) naturally, my momma switched to 'sposies, as they're called on my favorite CDing info. site.  If you've just clicked on that link, you are probably completely overwhelmed.  Honestly, when I first saw that message board, I felt like I was viewing a conversation between Matthew & any one of his friends who is also into cars...I mean, it's a completely different language (one that took me months to learn...CD Speak took me months to learn, I still have no clue about Car Speak, my brain just kind of shuts off when I hear that language).

Anywho, I first heard about modern CDing on the blogworld & was instantly intrigued.  Saves you thousands of dollars, cute prints on my baby's bum, a fluffily padded bum I can repeatedly pat, none of the stinkiness that comes with 'sposies, no diaper rash, almost zero poop explosions, not having to be wasteful, not constantly having to buy diapers (I'm terrible at being timely with grocery shopping, how would I ever expect myself to good about making sure we have enough 'sposies on hand?)...SIGN ME UP!  And after 5 months of CDing, A.B. & I have created an awesome routine & I LOVE IT!

So, "how to get started?" I wondered after my little, cute boy was doing his baking last Spring, Summer, & Fall.  I read everything I could get my hands on about CDing, shoot, I read everything I could get my hands on about pregnancy, birth, & parenthood (a little bit on the awesome stuff I learned, I wrote about here).  I researched & researched & researched & found that CDing looks different for every single person that does it.  Seriously, all the months I spent on learning about CDing, that's probably the one thing I took away from it.  What?  Huh?  Where's my textbook on CDing?  Isn't it a black & white issue?  Now I was feeling super insecure...I like directions, I like a manual, where is it?  And worst of all, the piece of advice that everyone who CD'd seemed to share was, "wait until the baby comes & then build up your stash so you can see what works for you & baby" (if you're thinking of CDing, that piece of advice is not entirely true...I researched & decided to splurge on one of the most expensive brands based on reviews & thankfully that work ahead of time paid off.  We love the brand we chose).  Noooo, this planner did not like the wait-and-see-what-works-plan one bit!  I mean, most CD shopping is done online anyway, so it's not like I'd have to leave the house to do it, but after the baby came I wanted to play with him, not peruse websites to research & order CDs.  So, I came up with our own method.  It's had some minor tweaking & I like to change it up a bit every once in a blue moon, but mostly, it goes like this...

This is my FAVORITE CD, the bumGenius Elemental One-Size Cloth Diaper...

Very different from what you might expect, huh?  I thought so, too, the first time I saw it.

See how the the extra part of the sewn down liner is folded down in the front?  That's b/c little man is a boy & needs the extra absorbency there.  For a girl, the extra part of the liner should be folded down in the back.

Here is me putting it on little man...

He loves CDing just like his momma  :)

Below is his BG all buttoned up.  It took me almost a month before I realized that this fit was the best one for little man.  It took more than a few tiny leaks around his legs to figure out what fit worked best...and it does change depending on which BG I put him in.  Yes, even though I have 24 of the exact same BG, not all of them fit the exact same way.  UPDATE, once little man reached 4 months old (15.5 lbs. & 26.5 in.) my long & lean boy never had a leak.  More on proper fit below this next pic...

Now before you think Matt & I spent over $600 for 24 diapers, here is the website where I order our BGs from.  Now before you think we spent $480, we have some VERY generous family & friends that gifted us diapers as well $ to buy diapers.  Our investment into CDing will have paid for itself after only 2 more months...by the way, it sickens me to think that we would have already spent hundreds of $ on 'sposies & 'sposie wipes by this point.

P.S.  All the diapers we own will fit little man until he is 35 lb. (due to how the snaps work) & will last through 2-3 kids!  Hopefully he will be potty trained by the time he is 35 lbs. (most kids are).  Bonus, toddlers that are cloth diapered are potty trained months ahead of kids in 'sposies.  Double bonus, we already have enough diapers at this moment to diaper 2 kiddos at the same time with washing them every other day.  Since we just have 1 kiddo now, I only wash the diapers twice a week.

More on proper fit...I should also say that in these pictures Abram is exactly 3 months old, 15 lb., & 25.5 in. & because he is long & lean (despite some budding thigh rolls) this diaper may look like it is super tight, but it's really not.  My little guy has almost zero chunk on his hips & butt so while it may look like his diaper is pinching those budding rolls & cute tummy, the diaper is comfy for my sweet boy.  UPDATE...the 2 buttons closest to his legs are now one snap closer to his hips.

Here is my 2nd favorite, Econobums...

And here's how you use it...

Fold in the sides using the seams as a guide (trifold)...

You can also trifold the other way so that the insert is bigger, but little man is still little & the other fold is too bulky on him.

Here's how you put it on...

This part that is folded goes up against my little guy's front since that's where the most absorbency needs to be.  For a girl using Econobums, this fold would be placed in the back.

Here's what they look like in action...

He is shocked at how well his mom puts on his diaper  ;)

ALMOST 6 MONTH OLD UPDATE, I now I have different fold that works MUCH better for little man's #2's.  It's tricky to show in a pic without showing more than the internet should see of my little guy, but it's very similar to The Flying Angel Wing (scroll down a bit on the link).

We have 6 Econobum Covers & 12 Inserts.  I paid $36 total for them when there was a BOGO sale online a few months ago.  I mostly use these when we're at home since the BG's are easier to change when we're out.  Matthew doesn't really like the Econobums so he just uses the BG's.  He is also not a fan of cloth wipes so he uses Costco's Brand of 'sposie wipes (the best 'sposie wipes out there).  Speaking of cloth wipes...

Here is me holding one of our cloth wipes.

They're nothing fancy, but they do the job & are MUCH softer than 'sposie wipes.  We have 3 dozen of them.

What about washing, Lynsey?  I mean, isn't that gross to put #2's in the same washing machine that your clothes go into?  I originally thought that, too.  Here's what we do...

Here's our diaper pail...I found it by using this site...

We use it with a bumGenius Pail Liner...

What's neat about this pail liner is that there is a special pouch in the liner (on the right) that is perfect for holding a cloth wipe sprinkled with a few drops of an all natural essential oil to cover the smell of stinky #2's (after little man starts solids).  Exclusively breastfed #2's don't smell  :)

Once little man starts solids (when he turns 6 months old in a little over 1 week) I'll be doing this...

So what do you do with #2's, anyway?  I'm so glad you asked!

Tada...the bumGenius Diaper Sprayer (a baby shower gift :)

The only negative to this sprayer is that the instructions ask that you shut the water off to the toilet when you're not using the sprayer (using the chrome knob in the bottom center of the pic)...this is slightly annoying & inconvenient for guests using our upstairs guest bathroom.  Doing this causes very slight & minimal leakage of (clean) water, but enough to make us put a small bucket underneath the knob.

I have only sprayed little man's #2's a few times.  Since he only goes #2 about once every 36 hours or so (this started when he turned 5 months old), it's close enough to how often I wash the diapers that I don't have to spray them...especially because exclusively breastfed poop is water soluble (which means it is safely & sanitarily washed out in the washing cycle...due to how the diapers are washed, more on that below).

Here are the settings for the first cycle...

water level for 15 diapers - mini
water temp. - cold
cycle - extra heavy
NO DETERGENT in this cycle

After the first cycle is through it's time for the 2nd cycle...

water level - same as 1st cycle
water temp. - hot
cycle - same as 1st cycle
add detergent...IMPORTANT, cloth diapers can only be washed using certain detergents (free of perfumes, dyes, whiteners, brighteners, softeners, enzymes, or other fabric enhancers)

3rd cycle...

just turn the dial to rinse & after the 2nd cycle you're good to go!

Drying the diapers depends on how stained the diapers are.  These pics are from when little man was around 3 months old.  Notice how many are stained (clean, but stained).  Nowadays, only 2 diapers per washing cycle come out stained  :)  The non-stained diapers go directly in the dryer on delicate (takes 2 hours for our 13 year old ancient dryer).  NOTE, the Econobum covers have to air dry (takes about 12 hours).  The diapers that are stained are then "sunned" instead of thrown in the dryer...

I lay them out against our basement slider so that the sun removes the stains...it works wonders.  The sun removes any stain on any item of clothing (as long as it's still damp from the wash cycle)...

Here are those same stained diapers after they have been sunned...

See any stains?  Me neither...YAY!


WHEW!  So I think that's about it for now.  Hope this helps show that not only is CDing easy, it's totally worth the savings (some websites claim it saves $1,500-$2,000 per kid!) & other awesome benefits!