Wednesday, June 19, 2013

Cloth Diapering is thebomb.com

So back in the day when I found out I was preggo I joined this awesome birth club. On there one of the ladies mentioned cloth diapering. At this point I had no job and sat around all day doing nothing so I was kind of the "researcher" of the group. I thought this mama was bat-sh*t cray cray for thinking of doing cloth diapers... EW! Poop! In my WASHING MACHINE?!!! Do I have to touch it?!?! wtf???!!! BUT... I did my duty and found information on it for her.... I read this article and I was HOOKED. WHY DOESN'T EVERYONE DO THIS?!! GAH!! I did out the math and did you know that with the cost of a box of diapers at Babies R Us RIGHT NOW... it would cost about $4,200 to diaper your kidlet til they are 3?!! OMGAHH! And that's not including the cost of wipes! AND WHAT IF YOU HAVE MORE?! Oh my goodness....

*I am noting that all these images are borrowed from a google image search*

Well I became viciously hooked... but which were I going to get? Pockets? AIOs? Prefolds? Prefolds are those age-old things people typically think of when you mention cloth diapers. Uh, no. Not for me. I'm going for ease and convenience. And of course, cute fluff butt. These are prefolds:

 
Very basic... they are held with pins or these weird snappy things and are so stone age and have a cover you have to put over them to make them waterproof and yadda yadda yadda too much work.... but I guess they're good because you can literally make them fit any baby.
 
Other diapers come with snaps and/or Velcro... they are One Size (OS)... these are adjustable they SAY from 8-35 lbs. but Lilly is about 10/11 lbs and is JUST fitting into hers now. They say the fit best at 11 lbs+. For Miss Lilly I bought a newborn (NB) stash... thank god I did! She was such a peanut even these were too small! And it took her forever to move up a size. I bought an All-in-One (AIO) stash for her. And I had to input more because I didn't have enough for how much she was going and I was doing way too much laundry for my liking. These are the little dipes I had for MiniPreemieLilly. They fit her well up until about 3 months! I also have a tiny baby.... I still had a snap setting to move up but she peed too much for them to hold at this point.
 
THX NB AIO:
(THX <--- brand)(NB = Newborn size)(AIO = All-in-one)
 
They come in adorable colors! Yay! Note all the snappage.... the middle bottom snap is to snap down the middle for the umbilical cord as seen below. You can adjust them a few different ways to make them fit your babe.

Snapping down the umbilical cord.

Inside has those awesome Double-Gussets (DG) that hold in the mess really well. I love me some DGs!
 
What is AIO you ask? An AIO dipe is all you need! You just take it, throw it on, and then you're good to go! When you change you take it off and throw on a new one! Easy peasy. I love them but they are a tad more expensive and a tad more rare. And a tad more boring...
 
For my bigger Lilly stash - til the end of potty training I have One Size (OS) Pockets. Pocket dipes are a shell of sorts and then you open the "pocket" which is usually a hole at the top... and you put in an insert. What's great about these is that they come in adorable colors and prints, dry quickly, and you can double-up on inserts if you have a heavy wetter or for overnight sleep stretches... etc. Here are some pocket examples...
 
 
This is the inside of the dipe where you put the insert.

Different type of inserst.
 
Examples of adorable prints!
 
 
Finished product!
 
I love them.
 
THE PROCESS:
 
1. So you take out a dipe from your drawer or bag or whatever... and Stick it on their bum....
 
2. Wait...
 
3. Ew! Poop! Okay so you proceed to change as normal... unsnap, remove diaper... then you clean with a wipe or a cloth wipe... take out a new diaper and put on cream. I use coconut oil on her bum for every day use... (yes the regular kind you get at the grocery store). If it's solid you just warm it between your fingers and apply... if it's gel-liquidyish... then well just throw it on. If she has a rash I use California Baby Diaper Rash Cream. It's CD safe and works like a charm. Snap up the new dipe... send them on their way!
 
4. You proceed to take your diaper and throw it in your pail. REALLY? IS IT THAT EASY?? Yep. I take out my insert before throwing it in but you can do it before your wash too... I decided on this pail and I love it. Inside is a pail liner. I bought cheap ones of amazon but this is a great one. Come in many colors to match your nursery! You want two so when you throw a load in the wash you have one to put right back in the pail...
 
5. Move on with life!
 
6. You realize you're running low on dipes, or your pail is full. Time for laundry! You take the whole kit & caboodle (the pail liner with the dipes in it) and if you're savvy like me you can just take the bottom of your pail liner and shake it into the washing machine so everything falls into the washer. Presto-change... no mess being touched. (Let's get real here though we're moms - we pretty much wear mess as a fashion statement at this point).
 
7. Dipes are in! First you do a rinse (if you're breastfeeding - if you use formula you gotta get the poop out first with a sprayer which is also easy peasy). You can either do that rinse & spin cycle or a full wash cycle with no detergent - up to you. Then I wash on hot/cold with an extra rinse with Tide Original. NO FABRIC SOFTENER!!!! NEVER EVER EVER EVER EVER EVER EVER EVER USE FABRIC SOFTENER!!! FABRIC SOFTENER IS THE DEVIL TO CD FAMILIES!!!!! They will make your diapers repel and then it's like the kid is just peeing without a diaper on. It's a huge tragedy that involves stripping your diapers and a big fiasco you don't even wanna be involved in. Barf. So you do your wash. Then you do a rinse... I always did just the rinse & spin but I started doing a full wash cycle with no detergent to get them realllly nice and rinsed just because that's what I feel like doing so f*ck it, i'm gonna. Then dry them! That's it! Rinse, wash, rinse, dry! Boom... saved yourself $4,200.
 
Did I mention that cloth diapers have an awesome resale value? Sounds gross but it's well-known and accepted in the CD world... As mentioned in the article above she sold her stash for $14 less than what she bought them for... so... $14 to diaper 2 kids or $8,400? Hmm.....
 
If you go out you do the same thing except you have a wet bag or a wet/dry bag you put the diaper in when it's dirty. When you get home you just throw it in the pail. NBD.
 
YOUR WELCOME.


 


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