Hi everyone! :)
I decided to post a little note this evening while I'm waiting on my diaper laundry to finish washing. :) (Isn't it so much fun??) I know it may sound crazy, but I truly enjoy doing diaper laundry. It's always a good feeling to put a freshly laundered dipe on my sweet little boy's tush. I hope that you will/do enjoy doing diaper laundry as much as I do!
Recently, I bought two new dipes for my son, and realized how much of an addiction cloth diapering can be! One has cute multi-colored circles, and the other is a red Spiderman webbing print! Our initial reason to cloth diaper was saving money, saving the environment, and of course, they are CUTE! I, however, did not anticipate how much I would love shopping for cloth diapers (and of you have to get a cute pair of BabyLegs sometimes to match!!) so I have to constantly remind myself that though I would love to purchase every cute diaper out there, I won't be saving any money if I do. I do a lot of "window shopping" with diapers, and drool over their cuteness, but alas, I end up closing my browsing window and buying trigger finger, and telling myself I don't need to buy another lot of diapers. I will buy one or two and then wait another several months. Before I bought these last two, I hadn't bought any impulse diapers since before Christmas last year. It. Is. Addictive. :D
What kind of cloth do you put on your baby? Do you have a variety, or do you prefer a certain kind?
I hope you have a lot of happy little baby tushies in cloth!! :) So sweet!
Hi everyone! Welcome to Cloth Diapering 101! Because of my love of cloth diapering, it was suggested to me that I start a cloth diapering blog so that other mamas could follow me and learn all about my cloth diapering experiences. Feel free to ask questions, and make your own suggestions, and I will try to educate you the best that I can in what is the world of cloth diapering! Enjoy!
Thursday, July 19, 2012
Monday, July 16, 2012
Overcoming Build-Up
Hello, everyone! It has been several months since I have posted! I apologize. Sometimes life gets in the way. I hope you are all well. :)
The last few months have proved to be a little bit of a cloth diapering challenge for us, but we stuck it out and have come out on top. After my last post, we fought with an ongoing ammonia problem with our diapers, and discovered it was a problem with our washing machine. We had a high-efficiency front loader, and it just wasn't getting our diapers clean enough (i.e. wasn't getting enough water to clean them well enough). After a lot of trips to my mom's to do diaper laundry, we decided to swap our front loader for a top load, and we have been much happier doing diaper laundry!
Do any of you mamas have stories to share about any problems with cleaning your diapers? Build-up from detergent/fighting with the dreaded ammonia or barnyard smell? What kinds of methods did you try?
I felt like we tried everything under the sun to get our diapers clean. I first tried stripped with various methods (Dawn, Bac-Out, RLR, etc.) I even used bleach. When I realized that our front loader was part of our problem, it became easier to figure things out. I boiled inserts several times, and changed our washing routine a little bit, and I have much less problems with build-up. We have EXTREMELY hard water where we live, so I have to boil inserts every few washes to keep the hard water build-up out of our diapers. It is a little more work, but totally worth it to keep my sweet boy in fluff.
Do any of you have special names for your diapers? We usually just say cloth, but I find myself calling it fluff quite often. I know some people even call them nappies. Whatever you call them, they're sweet. :) Take care, guys! I promise I will post again soon! I am afraid that I am terrible at keeping up with blogs, but I do try my best to post when I'm not busy. This summer has proved to be terribly busy so far!
Keep your cloth fun!! Happy diapering, mamas!
The last few months have proved to be a little bit of a cloth diapering challenge for us, but we stuck it out and have come out on top. After my last post, we fought with an ongoing ammonia problem with our diapers, and discovered it was a problem with our washing machine. We had a high-efficiency front loader, and it just wasn't getting our diapers clean enough (i.e. wasn't getting enough water to clean them well enough). After a lot of trips to my mom's to do diaper laundry, we decided to swap our front loader for a top load, and we have been much happier doing diaper laundry!
Do any of you mamas have stories to share about any problems with cleaning your diapers? Build-up from detergent/fighting with the dreaded ammonia or barnyard smell? What kinds of methods did you try?
I felt like we tried everything under the sun to get our diapers clean. I first tried stripped with various methods (Dawn, Bac-Out, RLR, etc.) I even used bleach. When I realized that our front loader was part of our problem, it became easier to figure things out. I boiled inserts several times, and changed our washing routine a little bit, and I have much less problems with build-up. We have EXTREMELY hard water where we live, so I have to boil inserts every few washes to keep the hard water build-up out of our diapers. It is a little more work, but totally worth it to keep my sweet boy in fluff.
Do any of you have special names for your diapers? We usually just say cloth, but I find myself calling it fluff quite often. I know some people even call them nappies. Whatever you call them, they're sweet. :) Take care, guys! I promise I will post again soon! I am afraid that I am terrible at keeping up with blogs, but I do try my best to post when I'm not busy. This summer has proved to be terribly busy so far!
Keep your cloth fun!! Happy diapering, mamas!
Monday, February 13, 2012
Cloth Diaper Basics
Sorry I haven't posted in long time, guys. I kept getting busier and busier, and I really wanted to make time for this before now. Here I am!!
Okay, so I'd like to just run through the basic things you are going to need if you are looking into cloth diapering. Be it online or at a cloth diapering store, you can usually find everything that you could want/need either place.
First and foremost, research your diapers!! If there is a cloth diaper store near you (the ones closest to us are over an hour away, but I guess I consider that close!) try to go there sometime and just do some looking around...finding out how the diapers work, what style you think you would like to try for your little one, and also to check out some of the other products you may need to start your cloth journey.
BASIC THINGS YOU WILL NEED TO START CLOTH:
-Diapers, of course. ;) Whether it be pre-folds, pockets, all-in-ones, you can decide what you love and go for it.
-Wet bags: These are for traveling/outings with your babe in cloth to have a place to store your soiled diapers until you can get home to wash. With disposables, you are able to toss them into the trash. With cloth, you must have some sort of storage system to put your diapers in after they are soiled, and they make all different sizes of wet bags that are easy to tote along with you. They should have a waterproof lining, as to prevent your wet dipes from soaking through and also soaking your wetbag. (Truth: I have a few cloth diaper brand wet bags...but a great, cheap route to go and have yourself an excellent wetbag? Target--Munchkin brand wetbags for kids swimsuits, etc. Works great, and is relatively inexpensive as I recall. :)
-Cloth diaper detergent: Yes, you must use a certain kind of detergent to wash your cloth diapers. Normal detergents like Gain or Cheer (yes, I'm just throwing some random detergent names out there) have added scents or other additives that can cause a build-up on your diapers. You want to avoid any detergents like this. Special cloth diaper detergents (Rockin Green, Charlies Soap, EcoSprouts) are available to wash your diapers safely to avoid any build-up problems. However, just because you have a special detergent does not mean that you will not get a build-up on your diapers, or that that particular kind of detergent will work for you. You also must be very careful about the amount of detergent you use. It is often times a fine line between too much and too little detergent. Each detergent you buy (if cloth diaper detergent) should have a recommended amount of detergent per number of diapers. We used to use Original Tide powder on our diapers...until a few days ago, when we switched to Rockin Green to try to get a fresher scent...and it ended up pulling some build-up to the surface of our dipes that had been caused by using the Tide powder. We had to strip our diapers. I will tell you now...it's not that fun, but isn't all that challenging. We will see how it works. This is the first time I have had to strip diapers, so cross your fingers.
-By the way stripping diapers means to remove an excess build-up from your diapers. Again, this build-up can be caused by too little/too much detergent, hard water build-up, additives in detergent, etc.
-Diaper pail: A diaper pail will be handy to keep in your baby's room (just like a Diaper Champ/Diaper Genie) but is for keeping your soiled cloth diapers before you decide to do your diaper laundry. Cloth diaper stores often sell diaper pails, but they can also be pretty expensive. Another truth? We bought a $6 pop-lid trash can, line it with a vanilla-scented trash bag, and viola!! A place to put those soiled dipes and no smelly baby's room!
-Diaper sprayer: This is not a necessity, but especially when it's cold outside, it is nice to have one. Sometimes we spray ours off with the hose when it's warm enough...but when it's cold, I rinse the diapers that need rinsing into a bucket, and then dump it into the toilet. Easy, quick, and no old-fashioned rinsing in toilet water. Yuck. You can buy an actual diaper sprayer to hook to the back of your toilet if you like. We have not done this yet, but have considered it. It's really up to you. :)
-Special creams for your babe's tush!! :) Unfortunately, regular diaper creams can create a barrier on your cloth diapers that can prevent them from absorbing as they should. Cloth diaper stores sell cloth-safe rash creams, etc., but I have found that the cheapest, best diaper cream to use with my cloth is organic coconut oil. We use the Nutiva brand, and buy it at our local co-op grocery store, or Whole Foods. You can also order it online. Do not use the general cooking coconut oil that you would find at your local Wal-Mart or other grocery store. They tend to have other additives that won't be good on your diapers. You also want to stay away from any wipes that have a petroleum base such as lanolin, etc. If it has something you think may not be good on your diapers, I would stay away from it. :)
That should be the low down to get you started on what you will need to start your basic cloth diapering. I hope I'm not forgetting anything. You all probably know as well as I do how "mommy brain" seems to work. Ladies, if I am forgetting something, please let me know, those of you that cloth diaper already. I'd love any input you would like to give!!
Happy reading!!
Okay, so I'd like to just run through the basic things you are going to need if you are looking into cloth diapering. Be it online or at a cloth diapering store, you can usually find everything that you could want/need either place.
First and foremost, research your diapers!! If there is a cloth diaper store near you (the ones closest to us are over an hour away, but I guess I consider that close!) try to go there sometime and just do some looking around...finding out how the diapers work, what style you think you would like to try for your little one, and also to check out some of the other products you may need to start your cloth journey.
BASIC THINGS YOU WILL NEED TO START CLOTH:
-Diapers, of course. ;) Whether it be pre-folds, pockets, all-in-ones, you can decide what you love and go for it.
-Wet bags: These are for traveling/outings with your babe in cloth to have a place to store your soiled diapers until you can get home to wash. With disposables, you are able to toss them into the trash. With cloth, you must have some sort of storage system to put your diapers in after they are soiled, and they make all different sizes of wet bags that are easy to tote along with you. They should have a waterproof lining, as to prevent your wet dipes from soaking through and also soaking your wetbag. (Truth: I have a few cloth diaper brand wet bags...but a great, cheap route to go and have yourself an excellent wetbag? Target--Munchkin brand wetbags for kids swimsuits, etc. Works great, and is relatively inexpensive as I recall. :)
-Cloth diaper detergent: Yes, you must use a certain kind of detergent to wash your cloth diapers. Normal detergents like Gain or Cheer (yes, I'm just throwing some random detergent names out there) have added scents or other additives that can cause a build-up on your diapers. You want to avoid any detergents like this. Special cloth diaper detergents (Rockin Green, Charlies Soap, EcoSprouts) are available to wash your diapers safely to avoid any build-up problems. However, just because you have a special detergent does not mean that you will not get a build-up on your diapers, or that that particular kind of detergent will work for you. You also must be very careful about the amount of detergent you use. It is often times a fine line between too much and too little detergent. Each detergent you buy (if cloth diaper detergent) should have a recommended amount of detergent per number of diapers. We used to use Original Tide powder on our diapers...until a few days ago, when we switched to Rockin Green to try to get a fresher scent...and it ended up pulling some build-up to the surface of our dipes that had been caused by using the Tide powder. We had to strip our diapers. I will tell you now...it's not that fun, but isn't all that challenging. We will see how it works. This is the first time I have had to strip diapers, so cross your fingers.
-By the way stripping diapers means to remove an excess build-up from your diapers. Again, this build-up can be caused by too little/too much detergent, hard water build-up, additives in detergent, etc.
-Diaper pail: A diaper pail will be handy to keep in your baby's room (just like a Diaper Champ/Diaper Genie) but is for keeping your soiled cloth diapers before you decide to do your diaper laundry. Cloth diaper stores often sell diaper pails, but they can also be pretty expensive. Another truth? We bought a $6 pop-lid trash can, line it with a vanilla-scented trash bag, and viola!! A place to put those soiled dipes and no smelly baby's room!
-Diaper sprayer: This is not a necessity, but especially when it's cold outside, it is nice to have one. Sometimes we spray ours off with the hose when it's warm enough...but when it's cold, I rinse the diapers that need rinsing into a bucket, and then dump it into the toilet. Easy, quick, and no old-fashioned rinsing in toilet water. Yuck. You can buy an actual diaper sprayer to hook to the back of your toilet if you like. We have not done this yet, but have considered it. It's really up to you. :)
-Special creams for your babe's tush!! :) Unfortunately, regular diaper creams can create a barrier on your cloth diapers that can prevent them from absorbing as they should. Cloth diaper stores sell cloth-safe rash creams, etc., but I have found that the cheapest, best diaper cream to use with my cloth is organic coconut oil. We use the Nutiva brand, and buy it at our local co-op grocery store, or Whole Foods. You can also order it online. Do not use the general cooking coconut oil that you would find at your local Wal-Mart or other grocery store. They tend to have other additives that won't be good on your diapers. You also want to stay away from any wipes that have a petroleum base such as lanolin, etc. If it has something you think may not be good on your diapers, I would stay away from it. :)
That should be the low down to get you started on what you will need to start your basic cloth diapering. I hope I'm not forgetting anything. You all probably know as well as I do how "mommy brain" seems to work. Ladies, if I am forgetting something, please let me know, those of you that cloth diaper already. I'd love any input you would like to give!!
Happy reading!!
Monday, January 2, 2012
Our Cloth Diapering Beginning
Welcome, 2012!! Sorry I haven't gotten around to posting again for a little while. With the New Year weekend, I didn't get a chance to blog!
I wanted to post a little about how we got started into cloth diapering. Our sweet babe was born in April of last year, but before he was born, a friend of mine asked me whether we were going to use disposable diapers, or cloth diapers. Want to know my first thought? CLOTH DIAPERS?? Really? I wasn't opposed to them, but that was my reaction, because to tell you the truth, I knew absolutely nothing about them. I turned the idea over in my head, talked with my husband about it, and asked him what he thought of the idea. He, of course, was open to it, because it's so laid back, and like me, very keen on any idea that could be money saving. After discussing it a little, we never really made a decision, and kind of put the idea aside without much more thought.
It wasn't until about a month before our son was born that we gave it some serious consideration. We were at a baby shower for a friend of mine, and her sister-in-law and brother-in-law were there with their little boy, and they used cloth diapers. We were sitting there chatting with them, and as they changed his diaper, we noticed how CUTE his cloth diapers were. I believe she had a Colts football team diaper, and Isaac commented on how cute it was. She then proceeded to tell us how many different kinds and designs of cloth diapers there were, and we thought it was so cool!! How awesome would it be to be able to choose the color/print of your kid's diaper every time? It sparked our interest, so when we got home, we started to reasearch all of the different kinds of diapers out there. Snaps...velcro...one-size...pockets...all-in-ones...prefolds....diaper covers...WOW. We were a little overwhelmed, and I told Isaac I just wasn't sure how I felt about it, because I didn't know how much extra work it would be. (Actually, I think I was a little afraid of something new, so I was nervous.) However, my husband knows me extremely well, and instead of letting me worry and think about it over and over, he ordered some without me knowing (sneaky!!) and surprised me with them one day. He had been researching the market for them, and told me that if they didn't work out for us, we could always re-sell them. I was still nervous, but I agreed that it wouldn't hurt to try them.
We began our cloth diapering adventure when our son was 10-weeks-old. Because we had purchased one-size diapers that are adjustable from about 8-36 pounds, usually, they still didn't fit him quite the way we wanted until he was that age. As soon as he was in his first cloth diaper, I was so excited. He looked SO sweet in them, and I think right then and there we decided we wanted to cloth diaper full-time. We only had 6 diapers at that time, but after the first week, I ordered 6 more, and we were on our way!! We started out with a brand called Fuzzi Bunz, and so far, they are still our favorite! Over time, we have accumulated more diapers, and now with a stash of around 30 diapers, we cloth diaper full-time, usually, unless Baine is going to someone's house that isn't familiar with cloth diapering, etc. Our babysitter even cloth diapers him!
We love cloth diapering, and we love how the initial money that we spent on them has already been paid for by the money that we haven't spent on disposables. We love the money we are saving every month, but also how cute his little cloth diaper tushie looks...and we especially enjoy his soft, rash-free bottom!! :)
I will post next about the basics to get you started cloth diapering. I just wanted to share our cloth diapering journey with you! We are still learning each day, but we are loving every minute!!
I wanted to post a little about how we got started into cloth diapering. Our sweet babe was born in April of last year, but before he was born, a friend of mine asked me whether we were going to use disposable diapers, or cloth diapers. Want to know my first thought? CLOTH DIAPERS?? Really? I wasn't opposed to them, but that was my reaction, because to tell you the truth, I knew absolutely nothing about them. I turned the idea over in my head, talked with my husband about it, and asked him what he thought of the idea. He, of course, was open to it, because it's so laid back, and like me, very keen on any idea that could be money saving. After discussing it a little, we never really made a decision, and kind of put the idea aside without much more thought.
It wasn't until about a month before our son was born that we gave it some serious consideration. We were at a baby shower for a friend of mine, and her sister-in-law and brother-in-law were there with their little boy, and they used cloth diapers. We were sitting there chatting with them, and as they changed his diaper, we noticed how CUTE his cloth diapers were. I believe she had a Colts football team diaper, and Isaac commented on how cute it was. She then proceeded to tell us how many different kinds and designs of cloth diapers there were, and we thought it was so cool!! How awesome would it be to be able to choose the color/print of your kid's diaper every time? It sparked our interest, so when we got home, we started to reasearch all of the different kinds of diapers out there. Snaps...velcro...one-size...pockets...all-in-ones...prefolds....diaper covers...WOW. We were a little overwhelmed, and I told Isaac I just wasn't sure how I felt about it, because I didn't know how much extra work it would be. (Actually, I think I was a little afraid of something new, so I was nervous.) However, my husband knows me extremely well, and instead of letting me worry and think about it over and over, he ordered some without me knowing (sneaky!!) and surprised me with them one day. He had been researching the market for them, and told me that if they didn't work out for us, we could always re-sell them. I was still nervous, but I agreed that it wouldn't hurt to try them.
We began our cloth diapering adventure when our son was 10-weeks-old. Because we had purchased one-size diapers that are adjustable from about 8-36 pounds, usually, they still didn't fit him quite the way we wanted until he was that age. As soon as he was in his first cloth diaper, I was so excited. He looked SO sweet in them, and I think right then and there we decided we wanted to cloth diaper full-time. We only had 6 diapers at that time, but after the first week, I ordered 6 more, and we were on our way!! We started out with a brand called Fuzzi Bunz, and so far, they are still our favorite! Over time, we have accumulated more diapers, and now with a stash of around 30 diapers, we cloth diaper full-time, usually, unless Baine is going to someone's house that isn't familiar with cloth diapering, etc. Our babysitter even cloth diapers him!
We love cloth diapering, and we love how the initial money that we spent on them has already been paid for by the money that we haven't spent on disposables. We love the money we are saving every month, but also how cute his little cloth diaper tushie looks...and we especially enjoy his soft, rash-free bottom!! :)
I will post next about the basics to get you started cloth diapering. I just wanted to share our cloth diapering journey with you! We are still learning each day, but we are loving every minute!!
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