One Year In Cloth
What worked and what didn't.
Hello Everyone,Long time no talk! Seriously though. Life is a rollercoaster and it's been a rough year. More on that later. But I wanted to give everyone an update on cloth since I have a few friends expecting and I've gotten a few questions about what we are using these days.
Frist question. Are we still using cloth?
Yes!!! Yes, we do! But we do have disposables on back up from time to time. (blasphemy I know!) We keep them on hand for babysitters or outings when we aren't sure about the amount of time a dirty diaper maybe carried around or sitting in a hot vehicle ick. Otherwise. Cloth, cloth, cloth! All day every day.
Do we still use cloth wipes?
Yes again. Though on outings I haven't found a fail-safe way to keep the wipes wet/dry so I do have disposable water wipes on hand for such occasions.
Did we stick to the original diapers we bought?
Yes and no.
I had very little cloth diapering experience beforehand. Everyone who did cloth diaper around me used a different kind. So I knew I wanted a little bit of everything when I started buying diapers. And with that, there were ones I loved and ones I didn't love. Some of the ones that worked, in the beginning, didn't end up working later on.
Where do I buy and sell my diapers?
I will have a list of links at the end of this post. So stick with me a little longer.
So what did end up working out for you and what do you use now?
Technically speaking. It all worked. Let me explain that a second. All the brands and types worked. But not all of them stood up to our changing needs.
In the beginning... 6-8lbs. I had two Lil Joeys AIO's and nine fitted Cloth-EEZ newborn workhorses with 4 Thristies covers. I had read about leak issues with the Lil Joeys and at first, had no issues. That quickly changed once my milk came in. Leak issues began and washing the diapers took a lot of effort to get poo out off. Drying time took all day on low. Keep in mind I had other diapers. Just none fit him well with his skinny newborn frame. So next option became the fitted Workhorses. Those became my go to! They were absorbent they were easy to wash and dry. No complaints on those puppies and their resale value is great.
7-15lbs.
He grew into his pocket diapers! Those were my favorite forever. I used Alva pocket covers and Kawaii Baby with velcro instead of snaps (these were most like disposables if you want that convenience) But despite my best efforts my son outgrew their absorbancy after about 8 months of use. Didn't matter how many inserts or what type they ended up just not working for us. It was a sad day. But I still had diapers left from the stash I'd bought in the beginning. So we went to Fitted and flat diapers!
I had brands like Creaking Wood, Twinkie Tush, Sassybumz, Sloomb/Sustainablebabyish, Applecheeks, Nicki's diapers, and Happy Behinds. These became my go to's. Family and babysitters had no issues with them what so ever. Even got compliments on how much they loved them and how they had changed in the years that older family members that had used them.
Flats I had in various brands even some from Walmart, four sacks, hand me downs from grandparents you name it. And I loved them. Everyone else? They lived in fear of them. The name flats strike the name of fear in many apparently. But those diapers let me tell you. *gets soapbox* Those diapers are freaking AWESOME. They wash and dry easy peasy and quick. They hold copious amounts of poo and pee. And no matter the body type they will fit your baby. *steps off soapbox* But I returned to work and husband plus anyone else watching the kiddo that day said Nope. So they sat there collecting dust till I got rid of them.
15-25lbs where we are at now on our journey.
We have a very active very food loving little boy. Oh yes, I miss the days of breastfed/formula fed poop that had very little smell and was easy to clean. That being said we use fitted diapers. I have a wide selection still and I have a couple of AIO/AI2 diapers. But 75% is Sloomb. None of which did I buy brand new. I bought them from buy sale trade sites and from friends. Some with replaced elastics some with relaxed and honestly they go under a cover and you can't tell the difference. They absorb the most and are easy for us in general. Downsides are they should not be bleached ever and they can take forever What do we use at night?
We have sort of a schedule that baby made all on his own. Oh no my child doesn't sleep through the night yet all. But I'm cool with that. At 9PM we get baby in jammies and nighttime diaper. We have 2 go to diapers it's either a Sloomb regular terry cloth with three inserts and Nicki's diaper cover. Or Applecheeks cover with two of their trifold inserts. At around 2 in the morning he wakes up and we change him into the next diaper. By his 6AM wake up he has to be changed again for the day and we put him into his regular during the day diapers. No issues, no leaks.
But, what about the freaking poop already?
Okay, listen up. Poop is poop. That's something everyone has to get over. Once baby eats solids games over for pleasantries. But this ties into my #1 biggest complaint in cloth diapering and the biggest reason I didn't like pocket diapers... I HATE digging inserts out of poopy diapers. I was not blessed with being able to shake the inserts out of diapers like some people can. And the fitted diapers above I love so much? If they have snap in, inserts I leave them unsnapped. I'm lazy and I want to be able to throw the entire dirty diaper laundry into the wash without worrying I'm going to wear out a diaper because I forgot to take out the insert. But to each their own.
What do we use to get rid of the poo?
Plopable poop is the bee's knees. Ha, yeah I went there. If you can take a diaper and gently hold it over the porcelain throne or trash can and the poop just falls off you my friend are in diaper heaven. For not so plopable poop we use a designated kitchen tool we dubbed the sPootula. It's on a high shelf in the bathroom and cleaned after every use. I'm not brave enough for the dunk and swish method. Because germs. And I live in an apartment so the sprayer isn't doable. The diaper is then transported to the diaper bin in the laundry room and diaper laundry is done every three days.
Moving or vacations?
I just use disposables. Why? Depends. On vacation or a move. Time wise I don't have a lot of it, to begin with, and you don't know when and where you will be able to wash diapers again. And from experience, a forgotten diaper is not a pretty thing. I've seen and smelled things... Terrible things. When a diaper got forgotten about for a week during our move. Is the diaper is usable YES absolutely. After being washed four times and sanitized. But it's cover is now speckled with mildew I tried every trick in the book to unsuccessfully get off.
That's pretty much it. My friends. Our wash routine hasn't changed. Our diaper pail is a regular kitchen trash can without a lid that we rotate diaper pail overs on. One is a bum genius the other is a planet wise bag. No lid on the can and no stink issues to note.
I hope you enjoyed this blog post and if you have any questions please message me directly on my facebook page or email.
List and links to where I get my diapers.
Very rarely do I buy one that's completely new from an actual site. But I've gotten questions on a couple of diapers. Halloween theme diaper is Twinkie Tush bought from their facebook page, Ziggy Stardust AKA David Bowie is Sassybumz bought new from their page. Teal Skulls, Sons of Anarchy, Pokeball, Viking's theme diapers are all Creaking Wood they have a facebook page but sell of Hyena Cart. Tye dye with Ravens is Binky D. All these pages have random Buy/Sell/Trade's as well.
For Sloom brand and covers I use facebook groups I'll list below and if you want them new https://www.nickisdiapers.com/
For all other brands like my AIO/AI2 and covers and most cost-effective
https://happybeehinds.com/
Facebook groups:
Cloth Diaper Swappers
