Wednesday, January 9, 2013

Cloth Diapering 101

If you know me, you know I am a huge fan of cloth diapering. I have been meaning to write a post about CDing for awhile now to share what we have learned over the past couple of years doing it with our kids.  Since I get asked a lot about how it works, hopefully I can just refer friends to this post in the future!

Why Cloth Diaper?

Honestly, the #1 reason I chose CDing is that CDs are just so darn cute!  All the fun colors and even patterns, ai yi yi!  But there are more sensible reasons too... in the long run they are considerably cheaper than disposables, they are obviously more environmentally friendly, and my $ doesn't support modern-day slavery like buying disposable diapers does {see slaveryfootprint.org}.

Isn't it a lot of work?

Not really. So I do a couple extra loads of laundry a week than if we used disposables. Not really a big deal to me and not a big deal for the environment since we have a high efficiency washer. And a couple of times a week I spend 15 minutes stuffing the inserts into the pocket diaper so they are ready to go when needed. Grand total of less than an hour a week.

I don't want to touch poop.

If you're a parent, get over it! It is inevitable that you will have to touch poop at some point as a parent and I honestly believe I touch less poop with CDs than with disposables because my kids never blow out of their CDs but do frequently when in disposables. I have a diaper sprayer attached to my toilet and if I need to I just hold the diaper over the toilet and spray it off before putting it in the diaper bin, no poop-touching required.

How many diapers do you need?

That depends on how frequently you want to do laundry. When we only had 1 child we had 30 diapers and as an infant we washed diapers about every 3 days.  As he got older and required less diaper changes daily it became about every 5 days. Now that we have 2 kids {an infant and a toddler} we have 42 diapers and do laundry every 3 days.

What kind do you use?

I only have experience with bumgenius 4.0 one-size so I can't really speak for anything else. Many friends that have tried different brands say they prefer bumgenius, but I wouldn't really know. The 4.0 one-size are pocket diapers meaning there is a waterproof shell that you stuff a liner into. They come with two liners, a newborn liner and a regular liner for when they get older {around 2 or 3 months we started using a regular liner}. The shells and liners are adjustable with snaps so they fit babies from 8lbs to 30lbs. We use the hook and loop closure {i.e. velcro, but there is a snap option} because I felt like trying to hold a squirmy baby still while snapping would be a bit difficult. The velcro still works fine after 2 years though I can tell it is not as "sticky" as it once was.

A note about fit: A friend asked "Are the Bumgenius 4.0 one-size truly a "one-size" diaper that fits newborns through toddlers?" I guess that depends on your child. Both my kids were preemies weighing much less than the 8lb minimum on the diaper. For our 1st we used disposables till he was 8lbs and for our 2nd we used bumgenius newborn all-in-ones till she was about 9lbs. Once the kids were 8lbs though {the 4.0's minimum}, they fit fine even though they are obviously bulkier than disposables.  We have never had trouble with clothes fitting over our CDs, but then again we have tiny babies and kind of rely on our CDs to help keep their pants up!

What is the investment?

We originally spent $500 on 30 diapers, a diaper pail liner, and a diaper sprayer attachment for the toilet. Later we spent $60 on additional stay-dry liners (for 30 diapers) as our son needed them. Even later, we spent another $200 on another 12 diapers when our daughter arrived. Compare that to easily $1000 per year on disposables.  Considering we've been using our diapers over 2 years and now for 2 children it's been a pretty good deal so far. We bought ours from the company that makes bumgenius at cottonbabies.com but they are available at several online CD retailers and I would just look for one that offers a sale- you can often find them for "buy 5, get 1 free."

What about traveling?

I use to pack our cloth diapers every time we traveled which admittedly was a pain, but disposables gave our son diaper rash when he was little, so for us, it was worth it.  I had to make sure they all got washed right before we left and if we were going to be gone longer than 3-5 days I needed to find a place to wash them.  Additionally, they are bulkier than disposables and even after they are used you obviously can't throw them away so it makes for more carry-on baggage when flying when you've already got your hands full traveling with a baby/toddler {maybe I'll write a post on that later...}. Now when we travel more than a few days or on airplane we generally just use disposables.

Tips and Tricks We've Learned Along the Way:
  • Use the proper laundry detergent! Do NOT for instance, figure it will be okay to use some Chinese brand you find in the supermarket in Singapore... it will seriously affect the absorbency.
  • If you DO use an unapproved detergent (not that I have any experience... haha) OR if you just notice the absorbency of your diapers is decreasing, you can wash your diapers with a squirt of Dawn dish soap before washing them regularly to "strip" the soap build up and help them maintain absorbency.
  • As babies grow into toddlers, they drink and pee more meaning you will probably need to add an extra liner to the diaper. We love the bumgenius stay-dry liners that have fleece on the side that touches baby's bottom- boosts absorbency and wicks moisture away from the skin {also good if you have trouble with diaper rash}.
  • At some point around a year and a half we did start using an overnight disposable on our toddler because 1 out of 3 nights he would soak through his cloth diaper.
The Downside to Cloth

I will be honest, there is a downside to cloth diapering. For us, these things aren't that big of a deal and we feel like the benefits far outweigh the drawbacks, but if one of these things bugs you then maybe CDing isn't for you and your family.
  • They are much bulkier than disposables. With 2 in cloth I have a large diaper bag. Some mom's get around this by only using CDs at home and keeping disposables in their diaper bags.
  • You are likely to have some dampness around the leg holes of onesies where the soft fleece inside the liner is sewn to the waterproof exterior. If you feel the need to change your babies if their onesie is a little damp, I would advise against cloth because I think you would just get frustrated.
  • As they age, they just aren't as absorbent as disposables {but that might have something to do with my Asian laundry detergent snafu} so we do find ourselves changing our toddlers diaper more frequently than you might have to with a disposable {or maybe it's just cos our toddler chugs 2 full cups of liquid first thing every morning}. We use about 5 diapers during the day plus 1 disposable at night whereas we could probably get away with 4 during the day with disposables. {It just occurred to me that we could probably get new liners for $3/each which would probably bring the absorbance back to brand-new}
  • Obviously they require more laundry...
  • Childcare places may not be willing to use cloth so if your child goes to daycare for a long enough period that they need diaper changes you would need to check with the daycare. 
  • Some babysitters or family that watch your child and are unfamiliar with CDing may resist it. {We just keep a small stash of disposables to be used in this case.}
"Accessories" to Consider
  • Diaper sprayer that attaches to the toilet for spraying off sticky poop.
  • Cloth wipes. If you are gonna do diaper laundry, why not just add wipes too! I have 48 that I split between downstairs and upstairs wipe warmers with 2 cups of water in each warmer. I do use disposables out of the house though.
  • Laundry drying rack. You cannot put the diaper shells in the dryer so it is nice to have a rack to hang them on rather than having to hang them all over your house. {they do dry relatively quickly}
  • Stay-Dry Liners for extra absorbency as your baby grows.
  • Diaper Pail Liner for travel {you could easily just use a trash bag though}. 
  • Diaper Pail. We just have two small trash cans with flip up lids {one for downstairs and one for upstairs} where we stash our dirty diapers before they go in the laundry.

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