I find it's easiest to use cloth at home and Pampers when we're out and about. In case you're interested in trying them with your baby, here are a few tips:
1. Keep a dry bucket near your change table to use for soiled diapers.
2. Prefold the inserts ahead of time so you can act fast.
3. Have 6-10 covers in stock. Sometimes they get a bit wet and smelly and need to be changed with the inserts.
4. Have enough cloth inserts to last 3 days so you only have to do laundry every few days.
5. As soon as there's a #2 take the whole package to the laundry room and rinse it out! I highly recommend the following stain removers to help with the job: Melaleuca PreSpot & Melaleuca Sol-U-Mel (all natural!)
6. If you have a fancy washing machine: wash over night so you can keep your energy bills low, add a rinse cycle, use the sanitize option, and either soak the diapers before hand or add a wet towel. If you have a regular washing machine make sure to use hot water and do a double rinse.
7. Only use a recommended laundry detergent to keep the diapers absorbent (see your diaper manual). Bummis has an intense list of recommend detergents here. However, I use Bio-Vert and I haven't had any residue issues so you should try what you have and see how it goes.
8. Change cloth diapers every 2 hours to keep baby nice and dry.
9. Hang diapers outside to dry, as sunshine is a natural sanitizer. (I haven't tried this yet but once we get a clothes line installed I plan to give it a try).
10. Make sure your baby's pants are extra big to fit the diaper bulk. Madelyn looks hilarious in 6-9 mos pants and 0-3 mos tops.
If you want to chat further about cloth diapering send me an email or fb msg.
The next trend I'm looking into for baby is "Diaper Free"...about potty training early. I'll post something once I read the book and give it a try.
Have a great weekend everyone :)
yay for cloth diapers! We started using them at 1 month - we use a combo of Fuzzi Bunz, Bum Genuis and AMP - they are all great. I never bothered rinsing them out until Lila's poops were solid (around 7-8 months). We just put 'em right in the diaper bag and washed every 2-3 days. If a stain was tough to get out - sunshine works really well!
ReplyDeleteAs for washing, we do a hot rinse, add Nellie's detergent (my fav, 100 loads for about $22!), and do a hot regular cycle.
We use disposables at night. We had Lila wake up a couple of times because she soaked through and we decided it was worth it.
I looked into "Elimination Communication" which is about diaper free. I thought about it, talked to a friend who was doing it, and then decided it was too much work! You basically need to bring them to the toilet every 40 minutes and they may or may not go. I am going to wait until 18 months, then start bringing out the potty. I heard that cloth diaper babies potty train sooner because they can feel when they are wet!
Some friends are having trouble posting comments so I'm going to posts for them:
ReplyDeleteFrom Sadie's Mom:
I'm planing on using reusables too...I have a mix of Kushies (check out the outlet in stoney creek for best prices, $4-6 each) and I think the rest are sears brand, Cuddlers, I got from a friend. i'm waiting for sadie to grow into them (ANY TIME NOW) but plan on doing the same as you and continuing disposables for outings and trips home. Kooshies has a disposible liner you can flush w/poop you might want to look into that goes over the extra cloth liner. I assume it will help on the pre-washing, its basically strong paper towel. Also...i bought a diaper sprayer that hooks up to the toilet tank from bum genius for rinsing messes direct in the toilet. it looks very promising. and had i thought to install it before having her...would have made a wicked bidet for the first few days home!! For now we're using Shoppers Life brand diapers... they are reg $14 for 84 10-14 lb packs...and i got them on sale for half price. no comlaints for the poverty diapers...super basic...we've had no problems though and for something you just chuck...cheapest i've found. worth a try. also using their life brand wipes which i like better then huggies, which is what we were using before we found these.
Also, kushies clerk mentioned to wash all resuables thoroughly a couple times before starting to use them. When using them we were told to dry bin them, then pre soak in water with about a cup of vineagar for 3-4 hrs in the pail or overnight in the washer if toploading. Run through wash cycle with a soap-free scent-free detergent (no phospherous) then do rinse cycle with vineagar again. Dry with no fabric softener (or brightener) we have the dryer balls and reusable static material sheet thingys and throw in a towel to absorb water and make sure all diapers are open. Also recommended to sun dry as often as possible to lessen wear and naturally bleach then out. Estimates that 25-30 reusables means a load every 2-3 days. Not bad. Diapers i got at kushies need 2 sizes, they aren't fully adjustable multiple ways like some i've seen. They have 2 or 3 sizes instead. I opted for no newborn which is why sadie's not using them yet. They also have soft flannel outers which need a plastic cover esp at night or an all inclusive waterproof outer style. I have both. The Cuddlers i have are all soft with separate covers. Should be ok by 2 months, roughly 12 lbs plus im guessing. But means i'll have used about 400 disposibles by then! Crazy!