Cloth Diapers Recap (not for the faint of heart)

Well, something monumental happened a few days ago here with our cloth diapers.  I had to THROW ONE AWAY.  It broke my heart, but nothing lasts forever (except, of course our immortal souls :)

But let me back-up a bit.  About seven years ago, when our first baby (Rebekah) was about 3-months-old, we purchased our first few cloth diapers and "gave them a try."  We were hooked!



Here is Rebekah sporting her prefold with snappi.  I'm not sure what size these are - not the toddler - I think one size down.  This size may be different colored new now as I bought these seven years ago!!



Rebekah with Bummis Whisper Wrap

We purchased two-dozen and about three covers.  Then as she got older (unfortunately I'm not sure how old) we purchased two-dozen of the toddler-size prefold diapers.  After the addition of her brother (before she decided to potty train) we purchased another dozen toddler-size diapers and comfortably cloth diapered the two of them.  Since then I have bought a cover here or there or some training pants, but mostly that is it!



Paul (younger than Rebekah was for her picture above, but I'm not sure of age), sporting a new cover I had to purchase as I was lending my others out to a friend and she was not finished with that size when Paul came along!  (Sorry, I cannot remember where this one came from.)

These are the infant-size prefolds, I think (now with her new sizing, I do not know what they would be, sorry).  They generally fit my babies for about a month - seriously, but before I got them, trying to put the smallest size I have on the new baby was quite humorous, let me tell you!   And I don't consider them a waste of purchase as they make great burp rags now.

Here is one of the first diapers I bought, seven years later.  It looks AMAZING, but that is mostly because they do not wear this size for that long - maybe 6 to 9 months.  I just looked back at Green Mountain Diapers website (where I originally purchased these) and have no idea what size this would be now - maybe one step down from her biggest one).

Here is one of the toddler prefolds (now I think she calls them extra-large or something - the biggest size she carries).  It still looks pretty good, yes?  So although SOME of the diapers are "near the end," definitely not all.

Here is a toddler size that is starting to show its years.  Notice the rip on the right side?  When this happens I have to "fix it."

I take the torn spot and pull away that layer (I guess you could leave it and let it wear, but it will tear out in your washer and it can get poop stuck in there when you are spraying it out - such a pain!)

Here is what I have "left-over."  I sometimes use it for other projects and sometimes just toss it - all depending on my mood.

And here is the diaper again, all "fixed," until next time.

I did not think to snap a picture of "the one that did not make it," but basically I was in the process of "fixing it" and it just ripped right in half.

 

So there you have it.  Now, while I have your attention, I guess I should mention a few of my items that have stood the test of time.

 

As I have said numerous times, I purchased my original prefolds from Green Mountain Diapers.com and if you are new to cloth, she is a GREAT website to hit up first - even if you don't buy anything.  She has a "new to cloth" section and has a "guide" for everything from washing to wearing, etc.  Unless she has changed it, her shipping is a little steep (especially considering most sites will give you free shipping if you spend enough), but she gives great explanations of what works and why it works and on what type of baby it would work best.  She sells A LOT of products and you probably don't need them all (like Diaper Lotion Potion - hehe, I only got one bottle, but have since concluded cloth wipes wet in the sink work perfectly fine with no additives).  I would suggest you browse her site and then look things up by name on amazon or google and go with a place that offers you free shipping, but if you have a little extra to spend, then feel free to buy from her - and she has really good sales and seconds sometimes, btw.  I have had good experiences with Cottonbabies, and even amazon (sporadically and make sure you are purchasing exactly what you are looking for).

 

So if you want to cloth diaper like us, you need two-dozen XL toddler pre-folds (about $40 a dozen, needing four-dozen if you have two in diapers) a few snappis (or you could skip these, as often the covers hold the diapers on fine, but I just like the security of them and they are not that expensive and last for a long time - seriously, they stretch some, but we get several years out of them).

 

We use regular washcloths as cloth wipes.  I purchased my latest set from Wal-mart when they had that giant brick of multi-colored washcloths (maybe 20 of them for between $5 and $10).  I keep them folded in the bathrooms.  Before I change a diaper, I check for poop.  I wet a wipe in the sink and then sit down to change the diaper.  RARELY I need more than one wipe (sometimes with girls - as you have to be extra careful or with new little babies and that insane breastfed liquid poo that gets everywhere).

 

For babies that eat real food (not until 9 months or so around here), you have to spray out their poopy diapers.  I use The Potty Pail because it was all I could find at the time.  It definitely does the job (and is still doing it).  You could probably buy a kitchen sprayer at the store and make the "bucket" yourself if you feel so inclined.  I think there are other sprayers available now, perhaps some better than ours.  But until ours breaks, that is what I recommend!

 

We through our diapers in an open or flip-lid pail.  (Surprisingly giving them a little breathing room actually makes them smell less- I think.)  I use pail liners from Green Mountain for my pails (the flip-top lid trash can from Wal-mart downstairs and a regular small trash can upstairs).  These pail liners also make great dirty laundry sacks for trips.  They are a good investment.  Some of mine have their inner liner wearing out, but they still work fine.  I throw them in with the diapers to wash them.

 

For my first few kids I squeaked by with about three covers per kid-size at the time, but now I have a surplus and I am enjoying it.  I recently picked up a bunch of econo-bum covers from Cotton Babies on clearance (supposedly there was something wrong with them - other than an x marked on their tag I have yet to figure out what that is - the link says almost $9, but I'm pretty sure I got mine for $5 each and I think they go on sale fairly often).  I bought A BUNCH (like maybe 15) and with two kids in diapers and a two-story house, it has been nice to have covers at every clean diaper location so I can switch them out regularly (I usually swap them even if they are not dirty, just to let the damp one air out).  When they are poopy I throw them in with the diapers.

 

I wash diapers every other day (whether the pail is full or not as letting them sit too long is a bad idea).  I use a high efficiency washer with Charlie's Soap and it works fine for us (we use this soap for all our washing).  The first wash is cold with an extra rinse and the second wash is hot - no extra rinse.  I use one scoop of Charlie's soap in each load.  Then I hang them out on the line (weather permitting) or sometimes on racks in the laundry room.  I try to not put them in the dryer is it shrinks them a little and I think makes them wear faster (although it does make them very soft! - sometimes I toss them in for a few minutes off the line, just to be nice - but diapers straight off the line really work great I think).

 

Finally, I have a post here about nighttime diaper solutions, but let me caution you.  Using cloth at night can be DIFFICULT and don't let it come between you and using cloth just for the day.  There is not a law that says you have to cloth diaper all the time or not at all!!  After MANY years of struggling with nighttime diapers that just did not work - or spending money on products I was just "trying" and kind-of worked, but not really, I have conceded to becoming an Amazon Mom and ordering chlorine-free, paper diapers for night through Subscribe and Save.  Being an Amazon Mom saves me about $10 a box and Subscribe and Save gives me another percentage off.  So my Amazon Prime membership basically pays for itself by the end of the year and I get other fun perks like free two-day shipping and streaming of lots of movies and tv shows.

 

Now that I have said this, I am still using cloth for Miriam at night but only because I have several fitted diapers that I purchased for just such an event (as nighttime) but do not use regularly as I don't want to wear them out!  Many of them I picked up on sale or seconds from various sites.  They work "ok" when I pair them with a regular prefold, too (a lot of bulk - makes me have to size up her diaper cover and her pjs, but we have both already in bigger sizes so that is not an issue for us).

 

But my two-year-old wears this diaper at night and my four-year old wears these training pants at night.  It works for us.

 

So, to re-hash, my original thought for this post. . . cloth diapers has saved us A TON of money.  I could maybe figure it up for you, but I'm lazy.  But considering my dozen of prefolds cost $40 and lasts seven years and five kids, well, you don't have to be a rocket-scientist to put together it is a good investment!!

 

I believe I have said all I wanted to say about this (and possibly more).  Feel free to comment if you have questions, corrections from your own personal experience, or just like me :)