Yes, we are cloth diapering!
You might be asking yourself, WHY??? Here's why, you doubter of the delights of cloth:
1. Disposable diapers are insanely expensive. You go through so many so much faster than you would ever think. With cloth diapers, we have about 24 and can reuse them with all of our future babies. They are expensive in the short term (think $50 for 3) but so much cheaper in the long term. Seriously, that is how expensive disposable diapers are when you need to buy so many.
2. Disposable diapers are horrific for the environment
3. Cloth diapers are better for potty training because the baby can feel the moisture more
4. Cloth diapers are better for baby skin/tushies
Anyway, we used disposable diapers until Mila was at least 8 pounds and until we were relatively familiar with her diaper-changing schedule. I think this also reinforced all of the benefits of using cloth as we got to see how quickly our diaper stash was depleting.
After a lot of research, we decided to use BumGenius 4.0
They are a one-size-fits-all diaper. The snaps can adjust the diaper to fit from 8 pounds through potty training. Mila is pretty little and they fit her well. Though, to avoid any leakage that happens until she is a bit bigger, we place a tiny washcloth in the diaper and it works perfectly.
They work like this:
There is an insert that goes inside of a pocket on the interior of the diaper. There is an infant sized insert as well as an adjustable one that will fit at any size.
We are also placing a disposable liner between her and the diaper to catch thicker bits of poop (definitely helps for cleanup)
This is also helpful for those poops that happen the second you diaper the baby, the ones that normally waste the brand new diaper you just put on. The liner catches this perfectly before anything absorbs into the actual diaper.
When it is time to change her, we unsnap, throw away the liner, and remove the insert from the interior pocket (which has absorbed all of the liquid like a sponge).
The insert and the diaper require a cold rinse, which can be done in any sink if it was just pee. The now rinsed off items then go into a wet bag, which is exactly what it sounds like. It is a waterproof bag to hold all of the diaper stuff until you have time to wash them (we wash every couple days or so).
Here is one of ours:
We have a large one for home and then a couple for traveling.
If there was poop, it needs to be removed before the diaper and/or insert can be washed.
Some poop WILL sneak past the liner. Baby poop is amazing like that. It gets everywhere.
Seriously.
Everywhere.
At first, we tried regular water pressure but that stuff hangs on for dear life.
Then we had to use the sprayer in the kitchen sink:
disgusting and totally unsanitary.
We HIGHLY recommend getting a cloth diaper sprayer. This is the one we have:
It is also by BumGenius.
It was really easy to attach to the toilet and, sad to admit but very true, super fun to play with.
This thing BLASTS off any and all poop from the diaper. You would not believe the power!
BUT, with great power comes great responsibility...
This thing blasts poop off the diaper but it is so powerful that you cannot help but have some spray back. Onto you. Onto the wall. Everywhere.
The solution?
A Spray Pal!
I read about it online and users said it was a must-have for cloth diapering.
We completely agree!
Basically, it is plastic folder type thing with a binder clip on the end to hold the diaper in place. You can then blast away and no poop ends up on the walls!! It is amazing!
It can easily be made flat to tuck wherever.
Machine wash cold. Then dry the inserts in the dryer and hang dry the actual diapers.
We wash the load at night and everything is ready to go in the morning. I then put the inserts back in and BAM, all of your diapers are ready to be used!
Everyone seems to recommend using disposable diapers at night to avoid the hassle of all this poop spraying. We are also using disposables while out to avoid having to transport poop all day (depends on how long you will be out).
Honestly, so far, it is much easier and much less disgusting than I had imagined.
Makes you wonder why anyone would spend so much money on disposable diapers.
Our journey began about a week ago. I will continue to document it here for all of your curious folks/ those who are contemplating taking the journey for themselves/ or for anyone who just loves talking about pee and poop.
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