Before I could just throw the diapers on her, I had to wash and prepare them. The (annoying) thing about cloth diapers is that you have to use specific laundry detergent or they will get messed up (begin to repel liquids, smell bad, etc.). The good thing about the detergent is that it isn't one particular brand you have to use, but the brands that work the best aren't easily available locally. I had originally ordered some of the special detergent from Wal Mart, but they screwed up my order and I received 12 huge bottles of dove body wash instead... Anyway- on Monday I went to Greenlife and got some of the Soap Nuts laundry detergent. Soap Nuts are highly recommended for cloth diapering and are literally the dried fruit from a Chinese Soapberry tree. I felt like SUCH a hippie buying them, but hey- they are good for the environment and good for Miss Catie Grace's booty!
I washed all the diapers (one pre-rinse, one hot/cold wash with an extra rinse) and hung them to dry. You can dry cloth diapers in a dryer, but they will last longer/do better if you hang them. Also- that is saving energy and is even MORE green! The unfortunate thing was that it was pouring rain the day I washed them, so I had to put them on a drying rack inside and put a heat lamp on them. That worked well- they all got dry! The hardest part was putting the inserts (the absorbent part) back into the diapers. I have a few different brands of diapers and I didn't pay attention enough when I was taking them apart to wash them to see which inserts went with which pocket diaper. It took me the better part of an hour to figure out which one went with which, but that was truly just user error.
Once everything was completely washed and dried, I decided to fit Catie Grace for the diapers. The diapers I chose are one-size diapers meaning that she will use the same diapers from 10lbs to potty training. Some of the diapers I got do this by having different snaps. When you put the diaper on the baby, you just snap the diaper on the size that fits your baby. The other brand of diapers (Fuzzibuns) has elastic in the hip, legs, and waist as well as the different snaps. I had to adjust the little elastic to the right size for Catie Grace (which she needed a slightly looser fit in the legs because she's got some chubby ones) on each of the diapers. That sounds like such a pain, but it honestly wasn't that bad. I like those diapers because it gives her such a personalized fit rather than just small/medium/large.
So we have used the cloth diapers for about a day and a half now. They really aren't much more difficult to use than disposable diapers. When Catie Grace dirties a diaper, I take it to the toilet and spray it with the diaper sprayer (basically like the spray attachment on your kitchen sink) and throw it in the diaper pail. The pail is fitted with a smell proof, leak proof liner so there aren't any lingering smells or anything. When I was ready to wash some diapers today I just pulled the pail liner out of the pail and put it all in the washer. Again, remember that I clean each diaper before it goes in the diaper pail with the sprayer so there isn't a bunch of poop in the washer!
I am planning on putting the diapers on the drying rack outside in the sun today. We haven't had any leaks or issues with the diapers yet. For some reason, even though this is the choice I made, I have in the back of my mind that something will go wrong or this will be very difficult. So far, so good! Let's hope this keeps up! I feel really good about having Catie Grace in a chemical free diaper AND helping the environment at the same time.
Here are some pictures of our little one in her cloth diapers. They are so soft on her skin and I think she likes them!
Since I am doing the diaper laundry anyway, it kind of makes sense to use cloth wipes too. That will be the next thing I tackle. I will let ya'll know how that goes!
1 comments:
She looks so cute in them! They are much more attractive then regular diapers :)
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