What's all the Stink about Cloth Diapers?!

This is it. My official answers to the FAQs about the way we do cloth diapers.
Apparently there are more pregnant women in my life than non-pregnant women, so that's where this blog post comes in handy! Rather than answering any more emails about diaper stuff...I'm going to forward this link out like a mad woman. :)  It's long, and probably incredibly uninteresting to the non-mommy/preggie woman, but hopefully applicable to a lot of you out there!

Remember, as always in my posts about cloth diapers, I'm not trying to be offensive toward anyone that chooses to diaper their baby with disposables. Cloth is what we've chosen for our family. We think it's better, of course. Otherwise why would we do it? So these are my opinions and not meant to belittle your choices, but to convince those soon to be / new mommies that cloth really isn't what you think and to educate those who don't know of the world of cloth diapers!

It's been no secret on our blog that we've used cloth diapers for awhile now. Our diapers are on their second rear-end and still doing just as good of a job on that heiny as they did on their first heiny.
We started when Eden was around 5 months old and I wish we would have dove into it earlier!

Why did we start using cloth diapers?
Turns out that baby poo was wayyyyy more runny than the poo we were accustomed to! And no matter what disposable (here on referred to as a sposie) diaper we strapped on Eden, I ended up washing yellow-y baby egg-ish poop out of clothes. So, I figured if I was washing poo out of baby clothes, I might as well be washing it out of diapers instead.
That's why we started.
Now, we do it more so because it's "green." We're saving the planet one poopy diaper at a time. And we just feel like it's being good stewards of what God has given us, our money and our planet. When you think about how LONG it takes for a sposie to breakdown in a landfill, it's sickening. Not to mention that you're putting poop in a landfill instead of in a toilet where it belongs. So now we do it because we're weird hippies and we love God's creation!

How did you start?
I have a super awesome crunchy friend (Thanks Amanda!) who is way ahead of the learning curve when it comes to baby stuff. She was the only person I knew that did this stuff so I picked her brain until she was entirely sick of me, and then made the plunge, ordered our own stuff, and had my mom ship it to us overseas.

Anything I should read before starting?
Take a peek around www.diaperswappers.com   There's a WEALTH of information on there about more FAQs, tips, brands, sales, you name it. There's even a forum for buying and selling cloth diapers. (more to come on that!)

What brand do you use?
We use almost exclusively www.cottonbabies.com BumGenius 3.0 One-Size cloth diapers.  They've come out with a newer product, the 4.0, and it looks great...even coming in snaps!  We also have one FuzziBunz One-Size (mainly because I wanted an orange one) that I like fairly well, though to me it just doesn't fit as snug around the thighs. And we have a few Blueberry  one-size minky diapers. (this is our famous camo one) which I totally adore because of the minky, fit, and snaps!...but they are more pricey!

edited to add: I'm selling our FBOS. The orange is fun. It's a slim fit. But the adjustable elastic strap thing just drives me bonkers. I can't seem to figure it out right. Plus, the insert for it is way too short. Which again is just more confirmation to me that BumGenius (cottonbabies.com has got it all figure out in the cloth diaper world.) For the record, I still like our medium sized FB.




Tell me about the diapers and inserts...
We use pocket diapers. There are fitted diapers and prefolds that both require covers. There are all-in-one diapers that work just like a disposable...it's all in one piece. But pocket diapers have an absorbent insert that sticks into this pocket-type opening. To me, pocket diapers still have the ease of the all-in-one (which means they are daddy friendly!) but get cleaner than an all-in-one because you can take out the absorbent part for washing.

Where do you buy them?
Click on my links above. :) Or check out the diaperswappers link for a forum for buying gently used ones. (truly not as gross as you're imagining.) Or check out www.hyenacart.com for a jillion other brands that are made by mommies around the world! Other links:
www.kellyscloset.com   www.jilliansdrawers.com


Ummm....are you sure you're really saving money?
HA! Despite our addiction to the cute ones...Yep! Even taking into consideration electricity and water for washing and drying. All of that depends on what brand you buy, how many you buy, how often you wash...etc. Us personally? We broke even A LONG time ago (back before Eden was even out of diapers) with our initial investment. Since we're using (mostly) the same diapers with Salem that we did with Eden (the same bumGenius 3.0) we've had little additional cost. This is a good read for those that are financially concerned.
That's not to say that we don't spend money on diapers. I've still splurged on the fuzzy cute ones for him. And we do still buy disposables occasionally...which brings me to...

Are you all neo-nazi about disposables?
I used to be. I was hard-core cloth diapering with Eden. Even when we'd go on vacations I'd use them. I'm not that way with Salem. He sleeps in a disposable at night because being completely honest, I can't get our cloth diapers to hold enough pee to last him 12 hours at night. I'd rather him sleep 12 hours at night without waking up from having pee-jammies than to fuss with ultra-stuffing a pocket diaper. Plus when we go out for a whole day or vacations, etc...we do sposies.
That being said, I try to use them as little as possible. They're scientifically reported to be bad for your baby (what's in that diaper to make it hold so much pee?!?!?) and take hundreds of years to decompose.

Do cloth diapers leak?
Yes. Just like any diaper, they can. But cloth diapers aren't meant to be left on your baby for more than 2-3 hours. Sposies can hold like 7 lbs of pee. gross...so technically your baby could wear 1-2 diapers during one day. But lets face it, that's nasty. Please don't do that to your child. The great thing about cloth diapers is if you are washing one, you might as well wash seven. So I don't care how many Salem goes through in one day. Unlike sposies, I'm not spending any MORE money with each diaper that he wears. Salem can stay in one for about 2-3 hours.
Only twice, even after diapering 2 babies, have I had a cloth diaper leak poo. Before Eden wore cloth, she was leaking poo at least once a day. That newborn poo is near impossible...but newborn poo and cloth diapers are best friends. :)



What do you do with the poopy ones?
A diaper sprayer, my friends.  It's a cloth diapering mom's best friend. Hooks right to the toilet. You spray the nasty down the potty, and flush away.

What do you do with them until washing time and how do you wash them?
Dirty diapers go in a 13 gallon plastic trash bin in Salem's room. They don't smell up his room or anything. No diaper genie for us! Then when I wash (about every 2 days) I pull out the inserts, toss inserts, and pockets into the wash and then do:
-a cold rinse with no detergent
-then a hot wash with detergent and set the rinse cycle to rinse TWO times
-then machine dry the inserts and wipes (we use cloth wipes too...it's just easier)
-I hang dry the pockets inside on a folding rack because it helps preserve the elastic and velcro. not everyone does this. but I think this is what has helped our diapers last through 2 kiddos.
With cloth diapers it's important to use detergents that have no additives, softeners, or dyes. There's a massive amount of detergents out there that are cloth diaper friendly. We use TIDE Free and Clear. It's worked for us, so I stick with it.  Also, get rid of dryer sheets completely. Really? Do you really need those?! I've never really understood them. Plus they build up film on the inside of your dryer and stick to your diapers during drying time. That essentially repels liquid and cloth diapers and repelling should never be in the same sentence.

How many do I need?
Again, that depends on what kind you go with and how often you wash and how old your baby is. My opinion is that a newborn needs about 8-10 a day. Say you wash every two days, take into consideration laundry time...I think about 24 minimum for a newborn - 6 month old. We started with 18 bumGenius (which we still have) with Eden at 5 months old and I wished we'd gotten a few more. We've since upped it to 28 bumGenius, 1 FuzziBunz OneSize, 1 FuzziBunz size Medium, 2 Blueberry One-Size, 1 Swaddlebees. I like our stash. It's a bit excessive probably, but cloth diapering can become a little addicting! :)
I've tried a few others if you care to know my opinion on them...Happy Heiny, Butterfly Bunz, Drybees,  Kissaluvs, Thirsties, Muttaqins.  We tried these brands because my curiosity got the better of me. I ended up selling them all (diaperswappers!) and have always come back to the tried and true, good ole, bumGenius. They are fool proof!

More info on our brand choices:
bumGenius 3.0 (and 4.0) diapers (in my opinion) don't start fitting great until around 12 pounds. So if you are gung-ho about cloth diapering from the VERY beginning, they would work, but would be pretty big under those teeny clothes. We tried kissaluvs fitteds with Salem for awhile up to 2 months, but they seemed to make him rashy. Fitteds don't wick away moisture like pocket diapers do. bumGenius pockets are lined with suede cloth (FuzziBunz are lined with fleece) which even after being peed in feels dry to the touch. It's always been perfect for my baby's butts. :) But fitteds (and prefolds) keep the moisture right up against the skin and that never has mixed well for me or my babies. Again, our choice to use pockets has had a LOT to do with the wicking action! Plus suede cloth washes up SUPER clean. Even after 2 kiddos with super pooper action, ALL of our diapers are stain-free!
(in a few months cottonbabies is supposed to come out with the new colors of their bumGenius4.0 one-size diaper....if you are concerned about colors. :) And cottonbabies has a TON of diapering choices on their site other than just the 3.0 or 4.0.  From the reviews I've seen, any would be a great decision. Can you tell I like cottonbabies?!
Our diaper area:


Like I said above, we also do cloth wipes. I found a site on hyenacart for a woman that makes awesome cloth wipes. You could just use wash rags, but these are more fun. :) I use a spray bottle filled with water and a squirt of baby bath soap, spray it on a wipe or two, squirt Salem's heiny, and wipe away. The cloth wipes go right in with the diapers in the diaper pail for washing. It's an easier system for me than having a trash can for sposie wipes and a trash can for dirty diapers. Plus, when I'm washing diapers, I might as well be washing wipes too! :)



If I've left out something you are curious about please shoot me an email or leave a comment so I can help you out. Or search diaperswappers.com and you're sure to find a wealth of information (and opinions!)
As you can tell, there are a TON of choices out there when it comes to something that collects pee and poo! So don't think you have to just go with the majority and put your baby in a chemical laden disposable! Try some others, experiment with different brands, and you'll find some stuff that works great for you, your baby, your bank account, and the planet as well!