Dapper Diapers

I impressed a friend of mine the other day. I was looking at some pictures of his new baby on Facebook when I spied a cloth diaper peeking out of Baby's onesie. Here are the comments that followed:

Me: Is that a bumGenius I see??
Friend: Why yes it is. I'm surprised (a) that you know what they are and (b) you can tell from that picture.

What can I say? I'm a cloth diaper junkie. I always get excited when I find out someone uses cloth diapers. My husband wasn't surprised when I bragged about them to my pregnant dental hygienist. He used to kid me about spending so much time on DiaperSwappers. Several people have asked me "Why do you use cloth diapers? Why don't you just buy disposables?" Here's why (in no particular order):

1. Cloth diapers are cheaper over the long run. When you use disposables, you're literally throwing money away.

2. Cloth diapers are better for the environnment. According to one site "It is estimated that roughly 5 million tons of untreated waste and a total of 2 billion tons of urine, feces, plastic and paper are added to landfills annually. It takes around 80,000 pounds of plastic and over 200,000 trees a year to manufacture the disposable diapers for American babies alone. Although some disposables are said to be biodegradable; in order for these diapers to decompose, they must be exposed to air (oxygen) and sun. Since this is highly unlikely, it can take several hundred years for the decomposition of disposables to take place, with some of the plastic material never decomposing." Also, "when flushing solids from a cloth diaper down the toilet and washing the diapers in a washing machine, the contaminated, dirty water from both toilet and washing machine go into the sewer systems where they are properly treated at wastewater plants. This treated wastewater is much more environmentally friendly than dumping untreated soiled disposable diapers into a landfill."

3. Cloth diapers are healthier for Baby. Possible health hazards due to disposable diapers include toxic shock syndrome, allergic reactions, male infertility, asthma, urinary tract infections in baby girls, and immune system and hormone system impairment.

4. Cloth diapers lead to earlier potty training because the child feels wet. The chemicals in disposables absorb so much moisture that the child never feels wet.

5. Cloth diapers are so darn cute!

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Take the Time

A few weeks ago I went to the dentist to get my teeth cleaned. My dental hygienist is expecting a baby this summer and, between her scraping and my spitting, we chatted about babies and how expensive they are. She knew my second baby was born at home (see my previous post) and said she supposed I had saved money by having a home birth. I told her that since my insurance doesn't cover home births, I had not saved any money, but it was worth every penny and any more children I have will be born at home.

At some point she said "Formula is so expensive, but what else can you do?" My answer was immediately "Breastfeed." Neither of my children have had a drop of formula. Breastfeeding has saved me LOTS of money (and breastmilk is ideal for infants). I also told her about our local La Leche League.

I was telling my husband about our conversation and he interjected "So did you convert her?" Trying not to smile, I asked "What do you mean?" He said "You know what I mean." I had to admit that, yes, I did mention cloth diapers. One of these days I'd like to calculate how much money I've saved by using cloth diapers. It's not just about the money, though. I feel good that I'm not throwing away a lot of paper and plastic and chemicals. Nor am I exposing my baby to the chemicals in disposable diapers.

You never know when you'll have the opportunity to expose someone to new ideas. Take the time to talk with people. You may be able to impart some knowledge and, if you'll listen, you may learn something yourself!

3...2...1...Blastoff!

Let me start by reminding you that we use cloth diapers. Then you'll understand how I can devote a whole post to dirty diapers. The other day Jesse had THREE dirty diapers before naptime. Back in the good ol' days (before solid foods were introduced), I could treat wet and dirty diapers the same: toss them in the diaper pail, wash, dry. As long as your baby is exclusively breastfed, you don't need to rinse the diapers. Everything comes out in the wash. So easy! By the way, sunlight is a free and easy stain-remover. Now I have two choices...use a diaper sprayer or *gulp* dunk and swish. Looong before Jesse started solids I asked my husband to install a diaper sprayer. I LOVE it. I didn't realize how much until we spent a few days at my parents' house without one.

You can find "real" diaper sprayers for around $30 or more (on eBay and other sites), but I had read that many people make their own for less. Referring to this picture, Hubby bought some things at Lowe's and swiped the kitchen sprayer from my sink (I never used it for dishes). Apparently we don't have a standard toilet supply line, so he spent quite a bit of time collecting parts to make everything fit together. He thinks it would have been just as efficient to install a "real" one.

If you have a standard flexible toilet supply line and prefer step-by-step directions, here is a tutorial I recently found. Hubby thinks you should have a turn-off valve between the T-fitting and the diaper sprayer, as does one of the tutorial's commenters, because a kitchen sprayer isn't meant to have constant pressure. Either way you go, you won't be sorry. When Jesse has a dirty diaper, I turn on my sprayer, hold the diaper over the toilet (seat up), and spray away. Then the diaper goes in the pail until wash day.

Wonder Wraps

I recently ordered a Wonder Wrap diaper cover. I was so impressed I had to tell you about it. I was eager to try one because it's a one-size cover - it has several rows of snaps so it will adjust to fit almost any size baby. It claims to fit from 9 to 35 pounds. As I mentioned, I have only just now tried one so I can't tell you how it fits a little baby. Jesse is around 20 pounds and he's got two larger settings to go. Being adjustable, it can easily save you money because one cover can replace about three (small, medium, and large).

Another feature that sets it apart from other covers is it doesn't have fold-over elastic around the waist. The elastic is a little lower in the waist (if that makes sense) and looks more comfortable. To try to show you what I mean, compare these two pictures.





Jesse's wearing a Bummis Super Whisper Wrap in this picture. The white trim you see around the legs and waist is fold-over elastic.






Here's Jesse in a Wonder Wrap. Wonder Wraps are available in several great colors. (This is Blackberry.) It's a little difficult to tell from the picture, but you may notice the bit of "flare" around his waist. The elastic is sandwiched in the cover about an inch from the seam.

There are two things about the Wonder Wrap that some might consider disadvantages. It doesn't have the flap of PUL in the front under which you can tuck a trifolded prefold. You can still lay the prefold in it. If you snappi or pin then you probably don't care anyway. The Wonder Wrap also doesn't have gussets. I have covers with and without gussets, and I like both kinds. I don't find the lack of gussets to be a problem. I haven't done a side-by-side comparison (and Jesse's asleep in his Wonder Wrap at the moment) but the Wonder Wrap seems to be cut a little more generously through the crotch than the Bummis Super Whisper Wrap. So even if you're a die-hard gusset fan, you might still want to try one. I think I've got to get a couple more!

Man of the Cloth

He’s short, doesn’t have much hair, and has just four teeth. During the heat of the summer he was dressed in little more than a loincloth. Cold winter weather now finds him bundled in footed pajamas.

My little man of the cloth diapers. While I was pregnant with Baby #2, I made an amazing discovery. I discovered there is more to cloth than Gerber flats and prefolds (which barely suffice as burp rags). All-in-ones, pockets, fitteds, contours, prefolds, flats...there are so many kinds to pick from. How do you decide? If you’re like me, you act like it’s Thanksgiving and try a little bit of everything. I thought I’d use all-in-ones because they’re most like disposables – put one on, it gets wet/dirty, take it off (and wash, of course). I barely gave prefolds a second thought. After all, you've got to fold and pin them. Along came Jesse. I found out I hated all-in-ones because I wonder whether they get clean and they take forever to dry. Pockets are great; I can stuff as needed, then they’re easy on and easy off. However, much to my surprise, I’m beginning to think prefolds are my favorites. They get clean. They dry relatively quickly. I don’t have to worry about broken snaps or shot elastic. They are very adjustable – fold the extra down in front or back if the rise is too long, then pin where needed. I can add a doubler at night or naptime. There are several ways to fold them and, with minimal practice, I found one that works for us. They seem to be trimmer under clothes than pockets and all-in-ones (cheaper, too!). And there are wonderful devices called "snappis" that eliminate the need for pins.

If you haven't tried prefolds, you should. Make sure you get some of diaper-service quality (no polyester strip down the middle!). You may end up liking them as much as I do.

Cloth diapering

This weekend my husband was trying to be helpful. He did the dishes and vacuumed. He put away the clean laundry and asked if I wanted him to help with our diapers. "Sure!" I said. Well, I should have gone over the steps to washing and drying our cloth diapers with him. We currently use all prefolds and covers. We have some woolies but that's another post.

The way we wash our diapers is very simple. We use a dirty duds bag; no wet pails for us. Then dump them in the washer and do 3 cycles which are rinse, wash, rinse cycles. Hubby did a full wash with no soap, then a wash with soap, but then I caught him and did a last rinse with just the rinse cycle.

I prefer to do the first and last rinses with just a rinse cycle. This saves a lot of water and money. When washing your cloth diapers, remember to:

• Turn your machine to the hot/cold rinsing temperature.
  
  
• Use very little soap. We use a fragrance, softener, and dye free soap. All of those additives can irritate the skin and some can react with the urine in the diapers and cause rashes. You only need about a quarter of whatever the usual soap amount is.
  
  
• Fill your washer to the highest water level so the diapers have lots of room to move and groove and get clean. Even if you don't have a full load of dipes. It's actually better to wash around 2 dozen at a time so they can really move in the wash. I have 2 kids in dipes so we usually do around 2 or 3 dozen prefolds at a time and the various covers and doublers.
  
  
• Do a last rinse cycle to be sure that all of the soap has been rinsed out and add vinegar to that last rinse. Vinegar neutralizes the urine and restores the Ph balance in the diapers. It also makes them soft and smell good. We use whatever vinegar we have on hand. At the moment we're using apple cider vinegar. Take out the dipes and smell them! So clean and fresh smelling right?!
  
  
• Throw them in the dryer and hold off on the dryer sheet! The dryer sheets can leave a film on the diapers that repels water. That's not helpful at all since you want to absorb not repel water. (Plus, they're not that great for your dryer, either.) You can dry the covers in the dryer, but the elastic will last longer if you hang them to dry. Plus, it doesn't take long to hang dry them. You may throw a towel or tennis ball in with the diapers to help them dry faster, but it's up to you.
  
  
• Line drying in the sun is also an excellent way to dry the diapers. The sun is a natural bleacher and will fade all those unsightly poop stains. I think it's also super cute to have all those wonderful diapers swaying in the breeze. I really feel like I'm doing something good for my children and the environment.