Cloth Diaper Update

It seems like cloth diapers are a hot topic lately (at least in my world).  I get asked about 2-3 times a week the details of how I diaper Audra.  I wrote a post when we first started cloth diapering, and pretty much all of what I said is still true.  However, I thought it'd be good for me to update with answers to the most common questions I get, along with any other tidbits I feel like offering now that we've been doing this a while.  :)

1.  What brand do you use?
We use FuzziBunz One Size Elite. 

I recently discovered that these diapers have changed a bit since we got Audra's stash. 
1.  They used to have minky inserts, and they now use microfiber.  I've been told the microfiber is more absorbent. 
2.  They used to include replacement elastic with the purchase of a diaper.  Now, if you want replacement elastic, you have to call the company and ask for it.  They'll send it to you for free. (We haven't needed it yet, and I bet they're saving money by not giving them out when people may/may not use them). 
3.  The internal elastic no longer includes numbers for sizing.  I noticed that the numbers start to wear off after a while, and it makes sense that they wouldn't want to spend money printing them on there.  But how do you size them then, you ask?  Once you have them sized the first time (trial/error), you really don't need the numbers.  All you would do from then on is loosen it 1-2 holes as your baby grows. 
4.  They're using a different type of fleece.  When I saw it, it didn't look much different to me.  A few of our diapers have a fleece that is less prone to piling.  It looks smoother and softer, which makes for a cleaner look.  The new fleece looked like that.  The woman who ran the diapering store seemed to think it was a thinner, less absorbent fleece.  I haven't tested it, so I don't know. 

At first I wasn't sure if I liked all of these changes.  After talking them over with my husband, we decided that they aren't big enough changes to make us want to switch brands.  So, we'll be stashing up on more FuzziBunz when baby boy arrives.

2.  Why did you decide on FuzziBunz when there are many "better" brands out there?
To put it simply, those were the first I tried, and I liked them and decided to stick with them.  That's just my personality.  I find something I like and I stick with it.  I don't really enjoy the process of trying and possibly not liking something else. 
Are there other brands that I might like better?  It's quite possible.  Are other brands cuter?  Sure, other diapers come in super cute prints.  But I don't mind the solid colors I get with FB.  I honestly still find it overwhelming to look at and talk with other mamas about all the brands available.  There are TONS!  And it's exhausting to me!  I feel like you can spend a LOT of time (and money!) trying out various brands and always thinking there might be something else out there that's better.  Like I said, I'm the kind of girl who sticks with what works, and FB work for me.  I have many friends that really enjoy testing out different diapers and have lots of different types.  If that's more you, then go for it!  I just like having a lot of the same thing.  I like consistency. 


3.  Don't you find them hard to stuff?
At first, yes.  Then I found this video and tried her method (she talks about stuffing the diaper around 1:25).  It actually made it easier!  I also make sure I'm spreading my fingers as I pull my hand out of the diaper so that the insert is completely flat in the diaper & not curled under at the sides.  I don't think twice about stuffing the diapers.  It takes me a total of maybe 10 seconds, if that.

4.  Do you use them ALL the time?
We used to.  But the fact of the matter is that cloth diapers are less absorbent than disposables.  And when we're out and about, we have less time to change a diaper, which makes leakage more likely. 

This is where I differ from a lot of cloth diapering mamas.  I cloth diaper to save money and make my life easier.  I'm not a fan of making things any harder than they need to be.  We use cloth at home and at friends houses, then when we're out or going to bed, we use disposables (times when leaking is likely).  It's just easier/less stress for us.   Even after the few packages of disposables that we bought, we're still confident that we're saving money.  Disposables aren't cheap!

5.  What about the poop?  Isn't it gross? Do you put it in your washer?!?
Yes.  Poop is gross.  And only tiny traces of poop go our washer. 

When babies are breast fed, their poop is water soluble.  In other words, the only thing they're taking in is liquid; and when you throw that poopy diaper in the wash, the water easily dissolves and disintegrates the poop.  Those are the only poopy diapers we put in our washer.  When the baby starts on solids, it's another story.

When your baby starts eating solids, you've got a few options:
1.  Use a diaper sprayer and spray that poop off the diaper into the toilet (diaper sprayers use your toilet's water line and usually hang on the side of the toilet). 
2.  Use a thin liner on top of the diaper to catch the poop so it doesn't actually get absorbed into the diaper.   Then dispose of both the liner and the poop.

We use option 2.  We used to use the gDiaper liners, because we started with gDiapers and were given a ton of the liners at a shower.  They did the job, but I wasn't a fan of the way they disintegrated when they got wet.  Imagine putting water on a dryer sheet that had tiny bits of sand built into it.  That's what the gDiaper liners felt like to me.  They were rough, and when they got wet they left tiny bits of sand-like pieces on Audra's butt.  They actually irritated her skin and we ended up switching liners before we used them all.   When I was researching different liners, I came across a brilliant tip:  use Viva brand paper towels instead of an actual cloth diaper liner.  Brilliant!  They're soft.  They're strong, and best of all: you can get them almost anywhere!

So when we change Audra, it looks like this:
1.  Stuff the diaper
2.  Tear off a full-sized paper towel and fold it in half "hot dog" style (down the long side)
3.  Put the paper towel down on the diaper.  I position more toward the back than the front of the diaper so it can better catch the poo.
4.  Get the baby!
5.  Take off baby's current diaper, clean her up
6.  Put the whole clean diaper (which now has a liner) under her and secure the diaper
7.  Tuck in any paper towel or fleece liner that may be sticking out.
8.  Let the baby down to play while you do the rest
9.  Take dirty diaper & wipes to the bathroom
10.  Throw the wipes into the trash
11.  Peel the liner and its contents off of the diaper & into the toilet (don't let baby put her hands in the toilet!) ;)  There is usually a dry spot at the very back of the liner that I'm able to grab.  As I peel it off, I hold it over the toilet.  Once it's completely off, I set the diaper aside, and use my free hand to grab the liner and tear it as much down the middle as I can.  This way, you're not throwing an entire whole paper towel in the toilet.
12.  Unstuff the diaper
13.  Throw the insert & diaper into your dry bag (it's convenient to keep this in the bathroom so you're not going back and forth from toilet to dry bag to sink)
13. Wash your hands

Here's a good example of what it looks like to use FuzziBunz with a liner.  I may have Nic record me taking off a poopy diaper, putting a clean diaper on and disposing of the dirty one, but until then you can use Shawna's video.  We are actually in the process of getting a diaper sprayer, because once in a blue moon she has an extra large BM and in that case, the liner is toast & we're faced with a poop-splosion covered diaper.  Then we end up scraping it off with toilet paper &/or spraying it down with the hose... and that's not fun.  So we can see how a diaper sprayer would be helpful.  Sprayers can get expensive, but I found these directions to make your own, so that's on Nic's list of things to do.

Also- you'll learn your baby's poop schedule (hopefully).  Audra poops like clockwork.  She always goes in the morning either right after she wakes up or right after her bottle.  And it's almost always quite sizeable-- lucky me! (One day she's gonna love that I broadcasted this to the internet.)  For that reason, I just keep her in a disposable until after she goes, again because it's easier.  From then on, she's in a FuzziBunz (and yes, sometimes she'll go #2 again while wearing a FB).

If I feel like my washer is funky (which has only happened about 2 times), I just do a rinse cycle with nothing in it and pour in some bleach.  Good to go.

6.  Do you still stuff them all while you pump?
Well, no.  A) Because I no longer breast feed (that stopped when I got pregnant for various reasons), and B) because we're so efficient at stuffing the diapers at this point, we just do it right before we change her.  So when it's time to change her, we go and stuff a diaper & put on a liner, then go grab the munchkin and change her.  We don't lay her on the changing table and then stuff the diaper; you don't want to have to worry about watching the baby while you stuff the diaper.  Just stuff it really quickly beforehand, then get the baby.  It's just easier for us that way.  And also, our downstairs changing area is on top of the dryer in our laundry room, and the diapers are almost always still in the dryer lol.  When they're not in the dryer, they're neatly organized on a small counter we have in the laundry room.  It's (obviously) easier to store them where you change the baby.

7.  How often do you wash them? And how do you wash them?
We've got 15 diapers and I wash them either every other day or every 3 days.  I hate thinking about the bacteria pool that accumulates with time.   

I used to think washing them was hard.  I was reading and re-reading directions SO diligently, afraid that I'd mess them up and ruin them.  The fact of the matter is, that's pretty hard to do, unless you just blatantly disregard any instruction regarding scents, detergents and creams.  To put it simply, here is our wash routine (my husband even has it memorized & he washes them way less than I do!):

1.  Rinse- this includes your dry bag

• use either cool or warm water- it really doesn't matter 
• you can do the 'ultra clean' and let them soak or do the 'normal' cycle- it really doesn't matter (I like to let them soak, I feel like it gets the junk out better)

2.  Wash- this should NOT include your dry bag, so take it out

• use the hottest water your washer offers
• we use about 1/4 cap of Arm & Hammer Free & Clear that includes OxyClean
• steer clear of fragrances & do some research to find out what detergents are safe for cloth diapering.  You can find charts all over the place.  This one is pretty comprehensive. 
  
  TIP: Go easy on the detergent.  The more you use, the harder it is for your washer to get it all out.  Using too much will result in buildup, which will make your diapers start to smell and less absorbent.

3.  Rinse

• use warm water this time

4.  Dry

• use your coolest dryer setting or hang them outside
• Hanging them outside will keep your whites whiter

So rinse, wash, rinse.  That's it.  Rinse, wash, rinse.  At least twice a week: rinse, wash, rinse. 
Are there other washing routines?  Of course.  You can find lots of ways to wash them (just like people wash their clothes many different ways.  But they all work.).  In fact, all the FuzziBunz website tells me to do is just the rinse and then wash.  But I do an extra rinse because I want to be sure any tiny bits of poop have absolutely made their way out of there... and to make sure all detergent has made its way out.

8.  Any other tips?
Stripping the diapers:
There have been times when I felt like the diapers weren't holding as much as they used to, i.e. becoming less absorbent.  This usually happens due to too much detergent.  And I have forever been guilty of that, even when laundering my clothes.  I try to be really careful with the diapers, but it happens.  Detergent build-up is SUPER common.  It can cause them to be smelly, even after a rinse, wash, rinse and will cause them to hold less waste.  If/when this happens, I strip the diapers.  Sounds scary, but it isn't.  All I do to strip the diapers is this:
1.  Do the normal rinse, wash, rinse.
2.  Instead of drying them, do the 'wash' cycle again but instead of using detergent, use about 4 scoops of OxyClean.  **This is why I use Arm & Hammer Free & Clear with the OxyClean already in it.  I find myself stripping them way less often, since they get a very mild stripping each time I wash them.
3.  Do 1 more rinse just to make sure no OxyClean is stuck in there (not sure if it's necessary, but I always do). 

Diaper creams:
You can't use the typical "creamy" (white) creams when you cloth diaper.  These white creams leave a layer on the diapers that causes them to repel the waste (the same way it repels the waste from your baby's bottom).  If you do use one of these while you're using a cloth diaper, you'll have to strip the diaper (probably a few times) to get it all off.  If you don't strip the diaper, it will repel the waste instead of holding it. So you'll need to find a cloth diaper friendly option.  There are tons.  We use Angel Baby Bottom Balm.  We bought a 2 ounce jar in September and it just ran out in June. We didn't need to use it every time, but we did use it pretty often.  It smells amazing and does a great job.

Laundering your other clothes:
Wash:
I like my clothes to smell good.  I like detergents with fragrance, though I know I'd read not to use them because it would leave residue in your washer & effect your diapers absorbency.  I use them anyway.  And before I wash the diapers?  I do a rinse cycle with nothing in it, except maybe some OxyClean or my cloth diaper detergent to "clean" the walls of the washer. 
Dry:
You aren't supposed to use dryer sheets b/c they can create residue on your dryer walls, which can rub off onto diapers and make them less absorbent.  Unlike the washer, there's no easy way to get this residue off unless you want to get in there and wipe it down.  ...no thanks.  But we, particularly Nic, despise our clothes having static.  His scrubs and workout shirts are especially prone to static.  Instead of dryer sheets, wad up some aluminum foil and toss it in to prevent static.  It'll only work for about 2 loads, then you have to throw that one away and make a new one.  Our ball is usually about the size of a baseball.  You don't have to wad it tight.  Just a light crunch together will do.  Problem solved!

Google.
Google has become my best friend, in general, since becoming pregnant with Audra.  But especially when it's come to cloth diapering.  Information can be overwhelming... try not to let it get that way.  If you have a friend who already does this, ask them about it!  Or ask ME about it!  I'd be glad to help!  Stealing other people's routines and tricks has been what's helped me the most.


I hope this could be of help to some of you!  I know a LOT of you out there are thinking about doing this.  And a lot of you say you admire me for taking the time and energy to do this.  But friends, I really want you to know- it's not hard!  Seriously!  Like most new things, it takes some getting used to.  But once you get the feel for it, it's a piece of cake.  :)

Good luck to you!  & thanks for reading!

P.S.- More about baby boy on the next post!  :)

Cloth Diapering: We try, tried again (Part 2 of 2)

In part 1, I talked about how we decided on gDiapers, and how they were a fail for us.  THIS POST, I'm going to talk about how I decided on FuzziBunz.  :)  To be honest, there is a blog I follow which highly influenced my decision to go with FuzziBunz.  Reading Shawna's descriptions of the diaper, and describing her system really gave me confidence that this diaper could work for us.  This diaper has a couple of advantages to it that the gDiapers didn't have.  1- it's a one-size diaper.  This means that Audra can wear it now, and it's supposed to last her until she's potty trained.  This is possible through their internal sizing system (more about that in a minute).  So not having to buy another whole set of diapers when she's a 'medium' then again when she's 'large' or 'extra large' is saving us a ton of money!  To put a cherry on top, the FuzziBunz one-size diaper is actually cheaper than 1 of the gDiaper shells (with Nic's military discount), and they include the cloth inserts! Score!  2- it's an advantage to just stuff the insert in the pocket beforehand and then have one solid piece ready to put on her.  Stuffing the g's with the inserts was time that I was consuming at the changing table, and you had to be really careful to do it *just right* or the diaper wouldn't hold waste correctly.  The FuzziBunz pocket diaper system consumes time immediately after washing (I usually stuff them while I'm pumping or while Audra's napping) and I don't have to worry about putting them on just right.  Just snap them together and that's it!  (Similar to just securing a disposable.)

We knew the FuzziBunz worked for others, and we saw things we really liked about them.  All that was left was to try them out!  This time I was a bit more cautious.  I ordered 1 diaper from the FuzziBunz website and tried it out on Audra.  We wore it, and LOVED IT!  We washed it, we wore it and loved it AGAIN!  And washed it again, and loved it again!  We loved it so many times, we decided this would be our new diaper.  So on one of Nic's days off, we stocked up on the FuzziBunz One Size Elites. 

Here's a quick overview of how these work:

The outside has heavy-duty snaps to allow you to adjust for your baby's growth.

Excuse the bad lighting, these were taken at night.

The layer that touches Audra's booty is made of ultra soft fleece. (There is a bit of pilling on this fleece, but it doesn't effect absorbancy.) 

There's a pocket opening on her back where I stuff the (super ridiculously incredibly soft) minky insert.  The minky insert is what holds the bulk of her waste. 

And THIS is the coolest part...

The internal sizing system. 

This is what we adjust as she grows and allows us to use this diaper for so long.  Everywhere there is elastic (so on the back and around the legs), we can tighten or loosen it to fit our needs.  There are two button on either end of the elastic that we can adjust.  

Here are the buttons along the back.   You can see them on either side of the elastic.

You flip the diaper inside out...

 to get to the buttons that adjust the elastic around the legs (the other side is identical).

I forgot to take a picture of the numbers on the elastic, so I found this one from here.  The diapers have a sizing guide to help you know which numbers should work best for your babe, but of course you can play around with it and find what works just perfectly for you.

And there you have it! 

 When you buy these diapers, they come with replacement elastic (since elastic tends to stretch out over time) a small minky insert and a medium minky insert.  They also come with a lifetime warranty (which should cover any damage to snaps or buttons).  Just make sure you keep your receipt!

The only time I have experienced wetness with this diaper is when she had gone more than once in the diaper (should have changed it sooner!).   Even then, the wetness was not leakage around the sides, it was more like moisture seeping through the bottom of the diaper because the insert was just too saturated.  I wasn't bothered by this since I should have changed her sooner.

We've been using the FuzziBunz consistently for about 3 weeks now, and have had zero issues.  In fact, the only problem we have now is that we don't have enough!  I wash my diapers every other day, and we have 14.  We have gotten by on that many a few times, but usually by the time I need to wash them, she ends up going in a disposable for bed.

Speaking of bed, we  have even had success using this diaper at night time.  I add a little extra something, though, in case she goes multiple times.  This little tip was taken from the blog above.  So here's what we do:  when I'm almost finished nursing her for the last time, we put the nighttime diaper on her.  The nighttime diaper consists of a FuzziBunz shell, a normal FuzziBunz insert, and also a GroVia insert.  GroVia inserts have a water proof backing, so the moisture can't seep out the back.  Also, the GroVia inserts have TWO VERY absorbent layers.  So stuffed in the pocket of the FuzziBunz, we've got the minky insert and behind that, we've got a GroVia insert.  Yes, that makes for one bulky diaper!  But Audra doesn't seem to mind, and it gets the job done.  So the bottom line here, is that I'm so IN LOVE with this FuzziBunz One Size Elite diaper!  So happy to have this figured out.  :)  Hopefully this will help one of you find a solution to your cloth diaper needs.  :)

***I should add that I know there are MANY MANY great cloth diapers out there that work and you can be happy with.  These are just the diapers I chose.*** :D

Cloth Diapering: If at first you don't succeed... (Part 1 of 2)

When you start planning on having kids (or when you're surprised with a pregnancy; either way), you undoubtedly think of how much your child is going to cost you (monetarily, amongst other things). When your little one's a baby, you know that you're going to be shelling out some bucks in diapers.  It's something you need SO MUCH of that people shower you with them in addition to other gifts before the arrival of your bundle.  So when Nic and I started planning for a family, we started thinking of ways we could save money.  We know that cloth diapering has come a long way, so we decided they'd be a great way to save some cash.  And also, they're better for the environment.  And later, we found out that they can actually better for your baby as well.  Win-win-win.  We knew that cloth diapering would take some initial cost up front, but in the long run, cloth diapering would save us money.  So the question became, which cloth diaper do we use?

Cloth diapers today aren't the same cloth diapers my mom wore.  I have one of her HUGE safety pins that someone lovingly pinned her diapers together with back when she was ity bity.  Cloth diapering in 2012 is a little different.  Overwhelmingly different.  No safety pins, no single layers of fabric; we've got options.  LOTS of options.  (Options that still include those that were used on my mom.)  When I started researching, I saw hybrid diapers, all in 1 diapers, single layers, double layers, and to be honest... I had no idea what most of the stuff was that I was reading about.  So I researched.

We decided on diapers called gDiapers.  They seemed easy enough.  You buy the outer shell in the size you need (they come in S, M, L, XL).  The greatest part was, they come in such cute colors!!!

The shells have little snap-in pouches that hold the cloth.

Then you buy the cloth in the same size as the diaper and stuff it in the pouch.

Easy enough, right?  So when she goes "potty," you change out the cloth and put in another.  If you need to, snap in another pouch.  After explaining it over and over (I admit, it sounds like a lot of steps), I finally got Nic and our families on board with the g's.  I was SO excited when she finally got big enough to fit in her g's!

But all the cuteness in the world couldn't make up for what happened with the g's:  ...LEAKAGE.  :( At first, I told myself it would take some time to properly put them on her; we needed to figure out how tight everything should be.  Maybe we needed to smooth something or make sure the seal was properly placed, or adjust the aplix (velcro).  So we smoothed and adjusted and kept trying.  When they didn't leak I'd think, Yay, I figured it out!!! only to experience a leak the next time I put them on her.  I had such perseverance, but all to no avail.  In all, I'd say they leaked about 25% of the time.  Most of the time, it was just a little bit around her legs... but still, they leaked.  The breaking point was when the shell didn't even catch the leak.  I was nursing her and her pee literally ran down my stomach.  Enough was enough.  Wasn't the whole reason she was wearing a diaper to stop things like that from happening?

Finding out that the cloth diapers I chose [after ALL THAT research] didn't work was disappointing.  Make that SUPER disappointing.  It made me feel as though I didn't properly do my research.  I started second-guessing myself.  Didn't I research?  I did, didn't I?  Didn't I stay up until wee hours of the night [er, morning?] looking at different diapers and reading about them and looking at prices and benefits and reading reviews?  Yes, I sure did. So why was I coming across more diapers that I felt like I'd never seen or heard of before?  Where were those the first time I was researching?  That was the feeling I kept getting.  And the answer is-- I don't know.  I don't know why I didn't come across those new options that I recently found, but I'm glad I did.  I have to admit, it took some convincing to get Nic on board with another cloth diaper.  After all, we'd been using disposable since the g's were leaking, and the disposables were easy.  You just throw them away!  But shelling out $30 twice a month just wasn't appealing.  I knew there had to be a better way.  I knew there had to be a cloth diaper that worked.

So I did more research and decided on a new diaper, which I'll talk about in my next post.  I wanted to take the time to show you the g's and walk you through my thought process because the g's played a big part in learning about cloth diapering.  I can't even diss the g's; they work wonderfully for other babies.  Babies with chunkier legs, I think.  The thing about cloth diapering is, it's a process.  You can research until all the names run together and everything sounds confusing and you're dreaming about cloth diapering, but it won't matter until you actually get to try them on your baby.  That is really the only way you can test whether they'll work.  Not every cloth diaper works for every baby; you have to find what works for you.  And unfortunately, my first try didn't work for us.  I didn't talk much to my family about how disappointed I was in the fact that they didn't work, but I really was.  Both Nic's and my family had spent generous amounts of money buying us our first g stash, and I felt a bit like I was wasting their money.  Also, I have numerous friends and acquaintances with brand new babies who are cloth diapering, and seem to have found the perfect diaper the first time and have it all figured out so quickly.  Why couldn't I be the put-together mom with the definite answers who had it all figured out so fast?  After being a teensy bit jealous, I had to put my ego aside and just be happy that it's working for them and then hope and pray that this next diaper I chose wouldn't result in defeating me too. ::this process is a bit exhausting::

Since they didn't work, I am selling these g's. If you have a chunky monkey baby and would like to give them a try (after all, look how CUTE they are!), I will sell them to you for cheaper than you can find them at stores or online. Look here and contact me!  :)