Cloth Diaper review and post

I have been meaning to post this for a while and since I had someone else ask... here goes.  I am very happy using cloth diapers.  For my tree-hugging and frugal side of life.

My favorite overall diaper I use daily is KaWaii (a Chinease brand). My favorite name brand are Bumpkins but they are pricey and come in different sizes so you have to order sizes as the baby gets bigger which also adds up. The one I like best --the KaWaii diapers (I bought them on ebay brand new-- around $100 for 12) Basically they snap to adjust to different sizes, they fit N best once he got up to around 10lbs which doesn't take long. I like owning about 20 cloth diapers because I can do laundry every other day then. We do a disp. for night and if we take him to church nursery or he has a sitter who is scared of cloth.


When N was a newborn the KaWaii cloth were too big. I had bought newborn cloth diapers, but I did not find them worth it. Basically, you have to at least wait until their cord stump falls off, which took several weeks for N, the cloth ones did not keep him dry at all, then the disp. ones are the cheapest diapers at that newbown age (around $.05 each give or take), so I think its worth it to just do disp the first month or two until the kiddo fits cloth ones. But if you don't think you can make the switch after that, it may be worth starting with cloth after the cord stump falls off.

My engineer husband figured that with water use-- a cloth diaper costs us about $.07 to use.  But since I am doing laundry for his clothes, bibs, etc... I think it even offsets that number... so its pretty cheap and I find it does not take much extra effort.  I just "stuff" his diapers at each use instead of when they get out of the dryer.  When he stops breastfeeding and has more solid poos, we may need to install the diaper sprayer we have yet to use/need.

The person I bought the KaiWaii from on ebay is Here is the person I bought from on ebay is linked here... and ones I didn't mention that I had bought and like N to wear sometimes when he is awake are made in Indiana are linked here.  I find they aren't as thick and don't absorb quite as well for long naps, but aren't as bulky and are easier to play in and sits better with his clothes. (Buy them from that company on earth day for a better deal.)

SO that's my quick cloth diaper review.  Hope that helps anyone thinking about going this route.  If I think of anything else, I will add it to this post.  Or email me/leave a message with questions.

Cloth Diapers 101

I continue to get a lot of questions about cloth diapering regarding my personal experience and general questions.  I recently wrote a long email to someone today and thought I would share much of it here too.   If you want to read my first post about the specific diapers I use click here. Hope it helps those that are new to cloth diapering and want something easier to understand.  It's just one Mama's method and explanation:

It can be confusing!  The best advice anyone gave me were to invest in just a few different types before diving in and buying all of one type or brand.  For example—I bought lots of newborn sized diapers that were homemade from someone.  They fit well but leaked like crazy and did not accommodate the little “stump” of the cord that hung on for weeks with a newborn.  When we have another newborn we'll do disposables in the early days so they accomodate the cord stump and wait until the snap diapers fit best (which I found was around 10lbs).

Let's back up...

There are basically three types of diapers…

The cheapest diapers in diaper lingo are called “Pre-folds”… the kind your mama used to use with pins (or the kind you use as burp cloths).  They usually are worn with reusable covers.  I never used that kind because I figured it wasn't easy enough for me and that the hubby would not use them.

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I tried the all-in-ones which are basically an outer cover and some kind of absorbent insert that is attached so you don't "stuff" any inserts in teh diapers-- its all one piece.  I tried one like this (Bumpkins) and liked it but still didn’t find it absorbent enough and also you have to buy them in sizes so they don't grow with your kid... therefore you have to buy more from small to large.  These are a lot more than prefolds for the convenience and are usually about the same price as Pocket diapers.

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The ones I use are “pocket diapers”… these can go for crazy amount for the name brand but I found the KaWaii are equivalent enough to Fuzzibuns or some of the others like it.  I also like that it adjusts with snaps so it grows with your child (unlike the all in ones) which you buy in different sizes.  They are pocket because they have a pocket where you stuff the inserts in (I just use one but I know some people add two inserts if their baby is a “heavy wetter.”  I also just stuff them one at a time when I change his diaper… it saves doing the whole basket of diapers at once.  But you can do it either way.

Note:  We still do disposables at night most nights so it absorbs the most and wicks away from his skin (whatever helps us all sleep the longest!)  and we use them with sitters just so its easier for them.  When I haven't I end up with dirty diapers back in the clean basket and parts and pieces thrown away. 

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Here is the inside and a photo of the outside...

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 We never did the diaper sprayer… another thing that I decided did not sound fun!  We use disposable liners—they add cost but I wash the ones that were just peed on and use a few times.  That way when he poos, we just throw away that part… the diaper avoids yuckiness and needing rinsing and we can just put it in the diaper pail without dunking in the toilet or spraying off.

Must Haves:

Cloth Diapers
Diaper Pail (Trashcan with a flip up lid)
Wet Bag  (Sized to fit your trash can)

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Optional but Recommended:

A second wet bag for when the other is in the wash
Cloth Diaper Disposable Liners
Small wet bag to stash in the diaper bag (Plastic bags work too)


Cost:
I bought almost all my diapers for $8 and under and have about 15 in regular rotation now which means I do laundry every 2-3 days.  Hubs has done lots of calcs and we feel that even using a disposable at night, we've saved lots of mulah!


Please ask any questions I may have left out or assumed and I will answer them or update the post.  Good look!  It's pretty simple once you get your system down and figure out what works for you!

Fluke or Perhaps another Benefit to Cloth Diapering?

I always planned to potty train a boy around 3.  It seemed everyone I talked to with boys said its grueling and takes boys longer to be ready than girls?  Well, at least that's what Kate said (of John and Kate) about potty training the sixtuplets.  So it must be true?

I'm a bit reluctant to share this but here goes anyway... at 18 months I bought my boy his first set of big boy undies.  For about 2 months now he's been telling me/us when he needs to go poopy on the potty.  All in all, its drastically reduced the dirty diapers I've had to deal with (although dumping poo and wiping a bottomis still not as fun as I had hoped it would be... ha ha.)

He likes to potty but not have to go back and put a diaper on, so I thought I would try big boy undies so all I have to do is pull his pants back up.  Sounds easy enough if he's accident free, right?

The only reason I bought a potty a couple months ago was because he seemed to time his poos with naps, so we thought we'd just sit him on the potty to see if he wanted to go before a nap.  I still don't plan to be hyper strick with potty training.  I know it takes time so I plan to just help him know when he's going, and make it fun when he decides he wants to use the potty.  So far today and yesterday we've had all the poos in the toilet and not his diaper.  He loves to read books on the potty and loves to flush it.  Currently, those are our only motivators.  Oh... and of course lots of verbal praise!

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I have recently read online that some moms potty train from day one or others potty train around 6 months when a baby can sit.  To each there own.  So far this plan is working for now and it's nice that he can say "mommy poopy" so I know when to take him.  I do think the cloth diapers have helped him be more aware of when he is going to the bathroom... at least that's my excuse.  : )

The first few times he sat on the potty took F.O.R.E.V.E.R.  We sat there about 30 minutes before he would go.  But now he goes right away, which is nice. 

What's your expereience in potty training?  I fully expect full potty training to take another year-- as in he doesn't have to wear diapers during naps... and maybe longer for night time?!  I've also had people tell me their kids do great for a while and then really bad again.  I guess we'll see how it turns out. 

The forgotten run

My 8 mile run this morning totally, completely fell off my radar.  I woke up at my usual time and had a missed call from my stepdad which immediately reminded me I was supposed to meet him at 5:15 for an 8 mile run.  Oops.  Looks like a long run alone (or with a jogging stroller) is in my future.  Bummer!

How did I forget-- aside from being human?!  Let me tell you a little story...

One of the dumb things my hubs and I did when we were early in our marriage was buy an "investment" property.  Dumb for many reasons but mostly because it has tied up a nice chunk of change and we didn't sell it right away like we thought we would! 

He's handy, I enjoy design and can swing a hammer when needed so we bought a fixer upper, added a full bathroom, bought carpet, updated tons... well... then the margin of profit wasn't as great as we thought so we decided to rent it out and wait on the market to go up more.  Low and behold a friend of my hubby's needed a place--so we let him rent it at our cost.  Another bad idea.  He also had a dog.  Bad idea again.  And without bad mouthing the guy-- the place did not stay looking nice in the 3-4 years he lived there and smells like dog.  He just moved out to change to an out of town job so I have camped out there painting and cleaning all week. 

Knowing all 4 bedrooms needed to be repainted I got the bright idea to attempt it while the kiddo was with me and awake. I brought his pack and play along but that lasted about 30-45 minutes before he really wanted out.  So I decided to let him roam for a few minutes and planned to put him back in.  That was until this happened...

Oh yeah-- that's a gallon of paint tipped over onto the carpet.  I only noticed (your backs to the room when you paint) because I heard him giggling and then saw him happily smearing his hands around in the puddle!  Whoa.  I scooped him up-- called my husband in a panic who said-- just take him home and get him cleaned up, leave the paint (there was no water on in this house at the time) and he said-- take a few pictures!

So here is kiddo after stripping him to his diaper...

 

So yeah-- all that to say-- the house and messes and constant working on it and knowing I was going to be back there all day again today-- is why I completely spaced that today was Saturday and I had a long run planned.

Disclaimers-- This was No VOC paint but did not make it a good idea to allow a toddler to roam in the room with a full can and a lid that obviously wasn't on very well!

Yes-- we usually use cloth diapers but knowing I would be here for a long day-- we put on the easier ones.

I do indeed do archi work at home but this week was a bit slower and therefore I tried to play this role too.  Little man has now had many naps there and I only paint during those.  Some lessons you do learn quickly. 

Here's to hoping we can sell the house and make an investment property another lesson-learned-- at least until a later phase in life!