First, a shout-out. We are really proud of some of our new parent friends and their commitment to cloth. You know who you are. Welcome to the fold (pun intended).
We hit a few minor cloth diapering speed bumps in the 4 months since my last CD post.
1. stink.
Our diapers started to reek a few months ago. The ammonia smell could knock your socks off. No amount of baking soda in the pail could mask the smell.
Solution? first- rinse all diapers with water before putting in the pail- even just the wet diapers. Second, when you notice the smell, do a pre-wash with hot water (its a speed wash setting on our LG front loader), then wash with the normal vinegar pre-wash and long hot wash with an extra rinse. Do this at night- it takes hours in the machine, but gets the smell out. Finally, if you can, line dry so the sun can get to them. In addition, once per month add some bleach to the wash. I know, I know, bleach is bad, but trust me on this one, I have it on good authority from the cloth diaper experts that it's ok in limited amounts. And as always, make sure you're only using cloth-approved detergent (we like Rockin Green) and not too much of it. Soap build-up will reduce absorbancy of the diapers and lead to odor.
2. leaks
We were starting to have this problem when I last blogged about diapers around her first birthday. Her wet diapers were starting to leak frequently. The leaks occurred predominately when wearing a BumGenius4.0 diaper. We adjusted the rise and waist settings- no help. We were also getting some leaks with our beloved prefolds and covers.
Solution? Flip organic insert and cover! I cannot sing the praises of these diapers enough. They NEVER leak. She could probably pee all day in one and no leaks (not that we'd allow that. Seriously. Gross. Change your kid every 2 hours!). The inserts fit in Bummis covers as well so we're still able to use our old covers. When at home and we know we can change her frequently, we still use the original prefolds, but they arent quite as absorbant and I think make her skin wetter. They will be perfect when we try our first potty training attempt in October because she will be able to feel that she is wet. For naps or longer diaper times if using a prefold, we always add a hemp babies doubler. In my opinion (and we've tried many brands) they are the best doubler on the market.
3. trash
I've been more and more bothered by our trash recently. I have a too-heavy reliance on paper towels in the kitchen and the 1-4 wipes/ diaper change was starting to seem excessive.
Solution? Cloth wipes and homemade solution ONLY! We've always had some cloth wipes available for very messy diapers, but a few months ago we made the switch to cloth wipes only. We put them in a wipe warmer covered in homemade solution (we use honeychunks brand dissolved in water). The best cloth wipes are Target Circo brand baby washcloths- perfect size and thickness and super cheap. About a dozen is all you need because you wash them with the diapers every other day. It's wonderful! No more artificial fragrances or extra trash. And yes, once again, saving money. Which brings me to my final point.....(I should mention I've batted around the idea of using cloth wipes in place of toilet paper. You'll have to come visit to see if we do it!)
4. cost
Just Kidding! We have purchased only 1 or 2 Flip covers and some vinegar for the wash in the last 4 months. About $30 total. I just bought some custom diaper covers (photos to come soon!) from a friend with a great Etsy/facebook site for an additional $28. We didn't really need them, but they were too cute to pass up. Just wait! SO, less than $60 in 4 months (and that's probably it for the year save some detergent). What would we have spent on disposables and wipes? Much more.
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