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Friday, April 8, 2011

Back in the Saddle Again (with cloth diapers!)

After almost 2 years straight of cloth diapering, I was ready for a break. Plus we were dealing with some stink issues that I just couldn't seem to resolve. We used disposables for about 2 months. And not even the eco-friendly, chlorine free disposables. Nope, just the plain old, cheap-o Target diapers. (Which are great, btw.) But now we've resolved all our issues, I've had my break, and we're back in the saddle again! It feels great!!! So in honor of that I'm going to share our cloth setup and some of the basics of cloth diapering for those of you who might be interested.


Why cloth?
It's better for your baby, better for the environment(did you know a disposable diaper takes 200-500 years to decompose?), better for your pocketbook, and better on the eyes!


Who could resist that cuteness???






There are tons of different cloth options, and we can talk about them sometime if you're interested. But for now I'm just going to share about Flips, which is the only type we're using right now. My crunchy friends know me as Flip diapers' number one fan. And for a good reason- these diapers are great!

All you have to do is lay the insert into the cover(I'm using the stay-dry inserts here), and then snap it on! And as long as the cover doesn't get poop on it, you can lay it out to dry and re-use it a couple of times without having to wash. Very convenient!




We use cloth wipes too. I find it's easier to just be able to throw the wipes into the diaper pail with the diapers, instead of finding a separate trash can for the wipes. Another thing I love about using cloth wipes is that I know exactly what's going on my baby's skin, since I make my own wipes solution. And I can't believe it took me 2 years to figure this out, but a couple of days ago I discovered that my cloth wipes will fit perfectly in the little disposable wipes cases for travel.


You can spend a lot on pretty wetbags if you want, but I like to use the cheap waterproof camping bags from Walmart. You can get a set of three (small, medium, and large) for only $10.

It feels good to have my baby back in cloth again, and I'm sure he's loving it too. The solution to our stink problems turned out to be a combination of Bac-out and switching detergents, and everything is as good as new!


Do you use cloth with your babies? What's your favorite type of diaper? 

2 comments:

  1. I found you on TLB.

    I use cloth. I began with mostly AppleCheeks covers (size 1) and prefolds. I have variety, including cotton and bamboo blends. I have a bunch of liners too made out of either cotton, or bamboo, or fleece. My little guy is outgrowing these and so I just got a new order of larger prefolds from CaterpillerBaby on-line. I have made some wool diaper covers. Some are knit and some are made of repurposed sweaters from Value Village. You can see these here http://lacafetiere.blogspot.com/2011/03/re-purpose-diaper-covers-out-of-wool.html I also have a bunch of prefitted diapers that were given to me second hand. I guess we just use whatever we can get our hands on without spending too much. I use cloths for wiping too. I usually use warm water, but recently made a homemade wipe solution. I'll post about that soon. I am starting to run in to a bit of a stink issue as well, but I thin it will be better once my clothes line is fixed and these diapers can get some sun!

    What detergents are you using?

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  2. Hi Amanda! Sorry it took me so long to respond- I'm a bit new to this blogging thing and didn't realize I had a new comment until just now!

    I was using Arm and Hammer (the free and clear stuff), and it worked fine for almost 2 years. But I suspect they may have changed something recently. The bottle looks different, and I know that it could be the same product inside, but the package change happened just as I started having issues. So I'm a little suspicious. ;)

    Now I'm using Tide original liquid. It seems to work well, although I'm not a fan of the scent. (And it's so dang expensive! Only using it on the diapers.)

    I've tried a couple of the natural detergents (Allens and Rockin Green) and neither worked well for me. I hear rave reviews for them from other people though! I think some of it has to do with your water and the ph of your child's urine as well. Just have to find what works for you.

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