So the following post is LONG & ALL about cloth diapers, so if you are not interested go ahead & skip it. I'm writing this to share our experience & because I've had several people ask me about how we cloth diaper. This is what we have found works for us.
I'll start with Haley's cutie booty stash...
...it includes various Blueberry, FuzziBunz, BumGenius, GroBaby, Thirsties, GoodMama, Sustainablebabyish, DryBees, Knickernappies, HappyHeiny, Gen-y, BabyBeehinds, SoftBums, Rumparooz, RockyMountain, KiwiPie, ImseVimse, Haute, Dream-Eze, BabyKangas, Swaddlebees, Green Acres & AppleCheeks. These are a variety of pocket diapers, all-in-ones, fitted & covers. If I had to pick I'd say our favorites are BumGenius(daddy loves the velcro tabs), Blueberry & Fuzzibunz, but I really do love them all. At night time we use a BumGenius All-In-One with an extra insert & it does a great job of keeping Haley dry.
When we started cloth diapering I started researching diapers & I was surprised at how many different types there were & of course I wanted to try as many as I could. So that is why Haley has so many different types of diapers and of course because they're so darn cute!
Changing Diapers:
We have also started using cloth wipes, I tried a couple different types, my favorite is the FuzziBunz Double-Sided Wipes. I leave the wipes dry until it's time for a change & then I wet them as I need them with a squirt bottle filled with Baby Bum Drops wipe solution.
Once Haley has a new diaper on I take the insert out of the dirty diaper & toss the diaper, the insert & the wipes into the diaper pail. The diaper pail is a trash can with a BumGenius Diaper Pail Liner.
If Haley has any hint of diaper rash, I use Northern Essence Diaper Salve for Sensitive Skin. It's safe for use on cloth diapers, it works great & oh it smells so lemony delicious!
For those pesky poopy diapers, I place the dirty diaper & wipes on a BumGenius Microfiber Towel & carry them into the bathroom.
Then I pull out the insert & spray off the wipes & diaper into the toilet with our BumGenius Diaper Sprayer. Once the majority of the poop is rinsed off, back to the diaper pail, where I toss the towel along with everything else into the diaper pail.
Laundry Routine:
I usually do diapers every other day. I start in the morning by emptying the diaper pail liner bag into the washer including the pail liner. Because we have really hard water we have to use Calgon Water Softener to get our diapers clean without getting a build-up causing the diapers to stink & repel. I also use Planet detergent because it is safe for cloth diapers & it works with our hard water. I tried Charlie's Soap, but because of our hard water it didn't clean very well.
So, I start with a cold wash with Planet filled to the 0 line inside the cap(very small amount) & 1/3 a capful of Calgon. Next, I do a hot wash with the same amount of Planet & Calgon. Finally, I do a cold rinse. Every 2-3 months I take all the clean inserts & wipes & do a hot water wash with a 1/4 cup of Bleach & then a couple more hot rinses. This strips the inserts of any build-up & keeps them thirsty. Do not use Bleach on the covers as it can destroy the PUL which keeps the diapers water-proof. Finally I put the diapers outside on a clothes line to dry.
The sun does an amazing job of getting rid of any stains on the inserts, diapers & wipes. Once the diapers are almost dry I throw them in the dryer on medium heat for 20 minutes just to give them that soft, fluffy feel.
Then in the afternoon or evening while Haley is playing I stuff all the diapers. Haley loves to "help", she really just loves to throw my nicely stacked piles of diapers & wipes around! So, this is the laundry routine that works for us & keeps our diapers clean, fluffy & thirsty.
Travel:
First, whenever we are going out for awhile I line Haley's diaper with a Bummis Bio-Soft Flushable Liner to make for an easier clean up if she poops.
In the diaper bag I have a GroBaby Diaper with an extra snap-in and a Planet Wise Wet Bag.
I also have a small bottle of wipe solution, a couple of cloth wipes, a Bummis Flushable Liner, biodegradable doggy poop bags & some disposible wet wipes. If Haley has a wet diaper I just use a cloth wipe with solution & place the diaper & wipe in the wet bag.
If she has a poopy diaper, I dump the Bummis Liner into a doggy poop bag along with any disposable wipes I use, tie it shut & toss it. I use disposable wipes while we're out and about on poopy diapers for easier clean up. I don't flush the liner because I have heard liners can cause plumbing problems with older pipes & anyways, when we're out & about I don't usually change her diaper by a toilet, so it's also more convenient. I put a new diaper on with a new Bummis liner & the dirty diaper goes into the wet bag. Once we get home I just empty the wet bag into the diaper pail, toss the wet bag in & it gets washed along with everything else.
So that's it! I can't say enough about how much I love cloth diapers & I'm so happy our family made the change to have a fluffy bottom baby!
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