Thursday, June 10, 2010

Cloth Diaper Blog

since I started CD'ing delilah, it seems like everyone has been asking me tons of questions about what its like, how to get started, what to use, etc! So here it is, all in one easy blog!

***Some things I will just copy from the net, but will try to but as much in my own words as possible!***

WHY cloth diaper? Well for starters, did you know it take 500 years for a disposable diaper to break down in a landfill? that means EVERY SINGLE 'sposie ever used in the history of disposable diapers...is still sitting around in a landfill somewhere. yea, i know. i was shocked too! Kinda gross if you think about it huh? Plus, think of all the money you can save!!! Sure, it can be a little expensive to start CD'ing, when your building up your stash. But atleast you arent throwing away your money, like you literally do with disposables!!! And once you have a good stash going...you never have to buy any more again...unless you want to, like me lol!

How do they work? I've used 2 diff kinds of diapers. A fitted made by GoodMama (tho many many more people make them, i just prefer her designs so far) and a Indican Prefold.

Fitted: A shaped diaper that includes elasticized legs. Most commonly has an aplix or snap closure. You need a cover to make this type of diaper waterproof. (description gotten off a public forum)


I also started using prefolds today, which i purchased from cottonbabies.com.

Prefold: A flat, layered, rectangular diaper with extra layers for absorbency in the center. Commonly used with a fastener and waterproof cover. Economical to buy and can be re-purposed as burp/cleaning cloths or inserts/doublers. Great for the newborn stage. You need a cover to make this type of diaper waterproof. (description gotten off public forum).
(with the waterproof cover)


As you probably noticed, in the prefold picture, Lilahs diaper doesnt have snaps, like it does in the fitted GM. For prefolds, you will need to use a Snappi( the pink thing) which works in lieu of the old fashioned diaper pins! super easy to use!


AI2s:. Basically, they are as easy as disposables. They have a waterproof layer sewn into them (so you still get the cute design that you wont have to cover with an ugly waterproof cover) and have an insert that snaps in. Inserts are great, as you can add more than one to a diaper, if you are going somewhere for longer than usual or just have a super wetter. now that Delilah is almost a year old, we use mostly AI2 and pockets (pockets are pretty much the same, except they have an opening where you shove the insert in, instead of snapping it in. Think of how you shove a pillow into a pillowcase. thats pretty much how you "stuff" a pocket) bc they are simple and pretty cute. she rolls around way too much for me to get a quick prefold and snappi on her now.
There are SOOO many other types of CD's, but As i havent used them personally, i wont post about them unless asked.

How do you wash them? Washing is a lot easier than I thought, and not as gross as you might think! when delilah goes #2, i rinse it off really quick in cold water (to prevent staining, tho infant breast fed poop is water soluble), then put it in my washer, where i already have cold water with soap waiting. As soon as i get enough diapers for a load, i wash it in Hot, do a rinse in cold, and then pop them in the dryer. Regular heat seems to work fine for the ones I have so far. Pretty easy huh? You do have to use a certain type of detergent, i have heard good reviews on Rocking Green, but personally use Crunchy Clean bc Delilah has such sensitive skin.

Are they Messier than Sposies? Nope! and they are less "blow out prone" than sposies! When a baby pees in a sposie, it causes the material to expand, so if they pee and poop in one diaper, you usually end up with a blow out. In cloth, i have only had ONE messy diaper, and that was bc i put it on her wrong (it was 3am and i was tired lol) so it was entirely my fault, not the diapers! when you ahve a poop or pee diaper, i just roll it up like you do to a sposie, and put it in my wet bag if im out, or straight into my waiting cold rinse if im home! easy peasy, oh so breezy!

What about Stains? A Good pre-rinse or a good detergent should elimnate any stains, but if you happen to get some, just lay them outside in the sun for 10-20 mins and they should fade away almost completely.  aka Sunning.

If I wasnt convinced to use CD's before, I was after the first 24 hours of Lilah wearing them. We switched to CD's bc every single brand of 'sposies that i used on her gave her a horrible reaction on the sides of her bottom, which deff wasnt a diaper rash. After wearing them not even 24 hours, the rash was already healing! By day 2, it was completely gone!

so not only am i CD'ing to help the environment and to make my carbon foot print a little smaller, I'm doing it for my angel.


As i get more info, ill keep posting it. If you have any questions i didnt answer or cant answer, feel free to take a peek at my friend Paige's Blog. she is the one who got me hooked in the first place, and has been doing it a lot longer than I have!

hope this blog is useful to those who have asked for it!!

XOXO

4 comments:

  1. awesome. it was very helpful for me. there are so many different kinds that you can use. its overwhelming. but I will slowly just start buying them and figuring out which ones I like better. :] thank you for the help.

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  2. i would suggest starting out with prefolds, as they are the cheapest! that way, if u dont like them, you havent really wasted any money!

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  3. Super helpful! I told my husband about them and his response "I guess we could try them" we are planning on trying to conceive once he comes home so I am trying to research as much as possible about stuff to explain to him when he gets home!

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  4. Aw im glad!!! And good luck on TTC!

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