Archive | Cloth Diapering Problems

Those First Few Days: the Best Cloth Diapers for the Hospital

October 5, 2012 By Jeniffer

While I loved building up my newborn stash as we waited for Lily’s arrival, I wasn’t exactly sure when we would start using her adorable cloth diapers. I was pretty sure that I would be exhausted, so I kept a package or two of disposable diapers from my baby shower. You know. Just in case.

What I didn’t count on was the rash that left us using disposables on Abby for a month while it cleared up. By the end of the month, I missed our cloth diapers so much that I eagerly packed a separate bag for Lily’s newborn cloth diapers! I wanted to be ready to use them the moment she was born!

My birth plan included using cloth diapers during our stay, so the nurses were given a Bumgenius Newborn AIO in Butternut. They were able to put it on without any trouble thanks to the aplix closures. A couple of hours later, I posted a picture of Lily in another Bumgenius Newborn AIO, this time in Grasshopper.

I took all of my diapers with me: all-in-ones, fitteds, prefolds, and pockets. To help make them easier to use, I had already folded all of my prefolds and stuffed my 9 covers with them. This was especially nice since I didn’t have enough of the easier diapers to use full-time. I mixed up which type I used while in the hospital, and that helped me to still have several of the easier diapers after I got home.

So which diapers were the best cloth diapers that I used while in the hospital? Hands down, they were the Bumgenius Newborn AIOs. I was able to fold down the rise just enough to keep the umbilical cord stump from rubbing while still getting a great fit, something that I couldn’t get while using covers, my (discontinued) Swaddlebees pocket diaper, or my AppleCheeks. Of course, they were also the first diapers that Lily outgrew (right before she turned 4 weeks), so I’m glad that I didn’t build my entire newborn stash with them.

I also highly recommend having a large wet bag (I used a hanging Wet/Dry PlanetWise bag) that will be large enough to carry home all of the diapers you’ll be using. While I brought liners for the meconium, I found that I didn’t need them at all. I rinsed my diapers in the sink after poops, and the meconium rinsed right out without any staining whatsoever! In fact, it rinsed cleaner than her regular poops have.

If you want to start cloth diapering from baby’s very first diaper, it is definitely possible! And though Lily has worn a few disposables since then, choosing to cloth diaper in the hospital helped to give me more confidence as a mother. It also didn’t hurt that she had the cutest bum on the floor!

Note: This post was written as part of Diaper Junction’s Cloth Diaper Blog Squad and includes (non-affiliate) links to products on their site.

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Sometimes I Don’t Love It

October 1, 2012 By Melissa

Okay, ladies. I’m going to let you in on a secret.

Sometimes I don’t love my cloth diapers.

Oh, don’t get me wrong. They are cute. They save me money. I’m committed to them, even without a working dryer. Goodness, I started a blog to talk about them!

But there are days where I really, really, really don’t feel the love. You know, the days where there is just so much poop. Where I am so behind on the laundry. When I don’t want to find my coffee cup, much less an insert to stuff into one of the pockets hopelessly piled into a laundry basket waiting for me to “put them away.” I wash them twice and they still don’t smell quite clean enough, but I need clean diapers now, and I have half a mind to just run down to the end of the street and grab a pack of disposables from the grocery store. And sometimes I do!

It’s one of those seasons right now. I’ve not been feeling very well, Nehemiah is teething, my dryer is broken…. There are a lot of contributing factors. So I try to give myself grace for the days where a disposable diaper (or three) saves my sanity, and I also try to remember all the reasons I chose cloth diapers in the first place.

I also want to allow myself the freedom to be honest about it. With so many people I know thinking cloth diapers are “to hard” I can sometimes feel a lot of pressure to only focus on the good. But the truth is cloth diapering is just like any other aspect of life, it’s going to have ups and downs, and sometimes it is justhard.

And sometimes, like tonight, I do not love it.

Do you ever lose the cloth diapering love? How do you “rekindle the magic”, so to speak?

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Flats and Handwashing Challenge: Boiling Diapers

May 4, 2012 By Jeniffer

If you haven’t already heard, the Second Annual Flats and Handwashing Challenge is coming up! The Challenge will be from May 21-27 this year, and I highly encourage you to at least try it. Why? Well, first of all, while the Challenge itself is difficult, it’s also awesome to know that you can handwash. That you don’t need a washer or dryer to cloth diaper. And if something does happen to either, you’ll know it isn’t the end of the world. The second reason why you should at least attempt the Challenge? Flats rock. They’re inexpensive, durable, indestructable, and they. hold. up. As much as I love my pocket diapers, I’ve had several issues with them over time. I’ve never had an issue (other than growing out of the smaller size) with my flats.

The biggest problem that I run into with flats (and any natural fiber, really) is prepping them. Since my washer doesn’t have a hot water heater hooked up to it, I’ve gotten a bit creative with prepping inserts, prefolds, and even flats. I boil my diapers.

When I first started cloth diapering, I read several posts where mamas boiled to prep their diapers. The time that they boiled them varied, but the main “ingredients” didn’t. All you need is a stock pot (or your biggest pot), blue original Dawn dish soap, and water. I boil my inserts, flats, and prefolds (without elastic or snaps) for 45 minutes.

Two Sloomb booster inserts and an Applecheeks bamboo insert

**Please remember that boiling diapers with elastic or snaps could damage them. I did boil my sustainablebabyish multi-fitted snapless diaper along with these inserts, but I only boiled it for 25 minutes instead of the 45. Sisters ‘N Cloth does not recommend boiling diapers with elastic, snaps, or PUL.

Boiling inserts

Just a note: I’ve had the water boil out of the pot every time I’ve boiled diapers or inserts. If this happens or if too much water evaporates out of the pot, you’ll want to add more water to the pot. Of course, this does make the water stop boiling for a bit. The same is true if you’re boiling several “loads” of diapers. You’ll need to add water and a squirt of Dawn before adding more diapers.

When your diapers are finished boiling, the water will have a brown tint to it. This is especially true if you have unbleached natural fibers in the “load.” I used some kitchen utensils and my collander to get the diapers out and let them sit for a bit before trying to move them. They will be VERY hot after boiling. Then I wash/rinse them without detergent (the Dawn will be enough by itself) and dry as normal.

Voila! Your flats are ready to go, and you didn’t have to spend all day washing and drying them!