To cloth diaper or to not cloth diaper that is the question...

Logan rocking the Blueberry all in one

In the first two months of Logan's life we went through 720 diapers. He was that baby who would make a fuss anytime a drop of pee hit his diaper. I realized how much waste was going into our environment and landfills. I decided to go cloth.
Once you tell people you're going cloth they look at you as if you said, "I'm going to murder my baby now. Care to join?"


My husband on the other hand was not as enthused as I was. His complaints were:

• Oh, it's going to be harder
• His poop is going to get on our clothes, on our washing machine, on our walls etc.
• It's going to make the house smell
• How am I going to learn how to fold it
• I'll never remember how to fold it even if I learn

Blueberry all in one diaper with bamboo inserts

There were more, but I can't think of them now. Finally, I explained how much cheaper cloth diapers were (factoring in the cost of water and electricity) compared to disposable ones and being the cheapskate that he is, he agreed in a hot minute. Now that I had him convinced I had to figure out all the intricacies involved in cloth diapering. Researching cloth diapers was probably the hardest part about converting to cloth. After days of reading I was ready to buy a puppy pee pad and let Logan just do his business on that. 

3 settings to go from birth to toddler

I had heard about a store in Warwick, RI that sold cloth diapers. I had actually bought one from their website for a friend's shower. I decided to check it out and get some help sifting through the information. The minute I walked into Bellani I was in cloth diapering heaven. A sales associate immediately asked me if I needed help (I later found out it was Kelly the owner of the store). I told her about our decision to cloth and asked her what should I do. I wanted to learn how to fold the diaper for a boy because that's what Logan is.

We went over to the cloth diapering section and went over the different types, prefolds/covers, all in one, hybrids, pocket diapers, willy nilly, boop boops...that's what it started to sound like after awhile.



Logan with the Blueberry cow print

She suggested that I get two different kinds an all in one pocket diaper and prefolds/cover/snappi to try out for a week to see what the best fit for our family would be. She recommended Blueberry diapers for the all in one pocket diaper.
All in one pocket diapers are diapers that are supposed to fit from infant hood to toddler hood. The fabric that touches the child is usually a water wicking fabric that absorbs moisture into inserts that you stuff into the diaper.

I am a huge fan of Blueberry all in one pocket diapers. The diapers that I have are a little different than the ones that they currently sell. I have the One size deluxe pocket diaper, but mine came with bamboo inserts at the time. Now they come with micro terry cloth inserts. These work just as well as bamboo. The Rumparooz diaper that I use has micro terry inserts. You can upgrade to the bamboo inserts for a fee on the website. They are a little expensive, but they last long. I am using them three years later on Atticus. They're made in America which is a huge plus for me. They also contain poop and pee just as well as a good disposable diaper. Blueberries are a great night time diaper. When I finally got the hang of cloth diapering; I used the Blueberries as a night time diaper and prefolds as the day time diaper.

Rumparooz with cloth inserts

The other all in one pocket diaper I use is the Rumparooz brand. I liked the prints and it was little cheaper than the Blueberries. They work almost as well as the Blueberries. The Rumparooz would not last overnight like the Blueberries do. Obviously this would be a negative. Logan would usually not sleep through the night. He would come into our room smelling like pee at 3am; as if he was coming home from a night of drunken debauchery.

The biggest differences between Blueberries and Rumparooz are that they are made in China and they are a little smaller. The Blueberries fit on Logan as a toddler. The Rumparooz looked like a thong on him. Logan isn't a very big child so if you have chubbier kid forget using the Rumaprooz till toddler(hood).

However, the Rumparooz are a little sleeker than the Blueberries. They don't give your child the huge junk in the trunk booty that cloth diapers usually do. Rumparooz fit better under clothes. The Blueberries make it a little harder to snap those onesies. Logan was a slim baby so he could still fit in his clothes. If your kid is average or chubby then you might want to stick to Rumparooz so that they can fit into their clothes.

One thing I want to mention is I prefer snaps than the hook and loop closure for diapers. Hook and loop is basically using Velcro to hold the diaper in place. I don't like Velcro for the following reasons:

• In the dryer different pieces of fabric get caught into it
• They lose their effectiveness after awhile (not as Velcro-y)
• They warp after awhile when you put them in the dryer

Prefolds/Snappi/Blueberry Coverall/Blueberry Soaker Hugger

 

My during the day diaper is a prefold method. Prefolds can either be Indian or Chinese cloth. You can



Prefold and Snappi

either use a Snappi (replaced safety pins) or a Soaker Hugger to insert into a coverall. I find this the cheapest way to cloth diaper. You buy about 2 dozen prefolds and that gets you through 2 days. I bought about 7 coveralls. When you use the Snappi method; you fold the diaper and then place the coverall over the diaper. If you use the Soaker Hugger method you insert the prefolds into the Soaker Hugger. You then lay the Soaker Hugger into the coverall (like a maxi pad) and snap it onto the baby.



The Snappi method is best on babies. When babies poop it explodes, as many parents have witnessed. When you fold the diaper and use the cover it contains poop a little easier. The Blueberry covers are awesome at containing baby explosions into the diaper. I've noticed that when you use disposables there is a tendency for the poop to go up the baby's back. This has never happened when I use a Blueberry coverall. The Blueberry coverall is a force field of poop containment, even for those huge poop explosions.

Prefold/Snappi under a Blueberry Coverall

The Soaker Hugger method is the best on toddlers. Toddlers are always on the go, this method is a little quicker and easier than the Snappi method. What I do is make sure I have everything ready to go before I change diaper. Then I just wipe my kid and pop a diaper onto them. This method was the easiest way to change Logan once he started walking/running. It's hard to fold a diaper onto a kid when they're squirming. By using the soaker it was a one step method  getting him into it.



The other type of cloth diaper that I use is the hybrid cloth diaper. A hybrid a cloth diaper is one that can use fabric liners or disposable liners. The most popular one I know of are Gdiapers. The only reason I didn't use this brand was that I liked the Grovia prints better.

Grovia Hybrid

I use the hybrids for travelling or vacations. Instead of carting around a bag full of poop and pee, you can throw away the liner. Most liners are biodegradable which is good for our environment. These are great in case you do not have access to washing your diaper on vacation.

Atticus in the Grovia hybrid diaper

Now onto the accessories you need for cloth diapering...


Cloth Wipes

When I cloth diaper I use cloth wipes as well. I bought 2 packages of wipes from Swaddlebees. The blue wipe on the left is the one I bought. Cloth wipes are a little expensive, since you go through so many in a day.

I found a cloth diapering forum that suggested cutting up swaddle blankets for wipes. The polka dotted and stripped ones are from a blanket. We received so many of these blankets, that I decided to cut up some for the wipes. They work wonderful as wipes and it's a cheaper alternative to buying cloth wipes.

Plus you only need about four blankets to make a huge stack of wipes. The edges do get frayed, but it's not a huge deal. As I stated earlier, I have used these cloth diapering tools for three years now. The swaddle blanket wipes have lasted just as long.

Some people suggest keeping the wipes wet in a container. I find that a little gross. What I decided to do was a spray bottle method. I bought 2 small spray bottles (from the dollar store) one for home and one for the diaper bag. I fill it up with water and Lusa Organics baby wipe juice. I spray the wipe or the baby's bottom (depending on how much poop there is). Its the easiest/most hygienic way for me to carry around the wipes. The only negative about the baby wipe juice is that it smells like patchouli. I'm not a fan of patchouli. You can also make your own wipe juice. There are tons of recipes online.

Next you need a diaper pail and wetbags...

I use this Simple Human trash can with a locking lid. It comes in three different colors and is the perfect size for a Planet Wise diaper pail liner. This trash can contains the smell of cloth diapers fantastically! The lid locks and you have to move the switch on top to open it.

You cannot smell the cloth diapers at all when the lid is locked. The smell does seep out when you open it to put a dirty diaper in. However, if you use one of those Febreeze stick things it dissipates the smell well. This is a cheap alternative to diaper pails. It also works better than just a regular trash can.


Planet wise small wet bag

Wet bags are versatile. You can use them to carry wet clothes or dirty diapers. I use the small sized one and hook it onto my diaper bag. It contains the smell of the soiled diaper that you carry around all day. The liner stops the liquids from seeping out. I've only used the Planet Wise brand. This brand works so well I've never even considered using a different brand. Plus they have so many cute patterns. I also have a medium sized wet bag that I used as a diaper pail before I bought one. The medium sized bag is pretty big. It would be awkward wielding that plus a diaper bag all day. I would suggest using the medium bag if your kid goes to day care. That sized bag would hold a day's worth of diapers well.

One thing that is essential when you have a baby is a diaper ointment. You cannot use any type of diaper ointment with zinc oxide in it. The best diaper rash balm I have ever used it Earth Mama Angel Baby brand. It is cloth diaper compatible and it smells awesome unless you hate calendula. This clears up rashes quickly, it's vegan, cruelty free, and organic. If you go to the Environmental Working Group's website it rates a zero on toxicity based on ingredients. Not that many diaper creams rate that low on toxicity. I have noticed that Logan and Atticus get more rashes with disposable diapers rather than cloth diapers. I rarely have to use this balm when I'm using only cloth diapers.


Lastly I'm going to go over (briefly) the products I use to clean the diapers. The Biokleen Bac Out spray is used on poopy diapers. Click on the link to learn more about what type of cleaner it is. This helps to clean and keep the diapers stain free.

Next is the Rockin Green Laundry Detergent. I started using Charlie's Soap for my diapers. It worked, but I started getting detergent build up on the diapers. Another downer was that you could only use Charlie's Soap as your laundry detergent. When I found Rockin Green it came in different washes based on your water type; hard, soft, or classic. They also have a lot of different scents. The Rockin Green funk rock is used when there is an ammonia build up on the diapers or you need to strip your diapers. I have found that the Rockin Green products work wonderfully on keeping your cloth diapers clean and ammonia free. They used to sell a magnetic tablespoon/teaspoon laundry scoop that would stick to your washer. They have a few on Amazon for twenty bucks. Obviously the price increased once Rockin Green stopped selling it. If you have a few extra bucks lying around, I highly recommend buying it.

Lastly, I was introduced to this new product; Aden & Anais chlorine free bleach via a Bellani post on Facebook. I decided to try it to see if it would bleach out poop stains on my diapers. It does work well on whitening clothing and diapers with poop stains. However, it's expensive and you're supposed to use a huge amount. Instead, I just throw in a tablespoon with each wash. This stretches out the product for some extra washes.

Finally, I've finished this post! I can't believe it took so long for me to write this post! This is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to cloth diapering. If you have any questions leave a comment!