Why I LOVE cloth diapers...
3:15 PMOkay so he looks like a SUMO wrestler...
This is a post in response to some questions that I got.
2. I was kind of sad with how much trash I was creating and how many trees or something I was killing with all of the diapers. (Are diapers made out of trees or cotton or what?) I wouldn't call myself a tree hugger type of person, so I was surprised that I felt like this. I love the less wasteful feeling. This is probably the biggest reason that I keep using them. It started out a money thing, but it has evolved.
3. I didn't know what was going in to my baby - I mean it is not natural for something to soak up so much pee like that. What were those little clear balls that I found on his skin sometimes?
4. He was having blowouts very regularly in the stupid huggies - maybe a different type of disposable would have been better about that. So far the cloth diapers have been better about containing messes, once I figured out what I was doing. There have still been a few blowouts - I think it is inevitable, but it has been WAY better.
5. It is really not nearly as difficult as I thought it would be. I was just testing them out to see if I could handle it. It turns out it is easy peasy! I really don't mind doing an extra load of laundry every other day and that is about all that I have to do. It isn't messy at all, I just keep a bag ready to hold on to my "swaddled poop**" until it is ready to go into the laundry. It might be totally different when my baby starts eating solids, but for now breastfed poop is a piece of cake.
6. It feels softer and nicer for my baby - definitely.
For right now I am just using the prefold which are like the cloth diapers our grandparents used to use. Only I use a "snappi" instead of safety pins. They are a lot easier then i thought they would be and definitely the cheapest option when it comes to cloth diapers. There are also lots of different fitted type diapers that are patterned after disposable diapers. I haven't use any of those yet, but I hear great things about them and I will probably buy a few.
I keep disposables around for if I have been too lazy to do laundry or if I am going out of town or something. I just got back from vacation and I hated having to waste all those disposables and start creating trash again. It was nice to get home and get back into the cloth ones.
My sister is the cloth diaper queen and has used them with all three of her kids. I know it will probably change when my baby is not tiny and breastfed anymore, but she has loved it the whole time so it must not get too much worse. That is all I know. Feel free to leave comments about this subject or to ask more questions... :)
**( I loved that phrase in Janae Ranes' blog, you've got to read that story if you haven't )
5 comments
Yes Kate-Love, cloth diapers are THE best! Purely "breastfed" poop is certainly easy, but the key to not having to deal with real poop once they start eating solids are disposable liners. I put one in the diaper every time I change Taevin, and I NEVER ever deal with poop. I just flush it down the toilet and toss the diaper in the diaper pail. Come laundry day, I wash. No rinsing poop in the toilet or anything. After using the liners and cloth diapers, I will never ever go back to disposables. They are more work than cloth hands-down. But the key is the liners. Don't use those and there's no guarantee. Love you Kate!
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for this enlightening post. I think I might give them a try once the economy size box of diapers I have is running a little low. One last question: How do you get the poop stains out, bleach? Sometimes I let Lucy go naked with just a cloth diaper underneath and they are completely stained.
ReplyDeleteI haven't had any poop stains yet - I don't know why but maybe the breastfed stuff doesn't stain? Someone told me that line drying them will help because the sun will bleach the diapers. If sun is in short supply then I don't know. I hear bleach isn't the best to use, but I am sure it would work.
ReplyDeleteHey, Actually Steve has a training that weekend in LA from the 6-9, so I will be going to my parents yipee! for that week and probably won't be back until the 13th. Is there another time that works for you guys?
ReplyDeleteKatie's sister here :)
ReplyDeleteYup, those disposable liners are fabulous. I used the rice paper liners from imsey vimsey for my older 2 and they are washable so if the baby pees then you can wash and line dry and reuse but if they poop they are flushable. The ones from kushies are not flushable (or at least they weren't) I have found that with my youngest, who mostly goes in the potty as she has been EC'd mostly, we still have misses though and the prefolds are SO easy to just shake off into the toilet. They don't hold on to the poo like the fitted diapers tend to. So I haven't worried about it. Shake into toilet (no swishing here) then into the diaper pail. It helps that she is never in a poo diaper long enough to sit down though!
Anyway, as for stains, the sun is your friend! Line dry in the sun. Please don't bleach your diapers. You could seriously burn your child if not all the residue is rinsed out and it can create some really nasty smelling diapers too not to mention the destruction of the diapers.
I love to hear your thoughts. Thank you!