In yesterday's post you read all about why Zac and I chose to go the cloth diaper route and how we learned about what we would need to get started. Today let's take a look at the stash.
Zane's cloth diapering stash lives in the top drawer of his dresser. Rather than buy a separate changing table we've opted to just use the top of his dresser as his changing station. We have ordered a changing pad and are just waiting for it to arrive (hopefully before Zane does).
On top of the dresser we have a wipes warmer for our cloth wipes. Our cloth wipe stash is made up of about 50 baby washcloths. We placed 7 or so wipes in our travel case which lives in our diaper bag (check out what's in our diaper bag here), there are roughly 30 wipes that fit in our warmer, and the rest are stored away in the middle drawer of the dresser.
I have folded the washcloths in a way that they can be pulled out of the warmer just like disposable wipes. For now the warmer is turned off and the wipes remain dry. Once Zane arrives I'll soak the wipes in a solution of water and baby bathwash and plug in the warmer. I didn't want to risk the wipes beginning to smell if left sitting in the warmer for too long without use. After Zane is born we'll cycle through the wipes regularly and none will be left sitting for long periods of time.
Next to the wipes is where we keep the coconut oil. Most diaper rash ointments are thick and creamy and can leave a build up on the cloth. Over time this can impact the absorbancy and decrease the lifetime of your diapers. After doing some research we discovered that one of the best natural replacements for diaper rash cream is coconut oil. We learned that it is anti-bacterial, anti-fungal, anti-viral, and quite moisturizing. In addition, it washes away cleanly without leaving a residue on the diapers or baby's bottom. Even if you are using disposable diapers, coconut oil is a great diaper cream alternative. I picked up this 14oz bottle at Whole Foods for $5.99.
Right by the dresser is where we'll be storing all of the diapers when they're...used. We picked up a garbage pail with a lid at Target for $12. It fits the space, is discreet, and should keep any smells that might occur contained. We lined the garbage can with a diaper pail liner from Planet Wise that we ordered from Amazon (here). The pail liner fits just as a garbage bag would. The inside of the bag is waterproof so it will prevent any moisture from leaking out into the pail or allowing odor to creep out. We'll likely be doing laundry every other day so we have a second Planet Wise bag in blue to alternate and keep things fresh. (The Planet Wise bags are washable so when laundry time comes the whole bag and its contents can be thrown in the wash.)
One thing that we thought was super important to have as part of our cloth diaper supply stash was a diaper sprayer. We got the BumGenius diaper sprayer (found here on Amazon) and Zac hooked it up to our guest bathroom toilet. The process only took a few minutes and the tool doesn't alter how the toilet functions. The sprayer will come in handy when we have to deal with diapers that aren't just wet. One quick spray to the diapers and we can transfer the mess to the toilet, flush, and be done with it. This will help prevent a buildup of odor in our diaper pail and make washing the diapers a little easier as staining will be less likely. Even if we had decided to use disposable diapers I think we would have gotten the diaper sprayer. I mean, who wants poop hanging out in a diaper pail or garbage can in their house? No thanks.
Now on to the diapers! Let's begin with the newborn stash shall we.
*Disclaimer: I took all of these pictures with my phone so unfortunately the quality isn't fantastic.The diaper colors are much more vibrant in person.*
The first part of our newborn stash consists of prefolds. We have 24 newborn size prefolds by OsoCozy (found here) and two Snappis (ordered from Kelly's Closet). When the prefolds first arrived I thought they seemed a little thin but they quilted up pretty nicely after I prepped them.
To go along with the prefolds we have 5 diaper covers.
Three of these are newborn size covers by Rumparooz. These covers have an adjustable rise and can fit babies from 4-12lbs. In the photo below and to the right you can see how size can vary.
The other 2 covers are by Thirsties. As you can see these covers also have adjustable sizes though they fit babies 6-18lbs. They also come in adorable prints!
Blackbird:
Hoot:
In addition to the prefolds and covers we wanted to try out some all in one newborn diapers. In our stash we have 6 Lil Joey diapers made by Rumparooz (2 in Bermuda, 2 in Peacock, and 2 in Platinum). Like the Rumparooz covers, these diapers can fit infants from 4-12lbs.
The inside of these diapers are super soft and thick. The inner gusset should catch any mess and prevent leakage.
My favorite feature of the Lil Joeys is the snap down for the umbilical stump. Little Zane won't have to worry about any umbilical irritation with this diaper.
For the sake of trying out another brand, we also have a newborn all in one diaper by Grovia in the print Bicycles. The size range should fit anywhere from 5-12lbs.
This diaper is made from cotton and hemp and it's inner is sewn in.
We purchased a box of biodegradeable diaper liners as well. Meconium (the first newborn poops) can be quite dark and sticky. Though they should wash out of the diapers just fine, many people recommend using diaper liners just to make washing a little easier and prevent staining as much as possible. (It's also been suggested that we'll go back to using these when we first introduce baby to solid foods.) The diaper liners are free of chemicals and flushable and we don't anticipate using very many of them. In fact we'll probably have this box for more than one baby.
The very first cloth diaper purchase we made was a set of 10 BumGenius 4.0 one size pocket diapers. (A huge thank you to my management staff at work for the gift card that allowed us to only pay an $0.11 difference for these diapers!) Originally we thought that these would be the only diapers that we would need. Being one size they are said to fit babies from birth to potty training. More specifically their size range is 8-35lbs. (Colors from right, top to bottom: 2 in Grasshopper, 1 in Ribbit, 1 in Twilight, 1 in Moonbeam, 1 in Noodle, 2 in White, 1 in Butternut, 1 in Sassy.)
BumGenius is a great brand and we've heard lots of wonderful things about their products. They come in some really nice colors and they seem pretty durable. Having a diaper that can last your child for as long as these can is a huge bonus.
One thing that we noticed however when we bought the diapers was that in order to accomodate a baby for the range that they do, these diapers are a bit bigger than newborn sized diapers. Looking online at reviews and other people's experiences I saw a trend that many parents didn't start using the one size diapers on their babies until weeks after birth. Since we wanted to be able to cloth diaper Zane from day one we thought that it would be a wise decision to get some newborn diapers to make sure that we had something that would fit his tush right away. (Here's a comparison of a Bumgenius one size diaper next to a Bumgenius newborn size diaper.)
Though Zane won't be wearing them right away, we're still pretty excited about the Bumgenius diapers. After looking into different style diapers we chose the pocket style because we learned that the drying time could be cut down from the all in one diapers as the inside of the diaper can be removed. Also, the pocket allows us to add more inserts into the diaper to increase absorbancy. This diaper comes with two different inserts: a smaller insert that will fit the diaper when it is set to the newborn size and a larger insert for when it is at it's toddler setting. The inserts can even be combined for a greater absorbancy.
Similar to the newborn diapers, we wanted to get a few different diapers from different brands because we aren't sure what will work for our little guy. We would hate to have a full stash of one kind of diaper only to discover that they don't fit him well, aren't as absorbant as we need them to be, or have leaks or blowouts.
I watched several youtube videos for reviews on different brands and after browsing the Kelly's Closet website I ordered a Kawaii Baby one size pocket diaper. Thanks to a coupon code I used on my order I received a second Kawaii Baby diaper in a different shade of blue for free. Yay for BOGO right?! (Dark blue = Dodger Blue, Light blue = Sky Blue)
These diapers are also pocket style, come with two inserts and just like the Bumgenius diapers have a size range of 8-35lbs. (The photo above left shows the size difference from the largest to smallest settings on the diaper.)
Since we already had a few diaper covers from the Thirsties brand, we thought that we would give one of their pocket diapers a try, too. We ordered this size 2 duo pocket diaper in Ocean Blue. This diaper is not a one size diaper and instead has a size range of 18-40lbs so we'll have to wait a little longer to see how it works out for Zane.
You'll notice that unlike the other pocket diapers in our collection, this diaper has an opening in both the front and the back of the diaper. This means that the inserts can be removed from either direction. I like that if the diaper is saturated in the front or back we have the option of pulling it out at the other end. This diaper comes with two inserts, one made of hemp, the other made of microfiber terrycloth that can be used on their own or snapped together for increased absorbancy.
My favorite feature about this diaper is the double gusset. This additional elastic around the legs of the diaper are sure to keep any wetness or mess from escaping.
Another very popular brand of diapers is FuzziBunz. I picked out a One Size Elite diaper in the color Mac n' Cheese. (What can I say, I'm a sucker for yellow.) Unlike the other one size diapers we ordered, the FuzziBunz diaper does not have snaps for an adjustable rise so although it's size range is the same as the other diapers we predict that Zane will start wearing this diaper later when he has a longer torso.
Another difference that we noticed when compared to the others we purchased, is that it lacks a waterproof strip at the top and bottom of the inside of the diaper. In this FuzziBunz the inner lining goes all the way to the end of the entire diaper. This might make the diaper better (what do we know!) but we are concerned that it might allow any wetness to wick all the way to Zane's clothes especially if he is a heavy wetter. Hopefully we're wrong and this won't be a problem.
As I mentioned in yesterday's post, thanks to coupon codes, we've received a free diaper with each of our three orders from Kelly's Closet. The very first free diaper we received was a BumGenius newborn diaper that arrived with our order of Lil Joey newborn diapers. Our second order came with a Grovia one size all in one diaper. The final of the free diapers was the Kawaii Baby one size pocket diaper.
The BumGenius newborn diaper we received is an all in one diaper with a velcro closure which makes it as close to a disposable diaper as you can get. You'll notice that this is the only velcro diaper in our collection. We chose snap closures over velcro for a few reasons. While velcro takes out the guess work of finding the perfect fit, snap closures seem to be more durable over time. Plus if we find it easier to open diapers with velcro closures, chances are that Zane will find it easier as well once his curious hands are strong enough to tug at his diapers.
To prevent the velcro from catching on to other diapers in the wash and creating a giant mess, there is a laundry tab sewn to the back of the diaper. Before getting tossed into the wash, the velcro closures get stuck to this tab.
The other free diaper we received was this Grovia all in one, one size diaper in the adorable print Robots. One thing that I love about this diaper is that there are no front tabs. The snaps of the diaper are on the sides instead, giving it a very smooth front.
The inside of this diaper has two organic cotton inner layers. One is sewn in and the other has a snap making it detachable. Unlike the pocket diapers these inner pieces lay on the top of the diaper. I really like how trim this diaper is. I especially love that this diaper is $24 and we get to try it out for free. Thank you Kelly's Closet.
So there you have it. Our entire cloth diaper stash. We should have plenty to last Zane from birth to potty training with no need to purchase additional diapers. I'll definitely have to watch myself since looking at and buying diapers can be so fun. Buying more will increase our cost and defeat our main purpose of using cloth diapers in the first place.
We'll see how these diapers work out for us, if our inital predictions will be accurate, and which will turn out to be our favorites. Look for posts in the future as I will definitely be keeping everyone posted on our cloth diapering experience.
*All of these diapers can be found on Amazon and at Kelly's Closet.*
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