Cloth Diapering Part 4: One Month Update

Sorry for the lack of posting this week. I've been trying to get this post (and a few other one month update posts) finished for the last five days now. Lots going on with a fussy little Zane. I've also been having issues with pumping and amping up my supply to create a stash so that we have enough milk on hand while I'm at work. But I'm sure that will be a completly different post.  

Zane is a month old and I thought that it was a good time for another cloth diapering update. In the last cloth diapering post we had just finished with week one. At that point we were only using the Lil' Joey diapers in our stash and loved the way they were working out. The last half of the first week, we had started to use the rest of the disposable diapers the hospital gave us when Zane was born, while we waited for him to heal from his circumcision. (We were applying a lot of Vaseline to help him heal and we didn't think that it was good for the cloth diapers.)

Zane healed pretty quickly and he was back in cloth diapers before we knew it. Since then, Zac and I have had some time to really get a routine going, try out all of the diapers in our newborn stash, and figure out what works for us and Zane.

Lil' Joey by Rumparooz: Right off the cuff, the Rumparooz Lil' Joey diapers were our favorite. The all in one diaper is super easy to put on him and we were able to get a great fit on him. These diapers are super absorbant and hold a lot of wetness. The best part about these diapers is that the pull the moisture away from his skin so he stays pretty dry even when he heavily wets the diaper.

For about a week, we were unable to get a great fit on our little guy. Zane is tall and skinny with thin little thighs. He had started to get a little belly on him so we adjusted the waist. Since the Lil' Joey diapers only have one snap to adjust the fit, extending the waist also extended the thigh holes and they were not as snug as they needed to be. He did leak a little onto his clothes as a result. This is when we really started trying out the other diapers in our stash.

Zane has grown a few inches and his belly is not as round so the fit is back to being just snug enough on both his waist and thighs. While we still love these diapers we have a few new favorites as well.

Prefolds: Surprisingly, these have turned out to be our favorite diapers to use throughout the day. At first we were a bit nervous to use them. The whole folding thing left us a little intimidated. After we looked up some Youtube videos (yes we are huge fans of Youtube) we realized that it was going to be a lot easier than we thought (much like cloth diapering in general). And look how cute the covers look with his clothes.

It is definitely easier to get a custom fit on Zane with a prefold since there are no snaps to worry about. (Well at least on the prefold.) We're using newborn covers by Rumparooz which have multiple snaps and allow us to get a better fit on him as well. We've never had any leaks or blowouts while he has been wearing a prefold. We have had some almost blowout moments where the mess has gotten out of the prefold, but the double gusset leg holes and the great fit of the covers have held everything in nicely. We also like that (permitted we don't have an almost blowout moment) we can use the covers several times a day before needing to wash them.

The one thing about using prefolds is that they are not super absorbant. Once they are wet, they are wet. The all in one diapers seem to pull the wetness away from Zane's skin and the prefolds don't have that quality. Zane gets very uncomfortable when he gets wet (as anyone would) and he will let us know when he needs a changing when he has a prefold on. We do find that we change more diapers when we use the prefold, but they take a lot less time to dry so we can replenish our stash pretty quickly.

Grovia: Initially we were not a fan of this Grovia all in one newborn diaper. This was because we used it as an overnight diaper one evening and it just wasn't meant for that. Zane is a bit of a heavy wetter and he filled this diaper up. The moisture wicked onto his pajamas and in the middle of the night we were left to change not only his diaper but his whole outfit as well. This is not fun when you are super tired and can hardly open your eyes.

Though this was not a good night time option we later found that it was a great day time diaper when we were changing him more frequently. We were able to get a great fit on him and it was trim enough to fit under his neworn clothes without a problem.

BumGenius Newborn: Not surprisingly, due to it's velcro closure, we can get the most custom fit on this diaper. It's the easiest diaper for other people to use because there is no guessing which snaps to close it on and no folding involved.

The inside of the diaper is flat with only a single gusset liner. We thought that this might cause problems with blowout and leakage however, due to the custom fit we haven't had any issues. The only problem we've had with this diaper is the velcro closure. While the velcro is great for getting a custom fit and makes it super easy to use, when you're changing a diaper in the middle of the night you don't always remember to tuck the closures on the velcro tab. On a few occasions we've opened up the dryer to find a few cloth wipes or a onesie stuck to the velcro on the diaper. Not cool.

Kissaluvs: This blue Kissaluvs newborn all in one diaper was not one that we originally had in our stash when we started to cloth diaper. A few weeks ago we decided to order Zane a sound machine from Amazon.com (one we eventually returned because we were not a fan...but more on that later). The item was just shy of hitting the free shipping minimum purchase price, so we decided that rather than pay for shipping we would add another item to our cart. It was only a few more dollars to add on an item and get free shipping than to just get the sound machine and pay the money for shopping anyway. We decided to add another diaper to our newborn stash and found this one from Kissaluvs.

We found that this diaper was a cross between the Lil' Joey's and the BumGenius newborn all in one diapers. The outer shell and fit is very much like the Lil' Joey diaper. It has a one snap adjustable fit. The sizing of this diaper is a little different than the Lil' Joey however and we are able to get a better fit around the thighs. The inside is more like the Bumgenius newborn diaper which is flat. It has pretty good absorbtion and keeps the moisture pulled away from Zane's skin. All in all it's a pretty good diaper and one of the first that I will reach for if we are putting him in an all in one.

BumGenius 4.0: Now that our little guy is over 8lbs, he has started to fit into the BumGenius 4.0 one size pocket diapers. These diapers are meant to go from newborn to toddler and can fit babies from 8-35lbs. Being born at 6lbs 11oz, Zane was a bit too tiny for these diapers at birth. These diapers fit when put on the smallest setting for both waist and rise. Since they are able to be set larger for a bigger baby or toddler, they are a bit bulky on our barely 8lb little man.

As you can see, he has quite the big booty in this diaper. This isn't one that we would put him in when dressing him in his newborn clothes, but when we're home and we don't care about how it looks, we think they work pretty good.

I made the mistake of putting him in this diaper a little too early when he had a little bit of a belly and super skinny thighs. The fit wasn't just right on his thighs and I learned this the hard way. I was holding Zane on my lap and suddenly smelled the unpleasant warning of a diaper change. I went to stand up and realized that my lap was covered in poop. Zane had a huge blowout through one of the leg holes and I had quite a clean up job to deal with. I'm pretty sure that he would have had a blowout in any diaper, cloth or disposable, because it was quite a sizeable mess. Still, I opted to avoid using this diaper on him again until we were able to get a better fit on him.

Now that he can fit in the diaper a bit better we've started to use this as a night time option. They are very absorbant and later if we need to increase the absorbancy we can add another insert into the pocket. Zane is a bit of a heavy wetter so it's possible that we'll have to do this soon. For now we love that we can put this on him at night and not have to worry about any leakage. Also, these do a really good job with wicking the moisture into the insert and keeping his skin very dry. This means that even though he soaks the diaper, he isn't waking up in the middle of the night uncomfortable or upset. We'd definitely recommend these diapers to anyone who decided to cloth diaper.

So there's where we stand with our cloth diapering. Or at least it's where we were a few weeks ago. Blogging has certainly gotten more difficult these past few weeks. I'm hoping to be able to keep up the pace but with my return to work quickly approaching we'll just have to see.

Cloth Diapering Part 3: Week One

It's been a over a week since we brought home Baby Zane and I have had a few people ask me how our cloth diapering has been going. So, to answer a few questions, here is our cloth diapering experience so far.

We'll start at the beginning...right when Zane was born. Before I started pushing, Zac had gotten Zane's diaper (a Rumparooz Lil' Joey) ready along with a flushable liner and a small tub of Vaseline so that the nurses would have it when the time came. We informed the labor nurses that we had a cloth diaper ready and didn't want to Zane to be put into a disposable. The two nurses gave each other a look and then told us that they would let the nursery nurse take care of it once Zane was born.

After our little man arrived, the nursery nurse started to clean him up and Zac presented her with a Lil Joey diaper and the Vaseline. She admitted that she hadn't seen a diaper like that one and asked if Zac wouldn't mind putting it on Zane. Zac put the diaper on our little guy (minus the Vaseline as the nurse said that they didn't like to put anything on baby's bottom right away) and all of the nurses ooh'd and ahh'd over how cute he looked.

By the time we were taken to a recovery room it was after midnight. Having been up since 4:30 the previous morning and of course going through the process of delivering our baby boy, I was beyond exhausted. The recovery nurse who brought us to our room checked on Zane and saw that he needed a diaper change. Zac went to grab the diaper bag to pull out another diaper, but he had a hard time finding one. The lights in the room were dimmed, the bag was packed pretty full with items, and poor Zac was also pretty tired. By the time he was able to find one we realized that the nurse already had Zane diapered in a disposable and swaddled in a blanket. Though I wasn't happy about him being in a disposable, I was far too tired to put up a fight.

After this, Zane became a cloth diapered little boy. The only diapers that we've used are the Lil' Joey diapers by Rumparooz. The main reason for this is because this is the only newborn diaper we have that has a snap down for the umbilical stump. We didn't want anything rubbing up against him and causing bleeding. (A few of his onesies already had a little blood on them from rubbing up against him.)

Zac really likes the Lil' Joey diapers. Since they are all in one diapers that don't require any adding or removing of inserts, he can put them on Zane just like a disposable. The size range on these diapers is 4-12lbs so we were able to find a great fit for Zane and he should be able to fit in these diapers for a while. We have had no leaks or blowouts in these diapers which is probably due to the inner gusset.

The inner gusset is both one of my favorite things about this diaper and my only complaint. The gusset is raised slightly and leaves a red mark on Zane's bum. It doesn't seem to bother or hurt him and I'm sure that the marks are only there because his skin is still so sensitive. His clothes sometimes leave red marks on his skin as well so while this is my only complaint about the diapers, it is by no means a deal breaker. We'll still be using them exclusively until his umbilical stump falls off (and it did today).

The question that follows "How is cloth diapering going?" seems to be "How do you clean them?". The beginning process of washing cloth diapers and wipes involves some trial and error. At least that's what I got from all of the articles I've read and Youtube videos I've watched. It's quite true. Everyone has different washing machines and different types of water so finding a washing routine that works for your household can take some time.

Our cleaning process starts as soon as Zane has a clean diaper on. The pee diapers get thrown into the diaper pail right away but the poopie diapers take a trip the guest bathroom to be sprayed down. The BumGenius diaper sprayer that Zac installed is fantastic. The diapers are mostly clean by the time we're done spraying them and they then get thrown into the diaper pail with the other diapers and the wipes.

As far as a wash routine goes, I'm using the most simple method that I have found. Every 'how to' video suggests that the diapers go through a cold rinse, followed by a hot/cold wash, and finished up with another cold rinse. The pee diapers have come out of the wash looking brand new. Unfortunately, a few of the soiled diapers have had some lingering stains which have left me wondering what I'm doing wrong. (My guess is that I am not using enough detergent or perhaps the wrong detergent.) I have noticed that the diapers that have been soiled after breastfeeding come much cleaner than those that follow a formula feeding.

Sunning the diapers can naturally bleach out stains so Zac and I have hung them to dry on the line outside. For the most part it has helped to get rid of staining, however there is one stubborn diaper that has a little coloration left. I'll continue to do some research and try out different things to find the best wash routine.

After Zane got circumcised the doctor told us that we would need to make sure to coat the wound with Vaseline to help with healing. As far as we know, Vaseline is not cloth diaper safe. Though we could use the flushable diaper liners to keep the Vaseline from sticking to the diaper, we were afraid that the Vaseline would make the liner stick to Zane and cause irritation and pain. Rather than dealing with that mess, we decided to go ahead and use up the rest of the disposable diapers that the hospital gave us until we were done with the Vaseline.

Now having done both cloth and disposable diapering we are definitely glad that we made the decision to cloth diaper in the long run. While we haven't experienced any leaks or blowouts in the Lil' Joey diapers, we have had a few occasions where the disposables have leaked out on to Zane's clothes. With the amount of diapers that Zane goes through on a daily basis the garbage created from the disposable diapers is incredible. Also, we're going through the diapers pretty quickly and can see already that they would be on our shopping list quite frequently. It's clear that the cost of disposable diapers would surpass the cost of our cloth diapers pretty quickly.

We're looking forward to seeing our little guy heal pretty soon and getting his cute little tush back into cloth diapers. Since his umbilical stump fell off this afternoon, we'll be trying out the other options in our newborn stash as soon as we can. As he grows and we try out different diapers styles and brands, we're sure that our preferences will change so look for more cloth diaper posts in the future.

Cloth Diapering Part 2: Our Stash

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.*