When I was pregnant with Judah, I started to consider using cloth diapers. I felt a bit lost when I started to look at all of the options. It wasn't until I met a woman who actually cloth diapered that I felt confident enough to purchase my diapers. I was so thankful to talk to a real live cloth diapering mama! So, if you are considering cloth diapers, know that there is a real mama out there that is cloth diapering and loving it! There are a lot of great cloth diapering products out there, but here are the products that have worked for us...
Diapers
FuzziBunz One Size Diapers
* These diapers do not provide for a slim fit, but if you aren't concerned about your baby looking slim on the bottom half, they save you a lot money because they grow with your baby. We purchased 16 diapers. As long as you wash daily, 16 should be plenty. We ordered our diapers from here, but I would get them from whoever is cheapest. Just watch for sales!
-As I mentioned before, I DO NOT recommend buying used diapers unless you can verify that they have been used and washed properly.
Wipes
Mother of Eden Wipes
I have a total of about 20 wipes, but the Fuzzibunz wipes are my favorite. In the beginning, I just used cut up receiving blankets. They work just fine, but I would suggest sewing the edges or they will fray in the wash.
* Even if you choose not to cloth diaper, using cloth wipes is super easy and will save on waste and cash!
Wipes Warmer
Price Lionheart Warmer (Price Lionheart makes a great warmer, but their wipes are terrible!!!)
* It is important to place new wipes in your wipes warmer each day or they will get stinky! I usually wet the warmer pad and add new damp wipes each morning. It takes me less than a minute to refill my wipes!
Wipes Solution Recipe
I just make this solution and put it in a spray bottle. Before I use the wipes, I spray the wipe with the solution. This solution should last at least 3 weeks!
2 Tbsp. Natural Baby Wash
2 Tbsp. Olive Oil
2 Cups of Water*
4 Drops of Tee Tree Oil
* Add the water first, then the other ingredients.
Accessories
I bought a trash can with a lid and this pail liner http://cgi.ebay.com/NEW-
Diaper Rash Protection
You cannot use any diaper creams with cloth diapers, but I have found that coconut oil and Balmex Diaper Rash Powder effectively prevent diaper rash. If you need to make a paste so the powder stays on a particular area of the bum, you can always mix a little bit of coconut oil with the powder to create a paste.
* Fuzzibunz diapers are famous for keeping baby rash free. Thankfully, Judah has been rash free so far!
Washing Diapers and Wipes
All #2 diapers should be shaken off and sprayed off (no soaking is required). Pee diapers do not require any rinsing or soaking. They sell sprayers for the toilet, but you can also rinse them in the sink.
* They are cheapest on Ebay. Make sure you purchase one with metal attachments!
Use Charlie's soap! I do 1 cold rinse cycle, 1 hot wash cycle (using one scoop of charlies), and another cold rinse (if you have hard water, I suggest using Calgon) . I line dry everything to save energy (I use a small drying rack because clotheslines are not allowed in our subdivision), but you can dry the inserts in the dryer as long as you don't use any dryer sheets in your dryer. An added benefit to line drying the diapers is that the sun acts as both an antibacterial and stain remover! I use Grapefruit Seed Extract to disinfect the diapers about every 2 weeks. I add 4 drops of GSE to the hot wash cycle and add an extra cold rinse.
These diapers are super easy to clean and let me just say that I HAVE NEVER HAD A SINGLE STAIN ON ANY OF MY DIAPERS! Cleaning the diapers takes me less than 10 minutes a day. All you have to do is add diaper duties to your daily routine (like brushing your teeth).
More Questions
If you are having trouble deciding if you want to cloth diaper, I recommend the following articles. This article will tell you the benefits of cloth diapering. This article will tell you everything you need to know about cloth diapering. This second article will show you the financial benefits of using cloth diapers. If you are married to a big numbers guy, he will love the second article!
1 day ago
3 comments:
Well...I showed Steve. He calculated the annual costs for each, calculated the savings for cloth diapers, looked thoughtful for a minute and then said, "cloth diapers are gross." So...not even the spreadsheet will get that numbers guy on board LOL!!! But I just shared your blog entry with my friend Sabrina who wants to use cloth diapers one day when she has a baby. :) Hoping to see you in a couple of months!
How funny! It's clearly not for everyone, but we love it! Let Sabrina know that I am free to answer any of her gross diaper questions!
Hope to see you soon!
Steph
Couldn't of said it better myself-:)
We are still going strong with the fuzzi bunz on baby #2 and they are working great. We did buy new inserts for maximum absorption. We bought these absorbent cleaning towels from Sam's (yellow ones). I'm pretty sure it was $10 and some change for 20 towels. We use one towel per diaper and you can dry them in the dryer. They are so absorbent. We change diapers as frequently as disposable. They didn't have the one size fuzzi buns when we got ours but that is a genius idea. If we ever need new diapers-many kids down the line then I would probably get the one size. Even with buying three different sizes and having enough diapers to wash every 2-3 days (because often a baby can wear two sizes at one time) we still have saved money. And yes, you are so right-it is very easy!
And when baby starts having solid poopy it just rolls right off into the toilet and sometimes you couldn't even tell there was anything on it-it comes off that easy.
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