You may or may not remember that before I had Baby H, I stocked up on cloth diapers like crazy! By stocked up I mean I have 37 BumGenius 4.0 snap diapers when most guides suggest having, at most, 24 diapers in rotation. I was excited that we were set up with more than enough and I couldn’t wait to start using them. In fact, we barely had any newborn sized disposables on hand before baby arrived, as we weren’t sure what we would need or how long we’d be using them.
After Baby H’s umbilical cord stump fell off (around day 8) I felt like we had the all clear to give them a try. Unfortunately, after Baby H had been napping on me, I looked to find a huge wet spot on my shirt and her onesie. She’d had a massive leak! I decided that she just wasn’t chunky enough for them and that we’d have to wait.
We tried again a couple of weeks later. More leaks. During this time we’d stocked up on a huge box of size 1 disposables and I felt like we’d be using them indefinitely. I hated seeing the trash get so full every day when we had a “green” option available.
Another cloth diapering attempt a couple of weeks later. We were foiled again by more huge leaks! Once more we had to hold off on even thinking about cloth and just hope that Baby H’s thighs chunked up enough to eliminate any leaks.
At 7 weeks Baby H and I were at a mom’s group and I was talking to another mom who cloth diapers. I shared our leakage situation and she asked me if I’d tried stripping my diapers. It was a good suggestion as I did buy my diapers used, so there’s always the chance that a previous owner hadn’t taken good care of some of the diapers, resulting in buildup that keeps the diapers from absorbing. I immediately went home and threw everything in the wash – one cycle on hot with a tablespoon of Dawn dish soap and two cycles on hot with no soap. It was worth a shot.
And… leaks again! But I started paying closer attention to exactly what was going on. While the diapers were leaking, the inserts were super soaked which meant that the diapers weren’t repelling liquid. After this it finally dawned on me. BumGenius diapers come with two inserts: a newborn size and a larger size to use as your child grows. I had been using the newborn inserts and Baby H was soaking right through them.
I tested my theory out with one diaper and we were leak free! So I took out my huge stash of diapers, pulled the newborn insert out of all of them and re-stuffed them with the larger insert. It took awhile but it was definitely the answer to our problem.
We’ve now been exclusively cloth diapering for over 2 weeks and have only had one minor leak (when Baby H was lying on her side nursing and had a HUGE pee!). It’s nice staring at the disposables we have left (and are nice to have around in case of emergency) and knowing that I don’t have to revert back to them!
(Just two hours after writing this post Mr. H took her out of her swing to find she’d had a MASSIVE poop-splosion! I was about to get into the shower and stopped what I was doing to help out, which meant I was rushing down to the nursery with a poop-covered baby while I was completely naked. Yikes! However, we’ve had similar types of leaks when Baby H was in disposables so I don’t necessarily blame it on the cloth diaper. Makes for a funny story though!)
Now that I have a couple of weeks of successful cloth diapering under my belt, here are my thoughts so far:
- It’s amazing how dry she stays in cloth diapers! The suedecloth really does wick moisture away from her skin. She can have a giant pee and I’ll change her diaper moments later and the fabric is completely dry while the insert is super soaked!
- It’s amazing how dry she stays in cloth diapers… which means it can be hard to know when to change her diaper if she doesn’t fuss (it’s crazy how addicted you can get to the color changing line on the disposables!).
- The amount of laundry I do is ridiculous. This past week she went through a growth spurt so was eating like crazy. Which means that every time I checked her diaper it was dirty! We flew through diapers. Right now I’m on an every other day wash cycle, which is manageable while I’m still on maternity leave but will be interesting to see how well I maintain it upon returning to work. Not only do the diapers have to be washed and dried, but they have to be stuffed with the inserts. It takes a while!
- I love that we’re able to use the cloth wipes in addition the cloth diapers. It just makes sense and is so gentle on her skin! We have a couple of wipe solutions, but most of the time I just spray her behind with water. She loves getting sprayed with the bottle!
- Because we’re using a one-size diaper that will grow with her, they are a bit big/bulky on her right now because she’s still pretty little. This means that it makes it difficult to fit some of her outfits on her, but it also means that all of the diaper covers that have been too large around her tiny waist fit perfectly now – the diaper fattens her up around her midsection!
At the end of the day, it may be more work to keep Baby H in cloth diapers but it’s 120% worth it. I like that she has something so soft and dry against her skin. I can control what chemicals come in contact with the diapers, which means I can control what comes in contact with her skin. And we’re not putting a million and one diapers into our trash (for a while all of our garbage cans seems to be overflowing with disposables on a daily basis!). And, as far as the “ick” factor – right now it’s not bad at all because everything goes in the wash. Once we start solid foods? That will change things I’m sure, but nothing we can’t handle.
If nothing else, pictures speak for themselves! Just check out our little peanut in her diaper – could it get any cuter?
Was there anything that swayed you one way or the other when it comes to cloth diapering?
Cloth Diapers part 7 of 17
1. Cloth Diapering by parenting2. Washing Cloth Diapers by parenting
3. Cloth Diaper Update and Potty Pail Review by parenting
4. How to choose a cloth diapering system by Mrs. Superhero
5. Real Registry: Diana's Cloth Diaper Registry by Real Registries
6. On Cloth Diapering a Newborn by Mrs. Superhero
7. Cloth Diapering Update by Mrs. Hopscotch
8. Easy Cloth Diapering by Mrs. Superhero
9. Who, What, Why, and How: Cloth Diapering by mrs. tictactoe
10. On Cloth Diapering at 4 Months by Mrs. Stroller
11. Building a Cloth Diaper Stockpile by Mrs. Hopscotch
12. Confessions of an (Ex) Cloth-Diapering Mom by Mrs. High Heels
13. Cloth Diapering Diaries by Mrs. Sketchbook
14. They really are genius! by Mrs. Tea
15. Wool, the Other Sleep Sheep (and Adventures in Early Toileting) by Mrs. Twine
16. Adventures in Cloth Diapering by Mrs. Lion
17. Cloth Diapering: We're back! by Mrs. Deer
blogger / pear / 1964 posts
Thanks for the honest update – I’ll have to remember the perseverance part when we start cloth diapering.
coconut / 8279 posts
the laundry factor – we live in a townhouse with no laundry on site. I love the idea of cloth diapering but without a washer/dryer, I can’t do it.
(I do use cloth diapers for the beach though)
grapefruit / 4400 posts
Thanks for the update! That reminds me that I need to prep/strip our diapers that we have before baby comes!
grape / 75 posts
I hear you on the laundry!
Our nanny used to do all of the lil man’s laundry, including diapers. I was feeling so good about myself – cloth diapering, no problem! However, I found myself using more and more disposables on the weekends because she wasn’t there to do the laundry!
Then our nannny moved away and we put our son in daycare. His daycare had no problem using cloth diapers, so I had to give myself a little pep talk. (Come on mama, you can do this! It’s greener; it’s cheaper; you already own all the diapers.)
5 months later we are going strong! (washing every other day) Did I like it better when someone else washed the diapers? Um… yes! But it’s totally doable, even around a busy work schedule. Just fit it into the daily routine and keep your chin up.
They can’t stay in diapers forever, right?
grape / 90 posts
We’ve been CDing with the Bum Genius diapers since PB was about a month old (he’s just over 8 months now). A few notes:
1) Don’t bother pre-stuffing the diapers. We have two little baskets in the bathroom (his changing station is now on the bathroom floor because he’s so mobile now), one with liners and one with the diapers. In my mind, it’s much easier to just stuff the one you need at the time you need it, and…
2) Don’t limit yourself to one liner! For naps, we “double-stuff” (1 big liner and 1 newborn liner) and for overnight we triple-stuff (2 newborn liners and 1 big liner) and we hardly ever have leaks – even when he sleeps from 8pm to 5am. Bonus: super cute giant diaper butt. Adorable.
3) When you start solids, the poo gets nasty, I won’t lie. But we put pee dipes in a wet bag and poo dipes get sprayed off in the toilet and then soak in a bucket with a mild Borax solution until laundry time. Frankly, I prefer the minor hassle of cloth diapers to the stank of having a poopy disposable diaper sitting in a diaper genie or something!
You’re doing a great job!
clementine / 958 posts
What a cutie! I was worried about the poop change when we started solids, too, but it really isn’t bad. At 8 months, LO only poops once a day. Plus, now that she’s eating a variety of foods at each meal, the poop is more solid and rolls off the diaper or sprays off super easily. And the giant booty improves in the BGs once you move to the next row of sizing snaps
blogger / nectarine / 2010 posts
I hear ya on the staying dry! I’ve read that as a rule you’re supposed to change a CD every 2 to 3 hours. We go 3 hours max or immediately after a poo and haven’t had a leak in months. We started at about 5 weeks, but I really had to tighten and overlap the velcro tabs on him. The poos slow down a lot – now at 6m we’re only having one poo a day. I have ~40 BG 4.0 and I rarely go through all of them in a week anymore (I do laundry once a week). Dare I say I have too many!?
blogger / apricot / 366 posts
@rachiecakes: I hear you! I would have a hard time doing this without a washer/dryer in my house!
@Schmei: At first I hadn’t pre-stuffed the diapers but then thought it would be easier to have them ready to go. For me right now pre-stuffing makes sense because she is going through SO many a day! And I agree, I will not be afraid to “double stuff” when needed
@Mrs. Stroller: Your stash is almost as big as mine
Do you have any problems with only washing once a week? I’d heard that the ammonia fumes or something negatively affect the elastic (I think that was it) which is why you’re supposed to wash them more often. Thoughts?!
blogger / nectarine / 2010 posts
@Mrs. Hopscotch: I need to write about my laundry routine I think. I rinse everything before it goes in the wetbag. I do the covers with the sprayer and the inserts in the sink. I rinse the inserts ’til they water runs clear for poos or three times with a good squeeze for pee. I sun everything too, so I think that helps get any last smell out (the pee ones never smell).
GOLD / wonderful apricot / 22646 posts
thanks for the honest post! this is def something i will keep in mind as we delve into our try at CD in a few months!
pomegranate / 3388 posts
Yeah, we had to do a little trouble-shooting on our cloth diapers at the beginning too, but now things seem to be going great. You’re right that those newborn liners are useless. DD was also soaking through them immediately. These days I use the newborn liners to double-stuff DD’s nighttime diapers.
guest
I also found we had to do some trouble shooting at first, but got a routine down in no time. You just have to find what works for you! We have a lot of different brands and also got newborn size. So glad we invested in those. We were able to start using them when we got home from the hospital and they worked well from the start! Definitely recommend the newborn size. At four months he has just now grown out of most of the adjustable newborn sizes. My husband and I didn’t think we would like the covers and liners/prefolds at first, but lately they are the first ones we go for. We also have the BG elemental (organic), but they take forever to dry. Thanks for the post!