Monday, June 15, 2009
Adventures in Cloth Diapering
Hooray! At her last weigh-in, Little One tipped the scales at a whopping 10 lbs, 2 oz. Considering that she was only 2 lbs, 3 oz at birth, 10 lbs, 2 oz is HUGE! :) That was two weeks ago though, so I'm sure she's much heavier than that now.*Giggles* I was at the store the other day when someone looked at Little One and said, "She's only 10 lbs, 2 oz?!? My first weighed that much at birth!!!" As you can tell, these kinds of comments are starting to get on my nerves, so I retorted with, "Wow! I'm sure he wasn't born at 28 weeks gestation and had to do a huge chunk of his growing and developing outside the womb, right?". Don't worry. I didn't use 'the' tone when I said that. She probably didn't know I was being sarcastic anyway.
Forgive me for being snarky. From now on, I think I'll do what some of the doctors, nurses and Infant Development have told me to do. When strangers ask me how old Little One is, I think I'm just going to use her corrected age to save all the hassle of having to explain that she's a preemie.
Anyway...
She's finally filled out enough to wear her cloth diapers! Yippee!!! Her wonderful cloth diapers have a waterproof outer layer and are secured by Velcro tabs. I was so happy to think that I would only use disposables when traveling or when on an outing and use the cloth diapers at home. Hooray for less landfill space filled with diapers! Hooray for not having to pay an arm and a leg on disposables!
Boo for all the mess it makes! ; ) Little One woke up from her nap SOAKING WET! She was DRENCHED! Not only was the diaper soaking wet, but her dress and 'knickers' were wet...and so was all the bedding in her crib!
I'm all for cloth diapering and I knew it would be a bit more work for me, but I was shocked when I had to wash EVERYTHING! Her diaper, clothes, crib sheet, blanket...Gah!
As if I don't already have my hands full with all the things that need to get done around here. Oh, no. This will not deter me. I am determined to do the cloth diapering with Little One.
D-E-T-E-R-M-I-N-E-D!
Fancy, Green on the Rock, and any other cloth diapering moms out there, do you have any tips for this cloth diapering newbie?
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City girl moves to the country, falls in love, and marries a farmer. She tries to incorporate her city ways with her new country lifestyle and blogs to keep in touch with friends, family & students who live far, far away :) Can this city girl go country? Watch as she learns all sorts of exciting things about life on the farm and in a small rural community. *UPDATE* We are now parents! Our baby girl was born on Nov. 11, 2008 (at 28 weeks gestation- 12 weeks premature, but she's quite the trooper)!!!
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13 comments:
Any leaks that I get are due to operator error (mine) and bits of the diaper peaking out from under the cover....or them being too loose around the legs. Does that help at all?
oops - I just reread and see that your dipes are all-in-one with no cover. Check the fit and ensure that they are snug enough, and be sure that none of the absorbant part is on the outside because then it will just wick all the wetness to sheets, clothes etc etc etc (as you already know) Good luck!
hmmm, shouldn't happen, but without knowing the dipe, it is hard to trouble-shoot.
Make sure the dipes have been wahed and dried, in additive free detergent, several times before using. No matter the material, this should fluff up the absorbant layers. Make sure there are no soap bubbles in the last rinse cycle. DO NOT put fabric softener (sheets or liquid) anywhere near your diapers! It can coat the fibres and make them repel instead of absorb liquid.
As SGP has said, ensure no gaps, and that the inner material is all tucked in.
You may want to try holding them under a slow flow (not just dripping, you need some force to the water to replicate a peeing baby) of water to see where the problem is.
-If the water is rolling off the diaper instead of absorbing into it, you've got repelliung for some reason and I would strip the diapers (wash them on hot with a couple drops of DAWN detergent, then rinse on hot until there are no bubbles left).
-If the diaper is filling then leaking, you probably need more absorbancy than these diapers offer. You can get "doublers" online, or try laying some thick soft bamboo or terry washclothes in them to increase the absorbancy.
If they are absording but the water is soaking right through the waterproof layer, well, there is not much you can do but use covers over them.
I was going to mail you two dipes today, but wasn't able to get the the PO. I am gonna send them tomorrow instead, and I will throw two small covers (a thin PUL one, and a fleece one you can use as shorts/cover) in the package. Then if these diapers keep leaking, you can try adding a cover to help.
Also, has your dad's friend (I think he made them) ever made cloth diapers before? If not, he may just not know what he is doing. Honestly, you may have much better luck with established diaper makers. I do have some supposed "waterproof" diapers made by independant Work At Home Moms that just...well...aren't waterproof. I use covers over them.
I can say in 5 months of 100% cloth diapering, home and out, I have NEVER had that happen. I have had a bit of wicking or leaking around the legs when the diaper is too loose, or too full, or the material pulled the liquid out...but I have never had clothing or anything else soaked.
Good Luck!
Shiny:
Hmmm...Good point! It could very well be an operator error on my part. I'll have to pay more attention next time to see what I may be doing wrong.
I'm also going to have to refer to your cloth diaper cleaning tips! I think you posted something on that a few months ago?
Funny...the word ver is "sullynes"
Fancy:
Thanks for that! I knew you'd be able to come to the rescue and give me tips on CD!
I know you've got a good technique going with your CD system with Charlotte. I was hoping you'd see this and give me some pointers. LOL! I was telling Hubby what a cloth diapering guru you are!
So, tell me...Do you wash wait until you've got enough soiled dipes to do a load of cloth diapers? What is your technique exactly? Do you do loads of CDs every day? Sorry for all the Qs! Inquiring minds want to know :)
Yes, my friend's dad made them. He actually makes diapers for a few clients. I've been told by his daughter (who used the dipes with her two babies) that they are amazing and idiot-proof. *chuckles* Joke's on me! I must be an idiot! LOL!
Yeah, I MUST be doing something terribly wrong because there should be no reason that Little One was that soaked through and that EVERYTHING was wet! I was thinking, "Man! If I'm going to have to wash her diaper, outfit, bedding AND her every time she needs a diaper change, I don't know if it's worth it!"
Glad to know that it's just me that goofed. I will keep trying my hand at cloth diapering.
I don't know how much help I'm going to be since I use Bum Genius 3.0 pocket diapers but make sure they are tight around the legs. And I have to add a double at night I've heard people add them at nap time too, but Lily doesn't take long enough naps for it to matter to us.
Good for you and good luck.
OK, I actually have a complicated (to explain, simple to do) system. I'll go through it all...and probably recycle this comment for a future blog post!
I use 4 types of diapers:
1) Pockets. There are BumGenius 3.0 I use these at night only.
2) AIOs. All In One's. These are like what your have. A diaper that has it all...use it like a sposie, then throw it in the laundry. I use these for going out.
3) Fitteds. These are like a diaper, but not water-proof. Very absorbant. I use them at home, with covers (wool, or fleece usually-and I use the covers out as well, over AIOs, for extra protection) and for short outtings.
4) Pre-folds. These are like flat diapers, and need a cover. I use plastic type covers with these. I usually use them for short periods-for excapmle today I got the baby dressed about 45 minutes before we were going out. She needed a fresh diapers, however I always change her diaper right before we go out, so I put on a pre-fold for the 45 minutes.
As for washing I do laundry every 1.5 to 2 days (I did a load yesterday morning, I am doing one tonight). Not a huge load, but not nothing either. That is usually about 15 diapers, which is just right. Too few is a waste or water and energy, too many and they don't get as clean.
I pre-set my machine: Hot soak, hot wash, cold rinse, second cold rinse. Most people use a cold soak, but I find hot soak works better for me. However, if I know there is no poop in the load (Charlotte only poos every 3rd day) I do all cold. Still a soak, wash, rinse, extra rinse. The AIOS, fitteds and prefolds go in the dryer, as well as the inserts for pockets. The pocket shells and plastic covers dry on the rack. Anything that comes out stained gets dried on a sunny windowsill (works great!).
So, that's it. Any more questions?
Jinxy:
Wow! You're the third person who has mentioned Bum Genius 3.0 to me! Must check them out!
Fancy:
All I can say is...
THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! I'm going to try to figure out a system for the dipes that I have (though I'm going to look into the Bum Genius 3.0 too). Sounds like you've got the CD down to a science! You're my hero! ;)
Oh, I use Purex Free detergent, and only a bit, maybe 1/3 of the cap.
The BGs are pretty good! I only use them at night since I hate stuffing them, but they are great for night-time. One a day, I don't mind stuffing. A whole load? Forget it!
Sorry for the awful typing BTW, it was all my left hand!
I didn't realize she couldn't, wow. That's pretty cool though, a real milestone.
Hey, I looked for a Vamp or Wolf quiz for you, couldn't find a good one, so made one up and added the link in a post in the endless month of May.
Fancy:
Thanks so much for the tips!!! Seriously, you are my CD hero! Btw, Charlotte is soooooooooooooo gorgeous! Just like her big sistahhhh...and just like their Mama!
Jeanna:
'Tis true. I attempted cloth diapering LO two months ago and failed miserably because she was too tiny to fit in them properly. Lotsa gaps in the leg area. She had skinny legs. Some of our family members called my SIL's twins "Pork Chop", "Lamb Chop" and LO was dubbed "Chicken Wing". I know. Soooo not funny! Well, kinda funny.
Anyway, LO is now big enough for the cloth dipes. I'm trying again.