I think most who know me know that we use cloth diapers (for the most part.. there are times we use disposables.. vacations, trips to Grandma's, ect). Maybe some of you don't. Well, let me tell you a little bit about it!
My initial spark in cloth diapers ignited 2-3 years ago when a blogger/make up artist I follow (Kandee Johnson) had her 3rd or 4th baby. She posted that she was going to use cloth diapers for the first time and I was highly interested, although, not pregnant. Click here to see the link to her exact post. Fast forward a few years later to me being preggo and the thought came up again, especially because Jake was interested, too. It's so funny because a lot of the decisions we've made during pregnancy, labor and baby-care tend to lean towards more natural, "tree hugger" type practices. And we are certainly not that way! But we do like to take a look at ALL available options and like to research things very extensively. It just so happens that in doing that research, we usually lean more towards things that are more natural. The diapers Kandee used were a little too complicated for us. Luckily, cloth diapers were starting to become a lot more popular, so different types were becoming more known and available. We decided we wanted an all-in-one cloth diaper (where the insert, shell and "clip" would be all one thing), which brought us to choosing the BumGenius 4.0 diapers. We now have 30 of them and haven't looked back!
The breakdown of a BumGenius 4.0 "All In One" Diaper in a video:
*This review was of a diaper with the velcro. Most of the ones we have are the ones with snaps, we only have about 5 that are velcro. (I prefer the snaps!)
Our main reasons for choosing cloth diapers:
-FINANCIAL SAVINGS! Seriously, this was our biggest reason. Ok so the cost up front is large, but the extended savings is HUGE. It is estimated you will spend around $2,000 for diapers during your child's diaper wearing stage. 30 of the diapers we have costed $500. Hmmmm.. you decide. Not to mention, these can be used AGAIN for our next kid.. ca ching! Cash in our pocket, basically!
-Better for baby. Let's be honest, even the most organic "green" diaper is still not the same as "cloth". Babies who have cloth diapers get diaper rashes less frequently.
-Better for the environment. Like I said earlier, we are not some radical environmentalists, but we still want to honor and respect the earth we live in. One diaper takes 250-500 years to decompose!
But of course, as you could imagine, the one "downside" is the care and washing of the diapers. Yes it is a little more time consuming, but the pay off far exceeds the additional effort!
There are a million blog posts, websites and Pinterest pins that tell you how to cloth diaper. But this post is about how we do it, the easiest and fool-proof way possible. (*Photos of any tools I use will be posted at the end)
1) After the diaper has been worn it:
a) gets tossed directly in *wet-bag if WET (I always take insert out before putting in bag, which makes life easier when it's time to get put in washer)
b) gets rinsed/cleaned if SOILED and then gets put in wet-bag. A *diaper sprayer is a great tool, but it's not necessary. We don't always use it. You can either spray the poop off with the sprayer into the toilet, or take a wipe or toilet paper and wipe as much poop as you can off of the diaper.
2) Once my wet-bag is full and we need more clean cloth diapers it's time to wash them. Since I've already taken out the inserts, I can just dump out the shells and inserts into the washer along with the bag (it can and needs to be washed, too). We use *Charlie's Soap in powder form. (Side note: you can only use certain detergents because some aren't good to use, they can strip the diaper and break it down over time. You can research that on your own time.) We initially started out using a different detergent that was liquid, but it wasn't getting the stains out. So for a while, I had to sun-bleach the diapers. I thought that's the way it always would be until I tried Charlie's Soap. At first, the stains weren't coming out. But I learned it was because I was using the recommended amount of 1 scoop. One day, I tried 2 scoops and VOILA! Stains were gone. So, in conclusion, we use a normal wash cycle with 2 scoops of Charlie's Soap. We don't pre-soak or pre-rinse. This works for us.
3) Once the wash cycle is finished, I toss the INSERTS ONLY into the dryer and hang the shells on a *drying rack. The shells should not be put in the dryer because it can start to mess up the diaper over time (BumGenius tells you this on their website). I have accidentally put a shell in the dryer before, and there is no harm done. But it shouldn't be a habit.
4) After the shells and inserts are dry, I "stuff" the diapers (code name for putting the insert back into the shell) so they are ready to go when Levi needs a fresh change.
And that's it! Besides getting any poop out, it's pretty simple. There are other methods that will get you to the same end result: clean diapers; but this is the one that works for us.
There are a lot of cute wet bags with fun designs, but they usually are smaller than the one pictured above. We have one with a draw string that looks more like a "sack". I hang it on the door in our bathroom, that way it's right there near the toilet so I can put the diapers in after I've removed any poop, if necessary.
PS this doesn't smell like a bouquet of flowers or fresh linens like normal detergent. There is a little bit of an earthy smell. It doesn't make your diapers smell that way though. (Also, I have used this for other laundry items, i.e. towels)
Well, there you have it. Our "anyone can do it" approach to cloth diapering.
TaTa!
Jessica
(AKA Mommy who saves the planet and money)
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