What do I reach for first - 2 months

So for month two the diapers I reach for first are as follows:

Daytime
Winner: Simplex Newborn AIO

LOVED these diapers once I got used to the leg rolling and got my new wash routine going.  It has pretty much solved my stiff diaper problem and I pack these diapers wherever I go.  About halfway through the month I found that the absorbency of the Thirsties was getting a bit lacking if she was nursing a lot.  

I may have an addiction to Blueberry brewing.  I am using all my available Ibotta money to buy more newborn diapers.  The recent seconds grab bag sale got me some fun new prints!

Next....Mommycon....oh dear!

Runner Up: Thirsties Newborn AIO

Still loving these diapers, but when she is nursing a ton she is starting to outwet the diaper.  Still love how soft and easy to use this diaper is.  I do think she will outgrow this diaper in the next month.  

Other diapers in my stash:
Lalabye Bamboo: this diaper almost made it as the runner up diaper.  Love how trim this one size diaper is!
Best Bottoms Cover with Medium insert:  Works, but is a bit on the bulky side.

Diaper Rite Bamboo Prefolds with Blueberry mini Coverall
Diaper a rite Bamboo Prefols with Thirsties Cover

Nighttime: Honest Diapers

We ran out of Bambo diapers and we decided to switch to Honest which we can get at our local Target.  I do like these diapers, but she keeps leaking out the back at night so I will be looking for other nighttime options.

Naptime
Simplex Aio/Lalabye

What do I reach for first-1 month

One of the questions had most when I first started cloth diapering was if certain diapers that worked in the beginning would continue to be favorites at a different age.  So many things can influence whether they work for an older child versus a younger child.  So once a month I will be publishing a new list of what diaper I reach for first.  I will include all the diapers I have in my stash at that time and divide it out by daytime and nightime/naptime

So for month one:

Daytime
Winner: Thirsties Newborn AIO

The Thirsties newborn diaper is just so soft and tiny.  I found the absorbency to be perfect for a newborn and it fit perfectly underneath her umbilical cord.  I had three of these in my stash and they were always the first to be used.

Runner Up: Simplex Newborn AIO

I didn't get any of these until she was just under a month old.  I did like this diaper a lot.  It fits perfectly well, but it is a much bigger diaper.  I love the fact that it uses natural fibers, but the downside is that it is a bit stiffer.  You also have to make sure that the leg elastics are rolled in since it does not have cased elastic.  Not a big deal but I did feel more comfortable using the Thirsties in the beginning because of this.

Other diapers in my stash:
Diaper Rite Bamboo Prefolds with Blueberry mini Coverall
Diaper a rite Bamboo Prefols with Thirsties Cover
Lalabye Bamboo 
Best Bottoms Cover with Medium insert

Nighttime: Bambo Nature Disposable

We chose to exclusively disposable diaper at night since we had a horrible time with our oldest not sleeping well.  Bambo diapers were very absorbent and cuddly soft and I felt good about the contents of the diapers.  Downside of the diaper is that they are abnormally wide so we did have to overlap the wings to get a good fit.  Also, they did not have an umbilical notch.  So weird for a newborn diaper, but oh well.

Naptime
Simplex Aio

Leaking? Let troubleshoot!

Diapers that are put on incorrectly can leave mom with telltale spots!

Damp pants, damp shirts, crying baby, sad mama, and frustrated daddy.

These are the downsides of cloth diapering with a bad fit.  Leaking can plague even the most experienced of cloth diapering families.  I personally struggled with leaking issues for months before I figured out what the problem.

What was my problem you ask?  I had a heavy wetter and my absorbency wasn't up to the challenge. I was using the microfiber inserts and they were not up to the task.  Once I put hemp and bamboo inserts into my pockets my leaks stopped.  Then Homeboy outgrew the diapers.  I was thrilled.  I got to buy more!!  Shhhhh....it was my first....don't judge.

So if you are struggling with dampness try these tips before you give up!

Is your diaper or insert completely saturated when you change the diaper?

• This means you probably need more absorbency.  Try a natural fiber such as hemp or bamboo or try adding a doubler to your diaper.
• If you waited longer than three hours to change the diaper, try changing every two hours.  Babies need to be kept dry so most diaper experts advice changing every two hours.

Leg gap on a Diaper Rite Bamboo Pocket

Are there gaps around the leg when you hold the leg up?

• Try tightening the leg by snapping the leg snap tighter or decreasing the elastic size in diapers like Fuzzibunz.

Is the dampness happening on the front of a stomach sleeper?

• Try using a diaper with a PUL front flap with your insert tucked underneath the flap.

Is the outside of the PUL completely wet and the inner not saturated?

• Did you prep the diper completely?  If not, keep washing.  The diaper might not be ready to use yet.
• Are there cracks in your PUL?  Does it look like a peeling sunburnn? If so, this diaper is your new swim diaper unless you can figure out how to rewaterproof your diper.  This can be caused by bleaching or harsh wash routines or just age.  If the diaper is relatively new this may be covered under your manufacturer warranty.  Be sure to call and ask.    

  

  Incorrectly fastened Thirsties Cover.  Tuck it back in!

• Did you make sure that the lining of the diaper is not showing when you put it on?  If you can see any of the diaper liner it can allow moisture to get around the PUL.

Do your diapers smell like ammonia?

• Try stripping your diapers.  Build up can cause your diapers to repel water.  This also means that you need to alter your wash routine.  Try adding more soap and an extra rinse.

Have you used diaper rash cream?

• Most diaper rash creams are not cloth diaper safe and since they are designed to prevent urine from sitting on skin, they can actually waterproof your diaper causing it to repel liquid instead of absorb.  Look for cream or yellow streaks on the diaper.  Use Dawn dishwashing detergent and scrub stains with soap and a toothbrush.

Are the diapers repelling liquid?

• You may have detergent build up from using too much soap.  Try washing several times with no detergent.  You will see soap suds during these washes due to the excess washing out.  Use less detergent in your wash routine to fix this issue.

Diaper Prepping

I got some new fluff mail today! 

Kittens, the Blueberry and Me exclusive for July got here this past week.  I justified the purchase for a few days and finally pulled the trigger.  I woke up Thursday to find out it was out for delivery.  Hurray!  Perfect timing since it was diaper laundry day!  Prepping Kittens will started asap.

Prepping diapers correctly is as important as fit.  A diaper that is not well prepped can leak and repel water.  I used a partially prepped diaper a few weeks ago and ended up with pee all over myself. 

Prepping involves washing and drying a diaper to increase its absorbancy and to wash out the ickies that it has picked up during the manufacturing process.  Natural fibers need to be washed up to 10 times to reach maximum absorbancy whereas synthetic fibers just need to be washed once, however, decent absorbency is achieved after about 5 washes so I begin to use them partially prepped.  Let's be real.  Who can really wait ten washes to use the cute little diapers?

On to prepping.  Here are some general things to remember.

1. First. DO NOT prep natural fibers with synthetic.   Natural fibers have an oil that washes away with the first few washes and that oil can coat your synthetic diapers causing them to repel liquids.  Once the diapers are prepped it is fine to wash them together, but the first few washes need to be separate.  This includes a diaper such as a pocket that has a natural insert.  The pocket will need to be prepped separate from the insert.
2. Second.  You don't need to dry most diapers between washes with one exception.  Cotton.  Cotton needs to be dried between each wash since drying helps fluff the fabric which increases it's absorbency.
3. Third.  Prepping does not require much detergent.  Use a minimal amount.  Save it for when the diapers actually have some poop on them.

So here is what you need to do.

1. Determine your fiber type using the following chart.

Synthetic Fiber	Natural Fiber
Microterry	Cotton
Microfiber	Bamboo
Microfleece	Hemp
Minky	Wool
Suedecloth	Birdseye
Zorb

     2.  Separate your diapers into two piles.  Natural and synthetic.

     3.  Wash

• Synthetic: Wash synthetic fibers with minimal detergent between one and three times before using. Drying is not required between washes. 
• Natural: Wash natural fibers at least five times before using with a normal amount of detergent.  If you choose to use before at least eight washes, don't use the diaper for nap or overnight.  You will most likely get leaks.  If the diaper leaks, don't write it off, wash a few more times and that may just do the trick!

Cloth Diaper Storage

Cloth diapers take space.  The cute diaper storage bags that hang on the crib or door knob just doesn't work for cloth.  I made one thinking I could make it work and it worked ok, but it wasn't ideal.  So for the past few months I have been looking something that could organize the cloth diaper clutter that is in my room.  This past weekend I set out to organize the mess.

I have a pottery barn changing table (Craigslist score for $50) that I have used for several years and it includes two small sock drawers and two large clothing drawer plus a pull out for a diaper pail and a small slide out tray.  I use the drawers for clothes so I am left with just the slide out tray for diapers which is crazy because cloth is bulky.

Target to the rescue!  I found a curio shelf with nine bins that were just the right size for cloth diapers.  Hobby Lobby supplied the wire bins to contain the extra fluff and accessories and my new diaper changing station is ready to go!

My new station can store 50 complete changes of cloth diapers with ease in addition to disposables and accessories such as CJ's butt spray, Desitin, snappis, boingos, and my spare wet bags.

What does your diaper storage look like?  Do you have any ideas to make mine better?

The Magic of Sunning

My mom used to say we needed sun to grow as she shooed us out the door to go play.  She didn't need any sun apparently because she was already grown (nice mom real nice).  The magical Sun is what grows our, food, runs the tides heats our ocean, and whitens our dipers....stop...what?

Diapers?


You becha! The sun can make what looks to be a ruined diaper with stain not even bleach can take out and make it look brand new.  You doubt?  Well look at my icky diaper that I currently have.

Now look at it after it just one hour in the sun.

Magical.

Just Magical.

So now before you ran and just toss out all your ugly diapers in the sun, WAIT let me tell you how to do it.

First you need to wash your diapers as usual and then take them still wet outside and lay them flat exposing the stained side to the sun.  Check on them periodically and when the stain are gone just finish drying them in the dryer if they are not all the way dry.  So easy!

Do you have some stained diapers? How well did sunning work for you?

The case for prefolds

My husband eyed the ivory colored prefolds that I was folding.  You could see the puzzled look in his eyes.  He finally asked "Is that really a diaper?".  I laugh thinking about it, but my mom used prefolds on some of my siblings so it isn't something that is totally outlandish to me.  My husband on the other hand had never seen a prefold before.  All he could see was a puffy piece of cloth that looked nothing like a diaper to him.

Prefolds are the cheapest option for cloth diapering.  They are also the ones that bring about the most fear.  A rectangle of cloth somehow magically gets tied on the baby and becomes a diaper.  The faint at heart would probably reject the idea right there.

If that is you, wait!

It really isn't a big deal.

They really are so easy.  Some might argue they are the easiest way to go.  I can change a diaper in about 1 minute using a prefold.  A disposable takes me about 45 seconds.  Not really a big difference. It just takes 3 special steps (Thank you Paw Pilot :-) )

1. Fold the prefold 

2. Place Prefold under baby

3. Use a Snappi or other fastening device

Done!

So in case you are still dubious, let me lay out the benefits of prefolds.  Let's look at the cost comparison for a newborn using the most cost effective diapering options using the following assumptions.

1. Baby was born at 6 lbs
2. Gains 1/2 lb a week
3. You change 16 diapers per day/night for the first 10 days and 10 diapers per day and night thereafter.

Using the cheapest diapering option which is Parent's Choice (Walmart Brand) you can expect to spend $174.70 in diapers over the first four months of life.  This covers the baby from newborn to 16 pounds. The following purchases would have been made:

1. 2 boxes of 40 Newborn Diapers
2. 840 Size 1 Diapers
3. 560 Size 2 Diapers

If you were using the cloth options you would have made these purchases

1.  6 Tiny Tuckable Covers from Assunta at 5.99 each
2. 36 Newborn Cotton Prefolds from Diaper Rite
3. 25 Small Cotton Prefolds from Diaper Rite
4. 2 Size 1 Snappis from Diaper Rite

The cost differential is astonishing.  $80 vs $174.  That is a significant amount of savings especially considering that you can use the newborn and small prefolds later folded as inserts into pockets and covers.  If you were to use these diapers on a second child your cost would be cut in half.  AMAZING!

So take a look at prefolds....they really are pretty cool and easy!