"Love My Cloth Diapers"

      A few years back, over 4, my Cousin's baby got a terrible diaper rash. She told everyone she had switched to Cloth diapers called bumGenius and they were way different then the kind we wore in the 80's, and the diaper rash was no more. At the time my own child was about to be 4, I smiled and nodded  I paid absolutely no attention to her because it was of little interest... after all I didn't want to have anymore kids. Two weeks later I rekindled a relationship with my first love and we immediately started trying to conceive.

     Fast forward three years to a saturday last September and we never had gotten pregnant and I was at the point of baby obsession. I found a giveaway to enter for some baby stuff online, I entered then saw THEN I SAW IT an ad for Modern cloth diapers. It had occurred to me at the time to ask my cousin about them and I did a search for them and found a veritable cornucopia of fluff! I was bitten by the fluff bug at that moment.
    I started learning about cloth then, I ingratiate myself into the online community and I was embraced there even though I didnt have a baby to diaper and all the information I doled out was regurgitated and theoretical, at least to me. I won a few giveaways and I leaned to sew and repair some handed down diapers that I had gotten from freecycle! I developed friendships and relationships with people and companies. I have learned to use twitter thanks to Cottonbabies.com Monday night twitter chat. I ignored my husbands eye rolls when I won a Freetime (he told me to donate it, cant you imagine?!?!)         I have told my sisters in cloth my secrets, and they have told me theirs. I cried to women I never met about our struggle to conceive without fertility coverage and I commiserate with others that grudgingly viewed other peoples beautiful second children in cloth knowing we may never have little others and sisters for our lonely only boys. The advice and Love came over the Twitterverse and one day some one told me to start drinking Apple Cider Vinegar. I tried every cocka mame thing I could find so I tried it and three moths later I learned I was pregnant.

(a photo of tme the day I got pregnant ha! )

      I have learned about so much from the online diapering community, my husband no longer rolls his eyes on mondays at 9pm! I have discovered babywearing and found support in breastfeeding. I know about parenting styles and tricks that never would have occurred to me. It also never would have occurred to me that there are people who never think to wrap a dish cloth around their baby's butt rather than reuse a disposable because they cant afford diapers. That lead me to take over a chapter in a nation wide diaper charity, so that I can help others in the way that I have been helped by this community. I have never felt so good about something in my life.
         THere are many many reasons that I love cloth diapers; They help reduce waste, they are cuter than disposables, they keep chemicals off my baby's bottom. Cloth diapers are super inexpensive (when I am home for the day we wear flats and prefolds sometimes without covers and, yes I wash them in a bucket with a breathing washer) And Cloth diapers are have lead me to more "green and natural" products and ways to live.
     I have won giveaways and I have been given diapers by friends, I have flour sack towels and home made covers, I never had this stuff the first time around, I also didn't have friends that told me to try drinking ACV, which I wholeheartedly heartedly believe is the factor that helped us conceive. Because before being a part of the Cloth Diapering online community I never had comradery or friends to speak of, Without the wonderful community I have become a part of I probably would not have my sweet baby boy, I definitely wouldn't have the knowledge and confidence to cloth diaper, and breastfeed and wear him in a sling. Our parenting generation is a different one than our parents lived in and they are not always the best source of advice in the same  way that their mothers were to them. I Love the friends whose babies bottoms look like mine, those distant people I may never meet and exist only in my phone and on my laptop screen, I love my fluffy butt baby and his cornucopia of cloth, and with out either of those things I might have neither.
  That is why I love my cloth diapers because they have given me so so much that I didnt have before, Cloth has made me a better person.

Baby Ray in his Irwin

I have written this post as an entry to a contest on  Cottonbabies they are my favorite diaper retailer, I am sure many will enter, I know that I wont win because I doubt anyone will comment here on why they want to try cloth or why they love it but I wonder if all the others know what I do, by being here in this good company with our lovely Babies in Cloth that we have already won...

Yes I wash my Diapers by hand sometimes, for fun... yes I said "for fun ! "

Yes I wash my diapers by hand, for fun... yes I said "for fun ! "

Every year in he merry merry month of May a lot of people in the diapering community participate in a flats and hand washing challenge. For those who don’t know flat diapers are what most people picture when the words "Cloth diaper" are uttered in conversation, a large square of fabric usually 30''x30'' attached with a pin or snappi. Mine are  flour sack towels from Walmart. I frequently use then at home with out a cover (with an insert folded in for extra absorption.) and inside a cover to get a trimmer diaper when running errands. The challenge puts people to washing for a week. I like to do this every week at least once a week to demonstrate that it is a real option for people who dont have a washer. 
 I have said before  I have a Breathing washer I won in a giveaway. It is a really cool amazing thing! It looks like a plunger and a salad spinner got together and had a baby! I got my husband to buy a 5 gallon bucket from Home Depot a few weeks ago and oh boy what fun it is to wash my diapers with this thing! But If you don’t have one and cant buy one a sink plunger from the dollar store is just as effective (drill a few holes in it if you can) A broom or mop may also work.

here is the washer and bucket and my feet, I have fun socks! 

THE WAY I "HAND" WASH Diapers.... flats and microfiber inserts, wipes and covers are best. This works for pockets and aio/ai2 as well as hemp or baby clothes too.

Instructions for 5 gallon bucket washing 3-8 items, depending on size. Items should move freely when agitated in 4 gallons of water.

1- Remove any solid waste (my baby is EBF so this step isnt necessary to me yet 

2- Rinse with cold water either with a toilet sprayer or a shower or sink sprayer. NOTE if you spray in sinks or shower stalls bleach the area after to avoid bacterial contamination. 

*Alternately if you cant spray or rinse, soak in cold water for about an hour agitate for 3-5 mins drain refill with cold and repeat agitation. 

3- Fill bucket with 3-4 gallons very very hot water and 1-2 TBS Cd safe detergent , if hot water isnt available do this twice with cold water and add 1 tbs of bleach to the second "cycle"  in place of the detergent and add items to bucket after its full

AGITATE ITEMS FOR 15-30 mins

4- Rinse, either in running water until clear or by filling with 1-2 gallons of cold and agitating for 5 mins until no bubbles are present and the water remains clear after agitation 

NOTE * your diapers may appear to be more stained after a "hand" wash they are still CLEAN! if you are using enough detergent and water and agitating them until they smell Clean and the water rinses clear. BABY POOP STAINS, even in an electric washer my items come out with stains occasionally

5 Ring as much water from the items as possible being careful not to stretch elastic on covers or pockets too much, I find rolling them in a towel and applying pressure after a good squeeze helps. 

6- FINAL STEP. Hang to Dry in a sunny area, any stains should disappear with in an hour. 

TA DA Just like in the days of old you have washed your diapers, Plus I feel this is good exercise! 

I sometimes just fill the bucket with water and detergent and keep baby in flats, rinsing as he uses them then adding them to the bucket and agitating as I walk through the room. this allows me to do whatever else needs to be done and facilitates had washing in addition. 

Call me crazy but its super duper convenient and fun!  

BabyKicks Premium pocket diaper.... to the rescue!

          I have won and been given a most of the diapers I use on baby Ray, almost all of the diapers I have are Pocket Diapers. I just am not a big fan of them.
           Dont get me wrong... I like them I like that they are convenient, I love the look and they are pretty easy to wash, Microfiber inserts are very very easy to hand wash! As an advocate for cloth I promote them because the concept of pockets are great for sceptical parents dipping a toe in to the cloth is cool pool. But my Baby seems to no like the way wetness feels on the microsuade and fleece in them Enter BabyKicks Premium Pocket diapers! I recently got the opportunity to try a BabyKicks premium Pocket diaper, Well I am changing my tune has changed here! The inside of these are different than anything I have ever seen in a Modern Cloth diaper,
This from the babyKicks site...
 

• Natural fiber inner lining is incredibly soft Bamboo Velour (against baby’s skin) made of luxurious 30% Certified Organic Cotton and 70% Rayon made from Bamboo. The material will remain soft, absorbent and silky wash after wash

and I tell you what, it really really makes a difference, My baby had been circumcised a few days before and the normal pockets were not comfortable at all for him so I was using flats and disposables, every single time he peed he was getting upset. so I said "ok I will try the New diaper" he was obviously more comfortable and wore it for a couple hours, the diaper was so absorbent and soft on his skin that there wasn't even a hint of Urine left on his skin.

Baby Ray is 6 weeks old and Weighs 10lbs he is Tall and some of his diapers are still loose to fit his skinny booty, NOT the BabyKicks the Amazing hook/and Loops adjusted to both make him fit in the waist and took up the slack in the booty that cause a gap in some diapers. I was actually shocked at how well the diaper fit Raylan, it didnt look bulky and while I have NOT yet put pants over the diaper, I have no doubt that it was trim enough to look normal in his correctly sized clothing. THe Adjustability is such that a baby much smaller than Ray would fit in this diaper, I believe a 6 or 7 lb baby would be just as "Fit" and trim in the Premium pocket.

The Adjustable hemp insert fits in the diaper and Unlike other popular pockets is inserted into the front so the folded over part, (folded over for smaller babies) doesn't slide around and bulk up the front of the diaper. Hook and loop closer actually helps in this because the wide loop section keeps the diaper and insert where it belongs!Another thing about the Hook and Loops, they are not like velcro in other diapers it has shorter more organized looking hooks and the laundry tabs actually work to keep it from sticking, I prepped this bad boy with towels and with diapers and it stuck to Neither!
I am very curious about the Side Snaps on the other BabyKicks Closer. I Never have tried it but as a person who normally picks snaps I fear I have fallen too in love with Baby Kicks H/L to order them! Whats a Mom to do??

THe only even remotely negative thing I can think of so far is that the fleece "Air Gussets" seem to have some pilling after laundering a few times, I am going to take some scissors and fix this later and The Air flow seems to agree with my baby so dispite the pilling I am a fan of the "air gusset" technology and I wish other diapers would employ a similar style!

I am hope to be trying a LOT of babyKicks products in the next year and I will be surprised if any are  as Cute as the Premium pocket I got this month but I am looking forward to the quality that I am experiencing with this diaper!


BabyKicks Diapers are available at a lot of online retailer, and on the BabyKicks Website
Disclosure I was given a babykicks Premium Pocket diaper to try, however this review and the opinions expressed here are my own from the experience and are in no way influenced by BabyKicks

Circumcision and Cloth diapers... a Touchy Subject

Circumcision is a topic of serious and dire debate and not only in the Cloth diapering community.
Most boys Globally are no longer circumcised as standard procedure, many regard it as a unnecessary cosmetic procedure and barbaric. However many boys are still Circumcised  everyday for a variety of reasons including malformation of the foreskin and other medically necessary reasons and a percentage of those boys, Including baby Raylan, are Cloth diapered. The aftercare of the procedure site is covered in petroleum jelly and every cloth diapering parent knows that Petroleum and Cloth are not compatible.

So What the heck are Cloth diapering parents to do with their Childs bum in the days following a procedure like this??? Well Lets explore the options.

1 My son is 6 weeks old, he was circumcised last Monday. I have no wish to discuss why our child was circumcised to protect his future privacy This is meant to help parents of children who need to care for a procedure area after the fact. I respect and applaud those of you with Intact boys and rest assured our decision was not made for athletic reasons in fact I prefer the natural look of the uncut male body . Please do not send me articles and comments about NOT circumcising for whatever reason. This is for help not judgment.

2 I have only purchased One Package of disposable diapers, I put them on baby at night (he is very sensitive to wetness and wakes up every time he is even slightly damp)

3 Vaseline is used on the circumcised penis, it keeps the open area protected during the healing of the skin.  IT CAN COAT CLOTH DIAPERS AND CAUSE REPELLING ITS BAD BAD BAD FOR CLOTH DIAPERS!

My sons doctor told me to put Vaseline and gauze on the area
I decided to use disposables the first day after but I couldn't see buying disposables for days of throw away diapering, so here is what I did.

I used mostly flats to minimize the petroleum exposure and to be able to boil if needed
We received dry disposable wipes from the hospital, these are made by pampers I think, I cut them into liners, viva paper towels also make good liners for this.
I also have taken the precaution to put a small amount of Dawn, on any area I think may have had petrolium on it.

I also put the hottest water I can in with my diapers to break up any possible residue.

I am hoping that we will not have any issues with our diapers now that the area is healed up I have heard people using make up sponges cotton balls and other things to cover the area, I would love to hear your ideas. I think the paper towel liners are a good idea and if you want to use disposables during this time its not a bad plan