Cloth Diaper Update

It's been over a week since these bad boys came in the mail, and although we're not using them full time yet, I do use them whenever I am with the Luca monster. I haven't worked up the courage to talk to her sitter about using them, even though I feel fairly certain she'd be receptive since she has been doing daycare for 25 years and has no doubt used worse. But...Darrick is off for the summer in about 4 weeks, so I figured we'd use them over the summer, and if we're on them FT when school starts back up in August we'll talk to her then.

The Bum Genius 3.0 diapers are truly amazing. She's worn them overnight with no leaks and all day with no leaks (well, not ALL DAY, as we DO change them when they get dirty). They feel so soft and cozy, and I just adore them! The Bummi wrap with the contour insert impressed me less. She wore it for a 2 hour nap and it leaked ALL OVER. I think my little beanpole needs to chub up a little before it'll work well for her, but we'll hang onto it and try again later.

I also ordered some diapers from www.blueberrydiapers.com, as they were having a Buy 1 Get 1 Free promotion. And...they also had half off wet bags, so two of those are on their way as well. I am really excited about all of this! The wet bags will make it easier to use the cloth diapers when we're out and about, as they contain smells and wetness. The new diapers and wet bags should be here in a few days, which means we'll be able to use CDs more regularly. Right now I only have enough for a day and a half, so getting the rest in will help greatly.

I've found that people have a lot of questions about the ins and outs of cleaning cloth diapers, and I'll be the first to admit it kind of worried me as well. I'm happy to report, however, that it's not nearly as bad or gross as I'd worried it would be. Here's how I get them clean (and, I can't claim this as 'my' method...my good friend Lindsey told me all about how she CDs her two little girls, and it helped me make the decision to switch):

1. For wet diapers, just remove them from baby and put them in the diaper pail (Which, for now, is a small stainless steel trash can with a lid tht seals shut tightly. We have it lined with a plastic bag, but once the wet bags come in one of them will line the trash can we're using, and then when we do the laundry we can just throw the bag in as well.).
2. For 'boom boom' diapers (thanks to my brother for that phrase), we flush the poopers and the wipes we use. Luca's old enough that those suckers are usually not too messy, but if they are what people refer to as 'peanut butter poo', you can hang the diaper down into the toilet bowl when you flush the poop down, and the swirling water will help clean the diaper as well. That diaper also goes in the diaper pail.
3. NO WATER in the pail. No nothing, really, although you could sprinkle some baking soda or baby powder in if odor was an issue. Odor has yet to be an issue for us, thank goodness. I've also heard of people putting a few drops of tea tree oil or some other baby-safe scent on a flannel cloth and putting it in the pail to alleviate smells.
4. When it's time to do laundry, I take the bag out to the garage and just dump the diapers right in the washing machine. You are supposed to pull the inserts in the diaper out of the pocket, but I've discovered that's a wasted step, as the insert comes out in the wash.
5. I run a cold wash, delicate cycle, with an extra rinse. Use as little detergent as possible, and make sure it's dye/bleach/additive free.
6. Run an extra cycle without any detergent. I usually do this on warm wash/cold rinse, and use the handwash cycle on my machine.
7. Hang to dry or tumble dry low. We don't have a clothesline yet, so I either drape them over the patio set outside or rig something up. My latest trick is to use clothes hangers to hang them outside. I prefer not to use the dryer, as I think sunlight will help keep the diapers whiter and I don't want to waste energy. Here are some pictures of my wanna-be clothesline. I just close the velcro tab on the diapers to attach them to the clothes hanger, then drape the inserts over the top:









They do sell a contraption that is a plastic ring with little plastic clips hanging from it at stores. You could always buy that to hang the diapers up to dry if a clothesline is not an option, but I figured this was basically the same thing, except it's free!