cloth dipes
As I mentioned I signed up for a 12 week long trial run with Philly diaper service. For $22 per week, here's what I get:
An at-home consult to explain how it all works and to illustrate a couple of different folding methods.
80 pre-folds - I'm not sure what brand the service uses but they look like this and seem pretty heavy-duty. They also provide an 'exclusive diapers' service at no extra charge - meaning I get the same cohort of dipes back once they're washed.
A pack of Snappi diaper fasteners - This is a y-shaped contraption that you use in place of pins. They attach to the diaper with little hooks, like you would use with an ace bandage. At first I was afraid these would hook into baby's skin, but we haven't had any problems so far. Love these.
three Thirsties duo wrap covers - these are great because they have snaps up the front to adjust the 'rise' of the cover, so that you can use one size for a longer time as your baby grows. I'm not sold on these though, they hold everything in pretty well, and are very easy to use, but I think they might irritate baby's skin on his stomach and thighs. I might try these Imse Vimse soft covers next. Baby isn't in cloth full time (see below) but even so it would be more convenient to have 5-6 covers, just so I'm not washing them all the time.
GroVia BioLiners - These are flushable diaper liners for when baby A's poop becomes more 'substantial.' ie when he starts eating solid food. Liner gets dropped into the toilet, diaper goes into the pail. Easy.
Punkin butt bottom balm - An organic balm that smells great and works well. Apparently the zinc oxide in a lot of diaper creams isn't good for cloth diapers (or maybe it's hard to wash out? I'm not sure). But I also really like Baby Bee diaper ointment.
Sheepish Grins diaper pail deodorizer - LOVE this stuff. You sprinkle a little on the bottom of your diaper pail and layer in with the dirty diapers as needed. It smells like buttery oatmeal cookies (is that gross?) and totally masks poopy dipe stench.
I also signed up for a starter kit, which was a one time fee for the diaper pail, a Thirsties diaper pail liner and a deodorizer cube (For the life of me I can't find the link for this on the service website, I think it shows up when you are checking out with an order)
So what happens is I fill up the diaper pail with dirty diapers (no need to dump any poop off first, since the poop of a breast/formula fed baby is completely water soluble at this point) and put the bag on our porch every Tuesday. It magically disappears, while a new liner filled with clean diapers magically appears in it's place.
Really, switching to cloth hasn't been a big deal at all for me. I had to practice getting the leg holes tight enough to avoid leakage but that's about it. My Mom and husband are not taking to it as I have though, so baby is still in disposables three days a week and at night. For this reason 80 diapers has been WAY too many for us so far.
I was surprised at how soaked all over the diapers get, which is both a pro and a con. A 'pro' because disposable diapers are supernaturally absorbent for a reason, and I don't even want to know what that reason is and how many chemicals are necessary to make it happen. The wetness also supposedly helps with potty training, since they feel wet much sooner, although obviously I can't speak to this yet. It's a 'con' in the sense that you end up changing diapers a lot more frequently... but with 80 per week I have plenty, and I don't mind changing them.
I was also not expecting how bulky it all is once you have on the cloth diaper and the cover. It looks pretty funny! The whole ensemble doesn't work too well under a onesie, but a lot of times at home I just keep him in the cloth without the cover, monitor closely, and change often.
I've also started using this diaper lotion potion as a wipes solution - I mix it with water and a little witch hazel in a spray bottle and spray it directly onto a flannel baby wipe. It smells nice, cleans well, and cuts down on the number of wipes we use. Again, my Mom and husband (and my dad for that matter) all pretty much use disposable wipes, and I use the flannel ones (kept in a wipes warmer) in the nursery.
So I haven't gone crazy trying to get all caregivers on the cloth dipe/resusable wipe program. I'm happy to at least partially cut down on waste for now... and I have other more pressing matters to worry about, like getting my baby to sleep in his crib through the night. Next time :)
An at-home consult to explain how it all works and to illustrate a couple of different folding methods.
80 pre-folds - I'm not sure what brand the service uses but they look like this and seem pretty heavy-duty. They also provide an 'exclusive diapers' service at no extra charge - meaning I get the same cohort of dipes back once they're washed.
A pack of Snappi diaper fasteners - This is a y-shaped contraption that you use in place of pins. They attach to the diaper with little hooks, like you would use with an ace bandage. At first I was afraid these would hook into baby's skin, but we haven't had any problems so far. Love these.
three Thirsties duo wrap covers - these are great because they have snaps up the front to adjust the 'rise' of the cover, so that you can use one size for a longer time as your baby grows. I'm not sold on these though, they hold everything in pretty well, and are very easy to use, but I think they might irritate baby's skin on his stomach and thighs. I might try these Imse Vimse soft covers next. Baby isn't in cloth full time (see below) but even so it would be more convenient to have 5-6 covers, just so I'm not washing them all the time.
GroVia BioLiners - These are flushable diaper liners for when baby A's poop becomes more 'substantial.' ie when he starts eating solid food. Liner gets dropped into the toilet, diaper goes into the pail. Easy.
Punkin butt bottom balm - An organic balm that smells great and works well. Apparently the zinc oxide in a lot of diaper creams isn't good for cloth diapers (or maybe it's hard to wash out? I'm not sure). But I also really like Baby Bee diaper ointment.
Sheepish Grins diaper pail deodorizer - LOVE this stuff. You sprinkle a little on the bottom of your diaper pail and layer in with the dirty diapers as needed. It smells like buttery oatmeal cookies (is that gross?) and totally masks poopy dipe stench.
I also signed up for a starter kit, which was a one time fee for the diaper pail, a Thirsties diaper pail liner and a deodorizer cube (For the life of me I can't find the link for this on the service website, I think it shows up when you are checking out with an order)
So what happens is I fill up the diaper pail with dirty diapers (no need to dump any poop off first, since the poop of a breast/formula fed baby is completely water soluble at this point) and put the bag on our porch every Tuesday. It magically disappears, while a new liner filled with clean diapers magically appears in it's place.
Really, switching to cloth hasn't been a big deal at all for me. I had to practice getting the leg holes tight enough to avoid leakage but that's about it. My Mom and husband are not taking to it as I have though, so baby is still in disposables three days a week and at night. For this reason 80 diapers has been WAY too many for us so far.
I was surprised at how soaked all over the diapers get, which is both a pro and a con. A 'pro' because disposable diapers are supernaturally absorbent for a reason, and I don't even want to know what that reason is and how many chemicals are necessary to make it happen. The wetness also supposedly helps with potty training, since they feel wet much sooner, although obviously I can't speak to this yet. It's a 'con' in the sense that you end up changing diapers a lot more frequently... but with 80 per week I have plenty, and I don't mind changing them.
I was also not expecting how bulky it all is once you have on the cloth diaper and the cover. It looks pretty funny! The whole ensemble doesn't work too well under a onesie, but a lot of times at home I just keep him in the cloth without the cover, monitor closely, and change often.
I've also started using this diaper lotion potion as a wipes solution - I mix it with water and a little witch hazel in a spray bottle and spray it directly onto a flannel baby wipe. It smells nice, cleans well, and cuts down on the number of wipes we use. Again, my Mom and husband (and my dad for that matter) all pretty much use disposable wipes, and I use the flannel ones (kept in a wipes warmer) in the nursery.
So I haven't gone crazy trying to get all caregivers on the cloth dipe/resusable wipe program. I'm happy to at least partially cut down on waste for now... and I have other more pressing matters to worry about, like getting my baby to sleep in his crib through the night. Next time :)
posted by Amy at 3:33 PM
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