Ever since cloth diapers have been designed to go on like a disposable, I have wanted to try them. I did a bunch of research online, asked a lot of questions to other cloth diapering mamas and went to some stores to look at them in person.
We decided on using one brand and one kind - the bumGenius 4.0. They are a one-size diaper that can be adjusted to fit your baby, and the inserts are removable. We chose the snap version because I heard the velcro can wear out over time.
I received 12 of these diapers from various baby showers, but we purchased an additional 6 diapers - I have read that having 18-24 of them is about the right stash. We might purchase more depending on how I feel about the laundry in a month or so!
Brighton is a super long and skinny kid, so she just now fits into the diapers - we had been using Pampers or Target brand disposables until last week. I prepped the cloth diapers a few weekends ago by washing them on hot twice, then tumble dried on low. We have used them now for over a week and it's going really well - no more blowouts (Brighton had one every few days - her poops are forceful!), they are easy to put on and off and washing has been fine. Matt does a lot of the diaper changing and really likes them too!
We have a diaper sprayer that attaches to the toilet, but since breastmilk poop is water-soluble, we aren't spraying the diapers just yet. I just separate the inserts from the diapers (I wear rubber gloves while doing this), throw them in the washing machine, do a cold rinse cycle, then wash them once on hot with regular detergent - we didn't buy the special detergent that bumGenius makes, but we use something similar like a Tide Free and Clear. I tumble dry them on low and hanging any of the stained inserts in the sun to help bleach them. I purchased a large wet bag for the diapers - the dirty diaper goes into the wet bag and I wash them once I have about 2-3 clean diapers left. I also wash the wet bag with the diapers, but hang it to dry.
I am still going to use disposable diapers when we travel and there isn't a washer/dryer available and maybe at church or with babysitters. But for most days, cloth it is!
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| My little skinny bear in her first cloth diaper! |
Do you use cloth diapers? If so, what brand and do you like them? Please leave any advice or tips in the comments section!
she looks very good with cloth diapers!
ReplyDeleteI cloth diaper both of my boys. We have always done pockets until recently. I am switching now to a few fitteds and covers. I have found that pockets just don't work for us at night. If you have problems with smell or ammonia over time, you might want to strip and think about using a different detergent. We have hard water, so that made finding a detergent hard. There are special hard water detergents for cloth, but not even those would work. I have stripped diapers more times than I would ever wish upon anyone. It is such a pain. The best detergent I have found for cloth and hard water is Tide Original powder. Good luck with cloth!
ReplyDeleteJenny and Jordan cloth diaper the twins. They use a couple of kinds but the bumGenius is my favorite to use! Cloth diapering has been a great experience for them and they are glad they did it...It sure saves a lot of money and are so stinkin' cute!! I cloth diapered back in the late 70s and hated every minute of it. Diapers have changed so much since then and are fabulous! Hope you enjoy the journey!
ReplyDeleteThanks Angela! Also congrats on the next set of twins. Amazing!!
DeleteI cloth diapered my youngest (now 3) and she still wears one at night-time. I have used all sorts of brands but really liked Fuzzi Bunz and Bum Genius for longevity. The diaper sprayer will be your best friend! It is especially useful during the potty training phase for those accidents that inevitably occur. I believe that going cloth has saved us so much money (I didn't use them for my oldest - now 8). The cost savings really show as you start transitioning into underwear but still need that occasional diaper. Those pull-ups are so expensive and I never bought a single one for my youngest. Sounds like you have a firm grasp on what to do but feel free to ask me if any questions pop up. I did use the occasional disposable for travel, etc. Also, I found that corn starch (crazy, but true) works great for diaper rash and won't cause buildup on the cloth diapers. Good Luck! Angie
ReplyDeleteCorn starch?! Who knew! What a great tip, thank you!!!
DeleteWe used G Diapers until FunnyKid begin drinking so much water this summer that they couldn't hold it all. I LOVE using cloth and will do it again with our kiddo due next month. One question for you: do you use them overnight? I know plenty of people do, but it never worked for us.
ReplyDeleteWe do use them overnight but I double up the inserts so its extra absorbant!
DeleteThis is random, but I found the BEST product ever to get poop out of my son's clothes and I had to share, because it may (or may not!) be needed with your cloth diapers. I tried a similar laundry spray from California Baby because I wanted something safe to use, but that did nothing. So then I tried regular Shout spray and that didn't work either. Then a friend introduced me to this spray and my world changed :) It works and is safe...winner winner chicken dinner!
ReplyDeletehttp://charliesoap.com/
Thank you!!
DeleteCloth diapers are amazing! So glad we made the switch. Bum genius 4.0 is our favorite too, but we also really love blueberry too! We used tide free and clear for a while too until it started causing rashes, then we switched to Rockin' Green, which has done wonders! Good luck :)
ReplyDeleteYou might want to rethink that detergent. I also used a "free and clear" detergent until I noticed the cloth was repelling water (which explained the numerous, frustrating, leaks). I had to strip the diapers about 4 times to get out all of the build up. I got a $14 little tub of Charlie's laundry soap and I've had it for almost a year.
ReplyDeleteGood to know! Two of you have recommended it, so I will pick some up. Stripping diapers sounds like a lot of work!
Deletewe do use cloth but not when we go places or when someone watches him. ours smelled like ammonia last week so we washed it in a cycle with just a squirt of dish soap and they were great again. we really don't follow all the particulars...like i know that bumgenius recommends something else for ridding ammonia and i know people say to use special soaps or hang dry everything or sun-stain them but we don't do any of that. we just wash them the regular way and dry them in the dryer the regular way. maybe they will lessen in quality over time because of this but so far we haven't noticed any difference. i have mostly snaps too but i prefer velcro because i feel like i get a tighter fit and they seem less bulky somehow. my favorite brand is velcro softbums because they lay almost as smoothly as a disposable, but we already have so many other brands (thirsties and bumgenius) that we won't be buying more softbums. good luck!!
ReplyDeleteI also use bumgenius 4.0 and love them! I have to second (or third) the recommendation for Charlie's soap. I've found it works so much better on my diapers and I use it on all our clothes now. I buy it on amazon.com but I've also seen it at Earth Fare. Also, BG says you can bleach them once a month but I've found once every 6-7 weeks works just as well. It gets all the stink out, kills any residual bacteria, and keeps them looking clean. And yes I bleach the inserts and covers! I just do several extra rinses to make sure they're completely clean. I've cloth diapered for a year and my stash of 20 still looks like new! I'll absolutely be able to reuse them on future kids. :)
ReplyDeleteI meant to add - my daughter sleeps 12 hours at night and I've yet to find a cloth that works well for such a long period of time. We keep a small stash of Pampers and use disposable overnight and for travel. Best of both worlds!
ReplyDeleteWe use cloth no matter what, even while traveling. With advance planning, it's not difficult... I was a little apprehensive the first time we went on a trip, but ever since then we've flown all over and driven all over... and zero issues. We have 4.0's and Freetimes (which we LOVE thanks to their super fast drying time) and our nighttime solution for our very heavy wetter is a Sunbaby pocket stuffed with their included microfiber insert doubled with a bamboo insert. We use Thirsties hemp inserts to double up with our pockets even for the day. Zero leaks. For washing: We use Rock 'N Green to wash ours with... I was scared away from Charlie's Soap after seeing and hearing about some really bad burns that happened from using it with friends' kids. Just something to note. Not sure if they didn't rinse the diapers enough or whatever. Also, since you dry your covers in the dryer, make sure you don't stuff them until they are completely cooled. If you do it while they are warm, you can ruin the elastic way before its time. I've found that most people don't know that so just wanted to share. :) We don't dry our diapers in the dryer at all, we just hang them to dry on a rack. Saves on the power bill! Welcome to cloth diapering! :) So... guess it goes without saying that we LOVE cloth diapering. Glad you're enjoying it too!
ReplyDeleteTry a hemp insert under the microfiber one if you have any leaks overnight. My son sleeps 11-12 hours in his BG 4.0s no problem!
ReplyDeleteI'm 32 weeks preggo with my first and obsessed with cloth diapers! I can't wait to put them on her little bottom!
ReplyDeletethe flip diapers and the thirsties covers work with the gdiaper biodegradable inserts, which work well for traveling (you can use the covers more than once if they dont get wet). Also they are handy for when you are feeling lazy and want the feel of disposables, but want to stay cloth.
ReplyDeleteFlips are designed for birth to potty training so as you let the cover out move up in gdiaper sizes (they come in small and large).
Thirsties are nice because they have elastic and they come in 2 size (size 1 thirsties accommodate size small gdiaper and size 2 thirsties work with size large gdiapers)
If you have trouble at night, which we did, we just doubled up on the inserts and the issues stopped.
Good luck!!!
She is absolutely adorable, Kara! Love the first CD!!! I wanted to let you know that we also cloth diaper our 21 month old, our favorite type is BG 4.0s, so great choice there! We also use Charlie's Soap and have never had any issues with him being sensitive or getting a rash from it. It cleans great and we now use it for all of our laundry. Our local CD store sells it in bulk which is really nice as far as getting a break on the price and not having to get so many plastic containers.
ReplyDeleteBut my big tip -- which I learned on Melissa Jordan's blog is that you don't have to separate the inserts before you throw them in the wash (the rubber glove step) they will just come apart naturally from the washing machine's agitation. Once in a blue moon an insert stays in and we just separate it once its clean before it goes in the dryer (otherwise, it would never get dry!), but it is clean, none the less. It's a huge time and disgusting factor saver (especially once real food starts and thus, real poop)!!!
Oh good to know! I was worried about not separating them. Thanks much!!!!
Deletei wanted to come back and mention that one of our favorite things are the bummis bio liners because they've pretty much eliminated the need for a diaper sprayer in our house. we have a sprayer but have yet to really use it because the liners 'catch' everything. i buy em on amazon but idk if they're found elsewhere in stores. http://www.amazon.com/Bummis-BL-L-Bio-Soft-Liner-Large/dp/B0025YWL4W/ref=pd_sbs_ba_1
ReplyDeleteI might try those! Thanks for letting me know. :)
DeleteI tried cloth diapering for a while and absolutely loved it. My only issue came when my little man plumped up and leaked out of every single diaper. :( One thing I remember though, was not drying the liners. Only the covers. Don't know if your system works like this (I used gDiapers) but thought I'd throw this in there. Also, the Rocking Green soaps are great for cloth diapers. :) Good luck to you! I hope it works out! It's a lot of fun and just makes you feel good about your waste and your budget! :)
ReplyDeleteShe's adorable! We've decided to cloth diaper too and I can't wait to wrap my daughters booty up in cloth! Right now we're building a variety stash, I have a couple bumGenius, FuzziBunz, Charlie Banana & prefolds with Thirsties covers. We're using flushable liners though for maximum ease, we're both new to diapering in general so hopefully we take to cloth quickly!
ReplyDeleteContinued good luck with your efforts!
I wanted to add I love the color print above your changing pad! I saw it on Etsy and thought it was adorable.
ReplyDeleteHi! I'm relatively new to your blog, but we cloth diaper our little guy who is 4.5 months old. We use Ragababe Diapers (they are a little more spendy than BumGenius, but are totally worth it). We also use Rock N Green detergent, but I will say the success of your detergent depends on your water in your home. We use disposables too when we're traveling typically and when we have babysitters. : )
ReplyDeleteI love the colors and patterns in the bumgenius cloth diapers. I am planning to use cloth diapers for baby #2 who is due this summer. I have read a lot about how to clean and care for them. Great information! Love the pics.
ReplyDelete