Most people are turned off from cloth diapers because they don't want to have to mess with disposing of poop! BUT, did you know that you are NOT supposed to put the poop in disposable diapers in the trash? You are supposed to empty it into the toilet as well! In fact, it is illegal to dispose of human feces in the trash; that's why doctors offices won't allow you to leave your dirty diapers there!
That being said, it is not that difficult to deal with poopy cloth diapers! If your baby is exclusively breastfed, you don't even need to rinse the poop into the toilet! It can be washed away completely in your washing machine! If your baby is on formula or solids, you will need to dispose of the waste into the toilet before washing the diapers.
There is the old "dunk and flush" method in which you continue to dunk your diaper in the toilet while flushing until the waste is rinsed off the diaper. This method can get messy, and make sure you hold on tight to your diaper while you are flushing, or it can end up stuck in your pipes...
Then there is the swish method. You fold the diaper to where only the dirty portion is out, and swish it lightly in the toilet water. This is a slightly less messy version of the "dunk and flush" because you don't put the entire diaper into the water.
The "plop" method is when your baby begins to have more solid poop, and you can just plop it right into the toilet.
There is the "scrape" method, in which you scrape the waste into the toilet using a piece of toilet paper. This can sometimes smear the poop into your diaper worse, though, depending on the poop!
Now lets talk about two awesome tools that help make this part of cloth diapers a little easier! A diaper sprayer is a neat little gadget that hooks up to your toilet and allows you to spray your diapers off! No more dunking or swishing! It functions just like the sprayer on your kitchen sink. Diaper sprayers run around $40-$50, and most anyone can install them with ease! This is a dad friendly solution to poopy diaper changes!
Another product that has made dirty diaper changing easier is the flushable liner! All you do is put one of these in the diaper with every diaper change. If the diaper is dirty, just fold up the liner and flush it away! If the diaper is just wet, most of these liners can be rinsed and hung to dry several times before they need to be thrown away. Flushable liners are the most dad friendly method, and they can be purchased on most cloth diaper baby boutique websites!
Another important factor in rinsing dirty diapers is to make sure you only rinse the part of the diaper that is soiled! If you have pocket diapers, take the inserts out before rinsing the cover! If you use fitteds, contours, prefolds, or flats, just rinse the absorbent part, and not the waterproof diaper cover! And always remember to squeeze the water out of your diapers before you carry them to your pail or wet bag, or you will have a toilet water trail all the way down your hallway! Wash your hands when you are through! :)
As you can see, there are many methods of disposing of poop! Find the method that works best for you, and stick with it! It easily becomes a part of your everyday routine!
Saturday, April 30, 2011
Fabrics Available
There are many absorbent fabrics available for your cloth diapering needs!
Cotton: Many cloth diapers have a cotton lining, or cotton inserts. Cotton is a natural material. Prefolds and flats are generally made out of cotton. Cotton is very soft for baby, and is also very absorbent!
Bamboo: Bamboo is another natural material, and is more absorbent than cotton. It is also very soft! It is naturally antibacterial and doesn't hold odors. However, bamboo is more fragile than other diaper fabrics, and must have gentler care while washing.
Fleece: Fleece is 100% polyester. Some diaper covers are made from fleece. Thick fleece has waterproof qualities. However, lightweight fleece, such as micro fleece, makes a great stay-dry diaper liner because it wicks moisture away from baby.
Hemp: Hemp used in diapers is 55% hemp and 45% cotton, and is all natural fibers. The cotton is there to help keep the hemp soft! Hemp is very durable and strong, and is the most absorbent natural fabric available for cloth diapers. Plus hemp has some natural antibacterial properties! These are great for nighttime diapers!! The downside is that they take a little longer to dry than other fabrics.
Microfiber: Microfiber is about 75% polyester and 25% polyamide. This is a great fabric for inserts because it can absorb around 8 times its weight in liquid. Microfiber dries quickly and gets more absorbent with each use. However, be careful to not have microfiber directly against baby's skin, because it can be very drying! Always use a barrier when using microfiber!
PUL: Polyurethane Laminate is a laminate-backed fabric. Its soft, flexible, and completely waterproof! It can withstand the heat of a dryer, and is perfect for use as a waterproof cover, or the outer lining of all in ones, pockets, and wet bags!
Suedecloth: Suedecloth is great for the lining in diapers! It is thinner than micro fleece, but is very good at wicking moisture away from baby, and it resists staining. Suedecloth does not pill like micro fleece and stays looking new a lot longer. *Edit* Some babies can have allergic reactions to suedecloth. My daughter is one of them. She started out tolerating it well, but now she gets extremely red when she wears a diaper with suedecloth. I still recommend it for the inside of diapers, but, like many things in this world, its not right for everyone.
Wool: Wool is perfect for diaper covers. It is waterproof, but highly breathable. It can hold 30% of its weight in liquid. Wool also have naturally antibacterial properties. The downside to wool is that it needs to be lanolized on a regular basis, but lanolization isn't too difficult!
Zorb: I haven't had any personal experience with Zorb, and it is the newest diaper fabric on the market. Zorb is hypoallergenic and made from bamboo, cotton, and viscose. Zorb absorbs much faster than any other diaper fabric, and it can hold 3 times as much liquid as any other diaper fabric. Also, it rarely leaks or wicks moisture onto clothing. *Edit* I have since used a few diapers with Zorb, and I LOVE it. It holds a lot, is soft, and absorbs very quickly!
I recommend trying several different types of fabric to discover which works best for your baby!
Cotton: Many cloth diapers have a cotton lining, or cotton inserts. Cotton is a natural material. Prefolds and flats are generally made out of cotton. Cotton is very soft for baby, and is also very absorbent!
Bamboo: Bamboo is another natural material, and is more absorbent than cotton. It is also very soft! It is naturally antibacterial and doesn't hold odors. However, bamboo is more fragile than other diaper fabrics, and must have gentler care while washing.
Fleece: Fleece is 100% polyester. Some diaper covers are made from fleece. Thick fleece has waterproof qualities. However, lightweight fleece, such as micro fleece, makes a great stay-dry diaper liner because it wicks moisture away from baby.
Hemp: Hemp used in diapers is 55% hemp and 45% cotton, and is all natural fibers. The cotton is there to help keep the hemp soft! Hemp is very durable and strong, and is the most absorbent natural fabric available for cloth diapers. Plus hemp has some natural antibacterial properties! These are great for nighttime diapers!! The downside is that they take a little longer to dry than other fabrics.
Microfiber: Microfiber is about 75% polyester and 25% polyamide. This is a great fabric for inserts because it can absorb around 8 times its weight in liquid. Microfiber dries quickly and gets more absorbent with each use. However, be careful to not have microfiber directly against baby's skin, because it can be very drying! Always use a barrier when using microfiber!
PUL: Polyurethane Laminate is a laminate-backed fabric. Its soft, flexible, and completely waterproof! It can withstand the heat of a dryer, and is perfect for use as a waterproof cover, or the outer lining of all in ones, pockets, and wet bags!
Suedecloth: Suedecloth is great for the lining in diapers! It is thinner than micro fleece, but is very good at wicking moisture away from baby, and it resists staining. Suedecloth does not pill like micro fleece and stays looking new a lot longer. *Edit* Some babies can have allergic reactions to suedecloth. My daughter is one of them. She started out tolerating it well, but now she gets extremely red when she wears a diaper with suedecloth. I still recommend it for the inside of diapers, but, like many things in this world, its not right for everyone.
Wool: Wool is perfect for diaper covers. It is waterproof, but highly breathable. It can hold 30% of its weight in liquid. Wool also have naturally antibacterial properties. The downside to wool is that it needs to be lanolized on a regular basis, but lanolization isn't too difficult!
Zorb: I haven't had any personal experience with Zorb, and it is the newest diaper fabric on the market. Zorb is hypoallergenic and made from bamboo, cotton, and viscose. Zorb absorbs much faster than any other diaper fabric, and it can hold 3 times as much liquid as any other diaper fabric. Also, it rarely leaks or wicks moisture onto clothing. *Edit* I have since used a few diapers with Zorb, and I LOVE it. It holds a lot, is soft, and absorbs very quickly!
I recommend trying several different types of fabric to discover which works best for your baby!
Wednesday, April 27, 2011
Types of Cloth Diapers Available
There are many different types of cloth diapers available, and there's bound to be a style to fit your needs. I'm going to run down the different types and give brief descriptions.
Prefolds & Flats- These are the diapers that most people think about when you say "cloth diapers". They require some kind of fastener, whether you choose pins (old style) or snappis (the new way). Snappis are little rubbery "T" shaped doodads that grip the diaper in three places. No more stabbing your baby with pins! Prefolds and Flats also require a waterproof diaper cover, because they are not waterproof themselves. This is the most economical route to cloth diapering, and many people still use this method today. Prefolds and Flats can also be used as inserts in the pocket diapers, which I will describe in a minute. A word to the wise...Do not go out and buy the cheap Gerber versions of these diapers! They will not be nearly as absorbent as you will want. Unbleached Indian or Chinese Cotton, or hemp versions are the way to go.
Fitted diapers- Fitted diapers are similar to prefolds & flats in that they are not waterproof on their own. You will also need a diaper cover for these. However, they are "fitted" because you snap or Velcro them around your baby. These are another more economical route to cloth diapering, and fitted diapers come in many cute patterns and colors!
Contour Diapers- These also need a diaper cover to waterproof them! They are a mix between prefolds/flats, and fitted diapers. They are shaped to fit your baby like fitted diapers, but require pins or a snappi to secure them.
Diaper Covers- These waterproof covers come in many different colors and patterns, and are required over prefolds, flats, fitted, and contour diapers. Diaper covers can be made from PUL, fleece, or wool.
Pocket Diapers- These are my diaper of choice based on my lifestyle and ease of use for the babysitter, and they make up 85% of my diaper stash. These are shaped like a diaper should be shaped, have elastic around the legs and waist, and have tabs that come around to snap or Velcro. They are called pockets, because they have a pocket in them to stuff an insert to absorb urine. They have a built in waterproof outer layer, so no cover is required for these. The nice thing about pocket diapers is that you can adjust the amount of absorbency that you need by adding or removing inserts. During the day, typically only one insert is needed; however, during the night most babies will need two or three. Other styles of diapers don't allow such an easy change in absorbency! *Edit* I currently stuff my pocket diapers with cotton and hemp flats. Flats wash up cleaner than other inserts in hard waters.
All In Ones- These diapers are also very easy, and are babysitter & dad approved! They are shaped, have the elastic where it needs to be, have pull around snap or Velcro tabs, and have the absorbent layers and waterproof outer lining all in one. No stuffing, no extra parts, just as easy as a disposables! There are three downsides to all-in-ones: they have a longer drying time, they are the most expensive type of cloth diaper, and its a little harder to change the absorbency to fit your needs.
One-size versus sized diapers-
Some parents choose to get one-size diapers for their babies. These diapers snap down in the front to adjust to growing babies. They usually fit from about 8 lbs up through potty training, but brands do differ. One size diapers occasionally don't fit right on some babies, and they can be bulky at the smaller settings. However, they are nice because you will only have to buy one set of diapers to last through all of the stages! If these work for your child, I recommend getting them! They will save you money!
Some parents choose sized diapers because they can get a much better fit on their child. They aren't as bulky as one-size diapers either. However, if money is an issue, these will be more expensive in the long run, because you will have to start with smalls, and then buy a whole new set of mediums, and then larges as your baby grows.
Velcro versus Snaps- This comes down to personal preference. Velcro is faster and easier to use and gives a more adjustable fit around the waist, but can wear out faster than snaps. Also, Velcro can catch on your other diapers in the wash and snag them. Snaps are a little more time consuming to put on, and they aren't quite as adjustable as Velcro. However, they are more durable and cause no damage to other diapers while washing them. I like snaps better than Velcro for the durability, but the extra time to put on the diapers doesn't bother me at all. If you are on the go or need a more adjustable fit, I recommend Velcro.
If you have any questions about types of diapers, please let me know! I recommend trying several different types of diapers to discover what will work best for you and your baby! In my next post, I believe I am going to talk about different fabric options available. Some are more absorbent than others, so stay tuned!
Prefolds & Flats- These are the diapers that most people think about when you say "cloth diapers". They require some kind of fastener, whether you choose pins (old style) or snappis (the new way). Snappis are little rubbery "T" shaped doodads that grip the diaper in three places. No more stabbing your baby with pins! Prefolds and Flats also require a waterproof diaper cover, because they are not waterproof themselves. This is the most economical route to cloth diapering, and many people still use this method today. Prefolds and Flats can also be used as inserts in the pocket diapers, which I will describe in a minute. A word to the wise...Do not go out and buy the cheap Gerber versions of these diapers! They will not be nearly as absorbent as you will want. Unbleached Indian or Chinese Cotton, or hemp versions are the way to go.
Fitted diapers- Fitted diapers are similar to prefolds & flats in that they are not waterproof on their own. You will also need a diaper cover for these. However, they are "fitted" because you snap or Velcro them around your baby. These are another more economical route to cloth diapering, and fitted diapers come in many cute patterns and colors!
Contour Diapers- These also need a diaper cover to waterproof them! They are a mix between prefolds/flats, and fitted diapers. They are shaped to fit your baby like fitted diapers, but require pins or a snappi to secure them.
Diaper Covers- These waterproof covers come in many different colors and patterns, and are required over prefolds, flats, fitted, and contour diapers. Diaper covers can be made from PUL, fleece, or wool.
Pocket Diapers- These are my diaper of choice based on my lifestyle and ease of use for the babysitter, and they make up 85% of my diaper stash. These are shaped like a diaper should be shaped, have elastic around the legs and waist, and have tabs that come around to snap or Velcro. They are called pockets, because they have a pocket in them to stuff an insert to absorb urine. They have a built in waterproof outer layer, so no cover is required for these. The nice thing about pocket diapers is that you can adjust the amount of absorbency that you need by adding or removing inserts. During the day, typically only one insert is needed; however, during the night most babies will need two or three. Other styles of diapers don't allow such an easy change in absorbency! *Edit* I currently stuff my pocket diapers with cotton and hemp flats. Flats wash up cleaner than other inserts in hard waters.
All In Ones- These diapers are also very easy, and are babysitter & dad approved! They are shaped, have the elastic where it needs to be, have pull around snap or Velcro tabs, and have the absorbent layers and waterproof outer lining all in one. No stuffing, no extra parts, just as easy as a disposables! There are three downsides to all-in-ones: they have a longer drying time, they are the most expensive type of cloth diaper, and its a little harder to change the absorbency to fit your needs.
One-size versus sized diapers-
Some parents choose to get one-size diapers for their babies. These diapers snap down in the front to adjust to growing babies. They usually fit from about 8 lbs up through potty training, but brands do differ. One size diapers occasionally don't fit right on some babies, and they can be bulky at the smaller settings. However, they are nice because you will only have to buy one set of diapers to last through all of the stages! If these work for your child, I recommend getting them! They will save you money!
Some parents choose sized diapers because they can get a much better fit on their child. They aren't as bulky as one-size diapers either. However, if money is an issue, these will be more expensive in the long run, because you will have to start with smalls, and then buy a whole new set of mediums, and then larges as your baby grows.
Velcro versus Snaps- This comes down to personal preference. Velcro is faster and easier to use and gives a more adjustable fit around the waist, but can wear out faster than snaps. Also, Velcro can catch on your other diapers in the wash and snag them. Snaps are a little more time consuming to put on, and they aren't quite as adjustable as Velcro. However, they are more durable and cause no damage to other diapers while washing them. I like snaps better than Velcro for the durability, but the extra time to put on the diapers doesn't bother me at all. If you are on the go or need a more adjustable fit, I recommend Velcro.
If you have any questions about types of diapers, please let me know! I recommend trying several different types of diapers to discover what will work best for you and your baby! In my next post, I believe I am going to talk about different fabric options available. Some are more absorbent than others, so stay tuned!
Deciding to switch to cloth!
I first decided to look into cloth diapers for my daughter for a few reasons. First, as a single mom, it can be difficult to afford disposable diapers. Second, she kept getting rashes from allergic reactions to disposables. Knowing nothing about modern day cloth diapers, I was very skeptical from the beginning. When you first start researching cloth, you are bombarded with TONS of information, and honestly, it can get very overwhelming. I believe I spent three whole days looking at nothing but the different styles of cloth diapers. As a single mom of two & a full time college student, I needed something quick, easy, babysitter friendly, and fairly inexpensive. Another overwhelming factor soon reared its ugly head: start up cost. In order to have enough diapers to get through two days between washes, it is recommended that you have 24 diapers! When you look at some of the prices ($25 and up) it can seem pretty scary. Not to mention the wetbags, special detergents, and cloth wipes! However, when you realize that you will never have to spend another dime on diapers and wipes ever again, it is definitely worth it! As I have more time to blog, I will devote several posts to types of diapers, brands, diaper pails and wetbags, detergents, cloth wipes, and benefits of using cloth. Also, I will go through the different fabric options available, and proper care instructions to maximize the life of your diapers!
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