The Snarky Momma occasionally (okay, sometimes) reviews products on her review blog related to parenting, domestic goddess-try, and personal care. Her opinions are honest, based on her own experiences, and will be published even if she does not find the product satisfactory. She will always disclose how she got a product and whether she was compensated to talk about it. If you want to send her a product, contact her via email at tiffany [at] snarkymomma [dot] com.
Monday, July 12, 2010
The poop on diapering II.
Cloth diapering has turned out to be a less harrowing adventure than I expected. The first couple of days admittedly were kind of rough and had me brainstorming different systems I could use, but I made myself not give up until I did some troubleshooting on what was giving me frustration.
Turns out the problem was the fold I was using. Once I fixed that, the leaking issue all but disappeared and I stopped going through so many covers. Thanks to this site I now use the newspaper fold which is snug around the thighs and creates a bit of a gusset to catch poop. Lord knows what I was doing before.
On average I change Em’s diaper 10-12 times per day. She pees like you wouldn’t believe (which is good because it means she’s nursing effectively). That may seem like a lot, but honestly you kind of just get used to it. It doesn’t wake her up at night, so I just let her sleep through until she wakes up to nurse. I like the fact that she’s really sensitive to being wet (when she’s snoozing being the exception) since it means she’ll probably be out of diapers sooner. (Rosco couldn’t care less and would happily wallow in a dirty diaper all day.)
Right now I wash diapers and wipes (yes, wipes) every two days or so. I bought just enough to accomplish that because I didn’t want them sitting around becoming mildewy and turning into science experiments. I think I bought 25 prefolds. I give them a cold soak, then a cold wash with diaper-safe detergent (right now it’s Trader Joe’s powder), and then a run through a hot cycle with no soap. I just dump them into the washer, poop and all. For newborn age, poop is completely water-soluble so it’s no extra work for the washer (or mom). Very rarely a diaper will come out the wash a bit stained, so I put it out in the sun to bleach while it’s still wet. That usually takes care of any yellowness. Everything else goes into the dryer with no problems.
We’ve only left the house once with Em in a cloth diaper, so I’ll have to come back after a while to detail how our little field trips and errands work out without the convenience of the disposables.
Scott has yet to change a cloth diaper, so that’s a work in progress, too. It’s not because he doesn’t want to, but because we’ve been dividing duties because of all this house renovation bullshit. Again, I’ll report back on that.
Well that explains why her booty looked so big in that first picture!
I thought about cloth diapering with Ari. But the location of our washing machine and my swinging pelvic bones made that thought fly out of the door quickly. Keep updating us on the cloth diapering.
I don’t find cloth out of the house to be much different than cloth in the house. Well, the diaper bag is bulky, but it doesn’t seem to be a big deal. A lot of people try for these fancy wet bag systems. I just use Ziploks until they are gross then I toss them. Admittedly, part of my logic for this is the my husband’s former roommates bought Ziplok bags at Costco and we have like 600 of them.
I’ve avoided buying a wetbag thus far. I need to get something for laundry for the house (right now I’m recycling grocery bags), but probably won’t get too fancy with travel gear.
The poop on diapering II.
Cloth diapering has turned out to be a less harrowing adventure than I expected. The first couple of days admittedly were kind of rough and had me brainstorming different systems I could use, but I made myself not give up until I did some troubleshooting on what was giving me frustration.
We use prefolds, mostly with wool covers, and I was dealing with a lot of poop blow-outs through the leg holes in the first couple of days. (Breastmilk is notorious for making poop mobile in that way.) Em was soiling her covers and I was having to wash them between uses rather than letting them just air out like you can do with urine diapers (there’s some science behind this, I promise—urea and lanolin when combined do great stuff). Since it takes the wool covers about a day to air dry in the house and because I only had three (now four), this was a nightmare.
I thought maybe it was the bulkiness of the prefold that wasn’t letting me fasten it tight enough for a snug fit around Em’s skinny thighs. I actually considered ordering some all-in-ones and going as idiot-proof as possible. When I started adding diaper dollars in my head, I dug my heels in and consulted Google.
Turns out the problem was the fold I was using. Once I fixed that, the leaking issue all but disappeared and I stopped going through so many covers. Thanks to this site I now use the newspaper fold which is snug around the thighs and creates a bit of a gusset to catch poop. Lord knows what I was doing before.
On average I change Em’s diaper 10-12 times per day. She pees like you wouldn’t believe (which is good because it means she’s nursing effectively). That may seem like a lot, but honestly you kind of just get used to it. It doesn’t wake her up at night, so I just let her sleep through until she wakes up to nurse. I like the fact that she’s really sensitive to being wet (when she’s snoozing being the exception) since it means she’ll probably be out of diapers sooner. (Rosco couldn’t care less and would happily wallow in a dirty diaper all day.)
Right now I wash diapers and wipes (yes, wipes) every two days or so. I bought just enough to accomplish that because I didn’t want them sitting around becoming mildewy and turning into science experiments. I think I bought 25 prefolds. I give them a cold soak, then a cold wash with diaper-safe detergent (right now it’s Trader Joe’s powder), and then a run through a hot cycle with no soap. I just dump them into the washer, poop and all. For newborn age, poop is completely water-soluble so it’s no extra work for the washer (or mom). Very rarely a diaper will come out the wash a bit stained, so I put it out in the sun to bleach while it’s still wet. That usually takes care of any yellowness. Everything else goes into the dryer with no problems.
One deterrent from using this kind of diaper system is that it can be kind of bulky under clothes.
With the little one-piece summer outfits Em mostly wears it’s not a problem since they’re roomy in the caboose, but unless she’s wearing a very trim diaper she can’t really wear those bloomers that come with dresses or certain pants. Usually if I put on her Duo Wrap that snugs everything in just enough.
We’ve only left the house once with Em in a cloth diaper, so I’ll have to come back after a while to detail how our little field trips and errands work out without the convenience of the disposables.
Scott has yet to change a cloth diaper, so that’s a work in progress, too. It’s not because he doesn’t want to, but because we’ve been dividing duties because of all this house renovation bullshit. Again, I’ll report back on that.
Posted by Tiffany on 07/12 at 01:10 PM
_______________________________________________________________She looks so precious. It’s really great that you’re documenting your cloth diapering. So very informative (in the personal experience way).
Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 07/12 at 03:12 PM
***Once she gets bigger give the bikini twist a shot. It is fast (once they get wiggly and don’t sit still) and is reduces all the bulk up front.
I am jealous of you wool covers. They look great!
Posted by LabMom on 07/12 at 11:06 PM
***Well that explains why her booty looked so big in that first picture!
I thought about cloth diapering with Ari. But the location of our washing machine and my swinging pelvic bones made that thought fly out of the door quickly. Keep updating us on the cloth diapering.
Posted by tina on 07/12 at 11:35 PM
***Keis - This whole clothing diapering thing is definitely a journey. No one in my family in recent history has done it.
LM - I’m intrigued by the bikini fold. Anxious to try it at some point!
Tina - Ow @ “swinging pelvic bones” *shudders*
Posted by Tiffany on 07/13 at 01:09 PM
***I don’t find cloth out of the house to be much different than cloth in the house. Well, the diaper bag is bulky, but it doesn’t seem to be a big deal. A lot of people try for these fancy wet bag systems. I just use Ziploks until they are gross then I toss them. Admittedly, part of my logic for this is the my husband’s former roommates bought Ziplok bags at Costco and we have like 600 of them.
Posted by Krissy on 07/13 at 03:24 PM
***I’ve avoided buying a wetbag thus far. I need to get something for laundry for the house (right now I’m recycling grocery bags), but probably won’t get too fancy with travel gear.
Ziploc bags sound just about my speed!
Posted by Tiffany on 07/13 at 04:13 PM
***