It’s Just a Matter of Conviction

Our Cloth Diapering Community is made up of all sorts of different families with different backgrounds, believes and customs, but we all have a common conviction: Cloth Diapering is best for our babies, the planet and helps out on the family economy.

I’ll tell you a little about myself.

I’m the typical corporate career woman, I work from 9 am to 6 pm on regular days, but can log as much as 60 hours a week when there is a project deadline. I have to dress up, put make up on, style my hair and wear high heels to go to work every day. I have a degree in Civil Engineering and practice as a Licensed Professional Engineer designing and managing highway and levee projects for the second largest engineering firm in the US. I really love my job, it is very rewarding to see a project you worked on being built and used by the public.

When I got pregnant and started researching what brand of diaper to use with my baby I realized how damaging to our environment disposable diapers are just by its production cycle, material waste and waste to our landfills. I was looking for a less damaging diaper to use on my baby and found 7th Generation (they don’t bleach the diapers, therefore don’t release chlorine and dioxins into water streams) and then I found g-Diapers (no landfill waste, compostable), which I thought was the way to go, even though it was going to be more expensive to diaper a baby. I did not think of using cloth insert at that time.

One day while pregnant, I visited a dear friend who had just had a baby, I made a comment about diapers and my environmental concerns, she surprised me by saying that she used cloth diapers…I followed her to the baby’s room to change a diaper and I was instantaneously amazed with them. She used a fitted Kissuluv with a Thirsties cover; she also showed me the BumGenious AIOs and Fuzzi Bunz pockets. I was sold, I wanted to know more!! She explained to me the basics and her washing routine and as soon as I got home that night I researched in the internet and became obsessed with learning more about them…the rest is history.

Before going back to work after maternity leave I interviewed several daycares in my neighborhood, one of the requirements I had was that they accept using cloth diapers. After several rejections, and comments like “That is not sanitary”, or “It’s against our policy to use cloth diapers”, I found a wonderful place that said, “Sure, no problem, we’ve done it before”. It was interesting when I took the diapers to show to the caretakers, and they had no problem on using them, it was mainly the directors that would comment against them.

When baby began day care I took several brands that I had of pockets and AIOs, and let the care takers test which ones worked best for them. After a couple of months of using them they told me that the Fuzzi Bunz were their favorites, even though they were not my favorites and would have loved to test even more brands, I got all Fuzzi Bunz for my stash to accommodate their preference.

So the daily routine goes like this: I take 8 diapers in a clean wetbag at drop-off in the morning, in the afternoon at pick up I take all soiled diapers in the dirty wetbag back home. At home I get my alone peaceful moment with my diapers, I even call it my meditation moment, where I spray the poopy diapers in the toilet and rinse them all in the tub, I also hand scrub every poopy diaper to avoid any chance of stains in the wash, then I transfer them back to the wetbag if it is not wash day. I have a strict wash day schedule, every Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday no matter what, even if it means washing at 11 pm at night after coming back from the office tired after a huge deadline and drying first thing in the morning so they are ready to stuff before leaving to daycare at 8:00 am. I might not be disciplined on many things, but my cloth kept me disciplined on this. I really don’t like doing regular laundry but I enjoy doing diaper laundry, I don’t know why…I guess it is just conviction.

In the 2 and a half years of cloth diapering my son at day care I never missed a day; according to them he has never worn a disposable (but have to admit that I always kept a pack of 7th generation disposables at home for “just in case”, and there were several “just in case” moments at home). Only once DH forgot to pick up the dirty wetbag from day care but it was no problem. I’m glad I found such a supportive day care for our family, where they respect my preference.

At this point I am working on a newborn stash and have a variety of new cloth diapers that I can’t wait to try with the new baby. I am amazed with the amount of support and new brands that are available now compared to 3 years ago.


Hello, my name is Carla and I am a cloth diaper addict, and if they tell me I got to go to rehab, I say no, no, no.



Carla and her husband have been married for 10 years, they have a 3-year old son (day and night potty trained for 3 months already) and they are expecting their second bundle of joy, a girl due in July. They both work full time in the corporate world. Carla cannot wait to get back to her meditation time scrubbing cloth diapers.

"I can't use cloth, my caregiver won't be able to use them"

One of the main reasons some families don't do cloth is that they think once mom and dad are back to work, the baby's daytime caregiver won't be able to use them. Fortunately, we haven't found that to be a problem. 

My husband and I both work full-time so my mother-in-law watches our son during the day. We did sposies for the first few weeks while she was learning the ropes, but then showed her how to CD. We started out with Thirsties duo diapers, which with their hook and loop (aka Velcro) closures are just as easy as disposables. From there we've expanded to bumGenius elementals with snap closure and bumGenius 4.0 with hook and loop. She prefers the h&l but can do snaps too. 

Ironically, she had a harder time with disposables!  She wasn't getting them high or tight enough. With the snaps or Velcro she can more easily see where to go.  I've even made guidance lines with marker so she knows how tight to make them. 

After I went back to work, after 12 weeks, my hubby took 10 weeks of paternity leave to stay home with our son too. He used CDs too, with no problem. 

I don't use prefolds, and only use my Flips hybrids at home, as I think those might be too complicated for someone else.  Once we started solid foods and the accompanying solid poos came along, we started using flushable disposable liners inside the diapers. Cleanup is a breeze, we just flush the liner with the BM inside. Can't get much easier than that, and it ensures solid waste goes in the toilet where it should rather than in the landfill where it shouldn't. 

We've had great luck with our caregiver using the Thirsties and bumGenius diapers, and I love that we're saving some green while being green.


Ellen works full time as a goverment lawyer, her husband also works full time.  They live in Las Colinas with their adorable son.  They are first time parents and loving every crazy minute of it! 

“I don’t need a washer and dryer for my fluff, I have the Laundromat”

My name is Danae and I am a cloth diaper addict. I love fluff. I love deals on fluff and I love having my kiddo in fluff.  I also do not have a washer or dryer. That’s right! I am a Laundromat gal! I live in small apartment with NO connections. So it's not like I don’t want them, (I like to go to sears and drool over all the HE washers) it is just not possible.  Like any other cloth diapering mommy, I have worked out my routine to fit our family. And I pretty much do it like everyone else.  YES! It IS possible to do it! And it is NOT a lot of work like some mama’s may think. It does take a bit to get into a routine and know your Laundromat.

What is my routine like? I have a step on diaper pail that gets full about every 3 days.  So every 3 days I do a quick soak in our bath tub (this is just personal preference) and I walk to my Laundromat and wash once on hot and once on cold (also a personal preference). Easy Peasy.  A couple of reasons I love this.  Reason #1 – It gives me an excuse to clean the bathroom/tub. We all share one bathtub so I need to clean it often anyway. Reason #2 – I get some good exercise and fresh air walking to and from the LM (Laundromat).  I can’t say it has taken an extreme amount of effort. 

Something’s you should know:

Do not use the front loading washers at your LM.  Lots of people will put powder in them and it builds up. Def not good for cloth. It has never bothered me because the top loaders are cheaper, don’t have residue and clean them better anyway.

$1-2 every 3 days is still cheaper (WAY cheaper) than $100/month for disposable diapers.  I don’t always dry my diapers in the dryer because I prefer to save that extra dollar. When I do, it is mainly to get the diapers softer.  I will usually wash some other load of laundry so I can throw everything together since I don’t need the diapers in the dryer for a whole 45 mins.

You don’t normally have to worry about someone stealing your diapers.  Unless you live in some sort of cloth diaper addicted area, your fellow laundromatey’s probably don’t know what they are anyway.

Don’t let funny looks deter you. Most people are just curious. I’ve had a couple of people ask and be surprised and kind of in awe. I have never had anyone complain :)

How do I make my washes easy and fast? I have a “cloth diaper bag”. It contains a container of detergent, more than I need, but not enough to weigh me down. Anything I might use for my cloth, Tea Tree oil, Bac-out, Funk Rock, and Dryer Balls. I always keep it in the same bag so when I am ready to wash, I just grab it and go. I don’t always use everything, but I know I won’t look for anything like crazy if I do.  Wool dryer balls. Some Laundromats will have you pay .25 for every certain amount of time. I usually do this when I just want to soften my diapers. Wool dryer balls help speed the process and I don’t have to waste a lot of money.  Drying rack. This is especially handy if you have a patio or balcony.  You can sun your diapers outside this way without hanging them off of the fence.  A good baby carrier. Sometimes I wash during the day and I usually have Lily B with me. I just put her in the Boba in a back carry and go on with my washing routine.

So for those of you moms who have wanted to cloth diaper but are afraid of the Laundromat, don’t be! You CAN do it! It IS easy and once you get your routine down, you won’t even think twice about it. Not having a washer and dryer is no excuse!  Happy washing!

Danae is the proud mommy to beautiful Lily B!  She is the owner of Lily Baby, and makes custom blankets, lovey's, hooded towels, and more.  You can also follow her on Facebook, with her helpful page, Fluff Addict at the Laundromat.

YOU Cloth Diaper?!?!

The typical response that I receive once a person has figured out that we use cloth diapers.  Most people who picture cloth diapering moms see a woman either trapped in the 1950s or a hippie wild child.  I of course fit neither of these stereotypes. A little background about myself; I’m Shyana, a single mom by circumstance (DP is deployed) who works full time nights as an RN.   Our quest into cloth diapering started long before I was pregnant with our son.  I stumbled into the world of attachment/natural parenting when I was 19 or 20.  I was looking up parenting styles in a child development class and before I knew it I was sucked into the world of natural birthing, babywearing and cloth diapering.  Initially, like most people, I was very skeptical.  When I thought of cloth diapers I thought of a mom hanging big white flats and plastic pants on a clothing line outdoors.  There was NO way that people actually still did this (seriously?).  I laugh when I think of my initial reactions now.  I had no idea of the world that existed.  After researching the different types of cloth diapers, I knew that would be something I’d do with my own children. 

Fast forward 6 years later to my pregnancy with our son.  The first thing I purchased was 2 dozen unbleached prefolds and several size small and x-small Thirsties covers (excited much?).  By the time I’d given birth to ds our stash consisted of mainly prefolds, Thirsties and Bummis covers and fitteds.  Not wanting to overwhelm myself I decided I would use the first 2 weeks to get breastfeeding established and then we’d dive into cloth diapers.  At this point I was still slightly skeptical but thought I’d seriously give it a try.  We started with prefolds and covers and though I’d heard nothing but amazing things about using them (not to mention they are cheaper), I hated them.  No matter what I did I couldn’t keep that breastfed baby poop from leaking out of the prefolds.  It didn’t deter me but it did frustrate me a bit.  I decided to focus mainly on using fitteds (which I LOVED for the first 6 months!).  DS never leaked and they were super easy to use.  At this point I was still not confident enough to cloth diaper out and about so I continued to buy our monthly pack of disposables.  By the time ds was around 4 months we were cloth diapering full time except at night.  For the life of me I could not figure out how to keep ds from having a red tush in the morning so we continued with our one and only disposable at night.  We finally figured this out after about 14 months and a trip to the Nappy Shoppe in Allen, TX (thank you G-flappers!). 

Today ds is 22 months old and still happily cloth diapered.   I went back to work when ds was 4 months old and we’ve pretty much been on the same hectic and sleepless schedule since.  I will be the first to admit that my life is about pure survival and what’s convenient.   I would never do something that would be time consuming or cause me to exert too much energy (I need sleep for that!!!).  A typical work day while cloth diapering consists of us waking up and me changing ds’ nightly diaper.  He goes about 2-3 hours between diaper changes these days and if I work that night I will go ahead and do a load of diapers, even if there aren’t many.  I pack up 8-10 diapers to take to my parents’ house (yes we have cloth diapering grandparents!) and then I’ll bring those home in the morning.   I typically do diaper laundry once every 2-3 days depending on how many diapers we go through.  We have several waterproof/stink proof bags that we put the dirty diapers in until laundry day.  I throw the diapers in our front loading washer and set it for a cold rinse, hot wash, and cold rinse cycle.  Sometime later in the day when I remember I have laundry in the washer I’ll move them to the dryer or hang dry the covers in the laundry room.  The whole amount of time I spend tending to diaper laundry is about 5-10 minutes, including stuffing diapers after they are clean and dry. 

These days our stash mainly consists of Bum Genius one-size 3.0 pocket diapers, Softbums, Happy Heinys and covers with Sweet Pea hemp inserts.  We’ve saved more money on diapers than I can imagine, though I will warn that cloth diapering is addictive.  We also have a complete diaper stash for our next baby….and the one after that.  DS has NEVER had a diaper rash and it makes me happy to know that I’m helping the planet and not allowing him to sit in chemicals.  I know most people worry about the poop factor.  I will be honest and say that I did have a bit of a poop aversion when ds started eating food.  I am not a fan of big kid poop…..at….all.  But you’re a nurse!!  That’s right….and I hate big kid poop (the secret is out).  Blood I can handle…..poop, you’re pushing it!!  With that said, it’s really not that bad.  You dump out the waste and throw your diaper in your dirty diaper bag until laundry day and that’s it.  If I can manage to cloth diaper full time with my aversion to big kid poop, while shuffling ds to and fro on little or no sleep while working full time nights and dealing with the stress of a deployed spouse, you too can do it!!  PROMISE!!!

Sincerely,

Shy-the poop averting (gag!) cloth diapering mama  J

“I don’t have time to cloth diaper”

I hear that all the time. But honestly, who has the time to do anything when you have kids? I believe we make the time for the things that are important to us. I have very little extra time. My husband and I both work full time and I go to school as well. We have a daughter who is 9 months old and she has been in cloth diapers for about 5 months.

Let me tell you how we began our cloth diapering journey. My best friend and I got pregnant at the same time and our daughters are a day apart. We are as different as they come. I never planned on using cloth…I was disposables all the way. It’s all I knew. She planned on using cloth from day one. She is my little tree hugger and I love her dearly! And I thought she was nuts! She tried to tell me about them and I would amuse her but never really paid that close attention. When our little ones were born I notice how her routine wasn’t really all that different than mine. I started asking questions and listening to how it works. I went to Cotton Babies website all the time. I thought about how cute they were and I considered it but I was one of those who said that I don’t have the time. Then my little one started getting diaper rash everyday at daycare. It would clear up on the weekends and come back during the week. But my bestie’s daughter rarely got a rash. That was it. My mind was made up. I was going cloth. I was nervous and worried that I wasn’t going to like it and waste all the money I was investing. I cleared it with my daycare and they were totally supportive. My husband was supportive (he even suggested it when we were pregnant). I called my best friend everyday asking questions. She was my Yoda of cloth diapering.

You never know who cloth diapers until you mention it on Facebook. I posted one day that I was considering switching and all the cloth diapering parents popped out and encouraged me to do it. High school classmates that I would have never thought. Other than my best friend, I know at least 5 people that already cloth diaper and 3-4 that are considering it when they have kids. Cloth is making a HUGE come back and it’s because it’s so stinking easy!

My stash. I decided to go with BumGenius because that is what my friend was using and they seemed so easy. I use the 4.0s with snaps and I love them. I started with 12 diapers. I had to wash them every night. Once I got the routine down it was easy. Now I have 25 and I wash them every other day. But I want one of each color…I am lacking 4. I am always thinking about what color to get next…I can't help it! I need a fluff intervention!

My routine. In the morning, after I get ready for work, I fold the diapers as I watch the news and drink my coffee. I normally only fold what I send to daycare each day. I send 8 diapers but she normally goes through about 5-6.

When I get home from in the evenings I empty her wetbag. I spray off the poo and separate the covers (which are a pocket style) and the inserts so that all I have to do is dump the entire pale in the wash when I am washing.

On days I wash, I start them once I get home. I start the pre-wash and once the pre-wash is done (around 30 minutes) I start the wash cycle. After that, I do an extra rinse. I leave the covers to hang dry over night and I tumble dry the inserts. In the morning, they are ready to be folded.

It may sound very time consuming but it’s not. The majority of the time is taken up by the washing process. While the machine is running I am feeding my mini-me, making dinner, cleaning the kitchen and studying….and playing with my baby girl. Wow! Now that I write that, I see that I am a busy bee! It helps to do all that when I have a husband like mine. I couldn’t do it without him….I’ve tried cooking dinner before he gets home and it’s impossible when I have a tiny little human latched onto my leg holding on for dear life! He knows all about how to wash the diapers properly and he is learning how to stuff them. He hates spraying poo but he isn’t afraid to get his hands dirty. I know right! I scored the perfect man!

A lot of people now think I am nuts. Why would I add one more thing to my already large list of things to do? I would love to say it’s because I love a challenge (which I do!) but, really, it’s because I love my baby’s butt! I want to keep it as healthy as possible. No toxins, no harsh chemicals. Her sensitive skin is safe in her BumGenius. I have to say that I am surprising quite a few people. My sister thought I would give it up but she now sees how determined I am to make it work. I love talking to people about it when they ask. I tell them how easy it is and show them the diapers. They are surprised to see how it is so much more advanced than the system from back in the day. I am proud to say that my baby is a CottonBaby!


Hi, my name is Wendy and I am a fluff addict!!!!

CHALLENGE

I'm about to take a challenge.  I'm challenging YOU to do the same.  Read about the challenge HERE and HERE.  It will take place May 23-30.

Have you ever used flats?  Have you ever hand washed your diapers?  Yeah, me neither.  But I'm about to do both, and I'm super excited about it!

In response to this saddening article, a challenge has been made to prove that diapering can be done at an extremely low cost by using flats.  The challenge was also made to prove that cloth diapering IS possible, even without a washer and dryer.  When I read the above article about how some families are washing out and reusing disposable diapers, I was inspired to start a program that's been stewing in my mind for several months now.  I had planned on waiting until later this year when things settled down.  But let's face it: things will never settle down.   As I'm typing this, there are families who are having to choose between diapers and groceries.  I do not want any babies health to be at risk because their families can't afford both groceries and diapers.  Why wait?

Then I saw this challenge, and I'm all over it!  Contacts have been made to get things started with the program to help local families in cloth diapers who cannot afford it.  This challenge will help me be able to not only tell people it can be done very inexpensively and without a washer/dryer, but I can share my own personal experience. 

So, do you accept this challenge? 

Washing Cloth Diapers

I was very excited and anxious to start using cloth diapers on my 5-month old daughter. But choosing what method I would use to wash them was one of the most overwhelming and confusing parts of getting started. I have a front loading, high efficiency washer which I quickly learned made it much more difficult to get my daughter’s cloth diapers clean. With old school washers you can soak the diapers for hours and then wash them, but no such luck with high efficiency washers! Luckily there are a ton of great resources and friends out there to help get me on track.


First I tried a homemade laundry detergent recipe that my cloth-diapering cousin uses for her son’s dipes. I bought all of the ingredients and mixed it all together. But before I started a load I started doing some research on the internet. I checked out some blogs and found some really helpful sites on facebook. I determined after some reading that the homemade recipe wasn’t for me. It called for Castile soap and from what I read, regular soap is a no-no for cloth diapers.


Then I tried Green Mountain detergent, which was recommended to me by a lady who I met through CraigsList. It was way too sudsy for my HE washer. To get all of the detergent out I had to run several rinse cycles. (as you have probably figured out by now, I have enough detergent to use on our regular cloths to last me quite a while!) On to the next trial!


It wasn’t long after the Green Mountain fiasco that I was introduced to Rockin’ Green laundry detergent. I was at a cloth diaper party (where a retailer brought diapers that were several different brands so we could pick which one(s) we liked the best) and the woman had Rockin’ Green detergent with her. I had been researching that brand a little online but didn’t want to pay the shipping costs, so I was excited to be able to purchase it there and take it home for a test run. At that time I didn’t realize I had hard water so I bought the Classic Rock kind (when the bag I have runs out I will buy the Hard Rock kind next time, for hard water). Now that I had a detergent that was cloth diaper safe and worked well with a high efficiency washer, it was time to tackle the task of decided what method to use.


I tried the basic ~cold rinse~hot water wash~cold rinse~ method that I had seen talked about over and over, but my daughter’s diapers did not come out smelling clean. (keep in mind, I use a diaper sprayer and dry pail) After much trial and error, I have landed on the following wash cycle: cold short cycle wash with a little detergent~ full hot cycle wash with recommended amount of detergent (2 tbsp)~ extra rinse and spin. At the beginning of the hot water cycle I had a gallon of hot water (from the tap) to add weight and water (to trick the washing machine into thinking there are more items in there) so it will add extra water and help get the diapers more clean. I then add another gallon of hot water during the wash cycle through the detergent drawer.


The truth is, wash routines will vary from home to home because our children, diapers, water, detergent, and washing machines are all different. If at first you don’t succeed (and chances are, you won’t succeed the first time), try and try again. It took me several weeks, several detergents, and several wash routines to find the one that worked best for my household. But now that I found it, washing diapers is a breeze (and they come out smelling clean!). Try not to get frustrated. Reach out to friends, family and bloggers to get tips to try until you land on the system that works best for you. It’s all worth it in the end! (I also highly recommend line drying your diapers… it saves a ton on energy costs and helps whiten them in the process).



My next adventure? Making my own diapers for my daughter! Wish me luck!


Becky is a wife and work at home mother. She has been married for 2 ½ years. They have one beautiful daughter who is 7 months old. She is truly blessed!  She also owns an Etsy shop, Blessed Creations.