Cloth Diaper Update

A few commenters (most recently Wendy, who is expecting her little miracle in only 10 weeks!  Hi Wendy!) have asked about the cloth diapers we use and how it's been going, so here's the deets on our dipes.

We've been using cloth on Eliza since she was about a month old.  We started out slowly, only using cloth when we were at home, and using disposables when we were out and about.  Then I bought myself a super cute travel wet bag, and from then on we've used cloth everywhere (well, we did go with 'sposies at the state fair this weekend, but that was a unique situation - limited carrying space and not a lot of diaper changing opportunities).

When she was tiny, we used fitteds and prefolds with covers as well as a handful of all-in-ones (AIOs) made by DryBees.  I LOVED my DryBees (we used the small size until Eliza was about four months old/17 pounds).  I liked the fitteds/prefolds with covers, too, but I was partial to the ease-of-use of the AIOs.  When she grew out of the DryBees small AIOs, we switched her to our stash of One-Sized BumGenius Organic AIOs .  I also had a few sized BG AIOs, so I used those as well at that time because she was already starting to fit into the size Mediums we had (she's a big girl and always has been!!).

Around the same time, I got a great deal on a couple of used DryBees pocket dipes off of eBay.  Oh how I wanted to like these diapers.  They were made by the same company as my beloved small AIOs (I really loved those dipes, can you tell?)... so I wanted to like them.  But, I didn't.  In DryBees' defense, it wasn't their fault - I just never took to pocket dipes.  I just hated the stuffing and unstuffing - OH, the unstuffing.  YUCK.  I just don't understood why people like them given that you have to stick your hand inside the wet/dirty diaper and fish out the liner(s).  To each their own, I guess!  The one thing I *did* like about them was that they dried super fast in the dryer, but in the end it still wasn't worth the ick factor.

Currently, we are still using our BG OS Organic AIOs (how's that for confusing acronyms?), which are still going strong.  They have velcro closures, and after using them for five months straight, I now wish I had bought the snap closure dipes because the velcro is starting to show a bit of wear.  I hope the velcro lasts, but if not I know I can have snaps put on them.  We also purchased two Dream-Eze AIOs on sale recently, and we like those too!

So, as you can see we are now a strictly AIO family.  Though, when they are small, I will happily use fitteds/prefolds and covers on any future child(ren); I liked that system a lot and it was easy when they were teeny and didn't fight diaper changes like SOMEONE I KNOW DOES NOW!

As for washing: we keep dirty dipes in a large wet bag until it is full, and then I wash them - this is usually about every three days or so.  I start a cold cycle, dump in detergent (we're currently using All Free & Clear, but we've also used Charlie's Laundry Powder - I've been happy with both), hold my breath, open the wet bag and dump out the diapers (and the wet bag follows right behind them), and then bolt out of the basement.  EEEEGGHH, the smell of old urine is quite possibly one of the most foul smells in the world to me.  After the cold cycle, I do a hot cycle and then one extra rinse.  Easy peasey!

Oh, and we have a diaper sprayer, which I LOVE, and would highly recommend.  I admit, I miss the breastmilk-only poo -- oh, it was so easy, no spraying needed, just dump it in the wash and go -- but having the diaper sprayer makes things better.  Eliza is still nursing so much that I can't exactly just "plop" out the poo into the toilet yet (it's still more of a "transitional" nature) so the diaper sprayer plays a key role in keeping our dipes from getting stained.

Well, I'm sure I could go on, but baby girl is up from her nap, and it seems like I've droned on long enough about diapers for one day!  Hope this info helps someone out there!

Happy CDing!