I get asked fairly often about how our cloth diapering adventures are going, so now that little S is nearly 5 months old (I know!) I thought I'd give you guys an update. If you need a refresher, we are using the Applecheeks system. I started with what I posted here: Diaper Stash. I found it really hard to find any info on cloth diapering newborns online, most people seem to start a bit older, so I hope this will be helpful.
In general it's been great. We started when she was about a week and a half old, giving time for the stump to fall off. We were doing laundry every day there for a bit, but it really wasn't a big deal to me. I mean, I was in pretty rough shape postpartum so if I can do it? Not that hard. Also, breastfeed baby poop doesn't need to be rinsed off, I just throw the whole thing in the wash. Pretty sweet.
What I love:
-The fit is great. She's only ever blown out of them once. We sometimes use disposables when we are out and about because we were given some and it seems that every time she poops in those I have to change her entire outfit. Gross. I'm always paranoid when she's in them. The elastic in these covers really does the job.
-Also, they are so cute! I love how they look peeking out of her onesies (it's pretty hot these days, there are no pants). They feel like real clothes instead of paper underwear.
- When we use them as a pocket diaper they do a great job of keeping S's bum dry. She seems very prone to rashes (more so in sposies!) and using them this way cleared them right up. You go through more covers this way, so we just do this at night.
- I love the little wetbags, I have two to rotate through in my diaper bag. It's really easy to change her when we are out this way. I just keep a couple extra liners and an extra cover in my bag.
- She's never leaked through at night with the hemp insert, no matter how soaked the diaper is.
- We also have the swim diaper which is great!
Things I adjusted:
- When she was a newborn the covers fit great but the inserts were waaaay to big. Like, so big her bum was up in the air and the diaper went down to her knees. So I made my own inserts with an old towel and a flannel blanket. Took about an hour. If you are less cheap and less of a sewer, I would guess that these boosters would work. They no longer make the hemp inserts that I have because apparently they shrank sometimes. So maybe the bamboo ones are less bulky, I have no idea, the store I bought them from only had the hemp. I realize that they do it this way to make it more affordable, (which is cool!) but it was a whole lot of diaper.
- Because she was rashing so much and haaated being wet (as in screamed whenever she peed) I made a bunch of dry liners. I could have bought some but I do know how to sew so I just used two layers of a thin whicking sport material I got at fabric land and serged the edges. Works like a charm, I can go longer without changing her and she hardly ever rashes. She currently wears one of these (triple folded) and a homemade liner during the day, using the cover as a cover, and the two ply hemp inserts at night as a pocket diaper.
- They say that the inserts will agitate out in the wash if you use them as a pocket diaper. Unfortunately in my washer this only happens about half the time, I have to pull one end out to have them separate in the wash. As my child currently only poops once a week it's not a big problem (too much info?).
- I found that after I washed the laundry bags a couple times the drawstrings became harder to work. This will be a problem when she starts eating solids and gets stinkier so I might get use them as a hamper liner them with a lidded laundry hamper.
So to sum up a very long post here: Cloth diapering is not hard (trust me, you'd be doing lot of laundry anyway!), it costs less money and is better for the environment (especially if you use an HE washer and line dry). Also it's cuter. You couldn't pay me to switch to disposables and I really love Applecheeks so I'm happy with the choice I made!
If you have any questions that I didn't answer, leave me a comment :)
5 comments:
HI there Hanna,
I am contemplating cloth diapering baby McKinnon (due in Oct), but my biggest issue is that we still live in an apartment. Therefore, we have coin laundry down in the basement. It's not a new HE washmachine, and there is only one machine for the entire building (around 20 of us). It also costs $2 a load to wash and $2 to dry.
We did discuss getting an apartment sized portable wash machine to hook up in the kitchen, but I am just not sure if it would get the diapers clean enough.
What would you do if you were in my shoes?
Nicky
I think that any machine would work fine, especially if you could get the water nice and hot. I mean, my grandma washed her diapers by hand and all her kids turned out fine :P If I were you I'd set up a drying system in your apartment (like on the balcony in the good weather and maybe in the bathroom in bad weather?) It would save you money and the diapers last longer if you line dry them.
I will be picking your brains when I have a baby, we really want to do cloth and I am sure I'll have a lot of questions.
You are very inspiring Hanna!
Nicky:
We lived in an apartment with only one washer and dryer as well, and I thought we would do fine there. But then we decided to move when I was 35 wks pregnant. (Great to move during pregnancy, by the way - nobody makes you lift ANYTHING!!) We moved into a place that had ensuite laundry, had the baby three weeks later and have been extremely grateful that we have our own laundry. Other than diaper laundry, there has been a tonne of newborn laundry to deal with as well. We go through at least three receiving blankets a day and several onesies (she spits up a lot. Also, with the sleep deprivation you do NOT want to be leaving your own domicile to do any laundry at all - especially if you get down to the laundry area only to find that the machine is occupied. We now have a regular washer (not apartment sized) and I still feel the diapers do not get clean enough. So I sometimes run them through twice. Bottom line is that you need easy access to laundry!!!
I love cloth diapering! Thank you for your affirming post! We use a variety of diapers (prefolds and covers, a handful of pockets, and fitteds under wool at night), but we've used them since the hospital and have never had a single regret.
Several brands of diaper make a newborn-sized diaper with a scoop for the cord, or some you can just fold down a bit.
@NJordan30 - There are several resources online for washing cloth diapers in an HE washer. They use less water than a conventional top-loader, and one of the important things about cloth diapers is making sure you get the detergent out. Sites like diaperswappers.com have a lot of useful information on washing no matter what your situation. It's hard to wash diapers with a shared machine, especially because you have to look out for build-up from fabric softeners, etc., but I don't think it would be impossible.
@Hanna - I love your Applecheeks stash. They're adorable. I only had one size 1 cover when E was a noob, but he outgrew it fast. They have the best colors compared to other brands!
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