Cloth Diapers

Crappy Pictures Take on Cloth Diapers

I love this blog ^

I love cloth diapers.

I should be a spokesperson. If it were up to me, everyone would use them.

Gone are the days of rubber pants and safety pins. Please, please, please - don't picture white trifolds with and ugly rubber cover when you imagine my baby's diapers.

What do I love about cloth diapers?

The colors
How cute they are

The eco-friendlyness

The ease of washing them

The fact that I always have them on hand

The user-friendlyness

Few blowouts

Less diaper rash

What I don't love

They stain - the sun will remove the stains but Oregon lacks sunshine 9 months a year
I have to wash them either every day or day and a half
I can't use rash cream with them so rarely I have to use disposables
People aren't as keen on using them (they make people nervous)
They are bulkier than regular diapers

How I care for my diapers - basically, an user guide

1. I keep my diapers in a drawer in our bathroom. We change Bear on the counter next to the sink. We use a towel to change him on because it is so easy to wash.
2. Grab a diaper from the drawer, pull off used diaper.
3. We use the thin babies r us washcloths with just water as wipes. We used to only have 8 washcloths and we would use the same one over and over. He was getting rashes and I figured maybe it was because the used washcloth was irritating so I went and bought 3 more packs of 8 for $5.99 a pack and we use then more like wipes now. I will run the water, wet the cloth with warm water and wipe. Then the used washcloth will go in the diaper pail with the diapers.
4. We weren't using any kind of lotion or chemical but we have started using Kissaluv's Diaper Lotion Potion which has witch hazel in it which is a soothing agent. After rinsing his bottom, we give a quick spritz and then put on the new diaper. Super easy.
5. The used diaper and wipe go in the pail. We just got a regular Hefty trashcan with a click open top. We have 2 planet wise pail liners.
6. When it is time to wash, I just unload the whole liner with all the diapers and turn then inside out into the wash, pail liner and all.
7. I do a cold pre-wash then I do a hot/cold heavy cycle. We use charlies soap for diapers.
8. The diapers then go into the dryer.
9. Once dry, I lay them flat and put them back in the drawer
10. To remove staining, they get put out in the sun damp (that is, when we get sun in the grey haziness we call Oregon Fall/Winter/Spring

So there you have it, cloth diapers. Bear seems happy in them and doesn't seem to think they are different from what most babies wear. There are times that he will cry and tell us he is wet. I like that. He has never done that in disposables - in theory, I will be able to potty train him pretty young :)