Go Green Friday - Cloth Diapers Update

With Earth Day right around the corner I thought it appropriate to give you and update on my cloth diaper adventure.  I recently read that over 24 billion disposable diapers enter landfills each year and that number seems to be increasing every year.  Another little fact I found is a disposable diapers take 250 to 500 years to break down, think about it that means since they started manufacturing disposable diapers everyone of them that has been used is sitting in a landfill today.  Yes it is convenient to be able to just throw away the poop and pee mess but is it really worth it when you think of what it is doing to our environment?  Just some food for thought.

Confession 
I will be the first to admit that yes I did and still do at times use disposable diapers on my daughter.  Being a first time Mom it took us time to adjust to life with a new baby and adding washing diapers on top of that for the first few weeks just wasn't going to happen.

I had done my research and bought a supply of cloth diapers yet I was finding it so hard to switch and give up the convenience of a disposable diaper.

Type of Cloth Diaper 
In talking to other Mom who are experienced with cloth diapers while I was still pregnant I learned about all the different types of cloth diapers and I also learned that putting a newborn in a one size fits all diaper just won't work even though the manufacture says you can.

Kissaluvs

Because she is still so little at almost 7 weeks now we are using our small size cloth diapers.  We use kissaluvs with a thirsties cover over them.   The size 0 kissaluvs diaper says it can be used from 5 - 15 pounds and the x-small thirsties can be used for 6 - 12 pounds.

You might be wondering why you need to use two so let me tell you.  The kissaluvs will absorb the urine but because it doesn't have a water proof cover on the outside it would come through onto clothing.  The thirsties cover will keep the urine right were it needs to be (in the diaper).  This also means you don't need to change the cover each time you change out the kissaluvs liner as long as it isn't very wet of have poop on it I have been reusing them.

thirsties diaper cover

In my research I heard that you don't want to use cloth diapers when they still have their umbilical cord because it will rub.  Kissaluvs solved this problem by adding a snap to make the diaper lower in the center while the baby still has their cord.  Because my daughter was only 5 lbs 10 oz when we brought her home she was so skinny around her tummy and her legs that the cloth diapers looked huge for her.  This resulted in us having even more of a reason to use the disposables. We didn't start using the cloth until she was almost 7 lbs.

Even though she has grown the diapers still make her bottom look so big and some times we have a hard time getting the onsie to snap over the diaper.  We do own 2 pairs of g diapers and we tried them out once and found they are less bulky however, I find putting on the kissaluvs is more like using a disposable in the feel because you don't have to mess with putting in an insert into the diaper.  I also was worried about the g diaper leaking as it seemed as though the cloth liner was not fitting in the diaper that well, we didn't have any leaks but we only used this ones and it was a small pee diaper.

Once she gets to big for these we will be using Bumgenius 4.0  (we have some snap and some velcro) pocket diaper and Bumgenius Flip diaper.  I purchased one Fuzzibuns to see what they looked like in person but I didn't care for the elastic leg adjustment because it was a pain to stuff the extra elastic back in the diaper so, I didn't purchase any more.

Cleaning
I purchased a wet bag for putting the diapers in when they are dirty and this seems to keep the smell down.  I must add we have not had a poop diaper in them yet as it seems she waits for a disposable before she gives us her daily blow out (yes we are still easing into cloth diapers).

To wash the diapers you simply put the thirsties velcro tab on the washing tab on the inside to keep it from sticking to the other diapers and put the kissaluvs and thirsties covers in the washing machine along with the wet bag.  We do have a bumgenius sprayer for cleaning poop off the diaper before washing.  We use armenhammer sent free laundry detergent and we add oxy clean.  Be sure to also wash the wet bag I put it inside out.  I wash ours in hot water and then when they are done I put them in for another rinse and drain to get any extra detergent residue off.

To dry I put the kissaluvs and the bag in the dryer and I lay the thirsties covers out on a rack.  During warmer days I hear you can lay them all out on a rack outside and the sun will work to help bleach the diapers.

Review So Far (My Two Cents)

Pros:  

• We will never have to make a late night run out for diapers.
• Now that I see how many disposable diapers we were using we will save money for sure using cloth diapers.
• Cloth diapers can be used for additional children we plan to have.
• The smell in the house isn't as bad because we wash them daily and we won't have a trash can full of dirty diapers sitting around for days stinking up her room and our living room.
• The ones we are using are easy to put on and have lots of room for adjustments.
• They don't leak (the only time they leaked was when the cover was not covering all of the kissaluvs)

Cons:

• Not as convenient as disposables.
• Right now on a newborn they are a little on the bulky side.
• It takes a little more effort to see if they are wet because you have to feel them.
• It adds to the daily laundry.
• The poop diapers need to be rinsed off first before washing them.
• When you are away from home you need to put a dirty cloth diaper in a small travel wet bag and take it home, you can't just toss it. 

Cloth diapers have changed so much over the years and they now are as easy to put on as a disposable and they are much cuter now then in the past. 

Things To Think About

Before planning to use cloth diapers you might want to decide if you will be returning to work after the baby and if not will your child care provider change cloth diapers.  From what my friends have told me this is usually a BIG NO.  If your child care provider won't change cloth diapers and you still want to use them I would suggest using them when you are at home on the evenings and weekends.  You won't need to buy as many (I started with 16 small) unless you plan to use them all day while you are on leave from work.  I think if you bought as many as someone using cloth diapers full time you wouldn't see the savings because cloth diapers are not cheap but in the long run they pay off for those using them full time.  

Coming soon:  A Vlog to show you the cloth diapers we are using in a video.