Hilari Brooke

Wash Routine (in photos)

Dry pail full of dirty diapers

Cold wash (no detergent)
Hot wash then extra rinse

Hang dry outside in the sun - I LOVE my clothesline!

All stuffed and folded- ready to be put away...

This is a very simple wash routine. It took a while to get into the groove and get accustomed to washing. Then a bit to work out the issues. Finding a detergent and wash routine that worked together proved to be the harder than I had expected. This was frustrating to me and I try not to discourage others from cloth by saying that a good wash routine is the single most important part of cloth diapering. I am still testing out detergents and I do use the dryer about half the time. The thing I learned through our wash problems is to keep it simple. The easier it is the more liking I would actually follow through...and not go back to disposables!

I am participating in...

 

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Our journey to cloth...

 

Wyatt - 8.5 months old - August 17th, 2009

I discovered modern cloth diapering while researching online this past April. Wyatt was almost 5 months old and getting close to growing out of newborn style Pampers (the only not plastic feeling diapers which is why we liked them). I was starting to feel uncomfortable with the thought of wrapping my son's soft bottom in hard, rough, colored plastic all day and night. After reading Ali Edward's blog post on cloth diapering her daughter and realizing how easy it could be I decided to go for it. I knew I could do this at least during the days when we were home and I could use disposables at night and when we were out.

I was going to use prefolds and covers (because they were the most economical) so I bought 12 prefolds, three handmade covers on Etsy, one Thirsties cover, one Blueberry cover, and one Bummis Super Whisper Wrap. Looking back, I should have bought the trial from Jillian's Drawers instead of these purchases. I did not see the purpose of the other, and more expensive, diapers. I WAS SO WRONG!

Once everything arrived, I immediately washed them in baby detergent and started cloth diapering at home. Almost every one leaked! At this point I was freaked out and I emailed then called Jillian's Drawers for help. The sweet clerk's response was that I needed to strip the diapers- they had build up from the wrong detergent and were repelling liquid- I stripped them carefully with their instructions and this worked wonders. That's when I started using Tide Original (no bleach). I have heard mixed reviews about using Tide with diapers but it works great for us.

Then we needed a more absorbant diaper option. I bought Thirsties fitteds, all-in-ones, and doublers. At this point all of the diapers were still not working good enough to go anywhere out of the house because Wyatt would soak through them in an hour (he was doing this with disposables too). So, through trial and error we learned he is a heavy wetter (because he is a great eater which is fine with me- he is a growing boy!).

By mid-July (yes, three months of trial and error) we ran out of disposables and I refuse to buy more. We worked out our cloth issues and are now going strong. We tried so many diapers and I will be doing reviews on all of them starting tomorrow.

Cloth Diapers

I have learned to much in the process of converting from disposable to cloth diapers. I am still fairly new to cloth diapering and by no means an expert but I do want to share my experiences, some resources, and product reviews. There are no cloth diapering resources in our area and I only know one other cloth diapering mommy in real life. My goal by blogging about cloth is to become a source of encouragement to other moms.

There are a lot of options with cloth diapering that it can quickly become overwhelming. The four basic types of cloth are: prefolds, fitteds, pockets, and all-in-ones (AIO).

Prefolds are the traditional cloth diapers. White rectangles that have to be folded and require a waterproof cover. Pins are not as popular due to safety concerns. Modern covers have Velcro or snaps to eliminate the need for pinning.

Fitted diapers (also called fitteds) are diapers with or without fasteners that do not have a waterproof outer layer. These are designed to be the most absorbent option in many brands and they contain messes much better than prefolds because there are typically elastic waistbands and leg gussets. Fitteds do require a waterproof cover.

Pocket diapers are waterproof outer with a sewn in lining to create a "pocket" that can be stuffed and unstuffed with insert(s). Inserts can be added to increase absorbency and removed for washing and faster drying.

All-in-ones are designed to be most like disposable diapers. Everything you need is in one piece. Some come with pockets for extra absorbency because they are often trimmer than pocket diapers.

Jillian's Drawers and Kelly's Closet both have great "new to cloth" sections that answer many questions.

We have tried several diapers to find one that works, many types from all of these categories, and I will be going into greater detail as the week goes on.

I want to win....

...more diapers! Cloth Diaper Blog is doing another giveaway...click here to see what they are giving away this week!