Prefolds with a cover

These cloth diapers may be more what comes to mind when you think “cloth diapers.”  It’s a piece of cotton fabric, extra thick in the middle.  The kind I use are from Green Mountain Diapers, and they come in several sizes.  You can also just get a standard size and fold them down to fit your baby.  That results in a lot of extra bulk though.

I got these mainly to try them out with Natalie to see if I’d even be interested in doing them for Little Man.  I think they will fit better than the pocket diapers on a newborn, and they’re quite a lot cheaper than pocket diapers.  I don’t think I’d be able to (or maybe even want to) invest in enough pockets for diapering two children at once.

Anyway, this is a large sized prefold for Natalie.

You simply fold it into thirds to get it ready to wear.

I think there are a few ways to fold these things, but I kind of make a Y out of the top (where her back will be)…

Then lay her down and pull the front up.

I fan out the sides a little and pull the back around enough to grab some fabric.  Then I fasten it with a Snappi.  You could also pin it, old-school style, but I like this better.

The Snappis are kind of like those metal ace bandage clips in how they grip the fabric.  You have to put a cover over them; you don’t want little fingers messing with these.  Even though they’re plastic, they’ve got a little bite to them and are not to be played with.

Once she’s all fastened up, I put a waterproof cover over the diaper.  This one is a medium from Thirsties.  It goes on just like a disposable or a pocket diaper.

See – how cute!  You need to make sure the diaper is all tucked in at the top and back, otherwise it will wick moisture out onto her clothes.  These covers are made of PUL and have elastic at the top and around the leg openings.  When you fold and fasten the diaper this way, most of the mess stays in there and only occasionally gets on the cover.  If the cover stays clean, you can just wipe it and use it again for another diaper change without having to wash it.  This means you can have much fewer covers than diapers.

If you’re a little pressed for time, you can also just put a prefold in the diaper cover like this and put it on.  It’s more likely that the cover will get soiled if there’s a dirty diaper, but, it all washes out.  This is the medium sized prefold, which is a little small to fasten on Natalie, but works just fine like this.

Here’s my little drawer of prefolds. 

I have a half dozen diapers and two covers.  That’s plenty since I really prefer the pocket diapers.  I use these when I’m behind on laundry or we’re just hanging around the house.  I don’t like to travel with them; they are more work than the pockets to clean up.

For Little Man, I have two dozen newborn sized prefolds and 6 newborn covers, which I’m hoping will last him two days between laundry.  He may also fit into the one-size pockets I have so I’m sure well figure out a system that works!

When the diaper is just wet, I leave the cover out to use again and put the diaper in the pail.  If it’s dirty, I dump the solids into the toilet, using the sprayer to get it all off.  Then I put it in the pail.  If the cover is dirty, it goes into the pail too.  It all goes in my cold rinse/hot wash/cold rinse washer.  The prefolds often go into the dryer unless there’s a stain, and the covers get line-dried.

I need to add this at the end of my other posts as well.  My favorite diaper resources/suppliers:

• www.amazon.com: They have a lot of the diapers and accessories at competitive prices.  Often no shipping charges and no tax.
• www.nickisdiapers.com: This is an online store with TONS of diapering products at competitive prices.  They offer free shipping on orders over $75 and on a lot of their products with no minimum order.  My friend Kathy told me about this site because they have cloth diapers for baby dolls!  (Shhhh… but the girls will be each getting a little cloth diaper for one of their baby dolls at Christmas.)  Too cute!
• www.greenmountaindiapers.com: The is the best place I’ve found for prefolds.  They have all sizes in organic and nonorganic, bleached and unbleached.  There are tons of pictures and FAQs here for cloth diapering with cotton prefolds.  Their prices are fine, but there is a $6.95 shipping charge on all orders.  Seems huge when all you want are a few prefolds.
• www.diaperswappers.com: This is an online forum where you can ask and answer questions to/from other cloth diapering parents.  You can also find preowned diapers or sell what you have.
• www.babycheapskate.com: She’s got a cloth diapering section (I think this is where I first started researching.) with lots of links. 
• www.diapers.com: I wouldn’t call this one of my favorites, but believe it or not they actually have cloth diapers.  Occasionally they’ll run a sale, and if you’ve never ordered from here before, you can always find a 15% off coupon code.  There are rarely coupon codes for repeat customers.  Free shipping on orders over $50, I think.

Pocket Diapers

These are by far my favorite cloth diapering option.  They’re so easy and so cute!  They are expensive though, at around $19 a pop.  The only ones I’ve used are FuzziBunz (both their “one size” and their “perfect size”) and BumGenius (both the snaps and velcro and 3.0 and 4.0).  I have no desire to try another brand.  I love these.

I keep mine in a drawer of the dresser/changing table.

This one’s a FuzziBunz One Size (which means it can be adjusted to theoretically fit from about 7lbs-35lbs).

They look a lot like a disposable diaper (function-wise)

They consist of an outer shell of PUL with a nice soft fleecy side for next to the bottom.  You stuff it with a very absorbent microfiber insert.

Then you put the baby in and wrap ‘em up!  This one snaps, and as you can see there’s room to adjust around the legs a little as well as around the tummy.

This one is a Bum Genius 3.0 with velcro closure.  As you can tell, it’s taken a little beating; it’s my oldest one, and it’s been grabbed with velcro a few times in the wash.  Occasionally some people around here forget to fasten the tabs before they put them in the diaper pail.  I’m not naming any names though.

The snap fastening diapers look prettier after lots of washings and may hold up longer (who knows).  One thing I like about the velcro closure is how extremely similar to disposables it makes them.  While the snaps aren’t difficult, they’re a little more work than just pulling the velcro up and fastening it.  These are the kind I send to Mother’s Day Out for Natalie.

 

I think I might like my FuzziBunz better than my BumGenius, but I really can’t be sure.  Maybe time will tell.  The FBs are a little more expensive.  Right now I’m glad I have some of each!

One other diaper I have just one of is a BumGenius All-In-One, which is exactly like a pocket diaper, but the insert is sewn inside.  This makes it just a little bit easier to use (don’t have to stuff/unstuff the insert), but they take a lot longer to dry since you can’t pull the insert out.  They’re also sized, instead of one-size.  I don’t think I’ll buy any more of these, but I like the one I have.

Some of this will be redundant from another diaper post, but oh well!  After a diaper change, I take the diaper into the bathroom.  If it’s just wet, I make sure the velcro tabs are secured and I dump the whole thing in the pail.  If there’s poo, I dump that into the toilet, spraying if necessary, before dumping the whole thing in the diaper pail.  Since we live in the house, I can’t really tell you if the diaper pail stinks as we would have gotten used to it.  I don’t really think it does though.  It’s important to try to wash every two days though, because that’s when the diapers will really start to stink.  And you don’t want the solid stuff residue staying on the diapers longer than necessary.  One thing that surprises me though is that it’s the urine that smells the worst, not the other stuff.  Sorry if this is TMI!

To wash them, I dump them into the washer with any other diapers and wipes that need washing.  They all get a cold rinse, followed a hot wash with 1/2 amt detergent, and one more cold rinse.  Then they’re hung to dry.

35 Weeks

34 weeks, 6 days: The choir robe is pretty good maternity wear, don’t you think?

How Your Baby’s Growing (from Babycenter.com):

Your baby doesn't have much room to maneuver now that he's over 18 inches long and tips the scales at 5 1/4 pounds (pick up a honeydew melon). Because it's so snug in your womb, he isn't likely to be doing somersaults anymore, but the number of times he kicks should remain about the same. His kidneys are fully developed now, and his liver can process some waste products. Most of his basic physical development is now complete — he'll spend the next few weeks putting on weight.

How far along: 35 weeks

Pregnancy symptoms: Braxton Hicks contractions, heartburn, back pain, being hot

Food Cravings: ice, shakes, fruit

Sleep: it’s been pretty good.  Sadly, I think my carpal tunnel syndrome is trying to come back and that’s not going to help!

Measurement: ?? inches around the belly

Movement: still constant; sometimes he really beans me in the side or the bladder, but mostly is not too uncomfortable yet

Labor signs: really not so much.  Sometimes the Braxton Hicks are pretty strong, but they’re not anything yet to make me head to the hospital.  And that’s good, because I don’t think he’s done cooking yet.  And I have my heart set on an October birthday.  :)

What I miss: being cool (temperature-wise), bending over comfortably, painting my toenails, jeans

What I’m looking forward to: I think I’ll get checked at my next appointment (next Monday), and I’m excited to find out if my cervix is up to anything yet. 

Milestone: Baby Brother’s newborn cloth diapers (hopefully all we should need until he grows a bunch) came in last week, and everything’s been washed and put away.  LOVE IT!!

Thoughts from the Girls: Natalie is so cute when she lifts up my shirt so she can give my belly a good hug.  I wonder what she’s thinking.  :) 

Doctor’s visit: this is my last week of no doctor’s visit.  Whoa.

Baby-related projects:

• Pack a basic hospital bag next week. 
• Assemble a call list of people who can either (or both) drive me to the hospital if Matt’s at work and watch the girls.
• Clean the house – really clean it, and keep it clean.
• Get some meals in the freezer: casseroles, soups, browned meat, cooked chicken, etc.
• Get ahead on the bread making. **Matt’s been doing this the last couple of days – sooooo excited!!
• Read my birth books again.  **started this!
• Sell stuff at Baby Daze and KYS.  Planning to clear out the bedroom of stuff this weekend.

To Do List

Some are long term; some are short term. Some are fantasies. :)

• buy and install a digital converter box; get free TV
• cancel cable
• sign up for cheapest high speed internet available in KW
• research and save up for a laptop computer for us
• back up all files on work computer
• eventually delete all personal files from work computer
• research and save up for a camera for us
• sell/donate remaining stuff I have in my bedroom that I want out!
• put away latest bit of maternity clothes that are too small :)
• Organize bedroom/fix up for Little Man to share with us
• clean out freezers
• fill empty freezers with easy food
• learn to sew
• sew stuff
• clean house. really clean.
• pack hospital bag
• learn to cut Matt's hair and try it!

The first of at least a few posts about cloth diapering.

I was looking back at some posts I’ve done, and even though I’m completely obsessed with cloth diapers lately, I haven’t actually written anything in the vein of a “how-to” or a “how I do” post.  So I thought I’d start.

I made a grumpy Natalie lay on the changing table while I put different diapers on her.  Then I took them all off so she could have a bath.  Bet she was confused.

None of those pictures are in this post though.  Sorry.  This is really about the prep and clean up of changing a diaper.  Changing a cloth diaper is just a little bit different than changing a disposable. 

First you need some wipes.  You could use disposable wipes, but that would really be anti-green, and frankly a lot more work in my opinion.

I use an old wipes container I had around.

My current “recipe” involves this concentrated liquid from Kissaluvs.

I’ve literally only been using it a few days, but I like it so far.  It’s scented but not annoyingly so.  I squirt a little into the wipes container, add distilled water, and swoosh it around a little.  The distilled water keeps the wipes and solution fresher longer, I think.

I’d been using just plain water refilled everyday and some Dr. Bronner’s soap in a spray bottle if needed.  That method was fine too, but I kept finding my spray bottle was in the diaper bag and I needed it.  :)  And the plain water just didn’t seem to get Natalie’s bottom quite as clean and fresh as I would like.  I think there are a million ways to make a cloth wipe solution, just FYI.  The spray bottle method is handy for when we’re out and about.  I carry dry wipes and the spray bottle in the diaper bag.  Most of the time I find myself in a place I can wet the wipes, but I also could use the water/soap solution from the spray bottle if I needed to.

For my wipes, I mostly use baby washcloths.  They’re soft and a good size.  I also have a package of these thirsties fab wipes, and I LOVE THEM.  They are more expensive than baby washcloths though.

 

Anyway, I just fold the “wipes” in half and put them in the container.  After they’re used, they get folded up in the diaper and tossed in the pail to be washed with everything else.  Very easy!

When there’s poo in the diaper, you gotta dump it in the toilet.  I find that with my pocket diapers (more on those in another post), the solids usually just roll off into the toilet.  I don’t worry about spraying any residue off the diaper.  With the cotton prefold diapers (again, another post on them coming), I need to use my diaper sprayer.  I just hold the soiled diaper over the toilet and spray (down, into the bowl!) to get the solids off. 

Then I turn right around and dump it all into the diaper pail.  Even though I didn’t want to bring any more plastic into my home, I like this trashcan.  I line it with one of these diaper pail liners (lots of companies make them).  They’re waterproof so everything stays inside the bag, but you can wash them with the diapers. 

When it’s time for laundry, I pull out the bag, dump it all in the washer, and do a cold rinse.  I used to take a minute to unstuff the pocket diapers (um, gross), but I’ve discovered that the washer usually does that during the cold rinse.  If not, I’ll pull out any stubborn inserts after the first rinse, when they’re not quite so gross.  Then they get a hot wash with just about half the amount of detergent you’d use on regular clothes, followed by another cold rinse.

Then they all get dried.  There are a few things I don’t mind putting in the dryer.  I throw wipes in there (unless the wipes container is empty, then I just throw them in the container wet!) as well as the prefolds.  The dryer really makes them more fluffy and quilted. 

I have occasionally put the inserts from the pocket diapers into the dryer, but I prefer to hang them.  I think they’ll last longer.  I never dry pocket diaper covers, all-in-ones, the diaper pail liner, or the prefold diaper covers.  They’re made of PUL (Polyester Urethane Laminate), and I just don’t think they will hold up being dried in the dryer.  They also dry very quickly due to what they’re made of, even inside.

If it’s a sunny day, I love hanging everything outside.  It all gets dry so quickly, and the sun gets rid of any stains.

 

I hope you enjoyed this rambling post about cloth diapers.  :)  When I get the other posts done, I plan to link within them, so anything that needs explaining will be clickable.

Mostly Joanna, but some other people too.

I was playing with my mom’s camera yesterday, and Joanna just happened to be the most available subject.  :)

Natalie managed to get in a shot or two though.

I can see her saying “cheese” here:

This post could really be titled “The Many Faces of Joanna,” since that’s what you’re about to see!

       

And even though they’re not quite as cute and tiny as they used to be, I couldn’t resist taking some pictures of her feet.  :)

Natalie would have been in on all of this too, but she was still sleeping.  Joanna and I were killing time until she woke up from her nap.  :)

I love her little hand on the belly!

And then we practiced a little bit for when Baby Brother comes.  We pretended Purple Baby was Baby Brother, and we practiced how Joanna would hold him. 

We also talked about that when she’s finished holding him (and I’m right there, of course) that she shouldn’t just let go, but tell me that she’s finished so I can take him.

Here Purple Baby was finished being Baby Brother.  She’s just Purple Baby again, and Joanna is taking good care of her.