Flip: Cloth Part IV

Seeing him is a total bonus to reading my blog.

We got our first Flip diaper in the mail Saturday and tried it as soon as we prewashed the insert several times to make sure it does what it's supposed to do.

You'll recall that this is the diaper that I'm hoping to use full time. But of course we want to test drive it first.

I'm happy to report that we've yet to experience any trouble with it as yet. We are to receive more inserts for it today, so starting tomorrow we'll use it full time! We'll see how that goes.

Flip pros (thus far): It's snaps. Velcro can wear out, but the snaps aren't likely to tear.

Unlike some of the other diapers I've tried, it's trim. This was my main complaint about the pre-folds -- bulkiness! This doesn't seem to be a problem with this one.

It is supposed to grow with the baby. After I've collected a pile of these I'll never have to buy any again. Score!

It doesn't seem to be gapping in the leg. I don't like gapping.

Flip cons: The insert moves. Because it fits under these handy little flaps (which make changing a breeze) but doesnt snap to anything it can move during changing, especially with a kid as squirmy as Dave. I suspect this is just going to take practice and will be fine later, but you never know.

It has been a full week since we started on this clothing diapering journey and I have learned a few things and been surprised by a few things.

First and foremost surprise: I actually like pre-folds equally or more than any of the other diapers. I haven't gotten one on Dave yet when he's being REALLY wiggly, but other than that they are just as great others. And cheaper.

I do NOT like the gro-baby diapers. They leak. I thought for sure this would be my favorite type, but just kidding, it's not.

I don't really have pros or cons about the fuzzi bunz or the bum genius diapers. Someone pointed out to me yesterday that you really are only supposed to use a cover one time (which makes the whole thing even stupider ... why would you use something you have to have a bajillion covers for? What's the point of it having an insert if you cant use the cover for several changes? dumb). So that's a con but other than that: whatever.

Now we have a new question: to use disposable or reusable wipes? We'll discuss later.

Laundry: Cloth Part III

We've been on cloth diapers for four days now, and I think it's safe to say that I'm sold.

That being said, the last few bloggless days have not been without their challenges and important cloth diaper lessons. Lessons like, guess what? The gro-baby diapers that I thought were so super cool are not so great on Dave and leak all over his pants. Same story with the thirsties fitted diaper. Therefore today we had TWO clothing changes and ended up with this outfit. Isn't he cute? At least that never changes.

(Note the Ohio University socks. They won today in a super cool at the buzzer basket incident which incited incredibly loud shouting and stomping and jumping and clapping. Dave and I were not involved in the jumping, etc. but were excited for the jumper nonetheless).

All of this wetting obviously means that we have been doing a lot of laundry. While the super fun diaper trial pack we got has a good selection, it does not have enough diapers for more than one day. We've been doing diaper laundry every night as a result.

You'll recall that laundry was one of my primary concerns about this adventure. Do diapers really get clean in the wash? What about BEFORE they get washed ... do they smell really bad? And how about this nasty washer/dryer I have? Is it really going to work?

Answer: so far, so good.

To start with, I've been storing Dave's dirty diapers in a trash can purchased at Target for about $4. I planned to sew my own liners (using Alisha's sewing machine ... yes, I CAN sew, and I know the thought of me doing it is shocking. But how hard can making a laundry sack be? Not hard. I think. Who knows). Instead Luke dug out several Army issue laundry bags that we have to have but he never uses. Add an air freshener (.99 for two at the commissary) as recommended by a few bloggers, a shake of baking soda and we're set. So far this has been keeping the smell down.

Night one of washing the diapers I started (as recommended here) with a cold prewash, followed by a downy ball of vinegar in a hot, normal wash. That worked great ... except that at some point during the next day I remembered that I had failed to put in any soap whatsoever. Interesting, since the diapers smelled just fine after they were dried and before I realized the lack of soap. Oh well!

Don't worry, I remembered the soap the next night. I don't have any of the recommended normal Tide powder soap on hand (I'll be buying some Monday during my weekly grocery trip) so I've been using the All free and clear (which is NOT recommended and apparently is not as "free and clear" as it claims. Sneaky!).

Bottom line thus far: cloth diapers are no more or less gross (in smell or care) than disposable diapers and still cost waaaaaaay less. The every-other-day load of laundry is not that big of a deal. We still have disposables on hand for things like Luke's trip to Portland tomorrow to visit with my Mom and Dave in the airport during her layover (I'm not going thanks to lingering discomfort from Wednesday's super cool surgery).

And, bonus!, Luvs are on sale at the commissary this week (plus I have a coupon!), so we'll be stocking up on the next size up.

The Adventure Continues: Cloth Part II

Day one of cloth diapering is behind us. There were highs. There were lows. There was the first cloth diaper poop incident. There was one cute baby.

The day started out with me determined to conquer the pre-fold system. So help me! To start with I tri-folded a pre fold and stuck it in the thirsties cover. That's easy enough.

... but REALLY bulky. I'm not sure you can appreciate the bulk from these photos, but at least enjoy the happy baby, ok?

I ended up putting him into a onesie suite with baby legs for the day so I didn't have to worry about putting pants on him. ... because it was THAT bulky! I honestly dont think most of his pants would've gone over it. Crazy.

Enjoy the cute baby some more ...

Meanwhile, we waited for the next diaper change. I have never been so anxious to change diapers before. That's some sort of crazy.

The bulkiness, for the record, did not seem to inhibit his movements or bother him in any way, shape or form. But the fact that we would have to buy him new pants to be able to have him wear these like this makes them a complete no-go in my book. He has too many pants as it is. For serious.

Several hours later, we were on to diaper change number two. I set up the pre-fold so that I could put it on him with the snappi. He was in a non-wiggly mood again which NEVER happens, and so I managed to get this on him like so:

... while this method didn't result in any leaking or other uncool craziness, I didn't like the way it gapped on his leg. I mean, if some sort of crazy messiness was going to happen, I am CERTAIN it would not stay in there. And you do NOT want to be involved in cleaning that up, do you? I don't.

But there IS a good side to doing it this way ... no bulk! Hopefully you can see that in this photo, compared to the one above. And look? Dave was still happy!

Unfortunately all of this was about to change. The next diaper change, when I was going to conquer the pre-fold AGAIN, presented us with a wiggling, crying, tired Baby Dave who was NOT interested in being strapped into a piece of cloth. And so we ended up with the following ...

That would be Dave, crying. Conclusion: pre folds are not for people who have wiggly children or those with tight pants.

I decided to try the bum genius instead. It looks good, seems to wear well and has had no leaks. Also a LOT less bulky.

What I do not like about this is that you have to stuff the insert underneath a piece of fabric in the diaper cover. When it's time to change the baby you replace the insert and use the cover again. Does that seem gross to anyone else? The piece of fabric the insert goes under is dirty ... or is it? Unclear. Still seems gross to me.

(I know what you're thinking: grosser than washing diapers full of pee in your washing machine? ... well I don't know. That's what this experiment is all about).

A three hour nap later ... we did not get a chance to see what happens when you put a new insert in an "old" cover because it was in this particular selection that he decided to be poopy. (This is the moment you've all been waiting for). Now that I've dealt with our first poopy cloth diaper I can say -- it wasn't that bad. Of course it's not like he exploded or anything but still ... this is life, and it wasn't as disgusting as I feared. Lucky you, no pictures.

Instead we'll move on. .. to Fuzi Bunz! Which appear to be basically the same thing as the Bum Genius. So here's a photo of that (it's not very good but he wouldn't sit still so this is what you get).

Our next change will be for night time and we'll be using a disposable (given aforementioned nighttime challenges).

Also, I went ahead and ordered a few packs of Flips from Diapers.com ... they will arrive sometime next week. Flips, which were not included in our sample pack, are similar to the gro-baby diapers, but don't have a snap insert. I have a friend who uses them and LOVES them. So far the gro-babies are my favorites, but the Flips are cheaper.

And that is Cloth Diapering Part II. I'll be washing tonight (under normal circumstances I plan to wash every two days). We won't be using cloth tomorrow because we'll be out all day and Dave will be with a friend.

The Adventure Begins: Cloth Part I

It was an exciting day in our house -- the cloth diapers came! It was particularly exciting that they came in the morning because, for some reason, I NEVER get hit by the morning UPS guy, only the late evening one.

So, here's what I got:

In case I didn't mention it or you missed it, this is my trial pack from seller Jillian's Drawers. This company has a $10 try-cloth-diapers rental program. I put down a deposit (most of which I get back when I return the box in a few weeks) and for $10, plus shipping, I get to give a variety of cloth diapers a try. For a complete cloth diaper virgin this is a great idea. It allows me to try out a lot of different kinds of diapers without having to actually BUY any. Using this I'll be able to figure out what I like and go from there. Genius.

Before using any of these I had to prewash them. Prewashing is not as simple as it sounds. The inserts have to be washed, and washed and washed again just to make sure they are super absorbent. This is obviously something we don't want to skimp on since being not absorbent will result in Dave using his pants as his diaper. Not cool. Both the diaper covers and inserts had to be prewashed separately.

So we sorted them (yes, on the stove. The table was ... busy). On the far right are the inserts. In the middle are the covers. On the left are the unbleached inserts which, annoyingly, have to be prewashed separately:

... fast forward like six hours. Dave, who has approximately 3.5 teeth, had an incredibly cranky day. As he doesn't like getting his diaper changed to start with, he was in a particularly good mood.

I decided to start our adventure with the classic prefold diaper. This is what most people (including myself) think of when they think "cloth diaper." It must be folded around the kid and pinned on in one way or another.

All of this assumes that the baby will NOT be wiggling and throwing a temper tantrum.

They assumed wrong.

After failing to get it on Dave at all I gave up and moved on to the gro-baby diaper which has a diaper cover and a snap-in insert. Very fancy. Very handy. Very easy to get on crying Dave.

The finished product:

.. I'm sorry, I could've posted a picture that left out his face. But this was just too pitiful not to include. Please note: he took (an extra) nap immediately after this.

Meanwhile we are going to use a disposable at night until he gets off this current filling his diaper at 5 a.m. after it's already REALLY wet thing. Gross. (And if you think that's TMI ... why did you read a post about diapers?!)

Tomorrow: renewed efforts at pre-folds. I. Will. Conquer.