Thursday, September 6, 2012

Cloth Diapering Update

Giovanni is now 9 1/2 months old and the cloth diapering is still going strong in our house!  As expected, we've had to make a few modifications to our routine, but it's working.

  • We expanded our diaper supply during various promos.  We now have 31 diapers.  This allows me to wash every 2-3 days (usually Tuesday, Thursday, Sunday) and hang the diapers on the line while we're at work. 
  • We changed our diaper pail.  We're now coping with one PlanetWise diaper pail bag at home.  I was horrified to find one day that the FuzziBunz pails we had been using leaked through the zipper.  Nasty diaper-liquid dripping on the floor and discoloring our beautiful hardwood?  Ugh.  It makes me mad just thinking about it again.
  • We also exclusively use PlanetWise wet bags for daycare and on-the-go.  Again, the FuzziBunz tote just did not live up to expectations.  The zipper has repeatedly jumped its track and we're just fed up with putting it back on.
  • I bought a diaper sprayer.  I'm still averse to sticking my hands in the toilet and the $40 was more than worth it for me.  When we're travelling, Nana or Luciano usually rinse the diapers for me.  I recently heard a trick about using a squirt bottle as a portable diaper sprayer.  I'll have to give that a try.
  • As expected, we get by with fewer doublers.  Four is plenty.
  • We usually use fewer wipes now (less than 10 per load of diapers).  This is mostly because we now buy disposable wipes for daycare.  It just got to be too much of a hassle to chase the cloth wipes back and forth.
Overall, I'm still happy with our decision to cloth diaper our children and love sharing info and fluff with friends!

Of course, I have started thinking about potty training......

5 comments:

  1. Have you thought at all about elimination communication? We did it with my sons (not hardcore, they wore diapers all the time when we went out and stuff) but it just sort of cuts out the middle man of teaching them to think it's normal to go anytime, anywhere. It sounds crazy but I can tell you from experience that while infants can't hold it for long, they can relax those muscles any time they want. It's not stressful or intense, and when it comes time to potty train, they already know what it's all about.

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  2. We've talked a little about EC. Our biggest concern was the fact that we're not home with him during the day and didn't think the daycare would go along with it. Do you have any resources/guides that you recommend? I'm open to the idea, just not sure how practical it is in our lives. We also weren't sure if it was something you had to start from birth.

    Thanks for stopping by!
    Mel

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  3. I really didn't have any program or resource... we actually just started doing it, I didn't even know it had a name. Then, I starting digging around online and found out that lots of people do it all over the world. If you ever catch him going when you are changing diapers or outside with no diapers on, just make a wooshing sound. He'll connect the two things and then when you hold him up on the toilet and make the sound, he'll know what you mean.
    Give it a try and keep it breezy... he'll figure it out.

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  4. Have you found it to be easier to use cloth wipes at home? We were planning on doing cloth wipes because I read that it was easier to go with cloth diapers/cloth wipes instead of cloth diapers/disposable wipes, but I know some people who have switched back and forth. I'm all about saving money so I'm definitely giving cloth a try :) How have you liked it? Have you made your own or bought some? I'm making some out of thin flannel and I read that tshirt material is good too, people seem to like thinner wipes.

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  5. I do think it's easier to use cloth wipes at home. We bought the FuzziBunz brand wipes, but I wouldn't use them again. My SiL uses old cut-up t-shirts and swears by it. My personal preference is for a wipe with a little bit of substance to it because of my aversion to poop. T-shirts would probably work well, especially if I folded over the fabric.

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