My Secret to Soft, Wonderful-Smelling Diapers

I've been in a bit of a diaper battle of late.

I ran out of my Planet Detergent and since I can either only get it online or when my husband goes to Virginia on training I had to settle for Seventh Generation detergent instead.

I really am not thrilled with the stuff.

It seems I either end up with diapers that are still dirty or clean diapers that irritate my sons skin and are stiff with detergent residue. I've also had to strip my diapers twice since starting to use it.

But, while I'm waiting for the return of the Planet, it seems that's all I can really find.

In a moment of hurry and with an overwhelming amount of laundry to be done (both regular and diaper) I decided to try something new.

I went ahead and did a water only pre-rinse on my diapers as usual, but threw in a load of regular load of light colors on top. I used the Seventh Generation detergent and laundered as usual.

I threw it all in the drier and everything came out smelling fresh and clean and softer than usual (which was an added bonus).

I like this new system. It saves me time, trips into the basement and some energy. I think that even when my Planet gets here I'll continue to just wash it all together!

Wet vs Dry Pail

When it comes to diaper pails there are two camps. The wet pailers and the dry pailers.

I, myself, am I dry pailer but I will strive to be an objective party when giving the pros and cons of both.

So, what is a wet pail or dry pail? Very simply, a wet pail is a diaper pail that is filled half way with a water or water/detergent solution wherein you put soiled diapers until you have enough for a load. A dry pail is a diaper pail with no such solution added.

The camps between wet and dry pails are decidedly divided and the debate continues to rage on. Here's why:

Wet Pails Pros:
According to some, wet pails help eliminate stink and stains. Since I have no stink issues and rare staining I'm not sure how this is better than the dry pail, but I'll put it as a pro anyway because that's what I've heard.

No need to do a pre-rinse. Because you are essentially rinsing your diapers in the pail, many cloth diapers don't see the need to do a pre-rinse, they just spin out the water solution and then start their wash. Some still do a pre-rinse to be sure all ickies are rinsed, but I'm told it's not particularly necessary.

Wet Pail Cons:
The first and foremost con to the wet pail is the drowning hazard it produces to little children. Let's face it, you have a pail half full of water or some other solution just sitting there. While I'm sure you wouldn't just let your child play anywhere where there was a drowning hazard unattended, we all know how human we are and it's just one more thing to think about.

They are heavy. In my two-story home we keep the diaper pail on the main floor and a small pail (big enough for only two or three diapers) upstairs for the evening. Upon wash time I collect my wet bag from my pail and drag it down another flight of stairs into the basement where the washer and drier reside. One day I will have to weigh the bag to see how heavy it is but take my word for it, it has some weight to it. You are talking about twenty diapers or more, filled with poop and pee. If I were to do a wet pail method we'd be added at least two-four gallons of water and perhaps some other solution. That's a lot of weight to be dragging around the house.

I once read a very funny story about a mother who used a wet pail. While taking it down to her washer she tripped and dropped the pail. The entire pail filled with poopy diapers, urine and gallons of water spilled everywhere and soaked into everything. She was mortified. It took her forever to clean it up and she never again used a wet pail. It was this story that convinced me never to try it myself. I am not the world's most graceful woman and I can just see my wet pail bouncing down my basement stairs straying poopy water all over the walls and floor. That's enough for me to avoid wet pails all together.

Not to mention that pouring the contents of your wet bag into the washing machine can also be a big messy. Again, not the world's most graceful woman, I can see myself slipping and sloshing poopy water all over my basement. Yuck!

Water solutions (especially those that contain bleach) can be corrosive to diapers and wear on them faster. It was once believed that in order to be sanitary you needed to use a wet pail in which to store your dirty diapers with a half/half solution of bleach and water. People were wondering why their diapers didn't last six months before the elastic was shot, holes were appearing, snaps were falling off and thick, absorbent diapers became thin rags. It's because cleaning chemicals are made to corrode and eat at what they come in contact with. That's what helps them clean, not to mention the fact that water itself is also corrosive (think of the rocks in a stream worn smooth by the water). The best state for your diapers is clean and dry. If a wet pail must be used I would recommend plain water. If you feel a solution HAS to be added I would shoot for pH balance. Baking soda with some lemon juice, an alkaline with an acid to help neutralize each other. I would also go as natural as possible to avoid harsh chemicals getting stuck in the diapers and therefore left on my babies skin.

AVOID BLEACH AT ALL COSTS!!

The Wet Pail Alternative:
Fear not, oh people who would use wet pails, there is an alternative to the cons. Many people who choose to do a wet pail method simply use their washing machine as the pail. They put their machine on the soak cycle, fill it half way and add the diapers as they go. Once they have a load they simply start the spin cycle (or rinse cycle, however they choose) and there is no worries of spilling poopy water all over the floor.

The only con being, of course, you can't do any other laundry unless you have a second washing machine or you do your diaper laundry first.

Dry Pail Pros:
It's just easy. My dry pail is simply a metal trash can with a petal operated lid. I have two Planet Wise Wet Bags that I alternate as liners. The dirty diapers go in. Once the pail is full I pull out the liner, put the new one in and take the soiled diapers downstairs. Because there is elastic around the top of the bag that almost instantly seals everything off, if I were to drop it (which I have) I may get one diaper falling out but I never get a huge mess all over the place. The whole kit and caboodle goes into the washing machine and away we go.

Dry Pail Cons:
Some say that dry pails stink more than wet pails. I wouldn't really know of the comparison, but I do know that my dry pail doesn't stink. My diaper pail sits in my living room. Everyone assumes it's a trash can (my father even tried throwing his paper plate away in it until I stopped him) and no one has commented on a smell. You may think they are just being polite, but in truth, neither me nor my husband have ever had any odor issues from our pail. People who are extra paranoid about stink can sprinkle some baking soda into their dry pail which is considered a quick and easy solution to stink issues.

If the pail itself starts to get a little odorous a simple spritz with vinegar water and some fresh air cleans it up in about ten minutes.

If the diapers themselves seem to be smelly it is probably your wash routine that needs tweaking, not your pail.

I've often been tempted to try a wet pail, just to see how it goes, but I don't see the need or how it could be beneficial. My diapers are clean. There is minimal staining and absolutely no stink issues. I do what's best for them to give them the longevity I hope to get from them. There is no mess to worry about. I simply don't see the need to try a wet pail.

There is some more info on diaper pails here.

Disposable Diaper Experiment

In a not-so-unusual turn of events, my son woke me up at one o'clock in the morning. He still hasn't figured out how to sleep through the night and I'm not bothered in the least by that fact. Any excuse to see him smile and cuddle him is fine with me.

Seeing he needed a diaper change I took him into the other room and there, on the floor, was a disposable diaper. It must have fallen out of the diaper bag on my way up the stairs or gotten knocked off the changing table by the cats. Whatever the reason, there it was.

My son hasn't been in a disposable diaper in some time. He usually ends up with a rash, but I wanted to see how it would hold up for the rest of the night with a wool cover over it.

I put him in the diaper, put the cover over it and we went back to bed.

Eight o'clock came and my son was fully awake. He cooed and kicked until I finally rolled over and to my not-so-surprise, I saw the spot on the bed.

I couldn't get mad because I kind of did this to myself, but I wanted to see exactly how much the wool cover had caught.

Let me just say, God bless wool.

From the outside there was one spot about the size of a silver dollar where both pee and poop had leaked through. It got on the sheets but thankfully was stopped by the wool pad between the sheets and the mattress.

I got him to the changing station, pulled off the cover and was rather put-off by finding at least four places on the cover that were just slathered in poop and wet with pee, his legs and waist were just covered.

I didn't even bother whipping him off. He went straight from the changing table to the bathtub.

Needless to say, I also had some wool washing to do as well.

I've heard a lot of people say that they continue to use disposables at night because they work better than cloth. I haven't had to change my sheets because of a cloth diaper leak in a very long time but I can't remember the last time I put him in a disposable and I HAVEN'T had to change the sheets.

In short, I'm really grateful I had that wool cover over him or it would have been so much worse. Thank goodness for cloth and wool.

Saving Money vs Laundry Costs

The question has been asked several times, "Am I really saving money by cloth diapering when I have to use more water and detergent than usual to wash the diapers?"

The answer to this question is not as straight forward as a yes or no. Indeed, it depends on many different variables such as the size of your stash, how often you do laundry, your laundry routine and even the settings you use on your washer or even what kind of washer you have.

True, you WILL be using more water and detergent than you normal would if you were not cloth diapering, that is kind of obvious, but how much you use and what it ultimately ends up costing you can be minimal compared to the cost of disposable diapers (not to mention the cost to the environment as they sit for hundreds of years in landfills).

Below, I have complied a few tips to help you get the most out of your water and detergent to keep the costs of cloth diapering as low as you would hope for them to be.

Stash:
People with small cloth diaper stashes must wash more often (sometimes once or twice a day). A good way to save some money on water and detergent is to build a decent stash that allows at least two days between washes. It may take some time to get to that point, but you'll see your water bill creep down once you are washing less frequently.

Routine:
Find a wash routine that is simple and effective, taking in account that you may have to adjust how much or little detergent you use. Washing diapers should not be more complicated than washing heavily soiled clothes. Multiple wash cycles, rinses, additives and routines should not be necessary and often can be the source of chemical irritation and excessive water and detergent waste. Keep it simple, save your time and money.

Water Settings:
Use the appropriate water level settings for your load. This may seem obvious but many people seem to forget that a majority of washing machines have adjustable load sizes that change the amount of water used. If you are washing a small or medium load of laundry (whether diapers or just clothing) use the appropriate water level and save on your next water bill.

Washing Machine:
Consider the age and energy efficiency of your washing machine. It's estimates that some older washing machines can use as much as forty gallons of water for a single load of laundry. That is a LOT of water. Consider trading in your old trusty for a newer water and energy efficient machine. Modern machines can also help you take the guess work out of evaluating the size of your load by automatically sensing how much water is needed cutting gallons of water from your wash.

Water Softener:
Consider having your water tested for hardness and purchasing a water softener for overly-hard water. Hard water leaves mineral deposits on clothes forcing you to use more detergent to have the same effect. Individuals with water softeners have reported using as little as one-forth the recommended amount of detergent and less water with the same, clean results. Imagine the money saved over time when you can stretch that bottle of detergent out for an additional two or three months.

Conserve Water Elsewhere:
If you are concerned about the cost of your water bill because of cloth diapering, consider ways to make up for the difference by conserving water elsewhere in your home. Turn off the water while brushing your teeth or washing your face. Have leaking faucets repaired or replaced. Use stale drinking water to flush the toilet or feed household plants, etc. Find ways to conserve water.

Pay Attention to Water Bills and Appliances:
When you get your water bill, study it, see how many gallons or units of water your household has used, call your provider and ask for estimates on averages and see if your household use is within range or unusually high. Do a thorough check for things like externally burst or leaking pipes, yard hoses that have been left running or even neighbors stealing water. Check sinks and toilets for drips and leaks, replace or repair any flaws that you find.

When my husband and I moved into our home I contacted our water provider and got averages on the cost of water and sewer for a family of three, per month. She informed me that it was about $75 a month on a two-month billing cycle so your average family-of-three bill was around $150. Two things were in need of addressing when we first moved in and that was the washing machine was ancient and did not clean well making me do as many as four washes to get a single load of towels clean, and we had one dripping faucet in the bathroom.

It took us a couple of weeks but eventually we replaced the washing machine with a new, energy efficient model and repaired the leaking sink. Even with those two issues, our first water bill was $190. Only $40 more than average. That comes out to $20 more a month on water and sewer, not a huge increase even with the problems that we had. I'm anxious to get our next bill after having replaced the washer and repaired the sink to see how much more we can save. Not to mention the fact that I have been selling some diapers making my stash small enough where I must do diaper laundry every day.

In conclusion, the increase is minimal and, more importantly, manageable and certainly still cheaper than disposables.

Wipes

Let's talk about wiping our kids' butts for a second.

When I first started getting into cloth diapering I was sure that I was also going to do cloth wipes. I mean, why not? As soon as I started looking for said wipes I started to see advertisements for wipe solutions. Naturally, I took a look.

There was everything from "make your own" home-style solutions, to fancy store bought ones with perfumes and this and that, there were also hypoallergenic solutions that sited they were the best for sensitive babies, etc, etc, etc.

When my son was finally born we used up the wipes that people had given us and when my little guy got his first diaper rash I learned that a way to treat it was to rinse his tush after every diaper change with pure water. We did that until his rash cleared up and when I introduced cloth wipes to him I did so with pure tap water.

Later, after weeks of just water and a cloth wipe, I went to a diaper store where wipe solutions were sold. After having a discussion with the owner she convinced me to try a sample of their wipe solution.

I took it home, tried it, and within a day my little boy broke out in a rash. I went back to tap water only and the rash went away.

Over the next couple of months I would try home remedies, store bought wipes and other "solutions" only to wonder why I even bothered at all as the only time his butt remained a healthy pink was with pure water.

So, I'm done trying fancy solutions and wipes, in my trial and error opinion, the best of all (and most sensitive) solution is the one God gave us: good old water!

Wool Works for Warm Weather

It's 80 plus degrees here today humid and generally beautiful. We don't have an air conditioner because of wiring problems and so all the windows are open and the fresh air is flowing through the house.

Me and the little man are sweating our butts off.

This morning I had him fully dressed in BumGenius 3.0, socks, pants and onesie. By noon he was down to a onesie and socks with diaper and by early afternoon it was just a onesie. But he was still sweating and cranky from the heat.

Finally it was nap time and I was dreading having to try to put him down.

I stripped him bare and upon taking off his diaper I found his entire diaper area to be soaked, not necessarily from pee but from sweat. He was so uncomfortable.

I needed a breathable option and what more breathable than my wool?

I put him in a hemp Crickett diaper and a Loveybums Crepe cover and laid him down for his nap with nothing but a light shirt.

In minutes he was fast asleep.

Two hours later I heard happy little chirps over the baby monitor and went to get him up. He was smiling and cooing and comfortably cool.

I left him in nothing but diaper and wool cover the rest of the day and he was back to his happy little self.

For those who are reserved to use wool in warm weather I urge you to reconsider. We've found it to be a lot more comfortable than PUL.

The Solution to Co-Sleeping Leaks

The wonderful thing about baby crib mattresses is that most of them already have a waterproof layer on them. You may have to change the sheets if your little one soils them but you don't really have to worry about the mattress.

Not so for the cosleeping family. Should an accident happen in bed you are left with worrying about the sheets and the mattress.

And it's not just those baby blowouts. It's also leaking milk from a breastfeeding mommy. Not to mention, my son drools in his sleep.. A LOT.

We went out and got a waterproof mattress pad and HATED it. It made all three of us sweat like crazy, was crunchy and I couldn't stand it. I needed something that was waterproof but breathable. I was sick of feeling like I was sleeping on a plastic bag.

I found a wool changing pad online.

Knowing the wonderful properties of wool and how breathable but water resistant it is I didn't hesitate to purchase it for our bed.

It's not huge but is perfect for the small area of the bed that Garrett and I take up.

At first I put it over the sheet on the bed but any one of the three of us would move it out of place so I started putting it under the fitted sheet and our problem has been solved. It is so soft and breathable as well leaving me feel comfortable all night.

Breast leaks, the occasional diaper leak, nothing has gotten through the wool pad.

Even my husband agrees that it's the best money we've spent.

Diaper Rash and Creams

As much as we would like to never have to deal with a single diaper rash the fact is they happen to everyone. In my experience they happen less when my son is in cloth than they do when he's in disposables and they are never as severe but we have had our share.

My first caution to those battling diaper rash would be to locate the cause of the rash and attempt to treat the cause instead of just covering up the problem with diaper creams.

Dr Sears has a fantastic website about cause/effect for diaper rashes.

Okay, that mumbo-jumbo having been said let's talk about cloth safe diaper creams.

A good majority of your main-stream and most popular diaper creams have ingredients that are very bad for cloth diapers; mainly fish oil. Once these ingredients are in the diaper they are very, very hard to get out and may need several rounds of vigorous stripping.

The same can be said of a majority of prescription creams.

Not to fear, however. If your doctor prescribes you a cream you don't have to ditch your cloth. There are liners available that you can put between your diaper and the cream that will protect it.

But for the run-of-the-mill, mysterious diaper rash, there are plenty of cloth diaper safe creams out there.

A word of warning: some diaper manufacturers' warranty will be voided if you use any diaper cream (despite how "safe" it may be) without a liner, so if you want to be really safe you could (and probably should) use a liner with those diapers as well.

What makes a diaper cream safe or not is how well it washes out of your cloth without undo or excessive staining or causing buildup. Obviously this is based on the ingredients and the type of cloth being used.

Some cloth fibers are more forgiving than others. For instance, it may be easier to wash cream from cotton prefolds than it is to wash it from microfiber inserts or synthetic suede cloth. What works well for one diaper may not work so well with another.

Again, it all depends on the ingredients of the cream and the diaper.

A good rule of thumb I have found to be true in my own diapering is, the more natural the cream and the more natural the diaper, the better it will all wash out (and usually the better and faster it will work).

There are plenty of "rash remedies" that have been used in this home that are as natural as you can get. We have used breastmilk (which works wonders on all sorts of cuts, scraps and other skin irritations (DO NOT use breastmilk on a yeast rash, though, it will only make it worse)), olive oil and coconut oil with great success. Our other favored rash remedies are baking soda soaks and the use of breatheable diapers for long periods like naps, car rides and overnight.

I have also found cotton and hemp to be the most forgiveable fabrics when it comes to washing out rash remidies. Not to mention that hemp and bamboo both have natural antibacterial properties to them that help combat diaper rash.

Now, FINALLY, to the actual store-bought creams.

I have only used two store-bought, designated diaper creams: Baby Bees (Burts Bees) Diaper Rash Ointment and Weleda Calendula Dipaer Care.

The Baby Bees (Burts Bees) cream had a very strong odor to it and stained my diapers pretty badly. Though it did wash out over time and the odor was tolerable I still was not thrilled with it and definetly could not use it on my synthetic cloth without heavy buildup.

The Weleda Cream has a very soothing smell to it and worked wonderfully. It caused no staining in my diapers and to be safe I always use a hemp liner when using it with my sythetic diapers.

Weleda's Baby Cream (pictured above), though not designated as a diaper cream, has also worked marvelously on mild skin irritations whether in the diaper area or elsewhere.

For more information on Cloth Diaper safe creams, check out Pinstripes and Polkadots.

Stripping

There is a term in the cloth diaper underworld (as that is what it is) that is referred to when diapers need to be cleansed of diaper cream or detergent build up, fabric softeners, cured of repelling and the like. This process is called stripping.

The purpose of stripping is to "strip" the diapers clean of anything and everything that might be inhibiting their function and getting them back to the most pure and original form--cloth plus nothing.

Some people are lucky enough to get their routine right the first time and never have to strip. In my humble opinion, stripping should be a solution to a problem, not a regular event. If you don't use diaper creams, use only as much detergent as is needed, rinse thoroughly and don't use any other additives or weird combinations then there should be no need to strip.

But we all know that life is not that simple. There is always those times when the husband unknowingly slathers diaper cream all over your baby's butt without putting down a liner. Your mother decides to be helpful and does a load of diaper laundry complete with fabric softener. A softener sheet was accidentally left in the drier with your diapers. It happens. And that is why stripping was invented.

While visiting my family in Wisconsin I had the rotten luck of using way too much detergent on my diapers. I got most of it out while I was there but unfortunately there was still some that needed to be stripped out upon my return home.

There are as many different "stripping" recipes as there are wash routines and detergent choices. You also want to make sure you understand why you are stripping in the first place.

For instance, if you have detergent build up you want to strip detergent out of your diapers so it would be foolish to add soap or detergent to your strip when soap is exactly what you are trying to remove.

When stripping things like softeners you will want a stripping agent that can cut through the additives and effectively strip them from the cloth. The favored stripping agent is Dawn Original dish detergent.

The amount of Dawn needed is minimal. A good rule to follow is to use the least amount and add more later if necessary.

Another general rule is that while stripping the hotter the water the better. Many people (myself included) boil a pot of water on the stove and add that to the washing machine first before the diapers and the regular hot water that the washing machine can provide. Hot, HOT water seems to work better at cutting through minerals and build up.

Thankfully, I've not had to strip much but I'll share the stripping experiences I have had.

Diaper Cream:
My husband and I bought six brand new BumGenius 3.0 pocket diapers, I prepped them and as it was a Saturday my husband was kind enough to do most of the diaper changes. During one such change I went into the nursery to discover that my husband was slathering on diaper cream without a liner. I asked him how many changes he had been doing that for and he replied with, "Ummm, all of them?"

I washed all of the diapers immediately but I could see the diaper cream stuck in the suede clothe of our beautiful, brand new diapers.

I got out an old toothbrush and my dish detergent. I put just a drop of Dawn on the toothbrush and went to work on the buildup. Once I could no longer see it I returned all of the diapers to the washing machine and washed on hot with no detergent until no suds were seen in any rinses.

To test the diapers to make sure all build up was gone I took a tablespoon of water and poured it on the area where the cream had been built up. It absorbed nicely meaning that all of the build up was gone. If any build up were present the water would bead up and roll off.

Detergent Build Up:
This happened when I used too much detergent in soft water.

The only thing to do in this case is rinse, Rinse, RINSE.

Again, hot water helps break through the build up so I boiled a pot of water, poured it in my washing machine, added the diapers, set my washing machine on "Hot" and "Super Wash" with an extra rinse and let it go. That effectively rinsed my diapers three times, once with hot water and twice with cold.

A quick glance during either of the rinse cycles will tell you how effective your strip is. If there are still suds repeat until there are no more suds.

There are a lot of great resources when it comes to stripping. One of my favorites is Pinstripes and Polkadots. She has a lot of fabulous information when it comes to stripping.

Now I'm off to check on my final rinse cycle to see if I stripped all of the detergent from my diapers.

Road Trip with Cloth

Previously, though I have been cloth diapering my son since his birth, I had not gotten up the courage to use cloth diapers while traveling. I also had not taken a trip longer than two or three days.

Then my mother sent me a birthday card with a post-script that said, "Tues Apr 7th all [of my family] are getting together... for 60th B-days for Dad, Kati + Bruce -- bring Garrett to meet everyone!"

After a brief conversation with my husband I was on the road heading toward home.

Though my diaper stash is respectable, it is by no means huge so I grabbed both of my wet bags, filled the one with every cloth diaper I owned that fit my son (including the prefolds and covers, wool and doublers) and left the other one empty to use as the true "wet bag."

The five and a half hour drive was the longest I'd ever taken by myself with a baby and I was thrilled with how well we did, stopping only three times to nurse and change diapers.

When we arrived at my parents' home we had as fantastic of a time as I could hope for. It was wonderful to meet my niece for the first time and for Garrett's aunts, cousins, great aunts and uncles and old friends to meet him, too.

My sister offered to change Garrett's diaper and later that evening I took off his clothes to find she had put his BumGenius AIO on backwards. It didn't leak and Garrett didn't seem to care so all was well.

The only real hiccup was when it came to washing. My parents have a water softener and I unintentionally used too much detergent in the wash which caused an array or suds and bubbles in the wash that took several rinses to clear. It was good that they have their own well water so I didn't have to feel guilty about doing multiple rinses.

I had a wonderful time and the experience taught me that it's not so scary to take cloth diapers on a trip.

In retrospect I have learned a few things I would like to pass on as advice:

• Unless prefolds and covers are your only and/or favorite means of diapering, leave them at home and take only fitted, one-size or AIO diapers. I found I used the prefolds only as changing pads and as they added bulk to an already overly-bulky luggage I wish I had left them at home. My BumGenius AIOs and Pockets were my go-to diapers for the entire trip as I was always on the go and famiy who offered to change my son's diapers found them easier to manage.
• When washing diapers in an unfamiliar washing machine, with unfamiliar water, start with 1/4 the recommended detergent and go from there. It's a lot easier to rewash a load of diapers than it is to do six rinses to get all of the excess detergent out.
• If you have a night-time system that works well for you don't try to change it while traveling. While in someone else's house, in someone else's bed, is not the time to discover leaks and mishaps in your diapering system.
• If you take wool, make sure it's good and lanolized and clean before you go. Take the minimum for wool cleaning. I didn't have to wash or lanolize any of my wool while I was gone but I was ready if I had needed to.
• Have fun and don't worry. If you discover that cloth diapers are getting in the way of you having a fun time then switch to disposables if you can and enjoy yourself. Agonizing about your baby's diapers is not cunducive to having a good time. A few days or disposables to give you the freedom to enjoy your time with friends, family or in a new place is well worth it.

I won't hesitate to take my cloth on another trip though I will be looking for more AIOs before I do. I had so much fun with my family and I was happy to not have to use a single disposable my entire trip.

Take a chance. Take a trip. Take your cloth!

Stay Dry

One advantage that disposables may have over cloth is their ability to keep a baby feeling drier, longer. While this may be an advantage of sorts the downside is the use of gels and chemicals as well as infrequent diaper changes due to the diaper not feeling wet.

While cloth diapers have the advantage of being chemical free, far too often, when soiled they can feel exactly like what they are: wet cloth.

I forget this every now and then and am invariably reminded in the middle of the night when my son starts to toss and turn and grunt, sputtering through a broken sleep.

A quick feel of his diaper reveals a cold, wet cloth. A quick change (which he hardly ever fully awakens from) is all that is needed to set him back to a deep, peaceful sleep.

It bothers me, however, that his sleep (and therefore mine) is disrupted by something as simple as a wet diaper.

Not to fear, however, as cloth diapers are not without their "stay dry" or at least dry feeling solutions.

There are certain fabrics that do not absorb moisture well and therefore even when wet they have a deceptively dry feel to them. Fleece is one of these fabrics. Cloth diapers all over (this one included) have taken to placing a thin, fleece liner in diapers to give the baby that "dry" feeling.

There are also other fabrics that do not feel as wet as others. Hemp has an amazing "dry" feel even when wet though it can get a little chilly.

Some diaper manufacturers even produce diapers with stay-dry liners built right in to keep a baby feeling dry and comfortable.

BumGenius has what is called a suede-cloth in all of their pocket diapers (except for the limited edition ones where they used fleece instead) and are amazingly dry-feeling.

If you have ever gotten your clothes wet and then tried to sleep without getting changed you may begin to understand what it feels like to try to sleep in a wet cloth diaper. I don't blame my son for having difficulties resting peacefully when I forget this little tid-bit, especially when all that is needed to fix the problem is a small piece of fleece.

Prepping Prefolds

I have been anxiously waiting for about six weeks for Green Mountain Diapers to restock their Unbleached prefolds. Finally! after much waiting and anticipating I was able to order a dozen of the red-edge unbleached prefolds for my son.

I love using prefolds at home as they are very easy to clean, quick and keeps the wear on my pockets and all-in-ones down to a minimum.

New prefolds, however, must be prepped.

When you get brand new prefolds they are almost comically huge.

I had to take a picture to represent just how big these things are when they are unprepped.

Prepping prefolds is as easy as doing laundry... again and again and again.

Bleached prefolds take about 3-4 washes to be fully prepped. Unbleached take about 6 washes to be useable but 10 + before they will reach their full absorbancy.

Brand new prefolds are large and very smooth (Sharpie is in the picture for size reference).


After prepping prefolds become very soft, fluffy and quilted, not to mention they skrink quite a bit.


To prep, I throw my prefolds in along with regular wash (if they will fit) and wash and dry, put them back in with the next load, wash and dry, wash and dry, etc, until the process has been repeated about six times. And that's it.

To recap on prefolds I will quote from one of my previous blogs: The Newbie's Guide to Being a Newbie.

A prefold is very simple a diaper. A diaper that replaced the flat, folded panels of yesteryear. Very simply they are made of absorbent material (usually cotton) pre-folded (hence the name) across itself for thickness and added absorption (with the thickest portion being in the center, where it is most needed) and stitched along the top and bottom.

Unbleached and Bleached prefolds.

As there are many brands of clothes and shoes, some better quality than others, there are many brands of prefolds, some of greater quality than others. If you go to the baby section of your local WalMart or Target you will likely find a pack of prefolds for pretty darned cheap. I know, I almost bought some, but luckily for me I did some research into what makes a good prefold. The big store brand prefolds are little better than taking a $1 cotton t-shirt, sewing it together and calling it a diaper. The cotton in those shirts has been stripped, bleached, dyed, processed and is usually so thin it will last you about 5 months (if you're careful) and won't absorb much more than you'd expect a cut up t-shirt would.

A quality prefold has cotton that is as unprocessed as possible. Unbleached is preferable as bleach (though it makes things nice and bright) breaks down the fibers and wears out the material faster. The prefolds I have heard about and read about as though they were sewn by the hand of God are Chinese made, commonly referred to as CPFs (Chinese PreFolds).

They run about $2-$3 a diaper depending on size and whether the diaper is bleached or unbleached but they are the foundation upon which the whole prefold, cloth diapering system is build so they must have good quality and can be used for life, even after the baby has potty-trained and moved on. They make great kitchen towels, cleaning rags, burp clothes, you name it. Anything you can think of needing an absorbent cloth for you can use them for. Best yet, the resale value is phenomenal! Used Chinese Prefolds on eBay still sell for about $1.50 if not higher and sell like hot cakes. So even if your baby outgrows his or her size of prefold and you can't think of a reason for keeping them around you can always sell them and get almost all your money back to either reinvest in the next size prefold, keep, or buy the next size covers for your baby.

And I also talk more about prefolds in Absorbancy Test .

Washing, Lanolizing Wool (A Picture Tutorial)

Finally, I need to wash and lanolize some wool. I figured I'd take you along for the short, but fun ride.

First, the kit!

Above you see the picture of my "wool kit." It sits on my kitchen counter at all times and only gets used sparingly as wool does not need to be washed or lanolized often.

I have the following:

• One bottle of Unscented Eucalan Wool Wash
• One mason jar (complete with lid)
• One hug a dub dub Wool Wash Soap bar (used only for spot cleaning)
  
• One tube of PureLan 100 Lanolin (though any lanolin will work)
  

Now, let us commence the washing of the wool.

First!

Fill your sink with enough tepid (think baby bath temperature) water to cover your wool item.

Second!

Squeeze out about a pea-sized amount of lanolin and put it in your mason jar.

Third!

Add the wool wash of your choice. I like Eucalan because it is a no-rinse wash. You can use baby soap for this part if you would like as the baby soap, or wool wash, serves only to break up the lanolin and help it distribute in the water better. It's only my preference to use Eucalan. The choice is yours.

I use about 1/2 tsp (sometimes less). If it's a serious wash I will use more. The recommended amount is 1 tsp per gallon (for Eucalan).

Fourth!

Fill the jar about half-way with HOT water. It doesn't have to be super hot, like boiling or anything, just hot enough to melt the lanolin. Your hottest tap water should suffice.

Fifth!

Shake until all of the lanolin is dissolved and the water is cloudy.

Sixth!

Pour the lanolin mixture into the tepid water in the sink. Don't worry, there shouldn't be enough hot water in your jar to seriously screw with the temperature of your waiting water.

Seventh!

Stir the water until it, too, is cloudy and a bit sudsy.

Eighth!

Add the wool item (in this case, a wool changing pad). Keep in mind that wool is naturally water resistant so it may seem to "float" and not absorb the water very well. This is normal.

Ninth!

Gently squeeze the item to encourage the fibers to absorb the wash and lanolin. If spots are needed to be removed, gently work the area. Vigorous scrubbing is usually unnecessary and can cause felting or damage to the wool. Gentle is best and usually all that is required.

Tenth!

Allow the item to soak for 15-30 minutes. Just enough time to nurse a hungry baby!

Eleventh!

Pull the plug and allow the item to act as a drain filter. This way it forces all of the wash and lanolin to pass through its fibers before escaping down the drain.

Twelfth!

Press out (do NOT wring) any excess water to the best of your ability.

Thirteenth!

Roll the item in a towel, pressing (not wringing) as you go.

Fourteen!

Lay flat to dry on a drying rack and allow 24-hours to dry before using.

And You're Done!

To Tide or Not To Tide

I'm pretty sure that Tide must be one of the most popular detergents out there and with good reason: it works!

Apparently it works on cloth diapers too... or so many other cloth-diapering mothers have told me.

I was actually relieved to hear this at first because, in the good ol' days, I was a Tide user myself. I bought it by the gallons and never gave a thought to what kind of additives or enzymes or softeners or bleaches it contained.

It got my clothes clean. What did I care?

Enter young, cloth-diapering mother with a laundry fetish (read my profile) and slight obsession with research.

Suddenly I'm finding out that additives can cause build up! enzymes can cause burn-like rashes! bleaches can damage fibers and void warranties!

To be safe I went with the additive, softener, enzyme, bleach free, biodegradable, rinses clean, save the planet, worship my purity detergent.

It got my clothes clean. What did I care?

Finally, the Tide rave got to me. I had run out of detergent and needed to do laundry. I took my list of the top five diaper-safe detergents, walked to the local grocery store (as my husband had stolen my Jeep) and looked at what was on the shelf.

Tide powder, Tide with bleach, Tide with bleach and fabric softener, Tide Sensitive Skin and Clean, Purex, Sunlight, Ultra, Woolite... I'm sure you are getting the picture that there was a lot of choices. But, of course, not one of my "diaper-safe" detergents was present.

I grabbed the bottle of Tide Sensitive Skin and headed home to launder my laundry.

I used only 1/2 the recommended amount and, yes, it got my diapers very clean.

But the next day there was a rash on my son's butt. Knowing that enzymes could be (and probably were) the culprit I ran an extra "quick wash" at the end of the regular wash to rinse out any remaining detergent and enzymes and even added 1/4 cup vinegar to the mix.

Rash: not so bad but still present.

I used 1/4 the recommended 'Tide'al dose.

Rash: still present.

I used 1/4 the recommended amount with the extra quick wash (now people with water shortages around the country are ready to tar and feather me).

Rash: hanging on for dear life.

Switch back to "ultra-biodegradable-I-save-lives-I'm-so-green" detergent and WELLA... no more rash.

I now use the Tide on just mine and my husband's clothes.

Obviously it works for some mothers, babies and their diapers. I'd really hoped it'd work on mine, and while it got things clean, so does the other stuff. They cost about the same, they work about the same (sans the rash, of course), and they get my clothes clean.

What do I care?

Washing Wool or Baby?

With the purchase of my red-edge prefolds from Green Mountain Diapers, I decided to try their wool wash soap for spot cleaning my wool covers.

I had read about this soap and liked that its natural ingredients included lanolin, coconut and soybean oils along with other gentle oils to make for a soft soap that wouldn't require relanolizing my covers for every spot wash.

The description on their website said it was also a favorite hand soap or even as baby soap for children with dry skin issues.

There are a total of three things I will use on my son if he gets any kind of rash (be it on the diaper area or else-where). First, if it is a particularly dry-looking rash and is going to go on just before bedtime, I will apply a generous amount of coconut oil. I've never woken him up to find the rash still persisting. My husband has also used coconut oil on persistant and painful rashes and found them to be greatly soothed and cleared quickly with its use. Second, if it's just a tiny spot of redness or dry skin during the day I will apply a dab of Weleda Baby Cream which contains lanolin. Third, if it's a bad rash I will use Weleda Diaper Care Cream which is basically the Weleda Baby Cream with Zinc Oxide in it.

Lanolin is very popular with nursing mothers to sooth sore nipples and it provides superb water-proofing to wool diaper covers.

Two of my favorite, rash-fighting, soothing, moisturizing ingredients, combined in one bar of soap? It seemed too good to be true.

I received my wool wash and waited for my wool to need it.

In the mean time I decided to try it for myself, on myself (because if you are a mother who changes diapers as much as I do it means you wash your hands as much as I do which means you have dry, flaky, cracked hands that you would try to repair with lotion if there was time so you just live with the dry, flaky hands).

I'll admit. It did leave my hands feeling silky smooth and a lot less dry with every wash. I have found my new post-diaper-change hand soap.

My husband, who has problems with his hands on a regular basis, tried it as well and experienced no burning.

Bath time rolled around and still no wool needed to be washed so I threw the bar into the bath and slathered up my babies' butt. I think we both appreciate how smooth and moist it left his tush at the end of his bath.

So, here we have a wool wash bar that has YET to be used to actually wash wool. I fully intend to use it for its designated purpose but I might just have to purchase another bar just for family use.

Stains

My son got his first ear infection.

It's not bad, a minor ache he told me about by cleverly pulling on his ear which led to the doctor's office and prescribed antibiotics for ten days.

The pharmacist warned me there may be an increase in poopy diapers and they might be a little more nasty.

On top of that I put him on probiotics to replace the good human bacteria killed by the antibiotics and I was warned that they could also make an increase in poopy, colorful diapers.

Normally, exclusively-breast-fed poopies are a bit like seedy mustard. There can be some color variation but that's about it. It's water soluble so it doesn't have to be pre-rinsed or dunked or sprayed, it just goes right into the diaper pail and then into the washing machine and comes out clean on the other side.

But BOY oh BOY did my baby's diapers take a radical change in the last week.

I went from one to two big poops a day to five or six and from small amounts of yellowy poop to whole diapers saturated in what looked like green and yellow slime. Yeah, just the mental image you wanted, huh? (Well, get used to it!)

Anyway, they still were going directly into the washing machine and while everything was washing out cleanly I noticed an increase in staining.

Normally I don't give a rat's butt about stains on a diaper. After all, it IS a diaper. You know, kids poop in it, daily. I was and am prepared for some stains to occur.

But this was different. One of my diapers went from a soft vanilla cotton color to green! These are serious stains.

Now, since bleach and other stain removal products can be harmful to babies' delicate skin, damage diaper fibers and void diaper warranties there is a limit to what a laundry obsessed mother (that would be me) can do.

The first option is the sun.

That's right, folks, the sun. "Sunning" an item is one of the most effective ways to remove stains. Just lay the item out for some time on a sunny afternoon and watch the stains fade away. I've done this successfully on many a hemp doubler and bamboo diaper.

My rescuer in this case... Du da-da dunt da-da...

OxiClean Baby!

Gentle enough for baby but with the stain fighting power of OxiClean.

I was prepping new prefolds anyhow so I took my four most stained diapers and threw them in with the prepping prefolds, added a 3/4 scoop of OxiClean Baby, one scoop of Charlie's Soap (since everything is technically "clean" I didn't have to use my high-powered Planet), set my washing machine to "hot" and "regular load" and let it go. (I didn't even put in my water softener pellets.)

I was (and am) extremely impressed with how well it removed the stains on my diapers. The green diaper has gone back to vanila in color, and everything else looks as clean and bright as new.

I already use 1/2 scoop of OxiClean Baby as a detergent booster in my regular wash of diapers but now I know I can use it as a powerful stain removal in my moment of over-stained need.

Soft Water, Hard Water

Water is the most important part of cleaning... pretty much anything. Without water we don't get suds, we don't wash, we don't rinse and things don't get clean.

But water can also be a source of grief.

I once asked someone if they had hard water. They said they didn't know. That means it's probably soft. People with hard water know they have hard water. The evidence is everywhere: the calcium and lime build up around faucet heads, the rings in glasses and the toilet, the dingy, gray-looking clothes, the mass amounts of soap needed to get a good clean.

And for diapers you can start to get those same build-ups in clothes that effect absorbency, etc.

I grew up in hard water but had a short reprieve when I moved to Virginia where the water was nice and soft. My clothes and diapers came clean the first time with my Charlie's Soap and I didn't have a very difficult time with laundry or diaper care.

Then we moved.

Hello Iowa. Hello hard water!

My Charlie's Soap became inefficient.

So, I started the search for the perfect, hard water combination.

My first stop was to try the water softener additive Calgon. It certainly helped the laundering process but it was very expensive. The amount of water I was using to wash, plus the Calgon, plus the detergent was just getting too expensive of a combination.

I was willing to do it until my son started getting a little bit of a rash. Upon research I found that Calgon can be rash inducing on some babies.

I was getting a little discouraged.

Then a friend of mine gave me a tip.

She went out and bought a $6, 50 lbs bag or Morton's Water Softener salt pellets. She puts 6-10 pellets in each load of laundry and VIOLA, no Calgon, the bag lasts forever and clean laundry is her only result.

I figured it certainly wouldn't hurt to try. After all, it's only $6.

It's the greatest hard water tip I've ever gotten.

I also switched from Charlie's Soap to Planet Laundry Detergent and while I loved my Charlie's in soft water it just wasn't enough for the hard water conditions here.

It helps get the diapers (and our regular clothes) clean, clean, clean, without the dingy build up and with no rashes.

Experimenting and Expanding

As annoying as it was at the time I am now very grateful that Garrett grew out of his infant sized prefolds three weeks ago and that the place I order them from was out of stock. It has forced me to try new things and expand my horizons.

Don't get me wrong, the prefold/cover system was working wonderfully and in many ways I miss it, a lot, but it certainly isn't the only tool in the toolbox.

Let's recap on the pros and cons of prefolds and covers for a moment. While prefolds and covers are the absolute cheapest route a cloth diapering mother can take, they are not the quickest. They do require folding and pinning (or snappi-ing) and then the cover to be placed over them. Some find them a little to involved, especially on a squirmy baby. However, again, they are cheap, they wash and dry quickly and when the baby has grown out of them they make excellent burp clothes, wipes, changing station covers, hand towels, rags, and anything else you might want to use them for. It is also nice to be able to just grab one out of the drier without having to do anything extra with it and throw it on your baby. I've also liked them for putting on the baby in between the time I take his clothes off for a bath and when I actually put him in the water. It keeps me from having to clean up pee off my kitchen floor (like that one time) and I don't feel like I'm wasting a whole diaper between the changing station and the kitchen sink or bath tub. I will certainly continue using prefolds for all the reasons listed above.

But since Garrett grew out of the size we had for him and the place I buy them from is out of stock until the first week of March I either needed to buy a cheaper quality prefold (which I refuse to do), put him in disposables (which I also refuse to do unless ABSOLUTELY necessary) or try something else for awhile.

While we were pretty much exclusively putting Garrett in prefolds and covers we did have a few BumGenius One-Size (OS) pocket diapers. I used them on a very limited basis and was neither here nor there on my preference for them. However, because I got a pretty good discount on them at work I went ahead and bought a couple more and started using them almost exclusively.

Garrett in a BumGenius.

They are almost as close to disposables as you can get. Already stuffed and waiting you can diaper a baby just as fast as you could if he was in disposables. Not stuffed and waiting, however, you have to snap them, stuff them and then put them on which can take longer than a prefold and cover. However, because they are pockets and inserts they wash completely clean and dry quickly. That and you can stuff them as thick as you think you need. The synthetic pocket liner pulls moisture away from the baby leaving him feeling dry as well.

But night-time started to be a problem. You see, I'm lazy. I'm not getting out of bed at night unless I absolutely have to and this is evidenced by the fact that we co-sleep with Garrett. If he wakes up to nurse I roll over, get him latched and I'm asleep again in less than a minute. There's no way I'm getting out of my warm bed to change his diaper if he's not bothered by it. Yet I seemed to be waking in little puddles of baby pee (good thing we bought that waterproof mattress pad to protect the mattress). I tried stuffing his diaper thicker but nothing-doing he kept leaking out of the pocket diapers.

The problem is that the absorbent insert sits inside a pocket made of polyurethane laminate (PUL) which is a fabric that has been heat-treated on one side with a layer of polyurethane to waterproof that fabric. Once the absorbent insert is saturated the liquid has nowhere to go and drips onto the non-absorbent synthetic/PUL cover and then out of the diaper (this would be the same for disposables and any other diaper as they all have saturation points).

I got up a few times during the night to change him but on the nights I slept through or he didn't wake me I'd still end up with a little pee pool under him (and inevitably on me).

The answer, I determined, was a more absorbent diaper with a higher saturation point and that can hold more liquid. I bought some hemp fitted diapers and when they arrived I was pleased to find that they are super absorbent, but disappointed that they were still too big for my son.

I needed to wait until they were big enough but in the mean time I still had a heavy-wetting, leaky diapered baby in my bed.

Mildly resigned just to deal with it I went back to the store to buy some diapers for a friend and discovered the BumGenius Organic All-In-Ones (AIO). They are still OS diapers that can be adjusted to fit a growing baby but made with three layers of organic cotton. The three separate layers of cotton is important because previously AIO diapers have gotten a bad rap for being hard to clean and taking forever to dry. Some AIO diapers have all of the absorbent layering sewn together causing filth and moisture to get stuck between the layers causing stink, mildew, rashes, yeast, bacteria and all sorts of nasty stuff. When the layers are separate they can be thoroughly washed and more easily dried making them clean and comfortable. The cotton on these AIOs goes right to the edge of the PUL cover to help combat against leaks and because there is no stuffing or pinning this is literally as close to disposables as anyone can get.

BumGenius AIO

They have become my new favorite church diapers. Previously I had people comment on how much they liked the cloth diapers I was using but that they still thought they took too much time. With these I can diaper Garrett just as fast as I could with a disposable the only difference being that I throw the dirty diaper in a wet bag instead of the trash.

Garrett wearing the BumGenius AIO

But... the AIOs still weren't a night time solution because of the waterproofing of the PUL. You see, the organic cotton, though with a higher saturation point, does not keep the baby feeling as dry as the synthetic pocket does and because the PUL does not allow good air flow, sitting in that diaper all night long causes a diaper rash.

And, once again, I'm back to not having a night-time solution and a leaky or red-bottomed baby in the morning.

Investigating diaper covers on the internet I found a store only eight miles from home that sold cloth diaper supplies. The store is less than four months old and is an all natural baby store. It sells things like wooden baby toys, organic, natural-fiber clothes, natural soaps and diapering supplies.

I went up there to check it out and there it was, the item that had been taunting me for months but I simply couldn't bring myself to buy, the wool cover.

For some reason, in the cloth diapering world, wool is the final hurtle to the cloth diapering mother. Every new cloth diaperer reads or hears about wool and backs away carefully content to try anything and everything else before they take it on. I guess it's because it seems like it wouldn't work. But, of course, the mothers who use wool rave about it ceaselessly which should make it more popular but it still remains a hurtle that some will never even try to get over, especially since wool is about twice (or in some cases, three times) as expensive as any other cloth diaper cover you will ever buy.

I had been tempted buy wool for months. The research I had been doing had convinced me that it might just be my answer to the night-time dilemma but I was just not ready to buy it when I hadn't seen it, touched it, or experienced it (other than the wool sweater of my youth that scratched the day-lights out of me).

Wool, to the cloth diapering world, is the magic fiber and simply cannot be duplicated synthetically (that's because no one can do it as good as God can). If it's natural and untreated it is VERY soft. The fibers themselves are made of overlapping scales which, when combined with an oil secreted from sheep called Lanolin, is naturally water resistant. Yet at the very same time, wool is absorbent. Beneath the scaly skin, the core of the wool fiber is porous and can absorb as much as 30% it's own weight. So though it will resist moisture it will also wick away access moisture simultaneously (pretty cool, huh?). It also happens to have natural antibacterial and dirt resistant properties (how, I don't know) that keep it clean for a long time leaving the time between washes blessedly long.

What stops some women is the care of wool. True, you can't just throw it into the washing machine with the rest of your diapers (well, some of it you can, but anyway) and then into the dryer and call it a day. Wool must be hand washed with wool soap and, at times, relanolized. It can sound like a daunting task but when you only have to wash it once a month (sometimes less according to some wool-using mommies) it doesn't seem so bad.

All of those benefits kept running through my head (not to mention that the owner of the store was going on and on about how much she loved her wool cover for her daughter and will never put her in anything else for the night and yada, yada, yada) and I could resist no longer. I spent the money, made the investment and bought the wool.

I took it home, tenderly washed and lanolized it with the samples the lady gave me and was pleasantly surprised as how simple the process was. It wasn't nearly as scary as I thought it would be.

It had to dry for twenty-four hours so I didn't get to use it that night but the next time I was so eager to put Garrett in his new cover I was pushing us all to bed at eight o'clock.

Because you still want the diaper under the cover to absorb as much as possible I put Garrett in a Bamboozle with a hemp doubler. I put the cover on and we all went to bed.

The next morning we woke up and to my wonder, amazement and joy the bed was dry! Garrett's poor diaper was DRIPPING wet but the bed was dry and the wool was still dry to the touch. Best yet, not a speck of red on Garrett's tush. It was as pink and healthy as ever. I was AMAZED, not to mention completely converted!

Garrett's new Aristocrat wool soaker.

I've since been irritating the living fire out of John by raving and raving and raving about wool and shopping for more wool covers to use during the day and for rotating for the times I have to wait the twenty-four hours for my wool cover to dry.

One thing is for certain, however. I will never put him in another diaper for night time until he's potty-trained!

So, there you have it, my good readers. My experimenting with new products and what I have learned. Now if only Green Mountain Diapers would get my prefolds in stock so I can stop experimenting.

The Learning Curve

"So, how's the cloth diapering working out for you?"

It's a question I've gotten quite a few times over the last three weeks and so far the answer has been the same... "Great!"

There have been a few scratches of the head here and there and a few tricks to add to the box, but for the most part it has gone exactly as I expected it would.

However, I'd be remiss in not sharing some of the things I've learned over the last three weeks with those who may be interested in cloth diapering.

First, I want to discuss my husband. I know it seems odd that the first thing I would bring up is a grown man when talking about cloth diapering but oddly enough more people ask how John likes it over how I feel about it. Despite how strange I think that is I'm happy to report that John handles cloth diapering like a pro. And when asked he informed me that while it is a bit more involved in some respects, if you are trying to save money it certainly is the way to go and he has no problem with it.

I think that pretty much sums that up.

Next, I have to mention something that I never really put much thought into before Garrett was born: diaper rash.

If you do a search on diaper rash in cloth vs disposable diapers you will get such varied opinions you'll be lucky to know which way is up. Some say that you get fewer diaper rashes with cloth diapers because there are no added chemicals or gels in the diapers that can irritate your baby's skin. Others say that you get fewer diaper rashes with disposables because the gels keep the baby more dry. And finally there are those in the middle who say it doesn't matter if you use cloth or disposables the chances are good you are going to have to deal with diaper rash at least once in your diapering years.

And we learned that this is true.

About a week ago Garrett came down with his first diaper rash. Now, because the causes and types of rashes are so varied it's hard to pinpoint the exact culprit. It could be food allergies, the diaper, yeast infection, being too wet or too dry, eczema, etc. All I knew was that my poor little one was screaming his head off every time he went to the bathroom and I needed to make him better.

Knowing nothing about diaper rashes I started my research. I read about the different kinds of rashes, how they present, looked at pictures, looked for home remedies and treatments and pretty much spent one whole day acquainting myself with the ailments and cures of diaper rashes.

I will admit that the disposable diaperer has one advantage over the cloth diaperer in that they don't have to worry about whether their washing procedure, water or soap has anything to do with their baby's rash or whether a particular rash cream with damage their diapers. The individuals who use disposables have the advantage of smearing whatever cream on their baby they feel necessary and throwing away the evidence at the end of a diaper change. They don't even have to know what type of rash it is to make a better diagnoses as to what the underlying problem may be. This is not necessarily so for the cloth diaperer.

If the rash is caused by being too wet the solution is simple, just change the baby more often and try to keep him dry or use fleece, stay-dry liners to help the baby stay dry (hence the name). However, if the rash is caused by soap residue or improper washing you can change the kid's diaper every fifteen minutes and it won't make a lick of difference.

Not to mention that there are creams out there that are harmful to cloth diapers. They can cause build up that will not wash out and effect the absorbency of the diapers or make them stink. The build up can also fester in the diaper and the residue can cause other chemical based diaper rashes.

So, while I've just sent everyone even considering cloth diapering running for the hills, let me redeem myself by saying that I'd rather find out the underlying cause of a rash and treat it from the source than continue to plaster cream all over my baby's butt and just keep the monster at bay.

It seemed, through my copious combing of the internet, that my little one had a rash caused by the acid in his poop (a fairly common red rash in and around the anus area of babies who have frequent bowel movements and common to both cloth and disposable diaper users). The little guy has about 6-8 poopy diapers a day and it was no surprise that the acid in stomach and intestinal track could cause a rash when left on the skin for even very short periods of time. Not to mention the rash can be made worse by the mother of a breastfed baby (like Garrett) eating acidic foods, harsh diaper wipes and any pH imbalance in washing techniques.

I immediately switched from using disposable wipes to cloth or bamboo wipes with just water as a washing agent, added an extra rinse to my diaper washing routine with the addition of about 1/4 cup of Vinegar to restore pH balance (even though I am aware that Vinegar is an acid) and I also began diapering Garrett with hemp doublers or in Bamboo fitted diapers overnight as both natural fibers have natural antibacterial and soothing qualities to them. Also, to initially fight the existing rash I got some Burt's Bees Diaper Cream that is cloth diaper safe which cleared him up in less than a day.

His bottom is as smooth as the day he was born.

Now, I'm sure there are a few people who are scratching their head and thinking, "Bamboo and hemp fitted diapers, wipes and doublers? What the...?" and I'd assure you that I thought the same thing.

The first time I picked up a package of bamboo wipes and read the tag I wasn't quite sure I was reading correctly. After all, bamboo is a plant and I wasn't even aware you could get a fabric out of such a rigid and tree-like plant. I also wasn't aware that bamboo hemp have natural antibacterial properties to them that keep bacteria from growing in or around them so they stay very clean. Not to mention both hemp and bamboo have at least 50% more absorbing power than cotton that keeps the baby dry and comfortable. Not to mention they NEVER leak.

The downside, of course, is that they are pricey.

My three bamboo fitted diapers, four hemp doublers and bamboo wipes probably cost me well over fifty dollars, but I look on the bright side in that they will serve me for life and for multiple children should we decide to have more down the line. And I see it as fifty dollars I throw into the washing machine to come out new on the other side instead of being thrown in the trash.

They work so well, in fact, that I find myself sticking a hemp doubler in his diaper for any time we are going to be out and I might be delayed in changing him or even sticking him in a bamboozle (the bamboo fitted diaper) for nap time as he seems to love the soft silky bamboo against his skin so much more than even the soft, clean cotton.

Night time, travel, long car rides or church, I'm reaching for the hemp and bamboo and I think my next extra bit of cash may go into getting him a few more hemp or bamboo fitted diapers and possibly a wool cover or two for air flow.

And this is where cloth diaperers have one over on the those who use disposables. Instead of choosing which variety of disposable diaper which is essentially made of the same materials to stick our kid in, we get to choose from a variety of cloth that is breathable, soft, plush, cozy and comforting.

In short, I'm still very happy about our decision to cloth diaper. With Garrett going through almost sixteen diapers a day in some cases I can't imagine how much money we would have spent already were it not for cloth diapers.

Absorbency Test

In my determination to make sure I am diapering my boy in the best cloth diapers available I decided to put my diapers through an absorbency test.

I had read in a nursing book that if you want to know how your diapers will feel when your baby has wet them poor two tablespoons of water into the diaper.

Knowing full well that there are times that babies will wet heavier and some lighter I decided to go with the two tablespoons test for all of my diapers.

In a previous note I had mentioned ply. Just as a refresher, remember that ply stands for how many times the layer of cotton has been folded over that particular diaper before it was sewn. The more ply, the thicker the diaper and therefore more absorbent. The 2-6-2 ply means there are two layers on the side, six in the middle and two again on the other side. And so on.

My two preemie Bleached Chinese Prefolds (CPF) that I bought as doublers and inserts are the only 2-6-2 ply CPFs that I have. I do, however, have five or six Diaper Service Quality (DSQ) 2-6-2 diapers in infant size.

I thought it only fair that I compare absorbency only between equal ply so I matched up my preemie CPF against my infant DSQ.

The test included a cup of water, a tablespoon, two napkins placed underneath of the prefolds to absorb any water that leaked through, the prefolds themselves and my camera.

Preemie CPF (left) vs Infant DSQ (right)

I measured and poured the two tablespoons of water into the middle of each diaper, waited about ten seconds and then removed the diapers to see what had gone through to the napkins beneath.

Amount of water absorbed by napkins under diapers.

As you can see, less water leaked through the preemie CPF diapers on the left than did through the DSQ diapers on the right.

Next, it was time to do the 4-8-4 diapers.

I purchased twelve bleached newborn sized CPFs, 24 unbleached infant sized CPFs and the rest were infant sized DSQs.

Repeating the same test as before I lined them up and watered them down.

Newborn CPF (left), unbleached Infant CPF (center), Infant DSQ (right)

Waiting a few seconds for the water to absorb.

And the results were somewhat astounding.

Results from the 4-8-4 test.

The Newborn CPF had about the same leakage as the Infant DSQ the only difference being that instead of soaking right into the center the DSQ wicked the water to the sides and the CPF kept the water in the middle of the diaper.

The most astonishing part, however, was the the unbleached CPF didn't leak at all.

In light of my test I'm glad that I chose the unbleached CPFs over the bleached for the majority of my baby's diapers.

Maybe this way I'll save my self some leaks in cribs and blowouts.

Test Concluded!