How to use cloth diapers when your budget is tight.

I love to sing the praises of cloth diapers, because they are truly not difficult to use and significantly less disgusting than people think they'll be.  I mean, you have to look at poop, yes, but you have to do that with disposables, too.  And honestly, I'm much more grossed out by the thought of a poopy disposable diaper sitting in my HOUSE for a WEEK until garbage day than I ever am about dealing with a cloth diaper 5 seconds after the poop has arrived.

But there is one area of cloth diapering that I can completely sympathize with naysayers about, and that's the cost.  Cloth diapers can be expensive if you let them take over your life and become a hobby of sorts.  But that being said I've come up with a few tricks on how to get them to work for you no matter what your budget is.

1)  Buy used.

Many of my diapers are second hand, and provided they were taken care of well by the previous owner, you can save a substantial amount buying used.  Before my second baby was born I bought 19 fitted diapers and a cover off a local buy 'n sell site for only $50.  This could, with a few small additions, diaper a child until about 6 months if you were willing to do some laundry every day.  You can regularly find diaper covers for as little as $8 second hand.

2)  Buy on sale.

Keep your eyes open for discontinued colours, 'seconds' (slightly imperfect diapers), last season's prints, businesses going out of sale, etc.  I got an AMP and an Applecheeks cover brand new for $10 each at a store closing sale and they retail for twice that.

3)  Check thrift stores.

We recently found a pack of 5 Kushies fitted diapers and a cover for $4 at a local thrift store.  Kushies isn't a great brand, but the diapers fit Clara and we use them around the house quite a bit.

4)  Borrow from friends.

I must have close to ten borrowed wool covers in my house right now.  Cloth diapering friends who aren't using a certain size you need, or who are out of the cloth diaper phase but don't want to get rid of their diapers yet are great resources.

5)  Think outside the box.

I have over a dozen microfibre inserts that are homemade out of microfibre towels.  And over a dozen flat diapers that are repurposed from receiving blankets and large kitchen cloths.  They all work fine.

6)  Ask for diapers as gifts.

Diapers are the perfect gift, and everyone loves to give something practical.  If you have your heart set on a few expensive diapers, this is the option.  A large percentage of my diapers are gift diapers.  I also have used birthday money given to my children to purchase them diaper supplies.

7)  Use 'online money' and look online.

Swagbucks works for Amazon, I believe, and Amazon will carry cloth diapers.  Take a look at other online currencies and see if you can use them to purchase some of what you need.

8)  Enter contests

You would not believe how many cloth diaper companies give diapers to bloggers who then hold a contest to see who gets them.  Enter these contests!  I have friends who have gotten diapers this way, although I haven't.

9)  Make your own.

There are some serious patterns out there, for free, just for the looking.  Some of them look complicated but some are actually pretty simple and don't seem to require much in the way of crazy materials.

10)  Contact a cloth diaper charity.

If you cannot afford to cloth diaper in any way, but really want to, there are organizations out there that provide cloth diapers to low income families.

11)  Barter.

There are hundreds of WAHM (work at home moms) making cloth diapers and accessories and selling them.  Try bartering with something you have that they would like in exchange for diapers.

Finally, once you've started your collection, keep these things in mind:

1)  Your baby will grow out of sized diapers, which means you'll need to buy more covers.  However, some people say they get a better fit with a sized diaper cover than one that's meant to adjust to multiple sizes.  Personally, I'd buy one-size diapers.

2)  The more high-tech the diaper, the more it will cost and the harder it will be to wash and dry.  An expensive all-in-one diaper may run you, say, $30, and will be good for ONE diaper change before needing to be laundered.  Diapers with multiple layers can take a long time to dry, as well.  We have a decent dryer these days, but in the past I would have to dry some diapers up to 90 minutes.  This completely gets rid of your savings.  On the other hand, a simple insert or flat diaper system will wash thoroughly, dry quickly and cost less to buy in the first place.

3)  Like anything in this world, the more work you're willing to do yourself, the cheaper the project becomes.    You can diaper a child with two covers and twelve diapers if you have to, but you'd have to wash everyday. You can use a wool cover for ages, but when laundry time comes, you need to wash it by hand.  How far are you willing and able to go?

This past week...



Baked potatoes with green onions, roasted pork chops and acorn
squash with butter, brown sugar cinnamon and nutmeg.

New Country Living magazine and a cup of tea = chalk day.

Sweet baby

I think it may be fall around here!  Or at least the beginnings of it.  I have some very exciting news to share in the next little while, but in the meantime, while I process it...

Imagine for a moment that you are a single mother, or a single father for that matter.  Imagine that you're quite quite poor.  No, not 'I'm out of mayo and payday isn't for three days' poor; I'm talking more than that.  Every day is a struggle.  And even the most basic of things that I take for granted (may I assume, that YOU might take for granted as well, gentle readers?) are hard, hard, hard.  Like diapers.

I came across this organization on Facebook today and I really felt called to share it.  Cloth For A Cause is a Canadian non-profit that started in 2011 with the mandate to help low-income families cover their babies' bums without the sometimes overwhelming start-up costs associated with cloth diapering.  I've been a big supporter of cloth diaper services for a long time now, as anyone who reads here regularly will know.  But I haven't come across an organization here in Canada that does for it's clients what the equivalent agencies do in the States, until I heard of Cloth For A Cause.

Now, they're on Facebook, and you should 'Like' them.  And you should go on the website and tell them on their very first blog post ever how neat you think what they're doing is.  And while you're there, you should enter their free contest for diapers.  And then...you should sit down and pray about it a little bit, and then get up and go grab a few of your diapers, or some sewing supplies, or maybe a $10 bill, and you should help.

I'll get off my soapbox now and go look through my own stash to see what will make it's merry way to the nearest depo.

What Does It Mean To 'Sun' A Diaper?

To 'sun' a diaper means, simply, to use the natural bleaching properties of sunlight to cause staining on cloth diapers to fade or, in some cases, entirely disappear.

What causes this fantastic natural bleaching is UV rays, those same little arrows from the sky we're trying to protect ourselves from when we smear on the sunscreen; they cause molecules in the staining to break down, and the stain itself to go away.

That's the good news.  The bad news is that like any type of bleaching, exposing your diapers to an element that works by causing organic matter to break down is going to also cause damage to your diapers.  I've read some reports of little holes appearing in the diapers after repeated 'sunnings', and certainly the fabric will weaken with repeated use.  This being said, I've mentioned before that all cleaning procedures are going to put strain on the fabric of your diapers.  That includes sunlight!  But, if you are going to try naturally whitening your diapers, the sun is less harsh than, say, Javex.


Some of our prefolds enjoying the sun.

Sunning is a simple procedure.  Lay your clean diapers, stain side up, in sunlight and leave them alone for a few hours.  That's it.  If you dampen the fabric it seems to work better, and for good measure I use a 50/50 mixture of lemon juice and water to soak right on the stained parts.  Since the UV rays are what are causing the stain break down, sunning is a bit of a misnomer - cloudy days should also work just fine.  If even heard of people 'mooning' their diapers by the light of the moon and claiming that that is also an effective stain remover.  Not sure how that works, precisely, but I don't claim to have all the sky vs. diapers answers.  Go ahead and give it a shot!

Stained diapers certainly don't work any less well than white ones, but they don't look pretty.  If you don't fancy putting your diapers out to be bombarded by bleaching rays, though, don't feel that you have to - your diaper cleaning regime is much more important than what they look like.

The other benefit to sunning diapers is that with the exposure to light and fresh air, smells are significantly reduced.  In fact, I'd suggest trying to sun your diapers before you go so far as to strip them.

Happy sunning!

What Does It Mean To 'Strip' A Diaper?

Stripping diapers is a phrase that people toss around an awful lot in cloth diapering circles.  Any time your diapers smell and you change detergents, or you 'prep' a new diaper for use, someone will refer to it as 'stripping' your diapers.  Sometimes they're right, but often this is just a catch all phrase.

Here's what it actually means to strip your diapers and how and why you may like to do it.

'Stripping' a diaper means to bring that diaper back to its original fabric state, or as close as you can get it.  When you strip a diaper you are removing any residue and buildup from the fabric in order to start fresh, with a clean diaper.  Why would you want to do this?  If your diapers have begun to leak they might have too much residue on them to function properly, or if they are smelling they may have organic matter buildup that needs to be 'deep cleaned' out of the fabric.  When diapers are newly purchased it's also a good idea to strip them to remove any chemical residue left behind from the manufacturing process, or fabric starching used to make the diaper look new.

If this sounds heavy duty, that's because it is.  You don't strip your diapers by hanging them in the sun, or tossing some Oxyclean in the wash cycle; stripping is labour intensive, and really should be avoided by keeping up with your wash routine on a frequent basis.

You can often delay stripping your diapers by using a good detergent (and the correct amount of it) in the first place.  At the first sign of trouble, re-evaluate your wash routine.  Periodically washing diapers in a different detergent may help to remove residue (remember how switching shampoos helped clean your hair better?) as will pre-rinsing your diapers, washing smaller loads at a time, using more water or adding an extra rinse cycle.  Checking to make sure your diapers are made of fabrics that aren't prone to ammonia build-up, adding baking soda to your wash cycle and vinegar to your rinse and laying your diapers in the sun will also help prevent a need to strip.

At some point, though, you may need to.  Especially if you've used anything on your baby's bottom (such as baby oil, bum cream or lotion) that may have 'stuck' to the fabric and not come off during a wash.  Start by washing your diapers with a good detergent and adding an extra rinse.  When your diapers come out of the washer you'll want to use very hot water, boiling hot if you can manage it.  Boil them on the stove with a bit of dish detergent.  Dish soap is formulated to remove grease, and chances are it's an oil-based buildup you're dealing with.  Just a drop, though, because it isn't great for your skin.  Boil your diapers (not PUL covers, though, just fabric), drain, rinse, and dry.

Stripping diapers, as I mentioned, is really something that shouldn't be done frequently.  Fabric isn't meant to be boiled!  If your diapers frequently suffer from 'diaper stink', or leaking issues, or serious staining, then stripping isn't your go-to solution.  Try altering how you care for them on a daily basis before resorting to stripping.

Here's a good video describing methods of stripping cloth diapers that's a bit more all-inclusive than the option I gave above.

Happy Stripping!

What Makes A Detergent 'Cloth Diaper Safe'?

I see it again and again and again, in fact I saw it this morning, I talked about it yesterday, and again a few days ago, and I'm asked it at least a few times a month: A question about washing cloth diapers.

I think that the idea that washing cloth diapers is a perilous and difficult process has been perpetrated by the detergent industries who make soaps specifically targeted to washing cloth diapers.  Of course they want you to buy their products, and so naturally they will continue to tell you that any other product will destroy what can amount to hundreds of dollars of merchandise.  And it'll be ALL YOUR FAULT.

Well, I'm going to give you the easy peesy simple low down right now and put your mind to rest. 

There are only three things you need to concern yourself with when buying a detergent if you're determining whether it's okay to use on your diapers.

1) Is this detergent the right strength/concentration for my diapers?

Assuming you've looked to make sure the detergent will work for your general washing routine anyway (HE detergents for HE machines, hard water safe detergents for hard water, etc.) all this means is that your detergent needs to be strong enough to wash away the bacteria in human fecal matter, the oil produced by our skin, and the salts and toxins contained in our sweat, while not being so strong that any residue will hurt our skin.  That's it.  If you're using an extra-strength concentrated super-detergent, it may get your diapers clean, but it may be just too much for delicate bottoms.  Likewise, if you're using a super gentle detergent, you may not fully clean your diapers.  Remember, someone pooped, peed, sweated and generally grossed-up this piece of fabric, so before you use it again, you need to really clean it.

2) Is this detergent gentle enough for my baby?

The harshness of the soap is one thing to look at, but you're also going to want a detergent that is scent and dye free, good for sensitive skin, and lacking as many 'extra' ingredients as possible.  A baby's skin is paper thin and very delicate, and that diaper is going to be worn against it 24 hours a day, so this is important.

3) Is this detergent safe for my diapers?

All detergents, and all washing routines, are going to damage your fabric.  All of them.  Simply the agitation of your washer is going to put strain on fibres.  Try and remember that your diapers are, in fact, pieces of fabric meant to be used to collect bodily waste and not examples of the crown jewels - they will eventually wear out.  That's okay.  You can slow down the wearing out process in many ways, by being careful when you undo snaps, by not drying in the dryer, etc., and also by using detergents that don't contain enzymes (components that break down organic matter) and bleach, both of which will weaken fabrics over time.  Beyond fabric weakening, you do need to consider residues as well.  A diaper functions by absorbing liquid, and so if your detergent leaves a residue, then that can hinder the diaper doing its job.  The bad news is that you can't completely escape residue no matter what you use, but the good news is that lessening the amount of detergent you use, and ensuring you match your detergent to the type of water you have for optimal rinsing, will go a long way to keeping your diapers absorbant.

So, you're facing a wall of soaps, what do you do?  I'd start by picking a detergent formulated for 'sensitive skin'.  Make sure it is dye and perfume free, and preferably enzyme free as well.  I'd also chose a liquid detergent over a powdered version, for more equal distribution of the soap in the water.  If you're washing more 'modern' diaper styles (ie, All-in-ones, or pockets, or even prefolds for that matter) your detergent should be strong enough to get through multiple layers of fabric and thoroughly clean, so I personally wouldn't choose a very 'light' soap option since that won't have the strength you need.  If, on the other hand, you're washing flat diapers, a lighter detergent may be all you need.

When you go to use your detergent, try half of the recommended amount to cut down on residue issues.  Most modern soaps are really pretty effective and chances are half of the amount will more than wash your diapers.

If your detergent isn't working, you'll be able to tell pretty quickly.  If you're constantly having to strip your diapers because they smell, then your detergent might not be cleaning them properly.  If your diapers leak all over the place, there may be too much residue left on them.  If your baby seems to constantly have a rash, perhaps this detergent is way too strong for their skin.  There are a lot of very good options out there, for every budget, every diaper and every baby.

Happy washing!

Making Homemade Cloth Wipes.

How I Use Cloth Diapers

I've found myself defending cloth diapers more and more since I participated in Kim Rosa's Flats and Handwashing Challenge over at her blog, Dirty Diaper Laundry.  I'm not certain why, but it just comes up in coversation so much more these days, or perhaps I'm just more sensitive to it?  Perhaps.

So I thought a post might be in order to talk about this crazy cloth diapering thing I do!

Samuel wears cloth diapers, first off.  He doesn't wear them all of the time, and when he does wear them he doesn't wear a certain kind, folded in a certain way or necessarily washed in a certain detergent, because I try as much as possible not to, you know, subscribe to 'parenting philosophies', which I think are hooey.

Anyway.

We try.  We have probably just over three dozen diapers, some purchased, some gifted, some second hand and some brand new.  We have probably about a dozen covers, four of which are in circulation right now.  We have a few snappis, which I never use.  That's about it.  Our diapers are prefolds and flats (both actual flat diapers and things that fill in for flat diapers, such as recieving blankets), about four GroVia inserts (essentially pad-shaped prefolds with snaps on them) and a solitary fitted diaper.  The covers we're using right now are GroVia covers, but we've used a vairety of different brands in the past.  When Samuel isn't wearing a cloth diaper he is usually wearing a disposable.  This happens, not very frequently, but it happens.  Sometimes it's just because I know we'll be in the car a long time and I want to keep him comfortable, sometimes it's because he's been gassy all day and I know an 'explosion' is due, and sometimes it's because I don't have any dry covers and he can't just run around naked.  They're a convenience tool, and I use them sparingly, but I'm not ashamed to use them, anymore than I'm ashamed to pull out the frozen store lasagna from the freezer on a night I can't face cooking!

I fold all of my flats into a 'pad fold' and all of my prefolds into thirds.  I don't use fancy folds, I don't pin or snappi the diaper on, I just fold it up, tuck it into the cover, and pop it on.  That's it.  If he's going to sleep in the diaper I double them up, or I fold a prefold inside of a flat.  That's the only variation.

When I change him I toss the dirty diaper into a cloth bag that hangs...somewhere.  It moves around the house.  Generally you can find it in the bathroom, but sometimes it appears in my bedroom, where most of the changing happens, or hanging on the back door knob.  Anyhow, that's where they go.  If it's a bowel movement, and it's 'solid-ish', I dump it into the toilet first and then put it into the bag.  If it isn't 'solid-ish' I don't do anything special.

I wash my diapers every day.  After Samuel is in bed I gather up the diapers (which sometimes are a bit hidden in the diaper bag, still in the bedroom because they didn't make it to the cloth bag, maybe in the bathroom after a  bath, etc.) and once I've got all of the dirty ones and the covers I toss them all into the washer, cloth diaper bag included, and run a hot wash without soap.  After the first cycle I add regular laundry, if I have some to wash, and I run a second cycle with soap.

A note on washing:  I've heard that you need to use special soap, and I have purchased said special soap.  Enzyme free, dye free, perfume free, plant based, eco-friendly, etc. etc.  And I've used it, and my diapers have not stunk or done any of the other things diapers are apparently notorious for doing.  They have continued to soak up pee just fine.  I have also used cheap, store brand, water lily scented, enzyme-ridden detergent, and my diapers have worked just fine.  I have bleached them, which makes some people faint, and my diapers have worked just fine.  I have tumble dried them on high, washed them in hot water, scrubbed them, washed them with other clothing, not rinsed them, forgotten them for days on end in a plastic bag in my diaper carrier, and in short done everything you're told not to do with your diapers, and my diapers are just fine.  They don't smell, they absorb pee.  That's all they need to do.

After the second wash I hang my diapers on the back staircase of my apartment building on a line.  I keep the two staircase windows open and the cross breeze dries them pretty quickly.  In the morning I go out the back door and gather them up.  I fold the flats as I put them away so I don't have to try and do it with a squirmy baby.  And then I put them in the drawer and walk away.  That's my entire routine.  If I have a lot of diapers to dry for some reason I may bring out my drying rack and set it up in the bathroom.

We also use cloth wipes, mostly.  My husband really doesn't like to use them so he has containers of dollar-store wipes scattered around his life at all times, but I use cloth wipes because Samuel doesn't squeal as much when I change him if the cloths are warm!  Also, I feel like he gets cleaner.  The wipes I use are baby face cloths, and I treat them exactly as I do my diapers.

Samuel occasionally gets a small diaper rash, just a tiny bit.  I clear it up by letting him run around naked for an hour and that always does it.  If for some reason it isn't significantly better after that, I put a bit on Peneten on him and put him in a disposable until his next change, and then we go back to cloth.

For us cloth diapers are fast, they aren't difficult or complicated in any way.  They don't take me forever to wash or any longer than any other diaper to get on or off.  I use a plastic bag in my diaper bag to hold the dirty diapers from our outings, and that's the only difference between cloth and dispoable when we're out.  I don't really think about them all that much, certainly not as much as it seems like some people do!  I don't have a 'stash', I don't use cutesy names likes 'sposies' or 'fluff' or whatever the latest thing is.  (I also don't call my stomach a 'tummy' or say 'nums' for food or anything like that!)  I am not obsessed with having certain patterns or using only one brand.  It has to absorb pee, not leak and smell nice.  It has to clean easily.  It's good if it doesn't stain a lot but I'm not picky.  Samuel certainly doesn't care one way or another, and I'm not even certain that David could tell you different types of cloth diapers beside what we use.

I'm disheartened to see blogs that go on and ON about cloth diapers, tossing out terms that I'm certain no new parent or parent-to-be understands: AIOs, fleece doublers, pocket style...what ARE these things, I'm betting they think.  And then they turn away from it all because it looks difficult, time consuming, and expensive.  A single diaper cover can be over $20.  A wool cover is even more - I've seen them in the high $30 range before.  For one cover.  And the lists of 'approved' detergents and special instructions; the expensive bags to carry them in and accessories to use with them and adjustments you can make, materials lists and natural fibres vs. man-made fibres and so on and so on.  No one wants to just take a piece of fabric, fold it up and tuck it into a cover and put it on the baby.  That's too simple, there must be something 'wrong' with it.

So that's it, that's how we use cloth diapers.

We are all so sick and flu-y right now that we can barely see straight.  The sickness, unfortunately, has trumped the challenge.  Samuel wore prefolds today because that's what was clean.  I'm washing his diapers in the washing machine tonight because there isn't one adult in this house who doesn't get sick when they bend at the waist.

Sorry, friends.  We're out.

Flats and Handwashing Challenges Day FIVE

Remember to check out the rules of the challenge here.

Here’s a little re-cap:

Day 1:  I start out with great enthusiasm.  There’s nothing I like better than creating order out of chaos, and man, are these diapers chaotic.

Day 2:  Technicalities.  Why won’t they dry?  Where do I dry them ?  How do I cut down on the 40 minute wash time?

Day 3:  In two unrelated events, the rash appears, and I start to wonder about the assumptions that underline the challenge.

Day 4:  Technicalities.  5 covers isn’t enough.  They are taking days to dry in the humid, wet weather.  In an ironic twist of fate, I’m reusing damp GroVia covers to prove that parents don’t have to reuse damp disposables.

Day 5:  Here we are.

I washed my regular laundry this morning and reveled in the ease of putting things in a washing machine, turning a knob and walking away.  Then I went and knelt at my tub for half an hour and beat the stuffing out of a stack of flats and prefolds.  I’m learning things I never thought I’d learn, and I suppose that’s why we stretch our limits from time to time – so that those limits can expand.

Despite my complaints about this challenge, it has been an eye-opener.  I’m not sure that it’s taught me what I expected it to, but it has taught me some things.  For example:  I either need several more PUL covers or else I need to switch to wool.  The moisture next to the skin situation is a recurring problem.  Some diaper-free time succeeded in clearing up the minor rash from day 3, but it also succeeded in causing a big puddle on my carpet, so it’s not a long term solution.  I went to the local thrift store with the idea of buying an old wool blanket and whipping up even a makeshift wool cover, but the store was out of wool.  So, we’ve been muddling along with what we have.  To my pleasant surprise, I love the flats.  I love them so very much more than the prefolds I had been using previously.  They just get so clean and nice-looking.   I can treat them like regular laundry and even (gasp!) bleach them if I like.  Not that I have, but I could, and that makes me happy.  I like laundry that doesn’t need a personal assistant.

I’m also convinced that Samuel can recognize a dirty diaper better now.  He’s always come to me to be changed when wearing a disposable, but he seems to be more on the ball with changing when wearing cloth.  I can really see how this would be helpful when potty training.

And I've thought more about why hand washing and cloth diapering is often touted as 'just as easy as disposables' when, clearly, it isn't.  Even if you use AIO diapers, even if you send your diapers out to be laundered; something dirty that can't be thrown away but needs, somehow, to be cleaned and reused is more work than something that doesn't.  AND THAT ISN'T A BAD THING!  For goodness sakes, something that a person truly believes in may inconvenience them, and that inconvenience is just a minor price to pay for the knowledge that you've followed your heart.

I've also learned that I cannot compare myself to women who lived in the past.  When mothers used to wash a family’s clothes by hand, what were a few more diapers tossed in?  You were already boiling your other fabrics with soap and then putting them through a manual wringer before hanging them on the line, so diapers weren’t that big of a deal.  But very few of us wash all of our fabrics manually anymore.  I have tried it in the past, but I can tell you from experience that hand washing jeans, or blankets, is time consuming, wet and exhausting.  There’s one other thing that these long-ago mothers probably had that I don’t: help, in the form of older children, a live in parent or a hired girl.  I have me.  Here’s something else those mothers had that I don’t: a society that doesn’t expect the same levels of cleanliness or changes of clothing that they do now.  I cannot go to work every day in the same two rotating outfits.  And yet those women of yesteryear could.  Their children could have a single school outfit.  My child cannot. 

my society is organized to handle a certain kind of life, as theirs was.  If I insist on living in a way that my society is not set up to handle, then my life will prove more challenging, just as theirs would have.  For example, I don’t have a car.  The town I live in expects that I do, in fact, have a car.  The stores are not within easy walking distance because I’m not supposed to be walking to them.  In my ancestor’s time, you were supposed to walk to them.  All of the stores were very close to each other because you went out on foot, you bought the groceries you needed, and you walked home.  Likewise for them, women’s higher education was less common.  If you wanted to ‘go against the grain’ it was challenging for you, because your society wasn’t set up to handle that.  For me, my society expects post secondary education.  If I tried to get a job without it, it would prove difficult, because having a diploma or a degree is a societal norm.

Anyway, those are my ramblings...

The flats challenge at Dirty Diaper Laundry DAY THREE

Check out the rules here

Day 3:  Remember how I mentioned in this post how I had this waaaay too thick diaper for overnight and how Samuel barely wet it on night one?  Well last night was a different story; last night went exactly how I thought the first night was going to go.  In the wee hours of the morning my husband muttered to me "he's soaked through everything" and boy was he ever!  The doubler, the prefold, the flat, the PUL cover, everything!  I changed him, but by dawn, when he needed another change, I noticed the red rash all over his bottom.  This isn't my first experience with irritated skin after using cloth diapers.  I was actually sort of expecting this to happen, to tell the truth.  I've researched it before and it could be one of four things causing the irritation:

1.  The diapers may not be completely clean.

2.  He may be wearing a wet diaper for too long.

3.  When he gets changed, he might not be completely cleaned.

4.  There isn't enough air circulation due to the PUL cover.

I tend to think #1 is unlikely.  I soak them, scrub them, rinse them very well and so forth.  I even pre-rinse.  Those diapers are clean.  (I have a test, actually.  They have to be clean enough that I will press it to my face and inhale deeply.  Now that's clean.)

I also have trouble believing #2.  There are occasions when we're out and changing is difficult or something but for the most part if he is dirty, the change is immediate because I can smell him right away.  And if he's wet, I'll figure it out in 20 minutes, tops, because he'll be circulating around me to nurse or show a toy or something at least every 20 minutes!

#3 is a possibility.  He's squirmy and wriggly, he might not be getting completely cleaned.  Plus, we use store-bought wipes and if they're a little harsh on his skin they may not be cleaning as well.

#4 is what I believe is the culprit.  Rashes happen when dampness isn't air dried.  That's why diaper free time often clears up a rash better than any cream (which only provides a barrier for the skin from wetness) ever could.  What can I do?  I have four covers in circulation right now, so I am allowed 1 more, perhaps I could find some sort of PUL alternative that will breathe?

I thought about the problem for a bit.  Clearly the obvious choice is wool.  I don't have the money to buy a wool soaker, though.  In the meantime I'm letting him run around naked.

Later on Day Three...

I keep thinking about why I'm doing this challenge - trying to prove that a family who claims they can't afford to diaper their baby could do so with cloth.  Except who are these people?  These incredibly broke, poverty-striken people?  Not to assume anything here, but are these new parents likely to be walking into a high end parenting store and getting expert advice and taking a look at these $25+ upcycled wool longies and thinking for a moment that this is an option for them?  I don't know, maybe.  I just think its unlikely.  Most people I know, regardless of their income level, default to disposable diapers unless they have taken a personal interest in cloth for some reason.  If my friends used disposables, my parents used disposables, my parent's friends used disposables...where would the idea, not to mention the support, to use and handwash cloth diapers come from?

I was in Walmart today and went to see what would be available in term of cloth diapering for someone just walking in off the street with no idea about cloth.  At my Walmart you could buy flats, 6 of them for about $10.00.  There was a single instruction sheet on the back of the package that illustrated a fold that looked complicated to me.  There were also plastic training pants, only available to fit children 25 lbs and up.  There were no pins or snappis, no diaper covers and the whole section was hidden at the bottom of the recieving blanket shelf.  To give you a vision here, the cloth diapers took up about a square foot of retail space; the disposables took up an entire wall.  Way at the back, on the bottom of a bottom rack, there were four wet bags.  Each was $8, they were small, and they had a little tag that advertsied 'uses', one of which, right there with 'carrying wet bathsuits' and 'snack bag' was 'great for diapers'.

Maybe these families that need this information so badly are also not the ones likely to be trolling a diapering challenge link-up.  What can we do to get the word out?

The flats challenge at Dirty Diaper Laundry DAY TWO

Day 1 recap:  I forgot that today was the start day.  I was reminded.  I panicked (just a little) because I really wasn't ready, but threw any old diaper on the boy and started a wash pile.  For bedtime I went a little crazy on the padding because I didn't want to add 'handwash bedding every day' to my list of chores.

Total Time Spent Washing - 40 Minutes

Day 2:  Really, Day 2 started at about midnight when Samuel woke up.  He often 'fusses' a little throughout the night, not really waking up until about 6:30, but for some reason he seemed especially fussy last night and I kept worrying it was the diaper.  Specifically, I kept worrying it was a giant, sopping wet diaper that was weighing him down and giving him a rash.  So perhaps I was a little overly eager when he started fussing at midnight to check and make sure he was dry, just for my own peace of mind.  He was wet, but not crazy wet, and the microfibre lining on the doubler actually kept him feeling dry next to the skin.  I changed him anyway, but feeling as though perhaps the million and one layers we started the night out with were a bit much I just went for a prefold wrapped in a flat.  When he woke up again at 6:30 I changed him - he was damp but just fine.  So no leaks on night one.

In the morning I also took a look at the laundry that had been hanging outside the back door.  I didn't have high hopes for it, mostly because I A) only opened one window and not the other one, so my cross-breezes were non-existant and B) It's raining here, and has been damp all night, not good clothes hanging weather.  The diapers were dry, but the cover was not.  It was almost dry, but not completely.  So in rainy weather we're looking at over 12 hours of drying time for a cover.

One of my goals in this challenge was to try the flat diaper alternatives I've heard about.  Some bloggers have talked about using IKEA burp cloths, Walmart flour sack towels, old recieving blankets and even cut up tee-shirts.  Well, yesterday I tried a recieving blanket for the first time, it was bit bulkier, but not a lot, and it did seem to take more time to dry.  On the other hand it was a cute little pattern!  Anyway, after reminding David about the diapers (remember, darling, only these ones in this pile here, okay?  Are you listening?  I know these ones over here look fun, too, but that's not okay for today, okay?  Right?  David?)  I got dressed and headed off to work, leaving David in charge of the cloth diapering duties for the day.

By the time I got home 7 hours later the cover was dry and a new pile 'to be washed' had already started.  But I had a plan to cut down on water consumption tonight.  First of all, I didn't rinse anything out.  Not even the dirty diaper.  I scraped into the toilet, but no rinsing.  Then after Samuel had his bath I just put some detergent into the bath water, added a bit more hot water and tossed the diapers in to soak there.  Using water twice feels a lot more economical to me.  Because I let them soak without rinsing the water was a lot dirtier than last night, and so after agitating, wringing, draining, refilling and adding the diapers again, I let them soak for another 20 minutes until they were ready for their 'close wash'.  I pretty much followed the same steps as yesterday.  My diaper total for today was:

1 cover (he's wearing cover #2 right now)
1 recieving blanket used as a flat
2 doublers
2 prefolds tucked into flats for overnight
flats

It's still raining, so I don't anticipate that tonight's laundry will dry any faster than last night's did.

My first attempt at flat diapers overnight

When I agreed to this challenge I somehow just conveniently forgot about the overnight part.  I mean the challenge rules clearly state that you can use your 'regular' diapers for overnight but that they recommend that you at least try with a flat.  Our regular overnight diapers are disposables, and I think that that sort of veers away from the whole idea of the challenge.  I mean, this is supposed to prove that a low-income family can diaper their baby for much less money by using cloth flats.  Economically-minded cloth diapering doesn't put the kibosh on disposables at night, but I feel as though if this were really the way you were diapering your child, then you wouldn't have the paper diaper to fall back on.  And so tonight, against my better judgement and with visions of a sopping child at dawn filling my head, I cloth diapered my son for bed.

Here's how I did it:

First I took a diaper cover - this one is by GroVia



I folded a flat diaper into half, and then half again, and laid it on the cover.

 

Then I laid a pre-fold diaper on top of the flat





I folded the pre-fold into thirds




Then I fold the flat diaper into thirds around the prefold




Finally I added an extra two layers with a doubler of especially soft cotton.




Here's a side view of how thick this diaper was.

 I don't know if this was over-kill yet because I've never sent a toddler to bed, a toddler who pees like crazy, in a cloth diaper.  We shall see.

And a note about washing.  I've decided to wash every day.  Looking at my diaper stash this probably isn't necessary, but I think it's a good idea for sanitary reasons, to minimize staining and also to keep the process as quick as possible with a minimal number of diapers to wash.  Since today started a little late, we only had a little under five hours of cloth diaper time before bed.  The wash tonight was three diapers, plus a diaper and cover that were waiting to be washed already.  Here's how I did it:

1) I rinsed the one soiled diaper out as soon as it happened.  The wet diapers I just left as they were until wash time.

2)  I ran a few inches of HOT water into the bathtub and used about a tablespoon of liquid laundry detergent.  The laundry went into the water and soaked for about 20 minutes.

3)  After the soaking I went in with my hands and agitated the diapers for about a minute.  What I mean by that is that I swished them around, squeezed them under water, unfolded them and squeezed in a different way, etc.  Mainly I was trying to push the detergent through the fabric because no solid waste was on the diapers.

4)  I drained the tub, wrung out each diaper firmly, ran the tub again and repeated the detergent amount.  This time I gave each diaper an individual look.  One of them had some staining which I focused on by rubbing some detergent directly onto the stain and scrubbing it.  I also gave some concentrated attention to the cover, especially around the leg holes.

5)  I drained the tub again, wrung out each diaper, and filled the tub with cold water and no detergent.  I rinsed the diapers thoroughly.  Then I drained the tub and rinsed it out.  I wrung out each diaper firmly.  Then I unfolded them, re-folded them, and wrung them out again to get as much water as possible from each diaper.

6)  I shook the diapers out and hung them on a clothesline on the back stairway of my apartment.  They aren't outside, but they are right next to the open stairway window and have lots of air circulation.

One thing I did was to time myself.  The soaking process was about 20 minutes but didn't require any effort on my part, so I'm not counting that.  The scrubbing, washing, rinsing, wringing and hanging took about 20 minutes on its own.  If I was using cloth diapers as a money-saving technique, this would make me probably re-think my decision.  Twenty minutes of kneeling beside the bathtub and scrubbing cloth is a lot.  Clearly I need to get that camp washer up and running soon and cut down the time it takes me to wash my diapers.  I haven't even counted the time it will take me to clean my bathtub now that it was filled with dirty diapers...

Pros:
 - The diapers have (so far) not leaked or malfunctioned in any *ahem* really bad way.  The one occasion that that could have seriously happened everything stayed where it ought.

-Also, the cleaning was easy - actually it was way easier to clean a flat diaper than it ever was to clean a pre-fold.

Cons:
 - If the length of time between diaper changes stays static, we're looking at up to twelve diapers every day, not including the doublers and prefolds for nap and bedtime.  That's a lot of diapers to wash every night by hand.

- The length of time it takes to wash everything could pose a problem, especially if you're doing this for financial reasons.  Do you want to spend 40 minutes or more a night washing laundry by hand?

- Also, clearly I need to wear gloves next time; my hands are all chapped from the detergent and the scrubbing.