Troubleshooting Cloth Diapers – 5 Real Life Cloth Diaper Problems & What I Do to Resolve Them

September 27, 2011 By 4 Comments

When entering the world of cloth diapers, I had many concerns. I wondered if my stomach could handle the smells or the contents or the extra laundry. Everything I read about cloth diapering made it seem like the easiest thing since sliced bread. However, I wasn’t so sure. I wondered about what REALLY went on in the homes of cloth diapered babies.

  • Did the moms ever grow weary of the laundry?
  • Did they ever want to give up?
  • Was there ever a situation they just couldn’t handle?

What I am about to share is not for the faint of heart. Proceed with caution.

This is real life – my life.

Troubleshooting Cloth Diapers – 5 Real Life Cloth Diaper Problems & What I Do to Resolve Them:

1. Sometimes the poop … hits the floor.

The problem: Once your baby starts eating solid foods, the poops become a little more solid as well. There have been a few occasions when I arrive at the toilet missing the main ingredient only to go back and find that I dropped it halfway to my destination. It happens.

What I do: Grab some toilet paper and collect the nuggets. I place the contents into the toilet and flush. I go back with some disinfectant and spray the contaminated area. Go about business as usual.

2. Sometimes the poop … becomes a new toy.

The problem: At naptime, the legs of the diaper may not be pulled tight enough. Therefore, the diaper does not do its job. The baby then enjoys his brand new, never before seen, toys until Mommy comes in to retrieve him from his nap.

What I do: Take baby directly to the bath tub and bathe him. Put the baby in fresh clothes and sit him in the floor to play. Roll up the sheets from the bed and dump the contents into the toilet. See #1 if you lose a few. Put all sheets, blankets, and loveys into the washing machine, and go about business as usual.

3. Sometimes the poop … doesn’t drop off easily into the toilet.

The problem: Your normally solid food eating baby decides to go back to being exclusively breastfed. He refuses anything that doesn’t come from mama. As a result, the diapers go from nice little nuggets to … well thick, thick paste. Paste doesn’t fall off into the toilet.

What I do: I don’t have a diaper sprayer. It would come in handy during times like this. So I grab some toilet paper, scrape off what I can, and resolve to let the washing machine do its thing. Just throw the whole thing in and go about business as usual – maybe with an extra rinse or two.

4. Sometimes the diaper … comes off while playing.

The problem: The hook and loop system comes loose while baby crawls around like a mad man getting into everything that he shouldn’t. As a result, the hook portion hooks to the carpet and baby crawls immediately out of the diaper.

What I do: Pray he didn’t pee on my carpet. Put his diaper back on. Go about business as usual.

5. Sometimes the diaper … smells like ammonia.

The problem: Laundry detergent build up in the diaper can make the diapers smell terrible and singe your nose hairs as you inhale within a 5 foot radius of your child.

What I do: Put said diapers into a hot cycle in the washing machine with Charlie’s Soap and a squirt of Dawn Dish Soap on an extra rinse cycle. Follow with a cold wash without any detergents. Line dry and get lots of sun. Never use any other detergent except Charlie’s Soap ever again. Go about business as usual.

Sometimes cloth diapering is just hard. In the trenches, I want to give up. I want to throw in the towel, and I, most certainly, want to throw away a diaper or two instead of deal with its contents. However, I don’t, and I keep plunging forward. I fight laziness like it’s the plague, and run the washing machine another round. Another round.

Other times, cloth diapering is downright hilarious. I’ve learned to laugh at myself … and my son. We’ve had some pretty absurd moments and some embarrassing ones. But they are memories. Our memories.

Overall, I think our troubleshooting problems are no different than mommies who use disposable diapers. If you think about it, we all deal with poop, diapers coming loose, and stinky diaper pails. It’s really all in how you look at it.

The life of mom is the same whether you choose to use cloth diapers or not. We choose cloth because it works for us. You choose disposable because it works for you. Either way, we have our memories and our moments when we just want to … throw away a diaper or two.

 

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What are some cloth diaper troubleshooting tips that you have?

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Filed Under: Frugal Living, Money Matters, Motherhood & Family Living

Cloth Diapers: How to Use Prefolds with Covers and One-Size Pocket Diapers

September 13, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Cloth diapering has been, for us, an experiment – a trial and error of sorts. Families experience cloth diapering their babies in different ways, and what works for one family may not work for another.

For example, I have friends who use All-in-One cloth diapers. I find them far too hard to launder because they take so long to dry. I like the quick drying qualities of Pocket Diapers. Still yet, others only use Prefolds and covers, and don’t see the point in pocket diapers.

Cloth diapering is what you make it. Are you tired of hearing me say that yet? ;)

Today, I want to share with you what style of cloth diapers we use.

In the early months of cloth diapering, we preferred prefolds and covers. We started at three months and used it until Samuel started rolling over.

We found prefolds to be cheap and easy. We have about 20 prefolds & 4-6 covers for each size.

Here is a video explaining our prefolds & covers.

Once Samuel started moving, I found the prefolds cumbersome. Not to mention, he is a heavy wetter. As a result, I noticed the prefolds soaking through very quickly, and as a result, I changed him numerous times a day.

We switched to one-size pocket diapers with the hook and loop system. We have about 18 diapers with 36 inserts. My pocket diapers vary between BumGenius, FuzziBunz, and Kawaii.

Here is a video explaining our one-size pocket diapers.

As I think about what I will do with our next child, I go back and forth. One of the downfalls of the one-size pocket diapers is that they are often still too big for a newborn even on the smallest setting. Since we have a history of little babies in my family, I expect to continue having babies under 8 lbs. Therefore, I will most likely start out with a prefold and cover method, and then, switch to pockets when he/she starts rolling. It makes sense to me, and it’s what I’m used to. However, only time will tell. Like I said, it’s trial and error. You have to figure out what works for you!

 

What about you? What are some tips you have for prefolds or pocket diapers?

Filed Under: Frugal Living, Natural Living, Pregnancy & Childbirth

Cloth Diapers: Five Tips to Get You Started

August 29, 2011 By 3 Comments

Pockets, AIOs, Prefolds … blah, blah, blah … yah, yah, yah! So many terms! How do you decide what works for your family?

I want to offer five tips that worked for us to get you started with cloth diapering.

1. If this is your first baby, wait until you’ve had time to get used to being a parent before taking on cloth diapering.

Now this isn’t a rule everyone must follow. If you want to cloth diaper, go for it. I’m certainly not telling you that you can’t. I am more or less talking to those mamas who are nervous about cloth diapering like I was. There was just too much NEW for me to try to do something else totally foreign to me, such as using cloth diapers.

Following this rule was freeing for me. It allowed me to focus my efforts on learning to nurse my baby, his schedule, how to manage a shower, and get a few extra moments of sleep without worrying about diapers sitting in a pail needing to be washed. Transitioning to life with a new baby is hard. Don’t add extra laundry to yourself when everything is so new!

You can take it or leave it. It’s just my suggestion. ;)

2. Set a goal for when you want to start cloth diapering.

When Samuel was three months old, we entered the world of cloth diapers. This was the goal I set before he was born. Honestly, I was itching to get started immediately, but I knew there was wisdom in waiting until he was three months old.

By this time, we were settling into being a family of three, and we were on a pretty good routine. I half way knew what I was doing with a baby; we were ready to take on the new challenge of cloth diapering. Much to our surprise and delight, it wasn’t challenging at all.

3. Do your research.

Read about cloth diapering. Ask others what they are doing. There are so many seasoned veterans out there that would LOVE to talk to you about what they do and how they do it.

I know I asked about ten women what they did, and not a single one said, “I don’t have time for this.” On the contrary, they all freely and excitedly shared with me their experience with cloth diapers.

I learned what worked for them, what they would do differently, how they cleaned the poop diapers, what they did if their diapers stopped absorbing, and the list goes on. I learned so much from those who have walked the road before me.

So don’t be shy! Ask someone any and every question you have. I guarantee you they had the same question at some point.

4. Buy used.

I know some people find this a little … weird. However, it is just poop people, and we live in a world where washing machines can do anything but make you coffee! Not to mention, the powerful abilities of the sun. ;)

Seriously, check Craigslist, thrift stores, and your local consignments. I shared with you where I got my pocket diapers. In what spare time I had after Samuel was born, I checked Craigslist for deals on cloth diapers. Eventually, something popped up, and I pounced on them. We have had zero trouble with our diapers.

5. You don’t need a lot of special equipment.

I have my diapers, cloth wipes, spray bottle with baby wash, and diaper bag/pail. That’s it.

  • I don’t have a sprayer that attaches to your toilet.
  • I have diaper liners only because they were given to me, but I never use them.
  • I have one Snappi for when I used prefolds on Samuel – just one.

There are several other things, I’m sure, that can be used to aid in cloth diapering, but I haven’t found them necessary.

As I have said before, cloth diapering is what you make it. Take your time. Give yourself a break. But more than that, have fun with it!

 

What tips can you share about cloth diapering? Is there anything you find essential to making cloth diapers work for you that differs from me? I would love to hear from you – leave your tips in the comments!

 

This post contains my referral links. Please see my disclosure policy here.

Filed Under: Frugal Living, Health & Nutrition, Money Matters, Natural Living