Daycare Diapering

We started using cloth diapers at daycare back in October and it's going great. We have a set of Kawaii pocket diapers that are our "daycare diapers." I wanted a cheaper diaper than our normal ones just in case one got messed up or went missing. I got one as a free diaper with another order so I was able to try them before I bought them. They worked great so I bought 10 more for $61 including shipping and we now have 12 of them.

We use liners for daycare so if he poops, they can just pull the liner out with the solids and flush or trash it and poop is not sitting in the diaper all day. The night before, I stuff all the diapers with inserts and lay a liner in each one so they're ready to put on him when they need to.

When he goes to daycare, I send 6-7 diapers and a wetbag, and they typically use five a day. When they change him, they just put the whole diaper in the wetbag and I take the dirty ones home at the end of the day. I normally wash every 2-3 days so I usually just leave the wetbag on the washer until it's time to wash. Then I'll go through and pull all the inserts from the diapers and close the laundry tabs and then wash them with our other diapers.

I am so glad they are willing to use his cloth diapers. I was hesitant about it at first because I wasn't sure how they would do but they've been great! They are amazed at how easy (and cute!) they are!

Diaper Stash & Wash Routine

It's been a while since I posted about our cloth diaper stash.  Since then, I've sold things that we didn't care for and purchased new ones! So, here's what we have now:
4 Perfect Size Medium FuzziBunz
4 One-Size FuzziBunz
1 One-Size BabyKicks 3G Bumboo
1 Medium Bumgenius All-in-One
7 One-Size Bumgenius 3.0
4 One-size Bumgenius 4.0 (snap)
4 One-Size Tweedlebugs
2 One-Size Happy Heinys (snap)
3 One-Size SmartiPants
3 Flip Diapers and 7 Stay Dry Flip Inserts
2 Econobum
12 Kawaii (our daycare diapers)
(There are a few diapers listed that are not pictured)

We keep our daycare diapers and extra inserts in this drawer.

We are using cloth wipes also. I was hesitant to try them but I love them! I still have over a case of disposable wipes that were given to me at my shower but I guess we'll use them for other things. We have flannel wipes and they clean so much bettter than disposable ones. We have a wipe solution, Punkin Booty Bits, that we keep in my peri-bottle and we just wet the wipes as we need them. Also in this drawer is a sample of CJ's BUTTer diaper ointment. If he ever gets a little red, this clears it right up. We also have some diaper liners that we use for daycare (more about those later) and two of our wetbags (Planet Wise-small and medium).

One of the main things that was so overwhelming to me when researching cloth diapers was the wash cycle. There's just so much information out there and I did not want to mess up the diapers. When it's time for a diaper change, we take the diaper off of him, fasten the laundry tabs (if it's a velcro diaper), remove the insert and throw it in the diaper pail. We just use a trash can with a lid and a pail liner. If it is a dirty diaper, we'll take it to the bathroom and shake the solids into the toilet and rinse it off if it needs it with a diaper sprayer.

We normally wash every two to three days. We just bring the full pail liner to the washer, dump everything in and throw in the pail liner to wash also. First, we just do a cold rinse with no detergent. Once that is done, I add the detergent. We use 1 1/2 to 2 tablespoons of Rockin' Green, which is excellent for cloth diapers. Then run a hot wash cycle. After that cycle is complete, we do an extra cold rinse.

Once they're done washing, everything is hung on a drying rack. Usually they dry in the kitchen (because I wash at night), but I try to put them outside to dry at least once a week (on the weekends). The sun is great for sanitizing and bleaching cloth diapers. If there are any stains, the best way to get them out is to sun the diapers. It's amazing how well it works.

Once the diapers and inserts are all dry, I go ahead and stuff them all so they're ready to use again. Cloth diapers are so easy and I'd recommend them to anyone!

Cloth Diaper Review: Part 3

I didn't realize how long it had been since my last cloth diaper post. Since then, we've sold things we didn't like or use and used that money to buy new ones. I'll post about our current stash after I wash this weekend.

More diaper reviews...
Bumgenius 3.0 One-Size

 We started out with only one of these and loved it, so when Cotton Babies had an awesome seconds sale, we grabbed several more! I bought 6 of their seconds and they were perfect! We've only had a problem with one of them, I just need to replace the elastic in one of the legs. These diapers are great, they fit 7-35 pounds. They come with both a newborn insert and a one size insert. We use the one size insert snapped down to the small setting, and we have the diaper snapped to the medium setting. These fit great and work very well. We've never had a leak! These are so easy to use and are usually our "go-to" diaper.

Bumgenius 4.0 One-Size

[this picture is with an added hemp insert for nighttime]

Cotton Babies discontinued the 3.0 and came out with a new improved diaper. We LOVE the 4.0s! These come in hook and loop (velcro) and snaps. We have 3 of the snap versions. We haven't tried the hook and loop in this new diaper yet, but I've heard it's better than the 3.0. These are the only diapers we use at night (with a hemp insert added) and we've never leaked. Once we started using cloth at night (it's been a while now), Jace has never woken up with wet jammies and a wet sheet again! He leaked out of disposables every single night. These diapers fit a little larger than the 3.0s. The range on these is 7-35+ pounds. Jace is currently in the small setting on these (medium at night because of the extra absorbency). I love the snaps on these and they look great. These also come with 2 inserts.

Happy Heinys One Size

We only have 2 of these and they work well so far. They fit 8-35 pounds and come in snaps or aplix (velcro), we only have snaps. One of the things I like about these is that they come in lots of colors and prints. These come with a small and a large insert.

Flip One Size Cover & Stay Dry Insert

These are one of our favorites. The covers fit 7-35 pounds and only come in snaps. The insert just lays in the cover and when it's wet, you just pull it out (or flip it out!) and replace it with another one. You can use the same cover over and over again until it gets dirty, we've gone all day with just using 2 covers. I really like these when we're out and about because they take up less room in the diaper bag. They also have organic inserts (which we haven't tried) and disposable inserts. I like the disposable ones, and I've only used them when we're out for the day.

Smartipants

These fit 7-35 pounds and only come in snaps. They are sleeve diapers, so you don't have to pull the insert out before washing; it comes out on its own in the wash. I'm liking these more now that Jace is getting bigger. He is on the medium setting.

Cloth Diaper Review: Part 2

This post is to continue the cloth diaper review I started here. Now I'm going to go over specific diapers.

Bumgenius 3.0 All-in-One

This is a size small (8-16 pounds) in ribbit. We really like these diapers and have had no problems whatsoever! The velcro (or hook and loop) is so easy and they're just like putting on a disposable. They fit very well, although in the next month or so they will be too small. This is an all-in-one diaper, meaning there is no stuffing involved, unless you need to add more absorbency. We haven't had to do that.

FuzziBunz One-Size

Fuzzi Bunz are our one of our favorites so far! They are also super easy to use, although they have snaps. The snaps work well and will outlast the velcro, they just take a little longer to put on. The color of this one is watermelon. We currently have 3 Fuzzi Bunz and I really want more! They are pocket diapers, which means you have to stuff the absorbency in the pocket and then it is just like an all-in-one diaper. After washing, I go ahead and stuff all of my pocket diapers so they are ready to use when needed. These are one-size and they fit 7-35 pounds. To adjust the size of the diaper, you just adjust the elastic in the legs of the diaper. It's really easy. Fuzzi Bunz come with an extra set of elastic in case the elastic gets worn out and 2 microfiber inserts, one small and one large. Right now we are using the small insert. These diapers should last us until he is potty trained.

Tweedle Bugs One Size

We got one of these in blue as a free diaper with one of our diaper orders. After that, I ordered a black one and a minky cow print one (which resulted in a free white one). I like them a lot and they work well. The only problem with these is that the waist can not adjust as small as some of our other diapers, so they're a little big around the waist. They'll fit better soon though. These are pocket diapers and they're a lot like Fuzzi Bunz.

More to come later...

Cloth Diaper Review: Part 1

We have been using cloth diapers since Jace's umbilical cord stump fell off at 5 weeks. We LOVE them! I didn't think I would like them as much as I do, and they are so easy! They're super easy to care for and we don't have any stains (lots of people have asked about that!). Plus, they don't have the wet diaper smell like disposables! We use cloth exclusively during the day when we're home, but we're still using disposables at night. I need to find a good night time solution for cloth because I'm tired of the disposables. He wakes up wet every morning from where they've leaked out. We have ventured out of the house with our cloth as well, even on our weekend trip to Albany. He wore a cloth diaper on the way there (almost 4 hours-he slept the whole way) and to my surprise, it didn't leak! I plan to use cloth full time (in and out of the house) and save disposables for daycare. It'd be nice if they used cloth as well, but I have a feeling they won't go for it.

I'm going to review and share pictures of the different cloth diapers we have. First off, here is our stash:

We have (from left to right, top to bottom):

3 small Dream-Eze Organic All-in-Ones (AIOs) (1 kiwi, 2 vanilla)

3 small BumGenius 3.0 AIOs (twilight, ribbit, moonbeam)

4 small BumGenius 2.0 AIOs (1 butternut, 2 grasshopper, 1 white)

2 size 1 Thirsties Duo Diaper Covers (honeydew, cool stripes)

1  Econobum One-Size (OS) (white)

3 Flip OS Diapers (moonbeam, grasshopper, ribbit)

6 gDiapers (3 vanilla and 3 orange)

3 Smartipants OS (2 clever clover, 1 cocoa)

1 Bumgenius 3.0 OS (twilight)

1 Tweedle Bugs OS (blue)

3 FuzziBunz OS (choco truffle, mac 'n' cheese, watermelon)

1 Gro Baby OS (mandarin)

2 Planet Wise wet bags (1 small, 1 medium)

1 small Thirsties Fab Fitted (butter)

1 Small Dream Eze Organic Fitted

These are prefolds and all our diaper inserts.

As of right now, we're pretty much set with what we need for full time cloth diapering, having to do cloth diaper laundry about every 3 days. Very soon though, he will grow out of the smalls, and we will have to either get mediums or more one-size (which will be more economical because they'll fit longer). My favorite place to order from is Kelly's Closet. Lately they've been having tons of free OS diaper promo codes so we've scored several free diapers!

Next cloth diaper review post will be reviews of individual diapers!

To cloth...or not to cloth

That is the question.

I've really been considering using cloth diapers with Jace. It's more costly upfront, but it's a lot cheaper over the long run. I've done hours (yes, I'm serious) of research online. I even dreamed about cloth diapers the other night I've looked at them so much! There are so many different kinds of cloth diapers and it's really overwhelming. James is on board with the idea (probably because he doesn't do the laundry!). If we decide to use cloth, we'll still use disposables some too, mainly at daycare.

I'm leaning towards using one size diapers, so they'll last until we're ready to potty train (as long as they're cared for properly). They're adjustable and fit from about 10 to 35 pounds.

I ordered a couple of diapers last week from Kelly's Closet because there is a coupon for a free diaper when you spend $10. So I got a Flip One-Size diaper and it came with the cover and an insert. I like these because you can just replace the insert with a clean one when it's wet or dirty, unless the cover gets dirty too. But you can supposedly just wipe the cover out and reuse it again and again.

The free diaper was a bumGenius All-in-One. These diapers are sized but it's all one piece and you just take the whole diaper off and put on a clean one. It has an insert built in, but there's a pocket in the back where you can put another one in for extra absorbency. I ordered a small, which is for 8 to 16 pounds. BumGenius also makes a one-size diaper that I would like to try.

The coupon is valid until May 31, so if anyone wants to order me some (ha!) the details are here. Just use promo code BGMAGAIO after you add $10 or more in bumGenius, Flip, or Econobum products to your cart. Then add what size and color diaper you want in the comments.

I also want to try Smartipants diapers. These are one size diapers (7 to 35 pounds) with inserts. I plan to order a 3-pack of them to try them out. These are more economical than bumGenius. Smartipants and Flip diapers have snaps and bumGenius is velcro. I feel like the snaps will outlast the velcro but the velcro seems like it would be a more precise fit.

Cloth diapering may not work for us but I still want to give it a try. We'll see how it goes in about 3 months!