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North Dakota Babies
Thinking about switching to CD
After all this recent talk on cloth diapering, I'm thinking about making the switch. I'll start with Caroline and then with the new baby.
However, there seems to be so many options that I can't figure out what to do. Prefold, all in one, pockets, inserts...I don't even know where to start! Cristina seems to have done it the simplest, but I wouldn't even know where to buy the supplies. I've looked on diapers.com, but is this the best place to make my purchases?
Also, what about cleaning? What do you do with the diapers until you're ready to wash them? I remember when my brother was a baby my mom had a pail with something in it (bleach, ammonia?) and it always stunk. I don't want that.
Anyone use a diaper service?
Sorry for so many questions, but it's overwhelming for me.
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Re: Thinking about switching to CD
Make the switch!! You'll be so happy you did!!! I've heard you can order a sample kind of package from JilliansDrawers.com, but I haven't done it, so I don't know much about it. But I would really reccommend doing it my way to start off with because it definitely is the cheapest. And, you can find all the supplies at BRU!
Cleaning is super easy and not stinky at all. Here's what I do.
I have a little covered pail set up in the bathroom - I bought it at target and it just happened to have a bucket inside. I fill it a little more than half way with water and put in a scoop of baby oxy clean.
When Mari pees or poops, I rinse out the diaper in the bathroom sink; if it's poop, I kind of rub the fabric together (I'm not squeamish about getting my hands dirty anymore). I wring it out and toss it in the soak. If possible, I reuse the rubber cover (if it's pee), if not, I rinse and toss into the pail. I also use reusable wipes and rinse and toss them the same way.
When the pail is full, I dump all the diapers and the water into the sink in the bathroom. I wring out the soak from each diaper individually and put them back into the pail. I then take the pail down to the laundry room with detergent and baby oxyclean. I do a cold rinse, by hand, of all the diapers, covers and wipes in the slop sink in the laundry room (it's a clean and nice sink). Then I toss them into the washing machine. I wash on the hottest setting and then dry only the diapers and wipes. The rubber pants come up with me and hand to dry in my bathroom.
I also looked into a diaper service, but there's only one left in NYC and it's in Brooklyn. They wanted to charge me $26/week + $10 b/c I'm out of borough. That defeated my main purpose of CDing, so I do it myself.
I hope that helped - and ask me if you have any more questions!
Oh, and also, to learn how to pin the diaper, I literally typed in "how to pin a cloth diaper" on youtube. With a little practice, it became a cinch! I can do it in my sleep now (practically)! And also, I got an old candle and keep it by the changing take and stick the pins in there after I use them. The wax helps them slide through the diapers easier.
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I have a trash can with a step open lid and a planet wise liner. I spray poopy diapers with BioKleen Bac-Out, wet ones just go straight in. I wash every other day, I turn the liner inside out as I dump the diapers into the washer. I do a cold presoak, hot wash, and double rinse. (I program the washer to do all this). Then I hang the shells to dry in the laundry room and dry the inserts in the washer. I also bought some hemp inserts to make the diapers more absorbant at night.
You have got it down to a science!
Why do you have to do the cold rinse before you wash on hot?
. ETA : you can buy a diaper sprayer that hooks to the toilet to rinse off poo, or you can use flushable liners to help the poo "plop" into the toilet easier. When the baby comes, if you BF, that poo is water soluble so it can just go in the washer.
There are a lot of really good websites out there that really break everything down for you. I like Jillians Drawers, she really has a lot of good information. I know several people off of my month board that are doing her trial and I heard its good. I also go to the EFF board a lot because they have a ton of good information and there are always people asking questions over there.
I actually am renting my newborn diapers (from Nells Natural Baby) because I didn't want to buy diapers that they can only use a couple months and I don't want to use prefolds (my DH would never change a diaper if I were to use those). So I'm using fitteds with a cover to begin with. I am slowly buying other types of diapers to try when she is older so I can get an idea of what I like and what works best for her. But I have some pockets and some all in ones for then.
Its weird because I can't believe how excited I am to cloth diaper!
As far as cleaning goes, I dump the dirties in a diaper genie. Once it is full, I dump that directly into the washer. Wash twice, then dry.
I use prefolds because I am too cheap for the more expensive kinds. I don't use pins though, I use Snappis instead.
I think pockets are the easiest IMO. All you have to do is slip an insert in and you're good to go, and you can throw them both in the wash together. I use FuzziBunz because they've been around for 10 years and have a great reputation. They're really easy to use, super soft, and undeniably cute! I bought 12 of them to start with, and am slowly increasing my stash because I want a big one, lol. You can check them out at www.fuzzibunz.com. They don't sell directly from that website, so I use www.fuzzibunzstore.com because of the free shipping and their Rewards Program.
Cleaning is super easy with pockets, too. A lot of people seem opposed to CDing because they think you'll have to "touch poop," but that's not the case. When your baby is really little, you'll mostly have runny soft poop, and honestly you can just throw that right in the wash. The inserts can be shaken into the washing machine first, then you plop the diaper itself in after. Once your baby is older and has more solid poops, you just shake what you can into the toilet, and the rest goes right into the wash!
As far as storing, you don't want to keep them in any sort of liquid. Just get a dry diaper pail and plunk those suckers right in until you're ready to wash them. Soaking them in anything can lead to stinkies and possibly mildew and you definitely do not want that.