I thought all of them were cotton but we got a few free ones as a promotion for Earth day and a few of them are hemp, or hemp / cotton. It's been more than 24 hours and a few of them are legit still wet like when I first took them out of the washer to dry. I might start drying them a bit longer in the dryer before line drying them because I NEED them to be dry come morning or this isn't going to work lol
Ladybug - April 2013 Dandelion - October 2018 Angel "Aurora" - July 2020 Angel "Sawyer" - May 2021 Angel "Maxine" - January 2022 Angel "Violet" - March 2022 Baby Dove due March 2023
saw this in another BMB https://www.nickisdiapers.com/: Nicki's diapers will let you try cloth diapers (even wash them) for 30 days the website says 15 and if you don't like it, will allow you to return it. I wish I took advantage of this a little bit more since there were many diapers we tried once and didn't love. I should have returned them instead of telling myself it'll be love later. It never was.
Two questions after speaking with my friend about her CD woes:
1. Have any of y'all dealt with babies smelling of urine when using CDs? She said after they're out and about after an hour or two, he smells like pee. I'm not sure how quickly my friend changes her baby after her urinates, and she says the diapers are clean (even though she uses Dreft)...but I think it's odd? 2. Do you CD at night? Friend states that her baby soaks the diapers and pajamas (even with two inserts) and he has to have a bath every morning as a result. What would you do in this instance?
@sliztee I don’t remember DS smelling like pee. I did have to change him much more frequently than I do disposables, though. He’s also a very heavy wetter for a kid with only one kidney.
As as far as nighttime, we tried SO many different options including just sticking with disposables for nighttime. What worked great for us was the Cloth-eez Workhorse fitteds and a cover. We never had a leak at all once we started using those, and that would be for 12-14 hours.
You should be changing a cloth diaper every 2 hours, especially at the beginning. if she's noticing a urine or ammonia smell, then she needs to look at her wash routine. I'm not sure if Dreft is recommending for cloth or not, but usually you want something strong.
Also nighttime can be tricky. You may need to play with amount of inserts and fabric. Often it's good to have a quick absorber (like microfiber) and an insert that absorbs a lot (I believe charcoal and bamboo are good there). Many mom's use wool covers at night, they look like little shorts.
Eta: Dreft is fine according to Fluff Love. She may not be rinsing well, using too much, or adding softeners that she doesn't need to.
@tlmilll Would you say that you change him more frequently in CDs as opposed to disposables? I'll look into the Cloth-eez diapers you mentioned, thank you!
@sammierose464 I suggested she use Tide detergent and see if the smell continues to happen, but she is very stubborn and said that the diapers are clean
She said she doesn't airdry the inserts or diapers, so maybe it has something to do with using the dryer to some extent? I have no idea.
@sliztee oh yeah, definitely more frequently in cloth than disposables.
I wonder what her wash routine is. We always did a cycle on the “normal” setting, cool water, and a little bit of Tide original powder, then a cycle on “super” with hot water, the amount of Tide for a heavily soiled load, and a scoop of Oxi-Clean. We also dried in the dryer every time. We never had an issue with smell.
@sliztee Q1: I change DD every two hours, but even if we go longer than that she has never had a urine smell. sounds like maybe she has ammonia buildup?
Q2: DD is a heavy wetter so I battled this for several months before figuring it out. I used Clotheez cotton prefolds and cotton inserts and she would wake up soaked. I did some research and found out that cotton absorbs quickly, but not a huge amount. So I bought some Thirsties bamboo/hemp inserts to pair with the cotton prefolds and it’s worked miracles! I havent had an issue since. There definitely is some trial and error as they grow but it’s so worth it.
I too would be super interested in her wash routine. Dreft is a recommended detergent (liquid or powder). I do know as with basically every diaper/wash routine, they recommend a full prewash (for dreft, using line 1-2 on the cap/scoop) load, and then a main wash (for dreft, line 4 full scoop on the cup/scoop). If you have very hard water, you need an additional rinse as well as adding a water softener to the water. (Alot of people don't think they need to test their water. Then when they do, are often shocked by the results. We have a water softener, but still had to check, because if the filter isn't before the washer, it may not receive softened water. Ours ended up being ok, so no extra water softener needed. But I thought we would.)
We never had the pee smell. As for the night wetting, like @sammierose464 said having something that absorbs quick and then something super absorbant was helpful. I also put a fleece liner (that I cut sized for his diapers from $2 Walmart fleece blankets lol) in, because it adds another thin layer to help quickly pull liquid away. And at first every 2 hours (if you have a heavy wetter, it could be every hour for awhile.)
The only time I had night wetting, I needed to change the rise snap/hip snap arrangements because they looked fitted fine during the day, but he was able to pee out of it at night. Basically in certain positions he laid, it gapped slightly around his legs, and created an easy route out for pee. After tightening his snaps it was super rare that he had an issue.Also anything (pj/clothes wise) that compresses the diaper/liner much, can cause a leak (especially with microfiber, but can happen period. Also can happen when in a carseat for extended periods.) So if she is putting night clothes on baby that are tight against diaper, that could be part of the issue.
Also, always dried inserts in a gas dryer, never had a smell.
And I forgot earlier, I made sure I had enough diapers/inserts to go 2-3 days without washing. I never waited that long, but twice I was very happy I did (1 time electric was out for 24+ hrs, another time my washer broke mid diaper washing!). I would have had to go buy disposables if I would have only had 1-1 & 1/2 days worth, like I figured would be ok at first.
@sliztee I use mainly Flip covers. I also use Thirsties Duo Wraps and size 1 worked really well for when she was little, but now that she is in to size 2 they fit her kind of weird. She has skinny legs so they gap a lot. I never use the Thirsties at night because of that but they work during the day. The Flips are my main go-to.
@sliztee, i cloth diapered both my boys and we always washed with vinegar and it did wonders for removing ANY smells, especially urine. I still use it today. Costco sells giant jugs of it for a great price.
This thread makes me miss cloth diapering We had nannies before when my boys were babies, but now that we switched top daycare, they don't do cloth, so this new kid will be in disposables.
Re: Cloth Diapering
Dandelion - October 2018
Angel "Aurora" - July 2020
Angel "Sawyer" - May 2021
Angel "Maxine" - January 2022
Angel "Violet" - March 2022
Baby Dove due March 2023
1. Have any of y'all dealt with babies smelling of urine when using CDs? She said after they're out and about after an hour or two, he smells like pee. I'm not sure how quickly my friend changes her baby after her urinates, and she says the diapers are clean (even though she uses Dreft)...but I think it's odd?
2. Do you CD at night? Friend states that her baby soaks the diapers and pajamas (even with two inserts) and he has to have a bath every morning as a result. What would you do in this instance?
As as far as nighttime, we tried SO many different options including just sticking with disposables for nighttime. What worked great for us was the Cloth-eez Workhorse fitteds and a cover. We never had a leak at all once we started using those, and that would be for 12-14 hours.
Also nighttime can be tricky. You may need to play with amount of inserts and fabric. Often it's good to have a quick absorber (like microfiber) and an insert that absorbs a lot (I believe charcoal and bamboo are good there). Many mom's use wool covers at night, they look like little shorts.
Eta: Dreft is fine according to Fluff Love. She may not be rinsing well, using too much, or adding softeners that she doesn't need to.
@sammierose464 I suggested she use Tide detergent and see if the smell continues to happen, but she is very stubborn and said that the diapers are clean
She said she doesn't airdry the inserts or diapers, so maybe it has something to do with using the dryer to some extent? I have no idea.
I wonder what her wash routine is. We always did a cycle on the “normal” setting, cool water, and a little bit of Tide original powder, then a cycle on “super” with hot water, the amount of Tide for a heavily soiled load, and a scoop of Oxi-Clean. We also dried in the dryer every time. We never had an issue with smell.
Q2: DD is a heavy wetter so I battled this for several months before figuring it out. I used Clotheez cotton prefolds and cotton inserts and she would wake up soaked. I did some research and found out that cotton absorbs quickly, but not a huge amount. So I bought some Thirsties bamboo/hemp inserts to pair with the cotton prefolds and it’s worked miracles! I havent had an issue since. There definitely is some trial and error as they grow but it’s so worth it.
Dreft is a recommended detergent (liquid or powder). I do know as with basically every diaper/wash routine, they recommend a full prewash (for dreft, using line 1-2 on the cap/scoop) load, and then a main wash (for dreft, line 4 full scoop on the cup/scoop). If you have very hard water, you need an additional rinse as well as adding a water softener to the water. (Alot of people don't think they need to test their water. Then when they do, are often shocked by the results. We have a water softener, but still had to check, because if the filter isn't before the washer, it may not receive softened water. Ours ended up being ok, so no extra water softener needed. But I thought we would.)
We never had the pee smell. As for the night wetting, like @sammierose464 said having something that absorbs quick and then something super absorbant was helpful. I also put a fleece liner (that I cut sized for his diapers from $2 Walmart fleece blankets lol) in, because it adds another thin layer to help quickly pull liquid away. And at first every 2 hours (if you have a heavy wetter, it could be every hour for awhile.)
The only time I had night wetting, I needed to change the rise snap/hip snap arrangements because they looked fitted fine during the day, but he was able to pee out of it at night. Basically in certain positions he laid, it gapped slightly around his legs, and created an easy route out for pee. After tightening his snaps it was super rare that he had an issue.Also anything (pj/clothes wise) that compresses the diaper/liner much, can cause a leak (especially with microfiber, but can happen period. Also can happen when in a carseat for extended periods.) So if she is putting night clothes on baby that are tight against diaper, that could be part of the issue.
Also, always dried inserts in a gas dryer, never had a smell.
And I forgot earlier, I made sure I had enough diapers/inserts to go 2-3 days without washing. I never waited that long, but twice I was very happy I did (1 time electric was out for 24+ hrs, another time my washer broke mid diaper washing!). I would have had to go buy disposables if I would have only had 1-1 & 1/2 days worth, like I figured would be ok at first.
12 newborn prefolds
6 size 1 prefolds
12 size small prefolds
6 Alva one size pockets
1 thirsties newborn cover
1 size one thirsties cover
1 rumparooz newborn cover
1 pack of snappies
18 inserts...various brands and materials
This thread makes me miss cloth diapering