Originally Posted by Shelia Jane, you can follow the link here, The Sheila Jane
You can read a little about why I began using cloth diapers and how we prepared our diapers for use in part 1 of this series here.
The very first time I used our cloth diapers was at night. We gave my son a bath and I picked out my favorite design and placed a disposable liner inside (I did not want to take any chances with having to scrape off any solids I also use disposable liners because I was still putting diaper cream on my son’s rash that I mentioned in part 1 and diaper cream can stick to a cloth diaper and make it less absorbent, so it is important to have that liner if you use any sort of diaper cream). That night any time he woke up, I would check him for leaks, but he never had any! I was so excited that our first night had no issues and I was ready to take on the first day! (*Note: I have been adding an old folded up cloth to the pocket, behind the insert, for extra absorbency at night. Some babies need the extra protection and I have found that adding that helps us get through the night with no leaks at all!)
The only problem that I noticed was that it was difficult to tell if he had a wet diaper unless I actually checked it for wetness. I had not made a note of how many diapers he normally went through, so I probably checked him a lot the first few days just to make sure he wasn’t soaking.
That first day we created a new diaper system.
- When I decided he needed to be changed (sometimes he will tell me himself) I would grab a diaper from the drawer, lay it open, and place a disposable liner over it.
- I would then grab my son and some sort of toy to keep his hands busy and away from his diaper and I would clean him up and place the dirty diaper aside to deal with after I placed the new diaper on my son. Or I would let him air out a little while I dealt with the dirty diaper.
- Dealing with the dirty diaper was not as bad as I anticipated. I would grab everything and head to the bathroom where I would throw away the wipes (I have since switched to cloth wipes as well, but more on that later), then I simply dump the solids in the toilet (by mistake I did not purchase flushable liners, but some should be on the way to my house soon!), throw away the liner, take the insert out of the diaper and place everything in the wet bag that came with the diapers. I have on occasion had to rinse off the diapers a little before placing them in the wet bag, but it has not been too terrible. Haha.
- Then every 2 days, I take all his diapers and inserts to the washing machine and dump them all into the wash along with the wet bag. I make my own laundry soap for my son so I will sometimes use that or sometimes I will just use baking soda and vinegar. I have read that certain laundry soaps could build up on the diaper causing them to be less absorbent, but I have not noticed any issues so far. But, it is always best to read the washing instructions on your specific diapers because even baking soda and vinegar could be harmful for certain materials. So make sure you always research before deciding what to wash with because you do not want to ruin your cute new diapers. (I actually talked to someone at Nora’s Nursery and she said to not use vinegar with these diapers because they will break the diapers down over time, so I will be more cautious from now on.)
- We then have been hanging them to dry inside our apartment.
That’s it! Simple, right?
And, the best part is that my son’s rash is FINALLY gone! I am SO happy that we were finally able to get rid of it. After about a week of using cloth, it cleared right up!
We have loved our cloth diapers and I only wish I had started sooner! I know that the initial investment of buying cloth diapers can be somewhat scary, but when you calculate how much you would be spending each month on disposable diapers for 2+ years, you will see that you are actually saving money in the long run! We do still use some of the disposables that we had left over for all day outings or at the nursery on Sundays. But all of the rest of the time, we use cloth.
PLUS!! These are a one size fits all type diaper! So if we are ever blessed with more children, I won’t have to buy more later…although, I LOVE the Pink Blossoms diaper set that Nora’s Nursery has, so if I had a girl, I would probably have to add those to my collection (I did end up getting more cloth diapers from somewhere else so I would have enough to last the 3 days. So I have a total of about 23 diapers…totally random number, I know, haha! But with 23 we are easily able to go 2 days, wash on the morning of the third day, and hang them to dry without running out of diapers.)
Since I have received other cloth diapers from another company, I can honestly tell you that Nora’s Nursery cloth diapers are my favorite! They do not leak at all! They have an added “leg gusset” to strengthen the part that goes around the baby’s leg to prevent leaks. The other cloth diapers that I have are constantly leaking though the leg area even after I have adjusted them, so I am always reaching for our Nora’s Nursery diapers instead!
Have you been thinking about using cloth diapers but are not sure if it will be more trouble than they are worth? Let me tell you, they are so worth it! Cloth diapering has not been nearly as difficult as I originally expected (although, I was thinking it was still cloth and a safety pin, haha!). They are so easy to use, a breeze to wash, they will save you so much money, they are good for the environment, AND they are so much cuter than disposable diapers! What more can you ask for?
Please let me know if you have any questions regarding cloth diapers! I would love to help convince you to use them, ha! I don’t consider myself an expert at all, I still have a lot to learn, but I will do my best to answer any questions you may have.
with love,
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