So ladies and gentlemen my son is destined to great heights. I mean it. My hubby is well over six feet and at 5'6" I only have about an inch on my 11 year old. So it should be no shocker that my 11 month old son is 33.5" tall and in the 98th percentile for his height. This does represent a tiny bit of an issue with the average one size diaper though.
As my little weed grew I soon realized that not all one size diapers are created equal. They all advertise that they fit from 8-35lbs so birth to potty training, but what happens if your 25lber is too tall for the one size diaper? Well at the ripe old age of 11 months quite a few OS diapers don't work for us anymore. My favorite AIO the BumGenius Elemental is a no go. As are Tot Bots, Bummis Bamboozles ( there goes my trusty night time option), Fuzzibuns and a few others. So what am I going to do until potty training?
Well, Charlie Banana OS, BumGenius 4.0 Pockets, BumGenius Freetimes and Happy Heinys still fit well at this moment in time but they are on the tallest setting for the rise so I am really not sure that they will last all the way through. I also tried Kawaii and Alva diapers but I am not a big fan of them and their fit.
I recently got introduced to hybrid fitteds like Little Fancy Pants, Diaper Donks and Gray Star Boutique. These diapers offer a OS option that still seems to fit well but they also have a toddler size that I may need to trade up to depending on when we potty train. These are a fitted diaper with a hidden fleece layer that acts like a fleece cover. Many families can use them coverless for the most part but my little fireman can soak through them quickly so I use a cover. That being said some covers work better over these than others. My favorites include Capris, Blueberry and Thristies covers. All three of these offer a nice tall rise that has a fair amount of room to grow still.
I also really like sized diapers. At 25lbs the medium Fuzzibuns and Charlie Bananas still fit awesome! The size guide show mediums to fit up to 30lbs and larges to go from 25-45lbs. I have a few larges and they are still too big on my little man.
So if you are faced with a bean stalk instead of a little weed give these a try:
BumGenius 4.0 pockets
Happy Heinys pockets
Charlie Banana sized pockets
Fuzzibuns sized pockets
Bummis sized prefolds and covers
Little Fancy Pants hybrid fitteds
Diaper Donks hybrid fitteds
Sandy's sized fitteds
My experiences with cloth diapering from a newborn to potty trainning.
Sunday 31 March 2013
Sunday 24 March 2013
Mama, It's Time to Strip!
So stripping diapers is a topic that you hear lots about. Everyone seems to be an expert at when and how to do it. So what is a rookie to do?
Well lets talk about the when to strip first. If you have a good wash routine you shouldn't need to strip as a regular thing. I repeat... Stripping is not a routine thing with cloth diapers.
How do you know that it is that special time? If you are having issues like ammonia stink or leaks, it is time to strip. If you are switching detergents, it is time to strip. If you got second hand diapers it is time to strip. So why would you need to strip in these situations?
Ammonia stink and leaks can be caused by a build up of detergent in your diaper fibres. These trapped detergent particles make it that pee and poop gets trapped in those fibres and don't wash away. This buildup causes stinkies and makes the diapers less absorbent over time. Stripping your diapers removes the buildup and in most cases fixes your smell and leak issues.
The same principle is true when you switch detergents. You may have your old detergent trapped in the fibres and this can cause issues if you just start using a new one. In some cases the two detergents don't react well together and cause stink issues and/or rashes on your baby. Stripping the old detergent out of your diapers before starting the new one makes sure that your diapers are at a nice clean starting point.
The third reason to strip is when you get new to you diapers. Because you don't know what type of water and detergent the other family had you want to make sure to remove anything that may be in the diaper before using it on your baby. A good strip and a sanitize is needed. I always treat new to me diapers like they have the plague.
Ok so how do you strip? Well there are a tons of methods out there advertised by cloth diaper retailers, manufacturers and bloggers. It is mind blowing! The most common ones are bleach, blue dawn, RLR and hot water. Let's break these down.
Bleach is a great disinfectant, but it is harsh on your baby and the environment. You do not need bleach in your everyday routine. I do use bleach if I am dealing with a yeast diaper rash or new to me diapers. I always assume the worst with used diapers. Once any buildup is removed I wash them with my regular detergent on hot water with 1/4 cup of bleach. I double up the rinse to make sure all the bleach is out. Use regular chlorine bleach. While regular bleach is simple enough if you really don't want to use it you can use Oxygen Bleach. Add the full recommended amount to your hot wash cycle and let it agitate for a few minutes and then pause the cycle for about an hour to let things soak in. Then finish the cycle and double the rinse.
Blue Dawn is often suggested for stripping diapers. It is even recommended by diaper manufacturers and I find that so unbelievable. Here is the thing with dawn... it is dish soap and first and foremost it can void the warranty on your washer. Here is the second thing... it is a degreaser. A degreaser is great if you got a non cloth friendly cream on your diapers but really pointless to remove build up. Adding soap to fix soap build up really doesn't make much sense does it? Now if you got diaper cream on your diapers that you shouldn't have, use a bit of dawn and a toothbrush to scrub it out and rinse well in hot water before washing the diaper but for anything else keep dawn in the kitchen to wash dishes with.
RLR is a laundry additive to remove buildup. Great right? Well yeah but it is made to remove build up from minerals in hard water. According to the package it is supposed to help loosen up detergent residue but again you are adding soap to soap. It suds up like mad so you are going to be rinsing forever! No joke. I used 1/2 pack on a load of really dingy inserts once and it took 10 rinses to get the suds out. I suggest RLR if you suspect you have mineral build up from hard water but not for anything else.
Hot water. Sound simple right? It is. Hot water helps break up soap better than cold water. So if you suspect soap build up or want to remove anything stuck in the fibres of your diapers wash in hot water without anything added and keep checking for suds. It will work out any built up soap and anything else that may be trapped in your diapers.
Any idea what my preferred method of stripping is? Yup plain old hot water! You don't need to use any special additive to strip diapers. In most cases 3-5 hot washes will do the trick. After you do your hot washes and have clear water in your rinse cycle you are done. In most cases this alone will fix your issues.
So now that you are a pro ... dare you to tell your partner that you are spending your afternoon stripping and make sure you take a pic of their face.
Well lets talk about the when to strip first. If you have a good wash routine you shouldn't need to strip as a regular thing. I repeat... Stripping is not a routine thing with cloth diapers.
How do you know that it is that special time? If you are having issues like ammonia stink or leaks, it is time to strip. If you are switching detergents, it is time to strip. If you got second hand diapers it is time to strip. So why would you need to strip in these situations?
Ammonia stink and leaks can be caused by a build up of detergent in your diaper fibres. These trapped detergent particles make it that pee and poop gets trapped in those fibres and don't wash away. This buildup causes stinkies and makes the diapers less absorbent over time. Stripping your diapers removes the buildup and in most cases fixes your smell and leak issues.
The same principle is true when you switch detergents. You may have your old detergent trapped in the fibres and this can cause issues if you just start using a new one. In some cases the two detergents don't react well together and cause stink issues and/or rashes on your baby. Stripping the old detergent out of your diapers before starting the new one makes sure that your diapers are at a nice clean starting point.
The third reason to strip is when you get new to you diapers. Because you don't know what type of water and detergent the other family had you want to make sure to remove anything that may be in the diaper before using it on your baby. A good strip and a sanitize is needed. I always treat new to me diapers like they have the plague.
Ok so how do you strip? Well there are a tons of methods out there advertised by cloth diaper retailers, manufacturers and bloggers. It is mind blowing! The most common ones are bleach, blue dawn, RLR and hot water. Let's break these down.
Bleach is a great disinfectant, but it is harsh on your baby and the environment. You do not need bleach in your everyday routine. I do use bleach if I am dealing with a yeast diaper rash or new to me diapers. I always assume the worst with used diapers. Once any buildup is removed I wash them with my regular detergent on hot water with 1/4 cup of bleach. I double up the rinse to make sure all the bleach is out. Use regular chlorine bleach. While regular bleach is simple enough if you really don't want to use it you can use Oxygen Bleach. Add the full recommended amount to your hot wash cycle and let it agitate for a few minutes and then pause the cycle for about an hour to let things soak in. Then finish the cycle and double the rinse.
Blue Dawn is often suggested for stripping diapers. It is even recommended by diaper manufacturers and I find that so unbelievable. Here is the thing with dawn... it is dish soap and first and foremost it can void the warranty on your washer. Here is the second thing... it is a degreaser. A degreaser is great if you got a non cloth friendly cream on your diapers but really pointless to remove build up. Adding soap to fix soap build up really doesn't make much sense does it? Now if you got diaper cream on your diapers that you shouldn't have, use a bit of dawn and a toothbrush to scrub it out and rinse well in hot water before washing the diaper but for anything else keep dawn in the kitchen to wash dishes with.
RLR is a laundry additive to remove buildup. Great right? Well yeah but it is made to remove build up from minerals in hard water. According to the package it is supposed to help loosen up detergent residue but again you are adding soap to soap. It suds up like mad so you are going to be rinsing forever! No joke. I used 1/2 pack on a load of really dingy inserts once and it took 10 rinses to get the suds out. I suggest RLR if you suspect you have mineral build up from hard water but not for anything else.
Hot water. Sound simple right? It is. Hot water helps break up soap better than cold water. So if you suspect soap build up or want to remove anything stuck in the fibres of your diapers wash in hot water without anything added and keep checking for suds. It will work out any built up soap and anything else that may be trapped in your diapers.
Any idea what my preferred method of stripping is? Yup plain old hot water! You don't need to use any special additive to strip diapers. In most cases 3-5 hot washes will do the trick. After you do your hot washes and have clear water in your rinse cycle you are done. In most cases this alone will fix your issues.
So now that you are a pro ... dare you to tell your partner that you are spending your afternoon stripping and make sure you take a pic of their face.
Friday 15 March 2013
Traveling with your Fluff
So the topic of cloth diapering and travel comes up often, especially as we head towards summer.
I have so far travelled with my fluff twice. I don't find it anymore cumbersome than using disposables. I hate disposables so they are really an absolute last resort, like when my moms wash machine broke down. A few tips to help you with your travels:
1. Are you going to be able to wash while you are on your trip? If no, then you can either swallow big and buy a pack of disposables or.... try the disposable inserts made by either GroVia or Flip. I used both at different times and I like them both. The GroVia has really great leg gussets to hold in messes but I don't like messing with the sticky tabs to put them into the cover. The Flips are thirsty and easy to change but they can shift in the covers. The nice thing is that the covers can be washed by hand and dried easily, so access to a wash machine is not needed.
If you are able to wash then you can pack pretty much what ever you want. I like pockets better for trips because they dry faster than AIO's but it is totally up to you. I would suggest that you take your detergent with you just in case you can't get any while you are there and maybe have a look at the water hardness. You can get a hardness test from most cloth retailers or from Rockin Green for about $1.00.
2. Are you driving, camping, in a hotel or with family? This can also effect the type of diapers you take with you. I usually drive so again the disposable inserts are great. If I was flying I could just use my regular diapers and wash when I got to my destination. We normally use the disposable inserts on the drive and then wash our regular diapers the rest of the time.
If you are in a hotel you may or may not have access to a wash facility so call ahead and check. With family, it is also a good idea to check that they are cool with you washing at their home.
3. Do you want to do diaper laundry? Well if you don't then sit back and enjoy your trip and use disposables. The world will go on and you can go back to your usual routine once you get home.
When packing I take about 2 days worth of diapers or 5 covers and enough Disposable inserts to see me through, laundry detergent (sample packs are great), disposable wipes ( I like the GroVia ones), and a wet bag or two.
Regardless of how you diaper on holidays....Enjoy your time and make memories.
I have so far travelled with my fluff twice. I don't find it anymore cumbersome than using disposables. I hate disposables so they are really an absolute last resort, like when my moms wash machine broke down. A few tips to help you with your travels:
1. Are you going to be able to wash while you are on your trip? If no, then you can either swallow big and buy a pack of disposables or.... try the disposable inserts made by either GroVia or Flip. I used both at different times and I like them both. The GroVia has really great leg gussets to hold in messes but I don't like messing with the sticky tabs to put them into the cover. The Flips are thirsty and easy to change but they can shift in the covers. The nice thing is that the covers can be washed by hand and dried easily, so access to a wash machine is not needed.
If you are able to wash then you can pack pretty much what ever you want. I like pockets better for trips because they dry faster than AIO's but it is totally up to you. I would suggest that you take your detergent with you just in case you can't get any while you are there and maybe have a look at the water hardness. You can get a hardness test from most cloth retailers or from Rockin Green for about $1.00.
2. Are you driving, camping, in a hotel or with family? This can also effect the type of diapers you take with you. I usually drive so again the disposable inserts are great. If I was flying I could just use my regular diapers and wash when I got to my destination. We normally use the disposable inserts on the drive and then wash our regular diapers the rest of the time.
If you are in a hotel you may or may not have access to a wash facility so call ahead and check. With family, it is also a good idea to check that they are cool with you washing at their home.
3. Do you want to do diaper laundry? Well if you don't then sit back and enjoy your trip and use disposables. The world will go on and you can go back to your usual routine once you get home.
When packing I take about 2 days worth of diapers or 5 covers and enough Disposable inserts to see me through, laundry detergent (sample packs are great), disposable wipes ( I like the GroVia ones), and a wet bag or two.
Regardless of how you diaper on holidays....Enjoy your time and make memories.
Thursday 7 March 2013
Daddy Diapers
First of all to all the sceptics out there... Yes men change diapers, even cloth ones! I want to give a HUGE shout out to all the cloth diapering dads. They are not as present as the cloth diaper mommies but they are out there. Dads everywhere have embraced not only diapering their babies but all things involved with babies. If you have a dad to be who is still on the fence about cloth diapers this is for you.
OK first of all, gentlemen, you are about to become a father. Since we now live in 21st century you better get ready because the sidelines are not where you are going to be. You are going to be drooled on, spat up on, puked on, peed on and yes even pooped on. Yes pooped on, regardless of what type of diapers you use. You are going to encounter some of the grossest things EVER and have the chance to experience the greatest responsibility, raising a helpless infant into a responsible independent person. This journey will be one of the hardest things you will take on but it will be rewarding and filled with love.
With that said why would you want to give cloth a try?
1. It could save you thousands of dollars. Imagine having $2500 to put into an education fund for college. You can. If you buy a modest stash of cloth diapers and stick the money you would spend every week on Pampers into an RESP, you did just that. If you have more kids the savings can be even more.
2. Chances are good your little one will have less rashes. Less rashes means less sore tushies and happier babies. Happier babies also make happier mommies.
3. Generally speaking cloth diapered babies can potty train sooner so ultimately you have to deal with diapers for less time.
4. You are doing good for the environment. You are not sending 6000 disposable diapers to the landfill to sit and well, fester for hundreds of years. There's a great thing to hand your kids, 500 years of garbage.
My husband was on board with cloth but not totally, until.... The road trip. We travelled to see family for a week and had our fluff with us. My moms washer broke the second day we were there so washing for the rest of the week was not an option. We had to get sposies. The only thing hubby remembers is how bad our son smelled every time he peed in the Pampers. He was a convert and now is one of my biggest advocates.
The truth about cloth is that they do NOT leak, they do NOT smell, they ARE easy to use and they ARE a thousand times cuter than sposies.
To make life easier and the transition to cloth painless try diapers that are similar to sposies. Lots of dads prefer All in Ones with velcro closures. Mine doesn't really have a preference to brands and actually found he likes snaps better. When dad is with baby I use a bumGenius Freetime or Elemental with a flushable liner. No spraying off poopy diapers and no unstuffing. Here are some of the most dad friendly diapers:
bumGenius Freetime AIO ( available in snap or velcro)
bumGenius Elemental AIO ( snap)
bumGenius 4.0 pocket (snap or velcro)
Thirsties AIO ( snap or velcro)
Thirsties Duo ( pocket diaper but the insert aggitates out, snap or velcro)
Your man might surprise you though. I have a friend who was sure her hubby would want AIO, turns out he and his siblings were cloth diapered in flats and prefolds.
OK first of all, gentlemen, you are about to become a father. Since we now live in 21st century you better get ready because the sidelines are not where you are going to be. You are going to be drooled on, spat up on, puked on, peed on and yes even pooped on. Yes pooped on, regardless of what type of diapers you use. You are going to encounter some of the grossest things EVER and have the chance to experience the greatest responsibility, raising a helpless infant into a responsible independent person. This journey will be one of the hardest things you will take on but it will be rewarding and filled with love.
With that said why would you want to give cloth a try?
1. It could save you thousands of dollars. Imagine having $2500 to put into an education fund for college. You can. If you buy a modest stash of cloth diapers and stick the money you would spend every week on Pampers into an RESP, you did just that. If you have more kids the savings can be even more.
2. Chances are good your little one will have less rashes. Less rashes means less sore tushies and happier babies. Happier babies also make happier mommies.
3. Generally speaking cloth diapered babies can potty train sooner so ultimately you have to deal with diapers for less time.
4. You are doing good for the environment. You are not sending 6000 disposable diapers to the landfill to sit and well, fester for hundreds of years. There's a great thing to hand your kids, 500 years of garbage.
My husband was on board with cloth but not totally, until.... The road trip. We travelled to see family for a week and had our fluff with us. My moms washer broke the second day we were there so washing for the rest of the week was not an option. We had to get sposies. The only thing hubby remembers is how bad our son smelled every time he peed in the Pampers. He was a convert and now is one of my biggest advocates.
The truth about cloth is that they do NOT leak, they do NOT smell, they ARE easy to use and they ARE a thousand times cuter than sposies.
To make life easier and the transition to cloth painless try diapers that are similar to sposies. Lots of dads prefer All in Ones with velcro closures. Mine doesn't really have a preference to brands and actually found he likes snaps better. When dad is with baby I use a bumGenius Freetime or Elemental with a flushable liner. No spraying off poopy diapers and no unstuffing. Here are some of the most dad friendly diapers:
bumGenius Freetime AIO ( available in snap or velcro)
bumGenius Elemental AIO ( snap)
bumGenius 4.0 pocket (snap or velcro)
Thirsties AIO ( snap or velcro)
Thirsties Duo ( pocket diaper but the insert aggitates out, snap or velcro)
Your man might surprise you though. I have a friend who was sure her hubby would want AIO, turns out he and his siblings were cloth diapered in flats and prefolds.
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