Cloth Diaper Challenge Do-Over
I am restarting my 30-day cloth diaper (CD) challenge. I had to go back to what the diapering community calls "sposies" (disposable diapers), but I take full responsibility for the failure. It is only a reflection on the fact that cloth diapering takes a little more organization at first.
I wasn't really ready to start the challenge on Monday, but I got a little overzealous and jumped the gun. My stash wasn't complete and I needed time to get organized. I had washed the SoftBums samples once, but then a blog commentator said I needed to wash them three times. I didn't know that.
Question: Is that wash and dry three times? Or just wash three times and then dry once and for all? And where is that written? It wasn't on the labeling for the diapers or inserts.
Also, I ordered a wet bag because I wasn't sure that the Diaper Genie II would work with the two-in-ones. The wet bag just came in yesterday with a whole new stash of Rumparooz, which now I have to wash three times.
And finally, I am a little concerned about travel. We are taking a trip to Grandma's house this weekend. Any cloth diapering travel tips I should be aware of? The first time I took a road trip with my son I failed to bring a plastic bag to hold the soiled diaper. It isn't fun to sit in the front seat with a poppy diaper at your feet, driving around looking for a dumpster. Learned that one the hard way. How can I avoid a similar mistake while cloth diapering on the go?
My stash should be dried and ready to go by tomorrow, so we'll officially start the challenge then. I hope the CD community gives me a pass on this one. They have been tremendously supportive and encouraging this week, so I certainly don't want to disappoint them all.
Do-over!
Note: This post was originally posted on CBS News' Eye On Parenting blog.
Diapering, cbsnews, cloth, clothdiaper, delconte, diaper, diapers, disposable, morris, natali, natalidelconte, natalimorris in C. Pooping
Reader Comments (51)
Hi Natali,
You do not need to wash and dry the Rumparooz multiple times. We simple suggest that you wash the diapers once to remove any "shipping dust"....however, should you wish to just strap them right on, they would be ready to go! lol
As for traveling with cloth, it is definitely doable! We go camping every year for about a week and a half and take our cloth...not for everyone, but you can definitely do it! My suggestion - take a peek at a few great posts on this very topic on 2 of my favorite and highly informational blogs:
http://www.theecochic.com/2010/06/22/cloth-diapers-travel-to-grandmas-without-mommy/
http://www.theecochic.com/2010/08/05/can-you-really-travel-with-cloth-diapers/
http://www.theclothdiaperwhisperer.com/search/label/Traveling%20while%20Cloth%20Diapering
I find it great (and a tad funny and definitely encouraging) that you "jumped the gun a little" and started before you had everything completely organized. Prepping and washing diapers multiple times just helps with increasing absorbency. I only washed my stuff once before the first use and figured they'd increase with use.
We've traveled a few times (airplane trips) with cloth. Make sure to take either your wetbag or ziploc-type bags (as you found before...not fun to have a dirty diaper just chilling in the car out in the open). Also, depending on the length of your trip, check with grandma about washing diapers at her house. I've found traveling with cloth is not particularly difficult, you just have to think ahead about your diapering routine before you go to make sure you have everything you'll need.
Is your husband coming around more to the cloth idea? One thought to get him more on board....what is he into? Some guys are computer guys, or into the old marvel-type comics...you can find diapers in ANY fabric if you look...for this reason my daughter now has coffee bean diapers and a frilly batman diaper...
Ha! Great idea! He's a huge comic book nerd so that's a great incentive!
Most diaper brands have care instructions on their website. I found Softbums care instructions on the bottom of this page: http://www.softbums.com/Echo-System-101_ep_44-1.html
You really only need to wash 3-5 times if the diaper material is organic (hemp, bamboo, cotton). I have several BG AIOs that are organic and some Kawaii and Tots Bots that are made of bamboo. I also have the new organic Happy Heiney diaper, and some hemp inserts. Rather than try to determine which diapers are organic and which are synthetic (synthetic only need to be laundered once to be prepped), I generally just treat them all the same at first. I figure it doesn't hurt, since I just throw them in with my regular laundry to prep (since I use diaper safe detergent for all of my laundry).
But it looks like you can just launder Softbums once (it doesn't say anything about prepping, but it's always good to launder a diaper before using, so I've read on other diaper sites).
Care instructions for your new RaRs are here: http://www.rumparooz.com/faqs.php Washing those once should be enough to prep those, too. If you do get any hemp or organic inserts, you will want to wash those separately (from your other diapers) several times before using.
Lots of people opt to use sposies while traveling, since laundry facilities aren't always handy or accessible. But if you're only going to be gone for a couple days, you can just bring two large or XL wet bags with you - one full of clean diapers (depending on your son's age, I'd bring 8-12 per day - I like to have extras just in case), and the empty one for the used diapers. Just wash the used diapers when you get home.
I use cloth wipes (Quilter's Nappies) in a wipe solution made with Baby Bits. I keep ten travel wipes in a small wet bag in my diaper bag, which is always more than enough for a weekend for us (my son is lucky to soil his diaper once a day).
Note: It seems there are different laundry recommendations for every different type of diaper. In my experience most diaper recommendations are close to this routine: a cold wash, followed by a hot wash with detergent and a double cold rinse and then air dry or machine dry on low. Some diaper recommendations will veer from that (softbums apparently does), but most ladies just do one load of all their diapers when they wash, and so they all get washed the same. I chose the routine above because most of my diaper brand recommendations are pretty close to that.
When I prep I dry the shell or PUL covers only once. I will dry them every time I wash them with all my diapers when they are integrated into the rest of my diaper stash, though.
You know, we use gDiapers pretty often when we travel - they have flushable inserts with a cloth outer. Of course, that is another thing to buy... but we have also traveled with cloth - just with a wet bag that holds 5-7 diapers and we wash at the end of the day. I still used the gDiapers when I knew he was going to poop, though!
The reason why some cloth diapers need to be washed multiple times, also known as prepped, before use is if they are made of natural fibers like cotton or bamboo, they have natural oils in them. After multiple washes they reach their full absorbency. It's not a huge deal, I rarely prep my diapers before use. The only ones I think really *need* to be prepped are prefolds.
I can't wait for you to get going! For small trips, as long as you have a good place to store and transport dirty dipes, you should be fine. If you are going somewhere for more than a couple days you may want to switch back to disposables though, unless you can wash while you are away. Many people who cloth diaper use sposies when traveling.
We travel with cloth all the time, but had more time under our belt than 2 days for the first trip. Honestly, on the road is the same as at home, just make sure you have a wet bag big enough for the trip's worth of diapers and a smaller one for if you go out for the day, say to the zoo or just to Target or whatnot.
We take a day's worth plus an extra for each day we'll be gone. If we are going to be gone longer than the size stash we have I take the FLIP system with disposable inserts so I don't have to deal with laundering at a laundromat or taking detergent and dealing with the inch-thick fabric softener scum in a washer or dryer. :) ok, that's an exaggeration, but only slightly some places. :)
Good luck!
You will be so Happy with your Rumparooz! They are my favourite Pocket diaper and one of our best sellers!
Traveling with cloth is easy if you have access to a washing machine (just take your large wet bag with you and Bio Soft flushable inserts) or are crazy like me and have enough diapers in my stash to diaper BOTH kids for a week without washing!!
Just remember to bring you own cloth diaper safe detergent (Rockin green is one of the best) and make sure to be the one doing the washing. I have read of way to may people who had "help" and though they meant well fabric softener is NOT cloth friendly nor is Chlorine Bleach! we wash diaper much different then our mothers did!! It would be a shame to ruin all those great diapers.
Some call me crazy for doing cloth all the time but if figure if i'm going to do something i'm going to do it 100%!!!
The whole washing 3-5 times is called "prepping" and each one says something different. Pretty much, by washing multiple times (not drying each time) it makes your diaper more absorbent. You actually can do without prepping (some would disagree) your diapers just may not be as absorbent for the first few changes.
For travelling with cloth diapers I just take my empty wet bag and a canvas bag full of clean diapers. You can put the clean diapers in anything (they're clean), but then have the wetbag to put the soiled diapers in. I use cloth wipes..I just pack a stack of dry wipes and have a little spray bottle. When it's changing time I spray her bum or the cloth (she doesn't mind so whichever works) and wipe, then toss it in the wetbag with the dirty diaper. If you have enough diapers to last the whole trip without having to wash, great. If not, ask ahead of time if you can use her washer and make sure to pack your diaper friendly detergent. I use Econuts so all I have to take is a tiny baggie with 4 or 5 nuts in it and it will last me at least 5 loads if not more. Other than that..it's just as easy as packing up sposies and having some sort of bag to toss dirty ones into.
Good luck (and I'm not disappointed in you for re-starting) :)
Natali... see how nice everyone is to you when you do things their way? Good luck with your cloth diapering. I worry that if it doesnt work out, you will somehow wrongly blame yourself because you are already apologizing to the cloth diaper community. Being a new mom is a hard job. I would travel with disposables without being worried about offending anyone if you find that it is incovenient to travel with cloth. Is it really worth the extra stress and extra laundry? I encourage you to do what is best for YOUR family.
No worries about trying over -- you're right, it does take a little prep work before you can really start.
I think you've gotten your answers on traveling -- just bring along your wet bag!
Good luck! I've heard great things about Rumparooz.
I started with FLIP diapers and I would highly recommend them for travel. All you do is take the insert out and wipe the cover down then put a new insert in. I love the reusable covers for them.
The one thing I don't like about FLIPs though is that your baby may poop on the cover which usually you can just wipe off the cover but the package comes with two covers so if your baby does get poop on the cover you can swap to the clean cover.
There inserts also are amazing at soaking up the wetness.
You can also get plastic bags that block the gross scent. They aren't expensive and you can get them at WalMart for pretty cheap. They are very useful for whether you have cloth or disposable but a lot of cloth mommas don't use them because they aren't the most environmentally friendly.
Also, nothing to do with cloth diapers, but WalMart has this awesome changing pad that folds out and holds your diapers, wipes and those bags I was talking about for just ten bucks. I thin it's made by fisherprice and it's an amazing portable changing pad that fits all of your stuff nicely into the diaper bag.
You actually only have to prep diapers made with natural fibers like cotton, hemp or bamboo. Microfiber inserts and all covers only need to be washed once before using.
Traveling with cloth isn't bad, just make sure you have a large enough wet bag (or if you're driving, your own diaper pail, which is what I do) to hold the dirty diapers. I normally change my son every two hours, but sometimes that's not possible while traveling so I'll use two inserts in his pocket diapers to make them extra absorbent so there aren't any leaks. Also, like someone else said make sure Grandma doesn't use fabric softener, dryer sheets, or bleach on your cloth diapers. The first two will make them repel liquid. Bleach will make them wear out faster.
One pleasant thing you will find with traveling with cloth is that you don't get the up the back blowouts in the carseat. We traveled to my parent's house last winter via car from Washington State to Arizona. Our son was 6 months old at the time. We thought it would be easier to use disposables on the drive. Boy were we wrong. He went through so many outfits and disgusting cleanups because he was just pooping everywhere and up the back, out the leg -you name it. YUCK. So on the way back we decided to use cloth and we mainly had Bumgenius pockets at the time, so we used them and NO more blowouts. It was amazing. We put our pail liner in the trunk and just put the dirty diapers in that along the way and did a wash when we got home.
As far as wipes traveling goes. Some pre-wet their wipes, either with solution or just plain water (we use just water here) and put them in those plastic travel wipes containers. Others keep them dry and bring along a spray bottle. Others opt for disposable wipes. I will say this about disposable wipes though: We started out thinking we wouldn't use cloth wipes at all when we made the switch to cloth diapers. However, normally you wipe the bottom and stick the dirty wipe in the diaper and roll it all up and throw it away, right? Well, when we used cloth diapers but disposable wipes, I couldn't figure out what I was supposed to do with the trash wipes. We switched to cloth wipes and it is so much easier because you can still wipe the bottom and put it in the soiled diaper but instead of throwing it away, you just put it in the wetbag. Oh and you will find you use WAY less cloth wipes than disposable wipes. I mean I was going through like 5 or 6 disposable wipes for 1 poopy diaper whereas now it is like 1 maybe 2 for a big poopy.
Can you launder at your Grandma's house and how many diapers do you have? Do you have enough for the length of the trip there (not sure if you are driving or flying or how far away it is).
I'm not sure it counts as starting when you don't have a complete stash anyway so no worries.
Like others have said, washing multiple times helps but it isn't always necessary right away as long as you know that you may have to change them more often if they aren't fully "prepped". When I've prepped mine I would wash a couple of times then dry. A lot of people say you have to wash then dry wash the dry but I didn't have a problem not doing that.
As for travel, you can get a small wet bag to take with you or I've even used plastic grocery bags to hold the dirty ones. It isn't smell proof but it works while on the go and then I wash when I'm able to.
I strongly suggest joining a group like TheBump.com's cloth diaper forum (http://community.thebump.com/cs/ks/forums/9544760/ShowForum.aspx) where you can have tons of your questions answered (quickly!). I would also consider a diaper trial through Jillian's Drawers to let you try a variety, though I've heard RaR's are good. Most of the people I know, as long as they found a diaper that worked well for them, are now addicted to cloth diapering! It really is more enjoyable. :)
Natali - Are you in heaven with your Rumparooz stash? They are one of my favorites and I'm a little partial b/c my stash is (almost) ALL Rumps!
Be sure to follow up with The Eco Chic over the next few days - I'll be answering all your questions - one day at a time. Don't want to overwhelm you with too much info at once. LOL!
Get ready....get set....GO!
Re: Nancy
I don't think people will stop being nice even if Natali decides not to use cloth full time or even at all. I use cloth at home and when traveling by driving. I use disposables when I fly places, though I may use cloth once I get to my destination. Lots of people use disposables when traveling even though they use cloth at home. Some people use disposables at night and cloth during the day. None of these people are called names or vilified. Yes, there are some rude people, but there are rude people everywhere.
Natali, thank you so much for willing to take this challenge! I will begin CDing for the first time in Feb. and your posts are making me think through what I have to do to prepare. Thanks for being my "guinea pig"! Hang in there. You are doing great!
Oh, and Rumparooz are really good diapers. They are especially good at keeping in the explosive breastmilk poos. Other favorites of mine are BumGenius pockets, Bummis EasyFits, Applecheeks and Smartipants. With the last three you don't have to pull the insert out the diaper before washing, which is nice.
Hi Natali,
I think lots of mamas would use disposable diapers when traveling, especially if they didn't have access to laundry facilities. You can use disposable/biodegradable inserts in some diapers, but that is pretty expensive, and many people use cloth to save money.
As for starting over, that's the great thing about cloth. You can use it all the time or just some of the time. You can put it away if you need a break and start using it again when you're ready. It's not an all-or-nothing deal. <-- Though, I do understand your 30-day challenge is!
Best of luck to you. You may or may not decide to use cloth permanently, but I'm glad to see that you're giving it a fair chance. I hope you are able to produce a new show all about how far cloth has come since the 80's.
You will love the Rumparooz they are soooo soft and fit so well. Not to mention they have some really super cute prints.
Ha! I'm happy to be the guinea pig! As you can probably tell, I'm asking all the "dumb questions" publicly instead of just Google searching it myself. I figured that there have to be people who are new to this that will learn from the journey. Besides, what fun is a Google search when you have witty and fun responses like these as an alternative!?
This is like reading about my past journy! I started cloth, went back to "sposies", started cloth again, went back to sposies many times lol! Now we have figured out our true system. I used to dread using cloth even tho I was invested because I had already bought 25+ diapers and had a world of friends and family giving me "shit" simply waiting for me to give up! I really wanted to make it work, so I stuck with it and now I dread using sposies! It's a process that's for sure! Hang it there, girl (and fam) ;) If your journey is anything like mine, you will truly start dreading disposables. My son leaks out of them, has blow outs (especially in his car seat) and not a single outfit has been ruined in his cloth and he never gets diaper rash.
I forgot to tell you that I was worried about traveling as well. We're taking our first trip this Christmas and I assumed our families would NEVER want us to wash in their washers. Turns out they don't mind one bit and we can take our stash with us! I'm so glad!