It started January 2006.
I had a six month old.
My husband was a student.
I was working half-time.
I needed to find a way to cut costs.
I found my solution in cloth diapers.
It is now September 2007.
I have a two year old (refusing to potty train) and a five month old.
My husband is still a student.
I am a stay-at-home-mommy.
I am desperate to cut costs.
So, yep. Still CD-ing (that’s Cloth Diaper Lingo for … well, Cloth Diaper-ing)
And this is how I roll.
Ingredients:
18 premium unbleached Chinese prefolds
18 toddler sized unbleached Chinese prefolds
9 bumGenius one-size diapers (6 of which were a Christmas present from my mommy!)
5 bummis super whisper wraps (medium)
5 bumkins covers (extra large)
4 snappis
1 Wahmies diaper pail liner
1 13 gallon trash can with lid from Walmart
1 Wahmies diaper tote (Regular sized)
48 bumGenius bamboo wipes (See recipe for wipes here)
1 yard of fleece cut into 4×12″ rectangles
Usage:
- Chinese prefolds are for use around the house – day and night.
- BumGenius diapers are for church nursery workers and grandparents.
- Wahmies diaper tote is for holding dirty diapers changed during outings. It replaces those plastic bags that tend to tear and make your whole diaper bag smell not-so-pretty.
- Fleece is used as a liner to be placed between the diaper and my toddler’s sensitive skin. It:
- Keeps her skin dry
- Makes messes easier to clean up
- Protects the diaper from diaper rash cream (creates waterproof barrier – not good!)
Foldage:
Lay diaper flat, like so.
Fold the top couple inches under.
Place baby on top.
(I actually first place baby on changing pad, and slide a dipe under real smooth-like before even taking the dirty dipe off.)
Fold the bottom half of the dipe into thirds.
Bring folded part up between legs.
Spread the top front part out a bit (so the mass is evenly distributed and the diaper-bulge is therefore lessened).
Using Snappi, (sorry, would have used a brighter color, but they were either being used or unaccounted for), sink those little plastic teeth into the fabric as shown.
Slide diaper cover or wrap underneath.
Bring velcro around to fasten. Check to make sure diaper is not poking out through the leg holes or anywhere else. Anywhere the diaper is showing, wetness will escape!
This is my award-winning diaper fold that reduces as much bulk as physically possible. It’s not complicated. We could do it in our sleep.
Washage:
- I carry messy diapers to the bathroom. If I’m lucky (and I am often) all I have to do is shake the mess off of the fleece liner into the toilet. If I’m not lucky, there might be some dunking required.
- Dirty diapers, liners, covers, and wipes go into the diaper pail.
- Every other day, the diaper pail liner and everything in it get thrown into the washer. This is the great thing about this diaper pail liner. I touch nothing. Just dump and run.
- Start out with an initial cold rinse. This reduces staining. And rinses away any debris you might have missed.
- After rinse, add 1/4 cup scent-and-dye-free detergent (See list here for good and bad detergents. I have found that it is a very individual thing, however. Different babies react to different detergents. If you’re getting an unexplainable rash, try switching detergents.) I use Arm and Hammer Free.
- Do NOT use any additives such as vinegar, baking soda, or fabric softener on bumGenius diapers! (I believe vinegar and baking soda is alright for prefolds, though.)
- Wash on longest, hottest, roughest cycle possible.
- If you have a dryer (LUCKY!), keep out covers and outer bumGenius pieces. Everything else gets tossed inside. If you’re like me, you hang everything up on your clothesline. *I have heard drying diapers with PUL covers such as bumGenius can benefit from an occasional toss in the dryer – but have a longer life if they are hung to dry most of the time.*
Organization-age:
Just for kicks, I’ll show you how I organize. Now I’m warning you – I did not straighten up for you. This is how it looks every day.
The bigger basket is for Olivia’s covers and the bumGenius diapers that I have unsnapped to fit her. The smaller basket is for Benjamin’s covers and the bumGenius diapers I have snapped down to fit him. Underneath that is the toddler sized and premium sized Chinese prefolds. The third self is for the liners and extra inserts and an extra tub of cloth wipes waiting to be used. The fourth shelf holds miscellaneous – a smaller diaper pail that I used before I had two in dipes, the wipes warmer that I keep meaning to fix, the extra changing pad covers. Last, on the floor, are the smaller infant prefolds that Benjamin has outgrown – Olivia likes to use these on her dolls.
And that’s how I roll. See other frugal-minded tips here.
Sounds like you have a couple other brands you really like (besides those bib people). 🙂
Thank you for this post. I was really overwhelmed with cloth diapering. My mother in law bought me 30 kushies when my dd was born. Now she is around 1 and I bought some wraps on e-bay and my Mom bought me chinese prefolds. I didn’t realize you could get them in toddler size. Thanks again! Great post!
Larissa – Like the bumGenius? Okay, maybe. Jenn, from http://www.cottonbabies.com, who just happens to be the inventor of bumGenius, is just the nicest person ever though!
Elizabeth – I’m glad I could help! If you have any questions I didn’t address, ask away!
Of my five kiddos, this is the first time for me to use cloth. I use Fuzzi Bunz and totally love them! They are doggone expensive though, so I’m asking people to buy me the next size up for Christmas. It’s better than buying the poisonous Mattel toys! 🙂
I love the baby doll example! 🙂 I will probably refer to this post whenever we have kids. So, how do you think cloth diapering compares to disposable diapers in terms of ease and simplicity? Also, how much would you recommend we save on the front end to equip our future child with cloth diapers?
Yay for cloth diapers! I tried your suggestion of folding the back down, and I like it better. Thanks!
We’re doing the cloth diapers too. My mom made a ton for us that are kind of an hourglass shape so we don’t even have to form it around the (squirming) baby. We saved old tshirts and she made several out of that so the only cost was thread. Then we use the Bummis wrap (we have 3 and have never run into a problem of being out – even on a particularly rough on the diapers and washer day. I have a BumGenius to try at night (we’ve still been in 7th gen disposables at night) but I keep forgetting…
Thanks this has been SO informative!
What an informative post!! Bum Genius diapers are great.
I’m starting to think I need to invest in some Cloth diapers.
I just linked to this post in a post of mine. Hope that’s ok!
No problem what-so-ever, Western. 😀
I’m in the UK, but using US-made motherease nappies. They are shaped nappies (diapers) that fasten with poppers. I pop an extra liner in too.
I think they are really easy to use – and don’t take up as much space as your system seems to. However, I am washing a load of nappies every two or three days.
My name should link to a post about my cloth nappy system.
I was digging in your archives after finding you from the Bloggy Giveaways. It is nice to “meet” another CDing mom.
I love your stash. I only recently discovered the prefold love. My stash is mostly fitted and pockets. I use wool covers (knit by yours truly) and fleece soakers (again made by yours truly). I am thinking about sewing some of my own diapers, but before I do that I need to have another baby to sew for. I am hoping to potty train my two boys this summer, fingers crossed.
Very nice blog!
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