Fluffing an Alien

If you read my last post, you know I have a problem. I need more cloth diapers. I want to be confident and cloth diaper in public. I want to confidently cloth diaper at night. Badly.

There are a few problems with this:

1. Kiddo has sensitive skin. He gets rashes whenever he stews in his own juices.
2. I have really bulky cloth diapers.
3. I only have a day and a half worth of cloth diapers that fit Kiddo.
4. I probably need a fourth wet bag.

I have some ideas about solutions to these problems!

1. Fleece and wool covers
2. Hemp/bamboo inserts/doublers
3. Flat diapers
4. Bigger covers

Of course, when you solve one problem, you create more (see: US federal legislation on...well...anything). These are not cheap (especially the covers!). The flats, while cheap in the world of cloth diapering, are not daddy friendly. There is a learning curve involving folds.

Aside: I don't know what it is about men and cloth diapering, but for some reason hook and loop pre-stuffed pockets and all-in-ones are the only things dads feel comfortable using.

So what's a girl to do? Well, I talked with Christian and finally decided on a path to correcting our cloth diaper situation. The result was two larger orders of a variety items from different retailers. Unfortunately there is no local retailer of cloth diapers (How poopy is that?! Don't. Say. Anything.). This means I had the luxury of shopping online. My first order was from Amazon, because they have retailers from all over selling there. Usually I can get the best price, and even if they don't have exactly what I'm looking for (specialty items generally aren't available on Amazon) they have *most* things.

I didn't want to pay for shipping from a thousand different places, so I took my time deciding what other retailer I wanted to patronize. In the end, I decided on Nicki's Diapers because their brand is very well respected and much more economical for the materials involved (plus they have some hard to find items and daily sale awesomeness!).

Rather than going home, I went big on these orders. I researched and I read reviews and I compared my own experience with cloth. When I get my fluff in the mail I'll take some pics and explain the reasoning behind my purchases because I think others will find it helpful (and they're coming on different days...so it'll be like Christmas for a week!).

What do you like to use for cloth diapering? What have been your concerns with your stash? Stay tuned for more adventures in fluffing an alien!

Updating Fluff

Oh for the days of smaller butts!

Everyone always has questions about cloth diapers. So to contribute to general knowledge and all that, I'll share what I know.

Firstly, here is my current stash:
7 Kawaii pockets
1 Bumgenius pocket
2 Babykicks pockets (each w/hemp/microfiber insert)
3 Thirsties all-in-ones
2 Motherease all-in-ones
4 Prowraps (note: These don't really fit Kiddo's thighs any more so I question including them at all in this list.).
1 Kushies fitted diaper
1 Kissaluvs contour
1 Kissaluvs fitted diaper
2 Babykicks hemp prefolds
1 Babykick premium hemp insert
18 cotton prefolds (too small to wear except padfolded/used as pocket stuffing)
10 Bummis fleece liners
A bagillion microfiber inserts (I don't use bc Kiddo is so active they ALWAYS result in compression leaks even when used with prefolds)
3 Snappis
2 Kanga medium wetbags
1 Planetwise large wetbag

Let's go over the pros in my stash: The usable diapers I have can be used by anyone. Grandparents can easily put Kiddo in the pockets and AIOs. Daddy is confident in putting these on Kiddo. Family members like them so much, they even become choosey about which colors they put on (have to match Kiddo's outfit!). And these things are good...however...

If you know anything about cloth, you know I have some problems with my stash. I have 5 diapers I can't really use (even though they are my current FAVORITES) because I don't have covers to go over them. I also don't really have a night/nap solution. AND I don't have enough diapers.

Cloth diapers, with the exception of flats and one-size (sort of), must be sized. I had a great stash for the first 3 months of Kiddo's life and then I started seeing it whittle away as he grew. Some great covers suddenly were too small. My prefolds barely fit around his waist and thighs much too quickly.

I've learned a few things about cloth and I would have changed some purchases knowing what I do now, lessons which I will graciously share.

I love hemp. Hemp is where it's at for heavy wetting. Mixing hemp with a prefold or microfiber is winning. Spending a bit more on a diaper or cover that will get used longer is okay. Fitted diapers are a great compromise between prefolds and pockets. I really love Motherease - it's an unsung hero in cloth, but there you go. I like to try things out. It's addicting. Hook and loop closures work best for us because of Kiddo's kind of an odd size. Cloth is easier for older babies because they poop less, but when they do, a sprayer or scraping implement better be close by. Cloth diapering is addicting.

I have to confess, thinking about cloth diapering makes me want to have another kid...just so I can do cloth from the beginning and revamp my stash. That's totally a normal response...right?

In my next CDing post I'll share what changes/improvements I would/will/have make/made to my older baby stash as well as my wish list. Stay tuned!

What's in your stash? What are some lessons you've learned about cloth diapering? What are some changes you'd make? Leave a comment below!

Projectile Poop - The Myth is Real!

I'm not putting any pictures...or video for this post. Seriously. You need to be able to eat later.

My dad says the scariest words in the English language are "projectile poop." I'm not sure if they're the scariest but they're certainly up there. There's nothing like being startled by a 9 lb wonder child jettisoning his poo through the air on to his surroundings in a great farty burst.

The first time this happened my parents were still here. My kid's poop went about 2 feet and landed on my poor father (who was attempting to change kiddo at the time) and the cement floor. In some ways that was a blessing. My dad just got it on his arm, which along with the cement floor, was easy to clean.

We were not so lucky last night.

Last night kiddo had already filled his diaper and needed to be changed. As I mentioned in a previous post, we're battling the chemical burns of diaper rash and so it's even more important to change soiled diapers immediately. The problem arises when the kiddo poops again. Breastfed infants poop a lot. It's just part of the deal...which of course means just as many diaper changes...and the possibility of kiddo pooping while being changed.

So I took off his diaper and began cleaning his tiny newborn bum. Then, just as I went for one more wipe, I heard the horrible farting sound that begins just before kiddo poops. In less than a second I jumped and screamed as kiddo's yellow feces flew through the air in a 4 foot arc across the room and sailed miraculously in the garbage can, with only minimal casualties.

Our carpet wasn't spared. Nor was our flat sheet...or my arm...or Christian's leg.

It was a poop spectacular. Really. Spectacular.

Diaper changes might need safety goggles, aprons, and gloves. Possibly a hazmat suit. Just saying. This is for real. You've been warned!

Do you have any diaper changing adventures? Share them below!

The Curious Case of Cloth in the Nighttime

I have about a thousand different things to post which makes it difficult to choose just one thing. For now however, I will limit it to one of the most important and annoying topics that every parent has to encounter - diapering.

If you read my blog earlier you know that I wanted to cloth diaper (or at least attempt it). I wanted to do this for several reasons:

1. It's cheaper than using 'sposies.
2. It involves fewer blow-outs than 'sposies (supposedly).
3. It's better for the environment.
4. It's better for baby's butt than 'sposies.

Well, I got my cloth diapering stash. I got my coconut oil. I got a changing pad and a bagillion baby washcloths (I even got disposable wipes to be safe). I was given several packages of disposables as gifts and I formulated a plan.

My plan was simple: after the tar-like meconium was passed by the end of kiddo's first week, we would start cloth diapering. This was met with moderate success because life got in the way - specifically diaper rash.

Like his dad, kiddo has pretty sensitive skin (though newborns have sensitive skin generally). This means we have to be quick about changing kiddo. During the day we had no problems with cloth diapers. Christian figured out how to use prefolds quickly, and I was even able to teach my parents about cloth's technological advances (Prefolds, pockets, wraps, and Snappis are innovations that occurred in the last 30 years.). We felt confident. We felt competent.

However, after one night of cloth diapering involving sleeping a little longer with a dirty diaper, the evil rash struck. We applied coconut oil liberally for a few days and it did nothing. Finally we had to give in. We broke out the zinc oxide ointment and the 'sposies in a desperate attempt to keep the rash from getting any worse (Note: Zinc oxide can't be used with cloth because it decreases the diaper's absorbency.).

It took almost a week for the rash to clear. My heart ached every time we put another disposable on him, but I couldn't let my kid's skin get worse.

Finally we put cloth on again. We figured out that pocket diapers with an insert and stay dry fleece lining at night would keep kiddo's butt from getting angry. The key was changing him three times over the course of the night. If we missed one change, things would go badly...which brings us to our current interval of disposables.

Sigh.

Hopefully we can master the world of nighttime cloth diapering so this doesn't happen again. I've ordered a bunch of pocket diapers and even some additional fleece liners to help keep kiddo feeling dry.

We're crossing our fingers our learning curve will be short lived.

If you've had adventures in cloth diapering or diaper rash - share your solutions below! I'd love to get some successful tips and tricks!