Dealing with.....poo.....after starting solids

While your baby is exclusively breast feed, washing diapers is rather easy. Just take the diaper, BM and all, and toss it in the washer for a cold rinse cycle followed by your hot wash routine. Breast milk poo has the consistency of yogurt and will easily break down with just water.
Once you introduce solids to your babies diet or start to supplement with formula, your diaper washing becomes more complicated, but still manageable once you get a routine down. At this point you will need to remove the waste into the toilet before washing the diapers. The easiest method that I have found is to use a "diaper sprayer" and spray to waste into the toilet. I keep a bucket beside the toilet to store that diapers in. When I have enough diapers to wash, I do a quick cold rinse cycle to remove any lingering stuff and then do my regular wash routine (see older posts for delated washing instructions. A diaper sprayer is a device that is connected to with water line and your toilet. It looks like a hand held bidet. They are available online and at local diaper retailers. Here is a link for more information: http://www.minishower.net/
There are several brands that are similar to the one in the link. This is the brand that I use. If you don't have a diaper sprayer, nor the funds to purchase one (they cost almost $45 new, I got one on craigslist for less than half that price still new in package) you can still effectively clean your cloth diapers. When your baby is older waste may "plop" easily off the diaper into the toilet, while they are still young and poo is more of a "peanut butter" consistency, you will need to do some dunking/ flushing to remove the waste. Rubber gloves a good for this, keep a pair near your toilet that are just for diaper dunkin'. Remember to keep a good grip on your diaper, you don't want to flush one down! Another useful tool for dunking to clean is the diaper duck, here is a link: http://babyworks.com/cloth-diapering/diapering-accesories/diaper-duck.html
I have never used a diaper duck, but they look great. This will ensure you don't flush that wonderful prefold down the toilet.
To remove stains from diapers make sure to do the initial cold rinse. This will remove the poo residue and won't set the stain. The best way to remove stains is to air dry your diapers in the sun. The UV rays work wonders on diapers. If you have no sun (hey we live in Washington State) then you can use a tiny bit of bleach in your wash once a month or so. This will help to disinfect your diapers as well, especially if you are getting a lot of ammonia smell to your diapers. You can also try using a non-chlorine bleach like Oxo-brite. This is an oxygene bleach that I get at Trader Joe's. I love this stuff, it works great. Now that I use Country Save detergent, I don't use Oxo-brite as much because Country Save already has oxygene bleach added to it. Check your detergent, if you don't have any "sodium percarbonate" in yours, try adding a scoop of Oxo-brite or Oxyclean Baby to your diaper wash. It may work wonders. Lastly stains don't usually mean that your diapers are not clean. Smell your diapers, if they smell like nothing at all or smell clean, then they are.
If you have questions or need more information about cloth diapers or washing cloth diapers, email me or send me a comment. Happy diapering.

Loveybums Seconds Sale

Loveybums is a company that makes handsewn organic diapers and wool diaper covers. They are having a clearance sale on there "seconds". Usually seconds just have small cosmetic flaws that do not effect the function of the diaper/cover at all. Right now the seconds have all been marked down significantly. They have a lot of wool covers in size newborn/small (birth to 12lbs) and also size medium (9-22lbs). They also have some large and x-large in stock. Check it out here:

My favorite prefolds on sale

Green Mountain Diapers has there Cloth-eez second quality prefolds on sale for one day, today. These are usable diapers that are just not perfect. Maybe sewn slightly irregular, cut a little bit smaller, have a dirt or pen mark, or stiching is just not perfect. I have many seconds and love them, they have all been usable. I wish I could buy more, but just don't need them. So I hope someone else can benefit from this sale.

My favorite workhorse diaper.....

I would like to share with you my favorite inexpensive and easy to use cloth diaper. The humble prefold. Prefolds make up the bulk of my daughters cloth diaper stash. While I love the ease of the Sposoeasy all-in-one and the containment of the Mother-ease or Under The Nile fitted diapers, I always return to my true workhorse diaper, prefolds.

These diapers are large rectangles of cotton twill fabric that have extra layers of fabric down the center for greater absorbancy through the "wet zone". Prefolds generally come in 4 sizes. Preemie size, for the tiniest babies, infant size for babies 7-15lbs, premium size for babies 15-30+lbs and toddler size for big toddlers. There is also a "standard" size which is the same dimensions as the premium, but thinner through the middle, making a less bulky diaper (and also less absorbent). Most babies will only ever use infant and premium sizes. Infant size diapers will be bulky on a normal size newborn, but preemie size are not thick enough to provide the absorbency needed. Traditional prefold diapers, are often not wide enough for chubby babies and thus become hard to pin or snappi as the baby grows. Sizing up gives more width, but also a lot more length, thus the diaper needs to be folded down, creating more bulk in either the back or the front (depending on your fold).

I have discovered and love to use a wonderful prefold diaper from an online company called Green Mountain Diapers. These prefolds are named Cloth-eez (registered trade name) Prefold Diapers. These diapers come in 5 sizes, each of which have extra width without the extra length to fold down. Newborn size for babies 6-10lbs, size small for 10-15lbs, size medium for 15-29lbs, size large for 25-35lbs and toddler for large toddlers up to 40lbs. The newborn size will truly fit a tiny newborn, of course they won't last long and those of you who have larger newborns can start with a size small. Size small should last up to 5 months, then instead of having to size up to a prefold that is too long, size medium Cloth-eez is a perfect fit. Size medium may last up to 18 months depending on the shape/weight of your baby. Size large should last through potty training. Cloth-eez prefolds are slightly more expensive than traditional sized prefolds, but they are well worth it. You can get them in "bleached" white cotton, unbleached cotton or yummy organic cotton (my favorite).

My daughter wore traditional infant size prefolds from about 6 weeks old until 5 months old. At that point they were getting too narrow to fasten. I then ordered Cloth-eez prefolds in size medium, they fit great and lasted until she was about 14 months old. A great investment. My daughter currently wears size large Cloth-eez prefolds, but she also wears traditional premium size prefolds as well.

Now that I have given my recommendation regarding prefolds from greenmountaindiapers.com, let me add that I think traditional sized prefolds are great diapers. This type of prefold diaper is available from many online retailers including babyworks.com and zoombabygear.com. These companys sell diaper service quality (DSQ) prefolds, which are superior to Gerber prefolds that you can find at Fred Meyer (I don't recommend those for anything except maybe birp cloths). These prefolds are great because they are inexpensive, easy to use and easy to wash and they are all natural fibers against your babies skin....cotton. Traditional sized prefolds are easy to just fold in thirds and lay in a snug fitting wrap style diaper cover, no pinning required. Two sizes will work from birth to potty training. If you need to save money, and don't mind a bulky diaper during those first few weeks, then traditional sized prefolds are great. I diapered my first baby in these prefolds and never had a complaint.

Happy cloth diapering,
Geneva

My favorite AIO (all-in-one) diaper

I wanted to talk more about All-In-One (AIO) diapers. These cloth diapers have absorbent layers of material sew to a waterproof outer layer. So effectively you have a reusable diaper that is as easy to use as a disposable. These diapers are a hit with daycares and with daddy's. My husband loves them. Sposoeasy diapers are my favorite brand. They are made in Los Angeles California by a company called Blue Penguin. They come in cute colors and are 100% cotton on the inside. They have 6 layers of cotton terry and flannel with a quick dry style flap soaker (sewn down only on one end) for ease of washing and drying. They also come in an organic cotton version. You can purchase these diapers with either aplix (velcro) or snap closures. They come in size extra small (for small newborns), small, medium (shorter rise), medium/long (longer rise) and large. I currently have 6 of these diapers in size medium/long. They are great for outings and for quick changes. They contain well, never had a blow out with these, and they are plenty absorbent (although not absorbent enough for night). Check out the Blue Penguin website for more information on sizing etc, they offer free shipping and a discount for purchases of 5 or more diapers.
http://www.bluepenguin.biz/
Sposoeasy diapers are also available locally at: http://www.zoombabygear.com/

Wool Interlock Soakers

I just wanted to let you all know that my favorite wool interlock (knit) soakers are made by the owner of Royal Buns. She is having a sale on her soakers, any size for only $18. That is a great price. These are custom made for your baby out of thick, soft wool/lycra blend fabric. They are hand dyed a variety of colors and you get to choose you favorite. Here is a link to her hyena cart shop.
http://hyenacart.com/royalbuns/

12/3/09 Update, looks like the sale is over, but shoot her and email if you wish, she has great customer service.

Cloth diaper sales

Black Friday through Cyber Monday will be a great time to stock up on stuff to cloth diaper your baby. If you have been holding out due to start up costs, the weekend after Thanksgiving will have lots of online deals on things you need for baby. Check out these websites, many of them even have free shipping.
http://www.cottonbabies.com/
http://www.abbyslane.com/
http://www.nickisdiapers.com/
http://www.jilliansdrawers.com/
http://www.momsmilkboutique.com/
http://www.sewcraftybaby.com/store/Default.asp

For handmade diapers/covers/wool and other handmade items for all ages check out:
http://hyenacart.com/

Some other sites with good deals on second quality products are:
https://www.thirstiesoutlet.com/
http://swaddlebees.com/outletstore

These stores have nice organic and wool options:
http://www.loveybums.com/
http://www.tinybirdsorganics.com/
http://preciousdignity.myshopify.com/


Note: I haven't purchased things from all of these websites, but do know that they are all reputable online merchants. Rember my favorite sites are those with links at the right of the page. Please note that this blog is completely of my own accord. I am not getting compensated to mention certain online merchants or to endorse specific products. I will give you my honest opinions and personal experience.