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Try, try again

Before Addie was born, I was determined to use cloth diapers with her. I bought a lot of the chinese tri-fold cloths and some covers and we were gifted with a sample kit of the fancier kind. We gave it a half-hearted try and gave up quickly thereafter. Between the bulkiness, the difficulty of getting a correct fit, me working outside the home and the consistent leaks, we just couldn't handle it.


Several months ago, I purchased six or seven all-in-one diapers to see if maybe I'd have better luck, since I am home full time and felt more able to take on the task. Leak after leak after leak... I gave up again.

Last week, a friend came over for a morning visit and we got to chatting about cloth diapering our babes. She has had a really good experience with cloth and I wondered why we were having such issues. Then she informed me of what may be the problem/solution: my detergent. Apparently, any baby detergents or "free and clears" leave a soap residue that prevents proper absorbtion. Really... That would have been nice to know, say... two years ago!

Over the weekend I "stripped" the diapers by washing them with Oxi Clean and then running them through multiple times in hot water cycles. We gave those pesky cloths a third try this week and so far we have had success! Only one small leak during nap time that didn't even make it to the sheets. Excellent!

Now I am hoping that we can up our stash with some of the newer one-size versions and have them on hand for our second baby girl. Yes, it will be a hit to the finances initially, but I'm super excited about the prospect of removing the disposable diapers stash from our budget each month. Over time, I'm sure it will make a world of difference... Not to mention keep one less baby's worth of Pampers from taking up residence in our landfills.

I would love to hear about your diapering experience. Have you used cloth diapers with your babes? Do you have a favorite brand? How many of each size did you end up buying? How often did you do laundry? Of course, I've gotten up to speed again with the cloth diapering websites, but as usual I am finding that other moms who've been there know best!

  

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Melissa over at Dear Baby has had a lot of success with cloth diapers. Here is a break down of her favorite brands http://dearbabyblog.com/post/498853816/finally-my-cloth-diaper-update-i-kept-putting
-Rachel

Us said...

My neighbor is going to use FuzzyBunz (sp?). Her friend has used them for a year and they are good for 10-35lbs. If they work for my neighbor, I may give them a go!

sara said...

Thanks for the tips! I am torn between trying the one size Bum Genius and the FuzziBunz... Maybe I'll just get a few of each and see how they go. There will be updates on this in the future, I promise!