Still going strong...

I meant to update last week and didn't get a chance. I'm not even sure if anyone is reading, but if so, sorry to keep you waiting ;) This is probably the busiest time of year for us.

Tomorrow will make two weeks that we've been using cloth diapers! My only regret is that we didn't start sooner.  So far, everything is going really well!  We now have enough diapers to not only make it through an entire day (or two), but I also only have to do the diaper laundry every 2-3 days now.  And Annabelle hasn't worn a disposable diaper in 6 days :)

Here is most of our stash :)

Our stash now consists of 11 regular Alvas, 1 AnAn, 1 Big kid Alva, 1 double gusset Alva, 1 Alva bamboo cover (super cute but doesn't work well!), 1 Thirsties cover, 1 Blueberry cover, 1 Bummis cover, 14 microfiber inserts, 10 bamboo inserts, 3 gerber prefolds that I sometimes use to double stuff at night, and 11 old flannel receiving blankets that I use as flats*.  We also have 2 snappis (used instead of pins), a wet bag and a pail liner.  I have to say, I think a good old fashioned flat with a cover is my favorite of what we currently own. I have more leaks with the pocket diapers and haven't had any leaks with the covers+flats. I think most people prefer the convenience of a pocket dipe, or an All In One or All In Two* (AIO or AI2), but I really don't mind the folding involved with flats... so far :)

I'm seeing more and more that cloth diapering can be done on any budget!  All you need are some flats and covers and you're good to go!  And flats can be made from receiving blankets (like I've done) or even sheets, t-shirts, etc, or you can buy actual flats. A lot of people use flour sack towels that you can buy at Target or Walmart and they are about $1 a piece.  And as long as the cover isn't soiled, you can reuse it for a few changes.

Speaking of covers, I love our Thirsties cover, but I cannot seem to keep that thing on AJ's booty!  The first time she wore it, she had a big ol' poo after about 15 mins. So once it was washed, I wanted to use it again. But when I went to slide it under her, I didn't realize she had peed all over her changing table, and I stuck the cover right in the pee.  Luckily I love the other two as well :)  The Bummis cover is an extra large, and is really a little too big, but it still works great. Most everything I've gotten so far has the snaps and not aplix (velcro) because the velcro can wear quicker, but I did get two of the covers in aplix. I wanted to try them out, plus I wanted something a little less confusing for daddy and big sisters to use.  That way they don't have to worry about which snap settings to use. It is definitely very convenient!

Annabelle in her Blueberry cover

I guess that's it for now.  Let me know if you have any questions :)

*Confused by any of the terminology that I've used about cloth diapers?  Here is a great blog post that explains the meaning of many CDing terms. http://myclothdiaperstash.com/cloth-diaper-terms/

Eeek, leaks!

I figured it was only a matter of time...

Yesterday we ran into two issues: obviously the leaking, but also a strange smell every time she would pee.

So after about the third diaper that got me wet and smelled like she had eaten some asparagus, I had about 10 minutes of internally freaking out.  I had visions of diaper stripping running through my head, and I really didnt want to go there after 4 days on the cloth. Then I told myself, "Hey, this stuff happens! There's no use getting worked up, I just need to start troubleshooting."

The smell issue was easy. When I had washed my diapers the night before, I decided to try to speed up my process. I HAD been washing a normal cycle on hot and then doing an extra rinse cycle, and that had been working.  But silly me, I had to try something new. I noticed a cycle on my washing machine that had a 15 minute soak, then wash, then a "power rinse."  I thought, surely that power rinse will be just as good as 2 rinses, or maybe better!  Nope. I went back to my original way when I washed them last night, and today there's no smell at all.

So now the leaking issue. First let me clarify, this was not after sitting in a wet diaper for 4 hours or anything, this was as soon as she would pee, it would leak.  First, I tried "testing" a diaper and insert. I slowly poured a little water on them, and it was sucked right up: no issues there.  So then I tried doubling the insert.  And aside from giving Annabelle a cute little ghetto booty: no change.  So then I thought, well maybe after washing them my original way, that would make them go back to not leaking. Nope, her first diaper his morning leaked a little, and her second leaked a lot.  Finally I had my Aha moment: The fit.  The very first time I tried them on her, I figured out where to snap everything.  One little problem: they hadn't been washed or dried yet. So I think they shrunk enough that the way I was snapping them, they were a little too small.

Here's a one size diaper at small, medium, and large rise

She's now on her third diaper today that isn't leaking. All I did was stop snapping the rise down to the medium rise.  I'm now keeping the rise unsnapped and going in one more snap at the waist. It's probably too early to tell if this solved the problem, but I'm hopeful it has!

Leak free at last!!!

They're here! (Our first day)

Imagine my excitement last night when I opened my mailbox to find a big, white, fluffy package! Our first round of dipeys arrived!! These are the ones I bought off of a sweet WAHM (work at home mom) on eBay. You can find her on Facebook by the name Classy Bows Boutique (same name on eBay). She very generously combined the shipping for me since I bought 6 diapers, and included a free sample of cloth diaper safe detergent and a free reusable baby wipe.

  Of course I had to immediately put a dipe on her for a photo op :)

Annabelle is the proud owner of 5 Alvababy diapers and 1 AnAnBaby diaper!

I then stayed up late prepping them so we could get started :) I'll include info on prepping below.
So our first actual time using a cloth diaper was last night. Yes, overnight.  What's that? You think I'm crazy? Yeah, you're probably right. BUT, it actually went really well!

 She wore one of the Alvas.   All of the diapers came with one insert each, and I didn't want to "waste" any by using two, so I stuffed the pocket with one insert, and behind that I put a gerber prefold that I happened to have (we used to use them as burp rags.)  She slept almost 9 hours in it, and NO LEAKS!  I was pleasantly surprised that the part that actually touches her skin didn't even feel wet, even though both the insert and prefold were very wet inside the pocket.

We also had our first poopy diaper a little bit ago (in the AnAn). And let me tell you, I think it would've been a nasty blowout in a sposie!  It also made me rethink my pioneer woman attitude on diaper sprayers. These are handy things you hook up to your toilet water line and use to spray the poopy off the diaper, directly into the toilet. Yeah... I want one now.

A Diaper Sprayer

So as of now, Annabelle has worn one disposable diaper since 11pm last night :)  I thought it best to put one on her for our outing to the flea market today, since I don't yet have a wet bag. (A water proof bag you keep in your diaper bag to hold soiled diapers till you get home.)

So far, these diapers are working great!  I'm not sure how long she'll be able to stay in them if she doesn't start thinning out soon! Lol.  I have her on the medium rise, so we are all good there, but she has to be snapped at the second to last set of snaps. They are very similar (between the Alva and AnAn) but there MIGHT be a slightly better fit with AnAn, but so slight that I could've imagined it. I'm glad I went with these, at $5-6 per diaper, to start out. And I LOVE that they come in such cute prints! I'm trying to avoid the attitude that I NEED the more expensive, name brand diapers.  I am definitely willing to try them out eventually though :) I have 8 more on the way, but I ordered those from Alvas direct site, and I've heard they can take up to 2 weeks to arrive.

 That's pretty much it so far! I only have 2 more clean dipes, so I'm really excited to get some more and make it through a whole day :)  See below for info on prepping. (I got the info from the lady at Classy Bows Boutique)

What is prepping? -Prepping is preparing your diapers to be used. When you first buy a diaper new, the fibers need to be prepared to absorb the moisture that your LO will throw its way. You will need to do a series of wash/dry on the diapers, as indicated by the manufacturer's instructions, in order to "fluff" up the fibers in your diapers so they can absorb properly. Some require you use a machine wash/dry *Here's how she told me to prep the diapers. 1. One full cold wash with a lil bit of detergent. extra rinse. dry everything in the dryer on low. 2. One cold wash with two extra rinses. Hang dry the covers and the inserts you can throw them in the dryer :) I only did step 1. Sorry! I figured they will be getting washed often in the next few days and only become more and more absorbent. I was too anxious to wait any longer :)

Switching it up!

Well, I've decided it's time to make a change.

I'm switching from disposable diapers to cloth diapers! 

I have no idea what I'm doing, so I figured I would invite other mommy's to learn along with me, or just laugh at/with me as I learn!  I don't have anything that I need yet, but I did order some diapers and they are on their way.

A little background, I am mommy to 3 beautiful daughters.  Kennedy is almost 12, Olivia is almost 9 (next week!) and Annabelle is the baby at 7 months.  Her hiney is the one that will be trying out the new diapers!  She is a super cute, extremely chunky little girl, weighing in at 23lbs 8oz at 7 months old :)

Back to diapers:  The ones that I ordered are Alva Baby, which are pocket diapers, and they each come with a microfiber insert.  I also ordered one AnAn Baby brand (formerly JC Trade.)  If you want to learn more about the different styles of cloth diapers, here is the video that I watched on YouTube to get more info: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ipMmpJkB8L4 (There are two parts, this is the first part.)

I will try to post as we go along on this journey, and fill you in on the process: prepping, washing, how we like different styles, etc.  I'm trying to do this on a budget, so I'm not sure how often I'll be able to acquire new brands :)

If you or anyone you know would like me to try a specific kind of diaper, or if you know of any companies that are doing diaper trials, please let me know!

Thanks for reading!
Kara