A Few Cloth Diapering Questions

I have no idea what a sprayer is, so I can't tell you, but I found liners to be a waste of time, since only about 1/4 diapers actually have poop in them, and it would have to be pretty solid for them to do any good, also they are scratchy....don't believe that ayou can't use diaper cream, I have used several and my prefolds are in great shape in their third year of use! BTW, I just use vaseline and it works fine...

My son is two years old, now. We've only used Fuzzi Bunz, from the start, so I can't answer your third question. However, here are my responses to your first two:

1) My husband says the diaper sprayer is definitely worth the money. (We only got it a few months ago.) I like it pretty well, too, but it does tend to get spray all over, so I have to wipe down the toilet, etc., afterwards. (Maybe I just haven't figured out the right technique?) We also still use the flushable liners (I like Kushies). My son tends to have pretty soft stools, so even with the liners, there is still frequently matter that needs to be removed from the diapers.

2) We had a long and difficult battle with diaper rash. I finally called Fuzzi Bunz and asked them about using creams. They said that as long as we're using liners, so the cream isn't coming in direct contact with the diaper, it is fine to use diaper creams or ointments. That said, I still reserve any diaper creams as a last resort, when we get a more severe flair-up. The rest of the time, I use Caldesene Baby Cornstarch Powder with Zinc Oxide (in the blue bottle). It was the only cornstarch-based powder with zinc oxide that I could find. It really works pretty well as a preventative measure. I haven't been able to find it in any stores, however. The first time I purchased it, I bought it online. The second time, I called the information number on the bottle and ordered it directly from the company (1-800-344-7239). After factoring the difference for shipping, ordering directly actually cost me a little less and was easier, but I had to order a minimum of two bottles. It takes us about 4-5 months for us to go through one bottle.

Hope this helps!

I love the diaper sprayer but if only your new infant is in CD and as long as they are breastfed, you don't need to get the poop off before washing. If formula fed, the poop can be more solid and need to be removed before washing but if runny you don't need to remove first. Once on table foods, the sprayer is a big help in my opinion, but the liners can work too. My two year old doesn't like paper on his bottom so doesn't really want us to use the paper liners.

If you're using diapers with a stay dry liner (the ones you mentioned), the rash creams will build up on your diapers and make them repel urine. If you sometimes need to use a rash cream (wouldn't recommend unless starting to get a rash) you can cut some strips of cloth to fit as a liner next to baby's skin and then you can use the rash creams. The cream won't come in contact with your diapers, so that's fine. You can buy them but you can also just cut up an old sheet or fleece. Also, to reduce rashes, make sure you change frequently and make sure he's all dry before putting a new diaper on. Air dry or use hair dryer.

The diapers you mentioned should be able to be washed together. Not sure what different instructions you were given but most can be cold rinsed and then hot washed with detergent and dryed.

hi E. congrats on the change to cloth diapers.

here are my responses to your questions:

1) diaper sprayer, yes they are worth the money just make sure that all the contacts for the sprayer work. and there is no leaks. An allternative is to get a hand held sprayer for your shower, which is useful as little one gets older and just use that over the toilet. of course this only works if toilet and shower are near each other.

2)Earth Mama Angel Baby Diaper balm has already been mentioned, but there are a few others to contemplate: Weleda, Carrot Dreams (I think it's called), and Country Baby. these are also completely safe for cloth diapers without using liners. If a diaper rash gets baad enough you can use a little golden seal root powder that you can purchase here: http://www.dragonherbarium.com/#
Golden seal root is also good for cuts and abrasions. It helps clean and keep bacteria from developing.

3) Washing, i would strip them once a month, stripping is where you do a wash cycle without any cleaning products. You do it on hot a couple of times until you no longer see suds. my covers i typically let air dry except the Fuzzi Bunz since they have the absorbant layer on the inside as well.

Here is a website with some great cloth diaper articles and where you can buy the EMAB diaper balm or try the others i listed:
www.punkinbutt.com

We have at least 3 different kinds of cloth diapers (including Fuzzy Buns and Knicker Nappies) and I treat them all the same and they are all still in great shape. We don't have a diaper sprayer, just do it in the empty small part of the kitchen sink or the bathroom sink and then clean it thoroughly with simple green. We NEVER take dishes out of the sink and use them before they are washed to I'm not worried about it. I think the disposable liners defeat the purpose of using cloth diapers personally. We use diaper cream even with our cloth diapers. They all say not to and I think it's because many of the creams are designed to not wash away but that's just my speculation. We use them and then don't worry about it. My favorite to use is California Baby or Burt's Bees. They are both much more natural than balmex etc. so even if they don't wash out fully, it's okay with me to have it on her skin again for another wear. We've also found that when her diaper rash is particularly bad, disposables help it clear up much quicker than cloth. For us, that's a fair trade for her to wear disposables for a short time and have her skin be intact rather than red, raw, and broken for a longer time with cloth. Since we also prerinse anything solid out of the diapers, we wash them in cold water with our regular laundry and use the eco friendly stuff from costco. It works great and her diapers always come out without odor. Our clothes never smell like diaper or anything like that and I know there's not a bunch of reside left on the diaper ready to irritate my daughter's skin. Hope that helps and doesn't make us seem unhygenic! Quite the contrary!!

Hi E.,

Your baby is still little and as long as long as he is breastfed, you can simply throw everything in the pail. When ready to wash, do a cold water rinse and then your regular wash and dry. Once your child goes on solids, there are a number of methods to deal with the solids. Some people simply shake of excess poop and use toilet paper to scrape of the solid pieces and let the washer do the rest just like with BF poop. Others use liners and others use sprayers. I happen to use all methods as I like to be familiar with them for my customers. I find that depending on the fit of the diaper and the stage your child is at, liners sometimes shift and wad up assisting with clean-up very little. At other times, they have worked beautifully and I have been very thankful I used them, especially when in a public place dealing with a messy diaper. Diaper sprayers are great for removing all the mess from diapers, underwear and potty chairs, but it takes some skill and practice as too much pressure can cause water to spray everywhere and too little pressure can leave you with chunks still on the diaper. When I have it just right, I really love it as it cleans super well, but when in a hurry and I have squeezed the handle all the way, I have found myself scrubbing the bathroom floor.

For diaper rashes, the best ones are olive oil based. If you are dealing with a lot of rashes, I like using Angel Baby Bottom Balm as it is nice and creamy and filled with wonderful healing herbs. For nighttime, I love the Baby Bottom Better as it is a thicker base and I can cover my baby's bottom heavily knowing she is protected all night from any rash issues.

Some causes of rashes are: A. too much detergent, make sure you are using half or less of the recommended detergent when washing diapers. Use a free and clear or clean rinsing detergent. An extra rinse cycle helps with this too. B. bacteria in the diapers. I like to smell the diapers when pulling them out of the washer. If they smell bad at all, I rewash them as this is a sign of bacteria still in the diapers. C. teething D. Food allergies through breastmilk or when being introduced to new foods later on. The biggest culprit tends to be detergent, so I always start there and work my way down.

All the diapers you described above can be washed the same. I do a cold water rinse and warm or hot water wash and an extra rinse to be safe since your little one is prone to rashes. For drying, I like to dry them on low heat for about 20 minutes and then pull out the outer part of your pocket diapers and then on high heat finish drying the inserts and other diapers. This will help extend the life of your pocket diapers and protect their warranties. I believe Happy Heiny's are the only ones that allow high heat on the entire diaper without effecting the warranty.

You can find a wealth of information on our article and information pages on www.punkinbutt.com

Specifically, our Easy Wash System for specific diapers and covers: http://www.punkinbutt.com/easy-wash-specific-cloth-diaper...

I am also happy to talk to you via email or phone if you need further guidance!

Sincerely,
A.
www.punkinbutt.com

One of my faves as well.

Here's our CD recipe:
- no to the sprayer, I don't swish, just shake off the solids (I did nothing for BF poop), pop in the washer as is. I run a prewash (or rinse, cold) to get rid of the remains. After the initial diapers only rinse I actually fill the washer with other laundry to get a full load and run a regular hot cycle.
- I use vegetable oil or lanolin (Lansinoh) for mild rashes and add a drop of dish soap to my laundry to help with the removal of the oil from fabric. Make sure to give your dipes an extra hot rinse w/o detergent, rashes can be caused or worsened by detergent buildup in the fabric.
For really bad rashes I use desitin and a disposable overnight and frequent changes during the day.
- I wash them all the same, we use(d) at various times BG's, FB's, no-brand pockets some AIO's and prefolds.

BF poop is pretty staining (when I first started I just thought:"YUUUCK"), but if you hang them outside to dry, you will get rid of ALL of the stains. It is so amazing what a little sunlight will do! Now at 18 mo we have no issues with stains at all.

It looks like you have gotten some great suggestions already!

I never used a diaper sprayer, but I know some mamas swear by them. If you are nursing, breastfed babies poo is water soluable so you don't have to rise it before you put the diaper in the wash. The diaper sprayers come in handy after baby starts solid foods.

There are a few rash creams that are cloth diaper safe. I use Northern Essence Diaper Rash Salve. It works great and doesn't ruin the dipes. Regular rash creams leave a waterproof barrier on cloth. This causes repelling issues and the diaper won't absorb well anymore.

Yes you can wash all those diapers together. I use an initial cold rinse with 1/2 the recommended amount of Charlies to get the yuckies off the dipes. Then I wash with 1/2 amount of Charlies in warm or hot. I also do an extra hot rinse to make certain all the detergent is out of the diapers. When I first started cloth I was using too much detergent and not doing an extra rinse. There was detergent residue left in the diapers that was causing my son's bum to get very red.

You can find tons of information about all things cloth at diaperpin.com. And all the mamas there are so helpful when you have questions!

One of my favorite topics! I get asked this all the time so I created a Word doc. I am going to just copy and paste it. Hope it answers some of your questions.

Well let's see.... I use prefolds with wraps. I do not like the all in ones as they are expensive and you lose the whole diaper with even just a pee pee. If you use a prefold and a wrap you change just the diaper out (the classic rectangle white diaper) and when there is a poo you need to change all of it. I used Polar Babies Wraps that are breathable for 2 kids and then switched 1/2 way through with the next kid as they were pretty shot. They average $20 a wrap. I also am big on no vinyl. Babies sweat when they are closed in plastic with their pee pee and that causes rashes. There are very few diapers on the market that can tout no vinyl/plastic. Waterproof=rash. If you are diligent about changing your baby's diaper you don't need to worry about leak through. I switched to the Stacinator and they are about $18-$22 a wrap. They are snap closure and I LOVE them. I own about 12 wraps and about 40 diapers. I do a diaper load about twice a week. I will throw wraps in with other loads as they are used quicker. Both the Polar Babies and Stacinator are polar fleece so I line dry them. I have a front loader so I use the sanitary cycle with some natural detergent only a Tablespoon of detergent for the front loaders. When I used more the diapers smelled. No bleach, but hot water and extra rinse. One thing to think about is clothes. Pants and jammies are not made for cloth diapered bums. I usually need a size bigger in pants for cloth than disposable. All in ones are sleeker though and this is not such a problem. I also just discovered waterproof wet bags. I always have used plastic bags to put soiled diapers in while we are out. I bought a beautiful waterproof zippered bag from a diaper store and I love it! Usually sites that have cloth diapers will have wet bags in the their accessory section. You just wash it with your diapers. And for the grand finale of my diapering knowledge: The diaper sprayer!!! My handy husband hooked up a kitchen sink sprayer to the water line of the toilet and it hooks behind the toilet. I lay a soiled diaper in the toilet and hold an end with one hand and then spray off the poo with the other and plop it in the diaper pail. I would NOT do cloth diapers without this thing! My mom was in the day of swishing and double flushing to get the poo off. And then it was still not off. You can get all the parts at Home Depot for about $12 and I would seriously pay $100 it is that great. Another thing I learned and have had confirmed by other sites is that the diaper pail should not have water in it. It makes no sense to me but water in the pail actually makes your diapers smell more. I use a big stainless steel trash can that has the foot pedal that opens it. It has a removable black plastic inside so I carry that to the washer. That I believe is my diapering knowledge. I have been doing this for 5 years, yikes! I have cloth diapered 3 kids and am about to do the 4th. My 1st born was all disposable.

The best place to get cloth diapering products is Wildflowerdiapers.com they are out of Scottsdale, AZ. A couple of moms run it and their products are great and their prices are the best, I have checked around A LOT. They also ship quickly. They of course stock the Stacinators. A quick note on the Stacinators is they run very big. A new born size does fit a NB but the next size up which is small will last them from when they grow out of the NB til they potty train (pending you potty train before they are in high school) They have adjustable snaps and really do go for that long of an age range.

Ok that’s itJ

Hi E.-
If you're in Portland, a great place for cloth diapering supplies and info is babyworks.com. They are friendly and helpful, and their prices are great. (I'm not connected to them - just a very happy customer!)

my other suggestions:
diaper rash - definitely try vaseline if you haven't already. I tried lots of other options, including several organic ones, and vaseline worked best for my little one.

sprayer - I have mixed feelings. I've never gotten the hang of it, so I end up with water everywhere, although it definitely is helpful for getting the poop off the dipaer. My husband likes it well though - I guess he has better technique than me! If I had a utility sink I might like it better.

washing- we pretty much washed everything the same way, and try to dry in the sun to get rid of stains. Although I admit to sometimes throwing them back in the dryer for a couple of minutes at the end to soften up the diapers, especially the prefold inserts.

best of luck!

i have found that the flushable diaper liners don't work all that well and we still need our sprayer. the spraying is very easy, but i would suggest a "diaper duck" to help squeeze the excess water out. we have found washing out own diapers to be very easy, though we to were hesitant b/c of the idea of doing it ourselves. good luck!

Hi,

We use vasaline on our daughter and that works great! Good luck on the other two questions.

S.

I just have one small bit of advice. I used cloth diapers with my son until he was 6 months old. I finally had to switch to disposable diapers because of his diaper rash. I tried everything to cure it before switching. After starting disposables 2 days ahis rash went away within nd never returned..

Ok so I've used cloth for about a year now I have a variety I wash them all the same cold rinse or short wash followed by a hot or sanitize wash this works great you do have to strip them about once a month and if your guy has diaper rash it is a must to strip the diapers before you use them again my favorite way it to use the sports wash you can get it at wal mart in the sporting good sec. little orange and white bottle I also use the vineger and baking soda mix. All my diapers are the pocket my cousin started to cloth first and she had some problems with the aio non pocket not getting them stripped her son gets diaper rash so all I bought are the pockets and she has switched to pocket I find that as long as I clean and let baby dry before i put on a new diaper that they almost never get diaper rash with the cloth although some babies are prone to them no matter what.
I use baby powder instead of cream, though sometimes I know that the "butt paste" has been used, the cream and vasiline types can break down the waterproof, just strip the diapers a little more often .
I have never needed the diaper sprayer but I didn't cloth from birth.
Good luck

We wash all the diapers the same. We also are using the diaper sprayer and it has helped since putting him on solids. We didn't have it when my son was exclusively breast fed. I would try Earth Mama Angel Baby Bottom Balm. This stuff is the best. It is olive oil base and has calendula in it. It can also be used on scrapes and cuts. It smells really nice and the few times I have had to use it I haven't noticed a build up on the diapers. http://www.earthmamaangelbaby.com/products/product_pages/...

Hope this helps.