Velcro, I’m Over You (aka Cloth Diaper Update)

As my little growin’ girl is now 16 months old, I thought I’d share how things are going on the cloth diapering front.  I posted my last update/how-I-do-things guide here in February.  Now that I’ve been using them for over a year now, I’ve learned a few new tricks and tips to keep things running smoothly.  To do a little summarizing from before, here is what I recommend:  Pocket diapers rock. And by ‘pocket diapers,’ I mean PUL (Polyurethane Laminate fabric) diapers that look like a disposable, not those pieces of cloth that you have to pin.  PUL is a waterproof fabric, so you don’t have to put a cover over the diaper.  And they’re called ‘pocket diapers’ because you stuff the cloth diaper shell with absorbent liners, usually made with microfiber, terrycloth, or bamboo fleece.  You stuff them to customize absorbency (I stuff them with 2 liners, 1 big and one small), and also to cut drying time after washing.  This is a pocket diaper (by BumGenius).  I have many of these, but in a few different brands including BumGenius.

These have been so great so far.  Easy to use, great quality and my little monkey looks so adorable in them!  You can see one in action in this video, to refresh your memory. 

She is rocking a diaper that I purchased from Monkey Snuggles on Etsy.  A little cheaper than BumGenius, and the quality is just as great!  Plus they have sales and deals, and for every $10 you spend you get a ‘Monkey Buck’ towards your next purchase!

I have 12 cloth diapers (that I use regularly), but I always feel like I could use more.  I am slowly adding to the collection, and after my last purchase, I have realized that I will no longer buy cloth diapers with Velcro – I am a snaps girl now!  For two main reasons: 1) the Velcro simply wears out.  It is still working, but a lot of random fuzz gets stuck in it, and the edges start to curl.  Plus sometimes you pull a diaper out of the dryer and you get a train of about 5 of them that you have to un-stick.  And the second reason is (#2) that as she gets older, she learns how to un-stick the Velcro and can take her diaper off!  Little stinker.  That is, if she’s not wearing pants.  If she’s wearing pants, it’s fine, but she can get out of that diaper quicker than you can say ‘pee-puddle-on-the-floor!’

And so that is why I recently bought this little number (below) for my little ninja-baby and so far I love it!  It comes with 1 bamboo insert, but I stuff it with another one as my girl seems to be a heavy wetter.  You might be able to see on the tag that it is “One Size.”  Almost all of my diapers are ‘one-size’ which means that you can snap them to be smaller or let them out all the way depending on how big your baby is.  This way it will grow with your little one!  Or you can buy them in different sizes, depending on their weight.  I’ve bought a few specific sizes, but it was mostly depending on a sale or special price.

That’s why, when I bought the little ninja diaper (above) I also snagged this little purple number (below) because it was on sale.  Apparently the diaper ‘wings’ are thinner than normal, so they offered them at a lower price and it doesn’t affect the quality in any way so score one for me!  And Harper, of course!

I actually like the trimmer fit, so it doesn’t rub on her little leggies.    So anyway, that is my new revelation about cloth diapering.  I have also tried using cloth wipes (when I ran out of disposable ones) and they work great!  I just haven’t invested in enough yet and when I buy wipes, I buy them in BULK and they last for MONTHS!

Also, I want to note that I have been using disposable diapers exclusively for overnight, as she always wets through her cloth one and having a cloth one on that long is how we’ve gotten a couple of nasty diaper rashes.  So I stick with those overnight.  It just makes it easier and I really try to stick with only using 1 per day (overnight).

**This is what I get asked about the most:  How do you wash them? To wash my cloth diapers I simply throw them in the washer on hot and dry them on medium.  Nothing special.  You don’t even have to ‘un-stuff’ them first.  They’re supposed to come out in the wash; sometimes they do, sometimes they don’t, but I’ve found that they’re always clean and don’t get stained.  I use my regular detergent (powder), and I dry them without fabric softener.  Sometimes I use a fabric sheet if they need a little ‘refreshing’ but otherwise I don’t.

Isn’t she cute?  Harper at 11 months rockin’ her Monkey Snuggles One-Size diaper. 

I always dump the poo into the toilet, and it’s nice now that she’s eating solid foods it all just comes right out.  If for some reason the poop is sticky or absorbed into the diaper, I scrape as much as I can into the toilet and then use my washing machine’s ‘Soak’ setting before I wash them like normal.  Easy peasy.

Any questions? Feel free to send them on my way – I love talking about how easy cloth diapering has been for my little monkey.  Do you know of any other favorite Etsy cloth diaper shops?  Let me know!  But I really love my Monkey Snuggles…