cloth diaper day 1

Palmer's first foray into the world of cloth diapers began yesterday evening! I got a couple more diapers in the mail in the morning and spent the day "prepping" them to be worn. For any organic fabric like cotton, bamboo, or hemp you are supposed to wash them 5-6 times in order to reach the maximum absorbency. For polyester covers, microfiber terry or stay-dry inserts, and minky fabric you only have to prewash once or twice. The idea is to strip anything off the fabrics that will keep them from absorbing all those diaper goodies! I did a lot of research online and thanks to the research of many other cloth diapering moms, found a detergent at Sprouts in Plano that is supposed to be really good for cloth diaper washing. I'll write more about this later!

Flip (with stay-dry insert)

I tumble dried the inserts and draped the covers over our porch swing! Hopefully you can't tell from the street what they are. . . haha. Palmer wore a Flip diaper with a stay dry insert to dinner at Fuzzy's and it worked great! When we got home I tossed that insert in my Kissaluv's Antibacterial Pail Liner and wiped the Flip cover clean with a wipe (it has a waterproof coating, no fleecy fabric). Once the rest of my Flip inserts arrive I'll be able to use the cover a couple of times without washing it! This is what makes the Flip system more affordable than the fancier all-in-one and pocket diapers that have soft fabric inside and must be washed after each use.

bumGenius 4.0

For nighttime I decided to try the bumGenius 4.0 pocket diaper. It has a pocket opening at the back in the fabric lining to put your inserts in. I stuffed it with the adjustable insert folded to medium and a Hemp Babies diaper doubler underneath that. I was nervous his footie pj's and sheets would be wet when I went in to pick him up this morning since he really fills up a disposable Pampers size 3 at night, but he was perfectly dry! 8:00pm to 9:00 am with no leaks in a cloth diaper! The Flip system and bumGenius 4.0's are one-size diapers meaning they are not only adjustable in the waist, but can also be adjusted in the rise to fit a baby from birth to potty training. (Although most cloth diaper users will tell you that it's better to have a separate stash of newborn sized diapers that truly fit the tiny ones best).

I have more diapers to try today- yay!