Everly is just over 3 weeks old and we are still burning through the packs of disposable diapers we’ve been given. The idea was that while she was having the meconium poop she would wear disposable since that poop can be hard on the cloth diapers. So we were given several packs of disposables to take with us in our birth kit.
Then we got her home and still had several packs of disposable diapers to use up, plus we didn’t have the time, energy or money to finish growing our cloth diaper stash. Plus, I still had no cloth diaper safe laundry detergent so the diapers I did have couldn’t be pre-washed or used anyway.
Cloth diapers can’t be washed in detergents that contain softeners, dyes, enzymes, brighteners, etc. These additives impact the absorbency of the diapers and will also make them prone to buildup which means they’ll look and smell bad too! Ever noticed how some shirts get underarm buildup and stains from sweat and deodorant? That’s because the detergent you used allowed all that mess to buildup on the fabric.
Anyway, I’ve been stressing out because our we are almost out of disposable diapers and I’ve still made no progress on getting ready for cloth diapering… Luckily, this week I’ve just got around to all the stuff I’ve been putting off like doing the bills, scooping the cat box and finally ordering some more cloth diapers and cloth diaper safe detergent to wash them with.
I stumbled upon Tiny Bubbles detergent from The Natural Baby Company, they are the makers of one of the diapers I already have in my stash, The GroBaby diaper.
I was sad to have discovered this detergent the day after I’d already placed my detergent order for Planet detergent because I would really like to try it out someday. It will probably be the next detergent I buy because it is eco-friendy, animal safe and apparently it is also cloth diaper safe. Very cool (and important) qualities if you ask me!
All this parenting stuff has opened my eyes to so many new things and tons of new information. Does the learning ever stop? Probably not huh?
I just use regular detergent on my cloth diapers and haven’t noticed any absorbency or staining issues TBH. It is really tough to make the mental leap from disposable to cloth, but once you actually do it it’s really no big deal at all. I put Odessa in disposables only at night and when we go out. The worst thing for me with cloth is the poop. You’re supposed to dump the poop in the toilet and swish the diaper around in the toilet water. Well, Odessa’s poop does not fall out of the diaper, nor does it swish out. I’m not willing to rinse the diapers in the bathtub where we all bathe or in the sink where I wash vegetables, so I end up just throwing them in the washer as is. And so far it’s simply washed out each time, no problem.
.-= Memarie Lane´s last blog ..Goodbye =-.
Marie said it all. It’s her third after all.
.-= witchypoo´s last blog ..Mocking my Dead Mother =-.
Does the learning ever stop? LOL… no. I learned so much more when my granddaughter was born even though I was supposed to be there helping because, as a grandma, I should already know this stuff!
Ha. Every baby is different is about the only thing I’ve learned for absolutely certainly sure.
.-= Donna B.´s last blog ..An Unfortunate URL =-.
Isn’t it just amazing how much a baby can poop? Good luck with the cloth diapers. I looked at them when I had Seth, but they intimidated me 🙂
.-= Becky´s last blog ..Random Rambles =-.
No…the learning never stops. You’ll have a kid who won’t eat what kids are supposed to eat, then you have food allergies and then you realize that fake sweeteners and food dye is BAD BAD BAD for kids. It really never stops. And that’s a good thing, because you don’t have your head in the sand and you aren’t just buying into mass media!
.-= Hyphen Mama´s last blog ..In the words of Kelly Clarkson…. =-.