Thirsties . . .not duo wrap!

So thanks to Sweet Baby Bottoms  and my commenting on a Facebook post, I had an opportunity and the guts to try out the Thirsties regular diaper cover!!! And I love it!! It fits like an up to 40 pound diaper should fit. I was so scared to try them since trying out the Dup Wrap did not work out for my large baby. He's in the cover right now and fits wonderfully! I was able to fit the GMD (check them out Here)prefold with a Thirsties insert and a hemp prefold. In my other wraps there was a gap, with that much cloth, at his tummy which I'm surprised didn't leak out! If there are any problems I'll let you all know, but for now they are FABULOUS!!

READ THIS!!!

Hello all my friends. This is a little out of context for diapers, but I feel this needs to be posted. I read a blog from a local dad, and his post about perfection is a wonderful and beautifully moving piece. I hope you will read and pass it along.

Part two of my Mamapedia friends question

Ok my comment never posted on the comment box so I'm writing it here. Ugh I'll write it again.

The "claw" wont go through the fabric. They are designed not to, and there is way to much fabric to try and go through.

The cover is the modernized "plastic pants". It's made out of PUL fabric. Which stands for polyurethane laminated. It's in place if the vinyl pants that ugh. I can't believe were ever used. I tried making a sample diaper out of it and I about died. It's a type of fabric that is used in the medical field. It's cheap and can with stand a lot of use and washes.

Sizes are by weight mostly. There are types of diapers that are one size till they are potty trained. Which for out big kids is impossible to do. The usually go up to 40-45 lbs. Those are called One Size Diapers. So there are diapers out there called All in One, One size diapers. That's the brown diaper that I have pics of. But if it's a one size it will have snaps in the middle of the front. To show you here is a picture of one. Ok well it's a link to a AIO one size.

Example of a All In One
p.s. I love Nicki's Diapers. They are GREAT!!

I hope this helped. I am not off to go write about washing diapers. Hey you can text me if you'd like. Personal message me on Mamapedia your number if you want and you can ask me any question there too.


Ok So pocket diaper. . . you will need a small anatomy lesson. Don't run away!!! It's not bad at all. This is the most popular diaper and I'm sure you'll love it!

So there is the PUL fabric (mentioned above) outer and orange in this picture, and then a layer of fabric (white here) usually fleece or some other cotton, hemp, or microfiber material.

  These are sewn together, but at the top of the back there is left a hole open. And that is why they call it a pocket. .  because it is a pocket. A pocket of coolness!!

 This is where you put inserts and doublers (basically just fabric pieces).

   This is also a great easy way to cloth diaper and again the most popular. I guess now is a good time to mention the difference between Snap closures or Aplix.  In this picture there are snaps. In my Blueberry cover it's Aplix. Like below.

Basically Aplix is a preferred version of Velcro. Velcro is super rough, and Aplix is softer. . I guess. It's the only way to describe it. Although some diaper makers use Velcro. So I like Aplix/Velcro and snaps. But for larger babies Aplix/Velcro is better because you have an more custom fit.

Ok WASHING. Most people do not like this idea. But it's really truly NOT BAD AT ALL! You really have to try washing the diapers before you judge.
So lets talk prewashing machine. Poop. It's going to happen. There are different things you can do.
1. Liners. This is a toilet paper like strip that you can put on your diaper so that when your baby poops all you have to do is take the strip and flush it down the toilet.
2. Diaper sprayer. I just got one, and it's currently sitting in front of me waiting to be installed. Its a hose you attach to your toilet to spray the poop off. I can't wait to write a review for this!! Pretty much I'm excited.
3. Dunk the diaper in the toilet to be rid of the poop. Also you can use toilet paper to wipe it off. I heard that one mom scrapped it off with a plastic spoon. Gross, I know.

NOTE TO BREASTFEEDERS!!!!! If your baby is 100% breastfed (no solids) all you have to do is wash them. The poop will just dissolve SAFELY in you washer. One more perk to breastfeeding!

Ok now to actually washing them. Now you have to find what works for you. But this is what most people do.
Cold wash to loosen and get rid of most or all poop still on the diaper.
HOT wash with 1/4 detergent then you would a normal cloth wash.
Dry either in the dryer or set them in the sun. The sun is a natural bleacher and sanitizes. If you use the dryer set on medium.
As for detergent. Go to this website that will help you pick out a type.

http://www.diaperjungle.com/detergent-chart.html

 If you are wanting a really great detergent that can get any stain out and is super amazing, get Rockin' Green Laundry Detergent. It's pretty much the best stuff out there.  And is CD safe!
There is a thing that you will have to do called stripping, but I'll do that another post. I'm sure you're very overwhelmed. And I'll also talk about diaper rash creams.

Question form a Friend on Mamapedia

Q.How do you use cloth diapers? How do you clean them and care for them so they last? I was raised on plain old cloth (I do mean cloth) diapers. I have no idea what they are like now but I heard it is different. It would be nice if you could write an article about using and cleaning them.

A. Well there are several different ways you can use cloth diapers since there are several different styles of cloth. First there are the traditional prefold like the ones our grandmother, but different (a piece of cloth folded in three's and the middle section is thicker)  Like this:

 Then you put it in a cover like this

This is where the traditional diaper pins can come into place. You can do three things.
1. Use diaper pins. I haven't used them so I wont go into details. But here are some pics. I don't suggest this since it's a bit dangerous. NOTE: I don't have diaper pins, so since this is a demo with a teddy bear so I went a head and used saftey pins. Which they basically are them, but diaper pins have plastic safety heads. And I will show you how to actually use the diaper in the snappi demo.

2. Use a Snappi which is a Y shapped tool that uses claws to catch the cloth. I know I used the word claws. SCARY. But no, not at all. Ok here is a step by step picture demo. Please let me know if you have any questions.

This is a prefold folded in thirds with the back wider so that it's easier to use.

Place the "baby" (Oliver's favorite teddy) on the diaper. Oh FYI the cloth part is called a diaper and the cover is called a cover or wrap.

Fold the front half over the baby and tuck the corner behind the back. If it makes more sense think of the green serged edge as the Velcro tab on a disposable to cover the front. I hope that helps.

This is a snappy. See how it has the claws? That is what goes attaches to the diaper. It's safe. No fear and is preferred over diaper pins.

Attach to one side. The claws will do all the work and attach.

Do the other side.

Then pull down on the bottom one. NOTE: Normally you don't hold down your baby's leg with your knee. . .It's just hard to do this with a stuffed bear. LOL.

This is a cover. This one is a Blueberry wrap. Those black dots on the top part below the velcro strip, is how you get the different sizes out of one diaper. This diaper has 3 sizes. Small, medium, and large.

Place your diapered baby on the cover.

And put on like a disposable! You do have to check that the cloth isn't sicking out of any of the holes or that the elastic around the leg is on the thigh and not in the crook of between the leg and torso.

3. Just placing the trifold in the cover.  Pretty simple. I do this during the day and the Snappi at night.

Ok so now here is the All in ones aka AIO (I'll refer to them as aio from now on). This is super easy. It's the one most like a disposables and the one I suggest to get to try out for newbies. Or do what I did and just emerged myself into the world of prefolds! Any who. They usually are take longer to dry because they have a fair amount of cotton to dry. I like the Sposoeasies because they have a section of the cotton that is sewn on one side so it's like a flap. Like so:

See! It take less time to dry.

And this is what it looks like with it folded in looking like how it should.

And this is how it looks like folded on Rowan the bear. Super easy!

Ok so I know there is one more type of diaper and this is called a pocket diaper. The two that I have are currently in the wash. . . So that will be tomorrow's post. Along with how to wash. I think this one is long enough.
And yes, If you notice my nails, the left side have a french nail paint job and the right is plain ugly. I tend to do this. I paint my nails because I'm bored, but then get bored doing it lol!