Thursday, May 22, 2014

The Cloth Scramble

I am calling it a scramble because we (meaning I) are scrambling to get it together! My word. There is a lot to this cloth diapering stuff, at least to me there is, because I had zero knowledge when I started and no guidance. I just dove head-first into cloth diapering, and though we've experienced some setbacks, we (as in me) are finally getting the hang of it. 

First of all, I had no idea what type of diapers to buy. I assumed All In Ones would be the easiest, but they're not... At least not when you have a small stash. They take forever to dry, and I'm really not exaggerating. So we started out with three Thirsties All-In-ones. 
I do like these when they're dry, and I have been using them as our nighttime diaper with an extra insert. We've still had some leakage issues, so we are sorting this out. 

Our next, and so far best purchase, was seven Sunbabies off of eBay, 

These are pockets and they've worked pretty well. I've had some issues with leaking, but I think it was mainly because I wasn't snapping the legs together. I have started using the snaps for the leg holes and so far, so good. 

My next purchase was a doozy. I really wasn't too thrilled with the condition of these, but I did get a few good things out of it. Mostly knowledge. 
Maybe it's just me, but if I'm buying used, I'm going to stick to snaps from now on. The Velcro just looks like crap when they've been used. 
However I got this Flip cover from her, and it is in great condition. She also threw in two other covers (one the elastic is shot), a couple of prefolds, some snappis and a diaper sprayer... So really for what I paid I still got a good deal. 

Well, we have had some MAJOR issues with detergents. My poor boy has super sensitive skin. 
^^^ that's the rash he got from the Country Save detergent. I stripped, and went to All Free and Clear. Somebody told me not to use the ALL on the cloth diapers because it has brighteners in it. I had just received a bunch of Bumgenius samples, so I decided to give it a try. MISTAKE!!!!! 

You can't see the rash, but you can see where he scratched his bottom until he BLED! As you can see, I had to switch him back to disposables until I got this sorted out. The Bumgenius made him soooo itchy! I had to give him Benadryl and put Calamine lotion on him. To make it worse, the poor boy got diarrhea and got a terrible diaper rash. So I caved and took him to the doctor. 

Eczema on his arms, though I'm not convinced because it has been there for months! 

Eczema on his legs. 

The poor child is just so itchy all the time. I felt really guilty about the Bumgenius because I felt like this whole cloth diapering thing is my venture to be more sustainable, and he is just along for the ride. My test subject. The poor kid has been through the ringer, and I do feel really sorry about it. In my defense, I just didn't know. There's no way to foresee that your kid will be allergic to the detergent. I'm sticking to the ALL Free and Clear. I just don't have the heart to try anything else on him. 

The doctor gave us prescription eczema lotion, put him on Claritin, and told me to put conditioner (that's right, hair conditioner) in his bath water. He said its a cheap way to get a moisturizer in the water. Great idea! He said to use Suave, but all I can think about is all those chemicals. Plus I'm afraid to try anything else on his sensitive skin. However, I may try this for myself. :) 

All of this detergent mishap has resulted in a LOT of laundry. 

Which made me realize I really need a better drying system. I have diapers and inserts hanging EVERYWHERE!! I am working on this.

So a couple days ago I got flat RIPPED off by a lady. She didn't even give me the right diapers. She handed them to me zipped up in a wet bag and off she went! So there really isn't a lot I can do. I didn't even noticed the two diapers were completely ruined inside until after I'd stripped them. The inside is abrasive, like it got melted or something. Bummer. Total bummer. 


They're really soft on the outside. The one with pink is totally fine. If it weren't for the fleece lining being messed up, they'd be great diapers. I'm a little bummed and not sure if there's anything I can do to fix it. 

Lastly, I want to show off my collection of inserts. Haha, nerd alert! 

The black one is our new five-layer, charcoal bamboo inserts, and we LOVE it. They work really great. The others are microfiber, a hemp, and I'm not sure what else. They're all really different, and I don't know which is which. I'm just happy to have them. 

I have three more diapers in the mail. Then my stash will be complete for a while. I'll have to save up and keep an eye out for deals. :)

The end. 

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