Sunday morning, Valor peed on me, spit up into my cupped hand, and launched the largest booger I’ve ever seen onto my shirt. But all that was okay, because Saturday night, he slept through the night.
Yes, the elusive grail of every new parent: Valor slept 7 hours without waking up to eat, for the record at age 5.5 weeks and probably about 11 lbs.. We thought it might have been a fluke, because we had worn him out with a couple of events that day, but the next night he slept 6 hours, and last night he slept more than 7. (Now if we can just get him to stop yelping randomly while he’s dreaming, maybe I could sleep that long, too.) It looks like BabyWise worked for us, or maybe Valor was just born wise.
On Saturday, I also finally started cloth diapering. I looked deep within myself to discover why I was procrastinating, and besides waiting for a quiet day with no major trips out of the house, I realized that I was putting it off because I didn’t want to get the nice clean cloth diapers dirty. Ah-ha! The insidious truth. So I laughed at myself and we got “going.”
When I was a baby my mom used a cloth diaper service, but it was my best friend Susan (the photographer) who convinced me to try cloth diapering with Valor. Both of us would like to be a part of saving the earth, but what we really need is to save money; so when she told me cloth was not only environmentally, but also financially friendly, I was interested. Between her patient explanations of how she does it with her girls (ages 2 and almost 4) and a thorough set of written instructions from another friend, I felt equipped enough to try out cloth diapering. I’m using Fuzzi Bunz pocket diapers and inserts, most of which we bought used on ebay; Purex Free & Clear liquid detergent; and Wahmies diaper pail liners.
I can’t say, like some other mom testified, that Valor loved them as soon as I put them on him. He was pretty fussy, actually, probably from my squeezing him as I tried to figure out how tightly to snap them. I have also learned that you can’t “knock off” newborn poop into the toilet like you can older kids’ poop (it’s too liquid, sorry TMI), so I just leave it on the diaper to be washed. And, so far, they are coming out clean, but sometimes one will have a little lingering smell, so I will be troubleshooting that. Other than that, it’s going fine. I am not even doing diaper laundry quite as frequently as I thought I would have to.
So, how does Valor feel about all these new developments? Does he feel more rested after more consecutive hours of sleep, or more or less comfortable in cloth diapers? Does he appreciate Daddy making raspberries on his leg, or Mommy’s kisses or songs? We don’t know, because he still maintains what looks like a disapproving, skeptical glare over most things. This kid is hard to impress!
We use cloth diapers and an all natural cleaner called Bac-Out can be added to help with the lingering smell. We got it at our local health food co-op but you can probably find it online as well.
This comment is actually not about the diapers. I notice Valor has that blue Soothie pacifier which is great but they have a new upgrade to that pacifier that my girl loves. It’s called the Gum Drop pacifier. It has the same nipple but it is otherwise smaller and lighter and you can see more of his face when he has it in. They’re not expensive either. I have a full set so I could put one in the crib, the stroller, the swing..etc.
http://www.gumdroppacifier.com/
I may not be a mum, but I AM a champion stain remover! If the diapers are being washed on a hot water setting, I recommend spritzing some Shout onto the stained areas. That might take care of the slight odor that you’ve noticed. Considering I was born without a sense of smell, I’m usually pretty thorough about stuff like that, LOL! Who knows what will happen when I have children!
You are so brave for using cloth diapers. I liked the concept, but the thought of actually doing it makes me weak. And queasy. Love love Valor’s expressions! He looks a bit bored, and totally unimpressed, as you described. Maybe he just is not into kid songs and baby talk. Have you tried discussing physics or a bit of chemistry with him? But he has the most scrumptous baby cheeks. I wanna bite em.
My best friend and her hubby use fuzzi-buns and one of these for rinsing the poopy diapers out in the toilet. The got it as a shower present but have said over and over again that they would have HAPPILY paid the money for it.
I’ve changed plenty of his diapers both and their house- with the sprayer…and at my house-without the sprayer…and I can doubly attest to how wonderful it was! I think it is probably especially nice at this infant stage (he is only 3 months old, so his poos are still the same as the ones you describe for Valor…)
My understanding is that the install was pretty easy too! I highly recommend you guys pick one of these up. It will not only make things easier all around, but I think it will take care of any smell issues you are having by getting rid of the problem at the source, when it’s created!
Good luck!
Or rather, rinsing the diapers out OVER the toilet…no so much IN the toilet…
I have a cloth diapering question. How many of each type of diaper (cover, inserts, etc) did you get, and how many days does that supply last you? Thanks!
SabbyAnn,
I started with 15 FB pocket diapers plus microfiber inserts and 2 hemp inserts. So far this seems to be about 2 days’ worth, and I haven’t had any need for the hemp inserts yet. I will post again in the future with all my diapering details when I feel like I have everything down pat!
Wow, those diapers look pretty nifty! When my kid was a baby, 15 years ago, I used cloth diapers but they were just big squares of terry that I folded into a variety of shapes (depending on baby’s age and what she was doing). They were pinned with a giant safety pin and I used plastic pants over that. These squares have all been re-used over the years for a variety of ‘dirty’ causes; one was used last week to catch drips when I changed the oil in the car! I have never heard of diaper liners or diaper services, I guess here in Europe we are more frugal! 🙂 Who cares if the diapers are not sparkly white? Most of mine got accidentally boil washed with a red sock, anyway!
Are cloth nappies really more environmentally friendly though? Yes, they reduce waste, but surely that’s just a trade-off for the increased energy consumption from more frequent and hotter washes?
Also, Valor’s nose= obscenely cute.
A good question, Rhiannon. There is a pretty thorough discussion comparing the environmental impact at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diaper#Debate. By line-drying the diapers we’re consuming less energy, and though we use more hot water in the laundry, we’ve taken a big step towards sustainability in our home energy consumption…which will be the topic of another post very soon. 🙂
I liked this article, although it did not cite any specific research or study: http://www.diaperjungle.com/Cloth-Diapers-Exposed.html
The sticky new/young baby poop remark made me smile and brought back plenty of memories.
Seriously there has to be a mainstream use for that stuff! Industrial-strength biodegradable lubricant? There’s nothing like it on earth 🙂
It makes my heart happy to see Valor and read about your days together!!
You can get Charliesoap http://www.charliesoap.com/ and use it for all your laundry. There will not be any lingering odor on the diapers and it comes in paper containers so no more throwing away plastic containers! The price is good too!
Hi Abby! First off, Valor is gorgeous!!! Okay, now down to business… Good old vinegar does wonders. This is what I used back when I did cloth dipering. Add it to the fabric softener compartment of your washer or get a Downey Ball and put it in that. It will soften the diapers and get rid of the smell.
Hark–is that an Auburn tiger I spotted. War Eagle!
Charlie is 14 mos old and still cries out or talks in his sleep. Denise will go check on him thinking he needs passy or blankie only to find those eyes shut tight and asleep.
I have to second the Bac-Out suggestion; it worked for us from newborn poop days to full-on solid food poop. (We haven’t started the cloth with Micah yet; none of our old diapers are small enough. But we intend to… someday.) And I know what you mean about not wanting to get the beautiful soft diapers dirty… 🙂
Congrats on the sleeping! Asher didn’t do that till almost 8 months, so Valor really is advanced.
Good for you, starting cloth! I’ve heard lots of friends rave about Fuzzi Bunz. After you get in the groove, it gets easier. Now, I feel like cloth isn’t much more effort than disposables, but it did take some getting used to.
In my experience, a good splash of vinegar in the load is great for lingering smells, although if you get ammonia-smelling diapers, that means you aren’t getting the all the urine out, so you’d need to try something different with your cleaning. I had this problem because we have a front-load washing machine, which isn’t great for diapers.
And breastmilk-only poop doesn’t need to be removed prior to the washing machine – it should wash out just fine. I was told this, at least, when I started using cloth, and I found it to be true. We just did a quick wash on cold, then a regular wash on hot. We didn’t have to start toilet rinsing until about a month after we started feeding Cora solids (we went pretty slowly).
Love that you’re doing the cloth diapers! I have two kids in cloth as well. We use Itti Bitti D’lish.
I recognise the problem with the lingering smell. The best thing I have found for it is to let the diapers dry outside. A very big added bonus of this is that sunlight removes the stains that are sometimes left in the diapers. A very economical, enviromental and skin friendly solution.
Also, I would very much advice against using Shout, as suggested by someone. There is a good chance it will leave a residue that will irritate Valor’s skin.
By the way, do you use cloth at night as well? If so, do the fuzzy bunz leak?
We use paper diapers at night because finding your kid floating in their own urine is just not a good way to start the day…..
Oh, and I second the motion that Valor’s nose is just to cute to be!
I’m glad that you are going by the Baby Wise book. A wise mother of 4 boys recommended it to me when I was pregnant with my first baby.
Those Fuzzis are never so soft as before the first wash – I agree, it’s hard to let that go! For newborn poops we used a flushable, biodegradable liner. I’d be glad to send you couple dozen to try out. They look like fabric softener sheets and work really well.