Cloth Diapering Through the First Year

I'm proud to say that over 1 year later, we're still going strong on the CD front. This is one thing that Rob and I have agreed is one of the best decisions we ever made. I'm not going to lie. It's had it's rough spots. But overall, it's been great.

For those who are unfamiliar with cloth diapers, I have a little breakdown post here. I figured now that I have a year's worth of experience with CDs, I could write a post about the things I've learned and maybe give prospective CDing mamas a success story.

{Evelyn in a BumGenius Freetime in Lovelace @ 6 months}

For those who are thinking about it, CDs are extremely overwhelming. However, there are some really great programs out there that allow you to try it out before you really commit to it. I know families who have tried and decided it didn't really work for them - which is totally okay! One that I know of from when I was researching is Jillian's Drawers which allows you to try it for 21 days for $10. You get to try all different brands and types and see if it works for you. For me though, it was something I was pretty committed to. I knew I wanted to make it work and so we just bit the bullet and went full steam ahead.

The Beginning

We didn't start CDs until Evelyn was about 2 weeks old. I hadn't planned on rushing into it. I wanted to wait until her cord fell off and we got a little settled. Well, apparently she has the most sensitive little bum ever because by 2 weeks we were already battling a diaper rash consistently. My first thought was to just go ahead with the cloth and see if that would correct the problem. Maybe she was having a reaction to the disposable. Alas, the solution wasn't that simple. Like I said, she's just super sensitive. But that was our jumping off point and there was no turning back.

We started with prefolds I borrowed from a friend and covers. Prefolds are your the CDs your mom and grandma think of. I was a little worried about them, but once we got started, it was great! Even Rob could fold one and put it on her and said on multiple occasions that it wasn't hard and he really liked them.

{Image courtesy of Green Mountain Diapers}

Evelyn was exclusively breastfed, so poop wasn't an issue. I know it freaks a lot of people out, but yes, I just threw the whole shebang into the wash. No rinsing or anything. Breastfed baby poop is water soluble and just washes away. It was great! Really, no different than disposables except I had to do a load of laundry every couple of days. Big deal. And, I really grew to enjoy hanging them outside in the summer sun and watching them bleach back to brand-new white.

Eventually, when she was big enough (maybe 1 month?) we switched over to our Flip stash. This was our way of life for the next six months. Wear, wash, repeat. We had no stink issues and minimal rash issues. If you are wondering, our wash routine at that time was:

• Cold rinse
• Hot wash with 1/4 scoop of Nellie's (our whitest whites cycle includes an extra rinse)
• Dry in the sun or dryer

Done. 

Introducing Solids

After the six month mark (when we introduced solid food), not surprisingly, things started to change. We were still using our Flips. I had splurged on a few more covers to add color variety. We added hemp to the lineup to handle nighttime wetness. But, then the stink started to creep in. And so began the wash-day lottery. Would my combo of washes/rinses/detergents be a winner? I'll be honest, I got pretty frustrated. I wasn't giving up. I just couldn't wrap my head around spending the money on disposables. Not to mention, I can't stand the way a pee-soaked disposable smells (is it just me?). We tried lots of things. Of course, I stripped them. I made my rinse cycle longer. I added more detergent. I ran two wash cycles. I added a third rinse cycle at the end. I stripped again. I bought some Funk Rock. I stripped again. I bought different detergent. I. Tried. Everything.

Finally, I reached some conclusions.

1. Synthetic fibers (microfiber) are difficult. They tend to hold onto things for dear life. When that happens you get stink. Best way to get them to let go? A good wash
2. We have hard water. Not very friendly when it comes to rinsing all the leftover soap out.
3. I have a front loading washing machine. This is apparently an issue for a lot of people. Front loaders are meant to wash clothes with as little water as possible. Unfortunately, when washing CDs water is important. There are a couple of tricks. One is the wet towel trick. Soak a beach towel in water. I mean soak it. Put it in with your diapers. This tricks the washer into thinking there is more there to wash and so it adds more water. I've also had good luck with throwing a soak cycle in here and there. This soaks the diapers and adds weight as well.
4. Not all detergents are created equal. I had really great luck with Nellie's in the beginning. Such great luck that I bought a giant bucket of it and I was all of our clothes in it. But, it just wasn't the right detergent for the changes that happened. I bought a container of the BumGenius detergent and that has helped.

Currently, my (mostly) working wash cycle looks like this:

• Whitest whites (this includes an extra rinse) cycle on cold with a quarter scoop of BumGenius
• Soak on warm
• Whitest whites cycle on hot with a quarter to half scoop of Nellie's
• Open door and sniff. If it doesn't smell clean run another cycle

I still run a cycle with bleach occasionally (this is actually recommended by the manufacturer) and occasionally add some Funk Rock to the soak cycle as well as the occasional strip. But we've been good for a while.

And if you are debating on the sprayer. Well, this is totally a personal decision. We love ours. Evelyn's poop never really went solid. It's almost always like peanut butter. And, honestly, I just like being able to spray it off. Piece of cake. 

As I said in the beginning, we've had our rough spots. But I still love it. There is nothing quite cuter than her little fluffy butt!

{Evelyn in a BumGenius All-In-One @ 9 Months}

The Pits

Well, if I've gone to the point of making my own household cleaners, plan to stop shampooing my hair, & stopped using tampons, I might as well ditch the deodorant as well, right?

Thankfully, I've never been a particularly stinky person. I think. At least nobody has ever informed me otherwise. I don't sweat. I have had my moments of random, what I think is hormonal pit stink so I've always put a quick swipe of deodorant on after every shower. No biggie. But, I really don't NEED it all the time. It's just a precaution. But, with my tendency to scour the internets researching anything and everything that comes into contact with our house, I've discovered a few things about deodorant.

Fairly recently, there has been a lot of discussion about the effects of aluminum-containing deodorants/antiperspirants on the body over long-term use. Your arm pits are a location of lymph nodes and I don't know about you, but I never hesitated putting deodorant on right after shaving even if I'd nicked myself. If you've got your deodorant nearby, grab it an take a look at the label. It explicitly says not to use on broken skin. Additionally, the deodorant I was using had a warning for kidney patients to consult a doctor before use. What?!

This kind of piqued my curiosity seeing as we have a close family member who is fighting kidney disease and my dad has donated a kidney to another. Up went a red flag. Upon further research I came across this statement from the American Association of Kidney Patients:


"Over 90 percent of the U.S. population use antiperspirants and deodorants. What is harmless for the healthy population can be of danger for people with impaired kidney function. Most of the antiperspirants and some deodorants contain aluminium (Al), which is absorbed by the skin (Flarend et al – Food Chem Toxicol, 2001). In healthy people, it gets eliminated by the kidney, but for people with reduced function, Al will accumulate in the body. Albeit unusual, this could lead to dementia (Carpenter et al. - Int J Occup Med Environ Health, 2001), anemia and bone disease (Jeffery et al. - J Toxicol Environ Health 1996)."



Yikes.

Honestly, I could sit on the internet and do all the research I wanted in regards to the concerns I have for my family. But we all know the internet is, well, the internet. A public domain. Finding credible sources for topics that provide unbiased, research-based information can be very difficult. But when something that big is staring me in the face, I can't help but think to myself, "why take the risk?"

So, I've decided, in light of the fact that I'm not really in need of a hard-working deodorant, I'm going hippie with it (did anybody have Will Smith flash in their head?).

There are a lot of recipes out there for homemade deodorant. I'm starting with the simplest. We'll see if it works. If not, I've got other options. I got my recipe from here.

DIY Deodorant
 - 1/4 cup Baking Soda
 - 1/4 cup Corn Starch
 - 5 Tbsp. Coconut Oil
 - Essential Oils (optional)

Mix the ingredients together.

A couple of notes. Coconut oil has a 76 degree melting point. So, this deodorant isn't going to easily stay a solid. In the winter, I'll probably be just fine, but in the summer I may have to keep it in the fridge.

After mixing, I packed it into an emptied-out deodorant container.

{Check out my homegrown butternut squash! Anybody know what I can do with them?}

 
I don't know about the risk of this mixture staining, but I'll report if I find anything.

I added tea tree and sweet orange essential oils. Just a few drops each. I'm really digging the smell. I even let Rob smell it and he liked it.

I'm hoping I like it! I'll report back with my findings later. I may also see if I can get Rob to try a version. I know men get a little defensive about their deodorant though. I don't blame them because I know when his deodorant isn't working, his pits get a little offensive.

Also, a lot of anecdotal evidence says that your body will likely go through an adjustment period. Kind of like when you drop the shampoo thing (which I plan on trying after I'm done being pregnant).

Crossing my fingers for a good experience!