We have struggled making decisions about what’s best for you. Doctors want one thing, while my gut wants another. I have had to find courage in being your mother Lilly. Making my own decisions about what is best for you, and finding my voice to let those decisions be known. I have found the courage to step out of my comfort zone and nurse you in the middle of a crowded restaurant, stand up to the opinions of the world, and go against what people expect from me as your mother.

One of the scariest parts when I decided to cloth diaper was how to get and keep them clean. If you look online there is an abundance of information out there, and it can become quite the heated debate. I want to make it very clear that this is what works for our family, and that may not work for everyone. I by no means am claiming to be the know all by writing this series, I am just letting people know what we have found to work.

Storing Soiled Diapers
First I want to talk about what you do with the diaper after it comes off the butt until wash day. If it is just a pee diaper I un-stuff our diaper and put it into the diaper pail. If it is dirty I un-stuff it (if I can without getting poop on myself) throw the insert into the pail, and take the diaper to the bathroom where I use a diaper sprayer and spray pal to rinse it off. I then put the diaper into the diaper pail. You can also use a liner, and 'plop' the poo off. A lot of times this will negate the need to rinse at all. It is also important to know that if you child is EBF there is no need to rinse the diaper. Breast milk poo is water soluble and breaks down in the washer, while regular poo can clog and ruin the washer.

Washing & Drying
On wash day I take the wet bag full of my dirty diapers and empty it into the washer, I then flip the wet bag inside out and throw it in there as well. There are tons of overpriced "cloth diaper" detergents but I have found tide cheaper and way more effective.  I have never had an issue with stink or build up as long as I use an ample (typically to the max line) amount of detergent. It is very important when picking a detergent that you choose one without fabric softener, brighteners, enzymes, or scents, as this can also cause build up. For my wash cycle I set my HE front loader to the heavy duty cycle with hot water, not extra hot because that can be to hot for the PUL. I start with a prewash (my washer does this in cold), run my cycle with hot water, then set an extra rinse to make sure all the soap is washed out.
To dry my diapers I hang them on a clothes line outside. The sun exposure takes staining out and keeps them nice and white inside. My inserts I dry in the dryer like a normal load of laundry. In the chance that for whatever reason my diapers cant dry outside or on the table I will run them in the dryer on air dry, never do I expose them to heat.

Cloth Diapering Out Of The Home
When we leave the house I start by packing diapers, a wet bag, and disposable liners. Disposable liners are a liner that can be placed in the diaper closest to the babies skin. The pee goes through them but they hold poo. After use the liner can be flushed (according to packaging), but we just throw ours out. This makes dealing with poppy diapers without access to a diaper sprayer a lot easier. If I have access to a bathroom I take the liner and dispose of it then place the diaper in a wet bag. If I do not have access to a bathroom I just place the entire diaper in the wet bag and deal with it when I get home. It really is simple, and not nearly as hard as I imagined it to be.

Used Diapers & Stripping
Buying used diapers may sound disgusting, and I definitely was hesitant at first but there is a process that makes this not an issue. Stripping is the removal of build up and bacteria/germs in a diaper. This can be done for used diapers, if you have ammonia issues, your child is experiencing some sort of rash, stink, or other possible issues.
There are many ways to strip your diapers, but the easiest is with bleach. All you need to do is buy sanitizing bleach and have a place to sanitize. Either a bucket or the bathtub could work depending on how many diapers you are sanitizing. Create a water/bleach mixture according to the directions on the back of the bleach (it is a VERY small amount, so be careful), make sure to mix the water and bleach extremely well as this will prevent fading/bleaching of the colors on your diapers. Soak the diapers for at least 30 minutes to an hour. Then rinse, rinse, rinse! Then possibly rinse again, just to make sure.

Yesterday we had the April weight check and it went about as expected. Since we have been to the Doctors for Lilly being sick in the last few weeks, we had pretty much discussed what the Doctor was planning. While Lilly was sick she lost over a half pound. While in average sized babies this isn't a huge deal, for us it was a complete blow. We lost a lot of the progress we have been working so hard for. After her weight loss we moved from 22 calorie bottles to 24 calorie bottles, hoping to make up for that loss faster. The doctor wanted us to drop back down to the 22 calorie bottles after she gained the weight back, and continue with what we had been doing. This of course would mean more time pumping, so not fun.

One of the hardest parts of navigating the online world of cloth diapers is knowing what all the terms and abbreviations mean. Here are some of the most common ones used online, some of which have been covered and explained further in my previous post Pockets, Inserts, Prefolds, Oh MY!

AI2: All in Two, a type of cloth diaper.
AIO: All in One, a type of cloth diaper.
AP: Attachment Parenting
BF: Breastfeeding, can also be seen as bfing.
CD: Cloth Diapers
DD, DH, DS: These are terms used to refer to family members (dear daughter, dear husband, dear son).
Diaper Pail: Where dirty diapers are stored until wash day.
EBF: Exclusively Breastfed, this is commonly used because EBF poop does not need to be rinsed prior to wash.
EUC: Excellent used condition.
Fleece: One of the most common types of fabrics used on the inside of cloth diapers.
Fluff: This is a term used for cloth diapers. You will commonly see the term fluff mail used, which is referring to diapers ariving in the mail.
GUC: Good used condition.
Hybrid: Type of cloth diaper.
Insert: The absorbent part of a cloth diaper, usually used with pocket diapers.
One Size: A size of diaper that fit most babies from birth through potty training.
Pail Liner: This is the liner that is placed in a diaper pail to keep it clean, this is also reusable and is washed with diapers.
PIF: Pay it forward.
Pocket: A type of cloth diaper.
Prefold: An absorbant rectangle used in cloth diapering.
PUL: This is an abreviation for polyurethane laminate, this is the waterproof material that is chemically bonded to that back of fabric.
PPD: Paid packed delivered.
SAHM/SAHD: Stay at home mom. Stay at home dad.
Snappi: A brand name fastener that can be used with prefolds in place of safety pins.
Soaker: The absorbant part of a diaper, generally used with fitteds and AIO's.
Stash: Your collection of diapers.
Stripping: The removal of built up residue.
WAHM/WAHD: Work at home Mom. Work at home Dad.
Wet Bag: A reusable bag that is used to storing dirty diapers.
Wicking: Transferring liquid from one surface to another, this usually means that moisture is being pulled into the fabric away from the babies skin.

I have to admit the many types of diapers available today can be quite overwhelming. I actually had to do some research just to write this post. Hopefully this post will explain the most popular options when cloth diapering, and help you decide what is best for your family.

Pocket Diapers are what I am most familiar with. These are what I started using from the beginning. They are just what they sound like, a diaper with a pocket. You stuff the pocket with inserts to get the absorbancy level your baby needs.  There are many types of inserts, but the most common are made of these materials:

• Microfiber is one of the most common inserts for those new to cloth, as they often come stock with a new diaper. They are made of a synthetic material, absorb liquid very quickly, and are one of the cheapest insert options you can find. These inserts should never touch babies skin as the material can dry it out and cause irritation. Although these inserts are a cheaper option, they are bulkier and less effective then alternatives.
• Bamboo inserts are one of my favorite. I find I don't have to worry about how often Lilly is changed when one of these is in her diaper. They are safe to touch baby skin and wick away moisture unlike microfiber. Although these inserts absorb more liquid they absorb slowly, which is why they are often combined with something else
• Charcoal Bamboo Blend inserts give you the absorbancy of Bamboo inserts but a quicker absorbancy speed so they don't leak before the liquid absorbs..

Covers are also exactly what they sound like. They typically go over either a prefold or fitted. 

• Prefolds is the original cloth diaper. It is a rectangle with a thicker middle. There are certain folds that can be secured with safety pins or a item called snappis, or folded into thirds and used like an insert, or as a lay in.
• Fitteds are diapers that do not have a waterproof layer, meaning they need a cover. They are one of the most absorbent diapers though, as the whole diaper is made of absorbing material. They are often used as a nighttime solution for heavy wetters.

AIO stands for All in One. This is a diaper that has the absorbency sewn right into the middle where it is needed. There is no stuffing, so it is "ready to use" like a disposable. They do however take the longest to dry.

AI2 stands for All in Two. These are similar to AIO except the absorbent part either snaps in or can be laid in the diaper.

Hybrids are similar to fitters except they have a hidden layer of fleece between the outer print and the inner absorbent material. The fleece repels liquid and the inner material is able to absorb more rather than just soaking the middle and needing to change. Hybrids are more breathable than an AIO or AI2 but are not waterproof. They are often used with out a cover around the house to allow baby to "air out" a little with out worrying about messes!

Thank you for joining me for week two of my cloth diaper series. This was the hardest week to write and I want to thank my friend Miranda for helping me write it. Without her it would have been a jumbled mess. I look forward to next Fridays post about all those terms and abbreviations you see when researching cloth diapers.

I have had quite a few people ask me about cloth diapers, and this is so exciting to me! I love cloth diapering, but when we started just a few months ago I was so completely overwhelmed and I am so thankful for the few friends who walked me through it.
There are a lot of opinions out there about how you should do things when cloth diapering, and I am not saying that any of them are wrong or right. I am not an expert of cloth diapering, I just know what works for us.

There are so many benefits to cloth diapering. First is the financial savings; we noticed a difference right away! It is estimated that you will spend $2,500 on disposable diapers. Depending on what system you use for cloth, you may be spending as little as a few hundred. Another financial perk, cloth can be used for multiple children and later resold. Hello even more savings!
Cloth diapers have come such a long way, and they are not anymore work than disposables. Except for the laundry, which I honestly don't even notice. The main reason we switched and the main reason I find cloth superior to disposable is simple. Blow outs. I dont know about you but I find poo gross, even when it comes out of the cutest little bit I ever did see. But every single day without fail we had a blow out, the final straw was in the post office parking lot. It was in her socks, on my husband and on me. That night I went home and started looking into cloth. I figured if I was going to be cleaning up poop I might as well save money while cleaning it. Turns out we dont have blow outs in cloth. WIN!
There is also the factor of chemicals, the natural resources disposables absorb, and landfills. By using cloth you are doing your child a solid by not exposing them to chemicals that are linked to all sorts of nasty things. I wont get into what exactly - to controversial. But if you are anything like me, and becoming a mom has made you more were health conscious, bleght. A single disposable roughly takes 500 years to decompose, releases methane into the air which is dangerous to breathe, use 20 times more raw materials to be made, and those are just a few reasons they are toxic to our environment.

I hope this intro to cloth has you excited for what is going to come the following weeks. Join me next Monday for part two of my series on cloth - the different types of diapers.