How I Cloth Diaper

One of the reasons that I started blogging was to give others inspiration for projects just like I gain inspiration from other blogs.  While this is not a diy or craft project ,I thought I would share it since I thought it might inspire someone else to try cloth diapering.  I spent a lot of time researching cloth diapering before our daughter was born and I will post some links to the most helpful resources for me at the end of this post.  

I started cloth diapers with Lyla about 3 weeks ago.  I could of started earlier because she fit in them around 4 weeks but the first 6 weeks were a little overwhelming to me so I had to wait until I felt like I had everything else in control.  Cloth diapering, as it turns out is really quite easy and the transition from disposable to cloth has been a breeze.

Type of Diapers

I decided to go with Bumgenius diapers for several reasons.  First of all, they get good reviews overall and they look and feel like they are well-made.  Secondly, they are easy to find and several places in town sale them.  About half of our stash came from Amazon and the rest came from a local baby boutique and Buy Buy Baby. 

There are several types of Bumgenius.  We decided to buy the one size diapers in the 4.0 pocket diapers and Freetimes.  The pocket ones are my favorite so far.  One size diapers are nice because they have a series of snaps so that you can adjust the size of the diaper as your child grows.  They are too big for most newborns so that is why we didn't start with them right away.  They also make one size diapers with velcro but I imagine that the snaps will last a lot longer.

As you can see the pocket diaper consists of an insert and a cover with a pocket for the insert.

This is a Freetime, which is an AIO (all-in-one) diaper so the absorbent pieces are actually sewn to the cover.  I also have one Elemental AIO which is very similar to the Freetime but the absorbent material is organic cotton instead of microfiber.  They are much trimmer but take long time to dry.

I currently have 25 diapers in my stash.  Since I like the pocket style the best, I have 18 of those.

The Diapering Process

Changing diapers with cloth is pretty much the same as changing disposable diapers at this point. Breastfed baby poop is water soluble so everything goes right in the diaper pail and straight into the wash from there.  With the pocket diapers you also have to remove the pocket before you throw it in the diaper pail.  That may seem like a gross task but I have a cool product that makes it a little less gross.

The are called diaper dawgs and they are little silicone things that slip over your fingers so you don't have to actually touch the insert.  Everything goes in a stainless steel trash can that is lined with a waterproof liner.

Planet Wise Reusable Diaper Pail Liner

You can also see in the picture above the cloth wipes that I made which I detailed in this post. I put about 12 wipes in a wipe warmer at a time and then put about a cup of water with a few drops of tea tree oil over the wipes to moisten them.  The tea tree oil helps to keep the wipes fresh.

My daughter hasn't had much of a problem with diaper rash since I started using cloth diapers but it is important to note that most diaper rash creams should not be used with cloth diapers since they will interfere with the absorbency of the diapers.  There are cloth diaper safe diaper rash solutions and this is the one I use:

Motherlove Diaper Rash and Thrush

Laundering the Diapers

Laundering the diapers was the part of the cloth diapering process that I was most apprehensive about but it turns out that until she starts eating solid foods it is really a piece of cake.  When the diaper pail is full, which is about every 3rd day, I take the liner out of the pail and dump the diapers in the washer and then throw in the liner as well (I have 2 of them).  I throw in two scoops of this detergent:

Rockin' Green Classic Rock Unscented

I then run a cold rinse cycle followed by a full cycle with hot water and a cold rinse at the end.  I hang dry the covers of the pocket diapers and the cloth wipes, diaper pail liner, and pocket diaper inserts go in the dryer.  The Freetimes have to be hung to dry and take longer to dry since the absorbent part is attached to the diaper.  I live in North Dakota where it is often too cold to line dry things outside so this is my solution for drying the diaper covers:

Whitmor Clip and Drip Hanger

I usually start this process in the evening so that the covers can hang dry overnight and then in the morning I stuff the inserts in the covers and put them back on the shelf.  It seems intensive but the actual time I spend in the basement next to the washer and dryer is minimal at this point.

Above is a lovely staged picture of me stuffing a diaper.  I actually have my nails painted for once. So this is completely off topic, but Essie Gel Setter Top Coat is my new favorite top coat.  You can't tell from the picture but my nails are super shiny.  I have done many activities since painting them which normally cause me to end up with chipped nails and there are no chips!  But I digress, back to cloth diapering.

Other Miscellaneous Things

I carry one diaper with me in the diaper bag in case I need to change a diaper when we are out and about.  When I plan to go somewhere where I know I'll be changing a diaper, I tend to put her in a Freetime because then I don't have to worry about unstuffing a diaper while we are out.  I have this wet bag in my diaper bag for the diapers:

Planet Wise Wet Diaper Bag

I am ashamed to admit this but I know this thing works well because I once left a dirty disposable diaper in there for a week and I couldn't smell it at all in the diaper bag.

For out of town trips, we just use disposable diapers.  When I go back to work in November, I will only be cloth diapering part time until summer since her daycare will only do disposable diapers.

The 4.0 pocket diapers came with newborn inserts as well as adjustable inserts.  For nights I use a pocket diaper with a regular insert and one newborn insert since I don't change her diaper at all overnight.  She doesn't sleep through the night yet but I try as hard as I can not to wake her up too much during her late night (well really early morning) feeding and changing her diaper would wake he up completely.  

So far I have only had one leak over with cloth diapers and no blowouts.  With disposables we usually had 1 to 2 blowouts a week so this has been nice so far.  

Resources That I Found Helpful

1. Young House Love: Using Cloth Diapers
2. McBaby Bump: Cloth Diapering-My System

3. The Healthy Honeys: 10 Ways to Ruin Your Cloth Diapers
4. Life's a Jornie with the Joneses: Modern Cloth Diapering-A Complete Guide
5. View Along the Way: Cloth Diapering 101
6. And finally this e-book: Confessions of a Cloth Diaper Convert

Headband Holder

Part of the fun of having a little girl is being able to dress her up.  My little one has already accumulated quite the collection of headbands. I was storing them in a tray in one of the drawers of her dresser but since it was filling up quickly I decided to find a new storage solution.  I love to find fun ways to store accessories as evidenced by previous blog posts.

Scarf and Necklace Storage

Earring Display

Bracelet Holder

This project is very similar to the bracelet holder that I made a little over a year ago. For the bracelet holder I used a cardboard tube from the vinyl for my Silhouette Portrait and for this project I used a cardboard oat container

I used wood pieces from Hobby Lobby for the base and top. I decided to cover the oat container in burlap.  I decided to add a stenciled design with coral paint which was inspired by this project:

Stenciled Storage Boxes

I used the flower stencil (burlap storage box above) which I made using a transparency sheet for an overhead projector and my Silhouette Portrait.  You can find out how I made the stencils in this blog post.

I was a little bit concerned that it would look weird because the design isn't symmetrical so when I moved the stencil I couldn't line up the flowers perfectly but I think it turned out just fine.

I sprayed the fabric with spray adhesive and then attached it to the oat container. I tucked the extra fabric on the top and bottom inside the container.  

I then glued my wood pieces together with liquid nails.  For the base I used two round plaques with a candle holder sandwiched between.  For the top I use another round plaque and a finial on top.  I got the idea for this from this post from the blog The Good Life.

Then I painted the base and the top with a vintage white craft paint.  Next I attached the base and the top to the oat container with liquid nails.  One thing that I wish I would of done is to put something inside the oat container to weigh it down a little bit before attaching the top,  The holder is a little light even with the wood base and top.

Finally, I glued some lace ribbon at the top and bottom of the oat container to add a little more decoration to the holder.

Well that's all there was to it.  It was a very cheap project as I already had many of the supplies on hand.  I think I completed it for under $10.  

Monthly Baby Photos

We had Lyla's newborn photos taken professionally at 2.5 weeks and I absolutely love the way they turned out.  I definitely plan on having professional photos taken again at 1 year but I also wanted to get in on the monthly baby photo trend.  The most common monthly photos in this trend have been of the baby in a onesie with the month on it but I wanted to do something a little different.

I love all things vintage and since her nursery has a vintage travel theme, I thought it would be fun to incorporate that into her monthly photos.  The vision of a vintage suitcase and ivory and burlap came to me.  I found the suitcase at a local antique mall.  I knew it would go perfectly with the burlap and lace bunting that I made.

I placed an ivory chevron blanket that I found with the dorm bedding at Target over an under-the-bed storage box.  I put a burlap runner over that. Then I placed a shoebox in the suitcase and put some ivory rose minky fabric from fabric.com over the suitcase and shoebox.  The bead board plaque is from Michael's.  Oh and the cute little dress is from Gap Kids.  I also found some things at Hobby Lobby and made her a cute headband for the photos.

I mean the dress has a kitten on it, how adorable is that! And who doesn't love a giant flower on a baby girl's head? As you can see the plaque moved around I few times until I found the right placement.  I used my photo editing software to write "1 month" on the plaque.  As she grows older, I imagine her actually sitting in the suitcase.  It will be so cute!  Well that is it for my short post on my idea for Lyla's monthly baby photos.  I will leave you with one more photo of my daughter hamming it up for the camera though!