Flats challenge Day 3!

Yesterday went MUCH smoother than the first day. We were gone most of the morning and I planned for a leak, but that padfolded swaddlebees flat held for 2 1/2 hours no problem. In fact, I actually gave them all a better run and she only went through 7+1 gerber as a doubler. Now, I will admit she wore a disposable to bed last night. DH got her out of the bath and put it on her and I wasn't going to go switching it (he gets a little offended when I do that). Kim said we could use our regular night time set up... I did one load of laundry this morning. In the wonder wash, we can do a wash cycle (I rinse them all as they come off of her and put them straight into the washer) and a rinse cycle to get the bubbles out in about 7 minutes. DD1 actually did it all today, she likes turning the handle. Fine with me!!

Yesterday's poop was exactly the same as day #1. I got smart and used a FLUSHABLE liner (woohoo!) so that turd went down the toilet. Awesome. No rinsing required. Although the cover retained some of the poop smell, so I hand washed it in the sink w/ dish soap.

This it the only picture you get today. The 7 flats drying on our back porch. Because of super strict HOA covenants, we aren't allowed to have a line. I'm not sure THIS is even allowed, but I kind of hit it behind the trampoline, so unless someone is super nosey, I doubt anyone will notice.

Flat challenge Day 2!!

So yesterday went perfectly except for the 1 leak with the weehugger cover. Because of that, I've decided to swap it out with another econobum cover.

We did laundry last night at about 5 PM. At that count, there were 10 flats in the wonder wash. This morning, I decided to get caught up again and there were another 7 in rotation. 17 diapers in 24 hours. Granted, she was coverless most of the day and I double diapered her several times but 17 diapers! Wow!! I would suggest to anyone planning to do this full time to have at LEAST 2-3 dozen in rotation.

We had one poop. I have been using home made fleece liners and I will admit I threw that one away. DD's BM was the consistency of warm chunky peanut butter and I did not feel like dunking and swishing it off a liner that cost me $.02.

For night time last night, I double diapered her in 2 tinybirds colorgrown organic flats, an additional colorgrown organic cotton doubler and a HUGE fleece liner under a kissaluvs wool lover diaper cover. She woke up completely...........................dry??? Whaaaa?? Ok, I wasn't expecting that at all. Since the wool cover is not part of my 5 cover rotation, I changed her into a padfolded flat and econobum to take DS to school.

So here's a short video clip of my 5 year old helping wash the diapers in our wonder washer. I'm not sure how much more effective this is than washing them in the sink, but she thinks it's fun. Please excuse the color of my bathtub, I haven't bleached it after a dye project I completed...

Day 1-Flats challenge

DD usually wears a disposable at night. I tried for years with my other 2 to find an adequate solution that didn't smell like a barnyard or a hamster cage in the morning and decided that for this little one, I wasn't going to bother. I have not regretted it at all.

She woke up with a green runny nose this morning, thanks to her older brother, so that makes this even more challenging. Sick baby=extra nursing= wetter diapers.

Well, we changed her out of the last disposable of the week and into our first combo. A pad folded swaddlebees flat inside a FLIP cover. Trim, and the absorbency was where she needed it. She tends to wet a TON in the mornings.













Our second was a pad folded swaddlebees flat in a weehugger cover. This was a fail and I'm not sure why. We've used it before. The only thing I can think of was the onesie she was wearing wicked moisture out her leg because when she woke up from her nap she was SOAKED. Here she is, mid sneeze :( Poor bug.













So we're down 1 cover and needed a change of clothes.

Flat #3 is a "burp cloth" from Ikea, kite folded and the legs are jelly rolled. Trim but not super absorbent. I'll probably have to change her again in about 20 minutes. No cover. I'm letting her air out.












The stash and covers:

I've narrowed it down!

Ok, I've got myself down to 30 flats (some I have to double because DD2 is a heavy wetter) and 5 covers. The covers we'll be using are:
Grovia (for padfolding)
Flip w/ aplix
Thirsties duo size 2 w/ aplix
Econobum *second quality* from cottonbabies.com
Weehugger with snaps *second quality* from swaddlebees.com

I am fortunate enough to have a wonder washer handy (we bought it for our emergency supply stuff) and so I will be using it for the washing instead of a camp style washer. I need to learn how to work it anyway.

Stay tuned for some pictures as we get started!

Oh, and I just realized that we MIGHT be traveling the weekend of the 30th, so this really might end up being quite challenging...we'll see!

Flats and handwashing "challenge"

Kim from http://dirtydiaperlaundry.com/ has called for a challenge to Cloth diapering moms. To use only flats and 5 covers for 1 week and *gulp* HANDWASH them.

There are many mothers out there struggling to diaper their babies because of difficult financial situations. They have resorted to drying out disposables and reusing, or keeping their baby in the same diaper until they have a bowel movement. As you can imagine, this practice is not only unsanitary, but also baby for baby! So Kim had an idea. Show moms out there that handwashing a small stash of flats is possible.

Or is it?

I'm still trying to decide which of my 5 covers to use. I also need to get a plunger to set up a camp style wash. I'm good on flats.

Wish me luck! I'll be blogging a lot in the next week!

Need your imput!

Hey out there! I need some ideas! What would you like to see here?

Diaper bag reviews? Cover reviews? How to fold a flat? Suggestions on inexpensive ways to start a stash?

Hit me with ideas! I want to cover what YOU want to know!

Disposable inserts in their non-intended covers...

This past week we took one last trip "home". I had several extras of each of the disposable inserts, and a few huggies natural disposables leftover from previous trips so I decided to use 'em all up before opening up any new packages.

Right now, DD is nearing 13 pounds. She has short, deliciously chubby legs that are prone to red marks. For her, the FLIP covers and Gpants work best. She gets wicked red marks with the grobaby, but they don't seem to bother her and disappear within 2 diaper changes. That said, they are the last I grab.

I took 6 FLIP covers and the disposable inserts, as well as 1 thirsties DUO size 1, 1 grobaby and 1 Gpant.
What works best are FLIP covers w/ Gflushies, FLIP w/ biosoakers (best poop containment) and thirsties w/ Gflushies. The FLIP disposables aren't very good, but I heard they are redesigning them to make them wider. I'm excited to try that out because they are very soft.
Biosoakers are the best disposable insert for poop containment because of the gussets. When DD pooped w/ the gflushies, it always got on the cover. While the inside of the FLIP is wipe-able, the leg casing is not and we had to either hand wash or throw in w/ another load of laundry because poop always got on that leg casing or the back flap. I air dried everything. Overall, it worked out well. The Biosoakers are an awkward fit in the Gpants, they worked well in the thirsties (in fact, all of them work well in the thirsties).

I'll try to get pictures. I'm sorry for the lack of them...3 kids home for the summer and blogging doesn't happen as often as I hoped.