Why I love prefolds

You know how even though you love them all, all of the time, some days you sort of like one your kids just a little bit more than the others? (Don't even pretend this isn't true, unless all of your kids are under age three, in which case it just isn't true YET.)

Well, this is how I feel about my cloth diapers. They're all lovable, but some days - depending on my mood and how the poop is going in my house - I like some more than others. (Should I stop here and apologize for constantly talking about poop? This is primarily a cloth diapering blog, so you're okay with that, right? Good.)

Today, I was in a prefolds sort of mood, and let me tell you all of the reasons why:

1. I really am not in a good laundry place this week (had tons of company and therefore tons of extra laundry last week), and cotton prefolds are among the most forgiving of diapers when you are trying to stretch your washing routine beyond the usual every 2 days or so that many diapers require. Everyone's experience is unique, but my prefolds are completely agreeable to being washed just every 4 days or so. That means laundry only twice a week (or a little less), and every once in a while I just need that break.

2. Due to aforementioned laundry issues, I have a pretty random collection of covers clean right now... some pockets, some snapping Flips, some velcro-ing Bummis covers. Guess what! My prefolds work with all of them.

3. We were out and about a lot today, which means the Peanut was going a little longer than usual between changes. Another reason to love prefolds: they can hold an amazing volume of wee-wee. I'm not saying one should strive to stretch out the time between changes, but when you know it's going to be a little longer than you'd like, a prefold with a fleece liner to keep a stay-dry feel against baby's skin is an absolute recipe for success.

4. I also had the chance to give a fluffy little gift to a dear friend's new baby today, so I made her a diaper cake with 8 prefolds, 2 covers and a bunch of wipes. For a bunch of reasons, I think prefolds make a fantastic gift for someone who's never used cloth: the laundry and poop care are pretty easy with prefolds, they're super absorbent so your friends won't be daunted by leaks while getting used to cloth, they're inexpensive which allows you give a decent stash of prefolds without breaking the bank, and - if all else fails and she simply doesn't want to use cloth - they can easily be re-purposed for other baby and household uses.

5. And finally - I love a fluffy baby butt. I do. I admit it. Some people like diapers that give a nice trim look, but I like a puffy little bottom that shows off to the world that we are a cloth diapering family.

So. Those are the five big reasons why I love my prefolds. In closing, let me pay prefolds a tremendous metaphorical compliment: Prefolds are the Ellen DeGeneres of diapers (have I ever told you how much I love Ellen?). They are low maintenance, they get along well with everyone, they put on a great show, they make even the newest visitor feel right at home, and they love to dance (anything that makes a bottom as big and fluffy as a prefold can must love to dance, right?).

And that's why for today, prefolds are my favorite diaper!

My Favorite Cloth Diaper

Someone asked me recently which cloth diaper is my favorite. I laughed and replied, "That's like asking me which of my kids is my favorite!"

Maybe it's not exactly like that, but I went on to explain that while for any given moment - time of day, home or traveling, special outfit, laundry day, overnight, etc. - I might have a favorite, I couldn't single out one diaper as being the all-around "best."

When I told this to my husband, he insisted that I missed a great sales opportunity during that conversation, but I think the opposite is true. If I'm going to convert someone to cloth diapers, I want her to know that while there isn't really a single perfect-all-the-time-on-every-baby diaper, there is definitely a perfect for cloth diaper for every moment of your baby's day.

Cloth diapering does involve a little bit of trial and error. I want people to expect that because otherwise they'll encounter some little snafu, think "this is never going to work for me!" and end up a sad tale like my failed first attempt at cloth diapering.

That's why (except for newborn diapers, which I'll address in another post) I almost always recommend parents begin their cloth diapering adventures by trying three different types of modern cloth diapers for a few days, getting a feel for what works best for their babies and lifestyles, and then begin to build a complete stash of fluffy goodness. Cloth diapers can be a fantastic money-saving investment that will last through baby- and toddler-hood, but only if you're actually using them, you know.

So. (I do this "so" thing a lot - have you noticed?)

Here's what I'm going to do. I'm going to start a series of blog posts tagged "my favorite cloth diaper," and I'll write about all the different situations in which I have a favorite diaper and why. In the end, I might write a post about which diaper I think is closest to my perfect-all-the-time-on-every-baby (to please Mr. Indulgent, naturally), but I'm not making any promises. My goal with this series is to help those new to or considering cloth understand in which circumstances a diaper will succeed (or fail), so you can find your own perfect diapers.

Hope you enjoy the series, and definitely let m e know along the way when you agree or disagree with my favorites!

If at first you don't succeed... Part Two

If you haven't seen it yet, you might want to read my previous post about why cloth diapering didn't work for me the first time around. It's a sad, sad tale of fifteen fabulous fluffy diapers that went unused for a long time.

Don't worry, this tale has a happy ending.

I don't remember exactly what prompted me to pull out the pile of fluffy goodness again when the Peanut was about four months old. It had been about a year and a half since I'd used cloth on the Pumpkin, but once again I think I'd gotten into a pretty good routine and was looking to try something new. Using cloth on the Peanut was new! Probably because she was so much smaller than the Pumpkin had been, I immediately got a great fit with our BumGenius diapers, and I don't recall having any leaks. I also discovered that cloth diapers do a wayyyy better job of containing little-baby poopsplosions than disposables do. Encouraged, I quickly got into the routine of using cloth full-time.

With a family of four (plus a big messy dog), laundry was pretty much a daily event in our house already, so working in diapers wasn't a challenge. It also helped that my washing machine now had an automatic "second rinse" feature that saved me the step of resetting it manually. (We'd moved into a new house the previous year.)

Then - bam! Routine interruptus. I broke my foot, and I couldn't walk down to the basement where our laundry was. Two very kind and helpful grandmoms immediately stepped in to help take care of us, but I didn't want to burden them with an additional work, so we went back to disposables during my recuperation.

But as every misfortune should, mine had a silver lining. When my foot healed, and I could walk, carry a baby and (joy of joys!) do my own laundry again (okay, it wasn't really a joy, but trust me I was glad I could do it), I was almost overwhelmed by how EASY cloth diapering suddenly seemed. I'd spent the last two months practically housebound and relying on strategically timed orders from diapers.com to keep stocked with diapering essentials. Being able to walk to the basement and just toss some diapers in the wash seemed blissfully simple.

That, I think, was when I really fell in love with cloth diapers.

Naturally I pursued my love around the clock, and since I'd only been able to shop for cloth diapers online (I'd recently added a few Flip Organic Cotton Diapers to my stash), imagine my happiness when I found a diaper store - an actual brick and mortar, stuffed-to-the-roof-with-fluff, cloth diaper store - just an hour away. I packed up the kids, and headed up to the big city. I was the proverbial kid in a candy store. (What? There isn't a proverb about candy stores? Whatever. You get the idea.) This was my first time seeing, touching, talking to an actual live human being about diapering options. So exciting. I worked up the courage to buy a pack of prefolds and an irresistably cute Bummis Super Whisper Wrap, plus a bamboo fitted diaper.

My newly expanded stash of diapers helped me to realize that for any time of day, any place, any outfit - any baby - there is a perfect cloth diapering solution out there. It just takes a little effort to find it sometimes.

Hopefully this blog will help some other cloth-lovers find their perfect diapers too! Tell me. Have you tried cloth? If so - what's been your favorite diapering moment? If not - what's holding you back from trying cloth?

One-Size Diapers and the Incredible Shrinking Baby

A big portion of my diaper stash consists of BumGenius 3.0s. I have maybe a dozen of them. They were my first cloth diapers - my gateway diapers, I call them because they started my addiction. My BG's are the one-size pocket diapers, and I love them for a bunch of reasons - the super-soft stay-dry suedecloth (fleece) lining inside, the fact that I can completely customize the absorbency with different inserts, and the way they hold in the absolute messiest of messes. And today I found another reason to love them: My baby shrank and they still fit perfectly!

Okay, she didn't actually shrink. She's 16 months old and growing like a weed, but her super-chubby baby thighs are quickly becoming kinda-chubby toddler thighs, and I was starting to notice gaps between her legs and the diaper elastic. Since these are my main overnight diapers, leaks from those gaps would really, really suck.

Peanut has been on the highest rise setting on these diapers since she was five months old, and I assumed that - like my son who used them before her - would just keep growing up and out. So imagine my surprise when I snapped the diapers down a size and found that they again fit her perfectly! The rise comes up just below her belly button, and the elastic is snug but not tight around her legs. There's a tiny bit more effort required to keep the front flat when fastening the velcro, but overall, the fit is great, and I am reminded why I love one-size diapers!

Moral of the story: Babies grow in weird ways, and it's great to have some diapers that can grow (or shrink) along with them!

Night-weaning, NPR and trying not to screw up my kids

My Peanut is sixteen months old now.* She's still nursing. A lot. At night. And I'm tired. Very, very tired. Her road to solid food and cow's milk has been bumpy because she has food allergies, so we've been super-cautious about introducing new foods to her, which means it took a while for her to have a food diet adequate for weaning at night. That, and I am a total softy who can't bear to make my baby cry. And when she doesn't get her "mook" she cries that heartbreaking cry that sounds a lot more like a baby than a toddler. Did I mention that I'm a softy?

Well, I am. I nurse and sleep with my babies. I hate to be away from them, especially at night when they're sleepy and snuggly and all that good stuff. The Pumpkin's not a baby anymore, but he got a full 22 months of nursing and nighttime snuggling before he was weaned and shipped off to his own room. The Pumpkin, of course, was a preemie, and those of you who've endured time as a NICU parent will understand without me explaining why I wasn't willing to let my heart-monitor-free baby sleep more than four inches away from me.

The Peanut, born full term and a second baby, hasn't a snowball's chance of making it to 22 months in my bed. I mean, let's be honest. A lot of the indulgences we give to a first baby simply can not be repeated when you're managing more than one kid and trying to maintain some small segment of your own sanity.

I fret over this. I fret that I am failing my baby because she doesn't get enough sleep because she won't sleep alone. On the other hand, I fret that if I force her to sleep alone the Peanut will cry herself to sleep, convinced that I don't love her, and eventually turn to a life of drugs and crime.

I also fret that I'm shortchanging the Pumpkin, who never gets a morning alone with mommy, or a chance to climb into my bed and snuggle without a nursing toddler between us. Naturally I see the possibility that these circumstances could also lead to a life of drugs and crime.

And I fret that Mr. Indulgent, so named for his willingness to indulge my whims - up to and including 40 (and counting) months of baby bed-sharing, is perhaps getting a little tired of this particular whim and - you guessed it - contemplating how much more sleep he'd get if only he lived a life of drugs and crime.

So here I am, fretting away about these things while I listen to the second hour of On Point on NPR, which is always devoted to some random artsy-literary work. Today it's an interview with Poser: My Life in 23 Poses author Claire Dederer. Ms. Dederer also was prone to excessive fretting, until she discovered yoga.

I've already discovered yoga, and what I discovered was that I really suck at yoga.

But what Ms. Dederer (oh, heck, let's call her Claire) discovered while discovering yoga is the "nobody's perfect" cliche applies perfectly to yoga. And to motherhood. And to strive to do either just right is to push away the satisfaction and even the joy that comes from each.

So.

(A little dramatic, yes? Likening night-weaning and moving my toddler to her own cozy little crib to an interruption in my quest for parental perfection... Stick with me here.)

Here's what I got and what I needed from listening to Claire: Not just permission, but a mandate to risk failure now and again. Hey, maybe the Peanut will turn to drugs and crime as a result of abrupt night-weaning at the tender age of eighteen months! But dammit, at least she won't be blaming her Stepford-wife, striving-for-endless-perfection mommy for it.

Eh, I know, it's a reach. Sometimes I just need a reminder that all this stuff that seems so big and important really is not going to screw up my kids. Any more than kids should be screwed up, that is.

*Okay, she's now almost 18 months. I edited this post for two months. I told you I'm tired!

Dealing with (major) diaper rash

At my house we're currently battling a pretty bad bottom rash. The Peanut has food allergies, and every once in a while something sneaks by us, and she ends up sad and rashy. One of the occasional challenges of cloth diapering is finding the right solution for diaper rashes. Most popular rash ointments (um, kind of hate that word, not sure why) include ingredients that will result in leaks and/or stains when used with cloth diapers, especially synthetic fiber diapers.

Here's why: most zinc oxide creams and a lot of other diaper potions (like how I'm avoiding that "o" word?) contain oils that have a melting temperature that is higher than the temperatures you use to wash your diapers. That means the oils will build up on your diapers, causing them to become water (and pee) repellent and possibly stained.

So what to do?

Fear not. You have two easy choices.

1. Choose a cloth-friendly diaper cream (they're made with oils with a low melting temperature). Popular choices include CJ's BUTTer and California Baby Diaper Rash Cream. I've personally used California Baby, and I like it for mild rashes.

2. When you've got a serious rash and you need to go hard-core butt cream, make sure to use a liner or something in between your baby's bum and your diapers. I like Bummis BioSoft Flushable Liners. Before I found those, I used to use some little cut-up scraps of an inexpensive Gerber flat diaper. The catch-22 with this option is that the liner itself will hold some moisture against your baby's skin, so you'll need to make sure to be a little generous with the cream. Also, if you like to go the reusable route, make sure to wash the liners separately from your diapers.

Another important thing to remember about all rash creams is that the baby's skin needs to be really dry before you apply them. Otherwise, you're sealing the irritating moisture in, not blocking it out. When you're trying to let your baby's skin get nice and dry after a change, cloth diapers offer you a great option. Try letting her run around in just a fitted diaper without a cover (or a Snappi'd prefold ONLY if you're going to keep a close eye on her - the Snappi can pose a choking hazard if it comes off the diaper). A soft, cozy cotton or bamboo fitted will prevent puddles on your floor while letting baby's skin get nice and dry - something disposables could never do! After a few minutes, you can change her into whatever diaper you intend to use (or just put on the diaper cover).

So while I will wish you a rash-free cloth diapering experience, in the likely event that wish doesn't pan out, I also will wish you a ready supply of cloth diaper-friendly butt creams and flushable liners.

Good luck!

If at first you don't succeed... Part One

I wanted to talk a little bit about how I first got into cloth diapering because - gasp! dirty little secret! - my first try was pretty much a failure, and it's probably a pretty good case study of what not to do when you first start cloth diapering.

First, why did I start cloth diapering? Long story short, I thought they were cute. The Pumpkin was almost a year old, and I (as much as one ever does) had the mommy thing down, so I was ready to try something new. Plus, I always hated the characters that were all over disposable diapers, and when I discovered that there were these lovely, character-free diapers out there, I was all over trying cloth.

Another member of a moms' board I frequented used cloth (BumGenius 3.0s), and she raved about them - how easy and functional they were, how green, and how much money she saved using cloth. Knowing no one else who used cloth, I ordered three BG's to check them out (there were no retail stores anywhere near me), loved them (the colors, the ease-of-use, the fluffy bum), and ordered a dozen more.

I then found myself with fifteen pocket diapers, a modicum of cloth diapering know-how, and a baby who, it turns out, is a VERY heavy wetter.

We started with leaks at night, so I went back to overnight disposables. (Did I mention we were cosleeping? Yeah, good times when you wake up in a puddle of baby pee!) For me, having disposables in the house was like having a house full of cookies when I'm trying to lose weight. I was trying to make this change to cloth, but every time something went wrong I used a disposable instead of trying to identify the problem.

It also didn't help that I'd taken a one-size-fits-all approach to cloth. The BumGenius diapers that I bought during that time were fantastic - they are still a big part of my diaper stash, but I've since learned that for many babies different times require different diapers. And it's just a little harder to find the right solution for some babies, especially for overnights. (I think baby boys can be particularly challenging at first because gravity is not exactly working in your favor when they pee!)

So long story short... the nighttime leaks turned into part-time diapering which turned into cloth not becoming part of my daily routine which about four months later turned into a big pile of fluffy goodness sitting unused in a basket under my changing table. So sad, right? Luckily, the Peanut came along eventually, and I tried again with much more success. (More to come on that next time.)

So how about you? Have you tried and failed to use cloth before? Did you go back, and if so - how? Please share your story!

The Dreaded Tummy Bug and a Silver Lining

This is going to be a short post, I think, because I'm just getting back into the swing of things after an eleven day productivity hiatus. Seriously, eleven freakin' days! (Is "freakin'" too offensive for blogging? Hope not, but sorry, I'm new.) Anyway, everybody in the house was hit with a miserable tummy bug. It started with the Pumpkin two Wednesdays ago, and because three-year-olds have a sort of weak sense of hygiene, managed to take each of us down one by one. I swear even my dog threw up one day.

Amidst all the, uh, mess I learned two valuable things: 1) It is a complete waste of time to wipe down every hard surface in the house with disinfectant wipes twice a day. The bug will still get me. And 2) In times of digestive distress, cloth diapers will absolutely save you time, effort and money. Let me explain.

Without going into detail, I will just tell you that the Peanut's output has been something unholy for a few days. We are talking the kind of dirty diaper that would shoot up the back and out the legs in seconds - sort of like a newborn's poopsplosions. Each of those blowouts, if she were wearing a disposable diaper, would have resulted in completely soiled clothing, furniture or worse. Worse being mommy's lap. Maybe it would have been so bad that I would have stripped her naked and actually thrown away the outfit, rather than dealt with trying to clean it. (I confess to having done this once when the Pumpkin was a newborn and I was still afraid of poop.) Or maybe things would have been stained and ruined or whatever. All perfectly plausible scenarios, right?

But none of that happened because the Peanut wears cloth diapers, and most cloth diapers have this fabulously sturdy elastic at both the legs AND the waist.  These diapers contained some serious, superfluous messes. And while I won't tell you cleanup was super-easy, it was way easier than it would have been otherwise. No trash, no poopy clothes in my regular laundry, no lap carnage. Just some particularly messy diapers that I washed at the end of each day (adding a tiny bit of bleach to kill the misery-causing virus).

So to finish, here are a few tips for cloth diapering families when you find yourself (or your kiddos) on the wrong side of the Dreaded Tummy Bug:
1. Stick with cloth. You might end up doing your diaper laundry more often (every day instead of every 2 or 3 days), but you will save yourself time and effort by keeping clothes and linens clean.
2. Make sure your diapers and covers are fitting snugly at the legs. I recently resized my one-size diapers (see previous post), and boy was I glad. Gaps at the legs will undo all of the mess-containing magic that is the modern cloth diaper.
3. Skip the flushable/disposable liners. If your baby has it badly enough that you're not dealing with actual solid matter in her #2s, the liner is just going to be a gross little mess to deal with. (I do otherwise love them though.)
4. Look for covers with leg gussets. They'll give you an extra layer of protection from blowouts. I like Bummis SuperBrites for this reason. I also have a Thirsties wrap, which is great around the legs (though this very popular cover doesn't fit my Peanut well at the top).
5. Stick with the basics. I found myself reaching for my (Bummis brand) organic cotton prefolds over and over this week (I only have six of them!), doing a ""bikini twist" or "poop pouch" fold with them, and fastening with a Snappi. Why? They are crazy-super absorbent, they don't stain or hold stink, and they are soft against irritated skin.

Okay, so it turned out not to be such a short post, but I am feeling better for having found a silver lining in the misery that was last week. Stay healthy, y'all!

Oh, the pressure.

I've long been an aspiring blogger, but like a lot of WAHM/SAHMs, I live life in fits and spurts between nursings/wakings/tantrums/dinner/wine/laundry/dishes/important reality TV shows and all that good stuff. Cutie Booties is just barely off the ground, and I spend a lot of time working the social networking world, trying to find my place among all these super-talented, interesting, funny women who have long since moved past aspiring and onto actual blogging.

So. Tonight I'm on twitter following a chat hosted by one of my favorite bloggers The Eco Chic and another of the super-talented, interesting women Mommy Doodles, and what do I find myself the lucky winner of? A COMPLETE BLOG MAKEOVER by Mommy Doodles! Seriously. Now I really need to move past aspiring, right?

Well, here's the plan: This blog is devoted to helping families make (and love!) the switch to modern cloth diapers. I'll write about diapers. I'll write about using diapers. I'll write about how to keep your husband/mother/babysitter from freaking out when your baby massively poops in aforementioned diapers. Modern cloth diapers are way easier and more fun than you expect. Hopefully this blog will be too.