16 Weeks, And More About Cloth Diapers and Cloth Wipes

I'm 16 weeks along as of yesterday!  Only 5 more months to go!

16 weeks along.

I'm sure my kids will really appreciate that their belly photos were almost all taken in front of the 1960s bathroom wallpaper.  Actually, I'm sure they won't even care.  One day I'll remodel that bathroom.....one day.

But for comparison, let's see how my current 16 week belly stands against my previous 16 week belly.

Hahaha nice.....NOT EVEN CLOSE.

I didn't even have maternity pants on in that pic!  Which means I was still rockin' the Bellaband.  Well, I outgrew that Bellaband LONG ago this time around!

This looks more like my current belly.  This was at 21 weeks the last time around.

So I haven't talked about cloth diapers in a while!  I guess because Delano and I got into our "groove" and haven't been having any issues.  The last time I talked about cloth diapers (besides talking about new cute ones I'd bought) was probably when Delano was between gdiaper sizes and I was working with other diaper brands I own to keep his butt covered and happy.

Once I figured out what insert combination worked best for Delano in the medium gdiapers, it was smooth sailing from there.  Though Delano still wears some of the other diapers he owns (especially these two super soft and thick handmade ones this lady made), he is almost always in a gdiaper.

I'm talking about gdiapers now (again) because friends and relatives are always interested in how they work.  If they've never seen them before, they like to check out the diapers in his diaper bag, watch me change Delano's diaper and/or ask to see the diaper collection in his room when they come over.  And I totally don't mind at all.  I love to tell people how easy cloth diapering is, especially when they think that it must be such a hassle and a chore.  And I love to tell people about how much trash I'm NOT putting into the landfill by doing it!  And by using cloth wipes.....well, that's even less trash.  :)

The newborn gdiapers aren't meant to be used with cloth inserts, so I used the biodegradable disposable inserts for the first 5 1/2 weeks of Delano's life, which is when he outgrew the newborn size and moved into size small.  There ARE newborn cloth diapers out there - loads of brands make a newborn size diaper so that you never use any disposable parts - but I opted to use the gdiapers brand because they fit him so well.

**Note:  Every baby is different, but I personally discovered that cloth diapers that claim to be newborn and up (such as for babies 7 lbs and up) were ALWAYS too big for my newborn.  Delano weighed 10 lbs before I switched him to smalls.  So if you opt for cloth diapers from the start, I personally would choose newborn-specific diapers for those first few weeks.  How do you know that you're in a newborn diaper?  If it doesn't say "newborn", then it may be labeled as "XS".  But a newborn diaper does NOT adjust for growth.....as in, there are no snaps on the front to adjust the size.

Baby in a newborn-sized cloth diaper.

Once I switched out of the newborns and into the smalls, I switched to cloth inserts.  According to the gdiaper website, one of their cloth inserts is good for "normal" use, and then you can double them up ("hemp sandwich" style) for heavy wetters or nighttime use.  Well, I discovered that a single insert was NEVER enough for Delano, so he was always doubled up.  I also discovered that gdiapers did not work for us for overnight (always a leak), so I used another type of diaper.  But the small gdiaper with two inserts worked great during the day, and Happy Heinys worked great for overnight.

Once I needed to switch from smalls to mediums, things got a little tricky for a while.  The smalls were obviously too small (too low on the belly and were starting to leak regularly), but the mediums were still too big (still gapped around his leg, so would also leak).  During this time frame, I used a bunch of other diaper brands, such as GroVia and Swaddlebees (now Blueberry).  I still use these, just not as frequently anymore.

Once Delano was big enough for the medium gdiapers, I then had to figure out the right insert combination for him.  I tried doubling up the gdiaper inserts, but this wasn't enough.  Even with the longer insert, there's a lot more space in the medium gdiaper liner pocket than there is in the smalls.  I tried mixing up some of the other brands of inserts I had, but it still wasn't quite right.  It was when I purchased the Gerber 6-ply prefold diapers at Target that things fell into place.  The 6-ply prefolds are the large, thick ones.  I already had some of the thinner ones (the 3-ply) and they weren't cutting it.  But the 6-ply were just what I needed.

Here are two gdiaper inserts.  The top one shows the the microfleece side, and the bottom one shows the opposite hemp side.

The "hemp sandwich" method happens by putting two inserts together with the hemp sides facing each other. This worked great for Delano in the small gdiapers, but it just wasn't enough in the mediums.

One of the Gerber 6-ply prefolds, unfolded.  The center area has several layers of cotton sewn together for extra absorbancy.

How I stuff a medium gdiaper:  A gdiaper insert with the hemp side facing up, then a prefold on top.  The folded over part of the prefold goes in the front of the diaper, providing even more absorbancy in the area of Delano's pee-pee.

The finished product and perfect diaper for my child.

Actually, THIS is the finished product!

So that's how I do it, in case you've wondered!

I didn't start using cloth wipes until Delano was solidly in size small diapers (I have no excuse as to why - I should have started right from the beginning), and I don't use anything fancy.  Bed, Bath & Beyond sells reusable microfiber cloths in the cleaning section - 30 wipes for $4.99.  When I found them I figured that if they sucked as baby wipes, I was only out 5 bucks.  Well, they work great!  I've only had to throw away 2 or 3 of them (when they got weird and fluffy in the dryer for whatever reason), and the rest are still going strong.  I actually just bought a second pack of them so that I'd have more as a backup, but I really could have continued to get by on just the one pack of 30.  For the wet part, I have a spray bottle mixed with water, a little bit of Dr. Bronner's baby soap (purchased at Earth Fare) and a little bit of baby oil.  I probably won't need to buy any more baby oil or Dr. Bronner's soap for the rest of my cloth wipe career, Baby #2 included!

5 bucks well spent.

I still opt for the disposable inserts for out-of-town trips (with the exception of nighttime diapers), simply because it's just easier than lugging around bags of heavy, soiled diapers (been there, done that).  Especially when laundering isn't really an option.  The inserts are biodegradable but also flushable, so I can always opt to flush them when possible.  I also opt for disposable wipes when away from home (daily diaper bag use included), though I do buy the earth-friendly biodegradable wipes that consist of basically nothing more than plant fibers and aloe.  I also try to buy the flushable ones as well.  It doesn't really make sense that I use disposable wipes as a daily diaper bag option.....I really should invest in a tiny spray bottle for the diaper bag instead, and limit my disposable wipe use to just out-of-town travel as well.

Note to self:  Add "tiny spray bottle" to shopping list.  Let's pollute even LESS.  :)

Total change of subject (and blog post wrap-up), Delano's party supplies arrived this week!  Curious George for his Nashville party, Sesame Street for his Chattanooga party.  Going to be so much fun!!

Yay!!