What I've learned:
*Wearing cloth diapers over night can be rather humorous.
We stuff 3 pre-folds in those things for them to wear all night long, and one is folded in half and stuffed in the front. I think the trick is to get the right amount of padding up towards the front.
Quick splurge on cloth diapers:
I've tried the pre-fold system which is a pre-fold- we use Gerber- folded and placed in a diaper cover. I've really liked the thirsties. But the thirsties do have two separate sizes which kind of stinks. But they have fun colors and patterns and we haven't had troubles with leaks and blowouts.
I've also tried pocket diapers. These diapers have a pocket that you stuff a microfiber pad in and then put the diaper on. You have to change the whole diaper, pad and all, each time they fill them up. The first pockets we bought cost around $20.00 dollars a diaper. They are well made, and lined with fleece to keep your baby drier, but they're expensive so we tried to use them as part of the pre-fold system. This did not work because we had to change the whole diaper everytime no matter how we folded the pre-folds. We started just using them as they were made to be used, and we have also found way cheap ones that work great on KSL and ebay.
The above has led me to this conclusion
*Cloth diapering can be surprising enjoyable and a little overwhelming. I've learned for it to be more enjoyable, and less overwhelming, you should just go through and find patterns and colors you like- the cute diapers are what make it the most fun for me. Then just use the diapers the way they are supposed to be used. I just try to find the one size fits all diapers in colors I like.
More things I've learned as of recent.
*Not putting pants on my one year olds when I put them down for a nap, or to bed, usually results in a pint sized crib streaker. It has happened with both cloth and disposable diapers.
*If you need window shades for the car get these Munchkin one's from Wal-Mart. You get two for $5.00 and they cling to the window so little children won't be tempted to pull them off. We bought two boxes and cut them to fit our entire window. No more "Mr. Sun" interfering with our car rides- unless he comes through the wind sheild or back window.
*Always take sippy cups.
*Whoever invented the Take-n-Toss brand was a genius.
*They make trays that you can strap to forward facing car seats, and I want some.
*Bibsters are great for diaper bags.
*If I sit down and eat with my children, feeding time goes much smoother, and they eat a lot better. It also helps if I put the food on my plate first and then give them some.
*There are 5 things I must have in my bathroom: Cleaner with bleach, disinfectant spray, Clean up wipes, dish soap and Spray-n-Wash. The bleach because my boys are notorious for pooping in the tub. The disinfectant spray is mostly useful for diaper rinsing. The clean up wipes speak for themselves. The dish soap and Spray-n-Wash are for stain treatment. If the boys get their clothes dirty I take them into the bathroom scrub them with dish soap or spray them with Spray-n-Wash (or I use a 1 cup Ammonia, 1 cup water and 1/2 cup "All" laundry detergent solution) or both and then soak them in the sink.
*Sometimes the best thing to do is let the boys play in the car. They are contained and usually it's safer then whatever else they could get in to. I turn it to accessory, roll down the windows half way- if I roll them down all the way they can open the doors- and lock the doors. I only do this if we are going somewhere in a few minutes anyway.
*If there's a puddle my boys will find it, and if there is water they are drawn to it.
*A ball is the best toy for twins. As far as they know they are playing a game of catch with their brother. Even if the brother is actually just trying to get the ball himself he usually throws it again and they both are off laughing.
*Now that they are walking shoes are a must whenever we leave the house. Chances are they are going to end up walking at some point while we're out.
*The boys are way observant, and catch on very quickly. This makes it hard to out smart them- Seriously! They most recently learned that if the bottle didn't come from the micro-wave they don't want it.
*There's nothing better then a great big empty space to run around in.
*No matter what I learn, or how prepared I think I am, they are always going to surprise me.
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Hi! I don't believe I've ever commented on your blog... found you awhile back when I was pregnant with my twins. Congrats on your second pregnancy! Just wanted to drop you a quick note since I see you are using cloth. We didn't like pocket diapers either (thought the one-size pockets would be 'the' diaper for us)... just too much stuffing and they leaked more than I anticipated. I wanted to share that we came across a brand called SoftBums and really ended up loving them. They are also a one-size but have a different type of sizing mechanism, so they are a bit more trim and they also have snap-in inserts, which means you can reuse the shell a few times before washing. They do leak from time to time (I guess most cloth diapers do), but I think it's because I'm still getting used to learning how to strip them and so forth. In a given week for on child, we have maybe 3 leaky night diapers, which isn't too bad, imo. Fwiw, we use their "Super DryTouch" inserts exclusively (even during the day) for extra absorbency and change about every 3.5-4 hrs currently at almost 5 months old and have pretty good luck. Just wanted to share! I found the cloth world so daunting at first because there are soooo many choices it's overwhelming. Glad to read about your experiences too :) I'll have to check out those Bibsters now that the kids are eating solids!
ReplyDeleteThanks!
ReplyDeleteI'll have to give those diapers a try. Pockets seem like they should be more convenient. It sort of drive me crazy that you have to wash more, and when you get them washed it feels like all your work goes down the drain because you can only use them once. I'll have to look into the SoftBums.
Clothe was way overwhelming when we started looking into it. I was set on just buying these cheap covers, but my husband started searching and found all these other options. It was stressful. It's hard because you can't just walk into a store and look at the product. One lady recommended the pockets, and then a friend sold us her thirsties, and that's how we gained our experience thus far. I was shocked to find how easy it was to switch. I hope people don't get discouraged when looking into it because it's really not a hard thing to do.
We still have leaks here and there too, but nothing too horrible. It doesn't seem any worse then it was with disposables, but then again my boys seem to pee a lot.
I'll check out the Super Dry inserts too. My friend was also telling me about Hemp Doublers that work well for overnight. I feel so bad for our boys waddling around in their huge diapers at night.
Thanks for the info! Hope you're having fun with your babies!