About to give up on cloth

[acory23]

Help me! I am about to give up on cloth. Even though I have stripped them, my diapers still end up REEKING after DD pees in them. I rinse them before putting them in the diaper pail even and they stink to high heaven. She is 4 mo. and breastfed and shouldnt smell like that.

I am also having problems with night time leaks. Everyone tells me I need more absorbant dipes. I use Indian Cotton from CottonBabies. Are there more absorbant prefolds?

Am I having issues because I exclusively use prefolds? I am not a big fan of AIOs. They are too much of a pain. Pocket dipes are ok, but the way I see it is, if you have to add an insert and wash the cover after each use, why not just use prefold. Maybe its the wrong attitude to have about it but I am diapering on a tight budget as well.

i have begun using Bum Genius at night because DD is a HEAVY wetter. I tried DryBees night times but they pretty much suck. Fleece does not protect better than PUL, at least not in my opinion.

Also, I hear people say they only have to wash their covers once a week/ every two weeks. How are you doing this? DD has BLOW OUTS. Once she poops, I have to wash the cover b/c it doesnt stay in her prefold. I have 6 covers and that usually lasts me 3 days MAX. I wonder if I should NOT fasten it with a snappi and just put the diaper into the cover and use it that way. I dont know.

What am I doing wrong? I need someone to walk me through this because I dont want to give up something so wonderful. I need advise.

[dearmama22]

how frustrating, I'm sorry!!

I would suggest trying a different brand maybe? Or maybe a different detergent?

[RGsMom]

I was going to suggest trying a different detergent also. What are you currently using?

And how often do you wash your diapers. Ours aren't as bad when we are washing them more often, but if we are letting them sit longer in the pail and not washing very often, it's harder to get the stink out and it's like they have to be stripped each time if we try to wait til the 3rd day or something - which hasn't happened since we had our son and are washing 2 kids dipes now!

What kind of insert are you using for night? The SuperDo Insert is great for night time as it has fleece and microfiber. I'm sorry you didn't have any luck with the DryBees, that is what most people have had the most luck with.

I hope this gets worked out for you!

[maddymama]

Hi Mama,
A few things... when DD was a little babe, she had tons of blowouts onto the cover, but not outside the cover using prefolds. We started using a different fold (jellyroll? I think) and that helped contain alot of the mess.
Two, I'm not sure about your wash routine, but try a vinegar and salt wash about once a month. Instead of using your detergent, dissolve 1/4 cup salt in warm water, add 1/4 cup vinegar and add to the wash cycle of your machine (with the HOT water.) Regularly, we do a cold pre-soak, hot wash, cold rinse, use Tide detergent, and the salt/vinegar wash once a month and never had a stink issue. I wash dipes every other day.
You may also want to consider sunning your dipes, or tea tree oil in the wash. Many mamas swear that this helps their dipes stay super clean.
Good luck,
~maddymama

[Juliacat]

How hot is your wash water? Do you do an extra rinse before and/or after the main wash? Do you have hard water? Can you use an extra prefold for more absorbency? And 6 covers lasting 3 days max sounds about right to me.

[acory23]

I use Crunchy Clean. I used to use BioKleen which is awesome for stains but requires soooo many rinses.
I do have super hot water but I have a small, front loading HE washer. I have to run a cold rinse, hot wash, and about 3 hot rinses (which defeats the purpose of HE washers)

I rarely have blowouts outside of the cover, she generally (this seems odd) doesnt poo during the night.

I have been using Cotton Babies inserts. I have tried a triple folded prefold with the DryBees. Maybe Im doing something wrong. I def need to try the sunning thing.

[RhianaW14]

prefolds are prone to blow outs because you just cannot get a super tight leg fit.
For nights, I prefer a hemp fitted w/ an Aristocrat cover.

I think you need to take a BIG pot on the stove, boil some water and put your dipes in it to see if you can get anymore soap out. I've never had prefolds stink.

[Jojo F.]

Hey mama!!

Sunning is a must, a good boil, TTO/lavender, maybe a bit of GSE for good measure.

6 covers, if I should be so lucky! Right now I'm working with 3 PUL and a pair of wool longies. When DD has a blow out I rinse and wash the spot, hang to dry or toss in the dryer for a few minutes. MY PUL (& wool) never go through the wash.

For the blow outs, I have to say I LOVE my fitteds. It's a good day when she poos in the fitteds There is a stack of recieving blankets waiting to be sewn into fitteds in my room but, they will have to wait a bit longer.

The salt and vinegar thing I haven't tried (I don't know why, I have heard of it before) but will next time I need to strip the dipes. I like to do it about once every other month but, I use..... bleach: Prefolds can really take a beating.

For nighttime I'd have to say a good wool cover. Your good at knitting, I bet you could make some really beautiful wool wraps.

For inserts/doublers I made some microfiber doublers that work well and I really like the doubler that comes with the new GroBaby cover(you get one insert and one doubler), awsome absorbency & super thin. I only have one GroBaby, couldn't resist buying it but, really want to buy a bunch of their doublers.

After thinking it about it while I wrote this post, boiling the dipes in the salt and vinegar would be good.

Hope you are doing well

[Michigan Mama]

Just one more thought - I've never tried Crunchy Clean, and I don't know how much they recommend using for cloth, but you can really get odor from too much or from too little... just one more thing to consider.

Do you know if your diapers are regular or premium? (4x6x4 vs 4x8x4). If you aren't getting enough absorbancy, you might try switching to premium prefolds (but that's more layers to get clean)....or adding a doubler. I love my hemp doublers for day or night. At night if I use pockets, I use a combo doubler that has mf and hemp sewn together.

Good luck!

[maddymama]

Thread Hijack... Jojo F: How do you like your gro-baby? I'm preggo with #2, and am considering spending some dough on those... How do you think they would fit with a newbie? It's either going to be those or snap BG organic one size.
~maddymama

[roseselene]

Can you check the ingredients of that detergent and tell us the ingredients? I haven't heard of it. If you can let us know the ingredients it might help. I used to have HE washer and i coulodn't stand it for my diapers because i never felt like they were getting sufficiently rinsed.

As far as night time diapering -- it can be really tricky for lots of people. Don't feel alone in that. A lot of people struggle with night time diapering issues. Sometimes you have to experiment with several things until you finally find what works for you and your baby. I like the suggestion of using premium prefolds and you can even use a doubler in there.
I hope you find a good solution.
Amy

[Jojo F.]

maddymama- here is a link with more info

For a newborn, I hate to say it but, disposables were easier and less bulky. Plus, they grow so darn fast. Other then that I LOVE my GroBaby and wish I could buy more. Although, I LOVE how a fitted contains poo The GB cover and doubler are both awsome though. So ultimately I'd love to have nothing but bella bottoms fitteds, GB and SoftBums covers, GB doublers, and simple fleece liners.

Lex- sorry for the OT

[acory23]

Originally Posted by Jojo F.

For nighttime I'd have to say a good wool cover. Your good at knitting, I bet you could make some really beautiful wool wraps.

Hey mama! I havent heard from you in months. Hows the babe?

My wool soakers seem to leak for some reason. I dont know why. I lanolize the heck out of them. Maybe its the type of yarn. Ive tried a dozen different types.

Crunchy Clean is a WAHM made diaper detergent which is rated very highly among the few people who have heard of it. The ingredients are:
Sodium Bicarbonate, Sodium Carbonate, and Oxygen bleach.

It doesnt leave a residue but my stupid washer doesnt use enough water. A zillion wash cycles totally defeats the purpose of an energy saving HE washer. Its ironic, isnt it? CDing to do our part for the environment but taxing it even more because our washers are too efficient.

I need to try sunning and boiling. Unfortunately, we have had irratic weather here in MA so its hard to do that. With the sunning, do you do it when the dipes are wet or dry?

[nursingmom]

I never had to strip my cloth diapers. When they start to stink, I just simply change the detergent. That solves the problem. Also, using 1/4 to 1/2 of recommended laundry detergent is good for cloth diapers. I sometimes adjust the detergent amount to get rid of the stink.

For night time, bumgenius pocket diaper is great because they keep your baby's bottom dry throughout the night compare to prefold/cover (unless you have a dry liner). If you are stuffing too thick, it can leak... as well as too little it can leak. When you put on the night time pocket diaper with inserts, check the leg/bottom area. See if there are any gaps. If the inserts are too thick, it'll create gaps and can cause leakage. Too little inserts is just not enough absorbency. Microfiber + Hemp is a great combination for night time. Use micrifiber on top (near the baby's bottom) and Hemp in the bottom. Microfiber will absorb quickly and hemp is slow to absorb.

I personally do not like to use Snappis because I like to quickly change the diaper. My diaper covers do get messy. I wash the diaper covers with the same load as my prefolds and other diapers every other day. It may not last long as long compare to washing them once a week... but I don't use HOT water (Warm water) and I don't dry HOT (regular heat, not HOT heat).

[Jojo F.]

That's a bummer about the wool. Have you tried doubling the yarn? Using smaller needles? I'm a big wool fan and hate for it to not work

Poppy is doing well Growing so fast: How is Annabelle?

Could you do small loads but fill the washer to full capacity? That's a crappy option too.

[acory23]

Originally Posted by Jojo F.

That's a bummer about the wool. Have you tried doubling the yarn? Using smaller needles? I'm a big wool fan and hate for it to not work

Poppy is doing well Growing so fast: How is Annabelle?

Could you do small loads but fill the washer to full capacity? That's a crappy option too.

Annabelle (aka Anna/ Annabanana / Beans) is wonderful. I want her to stop growing. First tooth is starting to surface.

I have to add extra water to my washer through the detergent drawer. It sucks. If it werent such a hassle, I would take them to a laundromat. We are looking into getting a top loader in addition to our HE. DH thought I was crazy when I suggested it. Then I made him do the laundry for a week. We have 6 people in our house and one of them is in cloth diapers. And extra washer makes all the difference in the world!

[Carita]

I agree with the PP - a different detergent for the smell issue. check out www.pinstripesandpolkadots.com for her diaper laundry detergent rating list and troubleshooting ideas.

Also, for the Blowouts - I think it is common in BFed babies - As they get older, you should use less covers. You may also just try using some different fold to see if that helps contain the poo better.

You may also want to ask cottonbabies.com directly for suggestions on recommended detergents. If you contact them directly, they usually have pretty good CS.

[onlygirls]

You need to add more water. The HE machines are a pain with cloth. Dipes need to be submerged in water. We had the same problem after getting an HE washer. Try the water befoer changing anything else.

[acory23]

Originally Posted by onlygirls

You need to add more water. The HE machines are a pain with cloth. Dipes need to be submerged in water. We had the same problem after getting an HE washer. Try the water befoer changing anything else.

I already add water, which is the biggest pain. Especially considering the amount of water changes and rinses that my washer goes through.

I bought clothes line and pins this afternoon so tomorrow morning, washing, stripping, boiling, and line drying my diapers! I think I need to do this with my covers too. I just took one off of her that smelled like hot garbage.

[Jojo F.]

Awww, I love her nick names. Kinda close to mine

Well, if it smells like hot garbage I'd have to go with getting the top loading washer too. That's a bummer: I dunno, see what line drying does for you. Or change up your detergent.

TOTALLY OT for OP- have you heard of Mock Orange?

j