Wanna know how our cloth diapering challenge, er, ended up?
The moment you’ve been waiting for has arrived. Jen and Maximo get down and dirty with cloth diapering, discussing everything from detergents to diaperbags. Plus Jen drops the beat on JenB TV’s latest hit hashtag.
Why this matters
- Disposable diapers so close to your munchkin’s behind exposes them to cancer-causing chems (and YOU to potential blowouts…*shudder*).
- Even part-time cloth diapering goes a long way to reduce your babe’s carbon bum-print.
- Save yourself lots and lots of moola! (average cost savings = $2,500)
- It’s really hard to beat the cuteness of the cloth diaper bubble-butt.
On a personal note
I went ‘round and ‘round with my smarty-pants friend Miranda on the total eco & cost impact of cloth diapers considering the washing and drying. We netted out that it’s a no-brainer if you can dry them in the sun, like this.
Ready to try?
- If you missed it, watch Part 1 of our cloth diapering series to see all the options.
- Watch this episode for Jen & Maximo’s lessons learned.
- Just out! We love the newly released “no prep” soaker pads – they are super soft, even more absorbent than the originals, and cheaper! Woot!
- As baby Sky grows, so do the size of his poops. Since he does his biz first thing in the morning, we use these biodegradable diaper inserts at night so we can throw the dirtiest of the nappies in the trash, and not have nightmares about poop preserved in plastic stacking up in the landfill, or harsh chems next to his cute buns.
A Deeper Dig
How you wash and care for your diapers is a big matter. First, it’s important that you don’t wash them in detergent with plant oils or fabric softeners. Also, we found out the hard way that Desitin cannot be used with cloth diapers because the thick oil in that product locks into the fabric, making them non-absorbent. (Grandparents were watching him and used his cousin’s Desitin – we usually use our amazing Magic Stick.) So we had to “strip” them by scrubbing Dawn liquid soap into the fabric and washing them a few times on extra hot.
Fresh Pick
Jen makes #EcoBabySky’s diaper routine 100% reusable just by putting these Bamboosa towelettes in the warmer with some water to moisten instead of using disposable wipes. They’re super-soft, made from sustainable bamboo, avoids the chems in the disposables, and are gonna save you a BUNDLE! ($12 for package of 5)
Did You Know?
The average baby gets changed 6,000 – 8,000 times before being potty trained?
UPDATE! So when we were traveling and weren’t near a washing machine for our cloth diapers, we bought some disposables and Baby Sky got a really bad rash. Then my folks got Desitin (not knowing we had a Magic Stick!!), and used with the cloth diapers, which basically left a film and so they stopped absorbing so well. Currently we are in the midst of “stripping” them with Dawn (cuts the grease!). I miss Sky’s puffy butt so much… wish me luck!! PS: If you find yourself in the same pickle, here’s a great resource from the founder of Grovia: http://www.gro-via.com/blog/enough-stripping-already/
For the bamboosa towelettes, do you constantly always have them already soaking in the warmer? How does that work?
Hi Louisa! Yes, we do use a warmer with the bamboosa towelettes laid flat inside. We put about a half – full cup of water on it when the stack is full. When he was a tiny baby we cut some in half just to be able to keep more clean and use for anything at all. Hope this helps!