So at the Smorstad house we are 1 week into using the cloth diapers. I was so tempted to post on the very first day raving about how wonderful they were.... but then I made myself wait a week before fully giving my judgement on the Grovia cloth diapers. And the verdict is:
We absolutely love them and haven't had a moment of regret!
Tula modeling her very first cloth diaper!As a newborn, Tula poops a lot!! On some days she only has one dirty diaper that is strictly wet all the rest are full of poop :) Lovely, I know! But even with this being the case cloth diapers have still been good. I am so thankful for the Bumgenius diaper sprayer... because I will not EVER swish the diaper in the toilet. (That is not my cloth diapering style!!) The diaper sprayer is connected to the potty and you simply spray the content into the toilet and then flush away. I am sure many of you are saying.... and then you carry a wet diaper through your house to put in the diaper pail. Nope- not the case- because the outside of the insert is made of a material that doesn't get wet I simply roll the insert up wringing out the water and my hands are dry.
This is an idea at how small Tula is and the diapers still fit!The diaper pail is very simple, but I wanted to make sure it held in the stink and was not easy access for a 3 year old. It is lined with a Planetwise pail liner that keeps the moisture and the stink in and doesn't let it creep through the house. When the bag is full (and I am low on shells) I simply carry the whole bag to the washing machine dump it all (bag included) and add one scoop of Tiny bubbles detergent and wash in hot water on the highest water setting with an extra rinse. These loads of laundry have taken place every other day... that is with 16 shells and 32 inserts. The shells then hang on the drying rack (drying in a few hours) and the liners typically need to rounds in the dryer. It is the easiest load of laundry since no folding is required and we just dump the liners in a drawer and put the shells on the changing table in a basket.
I am sure there are skeptics about cloth diapering-- thinking it is too much work but I promise that it is not more work at all. There is no changing the diaper genie refill, no spending endless money on diapers, and a poopy diaper is still a poopy diaper! These are some of the things we have learned about cloth diapering in week one:
1. Tula weighed 6lb 3oz when we started her in the cloth diapers. So as far as size- the Grovia diapers are truly one size fits all. They have 3 adjustable size settings so obviously she is on the infant setting for now!
2. The cloth diaper soaks up most of whatever damage Tula has done causing us to only use 1 or 2 wipes even with the messiest explosions!
3. Tula has shown no sign of irritation from the diaper.
4. The cloth diaper fit is all about making it tight enough around the legs. The first few times I changed her I had to readjust several times to get it tight enough. When it is on secure we have had NO problem with leaks. She has had one night time leak compared to every night with the disposable diapers. Tula sleeps on her side which makes staying dry at night tricky!
5. I got Planetwise zipper wet bags for when we are on the go, but I wish I would have gotten a medium one for the diaper bag (not a small) and a large (rather than the medium) one to go to the sitters with Tula. The small is REALLY small and the medium doesn't seem big enough to last a whole day. These bags truly hold in the moisture and the stink.... I did the test and carried one in the diaper bag this weekend!
