Washing My Cloth Diapers: Experiment Day 3

I know you're probably just dying to know if the poop stains came out. I was nervous and excited to take my diapers out of the wash--Specifically the shells, and see how they turned out with the poop stains. Like I mentioned in my last post about the experiment, poop has stained a few of Lil' J's cute outfits, from previous blowouts, so I've been skeptical about them coming out of her diapers.

I pulled the out of the wash last night and here's how they looked:

Like new! I did spray a squirt of shout on them but I've been told that can mess up the waterproofness of the covers, so I'm going to resist next time and see if they'll still get cleaned.

I also didn't know (probably because my husband has been doing the laundry) that warm/hot water sets the stains, so from now on I'll rinse with cold first. But I don't think I'll need to worry about poop staining until she begins cereal/solids starting next month.

People don't seem to agree whether or not sun will fade the colors on the diapers or not. But everyone does seem to agree that the sun will lift any stains in the diapers.

Today was Day 3 of wearing the cloth diapers. I woke up before my daughter, got ready and left for work, only to find that I didn't have to be there until that afternoon.

When I got back home my husband had put Lil' J's first diaper on for the day--Backwards.

I had laid it out for him with the insert already placed in it but he didn't remember which side was front (even though there's a tag in the back). I reminded him of that and fixed it.

I just made this video to show how the Sprout Change cloth diapering system works. Since someone asked about what was what with the inserts and the covers:

I can say these diapers have been very husband-friendly so far. Which is nice because since I'm working, he's gotta do a lot of the changing. These also are very daycare-friendly too since the center can just put the cloth inserts in a bag you leave and you deal with the washing later. They aren't doing much more than they'd normally do with disposables. And I know in daycare they change diapers a lot (having worked in one I remember the requirements).

Using the diapers today started out not so fun. Lil' J has still been fussy during diaper changes and she doesn't have a rash or anything so I've been at a loss. I called home during a break and my husband told me she was still acting that way so I sent a tweet asking if there's an "adjustment phase" to cloth diapers.

Some people suggested that she may be upset because she feels "more wet" in cloth diapers than she did in disposables. So I told my husband to change her more frequently--We have enough inserts--and to see if that helped.

It did for the most part.

When I got home from work tonight I asked him how it went.

"I like these diapers a lot," he said. "I hated them at first, but now I actually like them."

He then went on to praise me for breastfeeding and said "If we keep using these, and you keep breastfeeding we can save a lot of money." True true.

I'm already thinking what I want to splurge on as a reward for my pumping and laundry efforts.

My husband likes the microfiber/cotton inserts better than the organic ones because they seem to be more absorbent. And poop only got on one of the shells today. I forgot to tell him not to spray Shout or anything on it like we do for clothes so out of habit he did. Next time we'll both have to resist that.

What he told me he DOESN'T like is the fact that she doesn't nap as long... Which he's convinced is because she pees and feels wet while she's sleeping and wakes up. He said today she only took 20-30 minute naps when normally she'll sleep for an hour or two. I'm not sure what we'll do about that. Maybe after the next wash they'll be more absorbent?

Lil' J doesn't seem to be as ornery now, perhaps cause we're changing her more. Or maybe she is starting a teething phase. She's drooling a lot and chewing on her hands. A commenter mentioned that and it reminded me that she's coming up on that age. (Yay--Breastfeeding's about to get real fun).

We all seem to be getting used to cloth diapers now--My husband, Lil' J and I. Poop doesn't seem as gross to me now. I guess because it's like "Eww... But I can wash my hands" I mean, it's not like I'm eating it.

I'm still anxious to see how our energy bill will be next month. A commenter suggested a diaper service but I'm sure that would be much more expensive for us. Especially considering we already have cloth diapers, and a washer and dryer.

I know I'm helping the environment a bit by not creating as much waste, but I'm still curious about the energy usage. I may try stringing a clothes line across my balcony and hanging the diapers to dry to do be a bit "greener."

Wow. I feel like I've just traveled back in time. What will I do next?