Category — Cloth Diapers

The AMP (Annie Marie Padorie) AI2 diaper has been created here in Canada by one of the friendliest women I’ve ever met (via email).  Today, I own three large AMP diapers.  I bought my first AMP diaper, when my daughter was 4 or 5 months old.  I was impressed with the quality and decided to buy two more a month later.

What I like about the diaper:

• Great quality.  The beautiful serging made me a little obsessed about how well I serged my diapers :-)
• It’s quite trim.
• Elastics in my AMP diapers have never left any really bad marks on my daughter’s skin.
• Still fits my daughter at 32 lbs.
• Comes in two sizes – not too few and not too many.
• Easy to clean insert.

What I do not like about the diaper:

• The leg elastics on the first AMP diaper I bought lost some of its elasticity.  It’s possible my early washing routines had something to do with that though.
• The microfleece is not the best I’ve seen however it seems to be a popular one for diaper making.

Overall rating: 4.5 out of 5

NOTE: I bought my AMP AI2 diapers more than a year ago, so please keep in mind that AMP diapers might have gone through some changes since I bought mine.

A few months ago, I decided to buy a GroBaby cloth diaper probably because I wanted to try something new.  I must admit that now, after a few months, the diaper gets used very rarely.  I thought that at least my husband would like the diaper, but it looks like he has more trouble using it than I do.

What I do like about the GroBaby diaper:
1. The insert can be snapped in and out.
2. Can use other inserts with the shell (they will not snap in though because of the different snaps).
3. The diaper is quite trim.

What I do not like about the GroBaby diaper:
1. Elastic at the back is way too tight and leaves major marks on my daughter’s back.
2. Velcro does not stick to the laundry tabs in the wash.  When I take the diaper out of the washer, the velcro is usually stuck to the lining of the diaper and not the laundry tabs.
3. It’s not as absorbent as other diapers I’ve tried.
4. I find that I have to wash the shell after every poop.
5. Can’t make my own more absorbent snap-in inserts for the diaper because of the different snaps.

Overall Rating: 3 out of 5

Did you know you can use gDiaper inserts with cloth diaper covers?  Since my daughter never seems very comfortable in her gPants (the gDiaper cover), I recently decided to try the disposable gDiaper insert (gRefill) with a Bummis PUL cover.  It worked great and my daughter did not try to remove the diaper like she does her gDiapers.  So, whenever I’ll need to use a disposable I’ll probably use a gRefill with a cloth diaper cover such as Bummis or Thirsties.  I haven’t tried it with wool and fleece covers, but I assume it’ll work just as well.  I do wonder though, what the wool and fleece covers might absorb from the gRefill.

I tried the gRefill with a Bummis cover at night as well and it worked great.  I did use a wide Zorb doubler along with the gRefill because I’ve heard one gDiaper insert is not enough for night-time – whoever said it was right because the doubler was quite wet in the morning.  I could have used two gRefills, but that would create extra waste which I’m not comfortable with.

I ended up using the refills with a PUL cover two nights in a row because we’ve had a hard time getting rid of my daughter’s yeast rash.  Usually, I use bamboo fleece fitteds with wool covers, even when my daughter has rashes.  If she does have a rash, it usually heals quickly thanks to the fitteds and wool, but this rash has been really stubborn.  I wonder if potty training had something to do with it since she hasn’t been wearing very absorbent diapers anymore.  Anyway, I decided to try disposable diapers because I wanted my daughter to be as dry as possible between changes since as you probably know, yeast loves moisture.  Well, it turns out disposables do not help heal yeast rashes, the rashes stay the same or get worse.  So, the next thing I decided to try was the gRefill with a PUL cover that has been neglected for at least a couple of months.  I was happy to discover that her rash did look better in the morning.  I suspect the gRefill and cloth diaper combination is more breathable than a disposable diaper which sped up the healing process.

So, if you do like gRefills, but not the gPants, you can get out your PUL covers and start using those with the disposable refills whenever you can’t (or don’t want to) use a cloth diaper.

When my daughter was born we had a package of Pampers Swaddlers ready, and we thought we’d be using disposable diapers until she was potty trained.  We had a couple of packages of cloth diapers, but they were too big for my daughter for the first month or two.  Also, because I didn’t know anything about modern cloth diapers, I wasn’t in a hurry to use them.  I’ve heard some horror stories from my mom about cloth diapering, so I didn’t think I’d ever want to do it.  I later found out that modern diapers are not the same as what my mom used on my sister and me when we were babies.

So, we used disposable diapers for a couple of months until I couldn’t handle the rashes anymore.  My daughter was a lot more sensitive to the chemicals in disposable diapers than my friends’ babies, and there was no cream that would prevent the rashes from coming back every few days.  The constant rashes led me to do some online research.  After reading about the chemicals in disposable diapers, I decided to give cloth diapers a try.  Even though the diapers we had weren’t amazing, I kept using them.  Thanks to more online research, I found out about bumGenius diapers and just had to try one.  Thanks to the bumGenius diaper, I actually enjoyed changing my daughter – a task that I’ve always hated before.  Also, the rashes weren’t as frequent anymore which made me want to stick with cloth diapering.  So, I decided to buy 6 more bumGenius diapers.

Northern Baby Fitted Diapers (v. 2)

Even though my daughter had fewer diaper rashes, she still had some from time to time.  One day while doing more online research on cloth diapers, I discovered that some babies can be sensitive to synthetic fibres.  I knew that the bumGenius pocket diapers had a synthetic lining, so I decided to look for diapers made with natural fibres.  The diapers I decided to purchase next included an AMP hemp fitted diaper, a Sugar Peas hemp fitted diaper and six unbleached Indian cotton prefolds.  I couldn’t believe how fast my daughter’s rashes went away and stayed away after I started using those diapers.

In the first couple of months, I also learned which detergents to use and which not to use with cloth diapers.  However, I still run into detergent issues many months later.  Whenever I use a different washer or want to try a new cloth diaper detergent, I’m running into some issues.  The one thing that’s never given my daughter rashes is soapnuts.  To find out more about the soapnuts I use, please visit the Superior Soapnuts website or the Eco Bebe Boutique.

Today, most of my daughter’s diapers have been made by me.  I’ve tried a lot of other diapers, but there was always something about each diaper that was bothering me.  It took me many months to perfect my diaper pattern, and since I’m a bit of a perfectionist, I’m still not 100% satisfied with it and probably never will.

I’ve never regretted switching to cloth diapers even when the poops got more stinky and detergents almost drove me insane.  To find out exactly why I’ve stuck with cloth diapering, please read one of my previous posts titled, “Things I Love About Cloth Diapers“, if you haven’t already done so.

The 12″ Northern Baby Zorb™ doublers are made of two layers of OekoTex certified bamboo fleece (70% bamboo, 30% organic cotton) and one layer of Zorb.  According to the manufacturer of Zorb, Zorb absorbs ten times its weight in less than half a second which is twenty times faster than cotton, bamboo or hemp.

To enter the giveaway:
Leave a comment saying what your favourite type of cloth diaper (AIO, pocket, AI2, prefold, fitted, contour, flat, etc.) is and why.

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Giveaway closes September 23rd @ 2 pm EST.  Open to US and Canada.

If you’re wondering why I haven’t been making cloth diapers for sale anymore, you’re not the only one.  I’ve had some wonderful customers contact me asking when I’m going to start making cloth diapers for sale again.  To tell you the truth, I’m still trying to decide whether I should go back to diaper making.

Some of you might think that I gave up because I wasn’t successful enough at what I was doing.  The truth is, my diaper sales were rising quickly (mostly outside of Etsy) when I decided to take a break.  Now I’m trying to decide whether this break should be permanent.

Those of you, who know me in person, know how passionate I am about cloth diapers.  I can talk about anything related to cloth diapers for hours.  However, the truth is, I prefer to design diapers rather than to make them.  I’m always more curious about the design of a diaper than anything else.  Maybe it’s the engineer in me that always wants to know how something works.

The second reason for wanting to leave diaper making behind is that I miss the field of technology a bit.  I miss some of the challenges I was faced with on a daily basis.  I miss working with software.

And finally, the main reason why I do not want to make diapers anymore is that I want to spend more time with my daughter.  I already missed a lot of valuable time with her.  The past year has gone by in a flash and I find myself wishing I had taken more time to play or relax with her.

So these are the reasons why and I hope you understand…

Today, whenever my daughter has a dirty diaper, I take her to the bathtub and wash her bum well.  Not too long ago though, I used to use cloth wipes and my own cloth wipe solution almost at every diaper change.  The recipe I used for making the wipe solution is as follows:

3-4 cups of boiled water (cooled)
3-4 Tbsp of organic extra virgin olive oil (I like to use quite a lot of it, but you don’t have to.)
1/2 tsp (or less) of baby wash (I use an unscented one by Little Twig.  It’s good for babies with sensitive skin.  Also, the ingredients are supposed to be organic .)
2 drops of tea tree oil (I didn’t always add it, but I think it prevents the solution from going bad too quickly and tea tree is antimicrobial so it might help with diaper rashes.  However, be careful with this one since I’ve heard that some babies can be a bit sensitive to some essential oils.)

Organic Bamboo Velour and Cotton Print Wipes

Everyday, I would pour the solution into a spray bottle and either spray the solution directly on the baby’s bum (making my daughter laugh many times) or on the cloth wipe.  I’ve also used an empty disposable wipes container for my wipes and the solution.  I would place the wipes in the container and then pour some of the solution over the wipes.  This way the wipes would always be ready for use.

I’ve heard that some people cut a roll of Bounty paper towels (not the select-a-size ones) in half and put it in a wipe box (with the core removed), then they pour the solution over the paper towels. You can also rip the towels into separate pieces and then pour the solution over that.  Personally, I prefer to use a spray bottle and cloth wipes. The best thing about the wipe solution is that I know exactly what’s going into it… no guessing… and no skin irritation. For those babies who are VERY sensitive, I would recommend skipping the baby wash and tea tree oil and always use cloth wipes.

Since I really wanted to give gDiapers another chance, I decided to buy the Large size kit and see what happens.  When I first tried them a few months ago, I was very disappointed because my daughter was getting red marks from the snaps in the front and I eventually sold the covers.  Then I ran into some information on gDiapers which made me think I was putting the diapers on my daughter a little too tight.  Maybe that was why she was getting those marks?

So, I bought the kit and decided to give it a try.  The first time I tried the diaper, I got the same result – red marks!  I tried the diaper a few more times and every time I did, my daughter ended up having red marks.  At one point even my husband noticed the marks.  If he noticed the marks then they must have been quite bad.

I started to wonder why some babies were getting those marks and others weren’t.  Well, after playing with the diaper for a couple of minutes, I figured it out.  Basically, it all depends on the size of the baby’s waist.  Babies with bigger waists will most likely get the marks because the snaps are exposed when using a wider waist setting.  The snaps are covered by the fabric for babies with smaller waists.

I still want to use the diapers from time to time (with my cloth inserts), but I really need to fix that snap problem.  I already have a couple of ideas in mind, but finding the time to work on them might be hard :-D

Recently, I ran into a blog post I wrote on March 19, 2008 on a private blog.  Below is an excerpt from that post which I found interesting and wanted to share with you.

There are a few things I LOVE about cloth diapers….

1. I haven’t had to empty the diaper pail for sposies in a LONG time.  I must admit it was bothering me in the past that we were producing so much waste with the disposables.
2. Feels amazing to know that a huge amount of chemicals is not touching Olivia’s bum.
3. The selection is amazing… there’s like a million different cloth diaper designs out there!  I think I have at least 9 or 10 different kinds of cloth diapers.
4. Prefolds are incredibly cheap compared to sposies.  Fitteds and pocket diapers are a bit more expensive, but still, in the long run you save quite a bit of money.
5. They make diaper changing time more fun.
6. I love how my daughter’s bum is not swimming in poo.  When she’s wearing cloth diapers, her poop soaks very well into the fabric thus making clean up a lot easier.  That might be one reason why she’s not getting as many rashes when wearing cloth diapers.
7. My daughter’s been getting very few rashes with hemp and bamboo diapers.  When she was wearing disposables, she almost constantly had rashes.
   
8. Cloth diapers (when the fit is right and they’re put on properly) look more comfortable… no rubbing of plastic against the baby’s legs or tummy.  Also, I’ve noticed that when my daughter’s wearing a comfortable cloth diaper she seems to be having better naps during the day.  Not all cloth diapers are created equal though when it comes to comfort… some are less comfortable than others… but most of the ones I use look pretty comfy :-)

A lot has happened since then, but I still love cloth diapers for those reasons.  I just wanted to add a couple more.

9.  I can make my daughter perfect fitting diapers.
10.  Cloth diapers (especially with wool covers) speed up healing of diaper rashes.  With cloth diapers, my daughter rarely has diaper rashes – if she does, it’s usually thanks to my experiments with detergent :-D

Lately, I’ve been asked a lot about PC Green Diapers.  These diapers are still relatively new and there isn’t a huge lot of information about them online.  So, I decided to tell you everything I know about them.

As I’ve written in a previous post, PC Green disposable diapers are chlorine and fragrance free.  Those of you who have had trouble finding other eco disposable diapers close to home, might have better luck finding these since PC Green diapers might be available in your supermarket store (owned by Loblaws).

What I do like about this diaper:

• Very stretchy tabs.  None of the other eco disposable diapers I’ve tried have tabs that stretchy.
• The diaper is quite a bit cheaper than other “green” diapers.  The regular price of PC Green diapers is $15.99 for 46 diapers in size 4.  Seventh Generation diapers are $17.99-19.99 for 30 diapers in the same size.  Also, you can sometimes see the PC Green diapers on special for $12.99.
• No rashes so far.  It does not promote healing of rashes very well though.  I found that bamboo cloth diapers with wool covers at night promote healing much better than the PC Green diapers even though cloth diapers get quite wet overnight.  I guess it’s not a surprise since cloth diapers do allow more airflow.  Also, bamboo is antimicrobial.

What I do NOT like about this diaper:

• SAP (Super Absorbent Polymer)
• Still has some plastics in it however, according to the manufacturer some of the plastic components were replaced with “revolutionary plant-based polymers”.
• Packaging is not biodegradable.
• It’s still a disposable that takes hundreds of years to decompose.  One of the few reasons why I don’t use disposables is that the thought of mountains of disposable diapers in the landfill really bothers me.
• I wasn’t impressed with what’s written about cloth diapers at the back of the packaging.  It might mislead people into believing that cloth diapers are made from pesticide sprayed cotton ONLY.  Trust me there’s LOTS of diapers out there (including my daughter’s) that are not.  I also wasn’t impressed with the mention of detergent as if tons of it were being used on diapers.  The truth is, most people use only 1/4 of the recommended amount of detergent to wash their diapers.  Also, a lot of people these days use front-loading washers which use quite a bit less water.

NOTE: These diapers do fit a bit bigger than SG diapers, so if you’re using SG diapers and your baby is almost outgrowing a size, PC Green diapers in the same size might still fit her/him well.

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me.  Just please keep in mind that I’m not an expert on disposable diapers – I normally cloth diaper only.