Cloth Diapers, Part 2

Part 2: How I do it, but certainly not the only (or best) way

 Step 1:  Grab your baby and your gear.  I use unbleached indian prefold diapers.  And the contraption in my right hand is a Snappi.  Stephanie and I call it "The Claw" cause it has little teeth that grip the diaper.  This replaces the old fashioned pin method.

The big diapers are LJ's (size 15-30lbs) and the small ones are SJ's (6-15lbs). 

The thing in  my hands in the picture on the right is a flushable rice paper liner.  No more soaking or dunking or spraying poop... just line the diaper with this sucker and flush the poop down the toilet!  If there's no poop, you can just toss the liner in the wash and reuse it till it falls apart! :o)

So I fold the diaper in thirds.  If it's too long... like LJ's are for her height... you just do a horizontal fold at the top to make it a bit shorter till they grow into it.  I hear you put the extra fabric in the front for boys (to catch the pee spray!) and in the back for girls.  If your kid is no longer breastfeeding, you'll want to line the diaper to catch any poop.  I toss breastfed poopy diapers right into the wash because it comes right now.  Formula and solid food poops have more substance, so I prefer they get flushed.

I use scraps of fabric for homemade wipes.  The squirt bottle has my "wipe solution" in it... just water and a small squirt of baby shampoo and baby oil.  Once I use a wipe, it goes right in the bag to be washed with everything else.

 Put the folded diaper under baby's hiney.  (No, don't put a disposable on her first ;o) But I didn't want to expose her princess cracks to the whole world!)

Then I hold the front part over her hips and wiggle the backs around the sides and to the front.

 Take the Snappi and "claw" the sides across baby's hips.  This secures the back parts of the diaper.  Then you anchor the middle of the Snappi to the bottom of the diaper.

Then grab your cover.  This is a Thirsties xsmall cover.  But I actually recommend Thirsties Duo Wrap Snaps because they are adjustable to fit two sizes and the snaps hold up better in the laundry than the velcro.  More on Duo Wraps later.

 Put that sucker under the cute little cloth diapered hiney and secure the velcro nice and tight.

Make sure no parts of the diaper are peeking out of the leg openings or the top of the diaper.  Peeks = leaks = yuck!!!

And there you have it folks!  That's one happy little cloth diapered hiney!  (This is apparently Sam's happiest face at the moment!)

Now, you *can* do this in countless other ways, but I can't vouch for the costs.  Prefolds and covers are by far the cheapest, but all-in-ones and pocket diapers are pretty cool.  They are more like a disposable in functionality... a bit more expensive, but nicer for grandparents, babysitters, or going out.

Speaking of going out, I even take these suckers out!  Well, depending on the situation.  We use disposables when we travel or when we leave LJ with a sitter or at the nursery at church.  But with Sam (and her breastfed poopies) I still think it's just as easy to use cloth!

We also usually put LJ in a disposable for the night.  She sleeps 12 hours, which ends up being a little more pee than one cloth diaper can handle.  There are cloth diapers specially designed for overnight, but I've never tried them.  Any of my cloth diapering pals have anything to offer on that one?