A new adventure...

So I have decided to take on a new challenge.  Cloth diapering.  I was a little afraid of it at first.  Because I can't just roll these up and throw them in the garbage, and I will have to spray off the poo, AND I will have to wash them daily... I hate laundry.  When I was single I did laundry once a week.  Now that I'm married, and have a kid I still try to stick to the once a week thing, but it seems like no matter what I do I have to do laundry more than once a week... Now that I have cloth diapers... it's every day. lol  Again... I hate laundry!!

For the last few months I have been doing some research on diapers, asking around, reading blogs, reading reviews etc.  I decided to go w/ Kawaii Pocket Diapers.  From the name you'd think they were made in Hawaii... nope, they are canadian.  Which I think is an odd name for a canadian brand but hey... as long as they work right?  I decided on Kawaii for a couple different reasons.  The first was price.  All the diapers with good reviews were in the $17-$25 range.  A lot more than I wanted to spend!  When I found Kawaii it was about $8 a diaper.  More than half the price!  So then I looked at the reviews (my other reason) and nearly EVERYONE who used Kawaii diapers LOVED them.  They had nothing but good things to say.  I also have a couple friends who use them and they love them as well.  So I decided to go for it.  I spent $84 on 15 diaper and 10 extra inserts.  The diapers themselves came w/ 2 inserts each.

So friday July 19th couldn't have come quick enough.  My small stash of 15 diapers came in the mail.  and I was SO excited!!

Stash of diapers finally came!

I couldn't wait to put them on Piper and get her going on cloth!  But I first had to follow the directions and wash them 3-4 times to make sure the microfiber inserts would wick the moisture away, and absorb well.  So I did.  It took all day.  You can't use "normal" detergent because it breaks down the microfibers ability to absorb and wick.  It ruins it.  Plus I'm still learning how to do all the stripping, and sunning etc.  So it's a good thing that I already used Country Save because per 3 websites that are dedicated to listing all detergents out there and how safe they are for cloth diapering, and a couple websites w/ reviews for the detergents, Country Save is marked as one of the best detergents to use!  

So I started putting them on Piper, and knowing she's considered a "heavy wetter" I doubled up on the inserts during the day, and put 3 inserts on her at night.  During the day I noticed that after an hour or so she would pee through her diaper.  Something that isn't supposed to happen!  I was getting so frustrated after about 3-4 days of this.  So I was connected w/ a facebook page devoted specifically to cloth diapers, and I posted a question about her leaking.

It looks as though the snaps are leaking, and when I asked 300+ women on the facebook page no one had ever seen this happen.  

I emailed the company on their facebook page, and through their website.  They gave me a general answer as to what was going on.  And I decided to go w/ the advice of the 300+ women on facebook and the few friends I have that cloth diaper.  I washed them another FIVE times on a warm wash w/ nothing but detergent.  Then I put them through 2 cold rinse cycles, THEN I dried them 2 times on HOT to hopefully seal the diapers.   and it WORKED!  So far a few days later I haven't had this issue again.  So for anyone considering cloth diapers, I would definitely recommend Kawaii pockets.  BUT I would recommend probably about 3-4 EXTRA washes and a few cold rinses than the recommended and adding 2 hot drys to seal the diapers.  But she doesn't seem bothered by the diapers at all.  She does walk a little funny now though.  She has a waddle when I put the night diaper on her. lol it's pretty funny to watch her waddle instead of walk through the house.  I need to buy a few more diapers so I don't have to wash EVERY day, maybe enough for every other day washing (you don't want to go longer than that).  

This was the BANE of my existence...

I was rigging a diaper sprayer from a kitchen sink sprayer, and trying to connect it to the toilet.  It was supposed to be maybe a half hour job, and it turned into a 4 hour job, w/ multiple trips to the hardware store.  (we're talking like 6 trips here...)  So I finally got someone who was so fixated on figuring this out that she spent a couple hours with me trying different things until we finally rigged it!  

(don't mind the white on the marble floor... Dave cleaned the bathroom and didn't know lime away will strip the top of the marble.  The more you know...)  This is the rigged diaper sprayer!  We had to put a piece of copper pipe in between 2 different connectors! But it worked!!

So now I have a fluffy butt baby!  PLUS the bonus part is we are saving $40 a month on a box of diapers now.  Which is a lot in the long run!  Plus I don't have a bag of nasty diapers that the animals like to get into at night when I throw them away.  AND her room doesn't stink!  Makes for a happy momma.  

Part of her stash.  We are missing 4 night time diapers, a red diaper, and a yellow diaper.

A day time diaper!  

This is a night time diaper.  It is pretty bulky because it has 3 inserts.  Notice how far apart her feet are? lol