Placed my first CD order yesterday - help!

[caleymama]

Edited to try to clarify my questions...

After going back and forth for so long about CD-ing I finally placed an order yesterday just to try some stuff out. I almost ordered things so many times for Caley but never did. She's potty trained during the day now so it's only for the baby. I almost did again before Emlyn was born and never did but decided yesterday to go ahead and try it. I'm SO excited but now I'm confused about what to do with the stuff once I get it! FYI, Emlyn is 3 1/2 months, EBF, and about 13-14 lbs with sort of chunky thighs (much chunkier than Caley's ever were but I don't know if they are officially chunky!).

Here's what I bought:
5 Infant 4x8x4 unbleached CPFs
1 small Prowrap
1 small Bummis SIWW
1 snappi
3 small Fuzzi Bunz
1 med Fuzzi Bunz
1 small Joey Bunz insert
2 small Fuzzi Bunz inserts
24 sherpa/velour wipes from www.lucyshopechest.com
3 yellow microfiber towels from Walmart
some fleece from Walmart for liners (I think they're called liners, right?)

(I realize now that the smalls may be too small but it's too late to change my order so I'll just have to wait and see when they get here.)

Here are my questions:
1 - I've read about washing the diapers but am still confused about how to wash and prepare these things once I receive them. Currently we use ALL F&C which I've read isn't good for CDs - true? How should I prep the microfiber towels? I remember reading that they bleed when first washed but since I have only 3 of them I'm not sure what to do. Normally I have no problem with laundry issues but this whole CD thing is confusing the heck out of me!

2 - How do you store/use the cloth wipes? Well, I know how to *use* wipes, but do you keep them in a wet solution or do you keep a solution separate in a spray bottle? Or just use plain water?

3 - With runny BM poops, what do I need to do with the diapers and wipes before washing them? She's currently only going once or twice every day or two and very rarely at night. If CD looks like it's going to work for us I'll definitely get the mini sprayer thing but I didn't want to get it yet.

4 - We use a Diaper Champ now - can I make that work for CDs or should I get a different container?

5 - Using cloth wipes while out and about - any tips? Transporting dirty diapers around while out and about - any tips or recommended bags/containers?

6 - Making fleece liners - what size should I cut them to?

I'm not even sure I'm asking the right questions but I realized last night that I'm not sure how to get everything washed and ready once it arrives on my doorstep, especially since there's only a few of each thing. Thanks!

[mudder17]

Okay, let me see if I can help you out a little. First off, it looks like you have a variety of things to try out with your DD to see what may or may not work. However, I'm guessing that you may find the small FBs, prowrap, and bummis to be on the small side. I think Kaya was 14 pounds at 4 months and I was slowly moving into medium sized covers at that point. But keep in mind Kaya did have chunky thighs (but so could your dd). I never did try a small FB, but I did try the mediums shortly after that time. Kaya may have been around 14.5 pounds. In any case, the mediums did fit her for a time, although I wasn't able to use them until Kaya was 6.5 months and starting solids. The couple of times that I tried them earlier, her very leaky poop would just leak out the legs. However, some people have had success with them, especially at night when their babes don't poop as often. I imagine the FBs would have worked just fine if I was only dealing with pee.

On the other hand, your infant PFs should fit just fine. I think we were using those until at least 6 months.

Now for your questions:

1. The PFs should be washed and then dried at least 3xs before using. It'll help them fluff up and increase their absorbency. I would wash them on hot. The FBs should also be washed at least once, so you can toss them in with your PFs for one of your cycles. You can line dry them, or if you prefer for ease, toss them in the dryer. I think I would toss them in the dryer once a month to help keep them sealed. However, some here line dry them every time while others will toss them in the dryer every time. All F&C has given some people problems with build-up. I'm not sure if it's some oils that are in them or what, but supposedly they cause more problems with buildup. However, ALL detergents will cause buildup to some extent. The trick is to use enough to get your diapers clean, but just enough so that it'll rinse out completely. I usually just wash my diapers on one hot cycle with an extra rinse with detergent and then once with no detergent and it works out well for the most part. I have used Tide, Tide Free (both powders), Tide HE liquid, Era liquid, and Calgon for stripping.

2. I store my cloth wipes in a drawer dry. I have a peri bottle of baby bits solution (I used to fill it with plain water but I like the scent of the baby bits) and just squeeze as I go along. It works well. While some people store their wipes in a solution, I prefer to keep them dry because storing them in a solution usually means I'd have to change it every once in a while, and I'm too lazy to do that. Plus, I think storing them in a solution makes them more wet than I prefer. Oh, and plus I like to have them dry so when I use them for cleaning DD up after eating, etc, I can either use them dry to sop up wet messes or wet them with water to clean up dry or sticky messes.

3 Okay, with runny BM poop, it should just dissolve away in the wash, so theoretically, you can just toss everything in the pail and then dump it all in the wash and it should all come out. That said, I actually preferred using my minishower with the poop. I figured it was good practice for when DD started solids, and I liked getting my diapers and wipes mostly clean by spraying them off before tossing them in the pail. You could also just dunk and swish and flush to remove most of it, but when your DD starts solids you may wish you had a minishower. I figure why not just get it from the start? Plus, it's fun to take out your frustrations with the minishower. :P

4. I have two Diaper Dekors and I just got some pail liners made for them so that on wash day, I just remove the bags with the diapers, invert the entire thing in the wash (wash bags and diapers together), and insert clean liners in the dekors (I have 4 liners all together). I imagine, from having seen pictures of the champ, that you could easily get liners made for them. Ruth at SEZ will make liners to fit your measurements. I'm sure other WAHMs would do the same.

5. Okay, I just store them dry in my diaper bag and have a spray bottle of wipes solution to go with them. I also used to have an extra peri bottle in there, but DD took it over to use as a drinking bottle. :P Anyway, I have some diaper wet bags (SEZ and also some Bummis) that I use to transport the dirty tiapers and wipes. You can also use Ziploc bags or even grocery bags, both of which I've done.

Hope this helps a bit. Maybe this'll give you some more questions? Anyway, feel free to ask away. :)



Eileen

Mother of Beautiful Kaya, www.chemicalgraphics.com/kaya
http://lilypie.com/baby2/040222/0/0/1/-5/.png

http://www.gynosaur.com/assets/ribbons/ribbon_gold_12m.gif
12.5 months: 30", 19.7 lbs, 47 cm head

[KrisM]

I agree with Eileen about the small covers. We were moving into mediums at about 13 lbs. Also, at 13 lbs, DS could wear both small and medium FBs. He had skinny thighs, so the mediums were a bit big, but if I worked at it, they fit.

1. I used All F&C for a bit when I was trying to discover the cause of DS's rash. I didn't have any problems with it. But, I've switched back to Tide Free.

2. I have a small Sterilite container that holds my wipes. At 3 months, I'd get about 10 of the wipes wet and stick them in the container. That lasted me 1-2 days. I use plain water and just wring them out.

3. I tossed everything into my pail and into the machine without a problem.

4. No opinion here.

5. I have 2 small Bummi bags - one for dirty diapers, one for wet wipes. It works fine. I don't often have more than 2 dirty diapers when we're out, so the small is plenty big. You could use large Ziplock bags, too.

When you're just reading and looking at CDs, it's very confusing, I think. Once you start doing, it all becomes much clearer!

Good luck!

[lizajane]

definitely trade your covers for mediums. you should be able to exchange them without too much trouble. i am currently diapering a 13+lb baby with thunder thighs and he is outgrowing his small proraps FAST. and we use the mediums without any trouble- both proraps and FBs. (we have all his brother's hand me downs and i believe schuyler was in just mediums around 8 weeks, too. dylan is 7 weeks, but i don't think the smalls will fit next week.)

[mudder17]

As for your fleece liners question, I just cut them the same size as her doublers, but they have done a little shrinking. You can cut them long enough to reach from the front to the back of where the diaper will go over your babe. Does that make sense? Have you ever measured the rise of Emlyn? Basically, if you cut them so they're slightly longer than that you should be fine. The width...well, you could always make them the width of the center strip of the prefold.

I'm not sure where you placed your order, but there shouldn't be any problems with exchanging the smalls for mediums as long as you don't wash them first. So check on the sizing and then contact the seller. Most of them will do an exchange gladly.


Eileen

Mother of Beautiful Kaya, www.chemicalgraphics.com/kaya
http://lilypie.com/baby2/040222/0/0/1/-5/.png

http://www.gynosaur.com/assets/ribbons/ribbon_gold_12m.gif
12.5 months: 30", 19.7 lbs, 47 cm head

[caleymama]

Thanks for the advice about liners. About the covers - I emailed Colleen at NaturalBabies.com this morning after reading your first reply and asked if I could exchange them for mediums but I got the shipping notice a little while later and hadn't heard back from her yet. I'll just send them back when they get here for an exchange. So, I'm really happy with the quick shipping but I guess I'll have to wait a bit longer to try out the covers and prefolds.