Saturday, March 3, 2012

My Momfession on Cloth Diapering

Jess had a really great post the other day on how people often paint their lives as a perfect picture on their blogs. I sure hope I don't do that, but I also do confess I don't share all my "dirty" secrets and tell the 100% truth of all the happenings in my life, because that's just what it is...my life.

This one is hard for me to write, friends....but I'm hoping by momfessing, someone out there will have a solution for me. I even told Jay many times through this process, "don't tell the bloggers! Don't tweet this!" half-jokingly. Well, here it goes.

Why is this hard? Because I'm hard core. I got lots of "looks" like I was crazy for travelling all the way to Maui and using my cloth diapers. But I did it. I'm a dedicated cloth diapering mama and I didn't really see it as that big of a deal. I was told "just use disposables, you're on vacation, it doesn't matter." But it did matter to me! I had something to prove....to someone. But why??? I don't even know! I was so proud of the fact that a disposable diaper hadn't touched his butt since he was 1 month old and we switched to FuzziBunz full time. I was helping the environment, I had invested in my cloth anyway...so I wanted to use it and not waste my money on throw-away diapers. FuzziBunz even featured me on their Facebook page!
Braden's FuzziBunz
But...then I went to stay with my Mom where my Grandma used to live, I accidentally forgot to pack his nighttime diaper. I had just done laundry that morning, my night diapers take longer to dry, and I forgot to pack them. I didn't have enough to double up a day diaper to work at  night, which wouldn't have worked anyway. So off to the drug store I went to buy my first disposables in 2 years. I felt so ashamed, so down on myself...but why? Why this immense pressure on myself to be the perfect cloth diapering mom?
Little Sock Monkey
So there you have it. I used a 'sposie on Braden. And actually, I've done it 3 more times since we got home because his night diapers are DRIVING ME INSANE! I cannot, for the life of me, figure him out. He's grown, his diapers don't fit as well as they used to, he's the superest soaker he's ever been, and he leaks every.single.morning and the thing that bothers me most? His bum, groins, and bits are sore. They are red, spotted, and irritated from being soaked in urine all night. I used a disposable last night to give his bum a break, and it worked. His red bum is all gone. But he leaked out of that too!
FuzziBunz at the Lake
So now I'm at a diapering crossroads. With potty learning looming in hopefully the next 2 months, I don't know if I invest in more cloth diapers for nighttime...or just try a new 'sposie that he won't leak out of? I know that I need to start cutting down his liquids at bedtime too, for potty learnng. I know he's not supposed to get potty learning through the night for quite some time, but it wouldn't hurt. The cloth diaperer in me says buy 2 new, fresh nighttime cloth diapers and try so you can say you did. I have been using my fleece covers at night, but they aren't cutting it anymore. He's soaking through that, his jammies, and his sleeping bag. I can use wool, it's leak-proof, but another honest momfession? I hate how hard it is to keep clean. Who on earth hand washes ANYTHING these days? Yeah you only wash it like once every 2 weeks or as needed...but I can't find the energy to wash the darn stuff.

As long as you're nice, don't point your virtual finger in my face and say "I told you so" I'm open to any and all constructive suggestions! (I'm not sure you know how hard this was for me to write...)

Cloth diapering moms, what's your nighttime solution? Disposable-using moms, what's your go-to diaper?

20 comments:

  1. I use Fuzzibunz too, but not for night times. We use Econobums. Honestly, they aren't my favorite for daytime, but they never leak and we use them for our heavy night wetting boy. He completely soaks the prefold by morning, but it never comes through the cover. They are really cheap, and depending on how you fold them, they adjust to whatever sized child you have. Maybe try them out!
    Kate
    idreamloudly.com

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    1. Thanks for the suggestion, Kate...not sure prefolds are a great option for hubby or for anyone else who puts him to bed though. They also kind of intimidate me! :)

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  2. G-d bless you for bringing your cloth diapers to Hawaii. I don't cloth diaper but reading all my mommy friends and their experiences, I am intrigued:)

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  3. We have done Huggies nighttime diapers since the kids started STTN. Actually we do them a size bigger than they would normally wear. And it has worked fantastic for us, up until the past month. Someone pees through every night, just enough for jammies to be wet. Usually Hayden. We need to start limiting fluids after dinner too. But they LOVE that sippy of milk while we wind down at the end of the day. Eager to hear other's suggestions. Good Luck finding your solution!

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    1. Yeah my SIL recommended Huggies overnights when I had to buy them, I bought size 4 based on his weight recommendation of the packaging, but maybe I should try size 5? He had a 'sposie on for 2 nights, hubs put him in cloth last night and he has a tiny blister on his thigh :( Thanks for your input, as always! :)

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  4. I have not cloth diapered, although I am thinking if we have another one, I would like to try this! However, my kid is an extreme heavy wetter and Huggies Overnights have NEVER leaked for us.

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    1. Thanks, Laura...as I said to Katie above, that's what I've tried but maybe I need to go up a size so he doesn't leak out of those?

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  5. I cloth diaper by day (and have also since about 1 month) and throw away diaper by night. Due to lots of soggy wakeups. He sleeps like a dream and it is way less money on diapers! I think its ok to not be "perfect" diaperer. :) Its whatever works for you!!!

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    1. Thanks, Alissa....glad to hear I'm not the only one who uses CD's and might use a disposable at night!

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  6. Um, we only cloth diaper on the weekends unless I'm on break (Christmas, Spring, Summer, etc.). Hub's aunt watches Thad and I don't think I'd ever talk her in CD'ing at daycare so we don't. Besides, she watches him for next to nothing so I can't complain. That being said, I can't justify dirtying one cloth diaper a night (by the time we get home we usually only use one) - it would get moldy or something by the time I have a full load. So, we use disposables. Do I love it? No, but I don't really feel like I have choice and we still CD on the weekends. Now, that all being said, we've had the worst lucky lately with overnight use...I'm not sure what it is, but I'm having the same problem as you. So until I can figure something better out, we've been CD all day on the weekends and using sponsies at night. It is what it is and it works for us. Do I still have guilt? Yes, but I kind of what to tell it to eff off.

    Long story short, I hear ya.

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    1. Long story short - thanks so much for your understanding, makes me feel better about my situation! I think if I could find a pocket diaper I could stuff enough...he'd be fine. He needs the microfleece to wick away moisture, his poor bum soaking in urine all night with a fitted can't take it anymore...so thanks again for your comment, Lib!

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  7. We honestly use the Walmart brand of disposables and our kids NEVER leak. They are cheap but they seem to work really well.

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  8. Omg. Do what works for you!!!!!! If disposables made life a little easier...use them!!!! If you can't bring yourself to use disposables...don't! Being a mom is all about doing what works for you regardless of what you THINK others think you should do! I'm proud of you for trying different things. You know what's best for YOU either way. Go for it! I'll have your back!!

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    1. Love you, Marie! Thanks girl!

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  9. Omg. Do what works for you!!!!!! If disposables made life a little easier...use them!!!! If you can't bring yourself to use disposables...don't! Being a mom is all about doing what works for you regardless of what you THINK others think you should do! I'm proud of you for trying different things. You know what's best for YOU either way. Go for it! I'll have your back!!

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  10. I've only been cloth diapering for a little over a week now, so I'm no expert by any means. We actually use the Huggies overnight diapers at bedtime. I've honestly never tried the cloth overnight. Before I bought the cloth, we bought a huge box of like 60 overnights, so I'm wanting to burn through those instead of wasting them. Good luck!

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  11. Sarah, seriously just do the sposies for overnight! I think it'll be best for your sanity & for Braden's bum! When I was CDing I did sposies at night because I couldn't take the nasty ammonia smell of tge CD overnight ones.

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  12. Also never had a single leak with those huggies overnights - but I found that they fit smaller than regular diapers. So he was always in a size up. So ya try size 5 I think you'll be pleasantly surprised:) I think I'd respect you more for just giving you & B a break & using the sposies at night than keep punishing yourself & driving yourself crazy finding the CD solution.
    And good job for writing this post - I know it was hard!!!

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  13. We always used fisher price happy days and happy nights, then they discontinued them (and I bought EVERY package I could find) the happy nights lexie has NEVER soaked through- now we are doing a Fuzzy Bum with a fold over soaker (not sure if that's the right term)with a hemp single soaker in the middle!

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  14. SInce I have only been using cloth for about a month and nighttime was one of the major contributors to why we switched I have no advice. I have only found that using a thirsties duo all in one with 2 additional thirsties hemp inserts and a thirsties diaper cover work for our overnight routine. She drinks 5 ounces of milk before bed!

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