Tired of Doing Laundry! Trying Compostable Disposable Diapers

After months of cloth diapering and a really bad diaper rash that developed all the way down my baby's leg where it would get irratated by cloth diapers, I decided to look for natural alternatives in disposable diapers (I felt guilty to go back to regular disposables but I couldn't use cloth for awhile  at least).

I also was finding that once my baby started to move around more, it was harder to use cloth diapers because if I used a liner or a disposable insert it wouldn't be in the right place by the time I got the diaper on.

So what was the next best thing:

After trying several different types of brands, the one I have found to be the most eco friendly and doesn't cause a rash because it really is natural, is the Naty diapers.

www.naty.com

These diapers are a disposable but fully compostable and you can tell that is true because if the outside gets wet it starts composting.

I like these diapers because after a whole night of wearing them my baby's bum doesn't have a rash unlike regular disposables, even the pure and natural or free and clear ones. They work pretty well and I feel guilt free to use them.

Because they compost so easy I've had to use a diaper cover with them but I since I already have cloth diapers that hasn't been a big deal for me.

Some things that are inconvient about these diapers are that they can be hard to get because they aren't available like regular disposable diapers that are found in stores. I've been having to order mine online through Target.

The other things is that they do cost a bit more money then other disposables, but they are about the same price as buying disposable inserts for cloth diapers.

I am pretty happy with these and almost don't feel like I need to bother going back to cloth diapers.

However, I still have some creative ideas to explore in my quest for a cost effective, eco-friendly, and time saving diapering alternative. So until that time good luck to all. May your experience with your little one or ones bring you joy and little frustration. Tiffany 

Melalueca Oil and Diapering (especially Cloth Diapering)

Melalueca has top quality grade oil which means it has a maximum of 5% cineole (which gives it, it's smell) and a 35-40% Terpenin-4-ol (which is what gives it the germicidal properties).

My husband likes that it helps with the smell of our diaper pail because I put it with my dirty diapers after I use them. This also can help disinfect the laundry when I wash them. When there is a poopy diaper I will spray a mix of melaleuca oil and water on the diaper too.

I've been using Melaleuca Oil for several months now as a disinfectant in my laundry. I have been using cloth diapers, so it has been nice to have the Melaleuca oil to use as a disinfectant in my cloth diaper load especially.

Melaleuca oil can also be used for treating minor cuts, scrapes, bug bites, and burns. It naturally fights bacteria, and naturally penetrates and cleans to help with the healing process, and gently soothing "ouches". I have been using Melaleuca oil and water in a spray bottle for when my baby has a sore diaper bum and it seems to be helping it get better quite quickly and I don't have to worry about it messing up my cloth diapers either.

The Melaleuca Oil last quite awhile too because it doesn't take much to work which is nice.

There are certainly many uses for Melaleuca oil, especially for cloth diapering individuals.

I also use it with my cloth wipes. 

T36-C5® Melaleuca Oil—1 fl.oz.

*Reg. Price $17.00 (Discounted $11.59)+ Shipping and Taxes Points: 10

T36-C5® Melaleuca Oil—0.5 fl.oz.

*Reg. Price $10.00 (Discounted $6.99)+ Shipping and Taxes Points: 6

T40-C3® Melaleuca Oil—rare quality Tea Tree Oil

*Reg. Price $24.50 (Discounted $16.99)+ Shipping and Taxes Points: 15

Go to the link at the top for product discounts if you are interesting in using Melaleuca oil. Thanks :)

PRE-MOISTENED CLOTH BABY WIPES (Could be used with Disposable or Cloth Diapers)

I recently have made some cloth wipes using some Gerber Flat Fold Birdseye Cloth Diapers I got from several people at my baby showers. I had a lot of these flat diapers and they aren't very expensive.

What's really nice about that, is that I could make 6 wipes out of one diaper, so it can be really inexpensive to use them for wipes. It's also really easy to make them out of these diapers. I just folded them, cut them, and then sewed the edges with a serger. It was very simple.

After I made the wipes, I put them in a disposable wipes plastic box where I had mixed some Melalueca Oil with a mild soap and water. This moistened the wipes so they are a lot like disposable wipes and that makes it really easy and simple to use them. After I use them I can throw them in the diaper pail.

My husband brought up the fact that by putting the used one in the diaper pail, it makes it smell better. That was a advantage of using them I hadn't thought about but it is nice. Also by using the Melalueca oil it can help disinfect the inserts, diapers, and wipes when I wash them, and because it is a disinfectant it will help any sores on my baby's bum.

Adding baking soda to the solution can also help with smell.


**To learn more about getting Melaleuca oil go to my blog about Melaleuca products. It's at http://behomeyou.blogspot.com/ or go to the link above called Learn about Melaleuca Products.

Thanks! I hope you find it helpful :)

Losing the Bulk in Cloth Diapering

Some people aren't interested in cloth diapering because cloth diapers can be big and bulky. I have found that there are some options for less or non bulky cloth diapers. 

Here is what I have discovered:

1.) GroVia Shells or Alternative Shell with GroVia Disposable Insert

GroVia Shell Outside

GroVia Shell Inside

Kawaii Baby Diaper Cover Outside

Kawaii Baby Diaper Cover inside

GroVia Disposable Insert

2.) Bamboo Diapers and Bamboo Inserts

Kawaii Baby Bamboo Diaper Outside

Kawaii Baby Bamboo Diaper Inside

Kawaii Baby Newborn Bamboo Diaper Outside

Kawaii Baby Newborn Bamboo Diaper Inside

Kawaii Baby Bamboo Inserts

Alva Baby 4.0 Diaper Outside

Alva Baby 4.0 Diaper Inside

Alva Baby 4.0 Bamboo Snap-in Insert

These are diapers and inserts I have found take out the bulk in cloth diapering.

Innovative Ideas:
What have you tried to lose the bulk in your cloth diapering stash? 

Innovative Idea: Fitted Diaper Liner (Disposable or Cloth)

This idea is similar to the Diaper Underliner idea. It would be a liner that was like a fitted diaper, kind of like this fitted diaper shown below.

This Fitted diaper is made of fleece and I am not sure what the sewn-in insert is made of, but it is thin and quite absorbant so it may be hemp or bamboo. It has a snap closure to fit it on the baby. The diaper cover or shell goes over this, because this is not waterproof.

Front view of fitted fleece diaper

Inside of fitted fleece diaper

Outside of Fitted Fleece Diaper

Back View of fitted fleece diaper

Up Close View of Snaps (though hard to differentiate among the pocka dots)

Front view with snaps closure shut

Up close of leg gussets 

Back View with snap closure shut

This fitted diaper works nice, because it can hold a regular flat liner close to the baby, which helps keep the mess pretty well contained. 

If this was a disposable fitted liner made with a material about the thickness of a paper towel, it would probably work quite well. However, it wouldn't have the same stay dry feel the fleece does, which could be done if it was a fitted cloth liner. Also, finding a way to fit the disposable liner on to a baby would need to be figured out. 

An alternative way of making a disposable fitted liner, would be to make it similar to underwear, kind of like a pull up, and then make the sides tearable so it can be torn off after use. 

How do you think this would work? Any Suggestions? 

Thank You!

Cloth Diapering: Liner Options

I am still fairly new to cloth diapering, but one area I can see large improvements possible, would be in diaper liners. Disposable and cloth ones. 

As a breastfed baby, my baby's dirty diapers were quite liquidy when I first started cloth diapering. 

Because of this I wanted and needed a good liner to keep the mess off the interior of the diaper. However, I mostly found thin liners, much like a dryer sheet, such as this: 

GroVia Disposable Liner
vs

Dryer sheet
If you want to be resourceful you can wash dryer sheets a few times and use them as liners.

Liners like these work fine once the baby gets thicker and more solid stools, however, if the stool is liguidy these are too thin and the stool leaks through to the diaper. 

I found a Youtube movie by a woman who had taken Parent's Choice baby wipes, washed them and dried them to use as liners. So I tried it and they worked pretty good, since they are thicker. They look like this, after prepped: 

Parent's Choice Baby Wipes after washed and dried

After trying these, I found a big box of paper towels that look like this:

Paper Towel

The paper towels work good because they are about the same thickness as the baby wipes, but they are a lot longer and wider, which helps cover almost the whole interior of the diaper or insert.

I also made some fleece liners to see how they worked. They look like this:

Cloth Fleece Liner cut out of a fleece receiving blanket

Fleece liners wash out well usually and they give the baby a stay dry feel. Using a fleece liner under a disposable liner can be useful.

The last things I've experimented with for liners has been disposable hairnets and beard nets. A beard net can go on the bottom and the top of a insert, or two hairnets can be used, or a beard net and a hairnet. They work pretty good with inserts that go in a cover, like the snap-in inserts for Best Bottom, or GroVia Covers or a Bamboo insert like you would get with a Kawaii pocket diaper. When the baby's stools were liquidy I liked to put a baby wipe or dryer sheet, or something under the Beard or hairnet to make sure it didn't leak through. 

A HoneyComb Hairnet can be used or the kind like this beard net below.

Spun Bonded Beard Net

I hope some of these ideas were useful. There will be more to come. What are some innovative liner ideas you have used that has helped?

Getting Dad and Others Involved with Diapering

When our baby was first born, my husband was really great to help change diapers. Before the baby was born we both had agreed we didn't want to do cloth diapering. With disposables there are less steps involved with changing a diaper, so it can be easier to have others help.

I didn't notice my husband's lack of helping with changing diapers until after doing cloth diapers for awhile. I am not sure if it was that he felt overwhelmed by having such a variety of diapers to choose from since I had begun accumulating quite a variety of diapers, or if he was worried about putting the diapers on wrong because I had begun experimenting with liners which made it a little more complicated to help. He also hasn't helped with washing them possibly because he thinks it is gross, and/or complicated or too much work.

Anyhow, I am trying to simplify diapering at this time, since my husband is still showing hesitation to help. My advice would be to keep things as simple as you can when cloth diapering, at least for the sake of those helping with diaper changes. This is where hybrid diapers can be nice, especially with the disposable inserts.

Innovative Idea: I am interested in coming up with a more effective and easier to use disposable diaper liner. In later posts I plan to share some of the ideas I have come up with for this. So stay tuned!

Please Share:
In your experience, what have you found helps make diapering easier for others to help?