Cloth Dipes The "Real Truth" about the behind

So when I decided to start cloth diapering Savannah it was one of those "WOW! These are cute!" type of a thing. A friend of mine decided to cloth diaper her little girl. I decided to try it since I tried all the different brands of disposables and Savannah's skin was still itchy and red. Her ped told me it was diaper ezcema then another ped told me it wasn't. Not one mention of cloth came about. I would admit if one of them suggested cloth I would have said hmm I don't think so.

I had to talk Adam into it of course. He didn't really mind after all I was the one changing her. I thought well I will give it a shot. I told my mom I was going to cloth diaper Savannah. She was shocked and surprised. Why? Because she cloth diapered my sister (well gave it a good shot). As soon as my sister pooped that was it she threw the dipe away. When I showed my mom the dipe, she was rather impressed I think. She remembers the cloth dipes being what we call "burp cloths" today with safety pins and plastic covers. Now they are so different; they are as close to disposables as you can get without throwing them away. More about that later...

So I got my cloth dipes in the mail. I never thought I would be so excited about "Fluffy Mail" before. I washed them and got ready to use them. I kept thinking I hope this is a good experience. After about a week of using the dipes, I began to notice something. Savannah wasn't itching and she wasn't red. Hmmm....I looked on the internet to find information on reactions to disposables. Nonetheless, most of the cloth diaper manufacturers had a similar story. The toxins and chemicals in disposables can cause reactions in little ones. I wish I had known this information about 20 months earlier!

Washing them and taking care of them was easier than I would have ever thought! I have my routine down pat. I wash Savannah's dipes every morning. I have now found a few "tricks" for the dipes. I was amazed; you don't use a lot of detergent and I have a HE washer so I save a lot of money there too. There were a few learning curves for me though...leaking, stink, and monkey butt (you know the monkeys with the bright red butts). Savannah had this horrible reaction and had monkey butt. You can't use diaper rash cream or anything. I didn't know what this was from. Well I quickly found out it was from the detergent! I used Tide Free and Clear. I always have with all of our clothes. No reactions or anything. Well Tide contains enzymes which can give a horrible reaction to some kids. So I switched to All free and clear and no more monkey butt. Leaking well they aren't supposed to leak. That was from too much detergent. And finally the Stink. The dipes started to stink like ammonia. Well vinegar and sunning (yes I have a clothesline outside) fix that problem. That and I was again using TOO much detergent.

So I have learned a lot. I love cloth diapering and when we have another child that child will NEVER see a disposable.