Cloth diapering Day One? Success. Overwhelming success. Day Two? Let's do some laundry!

Sammy's cloth diapers arrived this past Thursday evening, the night before we headed out of town to Chicago. And since I was not going to take my first stab at cloth diapering during a VACATION, I opted to deal with it once we got back home. (Am not as dumb as I look.)

So the other night, I opened up all of the diapers, googled the best way to wash said diapers, and set about trying to wash them. Not wanting to do anything wrong, I googled extra hard and realized that I am the only person on the planet who is cloth diapering with a top-loading HE washing machine (and using powder detergent). Everyone has the fancy front-loaders these days, and while they're nice, it's not what we have. (I really REALLY like the top-loading style.) So I did the unthinkable. I had to bust out the manuals to the washer and dryer and READ about things like temperature settings and rinse cycles and blahbadeeblahblahblah. It was boring, not gonna lie. But seeing as we got this washer-dryer duo a full six months ago and I'm just now reading about how to use them? Kind of overdue.

I am now schooled up on how to properly operate these machines. (For the record, I was already using them correctly about 98% of the time...) So with that knowledge under my belt, I washed those diapers. First with a cold wash, then a hot wash, followed by an extra rinse. (I'm using Charlie's Soap.) I tossed the inserts into the dryer on medium heat and hung the diapers on our smallest rack in the laundry room. Since the dogs were still at their "hotel" last night, this was no big deal, but I will be figuring out a new drying solution soon. When I woke up yesterday morning, I got the inserts out of the dryer, pulled the diapers off the rack, and stuffed the diapers. This took no time at all. Maybe ten minutes. And then we changed Sam's diaper and stuck him in his first! cloth! diaper!

He is super cute in cloth.

The first diaper change of the day did have a number two involved. But those little turdlets just fell right off into the toilet and were flushed away. Easy peasy. Speaking of peas, we need to lay off of those for a while.

The next couple of diaper changes were just number ones, and those consisted of tossing the diapers into the wet bag to await their date with the washing machine. Another diaper change later had a number two in it, but I was not aware of its creation. Usually I am privy to this information since it is preceded by grunts and lack of breathing and a red face. So that one was a surprise. Meaning: it was a little smashed up. We haven't purchased a diaper sprayer yet because I don't know if we can attach it to our wonky upstairs toilet in this military housing, and I'm not sure if it would be worth it anyway. I guess time will tell on this one. I am currently using a Dollar Tree spatula to separate the stubborn poos from the diaper insides. This is not only effective, but super cheap and ultra-gross for you to visualize. (Fear NOT, I sanitize the spatula after each use with a Clorox wipe and place it far from the small person's reach.)

After Steve handed me the first poopy diaper of the day, he said, "Wow! Cloth diapering is so easy!" HAHAHAHAHA MEN. Handing the poopy diaper off to someone else is prettttty much the equivalent of tossing a disposable diaper in the trash. But I will continue to let him think this way so that he will keep on changing diapers.

After a few flushes of the toilet in the bathroom that we don't normally use, we all came downstairs and found our giant fluorescent light in the kitchen gushing water. Hmm. Looks like a call to maintenance is in my future.

So Day One of cloth diapering was a great success (minus the leaky electrical fixtures). The diapers are so soft and look so cute and it feels SO GOOD knowing that chemicals are not coming into contact with my little one's ultra-delicate skin. Sammy is well-known for super-soaking diapers at night, so I'm anxious to see how our first night with cloth diapers goes. Obviously you will be updated accordingly.

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Day Two Update:
I came into Sammy's room this morning to find him quite soaked. So. We've got to figure out what to do to keep him dry throughout the night. We were using these inserts called diaper boosters in his regular disposables at night, so I'm thinking about stuffing one into his cloth diaper tonight to see if that doesn't help with the absorption problem. We also went too long this morning without a change (I just can't smell the pee, y'all) and he leaked onto his pants. And after opening that wet bag one too many times today, I am definitely doing a diaper load as soon as the little man wakes up from his nap. STINKY. Not stinky at all if it's not open, but once it's open, BACK UP.
So other than a few minor hiccups (we all knew this wasn't going off without a hitch), cloth diapering is going fairly smoothly.

In other news updates, my phone alerted me that I am a little over 30 weeks into this gestational-baking-a-baby period, so that is cause for a giant freak-out, is it not? It got me on the ball (somewhat) to order Sam's new crib and it should be here in about two-ish weeks. I am obviously still lacking a lot of things that I really want to pick out myself (aka: Steve cannot help): a dresser, changing pad, mattress, sheets, things to put on his wall, a carseat for Second Baby, and I also still need to re-wash all of Sam's newborn clothes, weed out the clothes he's outgrown since the last time I weeded out his closet (probably around 9 months of age...yikes), organize all of the clothes Sam has outgrown (scary scary task- will have to make a Target run for bins), dig the trusty ol' pump out of the garage, locate all available bottles and nipples, sterilize and have on stand-by, stock up on breast pads and "those gigantic maxi-pads" (says Steve), and start back up with Hypnobabies. Nothing like a little to-do list and some procrastination to light a fire under me.