Prepping Diapers - Here We Go!

They are here!! I ordered them Saturday and they arrived Monday! Way to go USPS! Once I pulled them out of the box, I realized they are way more confusing in person. Mainly the pocket diapers. There are multiple soakers (the absorbant insert part) for each cover. I wonder if I got too much variety for the first swoop?

Before she wears them they have to be prepped. This means they need to be washed and dried 3-5 times. They actually don't reach maximum absorbency until they have been washed around 10 times. So I read each label and started washing. It's been exciting to try out my new washer that was delivered Sunday.

(abbreviations: Rumparooz = RR, bumGenius = BG)

Washing

All diapers went in the washer together with 1Tbsp of Rockin Green. I added extra water to the cycle as suggested by some forums. Pretty easy so far.

Drying
Here is where the big difference is. My dryer was set on low/delicates. I can't wait to try out the new dryer on Friday!

• Pockets
• RR - Shells hang dry while soakers go in dryer.
• BG 4.0 - Shells hang dry while soakers go in dryer.
• All In One
• BG Freetime - Entire diaper hang dries.
• BG Element - Entire diaper goes in dryer.
• All In Two
• Flip - Shells hang dry while soakers go in dryer.

The RR shells have a fluffy interior that seem to take longer to dry than the BG 4.0 shells. The BG 4.0 have a soft but flat interior that looks like it will wick moisture well. Since the Flip shell has no fabric inside, it was dry almost instantly.

The BG Freetime obviously took the longest to dry, but it actually took less time than I expected. The BG Element was super easy because all of it got thrown into the dryer along with the other soakers. It did take longer in the dryer than the plain soakers, but not a whole lot longer.

Rank by First Washing Experience

After washing and drying all of the diapers 5 times (except the Flip shell which I only washed once) here is my ranking from favorite to least favorite:

1. BumGenius Element - so simple because everything stays together and can be dried
2. Flip - the shells dry super fast and the soakers are easy to wash
3. BumGenius 4.0 - the shells dry fairly fast but have to be hung up
4. Rumparooz - the shells take a while to dry and have to be hung up
5. BumGenius Freetime - you'll have a lot of "freetime" while waiting for these to dry

That's what I think so far as a cloth diapering noob.

Cloth Diaper Trial

I've been very curious about cloth diapers for my 2nd little girl, Evelyn. There are a few reasons I felt encouraged to give it a try this time around. First, Evelyn only poops 0-2 times a day. This wasn't the case to begin with, but her "schedule" has pleasantly changed to less frequent poos. Next, she won't be going to a daycare center. The 3 days a week that I'll be at work, she'll be with Aunt Monica who is on board with cloth! Finally, I found a website that offers a 30 money back guarantee on all the diapers I am interested in. So if we don't like them, no big deal.

Preparation
Diaper Sprayer - Gramma Orth got us a diaper sprayer for our baby gift. We've really been wanting one even without cloth diapers. Our 2.5 year old, Kayla, is potty training and recently had a stomach bug that we could have really used this for! So, it will be used even if we do not keep the diapers.

Cloth Diaper Safe Detergent - I got this at a local shop in Franklin, TN. It was $1 more there, but I wanted to buy local and not wait for shipping. I've heard only good things about the Rockin Green brand. I chose the Bare Naked Baby (unscented) version because the diapers have to be free of any scent to return for my money back.

Tools & Baby Info
Washer - We just got a new LG front loader washer to replace our not so great top loader.  Open box item at best buy!! This was not a purchase we made because of cloth diapers, but I was happy to see it had all the features I wanted for laundering them. For instance it is HE, but you can add water to the cycle. I hear that is helpful.

Dryer - This will be our dryer once they deliver it August 3rd.

Baby Evelyn - She came from me and my husband, Mike. I sometimes type Ev for short though I never call her that. She is 10 weeks old and 11lbs. That puts her in the 50th percentile for height and weight. She is mostly breastfed. We give her about 2-4 oz of formula pretty much every day. I'm not sure if it's coincidental or not, but she started pooping a lot less when we started giving her this tiny bit of formula. So, I like to say "2oz of formula a day keeps the poop away!"

Diapers
After much research, I knew that I wanted to try pocket diapers, all in ones (AIO), and all in twos (AI2). And I definitely want the diapers to be one size which means they grow with your baby. There are many online companies out there that let you do diaper trials, but they don't let you choose your diapers. They all send a bunch of prefolds and covers in the trial which I am not interested in at all. So I was so happy to find the trial at Diaper Juncion. They offer 7 different diapers on this trial and all were the styles that I'm interested in. With a hesitant husband, I put in our order.

• 3 Rumparooz Pocket Diapers. 2 with velcro, 1 with snaps. I actually only ordered 2 of these, but they were running a deal where you get 1 free diaper with certain orders. This is the one they sent me as a freebee.
• 2 BumGenius 4.0 Pocket Diapers. 1 with velcro, 1 with snaps.
• 1 BumGenius Freetime AIO Diaper. With velcro.
• 3 BumGenius Elemental AIO Diapers. All snaps, no other option.
• 3 Flip Stay Dry Diapers. 1 with velcro, 2 with snaps.

The order went in 7/28/12 at 6am. They say it will take 5-10 business days for the free shipping.