The Cloth Diaper Hike

Get a handful of marbles and put them in a bag. Jiggle the bag. Now grab some dry leaves and rustle them. Mesh those two sounds, and you have an approximation of what my left knee sounds like when I go up the stairs. And, yeah, it feels like it sounds.

After months of the knee issue getting worse, taking a break while I stayed at my parents' house (which has no stairs), and then resuming with angrier intensity when we returned home, I finally broke down and saw the random primary care doctor my insurance company had assigned me to. I went to this appointment with both babies, by the way. Dr. Random was a pretty nice guy. He bent my knee about fifty different ways and then ordered some x-rays. Having witnessed the cranky x-ray tech telling me I would have to come back without the babies after waiting at least thirty minutes, a kind lab lady offered to watch them while I went in the room o' radiation.

The good news: It isn't arthritis! Yay!

The bad news: Dr. Random thinks it's Patellofemoral Pain Syndrome, which is something hikers get. I haven't been hiking in, oh, about three years. So I've developed this from walking up and down the stairs THAT. MUCH.

Why do I go up and down the stairs that much? Cloth diapers. Unless we want to enjoy the wafting aromas of poopy diapers while we're eating, downstairs is out for a diaper pail, so that means that with every diaper change, I've been going up and down the stairs a total of six times (take Baby A up, go back down for Baby B, take Baby B up, change diapers, take Baby A down, go back up for Baby B, take Baby B down). Nevermind taking the diaper laundry up and down the stairs.

The prescription: weight lifting for my quads and hamstrings to strengthen the muscles that support that joint, wearing a knee brace, and laying off the cloth diapers.

I love cloth diapers. They're wonderful, but for now we're on a break.

The moral of the story: Stairs suck.

How to Launder Cloth Diapers

First, the question that weighs heavily on the mind of anyone considering cloth diapers:

What do I do with the poop?

If your baby receives ONLY breastmilk - no solids and no formula - the diapers can go straight into the diaper pail (and subsequently the washing machine) as is. It's okay. Promise.

If your baby eats anything other than breastmilk, you'll need to get as much poo poo in the potty as possible before the diapers make it into the washer.Do so as soon as possible to minimize staining. Getting the poop out can be done in three ways:

• A diaper sprayer - For the days when the poop is still not quite solid, a diaper sprayer is handy. It hooks up to the toilet. It's easy to make a poopy mess with a diaper sprayer, so remember EASY DOES IT. The package says it can also be used as a bidet. Just in case you've always wanted a bidet.
• Swishing it around in the potty - I think this is yucky. I got a diaper sprayer so I could avoid it. Let's not talk about it anymore.
• Shaking it off into the potty - Since the poop has become solid, this is what we do. It's as simple as letting it roll into the bowl. No biggie.

Now that you've got poop off your mind (or maybe not. If you still have poop questions, send 'em my way), here are instructions for both top and front loading machines. If you have a top-loading machine, hooray for you. I've used both during my diapering career and prefer the top-loading. If you have a front-loading, that's okay, too. It'll work just fine.

Top-Loading Instructions:
1. Empty your diaper pail into the washing machine, being sure to turn your pail liner inside out.
2. Run a cold soak cycle.
3. Run a hot cycle with a cold rinse. Add your detergent at this point. As I've said before, I prefer a detergent specifically for diapers, like Tiny Bubbles. DO NOT add fabric softener. If you do, you'll be so stinkin' sorry. Also, no bleach.
4. The diapers should be good to go into the dryer at this point. If you feel you must, run another cold rinse.
5. Diaper covers need to be hung up. All prefolds, liners, doublers, etc. go into the dryer.

Front-Loading Instructions:
1. Empty the diaper pail into the washing machine, being sure to turn your pail liner inside out.
2. Run a cold rinse cycle.
3. Add detergent. Again, I recommend a diaper detergent. NO FABRIC SOFTENER. No bleach, either. If your washer has an extra rinse setting, push that button. If it doesn't, you'll need to do an extra rinse after the wash cycle.
4. Run a hot cycle with a cold rinse.
5. See Step 3 about further rinsing.
6. Diaper covers need to be hung up. All prefolds, liners, doublers, etc. go into the dryer.

Now back to poop. It stains. Even if you spray if off as soon as you change the diaper. Not to worry, though, friends. Enter the handy dandy clothesline. If you leave your stained diapers out in the sun, the poop stains will bleach out. Yes, it's that easy. You can actually dry your diapers on the clothesline any ol' time to save energy on drying, but I'll be honest with you. I've done the drying on the clothesline thing exactly once because it's pretty much impossible to make it outside with two babies safely, let alone keep them occupied while I hang one million diapers, lug everything/everyone back into the house, keep checking for dryness... you get the picture. But I bet it would be easier with one. Maybe even a nice little escape from the house.

The Cloth Diaper Breakdown

Prefolds - Prefolds are the cheapest way to go. The trade-off is that there's some more folding and fastening involved than with other types of diapers. Prefolds are perfect for little babies since they stay pretty still during diaper changes (when you're having to do that folding and fastening) and because they generally fit newborns better than other diapers. If you decide to use prefolds, a few things to keep in mind:

• Be sure to buy Chinese or Indian prefolds, which put the Gerber ones to shame.
• Buy Snappis to fasten them. Don't use pins. Pins are why people think they hate cloth diapers. Well, one reason.
• You'll need to get covers for them. Thirsties are great.

Pocket - Pocket diapers consist of a shell that has a, well, pocket that you stuff an insert into. The beauty of the pocket diaper is that you've got a lot of control over just how absorbent the diaper is. For example, if you're overnight diapering, you can put a big ol' insert in - or maybe even two inserts. Pro: Easy to adapt to different situations. Con: They have to be reassembled every time you do the laundry.

All-In-One (AIO) - These are the priciest of the cloth diapering options, but still waaaay cheaper than disposables. If you find a daycare that will accept cloth diapers, AIOs are usually what they require. AIOs pretty much work like disposables except that they have to be laundered. Pros: Convenience, easiest to teach to family members and babysitters. Cons: Cost, Can't alter absorbency much

One-Size - The idea here is that the one diaper should work from the newborn days through potty training days. However, I'd say the newborn who fits a one-size is rare. After the newborn days, though, a one-size can work for a long time. Pro: Cheaper than fitteds in the long run. Con: Less exact fit than fitted diapers.

Fitted - If you choose fitted diapers, you'll have to buy several sizes over the course of your diapering career. Pro: Exact fit. Con: More expensive in the long run than one-size diapers.

Best Baby Registry Ever: Cloth Diapers Edition

Daytime Diapers - There are several types of cloth diapers and many, many brands of cloth diapers. It's way too much to get into in this post. Therefore, I'll do a post later next week on types of cloth diapers. Promise. Whatever you choose, plan on having enough to make it through at least two days before you have to do laundry.

Overnight Diapers - If you choose to do cloth diapers for overnight, you need to change the diaper each time Baby wakes. You're going to need something with more absorbancy, so go with a pocket diaper (Don't worry. I'll explain what pocket diaper means in that post next week.), a good insert, and a liner. Now for some mommy-to-mommy honesty... Do you like changing diapers in the middle of the night? No? Then use disposables just for nighttime. You don't have to change them each time Baby wakes, and that makes it easier for both of you to get back to sleep.

Wipes - Choose some nice, soft flannel wipes. I like these by Punkin Butt. Weird confession: I enjoy folding the wipes when they come out of the laundry. It's relaxing in an odd sort of way.

Wipes Warmer - This Prince Lionheart model works great with cloth wipes. Also be sure to register for the "Everfresh Replacement Pillows".

Wipes Solution - I love, love, love Washy Wafers Wipes Solution. They're little wafers that dissolve in warm water. For convenience I keep a measuring cup and spoon for mixing on my changing table. When you've got it mixed up, you just pour it over the wipes in your wipes warmer.

Diaper Pail - All you need is a tall garbage can with a flip-top lid. That's it.

Pail Liner - You'll need two of these so that you'll have a spare to line the pail with while you're doing diaper laundry.

Pail Powder - Pail powder is optional and gets sprinkled in the pail to help cover up any lovely smells that might escape. There are some recipes on the web for making your own, but I'm too intimidated by essential oils to attempt it. Perhaps you're braver than I. We use the Rockin' Green powder, partly because I love that they name their scents after bands that I loved in high school. For example, Smashing Watermelons.

Wet Bag - If you're adament about having a wet bag for your diaper bag, I've used these, and they're great - and very cute. My problem is that I always forget to put them back in the diaper bag (which I keep in the car) when I take them out of the laundry. If this sounds like something you might do, Munchkin/Arm & Hammer make a fine little product that dispenses little bags. Target sells it, although I couldn't locate it on their website. It's very similar to a doggie pick-up bag dispenser. Also good for holding spit-up casualties.

Diaper-Area Ointment - Cloth-diapered babies tend to get less diaper rash, so my babies are still using the same Magic Stick that we started out with. The beauty of this product is that it's hands-free. Because a person should only have to touch so much butt. If you're a twin mommy or twin mommy-to-be, you'll need one per butt. Note: Don't use regular diaper ointment creams because they can build up on your diapers, which could lead to them repelling stuff, which is the last thing you need your diapers to do.

Detergent - Some people do okay with the regular detergent they wash all of their laundry in. Not my kids. The rashes looked rather painful. I've used both Tiny Bubbles and the Bumgenius detergents, and both work great. They're specifically designed for cloth diapers, so they don't contain any fragrances or anything that will build up on your diapers that would cause you to have to strip them. The not having to strip them thing might be reason enough alone to go with a cloth diaper detergent.

And now I feel the need to write a post about cloth diaper laundry...