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| hi all. i just got my shipment of 12 MEOS, 6 snap in liners, and the covers. i have worked out how to put on the diaper and cover. my question is, how do i snap in the liner if i need to fold down the dipe to reveal the row of 4 snaps? it looks to me as if the liner will not snap in that way. do i have to leave the front unfolded to accomplish snapping in the liner? if anyone can help, please give me detailed instructions on how to do this. all of these snaps facing outward and inward are really confusing me. |
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| You are correct in thinking that you cannot snap in the liner when the OS is in the folded-down position. Typically, babies who are still folded down don't need that extra absorbancy. There are exceptions, of course, and if your baby is sleeping through the night, you might want a liner in there. In that case, you can just lay it in and fold it down over the front of the diaper--the cover will hold it in place. |
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You can snap in a liner with it folded over but there is a lot of bulk. First, lay the dipe down like you are going to put it on the baby with liner laying on top & snap it in closest row of snaps facing you. Bring up the center of the dipe with liner and fold the whole thing over. Now take the sides and bring them to the center of the diaper front. If you lift up the center of the liner, you can see a few snaps that you can attach the wings to. Whalah!
We did that for our heavy wetter overnight for a few months until he was big enough to not flip the front over. You can get away with not snapping them at all, liners usually stat put pretty well on little guys & gals. Or you can just have the liner stick out the back or fold it into the cover like PP stated.
We snapped in ours. But it really isn't necessary. Sandy's don't even have snaps on them & liners stay put just fine. I think they just figured why not put snaps on the liners since the OS has extra snaps when they aren't folded over.
Just my opinion. I don't know why actually. Makes sense to my tiny brain. |
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| thanks very much. this is the first night that he has used cloth diapers. he really seems to like them vs the disposables. he stayed still for me for the entire diaper change compared when i would put him in disposables, he would kick and scream and try to wriggle away from the diaper. 2 things i have noticed when i feel the dipe though. 1, when he peed, the dipe wicked the urine away from the center of it to throughout the edges of it. i am talking all the way from there he peed, it wicked to the edges all the way to the back of the diaper. 2, when i changed the dipe, i noticed that there were bits of terry on his skin. is this normal? Note: i did not wash that diaper before use. also i took that diaper out of the small mop bucket that i am using for a temporary diaper pail and sniffed it. it smells like urine. i am terrified of the smell setting in. how do i prevent this? can i rince the dipe and ring it out and place it in the pail? or is this not a good idea? also, can i use All Free and Clear for washing the dipes? sorry for all the questions. i just love cloth diapering and do not want to mess it up by ruining the diapers. |
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| oh yeah, i hope these dont seem like stupid questions, but how wet should the diaper be in order to warrent changing? also, this is my second time using the same cover. how many times can i use it before it goes in the diaper pail? can i wash the covers with the diapers? Is it ok to use baby powder with these diapers? he does not mind the wetness against his skin, but i am terrified of him getting a rash from the wetness. can i put snap in liners in when the diaper is wet to extend the usability of the diaper and prolong time between washes? i only have the part time package and really would like not to use a disposable on him. my friend will be getting me another part time package here shortly. sorry about all of these questions but i have had only experience with disposables and i even changed those when there was just a tiny piddle in them due to the chemicals in the diaper. i have heard negative things about the SAP used in disposables and the dioxins and things. questions aside, diaper changing has evolved from a struggle with my baby and disposables to actually being quite fun! no struggles, no screaming, no trying to squirm or roll away and no tears! |
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Hello,
Big Kudos on using cloth. Glad your little one likes it! As for your questions, you are supposed to was the diapers a few times before using them to get rid of the natural oils in the fabric. If you haven't, they are likely not as absorbent as they should be, which may explain the strange wicking and the lint on your baby's skin. Cotton makes a lot more lint than bamboo in those first few washes, so if they are cotton especially, I would wash them 3 times instead of 1 when I do the laundry.
I would not recommend putting the covers in the diaper pail, as they may absorb the smell. I usually reuse them through the day, unless they get soiled or start smelling funky. Then I either hand-wash them and hang them to dry or put them with regular laundry, depending on how many I have.
When my baby was smaller, I would change about every two hours if he didn't have a BM, sometimes a bit longer if I was out of the house. I never bothered rinsing pee diapers except for overnight ones - those are so strong-smelling that I have too. The pail will usually smell quite a bit when I do laundry (every two days), but it always goes away.
And by the way, there are no stupid questions. We have all started with no experience at one point or another! Ask away! |
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Girl, we have all been there! Cloth is an unknown area at first to many of us. You will figure out what works for you and it will be old hat before long.
You should wash your new dipes & liners 2-4 times(washing only, just drying the last time) to wash out all the processing oils to achieve a decent absorbancy. If the dipes/liners are used, then a wash & dry should be fine. When I use covers, I use the same one all day, then use a different one at night, hanging the daytime one up to dry. I used a new cover every 12 hours(approx). I just throw my covers in with our whites when I do laundry. The poly will hold onto smells if you have it in the pail with the dipes. And you want to hang the cover to dry. Saves the elastic & makes it last longer. Pailing, I use 2 buckets with lids. One is in the bathroom closet for rinsed out poo dipes(I have a diaper sprayer, highly recommend!) so it's just easier to have the pail in the bathroom. The other pail is right by his changing table next to his bed. Those are pee dipes. Unless you open the pail, there is no smell. I don't rinse my pee dipes out before going into the pail, but you can if you want.
I just started using baby powder with my son about a month ago. It washes out just fine, so no worries. You could also cut fleece scrap for a stay dry liner against baby's bum if wetness bugs you. Cloth is going to feel wetter than a posie because it has no absorbing gel(yay!).
Depending on the kiddo, you will probably have to change baby every 2 hours or so. And yes, the wetness does spread back, out, & to the sides. It's just like a towel for your baby's bum.
I certain I 've forgotten half of what I meant to tell you, but I'm certain other mamas can help fill in the gaps that I've missed.
Congrats & welcome! |
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| thanks for all the help. u know, my husband thinks that i am crazy for doing cloth dipes because i am totally blind, im talking, cant see a thing. i have a text to speech program to read all of this and so i can reply. anyway he thought that sposies will be easier for me due to the fact that i cannot see, but that cannot be farther from the truth. with those, i had to contend with a very very unhappy baby, as well as rolling him to the sides in order to undo the tabs from the clean diaper to fasten them to the front of it. when i first saw these cloth dipes, i was thinking to myself, my god, there r tons of snaps. but i read alot of instructions on how to do this. it is alot easier for me just snapping these diapers and snapping the covers vs what i said above about how i dealt with the disposables. also with these cloth ones, he just lies there and does not even move when i change him. he just makes happy noises. i have not dealt with my first poop dipe yet, but i am sure that will be shortly lol! i know it sounds kind of stupid, but i cannot wait haha. it will be quite interesting. i think i am a convert to cloth diapering! btw i cannot follow the washing instructions to the t because i cannot mark my washer. it has one of those stopper things on the nob to stop the knob from pushing in too much. this stopper thing spins, so if i do mark it with a raised marking,i would not be able to tell which wash cycle the arrow landed on because the stopper spins independantly from the knob. when i did a wash on the dipes last night, it was guesswork about the cycles. what would u do in that situation? |
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| I hope your husband changes his mind! He may well do just that when he realizes that these diapers never leak, that you don't have to change your baby's outfit three times a day because the poop leaked all over the clothes and that overall, it's not much more work. And if your baby is happier in cloth, then it is definitely a plus. My son is 2 now, and the last few times we had to put him in disposables(while traveling), he asked for his "big diapers" back... |
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| maybe so. he does not want anything to do with changing or washing them though. i think he is warming up to seeing our son in cloth because he called him bubble butt this morning lol. but with the disposables, i hated them because we would have terrible bowouts everyday that would get all over everything. i imagine cleaning that stuff is not pleasant even with sight. also i like the fact that these do not have the disgusting crinkly sound associated with disposables. |
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Now that is impressive! Mastering the OS snaps with sight can be overwhelming at first, without adds a whole new dimension!
The washer, I am stumped on. My dial also spins freely but clicks as you spin it, so I would probably count the clicks. I could definately see putting a raised bump on the washer dial itself & the washer cycle thing it spins on & match them up. But the free spinning thing without clicks would be a challenge.
Washing the dipes are pretty straight forward though. Unless you accidentally hit the gentle cycle, I think both the normal wash & heavy duty(I use) would get them clean. Just remember whatever detergent you choose to use, only use like a smidge. I think ME says 1/2 to 1/4 your usual amount. I know people who sucessfully use 2 TBS of laundry soap to wash dipes. It sounds weird, but we way overuse laundry soap. Diapers are prone to ammonia stinkies if you use too much detergent. |
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| oh wow. that is a really good idea. the dial thing that spins freely. is it clear? if so, that is good because i can get my husband to tell me where the arrow is and i can mark the dial itself instead of the clear stopper fre spinning thingy. also, counting the clicks is a very good idea. i wonder if i can get a tiny measuring spoon or something. i used the recommended amount of detergent on my dipes last night that is recommended for laundry., but using much less of that would be great. |
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I only ever use at most 1/2 of the "recommended" amount of detergent for all of our clothes, and about 1/4 for diapers. Also, with most powedered detergents (probably liquid, too) if you read the box they'll say to use 1/2 a scoop for a normal load but they give you that massive scoop because they know people are just going to dump in a whole scoop. They'll put little marks on the scoops or lids, but you know they're counting on everyone thinking that more is better.
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| this is very true. that way they can make more money. i am already running out of dipes. i guess i will have to do a wash every night until my friend sends me the other 12 dipes, 6 liners and 3 more covers. i really hope that does not impact my father's electric bill too much. |
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If you don't have a full load of diapers, nothing says you can't wash other clothes with them. I often wash my son's clothes with his diapers, and everything is clean when it comes out anyway. So that way you would feel less guilty about doing a load every day.
As for the electric bill, if you want to save on that, you can line dry... That would be hard to d0 with just 12 diapers, but may be doable with 24. And you may be able to get away with doing a cold rinse instead of a warm rinse on your load, although you will be more likely to get buildup. And that would require some more playing with the washing machine setups, so it may be hard for you... |
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when it came time to do my dipes this evening, my dh asked his mother how to wash them. she replied, just cold water. no prerince or double rinces. i sniffed the dipes when i was transferring them to the dryer about 5 mins ago and they all smell clean. and they were done all on cold.
and when i put 1/4 the recommended detergent in, my husband goes, "i dont think that will be enough."
it is really funny because he told me that he will not have anything to do with washing them, but when i brought the pail out to the garage and dumped them in and took a guess at the cycles, he says, "if you need his diapers washed, just let me know."
also we are using all fre and clear. my dh said that there will be no build up with that detergent. |
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