Diapering The Bonzai Bum – Part II

July 12th, 2010 - filed under: The Farm » Family

. . . continued from Part I . . .


So I’m sure you’ve figured out that there’s more to diapering than just diapers! For example, you’ll need a surface to ‘take care of the business’, you’ll need space to store the supplies, you’ll definitely need a spot to stack diapers, and of course you’ll need to dump the dirty ones. But don’t get overwhelmed, and don’t go thinking you need a ton of stuff.

Early into our procreation planning we realized a nursery just wasn’t for us. A nursery is meant to harbor *stuff*, which we’re not really into. We knew we would use a co-sleeper, so it only made sense to share the rest of our bedroom as well. Our low-impact parenting philosophy made this a lot easier, as we would not be purchasing roughly 90% of standard new-baby paraphernalia (like, you know, a crib). But there was no denying that we would need a changing area.


IMG_0540


Our solution was simple: we relocated a lamp and then outfitted my tallboy dresser with a changing pad (this organic non-toxic one). We added a shelf for the associated accoutrements, with a click-touch led light on the underside for nighttime changes (this was Daman’s idea and it came in so handy! highly recommend!) A bit of rearranging and Waits got 2 small drawers for clothing and one giant drawer for diapers. The decorative hook holds the bag of clean cotton wipes, and the old dog food bin made an excellent diaper pail. Voila! A first rate changing station, DIY style.


IMG_0546


Along with cloth diapers we use cotton baby wipes. I made them out of old tee shirts, and they work *great*. I recommend using light colors to you can see what you’re wiping up. In the orange spray bottle is plain water with a few drops of tea tree oil. I spray the wipe to get it good and moist before putting it to use. You can just use plain water as well, or a bit of castile, or other essential oils. The point is that you don’t need to buy any fancy formulated wipes, especially not disposable ones! We also use tea tree oil, an antibacterial and antifungal, to keep the diaper pail fresh.

My diaper collection currently hovers around 25, give or take a few as he grows/I shop. When Waits was a newborn we were washing diapers every other day and could barely keep up, but now at 4 months he goes a lot less and we launder every three days without worry. I use my own laundry detergent recipe and it’s a great non-toxic cleanser, strong enough to sterilize but naturally gentle on delicate skin. I usually throw some Biokleen in there too, but that’s more for stains than for sanitation. I also hear great things about Charlie’s Soap, and a Bonzai reader recommended Rockin’ Green Soap, but I haven’t tried either of these.

But washing can only do so much when you’re dealing with caca on white cloth. If you really want to whiten, there’s nothing more powerful (or more eco-friendly) than that big ol’ bleacher in the sky. That’s right, the sun. And bonus – it naturally kills germs, too! An afternoon on the clothes line does wonders for my precious pads. Check it :

IMG_0357‘Before’ – fresh out of the washing machine . . .


IMG_0432‘After’ – A few hours hangin’ in the summer sun!



Not bad, right?!

So that’s the extent of our diapering drill – that’s all there is to it. But someday (soon! Oh EEK it goes by so fast!) Waits will start on solids, and that’s a whole new potty ballpark. Breastfed baby poo is all soft and friendly, almost sweet smelling and essentially liquid. But real food makes for real poops. And when that time comes, I expect we’ll set up a DIY diaper sprayer, a hack similar to this one. Don’t worry, I’ll be sure to blog about it!

I hope you’ve found it helpful to see the choices we’ve made in our little green family. Of course, everyone does it a bit differently. There’s not a ‘right’ way or a ‘wrong’ way! What I’d love for you to take away from this, is that cloth diapering is totally doable, even – dare I say – a pleasure! You don’t need any fancy bells or whistles. You don’t need any special set-ups or expensive cleansers. As with everything I advocate, a little imagination and a little metaphorical elbow grease will go a long way. It’s just like I always say: Be creative, and have fun with it!
sign-off

  • Rea

    I feel like such a horse’s ass. I just did the biggest facepalm. I live in one of the hottest states in the country with lots and lots of sunshine and I’ve never thought of de-staining whites! I am such a goof! I hope it works for tomato stains!

  • Rea

    Pfft, I meant ‘de-staining whites with sunshine’. GOOF.

  • catherine

    we assumed we would get a sprayer too, but when time came we were cheap-solid poo rolls off mostly and that that does not gets a dunk or two , thrown into a nearby plastic bag if really bad and into the laundry pail….by then you are so used to washing all the time it isn’t really all that bad…like breastfed poo was jsut there to break you in.

  • saundra

    that was a really informative piece really enjoyed it. gave me the idea to maybe cloth my next one always thought about it but thought it was much more complicated then that. thanks :)

  • http://bonzaiaphrodite.com Sayward

    @ Rea – Hee hee, no worries. Now you just gotta put that sun to good use! It should ork for any stains. =)

    @ catherine – Iiiiinteresting. Well maybe we won’t need one after all!

    @ saundra – Glad you liked it. I hope you do give cloth a try – it’s so rewarding!

  • http://alternativehousewife.com J – Alternative Housewife

    Eee love this post! What an inspiring setup!

  • http://fiberfidelity.etsy.com theresa

    We made our wipes out of old sweatshirts. My husband changed jobs so we had a couple with his old logo, 2 sweatshirts go a long ways plus you get the smooth t-shirt type side and the soft/scrubby side. They were my favorite wipes until I started making my own out of bamboo materials.

    We just put up our clothes line! I finally got the diapers out there last week and it really does help with the stains. It only took me nearly 2 years, but better late than never, right?

    We hated our diaper sprayer and actually just passed it on to a friend that happens to love them. For us they seamed to make more mess than it was worth. The water comes out a pretty good velocity and will splash off the diaper with tiny bits of poo getting around the toilet area (maybe we just do it wrong?!?) so it was a big hassle to clean up after cleaning up. My son, at 2 still has those darn squishy PB consistency poops (a sign of good health, but I’m so over it) so we rarely get the “ploppers” but if you use pocket diapers the real poop will come off much easier. We have a utility sink in our basement and have found that works the best for cleaning up messy diapers. Good Luck!

  • April

    With baby #4 on the way, the hubby and I are looking into a cloth diaper service for the newborn stage.

    I exclusively used disposables for my first 3 boys (now ages 14, 12 and nearly 9) and would really love to finally give cloth a go. But with 3 school aged kids (high schooler, middle schooler and elementary), my job and graduate school around the corner, my household is already SO busy! With a wee little one added to the mix, I don’t know how I will find time to keep up with diapering laundry :(

    This is where the diapering service fits our needs. They will drop off clean diapers (trifolds) once a week, cart off the dirty ones and provide diaper covers. My hopes is to avoid laundry ‘burn out’ early on and give cloth diapers an honest try. Once I get the swing of things again, we cancel the service and wash our own diapers.

    I am concerned about what chemicals they use, which I plan to inquire about this week.

  • Callie

    I am completely amazed at the de-staining with sunshine. I’ve definitely heard of it before but always blew it off with a “crazy hippies” eye roll (not that I don’t love me some crazy hippie solutions, but sometimes I just want something that’s easy and works!). But I guess you showed me…

    I’ve resisted line drying for a long time because it just doesn’t feel clean to me. What if birds poop on your clothes, or dirt or something blows into it? And won’t they feel all stiff and hard? But if the sun really has that much bleaching power, then maybe it really can dry clothes cleanly… this has given me something to think about, as always!

    Great post, we have no spawn yet, but when we do I’m sure your creativity will inspire us!

  • Heather

    We use a very similar set-up for our daughter (also in our room, since we share a family bed) and I also found that once she started solids, it became easier — most of the solids can just be flung off into the toilet; no sprayer needed. The occasional toilet dunk is required…but I didn’t find that to be a big deal.

  • Heather

    ps: I think if I had the space, it would be most ideal to have the change table in the bathroom — as this would prevent having to find a safe place to put baby down so I can then walk across apartment to do my cloth-diaper-toilet-fling. Alas, in our tiny home there is barely room to stand in the bathroom…let alone add extra furniture.

  • Sarah

    A cheap rubber spatula (clearly labeled *poo*) has be really handy. It scrapes, it swirls diapers in the loo, it cleans easily… The sprayer was icky to me too because it just kinda splattered the mess-even in the bucket. Of course our toddler poo is kind of icky because my guy has a dairy allergy. (We don’t do milk, but the protein casein is even in many ‘vegan’ products-like Chocolate Decadence because of shared manufacturing equipment :( So, we still get yucky poos on occasion.)

    Our changing ‘table’ is on the dryer :) We used a pad like the one in the picture and all of our diapers/wipes/oil is on the shelves about it. We don’t use the dryer for much really, though sometimes I’ll run a load in there in the winter to warm the room up.
    It’s especially handy for us because our washer/dryer are in the bathroom. So, I can wet a wipe at the sink, toss poo in the toilet, drop diapers in the washer on laundry day. When our son was little, I’d just wet the wipes before laying him down so I didn’t worry about him rolling. I also keep a bit of almond oil on the shelf for sticky poos.

    I use Charlie’s soap, and we really like it! I’ve heard it depends on your water, but we use it for all our laundry. We bought the 100$ 5 gallon pail when our guy was 3months old, and we’re only halfway through it (22 months later…). I also use a oxygen cleaner (now that his poo is more serious business) and vinegar in the final rinse. I found that if I used vinegar before the diapers were mostly clean, it interacted with the acids in his pee/poo and they got smelly. Hydrogen peroxide soaking cleared the smells up, though. Despite all this, the laundry part has never seemed like that big of a deal. We do a little under a load a day since we only use cloth napkins/wipes/rags in our house, so it’s just part of the morning/evening routine. Toss whatever load in at night, hang it up in the morning.

    @Callie-My drying line is under trees (here in shady central FL), and I’ve only ever had bird poop 1 time. There’s not much surface area for it to land on, I think. Most people suggest avoiding trees, though. Also, the diapers are stiff, but they soften up once they’re snapped when you take them down, folded, and stacked. I imagine other people have other suggestions on that too.

    A word of caution about tea tree oil-a couple of drops is fine, I’m sure (and I used it too), but I’ve heard recently that tea tree oil can interfere with male sexual development (http://www.nih.gov/news/pr/jan2007/niehs-31.htm) But, I haven’t read what the usage rates were in the study.

    Oh, man-I really need to get an outlet for all my nesting talk. Excuse my logorrhoea! <3

  • http://indiearsenal.com farmingtheburbs

    I totally agree, don’t put all your eggs in one diaper pail, aka don’t buy all one brand before you have a kiddo. Even if you love one diaper say when your kiddo is newborn, by the time they are a toddler, your preference might change. I have two in cloth, 2.5 and 1 year old boys. I use g’s with prefolds primarily, even when we are out of the house, and bum genius at night. There are a lot of factors at play, like when and how you launder, is stuffing too time consuming?, are some better for over night then others?, is your kiddo a heavy wetter even in the daytime? Most cloth mommas have a stash, of all different kinds and often some are purchased and then resold immediately.

    I use Country Save detergent, and I love it for all my laundering.

    I don’t use a sprayer in my toilet but bought a “pet” sprayer for my faucet in my utility sink. I drop the poop in the toilet and spray the mess into the sink and drop the diaper into the pail.

    A note about G’s. I totally hear what you are saying about them leaking. Every diaper leaked when I bought them for my oldest and I used them for 9 months with the disposable inserts. I gave up. Then I was prego with number 2 and I wanted to use cloth but I had lots of g’s. I couldn’t justify not using them (especially when I realized I could use cloth-g’s weren’t selling cloth yet). I had to commit again to using the g’s, it wasn’t an option. Well, now I am a pro, give me any newborn to toddler and give me a g and I can get it on them and not have it leak. I just needed experience and as per my child, change them frequently enough. Now, I have no leaks, on either child at any age.

    Also, julliandrawers.com will give you a sampling of all different kinds of diapers and let you keep them for 21 days to use and you can keep all or just the ones you like. At that time you can ship the others back and order more of the ones you like, of course they are new but alas, it makes cloth a little less intimidating and more convenient.

  • Heidi

    My son is 6 months old and I change him on the floor. No worries about him rolling off anything then. We have used cloth since day 5 and I love them. I use Charlie’s soap, an oxygen cleaner, and the sun, and biokleen bac-out for smells if needed. It works great! The ladies at my daycare always comment on how clean his diapers are. He is the only baby in cloth there and probably one of 3 or 4 in our community. The laundry has never been a big deal for me and I love the simplicity of it all. Thanks for a great blog!

  • Cedar

    Awesome as always!! Thanks for all the amazing information and pictures.

    I have a non-diaper but baby related question. I live in Portland and am looking for a good midwife that offers water-birth and accepts major insurance. I read your birth story and it inspired me so much to go through a midwife but I’m finding it a little bit difficult to find one that I’m comfortable with. Don’t get me wrong, my current midwife is very nice but she’s not exactly what I had in mind and I figured word of mouth is one of the best ways to find someone I like. I’d ask friends but they all just went through Dr.’s at major hospitals. I’d *greatly* appreciate any references/information you have.

    Much love to you and yours!

  • Heather

    Sarah: totally brilliant idea about the spatula! I’m going to start with one tomorrow!

  • emily

    I know this is a long ways off, but when do you plan on having Waits sleep in his own room/bed? 2? 3? 18? :)

    I really like the idea of co-sleeping, especially with nighttime feedings, but I’m curiouse as to when the transition will be made if at all? and how? or am i jumping ahead? :)

  • Melissa

    My husband and I have six kids. Just for fun, we did a rough calculation and we figured that by the time our youngest (22 months) is out of diapers, we will have changed around 20,000 diapers in our parenting career. We have diapered our darlings’ derrieres with disposables and cloth. There is something so satisfying about cloth diapering. I love knowing that we are taking care of our babies and the earth at the same time.
    Sayward, thank you for the helpful tips in this series of posts. I am a big fan of line drying. Living in Florida, we have an abundant supply of sun pretty much year round. I love to look out the window and see our little man’s cloth diapers hanging up. So cute!

  • http://bonzaiaphrodite.com Sayward

    WOW, there is some amazing information being shared here. Thanks so much for all the comments everyone! You’ve collectively pretty much talked me out of a sprayer, haha.

    @ J – Alternative Housewife – Yay! So glad you liked it!

    @ theresa – Love the sweatshirt idea! I’m totally doing that next time I make wipes!

    @ April – You can do it! Diaper service is a good idea to ease you into it. Bt once your body is a bit healed up and your household is used to having the wee one in the mix, I bet you’l be able to take care of the laundering without any trouble. It’s more just always thinking ahead and remembering to do it – the actual time it takes s not so bad at all. Luck! Let me know if you need any help!

    @ Callie – Haha, I’ve never had bird poo issues but I have found the occasional bug. =) No biggie, I just brush it off. After a day on the line the clothes can get a bit . . . *crispy*. But 5 minutes in the dryer will soften them right up, and wastes a LOT less energy than doing the full load!

    @ Heather – Awesome, that’s very promising about the solid poops! Also, changing station in bathroom = brilliant!

    @ Sarah – Ohmigod spatula! Love it! I’m totally doing that, thanks for the tip. And please, bring on the nesting talk. We love it!

    @ farmingtheburbs – I’m jealous of all you ladies with your utility sinks! Also, I know what you mean about the gs. I’ve been sticking with mine and I think I’m starting to get the hang of it. So maybe it’s just got a much steeper learning curve than the others!

    @ Heidi – Floor changing makes so much sense, I totally do that too sometimes. =) And you’re welcome, so glad you liked the post!

    @ Cedar – Well, my only experience is with the midwife team at OHSU. I LOVED them, all of them. THe great thing about that route is that the midwives are extremely qualified and you have the awesome blend of cutting edge, state-of-the-art technology, with the philosophy and practice of traditional, holistic, non-intervention care. The down side is that the midwives work as a team and so whoever happens to be on call when you go into labor is the one who will deliver you. So you may not actually deliver with the woman who you have the closest relationship with. But still, I’d recommend that program to anyone in a heart beat. I had such a great experience there.

    Feel free to email me if you want to chat about it more! info@bonzaiaphrodite.com

    @ Emily – I think the plan is to take his cues. Supposedly children raised under ‘attachment parenting’ will naturally exert their independence, and it’s healthier for them to do it on their own schedule, when they are ready. Of course we can gently urge him, but right now we plan to follow his lead. But we’ll see how it goes – who knows what will happen!

    @ Melissa – 20,000 diapers! Ahhhh! That’s amazing, I love hearing about your big brood. Maybe some day I’ll catch up to you, ha!

  • Cedar

    Thank you so much for your response! I was actually browsing through their website the other day and had considered making an appointment with them. I really appreciate the feedback and if any other questions come to mind regarding midwifery, I’ll shoot you an e-mail. :)

    Thanks again!

  • Josey

    Question about sunbleaching cloth diapers. I’m expecting my little one to come any day now and live in Ohio where we have very cold winters. I”m wondering how I will keep my cloth diapers “bleached” during the winter months b/c I’m afraid they’ll freeze if I put them outside. We have a clothes line setup in the basement so they can dry fine w/out a dryer, but how will I keep them stain free???

  • http://bonzaiaphrodite.com Sayward

    @ Josey – I’m going to be dealing with this too here in Oregon. Alas, I think I’m just going to have to deal with some darker staining until next spring. If you wanted you could always dry indoors under a full spectrum/UV light, which would do the same thing. For me the cosmetic issue doesn’t worry me so much but I’m sloppy like that, haha. If it’s an actual cleanliness issue though I may have to alter my washing/drying procedure.

    Any more experienced diaperers care to weigh in?

  • Sue

    I live in Indiana and am expecting my first little one in less than 2 months and I plan to cloth as well. On winter sun-bleaching, I’ve heard that you can simply lay out your stained diapers in a sunny spot by a window indoors and it works beautifully, though I have not tried it yet.

  • Britt

    @ SUE ~ That’s BRILLIANT!!! Hang a line across the windows = instant indoor clothes line! BRILLIANT!

    @ Sarah ~ That article on lavender and tea tree oil is veeeery interesting. Sayward, do you still use tea tree oil? {Whew, I’m glad I didn’t get the lavender-scented Castile soap! Yipes!}

  • Britt

    Oops… I hit the “submit” button before I realized what I was doing… Sayward, I wanted to ask your opinion on your favorite diapers. I have two kinds of really nice cloth diapers and got Thirsties wraps and a couple of their new all-in-one diapers (which are pretty super-cool.). The Thirsties brand looked the best for the cheapest; plus, they’re local for me! Yaaay, go Rockies! (The mountains, not the baseball team… : )> But same thing, really.) Anyhoo, my little home-slice is just about gettin’ too big for his Size One diapers, so we’ll have to be getting upgrades here real soon. I was wondering which ones you’ve tried which you’d recommend, as well as the ones you’ve tried which you would NOT recommend! The diaper brand low-down according to Sayward Rebhal…! Sweeeeeet!

  • http://bonzaiaphrodite.com Sayward

    @ Britt – I don’t use tea tree in the diaper spray anymore (I do use it occasionally in my diaper pail to fight odor/germs)

    My favorite diapers by far ar Bun Genius. They are the best! Most other mamas I talk to agree. However, it really depends on your baby. I discuss some of my faves (and worsts!) in part I of this article.

    Hope that helps!

  • http://www.sarathomas.etsy.com sara thomas

    wow! i just found this blog last night while looking for homemade laundry detergent recipes and am totally in love!! i know this is an older post but wanted to add my 2 cents =)

    i am a new cloth diapering mommy also. my son, simon, was born this past november (all natural, drug and intervention-free as well! i highly recommend bradley birth classes!) after being overwhelmed by tons of options and opinions, my husband and i decided that the old school organic cotton/hemp prefolds were for us. it’s so true that effectiveness of the diaper depends on each individual baby. with the prefolds, however, it’s easier to adjust the tension where you need it (si is a, tall, thin, breast fed baby. most diapers were too loose around his little legs) we just adjust the prefold so it’s snug on the legs and secure it with a snappy. then we use a cover over that. we have many brands of covers since we don’t rely on them to hold his “deposits” in but to serve as a moisture shield. Pretty much anything works! my favorite right now are the GroVia covers. i really like the velcro on top rather than snaps. they are easier to adjust & much quicker!

    another big factor with the diapers was the cost. i am blessed with a husband who supports my dream of being a stay-at-home mommy, but that makes money a bit tight. although you save a lot in the long run using cloth, you still have to have the money for diapers up front. the prefolds were the cheapest option since you can get a pack of 6 for about $22 and reuse the shells many times before washing. i also like that our prefolds are made with natural fibers!

    lastly i’d really like to share a couple things i recently learned from my “healthy child healthy world book” (if you have never read this book PLEASE get yourself a used copy off amazon and READ!! it’s truly fantastic!)

    1. the best diaper rash cream is aloe vera. it works so great! now & then when si gets red i use only AV and it works awesome! we have learned from experience that you can have your own little aloe farm just by potting a few plants in an oversized pot and letting them reproduce. it will eventually fill up your pot! you can have endless aloe quite easily!

    2. corn starch help keep the moisture off your baby’s booty! since cloth doesn’t have anything to pull the moisture away from baby’s skin. we used to use burt’s bees powder but it’s pricey and unnecessary. i bought some CS and put it in a stainless steel shaker (the kind you put cocoa or confectionary sugar in to dust cakes) and it rocks our world! stay away from talc powder since it is a by product of asbestos!

    oh yay! green mommies and daddies unite!

  • http://www.sarathomas.etsy.com sara thomas

    wow! i just found this blog last night while looking for homemade laundry detergent recipes and am totally in love!! i know this is an older post but wanted to add my 2 cents =)

    i am a new cloth diapering mommy also. my son, simon, was born this past november (all natural, drug and intervention-free as well! i highly recommend bradley birth classes!) after being overwhelmed by tons of options and opinions, my husband and i decided that the old school organic cotton/hemp prefolds were for us. it’s so true that effectiveness of the diaper depends on each individual baby. with the prefolds, however, it’s easier to adjust the tension where you need it (si is a, tall, thin, breast fed baby. most diapers were too loose around his little legs) we just adjust the prefold so it’s snug on the legs and secure it with a snappy. then we use a cover over that. we have many brands of covers since we don’t rely on them to hold his “deposits” in but to serve as a moisture shield. Pretty much anything works! my favorite right now are the GroVia covers. i really like the velcro on top rather than snaps. they are easier to adjust & much quicker!

    another big factor with the diapers was the cost. i am blessed with a husband who supports my dream of being a stay-at-home mommy, but that makes money a bit tight. although you save a lot in the long run using cloth, you still have to have the money for diapers up front. the prefolds were the cheapest option since you can get a pack of 6 for about $22 and reuse the shells many times before washing. i also like that our prefolds are made with natural fibers!

    lastly i’d really like to share a couple things i recently learned from my “healthy child healthy world book” (if you have never read this book PLEASE get yourself a used copy off amazon and READ!! it’s truly fantastic!)

    1. the best diaper rash cream is aloe vera. it works so great! now & then when si gets red i use only AV and it works awesome! we have learned from experience that you can have your own little aloe farm just by potting a few plants in an oversized pot and letting them reproduce. it will eventually fill up your pot! you can have endless aloe quite easily!

    2. corn starch help keep the moisture off your baby’s booty! since cloth doesn’t have anything to pull the moisture away from baby’s skin. we used to use burt’s bees powder but it’s pricey and unnecessary. i bought some CS and put it in a stainless steel shaker (the kind you put cocoa or confectionary sugar in to dust cakes) and it rocks our world! stay away from talc powder since it is a by product of asbestos!

  • http://bonzaiaphrodite.com Sayward

    @ sara thomas – Hi! Welcome to the site, I’m so glad you found us and you’re enjoying everything here. =)

    Thanks so much for all the great tips. Lately I’ve been thinking about prefolds with covers and although I love my BumGenius, I may just go another route with the next one. I have a few covers in my rotation and I feel like they leak less than any other . . .

    Anyways, thanks for the great comment – tons of awesome information!

  • Meghan

    How did you make the wipes? Did you just cut the t-shirts with pinking sheers? Or was there some kind of hemming involved? I was thinking I might go to Goodwill or Salvation Army to see if I can find any flannel sheets to cut up. I like flannel wipes for myself, so I imagine a baby would too. :-)

  • http://bonzaiaphrodite.com/ Sayward Rebhal

    I didn’t even use pinking shears (but I should have – I get the curls!), and I only do 1 layer, so no sewing. I know people who sew them into thicker wipes but I *really* think that’s overkill. The thin ones . . . *ahem* . . . fit into cracks and crevices more easily.

  • BIOChemROX

    Sorry to say they usually add Talc to cornstarch as well.