Rockin' Green for Cloth Diaper Laundry!

I have been cloth diapering for a year now, and I started out using Planet, but we still had occasional stink issues. Then my niece, another cloth diapering momma, turned me on to Rockin' Green. Ever since I tried it, I switched and never looked back. I recommend it all the time. It's affordable, gets the stink out, and leaves my diapers clean and fresh. (And with an almost 2 year old, I only do diaper laundry twice a week now, and I still never have stink problems!)

Rockin' Green has always come in Classic Rock (for normal water) and Soft Rock (for soft water or very sensitive skin) formulas. Today they are releasing their new Hard Rock formula for people with hard to very hard water, and reviews from testers have been fabulous! So if you're one of those cloth diapering families who constantly battles stink due to hard water issues, give it a try!

I love Abby's Lane!

Just a quick review of one of my favorite stores for cloth diapering items and other natural parenting items...  Abby's Lane. I first ordered from them because they offer FREE shipping for all items in the US. But I LOVE them, because the owner is very nice and every order gets personal attention. I have received all my orders so quickly, and she has extra discounts and special offers if you sign up for their mailing list or join the Facebook Fan page.

They have a great selection, competitive prices, and offer a lot of helpful tips related to cloth diapering. The owner responds to personal emails and actually encourages people to contact her if they are having stink issues or other washing dilemmas. She also carries PediPeds baby shoes (which are amazing), baby carriers, and other items. I bought a lot of our cloth diapering supplies from Abby's Lane, but I wish I'd known about this store from the beginning! It would have been awesome to do a baby registry at Abby's Lane. :-)

Overview of Cloth Diaper Options

Our stash is made up primarily of prefolds with Blueberry Coveralls one-size covers with snaps for wearing at home, and Swaddlebees/Blueberry pockets for when we go out. But there are a lot of different options and a lot simply depends on your personal preferences, and what works for you and your baby. Here are my thoughts on the basic varieties...

Our Diaper Wash Routine

This isn't meant to be a comprehensive tutorial on cloth diaper washing, but here's my wash routine. It has worked pretty darn well for a over three months. The only time I had problems, I think it was due to some oily rags from the garage that I washed right before doing a load of diapers (probably not too bright of me). I've also included some other tips and things at the end.

A Primer on Prefolds

I recently started cloth diapering my daughter (just a few months ago), and was instantly addicted. I think I've read everything there is to read about it. It seems these days every one is interested in pockets and fitteds and other trendy options, but I adore my prefolds, and they are definitely the cheapest option for cloth diapering. So I put together this primer on using prefolds for newbies.

Favorite cloth diaper inserts/doublers

I've used a variety of different inserts and doublers in our diapering adventure so far. We mostly use prefolds at home, but we use pockets for convenience when we leave the house and when I dare to try cloth overnight.

With our prefolds, I bought some Hemp Babies doublers at first, but found that my daughter only really wets up front, so I wanted something smaller just for the front. I found the perfect solution is a Happy Heiny Stuff-in Oval. I like the Hemp Babies large doublers for pocket diapers still though. The Hemp Babies small doublers are shorter, but oddly wider, which bugs me, because the Little Missy has a narrow crotch.

My favorite inserts are hemp and microfiber combined. This is because microfiber absorbs quicker, but hemp absorbs a lot more. If you put microfiber over hemp, the microfiber absorbs almost instantly and then the hemp can slowly soak up the wetness. In this category, the LoopyDo inserts are definitely the trimmest that I've used, both in width and thickness, but with great absorbency. We have several of those that I use in all our smaller diapers. (The sizing runs a little off I think, because I use the Large inserts in my medium diapers and they seem like a great fit.) I also LOVE the super absorbent Blueberry one-size hemp/microfiber insert. It is amazingly trim despite how big it looks unfolded, and the way the one size feature works, you can have the hemp portion double thickness in the "wet zone". This has worked very well for us. These inserts come with Blueberry One-Size Deluxe pocket diapers, or you can buy the inserts separately.

NOTE: I buy from www.abbyslane.com whenever possible, because she offers free US shipping on all orders and great customer service.

Smartipants Diapers

Smartipants are a new brand of one-size pocket diapers. I have a couple of testers and like them. They seem a lot like BumGenius diapers, complete with suedecloth inners -- except they have snaps. They cost less than most pocket diapers and the price includes a microfiber insert. Plus, they offer a 3-pack that gives a substantial discount. (Most other cloth diaper packages only save about 25 cents a diaper, which annoys me.)

I got my testers a few weeks ago. I think the fit is pretty good on my my tall, skinny 14 month old. I also talked to another mom who had a tester and she was also happy with the fit on her even smaller toddler. I'm not sure how they would work fully snapped down, because the insert is rather large. I guess you're supposed to fold the insert when the diaper is snapped down? As far as the sizing goes, I have used it snapped down one and on the largest setting, and both work for my daughter. Either way, the side flaps touch in the middle, so there is definitely room for a much bigger baby/toddler to wear these diapers.

Technically, instead of a pocket, it is a sleeve with openings at the front and back. I found the sleeve rather hard to stuff, because I think the insert is a bit too wide, but it does seem to stay in place once it's there. I haven't noticed an issue with the insert poking/coming out either end. And it definitely comes out on its own in the wash, as advertised - I've tested that many times. I also let my daughter completely SOAK the diaper by having her wear it longer than I normally would, and it held a LOT with no leaks.

My only complaints are that I don't like suedecloth (that's one of the reasons I got rid of my BumGenius diapers), and I think the sleeve is a bit hard to stuff. But it does fit my daughter nicely...