Nursing Your Kids

I know that this is a breastfeeding blog so I apologize for hijacking it with cloth diaper info, but I keep reading blogs where parents lament that they didn’t choose cloth diapers, or where parents say they’d like to try them but haven’t. If you’re curious and look online it can be totally overwhelming since there are so many different kinds of cloth diapers. There are many more detailed descriptions online, but this quick guide is based on my experiences.

Prefolds and covers:
Prefolds are the old-fashioned diapers your mother may have used. They are squares of white bleached or unbleached cotton sewn so that there’s a thicker, more absorbent area in the middle. They can be pinned or snappi’d (a snappi is a pinless diaper fastener) and covered or tri-folded and covered.

The drawback to prefolds is that they feel wet immediately which means changing them a lot more often than you’d change disposables. But this is also a good thing since your baby shouldn’t be sitting around in a wet diaper anyway. Prefolds are the cheapest cloth diapers and the easiest to wash. They don’t come in many sizes, which makes them easy to order. With covers that fit well, you won’t have leaks. Ben, who was 2 weeks old at the time, is wearing a prefold with a PUL cover in the picture.

Covers come in wool, fleece and PUL. PUL is a waterproof, plasticky feeling material. It stays dry to the touch and contains moisture. It won’t feel wet on the outside. If it’s wet, you can just wipe it clean between wearings.

Fleece is more breathable than PUL. It’s soft to the touch and easy to care for. It does get wet on the outside if it’s compressed and a diaper is soaked through. Car seats, baby carriers and strollers are risky if you can’t change a wet diaper right away.

Wool is supposed to be both “bulletproof” and breathable. It holds a ton of moisture. It can’t be washed with your other diapers, but you can let it air dry between wearings. Most wool needs to be lanolized on a fairly regular basis to stay water tight. I’ve been too chicken to try wool covers with our prefolds.

All-in-ones are most like disposable diapers. They are one-piece diapers that fasten with aplix (which is like Velcro) or snaps. If your child is in daycare and you want them to use cloth, AIOs are the most likely to be accepted. A big drawback is that they take forever to dry. They are also the most expensive diapers and you’ll need a lot of them.

Pocket diapers, like all-in-ones, are a lot like disposables. The difference is that pocket diapers have removable absorbent inserts. You can add inserts or doublers for more absorbency for naps and overnight. They dry much more quickly than all-in-ones. The biggest inconvenience is that you have to stuff them before using. Daycares will often accept pocket diapers, since they are easy to use. I’ve heard rumors that different laundry detergents can make them repel liquid, which is the exact opposite of what you want in a diaper. I haven’t had any problems with this.

Fitted diapers are my least favorite. They have snap closures and elastic legs to “fit” your baby. Like prefolds they require a cover. Like prefolds they get very, very wet. Because you have to use a cover they are bulkier than other kinds of cloth diapers.

gDiapers:
If you are uneasy about doing extra laundry you may want to try gDiapers. They are a cloth/disposable hybrid. The outer cover is cloth with an inner plastic liner that holds disposable inserts. The inserts decompose much more quickly than regular disposable diapers and if you have a compost pile you can compost the wet ones.

The cotton covers are supercute and fit well. The plastic liners stain easily. I found that it was difficult to change just the insert and ended up changing the whole thing- cover, liner and insert instead. It’s not a big deal, it just wasn’t what I expected. When wet, the inserts get sort of weird and bunchy up front and stay pretty dry in the back. It could be different for girls, but that was my experience. The inserts are expensive which was a huge drawback for me.

I started using cloth diapers when I was pregnant with Ben and Sam was 21 months old. It was something I’d considered when I was pregnant with Sam, but not brave enough to attempt. Now that I’ve been cloth diapering a toddler for half a year and a newborn for 11 weeks I think it’s safe to say that if you’re thinking about using cloth diapers you should just go for it. It’s not as hard (or as smelly and gross) as I anticipated.

There are a number of different kinds of cloth diapers and everyone has their favorites. You can find some of the more well-known brands just about anywhere online, including diapers.com. People spend hours stalking some of the harder to get diapers when they go on sale.

I have about 15 diapers for Sam and about 50 for Ben. I know that 50 sounds like a lot, but 2 dozen of Ben’s diapers are prefolds, which are inexpensive and double as burp cloths, leak guards and changing pads. I wash diapers every 2 to 3 days. The diaper pail doesn’t smell nearly as disgusting as the disposable diaper pail did. Ben hasn’t had a single blow out. We’ve had some leaks, but nothing like the daily, up to the neck blowouts Sam had as an infant.

In terms of money, I spent a lot initially. But I’ve sold a number of the diapers that were outgrown or that I didn’t like and made almost all of the money back. Cloth diapers have a great resale value. I’ll go through some of the different kinds, and the advantages and disadvantages of each tomorrow.

I have 2/3 of a bottle of fenugreek supplements in my bathroom closet leftover from when Sam was a baby and my milk was slow to come in. In retrospect, I had no idea of what I was doing and just took the 1 to 2 recommended dosage on the bottle instead of the 6 or more recommended on kellymom. I’ve seen several questions about fenugreek on the baby message board I frequent and saw this interesting post by a woman from India.

Hope this helps!

I thought this information was fascinating and answered a lot of questions. It’s also good to know that fenugreek doesn’t have to be cost prohibitive. One more note: I haven’t researched any of this information, I am just cutting and pasting with permission of the author. So if you’re having supply issues do your research and talk to a lactation consultant or doctor before taking any supplements.

Massachusetts moms, please act now!

I’m a resident of Massachusetts, one of only three states that provides no legal protection for nursing in public. There is some hope of that finally changing this year, but we need to act quickly. Here’s a notice put out by the Massachusetts Breastfeeding Coalition:

Massachusetts is one of only three states without any laws to protect a mother’s right to breastfeed in public. Senator Fargo’s proposed bill 2438 is currently stuck in the House Ways and Means Committee and unless we can convince the Speaker of the House to move it out of committee immediately our chance of passing the bill this year. Deadline is the end of July.

Speaker of the House
Salvatore F. Dimasi
State House
Room 356
State House
Boston MA 02133

On the back of the photo write “Another family for Senate Bill 2438! Please send it to the floor for a vote!

That’s it! Any cute baby photo will do, whether it was taken two days ago or twenty years ago, and no, they don’t have to be breastfeeding in the photo. In fact, we’d rather they weren’t. If you do send a photo of your baby breastfeeding please make it discreet. We want to flood these offices with pictures of cute babies, not breasts!

For those of you with the time and energy you get extra credit if you also send a photo/request to:

Chairman of the House Ways & Means Committee
Rep. Robert DeLeo
Room 243
State House
Boston, MA 02133

You may also email email Rep. DiMasi, Rep. DeLeo, or your own representative an embedded photo, but not an attachment. Keep the photo size small.

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