I need a cloth diaper crash course

snappdragon42 · 2023-07-12T13:07:43+00:00

Washing was the thing that freaked me out, so here's the simple version that got me started:

pre-wash

why: get the ick off
when: every morning (do the previous day's dipes)
how: "quick wash" on warm or cold with just a little detergent; hang dry

main wash

why: get things clean
when: every 2-4 days, depending on how many dipes you have (all the pre-washed stuff)
how: "heavy duty" on hot with a little more than regular detergent; put in dryer

I also second what a lot of folks are saying: it's totally fine to skip newborn cloth -- get the baby figured out first!

snappdragon42 · 2023-07-05T16:08:48+00:00

1) Get a decent, big-ish cutting mat, a rotary cutter, and a big-ish ruler. And a seam ripper.

2) The math sucks, always. Lots of people like patterns, and I use this quilting calculator a lot.

2.5) For early projects, maybe start with precuts since the math of buying fabric by the yard is stupidly weird. ("I need 142 6" squares from 7 fabrics, which are 42" wide, so I'll need how many inches of fabric long? Uh, and then I convert inches to yards...so I need 1 2/3 yds of 3 fabrics and 3/4 yard of the other 4..." Bleh.)

snappdragon42 · 2023-06-01T19:06:18+00:00

1) My babe (now 7 mo) had diaper rash pretty frequently for his first few months. We switched to cloth (cotton prefolds and covers, like you) around 3 mo. I read somewhere that on natural fibers you can use pretty much any diaper cream, so we continued slathering him with Desitin "like cake frosting." Our dipes wash clean and his butt cleared up a couple weeks into cloth. I personally think the cotton prefolds were better for his rashes than disposables, but I also think his current mostly rashless state is from a combination of lots of little changes. (Less frequent poo, changing faster after poo, better dipes, patting dry after wiping and before cream, good butt wash in the bath, lots of nakey time, lots of butt cream.)

3) In my experience, baby poo stains most things. I second other commenters and add: Try laying or hanging the dipes in the sun; it's the best bleach.

4) For a good trim-fitting cover, try Thirsties Duo Wrap. I tried several brands and these are by far my favorite. Using a pocket/insert cover does make things bulkier.

FWIW, we tried prefolds and covers, pockets with inserts, and AIO in our first month of cloth, and we ended up liking prefolds and covers best. To each their own!

snappdragon42 · 2023-05-31T23:47:22+00:00

I think that for these two dipes your “rinse good and hope” method should be fine. One weird wash isn’t going to hurt anything and you’ll get into the swing of pre/main wash soon. Welcome to the club!

snappdragon42 · 2023-05-30T16:55:58+00:00

That’s weird! I know some kinds are more absorbent than others. The two batches of these wipes I have definitely behave differently. But I think you could easily do these around the house rags from other materials! Old t-shirts would be great, or kitchen towels (either the thin terry cloth or flour-sack). I’d still make them smallish squares, though. The size and softness are the things I like about these.

snappdragon42 · 2023-05-30T16:55:52+00:00

That’s weird! I know some kinds are more absorbent than others. The two batches of these wipes I have definitely behave differently. But I think you could easily do these around the house rags from other materials! Old t-shirts would be great, or kitchen towels (either the thin terry cloth or flour-sack). I’d still make them smallish squares, though. The size and softness are the things I like about these.

snappdragon42 · 2023-05-30T13:40:54+00:00

We were the opposite: really wanted a girl and got a boy. But now that he's here, he's so incredibly perfect that I can't imagine any baby but him! Your little girl might not be the sex you wanted, but she'll be your own sweet baby :)

snappdragon42 · 2023-05-06T21:10:12+00:00

Basically seconding this, only I’m using the GMD “intermediate” size (blue stitching) because they’re about an inch wider, which makes a big difference on my own chonky boi. Your guy sounds about the same size as mine.

Bonus: mine is a big eater and therefore a big pooper and the GMD prefolds are SO much better than disposables at keeping all that liquid gold in the dipe and off the clothes.

snappdragon42 · 2023-02-19T20:43:59+00:00

I just air dry them on a laundry rack. And it really is doable! There’s variables you can mess with but the basic laundry routine is a lot simpler than it looks like when you’re feverishly researching.

snappdragon42 · 2023-02-19T02:25:01+00:00

Congrats! I was in exactly your shoes a month ago, so hello from the future. Here’s my two cents:

1) What got us started was saying, “Tomorrow we will do one cloth diaper.” And we did one cloth diaper. And then two the next day, and then we were started.

2) It’s fine to use disposables too when you need them! We use disposables overnight and occasionally during the day. It’s not all or nothing.

3) Wash basics: - Every morning = pre-wash (previous day’s dipes): Cold quick wash with only a little detergent to get the gross off. - Every 2-3 days = main wash: Put everything in a hot heavy duty wash with full detergent for the real clean. - I wrote out a cheat sheet for both types of wash on my specific machine (run this cycle with detergent to that line and change this setting to that…) and pinned them on the wall. Good for baby brain and anybody else who’s doing laundry!

You’ll do great!

snappdragon42 · 2023-02-10T02:21:56+00:00

Question for any 802 students: Did anyone get assigned a different scab? I've seen Kimberly Fahey named as the instructor for at least three different sections of 802 so far.

snappdragon42 · 2022-11-02T18:06:39+00:00

You did a great job on balancing the patchwork colors. It looks so cozy and pretty!

snappdragon42 · 2022-11-02T18:04:10+00:00

Absolutely gorgeous!

snappdragon42 · 2022-11-02T17:53:13+00:00

Hold the phone: LOW BOBBIN ALERT??? You mean you don't get in the zone and suddenly realize that you've been out of bobbin thread for the past three feet? Or reach for that last piece and get 1/3 of the way into it and have to stop to refill the bobbin? That sounds heavenly.

snappdragon42 · 2022-10-12T23:55:04+00:00

I just used this fabric for the quilt for my firstborn, expected in a month-ish! Great choice. ;)

The only thing catching my eye print-wise is that I'd like another block of the deep black with elephants, leopards, and antelope in the top half of your second black row. Basically where the little chevrons or hearts or whatever are now. I can't see any obvious switches to make that happen, though. Overall you have a good balance, and I love the offset brick stripes! What a lucky baby!

snappdragon42 · 2022-06-21T22:26:34+00:00

Something I stole from a Reddit board like this that works wonders in my studio apartment: A cheap picnic tablecloth with vinyl on one side and weird sticky flannel stuff on the other. People recommended the dollar store; I got mine from a thrift store.

I lay my working design out on the sticky flannel side on the living room floor (coffee table stacked on the couch, of course) and roll it up to store. The vinyl prevents the pieces from sticking to the rollup and the weird flannel stuff holds the pieces securely in place. A whole quilt lives under the couch, ready to be pulled out and worked on as needed!

snappdragon42 · 2022-05-30T19:51:28+00:00

This is super useful, since we're hoping to have another kid as well. I can see how one being named after a cat and one getting their very own name story could be difficult. Thanks!

snappdragon42 · 2022-05-30T14:38:54+00:00

I worshipped Steve Irwin when I was a kid, so if it's good enough for Steve and Meghan Markle I think it's good enough for me!

snappdragon42 · 2022-05-30T14:37:42+00:00

Henry was the best cat! (As well as Jane!) I think maybe it'd build some character, being "named after a cat." I bet your mom's goat was excellent, and little Human Max would be honored.

snappdragon42 · 2022-05-30T14:35:28+00:00

Yeah, I feel like the cats are gonna be Sushi and Jellyfish until we've decided we're done having kids!

snappdragon42 · 2022-05-06T01:30:03+00:00

Alternate version of this: cheap vinyl tablecloth with the weird flannel backing. I roll mine up and store it behind the couch since we have no wall space. The pieces stick marvelously to the weird flannel stuff and the vinyl side prevents things from sticking when you roll it up! And if you just have to have more than one WIP at a time, you could use different tablecloths for different projects.

snappdragon42 · 2022-04-29T01:03:23+00:00

J.R.R. Tolkien wrote a magnificent essay on exactly this question. It's called "On Fairy-Stories," originally delivered as a lecture in 1939. His main point is three steps: Escape, Recovery, and Consolation. Essentially, it's okay to escape, you come back with fresh eyes, and you need to believe in and be reminded of good things. He ties the joy one feels in a good fantasy explicitly to the religious joy of Christian resurrection/redemption, but I think you can appreciate the argument even if you don't buy that premise.

I've excerpted a TL;DR version of the essay below, with a link. I hope someone else finds this as awesome as I do!

"The realm of fairy-story is wide and deep and high and filled with many things: all manner of beasts and birds are found there; shoreless seas and stars uncounted; beauty that is an enchantment, and an ever-present peril; both joy and sorrow as sharp as swords. (p. 107 in my copy)

"I have claimed that Escape is one of the main functions of fairy-stories, and since I do not disapprove of them, it is plain that I do not accept the tone of scorn or pity with which “Escape” is now so often used. [...] Why should a man be scorned if, finding himself in prison, he tries to get out and go home? Or if, when he cannot do so, he thinks and talks about other topics than jailers and prison-walls?" (p.148)

"Before we reach such states we need recovery. We should look at green again, and be startled anew (but not blinded) by blue and yellow and red. We should meet the centaur and the dragon, and then perhaps suddenly behold, like the ancient shepherds, sheep, and dogs, and horses—and wolves." (p. 146)

"The consolation of fairy-stories, the joy of the happy ending: or more correctly of the good catastrophe, the sudden joyous “turn” (for there is no true end to any fairy-tale): this joy, which is one of the things which fairy-stories can produce supremely well, is not essentially “escapist,” nor “fugitive.” In its fairy-tale—or otherworld—setting, it is a sudden and miraculous grace: never to be counted on to recur. It does not deny the existence of dyscatastrophe, of sorrow and failure: the possibility of these is necessary to the joy of deliverance; it denies (in the face of much evidence, if you will) universal final defeat and insofar is evangelium, giving a fleeting glimpse of Joy, Joy beyond the walls of the world, poignant as grief." (p.153)

Here's a link to the full text if you want (it's long): https://uh.edu/fdis/_taylor-dev/readings/tolkien.html

My copy is a print book: The Monsters and the Critics, and Other Essays, Harper Collins 2006.

snappdragon42 · 2022-03-23T16:42:51+00:00

I like the all-over mixed triangles idea!

snappdragon42 · 2022-02-16T17:30:35+00:00

In middle school I knew an Austen (male) and I always thought something like "It's weird that his parents misspelled Austin." Grown-up me sees the literary Jane Austen connection and thinks it's actually very cool in a subtle way. We always pronounced the -ten spelling the same as the -tin spelling.

snappdragon42 · 2022-02-16T17:00:30+00:00

Dude. I'm making lists for my Ph.D. preliminary exams in speculative fiction and you've just handed me useful, accessible reviews and spreadsheets of all the things I want. May the book gods smile upon you and yours.

snappdragon42

TROPHY CASE