Cloth Diapers: How many do you need?

This is probably the second question most often asked when starting out with cloth (first is, "Which system should I choose?").

In my experience, we started CDing when Ash was about 5 days old and we typically went through 10-12 diapers in a day. Infants poop a lot more, every time they eat, actually. So that's every 2 hours within a 24 hour period. But as they grow older, you'll be needing less and less diaper changes. Ash, at 5 months, poops an average of twice in a day so we go through diaper changes 6-8 times in a day, sometimes less.

Washing your Cloth Diapers

Funny that I’ve made a post on how to strip CDs before making one on how to wash them. Here is my washing routine for cloth diapers.

I use a wetbag to store my soiled diapers. I have 2.

The wetbag is placed inside a garbage bin with a pedal I bought from SM (supermarket) for about P150.. 

I start with about 10-12 dirty diapers which are kept in a waterproof wetbag inside a garbage bin with a lid.

Soiled diapers inside the wetbag.

You can either use a wetbag or dry pail to store soiled cloth diapers.

Here in the Philippines, we’re used to hand washing our clothes so when I feel like it, I pre-rinse my diapers in cold water in the sink by hand before I toss them in the washer (we do have a washing machine). When I’m too lazy to do that, I can just toss all the dirty diapers and liners and wetbag in the washer and pre-rinse them there.
When they’ve been rinsed, I load them for washing with about a tablespoon of detergent (use cloth diaper friendly detergent) for 10-12 pcs of cloth diaper in the washer.This is 2 days worth of diapers. I try to do the wash every other day.
I rinse and rinse (I prefer by hand) until all the suds are gone.
I load them in the spinner (or if you have a dryer that’s ok too) to squeeze all the excess water before I line dry them under the sun.

Line dry your diapers with elastics lengthwise to avoid stretching the elastics. On sunny days, the diapers and inserts with stain (they stain sometimes with poop) I don’t spin those. I leave them a bit damp and lay them out in the sun and let the sun do it’s magic. The sun is great for removing stain, making your whites whiter, and they disinfect too.

For poopy diapers, breastfed baby poops are water soluble so you can just throw them in the wash with your other soiled diapers. But if your baby is taking solids, it's better to dump as much poop as you can in the toilet and rinse the diaper either with a bidet sprayer or in the sink before putting them together with your soiled diapers. I personally wash the pooped on diapers immediately as much as I can to avoid staining.

Do not use bleach. Although some manufacturers suggest using bleach on occassion to disinfect the diapers. I've never used it and don’t plan to. The sunshine is good enough. They say you can also use baking soda for removing stains. Make a paste with the baking soda, apply on the stained area and leave on. Make sure the diaper or insert is clean and a bit damp before doing this.

Do not use fabric softener. No matter how stinky you think the diapers are, never EVER use fabric softener. They will just coat your diapers and will cause repelling and leaking. Some use white vinegar during the final rinse because it supposedly softens clothes. I've only done this once but didn't see much difference so I didn't do it again.

If you’ve used fabric softener or have detergent build-up that has caused repelling, you can strip your diapers.

Ash at 5 months

A day after Halloween, my daughter turned 5 months old!
She's starting to grab anything within her reach and putting them in her mouth.

She can roll on her tummy and back but she prefers to lie down or stand up (while someone's holding her of course).
She makes a lot more noise now especially if no one's paying any attention to her.
She's such a smiler. =) But it's pretty hard to get her to laugh.

Ash at 4 months

I can't believe she's 4 months already! How time flies! They really do grow up so fast.

When we last visited her pedia, she has only gained 1.2lbs and that would make her 14lbs. She also grew a few centimeters. She's now about 69cm at only 4 months. Pretty long if you ask me. Good thing she didn't get her height from me =)

With all that height and weight, you would think everything else about her is big. Well, pretty much everything else (hands, feet, fingers and toes) are equally growing at the same rate, all except for her ears! Yes, her ears, which is why up until now, her ears remain without earrings. With someone who has 6 ear piercings (3 at each ear), you can imagine my excitement over getting my daughter's ear pierced as well (don't worry, she'll get just 2, one for each ear). I really wanted her to get her ears pierced already, but apparently, she has small ears. So her doctor advised waiting until December or until her ears get with the program and grow along with the rest of her body parts.

Ash at 3 months

My little one is now 3 months old and a lot have changed. It seems her neck and shoulder muscles have now strengthened  which means she can hold her head up for longer periods of time. She also makes more sounds like she's trying to talk especially when someone speaks to her. She's putting her fingers in her mouth more (and anything else she can grab). I'm hoping her hair grows out soon she's been losing her hair for few weeks now. The doctor said it was her baby hair that's falling off and soon her "real" hair will be growing out. I can't wait!

I try to develop her senses by reading to her and one of the books we use is this

it was a gift from one of her ninangs. It's great because it has different fabrics for her to touch and has music and a pop-up and it also has a mirror! I plan to get more books to read to her.