Cloth Diapers - 21 months in review

*I have not been paid on incentivized in any way by any of the products listed below - these opinions are my own**

I posted a while back here about our decision to use cloth diapering and how it works in our house.  I am happy to report that we are 21 months in and still using cloth diapers.  We've  had a few changes and I wanted to share some of our "work-arounds" for what I believe are pretty common issues you might face the longer you go with a cloth diapering system...

Smell - It happens...you forget to wash them on that second day, they accidentally get left in a diaper bag...whatever the case may be...the strong smell of amonia starts and you can't seem to get rid of it.  It happened to us so I looked for a product that could help resolve this and am happy to share that Rockin' Green's Funk Rock Amonia Bouncer does just the trick.  You can buy it on Amazon and I'm sure a host of other places and one overnight soak...or even 30 minute soak on a front loader and the amonia smell is GONE.  Like it stays gone...until you miss another cycle.  I've used it time and time again and am in love!!  I'm still using Vaska, which I blogged about here, for the routine washings and am still thrilled with the results I'm getting (as info - Target is no longer carrying Vaska but I am able to get it through Alice - which is pretty cool online store for a bunch of things other than just Vaska).

Stains - Nothing works better than some sunshine to get those stains out.  I am happy to report that while Addie's diapers may not be as bright as they were when we first brought them home, they really don't have any major stains.  I try to hang them on the line when I can but haven't been able to do it much lately (more like once a month) but it still does an awesome job of getting rid of the stains.

Leaks - At about 14 months, we started to notice that most nights she was leaking through her cloth diap - we purchased some liners and they definitely helped but added alot of bulk to her diaper.  We decided it would be better at night to switch her to a disposable and that has definitely resolved the problem.  We are also using the disposables during her naptime at school because of the same problem. The liners definitely resolve this problem but we just decided it made the diaper a little too big for our girl to be comfortable.

Durability - We've had zero problems with her diapers holding up....all of the snaps are still in place and the cloth looks great (a few areas look a little worn on the liner but thats it).  The outside of the diaper still looks brand new and Addie still seems perfectly comfortable in them!  I totally expect us to be able to use these again for future babies.  As I blogged about in my first cloth diaper post...we chose the BumGenius Elementals and I would totally recommend these to any one in the market for a good all-in-one cloth diaper.

Using them in Day Care - Since I wrote my last post, Addie has started going full-time to pre-school/daycare.  When looking for the right school, some of the places would not accept cloth diapers...which was a total negative in my book....but lucky for us - our first choice of schools was actually totally cool with the idea of cloth diapers.  All they asked us to provide was a separate diaper pail (I picked up this one off Amazon) and disposable plastic liners for the diaper pail and each used diaper (I buy the cheap 4 gallon trash bags from just about anywhere).  They still follow the same standards when changing her and we just bring home the used diapers every day from school.  It's really been a breeze and they've been totally accommodating!!

Whew...ok, so that was alot of information.  Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions at all....seriously y'all...cloth diapering is not that much extra work.  It takes about as much time as it would for me to run out to the store and buy disposables on the regular!!

Also, please feel free to comment below on any successes or failures you've experienced with cloth diapers!!

Happy Monday....