I was determined to use cloth diapers with my little baby boy. Apparently not determined enough. There were a few dryer sheet incidents right at the start. I registered for the Bum Genius cloth diapers so I was very blessed to receive quite a few at my two baby showers. I was SO excited to cloth diaper. I had told myself that I'd use disposables for the first month just to get used to being a new mommy and taking care of little tiny baby. And so I started using the cloth diapers about a month in. We had never acquired enough to use cloth exclusively. I stopped at the diaper store a few times a month and picked up one more diaper here, and one there.
The first time I found the dryer sheet in with my freshly dried diapers I freaked. "OH, NO! What have I done?!?" The second and third time a dryer sheet showed up in the basket with them I just felt like an utter failure. The dryer sheets (and for that matter dryer sheet residue left on the inside of the dryer (which I hadn't known at the time)) basically water proof your diapers. So they become the opposite of super absorbent like they were designed to be.
I looked up "stripping" diapers and tried everything suggested several times but the diapers still leaked, still left my kid rashy, and still weren't coming totally clean. These three things are all supposed to be side effects of residue on the diapers. I kept washing them, kept trying to strip them, and kept using them on and off. But did I ever accomplish the cloth diapering mommy status as I'd originally dreamt of? No.
I've had my son in two diapers a day for about the past two months. He's been wearing one for his nap and one for bedtime. He's always been a very heavy pee-er at night and he's always leaked out of the cloth diapers. For the past month at least I've been using a cloth for naptime and a disposable for bed. I have not purchased any diapers this year and I do not intend to. We are down to our last thee disposable diapers so I went for it and put him in cloth last night. Success!
Very long (rather boring) story summarized I am so proud to officially be a cloth diapering mommy. So maybe my child is basically potty trained and it's silly to try and claim the title BUT he's not quite two and I'm done with disposables. If for no one but me that is an accomplishment. Woohoo!
Moral of the story: just don't even use dryer sheets. They are evil. You might as well not even stick your diapers in the dryer. Just hang them to dry. I've been hanging them to dry since about 3 or 4 months in. It's really not a hassle and just takes a bit more time. The end.
Honestly, I never use dryer sheets at all. Why do you need them? They are also very expensive. If you need to use something, get the dryer balls.
ReplyDeleteI hardly use them anymore. In fact I purchased the first box of them in over 2 years just last month because of static. They really do get rid of the static. It had gotten really bad. Every time my son moved in his fleece PJs he was getting shocks. BUT practical parsimony suggested I only use each sheet several times and I decided to just cut each one in half and only use half at a time.
DeleteI NEVER dry my diapers anymore so I'm not concerned about that and I don't plan on buying another box of sheets anytime soon as this one will last well through winter and then the static will be gone. I never used a dryer ball before.
Vinegar in the rinse is also a great substitute for dryer sheets.
DeleteDryer sheets can cause dryer fires.
You are awesome using cloth diapers! I could never stick to them. I felt like I was doing three times more laundry every day (since we needed like 10 a day). But I was pumping like a mad woman too and had no extra time whatsoever. They do save you a ton of money, and hopefully, will help you with potty training too.
ReplyDeleteI really struggled with nursing. I nursed exclusively for 2 months and then we had to start supplementing with formula. I too was pumping like a mad woman and I just never produced what he needed. I never even had to wean him because by 8 months I was no longer making milk. At least I made it 8 months (even if that meant EVERY minute of break time at work was spent pumping).
DeleteI like air drying laundry :)
ReplyDeleteAnd you're awesome :-)
DeleteDryer sheets make your clothes smell good but they cause your towels and diapers to not absorb water. I do not use them period, if I have a laundry smell problem, Hubas fire clothes for example I spray a dash of febreeze into the dryer. Much cheaper.
ReplyDeleteI don't have any issues with odor. I've only ever bought them to combat static. I have to agree with everyone though, they are pretty counter productive (except for the static thing).
DeleteTry vinegar in the wash cycle.
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