Day 2 of Flats and Handwashing Challenge

May 24th, 2011
12:16pm

Recap Day 1:

We had a full day with outings and all. I had a doctors apppointment in the morning and then lunch with a friend after that. We started the morning off with an alternate kite folded blanket and Baby Bee Bop cover for Charlotte and James was just in a blanket turned flat with that same fold. (See below for pictures). Since James is learning to use the potty, we don't put covers on him as much. This also saves me some laundry! I changed them both before we went out for our errands into pad folded flats with covers (a Cheeky Diapers Cover and the Wonder Wrap).

The pad folded diapers held up pretty well for Charlotte. I changed her about 2.5-3 hours later and no leaks. James was another story. We met a friend at the park for lunch and the kids got to playing and I got to talking and forgot about changing him. About 3 hours after his last change he ran over for a drink of water and I noticed a wet spot on his pants. I changed his pants and the cover was soaked! I just didn't change him in time to catch it. In my hast to get ready, I didn't pack anymore covers thinking, "I'll just change the flats". Luckily, I had a wetbag in the car that I keep one or two cloth diapers in that are not my favorites. So I kinda cheated by putting James in a pocket. It was all I had with my though. The little guy fell asleep in the car on the way home and I let him nap in the pocket. Charlotte napped great with no leaks!

I was awaiting night time to see how everything would go. I put James in a Koala Kuddles folded in half lengthwise, folded in half again lengthwise, folded in half downwards then folded about 4 inches down then folding it lengthwise to make a pad like shape and put into a Little Beetles wool cover. Charlotte was in a Koala Kuddles folded with the alternative kite fold and in the Baby Bee Bop cover. Charlotte goes to bed around 9:30 or 10pm. I change her before I go to bed around midnight and usually this lasts until morning (8:30am). For her long stretch at night she was in an alternative kite folded Koala Kuddles with a Sustainablebabyish soaker. I noticed that around 6:00am or so, Charlotte's wool cover was starting to feel damp. I knew it wasn't going to make it until morning so I changed her into a pad folded flat with a Softbums Echo cover. That stayed nice and dry!

Handwashing:

I decided that I was going to handwash without the use of any special aids (i.e. plungers, buckets, or tools). I wanted to use the things that I had on hand. I'd say it went pretty well. I washed all of the diaper laundry that had accumulated during the day by hand in the tub. My wash routine included:

• Pre rinse all poopy diapers with the detachable showerhead by hand
• Fill tub about 1/3 way with cool water. Let soak for awhile with intetrmitant agitation by hand.
• Drain and wring out water by hand
• Fill tub 1/3 way with hot water and some tea tree oil and Dr. Bonner's Castile Soap
• Agitate by hand (water was hot!!) and let soak about 15 mins
• Drain and wring out by hand
• Fill tub 1/3 way with cool water for final rinse
• Agitate by hand and let soak for 5 minutes
• Drain and wring everything out by hand.

Even though it was 12:30am, I went out and put the flats and covers on the line. I hung the wipes to dry inside on the shower rod and towel racks. I hung the flats back to back so that when they were flapping in the wind, it would act like a tumble dry so they wouldn't be too stiff. Everything dried well and wasn't stiff! Plus they smelled like outside wonderfulness!

The whole handwashing process took a little longer than an hour, almost an hour and a half.
(I was doing other things in the meantime so I think the time could be shorter if I didn't multitask). I have to say, My arms and hands are feeling slightly sore today. My back and legs feel achy from being hunched over the tub in a weird position. It's good though; I feel productive. I can understand how this might not be the most desirable thing to do after a long day at work.

Here's the alternative kite fold that I'm really into:

(Image source)

I just put Charlotte in a Diaper bag fold (scroll down to the video) that I saw on Padded Tush Stats. Super trim. I like it. We'll see how long it holds up. I have found that with flats, I have to change more frequently because of the lack of absorbency. The fold you use also determines where the absorbency is. I just need to play with it. It easy to get a fold for a boy with the wetzone in the front but more difficult to get a wetzone in the middle for a girl.

How's Day 2 going for everyone? Any surprises?

______________________________________________________________