Cloth Diapering

a couple years ago i learned that cloth diapering nowadays is not like i remember when my kid brother (who now is expecting his 2nd child) was in them and i would occasionnaly change him 20 years ago.

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I decided I would cloth diaper my babies, for 3 reasons, to lower our impact on the earth that my babies would be residing in for the better part of a century, reduce the amount of chemicals touching their tushies and I would rather save money for braces or college or a beach house. cost comparison article

I decided to blog about cloth diapering because i dont tend to blog about being green or being frugal, even though i try to be both.

I was very overwhelmed when i began researching cloth diapering i read a bunch of cloth diapering 101 type blog posts and articles like this one . There are bunches of well written articles to help new cloth mamas like this one, so Im not going to try to write a how-to on cloth diapering, im just going to chronicle my adventures.

Although I got a decent idea about what is available and what i wanted, I still had a hard time committing to one kind. My mother-in-law offered to pay for cloth diapering service for a couple months, i decided to look at what kinds of diapers they use so that if i decide to contine cloth diapering, doing my own laundry, id already know what i was doing and would have the supplies needed. Turns out the diaper service provides prefolds and sells covers

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(an alternative to oldschool rubber pants) and snappis(alternative to safety pins)

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through their website so thats where i started making decisions.

I googled cloth diaper cover reviews and found this site.

I contacted the diaper service to start delivery and they informed me they dont service outside city limits where we live. I was ok with this because from the beginning I thought that paying for the service might counter the cost saving aspect of cloth diapering but my mother in law had insisted, and diaper service was just about the same price as the chlorine free disposable diapers that I wanted if i had to go with 'sposies. My mother-in-law offered to pay for the starter diapers that we needed instead of the service, this is the best gift ever, like offering to buy diapers for the next year. We had bought a couple packages of prefolds on sale, buy one get one half off from toys r us with a 10% off everything coupon. I was going to order from the diaper service company, but I found Little For Now because I needed a diaper pail liner also. They offered a $10 off $50 purchase coupon for signing up for their newsletter so I looked at the diaper covers, they were comprable priced to the diaper service but they had some decent packages. We ordered 2 packages, a starter package and a big package we also bought a pail liner and a huge box of detergent.

Im really excited to get the diapers in the mail and start cloth diapering. I primed the prefolds we got at toys r us. and set up space for the cloth diapers on the changing table shelves.

{since starting this post, we have received the diapers and been using them for about a week.}

The cloth diapers are just as easy to use as disposables, just tiny extra steps of lining the diaper up inside the cover and checking to make sure its not poking out along the leg holes or the back and its all done. I dont use the Snappi, its not nessesary with the covers, I got one, with the starter package, and can use it if i feel the need, like in the summer if i want her to go without her cover outside or something.

Washing the extra few loads of laundry isnt a big deal, its just part of being Ellie's mom. I read lots of information on washing diapers, most people wash them seperate from other laundry, for obvious reasons, I wash the diapers often and we have a decent sized washer, so I wanted a way to conserve water other than waiting a week to wash. So I do an express wash (without soap or spin) of just the diapers then add the rest of her clothes and do a regular wash with extra rinse. I have noticed that the poopy leg gussets of the Thirsties arent getting cleaned in the regular wash with the small amount of Country Save detergent, so last time, I pulled the stained cover out after the express wash, rubbed a bit of Oxyclean on the spot, threw it back in with the regular clothes and the stain came out just fine. I dont have to handle the poopy diaper by waiting until after the express wash to address the spot.

Prefolds go in the dryer (on sunny days, I will hang dry the diapers) covers are air dried.

I found a good deal on a bunch of OS (one sized) pocket diapers.

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Mikey finds them easier to use because i pre-stuff the pockets. I have noticed that Ellie doesnt ask for her diaper to be changed when wearing the pocket diaper because of the stay dry liner that seperates the soaked diaper from her bum. This will be nice for longer timeframes between changes. I will still default to use the prefolds with the covers most of the time, because the entire pocket diapers need to be washed after each use, while i can re-use the Thirsties covers and just change the prefold each time, until she poops (which usually gets on the cover).

A new benefit of cloth diapering has came up since starting.

Ellie asks for her diaper to be changed. She rarely did that before, with 'sposies. I like this because I believe it will help with trust building, just like her fussing when she is hungry tells me to feed her, feeding her lets her know Im taking care of her needs. Her Daddy can give her something she needs and asks for now. Also, I like that Im reminded when she needs a diaper change.

If you have any questions about cloth diapering, let me know, im not an expert, but ive done tons of research.