Our journey through infertility, failed adoptions and now parenthood through the miracle of embryo adoption/donation.

Friday, November 19, 2010

Cloth Diapering




When I first found out that I was pregnant I began reading all things baby related. It was at this time that I began to read about cloth diapers. I knew that people used them, but I thought that it was only very poor people or the Amish. The reality is that the majority of parents that use cloth diapers are upper middle class. I guess it's from all that money they saved by using cloth! In the beginning I was intrigued, but not sold on the idea. So I continued researching it and the more I learned, the more I liked the idea. Cloth diapers are no longer flat prefolds, safety pins and crinkly, plastic pants that failed to hold in the pee smell. There ate tons of options now. Tons!!! And many of them are cute too!

Once I hit the 2nd trimester and felt more confident that the pregnancy would go well I began buying diapers. I took the advice of the been there done that mommas and bought several different kinds instead of investing is all of one kind. I bought Flips, Econobum, BumGenius AIO and pockets, prefolds and covers, AI2 and some fitteds. The closer I got to delivery the more intimidated I became. How would I keep up with laundry? What if I hate it? Which ones will I like? What about stains? SO many things to think about!

I decided to wait until Maddie was 6 weeks before I began cloth diapering. I waited for several reasons: Newborn baby poo is frequent and yucky! And I knew that I would be tired and cloth would overwhelm me in those early days. So at about 6 weeks I slowly started using cloth. I quickly learned that prefolds were not for me. They are bulky and too much work. I tend to be lazy! Next I tried fitteds. Hated them too. I just can't figure out why anyone would spend good money on a cute diaper that requires a cover over them. And I just don't want to have to put 2 diapers on (fitted and cover). Again, too much work. Then I tried the Flips and Econobums which are basically the same. For a newborn the were too bulky. As she got bigger they fit better but I am not too keen on the idea of a cover. I know that you can reuse the cover as long as there is no poo on them, but once she peed the cover got wet and I did not want to have to clean them. Next came pockets. I didn't like those either, mainly because they are bulky for a newborn. You have to fold the inserts and somewhere there is going to be bulk and I hate bulk!! I only tried one pocket and maybe this is not the case for all of them, but my one experience was not a positive one so I gave up on those as well.

My favorite ones are AIOs, especially Bumgenius. I even like some of the WAHM ones (home made). They are so easy to use! Just like regular diapers. Now that I have found my groove I really like cloth diapers. I am using them exclusively and love that I am saving money. My water bill has only gone up about $4 and the detergent was only $10 and will last a long time. I am not sure if my electric bill has increased, but if it has I am sure that it is not by much. So all in all my cloth diapering experience has been a very positive one and I am so glad that I decided to at least give it a try. And Maddie likes them too! Seriously! She will not go poo in a disposable diaper. When we used them she would go 3 days between poos but once I put cloth on her she would go within and hour. Every time!!! And now that we use them all of the time she goes every day. No more constipation! Crazy kid!!!

So if you are thinking about trying cloth I would encourage you to go for it! It is not for everyone, I realize that. But if you can, you really should. It will save you a bundle!

9 comments:

  1. I've def thought about it & would like to try it one day. Question though... is there a particular or special laundry detergent you use for diapers. That's the thing that has always stumped me the most when I consider using them. I don't want to have to buy expensive detergent in order to cloth diaper.

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  2. I had no idea you were doing this. How cool!

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  3. Yay I'm glad you like them!! We've been using the Flips the entire time (mostly because we could get more for the same price as fewer BG's). They're working great for us, especially now that Abby's on to solid food so her poo is more solid and less frequent. I'll rotate between 2-3 covers throughout the day (wipe one down with a wipe and let it air dry until the next diaper change).

    I find myself wanting to try other types, but I don't think I can convince my husband to spend the money... :)

    As for Amanda's question -- I personally just use a "free and clear" variety of regular detergent. Some baby's bums will be more sensitive to that stuff and you might have to get the more expensive detergent, but store-brand free and clear has worked just fine for us.

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  4. There are several options for detergent. I read that a lot of people like Tide Original a lot and that is what I will buy next. Right now I am using Charlie's Soap and it was $10 for a bag of it and I have been using it for 2 months and the bag is over 3/4 full still. I started out using All Free and Clear but found a comparison chart and it was low on the list so I quit using it.

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  5. Thanks for posting, I love to get feedback from parents who are cloth diapering! We had planned to cd and had already began purchasing some AIO's and Flips before Lily died so I still have my stash. Hopefully in the future we'll be able to use them...I also planned to use the Charlies soap so glad to hear you like that as well!

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  6. Thanks so much for sharing this!!! I love to read about everyone's experiences with CDing! I take a little nugget from everyone and try to figure out what I'd like to do.

    You hated prefolds, huh? Dang. This might change things for me. I was thinking prefolds (with a diaper service!) and a cute cover.

    "I knew that people used them, but I thought that it was only very poor people or the Amish."
    I am from Lancaster, PA, so the Amish comment is hilarious to me!
    LMAO!

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  7. Thought about cloth diapers only for a minute.Never gave them much thought.Eye opening for sure.Thanks for the great info.Maddie is so cute.What a beauty.Kudos to you mom,you are doing a great job.

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  8. Thanks for the post. I just bought our first g diapers this weekend. We are due in March so I will have to wait until then to test drive them. Did you ever think of trying the gdiapers? Just wondering why you went with the bumgenius and WAHM? ...What is WAHM again? Do you actually make them at home? that's always been a confusing term for me.
    Again thanks for the post and all the good info!
    Jenny H

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  9. WAHM just means that someone made them. I don't sew so I had someone else make it.

    I forget to list gDiapers. I do have some and I do like them, but I don't like having to purchase disposable inserts and didn't want to invest in the cloth ones for size small only to have to buy larger ones later. But I do like them for the most part. BG is just a bit easier.

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