Adventures in cloth diapering

I decided probably a year ago or so that I wanted to do cloth diapers. It may have been more recent, but I think I knew at least by the summertime that this was my plan. My cousin has two daugthers and has expounded on the joy of cloth diapering and how easy it was- She was a fantastic source of advice and information! She suggested Bum Genius- figuring that she is a girl who has had TWO daughters in cloth diapers, I should definitely trust that her reccomendation was probably going to be a good one. So, I looked into where I could buy them, stopped in a cloth diaper store locally and asked some questions, and bought my first Bum Genius in the fall.

These are SO not your "old fashioned" cloth diaper. They are called "all in ones" (or maybe it's "pocket diapers", something like that!)- meaning, the diaper is all there- there is no flat fold thing that you need to safety pin. Nope- it looks like any old disposable diaper you'd get in the store. Elastic in the back, elastic around the legs, it looks like what most of the "disposable generation" expects a diaper to look like. There is a pocket where you slide a liner into for absorbancy. Bum Genius diapers come with a "thick" liner and a "thin" liner. When I had my shower with my family and Friends in Vermont, I asked my sister to make it a "diaper shower"- this is how I got the bulk of my diapers. They are not cheap- $17.95 each, but when you compare them to buying huggies or luvs, they pay for themselves in about 4-5 months. Adding in those "waste" diapers (all you parents know what I'm talking about!), they are paid off sooner than that even. I estimated I needed about 24 diapers. I now own 23, and think that's actually a great number. Based on how many I actually had to purchase (I think 5 or 6), I calculated that was equivalent to the cost of 3 weeks of disposable diapers. Pretty good when you consider these can be used for more than one child!

SO many people said to me "Oh I know xxx number of people who were so sure they wanted to do cloth and they all changed after the first week" or insert your story here... Seriously, this is NOT HARD. I just put myself in the mindset, if I start off with cloth, then I'll just be accustomed to it and it won't be hard. Maybe that's why it's not hard, or maybe it's just not hat much extra work. To me, it's worth the financial savings and the other benefits. My top 3 are:
1) Not filling up landfills
2) Maddie has had diaper rash ONE DAY of the last 3 weeks. That's it. These things are so soft and nice to her skin!
3) Saving lots of money!

The only challenge was in the first week and a half with leaks. I quickly figured out that for an 8 oz bottle, Maddie needs the "thick" liner. Generally speaking, we now just use the thick liners for all of her diapers. I did find that I need to change her diaper for EACH bottle though- the difference between cloth and disposable is that disposables will just keep absorbing, whereas cloth have a limit. It's like a sponge- at some point, it just cannot absorb any more moisture and it's got to go somewhere! But honestly, it's better she is changed more often anyway- and I've heard that cloth diaper babies are potty trained earlier...

The other "leak" challenge was the overnight diaper. We had TWO 8 oz bottles involved here- her "going to bed" bottle and the midnight bottle. I tried a thick liner and a thin liner and leaked...then I remembered my cousin mentioned HEMP liners. So off I went to the local cloth diaper store and picked up 3 hemp liners. The first night (after pre-washing them) I tried Hemp + thick liner- Fantastic! No leaks!
Night two: Same combo- LEAK!
Night 3: Thick Liner + Thin Liner + Hemp Liner- NO LEAK!
Next 2 weeks since then- NO LEAKS!
Here is the difference in thickness between the thick and thin- the light green diaper is the night time diaper.

While Maddie does not love getting her diaper changed (that requires she stop moving and this is a girl in constant motion!), she does seem comfortable in her cloth diapers!

They are a little puffier than paper diapers- but so far I've only found 2 pair of pants that don't fit over the cloth diapers. Most of them fit just fine. They also have snaps for making the diaper shorter so as your child grows you can use the same diapers- there is no "small/medium/large" that you have to buy for different ages. One size fits all.
I bought just a very small little (4 gallon) garbage can to keep in her room for diaper wipes (had I thought about it I would have done re-usable wipes as well, but I stocked up on wipes before Maddie came home) and the wet and dirty diapers go in my diaper bin in the bathroom. This style is the same style I have for my compost, so I knew it kept the scent in really well, it also works well for diapers!
The diapers have "wash tabs" where you tuck the velcro flat against the diaper for washing (so they don't all stick to each other), then you slip the liner out of the diaper and toss both in the diaper bin.

This size is just the perfect size for 2 full days of diapers. Normally I wash diapers every other day, 23 seems to be enough for two full days plus a few extras. And, if you change a diaper but it's not very wet or it's not ACTUALLY wet or if the baby pees just as you put the new diaper on and you change two diapers right in a row, no big deal. You're not throwing away $.35 (the average cost per disposable diaper) and it's not adding to your water consumption in washing because the wash size will be the same.

If it's a poopy diaper, you do need to spray the poop off- but I have this fantastic sprayer (I think it might be bum genius also? Not sure- it was also a gift) that hooks onto your toilet. It's seriously like a fire hose. It sprays it all off. This whole process takes about 1 minute- slipping out the liner into the bin then spraying off the diaper. Easy. One minute. Maddie has figured out by now that I walk across the hall to the bathroom after a diaper change and I am done and my hands are being washed by the time she crawls across her (not very big) room to the doorway.

When it comes to washing the diapers, they all just get thrown into the wash together (all the beautiful colors!)- you wash them once on cold (with 1/4 oz of biodegradeable detergent), then once in hot, and dry. If I was really good I'd hang them to dry, but right now, I throw them in the dryer. And, no staining. Another bonus on these is they have a very high re-sale value. Once you are finished, if you don't plan to use them for another child, there are websites where you can re-sell them online. You can recoup almost what you spent on them. Simply amazing.

When we're out, we have waterproof bags that we just throw diapers in. I actually bought a few G diapers because I thought, "Oh I won't want to carry wet or dirty diapers around", but honestly, it's a piece of cake. you just fold the diaper up, stick it in the bag, and when you get home you just go through the same motions- pulling liners out and dropping them in the bin, or spraying the diapers if they are poopy diapers then dropping them in the bin. We've been out all day and have come home with 4 or 5 diapers in the bag and it still is easy. We had to supplement a disposable diaper the other day (before I purchased my last 5 diapers!) becuase we were out and the laundry wasn't done yet, and it really felt "harsh" to my hands- not at all like the super soft cloth diapers.

The daycare I am using has said as long as they have a sanitary way to store the wet diapers, they will use them no problem. So....we'll be getting accustomed to doing 4-5 at the end of every day!

And look what a happy baby she is!