Cloth Beginnings

When I first became pregnant, I never once imagined I’d be using cloth diapers. Put my baby in pieces of leaky cloth with pins and rubber pants? Are you kidding me?!? No thank you!

Of course, like any first time mom, I did my research on the best disposable diapers and I was a little concerned with some of the instructions and warnings – if you see pieces of gel on your baby, just wipe it off. Hmmm, is that really safe? What exactly is that gel made of?? Still, that had to be better then wounding my precious baby with those diaper pins!

I became slightly curious about cloth diapers when my son was around six months old. Due to a health issue with my son, I was now a stay at home mom and we were looking for ways to save money. Little man had also outgrown the Pampers Swaddlers by now and he had started getting rashes that we assumed were from his new diapers.

Fast forward four months later, after numerous diaper rashes, leaks, blow outs, and many brand switches, we decided to take the plunge into cloth. During all my research, I found out that cloth diapers had changed so much from the diapers our grandmothers used. No more pins and rubber pants with the same old dreary colors. In fact, there were so many choices that I was completely overwhelmed! There were All-in-ones (AIOs), pocket diapers, hybrids, fitteds, pre-folds, flats, covers…Ugh!! I had no idea where to even start! Through a friend (the one person I knew in the whole state that was using cloth!) and some ladies on the Babycenter.com Cloth Diapering Board, I found out that some stores offer trial packages of cloth diapers. This is perfect for an overwhelmed newbie! You get to try out different types of diapers, keep the ones you like, and send back the ones that don’t work for you. I decided on a trial pack from Jillian’s Drawers. (You can learn more about that here.)

We ended up keeping the whole trial package plus we bought some more diapers to set up our stash. We now have:

4 Grobaby shells + 8 inserts, 2 soakers, and 50 disposable biosoakers

1 BumGenius! 3.0 AIO

2 FuzziBunz Perfect Size Pocket Diapers

1 Thirsties Duo Pocket

1 Rumparooz Pocket

1 Bum Genius! Pocket Diaper

2 Blueberry Pocket Diapers

1 Ecobumz Supreme Stuffable AIO (2 more on the way)

1 DreamEze Organic AIO

1 Baby Beehinds Fitted

2 Bumboo Fitteds

1 Thristies Fab Fitted

4 Prefolds

4 Diaper Covers

20 Gerber Prefolds to use as extra inserts and soakers

Considering my addictive personality and ADD tendencies, it’s no surprise that I couldn’t decide on just one type or brand of diaper!! My favorite dipes so far are the Rumparooz and Ecobumz. I also use the prefolds more than I thought I would and the Grobaby Diapers a lot less than I thought I would. The diapers with the velcro are easiest to put on our little man, but the diapers with the snaps are easier to wash and stay on better. The pocket diapers with extra soakers or the fitted diapers and covers have worked best for nighttime diapers. My hubby’s favorites are any of the diapers with Velcro and I make sure that there are AIOs or Pocket Diapers always stuffed and ready for him.

All in all, we have enough for at least 26 diaper changes with 2 more diapers on the way. Plus, I ordered some fabric so I can start sewing some diapers. I am washing about every other day right now and I’d like to have enough diapers so I only need to wash every third day. When I wash the diapers, I use a cold rinse/hot wash/cold rinse cycle. I dry the inserts and soakers in the dryer and line dry the diapers. I bought some flannel fat quarters on sale and made them into 8”x 8” wipes by sewing two pieces together. I bought an adorable hedgehog print wetbag from Monkey Foot Designs and I am just using a $4 nylon laundry bag from Target for a pail liner. I did splurge and get a diaper sprayer for some of the messier diapers.

Of course, it wasn’t smooth sailing right away. We had quite a few leaks the first couple days due to user error and/or the diapers not being completely prepped. We had one big leak at church and I had to strategically hold little man and his blanket so people couldn’t see the wet spot in my lap! After a few days, we had it pretty well figured out and we may have a leak now and then, but we still had more leaks (and rashes and blowouts) with disposables.

Something that really surprised me about the switch to cloth was that little man started sleeping better. He was taking longer naps and sleeping better at night! We all know that a well rested baby makes for a well rested Mommy and that makes everyone happy! : )

♡