Cloth Diapering

I've recently been talking with a few friends about cloth diapering... & it's hard to imagine how overwhelming it seems to people.  At this point it's hard for me to imagine that it scares people & that it seems like so much work.  (this is not to sound negative towards people or to call anyone out on this...)

At this point, cloth diapering is something I know like the back of my hand.  Before I was pregnant I knew I would cloth diaper.  I was introduced a few years ago, by my cousin & his wife.  They cloth diapered their son & then their daughter (& will cloth diaper their son, due in November).  Hubs & I talked about it, Cousin M reassured us how easy it is, Cousin's wife, K, reiterated that.  She was available for any & all questions I had (& I had a lot!) & I spent the majority of my 9 month pregnancy researching which diapers I would choose.

I began with BumGenius 3.0 pockets & a few Indian prefolds/Bummis covers, as I believe seems to be the normal starters.  I then purchased some FuzziBunz (my favorite, as you all know!).  To this day, the majority of my stash (what us cloth diapering mamas call our collection of cloth diapers- sounds cool, doesn't it) are pocket diapers.  I have since bought, sold & traded lots of diapers... I only have 3 prefolds & 1 Bummis cover (although it's too small now) left, from my original purchases.

I used Purex Free & Clear for awhile (after researching detergent choices on this wonderfully informative site: http://www.pinstripesandpolkadots.com/basics.htm ), but have since switched to Rockin Green Soap (love it! Smells fabulous!).  I wash every other day or every third day- just depends on what's going on & what time of the day I washed previously (sometimes I prefer to wait until the next morning, rather than after B goes to sleep at night).  I have a plastic trash can with a lid that I picked up at Target for less than $15.00 & I have 2 pail liners.  After every diaper change, I shake my diaper insert into the pail & toss the pocket shell in as well.  On laundry day, I empty the pail liner into the washer (no touching the dirty diapers!) & toss the liner in with the diapers. Easy Peasy.  Put my washer on cold soak for 15 minutes (that's what my washing machine has for an option, previously I just did a cold rinse).  Then I do one hot wash cycle, which includes a cold rinse.  I then throw my inserts, my All in Ones, Fitteds, (I do have a few diapers that are not pockets) & any wetbags/pail liners into the dryer.  I choose to line dry my pocket shells, because I think it keeps the PUL in better shape.  I have, on occasion, thrown them in the dryer (if I needed one asap or if we're at the in-laws house & leaving soon), but I normally hang them on a drying rack.

If I'm out, I toss the diaper in a wetbag until I get home, where I throw it in the pail.

I still use disposable wipes (maybe with number 2, I'll use cloth?).  I toss them into a small trash can that I keep in B's room.

At this point, I can't imagine using sposies (that's cloth diapering mama lingo for disposables).  I think sposies smell bad all the time.  I am constantly wondering if sposie wearing babies have dirty diapers, because I can SMELL the chemicals & the urine in the diaper.  YUCK.  (Not to knock any of you sposie mamas- it's just my personal opinion).

You can use Aplix (velcro), snaps, pins, or snappis.  You can use pockets, AIOs, AI2s, Fitteds & Covers, Prefolds & Covers.  You can use wetbags or ziploc bags.  You can use a diaper pail or a trash can.  You can online shop or brick & mortar shop.  You can use microfiber, hemp, bamboo or prefold inserts (for the record, I prefer hemp, but I do use some microfiber).

You can start in the hospital or when Baby is a few months old.

You can choose exactly how you want to cloth diaper.

The bottom line is, YOU CAN cloth diaper.  It's Easy.  And soon you'll be saying "At this point, I can't believe I ever considered NOT cloth diapering...?


**I linked to Kellyscloset.com a few times. This is the website I typically use for general purchases.  I use specialty sites for certain diaper brands.  I find out about a lot of brands through diaperswappers.com; Babycenter's Cloth Diapering forum, Twitter.com, & other blogging moms- I find mom's with experience is much more valuable than just plain googling.  Kelly's Closet also has a blog.