My Cloth Diapering Life

I have had so many friends ask questions about CDing, so I decided to consolidate my main tips into a blog entry! Enjoy :)

I know CDing looks hard, but really, we do love doing it!

Cloth diapering is...

1) So much cheaper
*Huggies at night because B tends to break out if she's sitting in wet for too long and the disposables do a better job at keeping the moisture off of her skin.
*We use disposables when on trips and most of the time on Sundays for the ease of nursery workers and quick changes while out. I do use cloth when babysitting or anything else out of the house though!
*I only need to buy wipes/diapers about 1x a month with this plan - that way I can really watch sales/coupons too!

2) Easy
*Washing the diapers is easy since we're blessed to have machines :) I can't imagine doing it in the "old days"...
*I have 2 pail liners made from PUL (I got two different kinds, really the cheapest is FINE!) I just got my second one and am so glad to have two - now I don't have to stack diapers up on the garbage can while waiting for one liner to be dry...
*I was 3x a week. That means we have 3 extra loads of laundry a week - considering we do laundry quite frequently (as we don't have that many items of clothing) this really isn't any hardship! I hang dry the diapers at LEAST 2x a week, but usually all three washings dry either on the rack in the basement or the line outside
*I use this washing method - everyone's is different due to water, baby's habits, etc...
Wash Cold
Wash Hot with a small bit of Purex (the cheapest and my favorite because it doesn't make our diapers smell) and some Calgon (water softener since our water is horribly hard and that makes the diapers stinky!)
Rinse Cold
Hang dry OR use the dryer.

3) Happy on B's bottom
*She tends to get a rash quickly with disposables, when we use cloth it disappears right away.
*You DON'T use diaper cream in cloth diapers. You don't need it usually either.

4) Not too scary
*Poop isn't all that bad - really nasty ones I will rinse out (yes, sounds gross, but what are ya gonna do?!) although if they're just breastfed poop they will wash out easily.
*Since B started eating food I purchased some inexpensive fleece at JoAnn Fabric (just an odd end of the roll piece is fine) and cut out liners for the diapers (they look about like a maxipad). I always put this between her and the diaper now so that when she poops it's SUPER easy to wash out.
*I spray stinkies with Bac Out (by Bio Kleen) - all natural stain/smell remover - it's wonderful!

I LOVE bumGenius diapers. They fit Bekah very well and they have been fitting her since the very beginning - I like the one size diapers because of the money saving idea! I also like the pockets style - you insert an insert (ha - original...) to soak up the mess and that way the diaper part can stay a bit more comfy for baby. It's nice because you can make the inserts different absorbencies if needed - by adding another insert or a "doubler". They also dry faster since the insert comes out of the actual diaper. We really have leaks and I find this diaper very easy to get on right the first time. Mike is also really good at them :)

I found that Happy Heiny's DID NOT work for us. They leaked out of the leg everytime she wore them.

I have some Wahmies with the hooks - not sure about my feelings... They're more complicated to put on/take off and seem to gap around her legs a bit more than I'd like, thus causing leaks sometimes.

That's all I've tried. We have close to 20 diapers and I do laundry M, W, F.

I found a very overwhelming at first, but now lots of fun to read, website - diaperswappers.com. There are forums where you can buy/sell diapers - I've sold my HH's there. I bought my Wahmies there. If you don't mind used (which I don't since they're washed before they send them and then you can wash them first...), it would be a good place to start - you could buy just a couple and see what you think. There are different categories for each style of diaper - like I said, I've only used pockets and I LOVE them, so I don't plan on switching. There are also forums on stinkies and baby wearing and feeding and everything else you can think of! Like I said, the site is overwhelming at first AND is pretty "old school" in format, but it's very helpful when you get used to it!

Anything else I've left out or you have questions about, just let me know. I really do like using them!