Diaperslittlew8October 22, 2010

>dun dun dun...cloth diapers!

Diaperslittlew8October 22, 2010

>This is probably going to be lengthy and completely my opinion on the subject. I'm sure everyone has different opinions and has had different experiences with them and I'd love to hear all about them!

Before I had Holden, I was reading one of those celebrity baby blogs and she was just raving about cloth diapers. I was (of course) instantly motivated and wanted to try these once Holden came! I went to the Happy Heiny website, used my 20% off code from the blog and purchased six cute cloth diapers. I was excited to use them in combination with disposable diapers - I just couldn't see myself being a cloth diaper mom 100% of the time, and I was right! Here are the pros and cons I found this week as I experimented with cloth diapers:

Pros:

1. Save $$$ in the long run

2. Very soft on the tooshy

3. Last for years (up to 35 lbs)

4. Not wasteful - the "green" choice

5. Can be used for multiple children

6. Cute patterns/colors

Cons:

1. Hard to tell when wet

2. Not the best or travel

3. Wash every day

4. Bulky

5. Up front cost (I paid $100 for 6)

6. Messy (at least when they go #2)

Absorbent is kind of in the middle for me. They are absorbent but only once I double packed the insert.

How often have I been using them?

I've been using them about 50% of the time (sometimes more, sometimes less). It has helped me stretch out my disposable diapers purchases and I'm loving that!

Want to hear about how I dealt with #2 diapers?

I'm giving all of the details so beware. I filled up a bucket with water and soaked the #2 diapers for a while. A pair of tongs selfishly gave its life to the cause. Thank you, tongs. I just didn't want that much poop in my washing machine, made me cringe. Once it was soaked, I sprayed it with spray-and-wash and stuck it in the washing machine. The bucket was immediately emptied and rinsed out. The diapers came out of the washing machine with no stains! It was a miracle! Cleaning #2 diapers is the equivalent of cleaning an outfit that has fallen victim to an "explosion."

Any leak problems?

Well, let me preface this with Holden is a super pee-er. He pees through disposable diapers and apparently cloth diapers too. I found that the times he would soak through would be during nap time or during the night. My solution: double packing the absorbent inserts. It makes the diaper the teensiest more bulky (they're already very bulky so it didn't really make a difference). Once I did that, I had no problems.

Other brands?
Bum Genius
FuzziBunz
I haven't tried either of these but I've heard good things about both of these brands. If any of you have used them or have used other good friends, please comment!

Is it worth it?

Yes. I think if you are a SAHM that is home a lot during either the day or the evening then it is totally worth using them when you can. It was not nearly as much work as I thought it was going to be. Holden hasn't had many poopy diapers in them (as I was typing that he had a huge one...I jinxed myself!!)

Here are a few pictures of my cute diaper model: