Wading through all of the information available on the internet about cloth diapers was seriously overwhelming. I read blogs, perused sale sites, watched videos, and even met with a cloth diapering friend to gain a little hands-on knowledge, but ultimately Mike and I decided that being first time parents would be crazy enough without adding one more new thing to the mix. Alas, no cute fluffy bum for my baby.
Fast forward 3 years. When Evelyn was 2 years old and I was newly pregnant with our second sweet babe a very close friend began cloth diapering her new baby girl. Incidentally, this was a friend who had told me I was nuts when I had mentioned considering cloth with Evelyn. She sent me cute fluff pictures and we texted back and forth about the laundering, the prepping, and how much she loved it. My desire to try cloth for myself was revived, and, since I wasn't quite so new at this parenting game anymore, I decided to test the waters for myself!
I began my cloth diapering journey by purchasing a lot of 9 preloved pocket diapers and a whole hamper full of microfiber inserts for $25. These diapers had been through at least 2 other families before coming to us, and it showed. A few snaps were pulling through the inner lining and the waterproof layer of polyurethane laminate, or PUL, was worn and leaky, but I still loved them! Those worn out diapers were my gateway into the exciting (and slightly addicting) world of modern cloth diapers, and I now have at least 1 of just about every type of diaper, I think.
Unfortunately, Evelyn didn't quite share my love. After 2 years of disposable diapers she didn't like the feeling of the extra bulk between her legs or the elastic around her thighs. She would tolerate them sometimes and other times flat out refuse them. I stuck to using them when she would allow and focusing more on how best to cloth diaper a newborn.
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| {Evelyn sharing her displeasure with the Grovia O.N.E. and crying for a "squishy" (disposable) diaper} |
Because Evelyn had been under 7 pounds at birth I didn't anticipate our new nugget to be able to fit into my one-size diapers right away. I registered for and was gifted a few newborn sized diapers and chose to flesh out the rest of my newborn stash with cheap flour sack towels to use as flat diapers and a few newborn sized waterproof covers. All of these options fit Eleanor well when she was born at 7 pounds 11 ounces, though, to be honest, I didn't really use them that much. I put her in them here and there, but getting used to 2 kids was kind of hectic and draining. Who am I kidding? It is and will continue to be hectic and draining!
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| {Little 12 day old chicken legs in a newborn sized pocket diaper} |
It wasn't until Ellie was about 12 weeks old that I really jumped into using cloth as my main source of diapering. I still use disposable some now, mainly at night because she still wakes often or when I've been lazy with laundry, but she does wear cloth a lot of the time. If there's one thing I've really clung to in this journey it is that cloth does not have to be all or nothing. I'm not failing if we have week in disposables. My kids are diapered, and that's what matters!
I was a little concerned about the laundry in the beginning, but it isn't nearly as bad as it might seem, especially because, up until now, Eleanor has been exclusively breastfed and her poop is completely water soluble so I can toss the dirty diapers straight into the wash with no rinsing. This glorious time is coming to an end now that she's started solid food and I'll have to start rinsing, though. With the amount of diapers that I have I can conceivably go 3 days between washing, but if I do that my load is too big and my diapers don't always come out clean. I found out early on that our HE washing machine (a top loader with no agitator) is not ideal for cloth diaper laundry, but I got some really great information from Fluff Love University and have been able to find a routine that isn't too lengthy and that gets my fluff nice and clean. They are an amazing resource for all things related to cloth diaper laundry!
I heard from many in the cloth diapering community that using cloth is no more difficult than using disposables. As awesome as cloth is, I can't completely agree. If we're talking just diapering, cloth has more steps and takes more time. It's not hard, just not AS easy as disposables. However, if we're going to consider the massive amounts of laundry that constant poopy blowouts create when using disposables then I think it all evens out. There's something immensely satisfying about clean diaper laundry that just isn't there with regular laundry. If it were possible to use cloth diapers and disposables clothes, I would strongly consider it!
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| {This is my happy place} |
Stay tuned! In Part 2 I'll give an overview of the different types of cloth diapers and let you know which ones are my favorites!
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