Another Post About Cloth Diapers

It's been awhile since I've done a cloth diaper post, and I've got a ton of sweet pictures of Cam wearing his, so I figured it was time for me to write about them again. I also get asked questions about them all the time, so maybe this will help someone who is interested in cloth diapering their own child. This will be mostly pictures, because I know I am always interested in seeing different brands and kinds of diapers on an actual baby.

First picture is brand new Cam (maybe 2 or 3 days old) in an xs bumgenius.

Brand new again in a newborn prefold and Thirsties xs cover

Prefolds and covers are really a cheap and easy way to go when diapering a newborn to 3-4 month old baby. They are all I used with Griffin. I didn't really use them with Cameron b/c I splurged and got several pockets and aio's just for newborns. They were fun and cute, but totally not necessary. The prefolds and covers work great...even though they look a little old school.

I'm going to guess Cam is around 4 weeks in the white diaper picture. It is a FuzziBunz one size (meaning it shrinks down to fit a small baby and then you make it larger to fit a bigger child). I actually don't like these very much. It is super bulky and and just not very cute.

BumGenius 4.0 one size diaper. Same idea as with the FuzziBunz, but I like these a whole lot better. I actually bought 20 of these just for Cam. They are kind of boring looking, but they really work great. They fit from 8-35 pounds. This is Cam at about 10 pounds. They are still bulky, but they don't leak. I love a baby with a fluffy bum.

GroVia Newborn All-in-One. These fit him great from very early on. Ignore his red belly. We had a belly button incident and I had to keep it covered and the bandaid left yucky marks on him.

Extra-small fuzzibunz. Love these! I had three and they were great. It's nice to have something that fits really well when they are tiny.

This is a small fuzzibunz. Super cute!

This is a one-size pocket diaper that I bought from a work-at-home mom. Her store is called Pixie Fluff. This diaper is just as good as the name brand diapers and I love to support wahm's instead of big companies.

A one-size GroVia all-in-one. Super cute and works really well. It is also the trimmest diaper I have found. Very comparable to a disposable.

And finally, a prefold under a Thirsties Duo Wrap. I don't use prefolds much with Cameron, but I really love this cover so I do sometimes whip out the prefolds for the day.

So, I've been cloth diapering for about 3 1/2 years. Ever since Lila was a little babe. I cannot tell you enough how much I love it, and how easy it is. I have tried just about everything there is to try and really have a good system going. Ryan even knows how it all works and what goes where, and how to wash it all.

People ask me all the time what they should get for their baby. It really is hard to say, as there are many excellent products and several ways to do it. It really just comes down to trial and error and individual preference. But, if I had to tell you I would give you two options.

#1 Buy 18-24 Bumgenius 4.0 one-size diapers with snaps. They won't fit great at first so you could just use disposables until they do. They fit really well from about 10 pounds to 35 pounds and are all you would need if you take good care of them.

#2 If you want a newborn stash, invest in 24 prefolds and about 4-6 covers. Probably around $150.00. Obviously more worth it if you use it for multiple children (which is what we did). Then also buy the 18-24 Bumgenius diapers for when the baby is 3 months or so.

The basics of it, for those who don't know is this: I keep the diapers in a basket. I also have a basket of wipes. When it is time to change a diaper, I grab one out of the basket and I grab a wipe (or I make the kids go do it :). I just go run my wipes under the tap to get them wet (though you can you special wipes solution...which I have, but don't find necessary). After I change the diaper I throw the dirty diaper and wipe in my bucket. There are lots of different ways to store the dirty diapers, but I've been using a trash can with no liner the whole time I've cloth diapered. It is super easy and doesn't smell at all.

Once the bucket is full I dump all the diapers and wipes in the wash and do a cold rinse. Then I do a hot wash with just a little bit of detergent. Then I do an extra rinse at the end. The pocket shells get hung up to dry and the inserts go in the dryer. Once they are all dry, I spend about 10 minutes stuffing the inserts back in the shell and putting them back in the basket.

For going out, I have a couple of "wet bags'. You just change the baby and stuff the diaper in the bag and zip it up. Then you dump it in your bucket when you get home.

It really is that easy, and it can be as cheap or as expensive as you make it. I think having a decent sized diaper stash is important b/c it just makes the whole process easier. Right now, I have enough diapers to go about 4 days (though I usually wash every 2 or 3 because the bucket will be overflowing by that point).

You really should try it :)

Oh, here is a link to the first blog post

http://www.ryanandsarahblair.blogspot.com/2008/09/cloth-diapers.html

I wrote about cloth diapering. It was looking back over it and had to laugh...I don't even have any of the stuff that was in those pictures anymore. Funny how things change. There is still some good info in it though, so have a look.