The Cloth Diapering Post

I must admit we were not gungho about CD when C was born. We didn't take any to the hospital with us and we didn't have a great stash of newborn diapers. We figured we'd ease our way into the cloth. So for the first 2 weeks of his life, C lived in Pampers Swaddlers. And let me tell you, the pee indicator is addictive!

But my parents went back to VA and RCW went back to work and I decided it was time to get on board. We had a drawer of cloth dipes and they should be used or at least tried. So on Monday, February 27, I began. I started off slowly. Cloth dipes in the afternoon until bed time. When I realized it wasn't bad at all, I started putting him in cloth during the day and using disposables during his night time changes. But this past weekend, C got his first diaper rash.

And its no wonder, the way those disposables stick to his little bum when he's got a dirty diaper, even if its just been 2 hours between changes, its disgusting. Seeing his red rump along with what the disposables were doing made me want to switch exclusively to cloth.

But again, we didn't have enough. Our current stash is this:

3 BumGenius newborn dipes
1 FuzziBunz Elite
1 Rumparooz G2 One Size
1 BumGenius Freetime
4 BumGenius 4.0 One Size
2 Lotusbumz One Size
1 Kawaii One Size
5 Kushies newborn dipes

For our tiny little man who was weighing in just over 8 pounds not all of our dipes fit him very well - he was able to use without any worry of leaks the BG newborns, FuzziBunz, Rumparooz and if he was just going for a nap during the day, we'd use the BG Freetime. The others were too big and sadly the Kushies, which we purchased gently used at a cloth diaper swap for a very cheap price, were just that, cheap and horrible. I used one once and after washing it, told RCW I wasn't using them again and packaged them back up. We had 6 diapers he could fit into and use, so I was and still am doing laundry daily on those 6 diapers.

When I saw his diaper rash and decided I wanted to officially be done with disposables, we decided that since we weren't sure how the BumGenius 4.0 and Freetime would really fit as he got bigger and fit better into them, we would purchase some more FuzziBunz. I really love the FuzziBunz Elite! It is so soft and so far hasn't kept a single stain. I also like the adjustable elastic to make everything a perfect fit for C and the fact that they fit him perfectly now and will grow with him up to 30 pounds - RCW and I were sold. So on Saturday morning I order 18 more FuzziBunz from a shop in Lexington, KY - Tinkle Tinkle Toot. They shipped out yesterday and will be on our doorstep tomorrow and I am SO EXCITED!

I can't wait to prep them and get C into all the cute fluffiness!

Here's a picture of him at 1 week old sporting his BumGenius newborn dipe. He's happy to be in cloth too!


Just a side note, RCW and I adore the BumGenius newborn diapers, but they only go up to 12 pounds and it wasn't worth the investment to get a stash of just those when he'll be out of them so soon. We're thinking we'll fall equally in love with the BumGenius Freetime and 4.0 once they fit him properly and we'll probably add to our stash with that brand. The Rumparooz is great, but its the most expensive of all. BumGenius is the cheapest with FuzziBunz at the middle price point.

Now the laundry. It really is not hard, I swear! When I take off a dipe, if it has velcro tabs I secure them to their laundry tabs and pull out the insert from the pocket and into the diaper pail it goes whether its wet, dirty or both. Thanks to Emily for telling me I didn't need to rinse off his poo right now since its just formula or breast milk - apparently dirty dipes get much more fun once babies are on solids. Luckily, we found the BumGenius diaper sprayer in the clearance section of Babies R Us so we're armed and ready for that time to roll around in a few months! If the diaper is just a snap closure, I pull out the insert and toss into the pail. SO EASY!

Since I'm doing laundry every day right now, I simply take the diaper pail liner full of dirty, but adorable cloth dipes and empty the bag into our top loading washing machine. I run a cold rinse cycle, followed by a hot/cold washing cycle using 1.5 tablespoons of Rocking Green Classic detergent. Then all the dipes can go into the dryer on low heat except when I've tried to use the BumGenius 4.0, those go on a drying rack and take about an overnight time frame to air dry.

RCW and I both love his fluffy butt and I love it even more now that disposables aren't sticking to it after a dirty and we aren't rubbing Desitin all over him anymore either! We're fully committed to cloth now, although we are planning a week trip back to VA for C to meet the rest of his extended family so we'll see how cloth plays out with travels.

Anyone else out there cloth diapering and finding it easier than they expected? Any tips for this newbie? I have a feeling it'll get harder as he gets bigger, but again, I can't imagine going back to full time disposables after watching them stick to him!

We purchased all of our cloth diapers and supplies ourselves. We have not received anything for writing this post about brands and stores - although, we aren't opposed to freebies either ;)