There's many a mom who probably think I'm crazy for this switch but it is something I was excited to do since early in pregnancy. We hated the idea of our trash at least doubling. I did research and learned that diaper rashes are minimal. Blow-outs are practically non-existent with cloth. Plus, there's all that money saved in the long run.
The initial purchase was a big one. Back in May, we bought 18 diapers for a total of $300...We actually hit a sale, too- buy 5, get 1 free- so we got 3 diapers for "free". Dave did the math, given the amount of diapers we change a day, we're saving about $2,500. The diapers we bought are one sized, meaning if we can take good care of them, the 18 diapers will last until Isaiah is potty trained.
Right now, Isaiah only wears BumGenius 4.0 One Size cloth diapers. At some point, I am sure we'll look into other brands/types just to spice things up, but we're happy with our choice. (I just wish they had more fun prints!) I did a ridiculous amount of research before having Isaiah and it was actually difficult to find a negative review on them at the time. (The biggest negative is the price, but you get what you pay for!).
My favorite aspect is that I can customize them to Isaiah. Right now, even though he is only 9lbs, he has to wear size 2 disposables because of his femurs. The snaps on the BumGenius (you can see one in the photo above) help me to size the bottom part of the diaper to the smallest size that I can, but I can have the band around his waist (the part that is affected by his femurs) at a wider, size 2, that fits him nicely.
Here he is in his very first cloth diaper!
Our system is pretty simple. We have the clean diapers ready for Isaiah (meaning snapped to the smallest size and stuffed with the liner). When we change him, we take the dirty diaper to the step can that I bought specifically for the diapers; it has a special bag inside that I got on Amazon that can be washed with the diapers.
Here's the can..
Here's the bag that's in the can. We have 2 bags so there is always one in the can.
When I open the can, I grab the end of the liner in the diaper and let the diaper fall in the can first, then drop the liner...unless Isaiah gave me an extra special present. In that instance, I bring that diaper to the bathroom in our bedroom. Dave installed a diaper sprayer on the toilet in there. I spray the gift into the toilet and then bring the diaper to the can and drop it (and the liner) in.
I wash the diapers every other day. Isaiah only goes through about 3-4 diapers a day right now- which will be about 6-8 total once we are exclusively cloth. The bag makes it easy to wash everything; I just dump the contents of the bag and then the bag itself into the washer and turn the washer on (Prewash cold; second wash with detergent that's hot and includes a second rinse). Hooray to not touching gross diapers! The liners can go in the dryer but the diapers themselves are line-dried, preferably in the sun, so they can be sun-bleached of any stains.
Carl says "seriously, lady?!? There's a thing called a litter box for stuff like this."
We're still using disposables at night to make the nurses' job easier, but if Isaiah starts to prefer them over disposables, disposable days are numbered...except for outings to DuPont and such. At some point we'll get wet bags that can travel along with us so we could use cloth when we're out and about, but I'd rather go with disposables for those instances for the time being.
So there's the low down on Isaiah's business. I'll be sure to share our feelings on this exciting topic again in a few months for those interested.
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