Dear mamas who want to know more about my cloth diaper journey -
I started using cloth diapers again with my 15-month old son. Before I started with my daughter when she was around 14-months so and that was not a pleasant experience. I used the flats, they look like a piece of cheese cloth almost. Not really but they were not absorbent at all. This time with my son we are doing pretty well. My son wears cloth 5 days out of the week and we use disposables on the weekends for outings. First off the biggest thing you'll notice is your trash. We're a big family and our trash can fill up quickly but taking out the smelly poopy and peepee diapers has helped tremendously. I would never have thunk it but peepee diapers can smell just as bad if not worse than poopoo ones.
So what am I working with, what's my stash?
I started out using 6 diapers a day.
2 aios for nap and bedtime
AIO all in one (the convinience like a disposable no folding just stuffing before hand)
4 prefolds with covers. (using 2 i wiped one to dry and used the other until the next diaper change)
My stash was pretty minimal so laundry is a must everyday, its not hard but when the weekend comes its nice to revert to the stash of disposables I had just bought before the cloth. I get tons of questions mainly about the poop. There really isn't a big difference.
How messy is the poo?
Its pretty much the same. There are some really great tools to help get the poo into the toilet. Imagine a kitchen sprayer hooked to your toilet and this helps spray poo right into the toilett. The diaper needs to go directly into a wet bag and can be there up to 3 days. Since I don't have either of these nifty gadgets I use our garden hose and spray diaper poo into the garden (free fertilizer) and I just put all wet diapers into a walmart bag to be washed later that evening.
I'm a mom meaning there is a lot of things I can handle that I never knew would be possible. My kids poo really is not a big deal, is def nothing new after 3 kids.
Why did I decide to choose the cloth?
There are several heartfelt videos out there that explain why cloth is better environmentally and financially and both these reasons played a role in my family's decision. Once I heard about all the chemicals that go into the diapers and that that will be in contact with my kids for the first 2-3 years of their life really jarred me. Now granted some things are a bit uncontrollable but I can control this. I'm even venturing out and will begin making diapers from home. I'll be saving money, making money, and cutting down my carbon foot print.
Resources:
Cloth diaper basics - CottonBabies
How many cloth diapers does my baby need?
Not gonna lie these can get expensive, Want to make your own?
I love finding things on About.com
This is my son in a homemade fitted diaper his great aunt made for him, this diaper birthed the JitterBum wahm diaper idea. With her help I'll be on my way ;)
What do you think about cloth? If you do what's in your stash?
There are several heartfelt videos out there that explain why cloth is better environmentally and financially and both these reasons played a role in my family's decision. Once I heard about all the chemicals that go into the diapers and that that will be in contact with my kids for the first 2-3 years of their life really jarred me. Now granted some things are a bit uncontrollable but I can control this. I'm even venturing out and will begin making diapers from home. I'll be saving money, making money, and cutting down my carbon foot print.
Resources:
Cloth diaper basics - CottonBabies
How many cloth diapers does my baby need?
Not gonna lie these can get expensive, Want to make your own?
I love finding things on About.com
This is my son in a homemade fitted diaper his great aunt made for him, this diaper birthed the JitterBum wahm diaper idea. With her help I'll be on my way ;)
What do you think about cloth? If you do what's in your stash?
