Cloth Diapers

We've taken the money saving plunge. We've made the eco-friendly switch. We've decided to use cloth diapers. OH MY! What are we getting ourselves into? I've been wanting to do this for several months now I just wasn't sure how to do it. I did research online for about 2 months or so and picked the brains of everyone I knew who has done this. After looking at every option, I decided to go with a one size pocket style diaper. This diaper has a water proof layer on the outside, a fleece layer on the inside and a microfiber insert that slides into the pocket in the middle. The waist band and the crotch area are fully adjustable with several rows of snaps to accommodate any size child. This is meant to be the only diaper needed from birth through potty training (I would have a picture, but my little wiggle worm won't stand still). I watched Ebay closely for sales and jumped on it when I got them for a good price and got a bonus insert included for each diaper for overnights. For cloth diapers, it's best to double up on the inserts for those heavy nighttime diapers. The whole set cost us $130 (and about $10 to make our own cloth wipes). This is much better than the $40-$50 per month that we spend on David right now. With Baby Max expected in just a few short months I couldn't imagine doing but cloth.

So far we have no regrets. Our first day was Sunday and it went very well. I put little David in his first diaper and went to lay down for a bit. I was feeling very tired so David offered to watch him for a few minutes so I could crash. I had not been down for more than 10 minutes when little David dropped the first poo. Haha. David had to change it! :D He christened those dipes right away! I find it hilarious since I didn't have to change it. David handled it very well and said it wasn't as bad as he thought it might be. Good news for me. I was really looking to keep his support as we made the switch. Sometimes things are easier to talk about than to do, but so far he's still with me. Sunday night (or rather Monday morning) was not so great. I put only one insert (not 2) in his diaper and it leaked - everywhere. His diaper, his clothes and his bed were all soaked. There's nothing like pee covered laundry first thing in the morning.

I tried adjusting the snaps and playing with it in Monday to avoid daytime leaks. It worked and was smooth sailing all day. Last night I did the double insert thing and woke up to a very wet, but well contained diaper. That's what I like! Yesterday we stayed on the smaller settings and changed him often and had no problems. Night 3 (last night) was not the greatest either. We had a small leak even with 2 inserts. I don't know if this will be the norm or if he was just extra wet and this was a fluke. We'll test it out for a few more days and see.

David and I were worried about this whole undertaking. We were really hoping we weren't getting in over our heads. It's only been 3 days/3 nights, but so far we are very happy. David had a diaper rash when we switched and even without diaper cream (a big no-no for cloth diapers) it has cleared up. I've heard this is very common once kids get out of the chemical filled, paper and plastic ingredients of disposables. He seems completely unphased by the different feeling, shape and size of these diapers. I think we can label this one a success (so far!).