Well, I feel like I have been cloth diapering long enough to be able to sing the praises of our diapers. I think it’s really only been about about 10 weeks, but everything seems longer in Baby Time. In Ode to BumGenius, Part 1, I was mostly entranced with how cute the little diapers are. And they still are. Sure, the little cloth-diapered booty is a little harder to fit into her pants (probably a key factor in the changing over to 6-9 month clothes this past weekend), but the diapers are precious.
I never, EVER would have thought I’d be cloth diapering. Trust me, I’m not an organic-eating, tree-saving kind of girl, really. We don’t even recycle. Shhhh. But y’all, diapers are expensive. And we cheap, yo. (OK, sorry. I’m feeling kind of weird today!)
Reasons Cloth Diapering Works for Us:
1. Inexpensive. We did choose a more expensive brand of cloth diapers (BumGenius, as the title notes). Even at that, we only spent $300 for diapers that should last until she is potty-trained, as they are the one-sized ones. That will save us approximately $2700 in diaper costs over the next few years.
2. Not running out of diapers and having to rush out to the store all the time. If all my diapers do get dirty, which has only happened once, I think, I have one package of disposables in the size she’s in that I use for this occasion (or if we need to use diaper cream, because it can stain the cloth).
3. Practically no diaper rash or blowouts. In the 2 1/2 months we’ve been using these, we’ve had two blowouts. She sometimes had two blowouts a DAY in disposables. Less dirty clothes to wash and deal with.
4. Not populating landfills. Again, I am no environmentalist, really. I do believe we should honor God’s earth, though. And at the rate it takes disposable diapers to disintegrate, ALL of the disposable diapers EVER used are still in landfills. That just grosses me out.
Modern cloth diapering is so easy. The adorable BumGenius 3.0s we got velcro and move just like a disposable. They are easy for our daycare teachers and church nursery workers to deal with. We use wet bags from Monkeyfoot Designs (that are CUH-YUTE) in her diaper bag and her room to contain the wetness and smell. You just throw these in the wash with the diapers.
I wash every other night–one cycle on cold, one on hot, and one long cycle in the dryer.
Two nights she had some diaper rash and wore a disposable to bed. Both nights she soaked through the disposable and onto her gown and sheets–ICK! My husband, who was extremely skeptical about this endeavor, then proclaimed, “No more disposables at night! And ever, unless it’s completely necessary!” They’ve even won him over.
I can’t recommend every brand. And it doesn’t work for everyone and every baby, I know. But cloth diapers definitely work for me. How about you? (And if you have any questions about cloth diapering, you’re more than welcome to e-mail me or comment here and I’ll respond.)
And P.S., BumGenius, if you read this and want to send me free diapers or some to give away or anything, you’d be more than welcome to do so! E-mail me!
