Cloth Diapering from a New Mama

Hi there!

For starters, have you made this dessert yet?  

Topped with So Delicious soy chocolate ice cream and pecans for extra fun!

I had to make another pan of this Gooey Pumpkin Spice Latte Pudding Cake for myself.  Yup, all for me.  My husband doesn't like coffee and Sage certainly won't be snacking on it, so I'll be enjoying this dessert all week.  Definitely the best dessert I've had all fall.  I'm writing this post while my sweet baby boy is at the babysitter's for an hour.  Practicing taking him.  She just sent me a picture of him laughing though so that makes it a little easier on my heart.  Moving onto the subject of this post though!

This cloth diapering post is overdue.  Sage is just over 12 weeks old and we started using cloth diapers when he was two weeks old.  Ten weeks later I can happily say that I think cloth diapering is awesome.  I'm very happy we chose the cloth diapering route because things are going very well.

When I was pregnant, I was totally overwhelmed by the thought of cloth diapering even though I knew I wanted to do it.  Turns out it is way easier than I thought.  My biggest question was which ones to buy.  BIG thanks to fellow bloggers because I read A LOT of posts. After reading many positive reviews, our final decision was to go with the Bum Genius 4.0 cloth diapers.  In short, they rock.  We started out with 10 and now have 18.  Right now that's enough for about a day and a half so I do laundry each night.  Not a big deal.  But I'm getting ahead of myself... Here's our system and why I love cloth diapering:

Type of diapers: Bum Genius 4.0.  Check them out here!  They are high quality cloth diapers, there are a bunch of colors, and best of all they are one size that accommodates baby as he grows.  Each diaper comes with a shell and two inserts.  

When Sage was about eight pounds we started using them because that's when they first fit him.  Right now he's around 12-13 pounds and they continue to work fantastically.

Why did I choose to cloth diaper?  To save money, because it's better for the environment and better for baby (and bonus: super cute!).  We weren't going to start using the cloth diapers so early on, but we ran out of disposables and were having leaking issues with them anyways.  Also, Sage was getting a rash from using disposables.

Cost: They cost about $18 for each diaper.  So that would have been a $324 startup cost, however, we used all giftcards on them.  We were veryyy lucky to not have any startup cost.

Laundry:  I wash 8-12 diapers each night at this point.  Therefore, I have a few for the night and following morning that are already clean.  Since I am exclusively breastfeeding right now, the entire diaper can just go in the wash.  First, I do a cold prewash cycle.  Then I do a warm (or hot) regular cycle with an extra rinse and I add a scoop of the Bum Genius detergent.  Then, once the cycle is done, the shells are hung on a line my husband setup in the laundry room and the inserts go in the dryer on medium heat for 50 minutes.  This process seemed like a lot to me before I started actually doing it.  I promise that it's really simple.

Room setup:  We have a wet bag that hangs on the door (this one!).  When I change Sage's diaper, the diaper goes in the wet bag and the disposable wipes go in a garbage pail that is in Sage's room.  

Side note:  I use both disposable wipes (Seventh Generation, Earth's Best, and The Honest Company wipes which are my favorite) and also cloth wipes (these ones!).  I use one cloth wipe (we have 12) after using one wet one for further cleanup and to dry his booty.  The wet bag and cloth wipes go in same load with the cloth diapers each night.

Out of the house:  We pack a bunch of cloth diapers and keep a smaller wet bag in the diaper bag.  The soiled diapers just go right into the wet bag and when we get home I dump the diapers and wet bag into the washer.  I also keep some Earth's Best disposable diapers in the diaper bag just in case we need them.

I'd say a downside to cloth diapering is the initial startup cost, but really you'll spend that much on disposables in no time.  Also, doing the laundry each night is a commitment, but worth it to me.

This is obviously just my opinion based on my experience with cloth diapers so far.  I hope it's helpful.  Let me know if I missed any details that you're interested in and feel free to email me at lovalatte1@gmail.com.

What do you think of cloth diapering?