Thursday, May 5, 2016

Cloth Diapering: 21 Months Later

Hi there!

I've been meaning to write this post (among many others) for a while now.  We've been cloth diapering our boy since he was two weeks old and now he's almost 21 months old.  I'm no expert, but I can confidently talk about and offer my advice on cloth diapering.  For starters, I think cloth diapering is awesome for a number of reasons.  I definitely do not think it is a perfect system, but for my family, it's well worth it with the pros and (minor) cons.  Please also know that I absolutely understand that cloth diapering is not for everyone - judgment free zone here :)


I think that cloth diapering can seem like a way bigger deal than it is.  It may sound like a lot of work.  I can tell you as a full-time working mom that it is the least of my worries on a day-to-day basis.  It's just doing another load of laundry and we're at the point now with Sage that I really only need to wash diapers every two to three days.  Yes, when he was a newborn, I was definitely washing diapers daily.  When I went back to work after maternity leave, my husband or I had to make a point to wash diapers each night so they would be ready for the sitter the next day.  Put the diapers in the wash at night, then the inserts in the dryer, and hang the diapers to dry overnight.  Stuff the inserts into the cloth diapers in the morning and we were set.  I promise, no big deal. 


If you haven't read my first post, I encourage you to do so because I talk about the type of diapers we use (Bum Genius 4.0) and basically our system.  It has evolved a bit over time, but the basics are the same.  I still love Bum Genius cloth diapers and recommend them to others.  


Things I love about cloth diapering:

Cost savings = More $$$ for other stuff

Better for the environment = Hurray!

Better for the baby's bum = Happiness

I mentioned that we've made some changes in our system since my first post.  The major one being that we now use disposable diapers (I like Seventh Generation and Earth's Best) for the night and nap time.  We made this change because Sage was having some leaks in the night and during nap time.  Maybe it was just the way he was sleeping at certain times that caused a leak, but we started using disposables during the night and haven't looked back.  I've also heard of moms saying how much better cloth diapers work in the night than disposables so it's totally a matter of opinion and your experience.

Cloth diapering was a little easier when I was just breastfeeding.  All we had to do was throw the whole diaper in the wash and not worry about cleaning out any poop.  Sage has been eating solids for the last year so with the addition of solids, that changed our method once again.  Now when he has a poop diaper, the poop goes into the toilet, and then the diaper goes into the wash.  A quick extra step.  That being said, there are messy diapers that are really no fun to clean out, but I've become immune.  All part of the cloth diaper experience I suppose.  I wouldn't give up cloth diapering just for that reason.



We're starting to enter a time when potty training might be around the corner.  Not sure how close that corner is, but we'll see.  I plan to follow the same cloth diapering system with our next boy.  Right now we have 20 or so cloth diapers and I'll probably accumulate a few more for the new baby.  My plan is to use disposables for the first month with the baby and then take it from there with cloth.  That was the plan with Sage though and we ran out of disposables at two weeks so we started the cloth.  We'll go with the flow.

Let me know if you have any questions about cloth diapering!

What are your thoughts on cloth diapering?

3 comments:

  1. I enjoy reading your blog and am fairly new to "plant based eating". I am doing "ok" with it, and barely miss the meat, BUT I DO miss the cheese. I have bought and tried the daiya "cheese" and I'm not sure if it just requires "getting used to it" or if I dont like it. It does melt well, almost weirdly well. It is almost slippery. I have tried it in a grilled cheese and in a rice and bean burrito. I don't love it. Did it take a while for you to really develop a taste for it? Same goes for tofutti cream cheese and sour cream. Also would love to know how you prepare your tofu. It scares me. I would really enjoy more grocery shopping posts. Those help A LOT, as I too shop at Wegmans (I have a large family of 6 and I am the ONLY plant based eater. I also tried the Wegmans Thai Peanut Sauce. OMG- THE best. I stir fried vegies and brown rice noodles with the sauce thinking I would have it all week for lunch and my kids ate ALL of it- LOL. I think we may live in the same geographic area. Our weather and stores all seem to coincide.... Anyway, any tips and tricks you could lend would be so appreciated as well as family friendly ideas for meals for both me and the meat eating kids and husband. Thnak you so much

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  2. Thank you for reading! I totally understand the cheese thing. There are a few brands of vegan cheese out there so maybe you'd find one you like better. Follow Your Heart makes a bunch of cheeses that you may like better than daiya. My favorite way to use daiya is in quesadillas. I do like daiya but I have to be in the mood for it. I'm a huge tofutti fan though...I think I just got so used to tofutti that regular cream cheese is sort of odd to me now. Have you tried Vegenaise? It's essentially a vegan mayo and tastes fantastic on sandwiches and lots of other things.

    Isn't the Wegmans Thai Peanut Sauce so good!? They have many other vegan sauces for stir fries as well that you'd probably like. Wegmans also has a vegan pesto (in the Nature's Market section) that we love! My son gobbles up anything with this pesto all over it. I'll make him whole wheat macaroni with peas and put the pesto on top. Great for a simple meal!

    Some great kid foods (I have a toddler so that's my only reference right now) are rice and beans with avocado, whole wheat pasta with veggies in tomato sauce (or that pesto!), smoothies, coconut milk yogurt with berries/banana, chia seed pudding - lots of recipes out there for this! (my son loves this for breakfast), pancakes with earth balance butter (you can sneak in flax and chia seeds and all sorts of good stuff in pancakes and kids won't know), same goes for muffins, Wegmans prepared green beans are a huge hit with my son..

    For dinners, I love the cookbook Isa Does It. I learned how to make tempeh BLTs there, delicious peanut curry dish, homemade peanut sauce noodle dish with udon noodles and broccoli, even pizza with veggies and a sprinkling of vegan cheese is a hit.

    My husband does not eat a plant-based diet so we too are balancing different tastes. I think it's all about just doing what makes you feel best.

    Let me know if I can offer any more advice!

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  3. Thank you- again, MORE grocery shopping posts please!!!!! Good luck with new baby!

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