Sunday, August 3, 2014

My Experience With Cloth Diapers So Far

CM was getting rashes often when she was born, and she ended up with a rash we couldn't get rid of without slathering diaper cream on her every time we changed her diaper. With all the chemicals in diaper creams, I really didn't want to be using it that often. Then she ended up with a chemical burn, though small, from the disposable and I found pieces of the filling for the diaper on her! I knew I didn't want to continue using them anymore and wanted to give cloth diapers a try. Daddy wasn't so sure about cloth diapering, but I convinced him to let me try it, and he wouldn't have to change her diapers. He jumped at that!

I started researching cloth diapers, and I ended up getting a dozen regular size prefolds from Nicki's Diapers and a small introduction pack of Econobum diapers with 3 prefolds and a cover. (no affiliate links for either). I also got a 2 pack of Snappis, which look like the things you use to hold Ace bandages on, but with an extra piece. 

Once everything arrived, I was excited to give it a try. Yes, excited. I had wanted to cloth diaper from the start, but was talked out of it because it's too hard and I'd have more laundry to do, etc. etc. 

I watched a few youtube videos to see how to do it, and I managed to get the first one on CM. I put the cover over, and we were good to go. Right? Nope. You need to prep the diapers, or they're not going to hold much. Oops!

I prepped the diapers by washing in hot water and drying 4 times. I only used soap the first time, though, as I didn't figure I needed to actually wash them 4 times. It worked, the prefolds fluffed up nicely and worked great! By the time I took the first one off and went to put the second one on, no more rash! I was so excited and quite happy with cloth diapering.

A couple of weeks after I started, though, I decided that Daddy needed to know how to change her diapers, just in case. We only had about 4 disposables left for emergencies (I didn't buy more when I bought the cloth). I sat him down, handed him CM and a diaper, and told him he was going to learn.

Now, most Dads apparently don't like the idea of cloth diapering, and need something that's basically a disposable made from cloth (an All in One). I didn't know that. Daddy didn't know that. I showed him once how to do a prefold, and that was that. Really. He's still grossed out by the poopy ones, so I almost always get those, but he's more than willing to help change her now. 

Since the first couple of weeks, we're gotten many more cloth diapers, as we can buy one or two at a time. She now has enough to make it through 2 days without me having to wash them. Right now we have 12 prefolds, 21 flats, 1 All in One, about 10 pockets and 5 covers. I've also made a few diapers, which I'll share in another post because this one is getting quite long. 

I was warned I wouldn't like cloth diapers, told it was too much work and gross. I tried it anyways, because I hoped it would help with CM's rash. I absolutely LOVE cloth diapering, and couldn't imagine going back to disposables. I'm actually kind of dreading using them on our upcoming trip, but we won't have access to a washer for 6 days, so we can't cloth. 

If you're interested in cloth, like I was, you don't have to spend a ton of money to get started. A dozen prefolds will get you through at least most of a day, and if you enjoy it you can order more and branch out to other kinds of diapers as you want. I recommend just buying one or two of each kind to see what you like before you invest your money. I did start out with a dozen prefolds, but they have multiple uses and can always be used as burp cloths if I decided I didn't like cloth or preferred a different kind. Right now, though, I always reach for either prefolds or flats.


~~Mommy

Saturday, August 2, 2014

Hello World!

I'm just starting off on the adventure that is being a mom. My daughter is now 5 months old, and I'm learning so much from her every single day.

About us: Our little family consists of myself, her daddy (soon to be my husband!), and CM, my little girl! We're in the wonderfully warm state of Florida and love being here.

CM has been such an eye opener. We ended up having to use formula, and of course, she needs the extra expensive kind. We've started solids early, per her pediatrician's advice, and she loves everything we give her and yells for more! Except for butternut squash. That's apparently no good.

She had a persistent rash, so we started to cloth diaper her. I'm absolutely loving it so far!  She's also inspired me to begin sewing again, which I'm loving now that I'm learning more about how to get a sewing machine and serger to actually do what I want. I'm loving being able to sew her diapers instead of wasting so much money on the disposables.

That should give you enough background on us to be able to keep up with everything here. If you have any questions, feel free to ask!

~~Mom






**Names changed to protect the innocent.**