Cloth Diapering Part 2

I totally forgot to talk finances when discussing our decision to cloth diaper. Its cheaper. I haven't done the math but its pretty obvious that as long as you don't get carried away buying lots of cute diapers, you will come out ahead in the money department. (Plenty of people have done the math like The Simple Dollar.)

For us, it was more than just the diapers versus water and detergent. We actually just canceled our trash service. We had already gotten our trash down to 2 bags per week due to increased recycling. Now that we are only throwing away 1 or 2 diapers a day compared to 6 or 7, our trash is way down. Since the dump is at the same place as the recycling center, we figured we could take one or two bags a week and not pay the trash people $4 a week to haul away 1-2 bags of trash. Maybe this is just in my head but I find I'm using less wipes since less mess seems to be on her booty and more on the diaper. But I could just be imagining things.

Cloth Diapers

I mentioned that we switched Sienna to cloth diapers. I'm still loving that decision even though we only have 5 and I have to wash them every night! I look forward to building my stash.

So why did I decide to switch to cloth diapers? Well, I kept hearing from other people about how easy they were nowadays (these aren't your mama's cloth diapers) and I kinda thought, "Why not?" Since Sienna is the second girl, there was very little she needed for Christmas. So I did some research and asked the grandmothers for cloth diapers.

I started researching by reading online. This blog post was one of the most helpful as well as this message board dedicated to cloth diapering. Once I had the basics down, I turned to Emily to ask questions of a "real" mom who used cloth diapers. (Andrea- I had no idea you used them too or I would have been picking your brain too!) I decided to do a pocket diaper and go with BumGenius. I liked the BumGenius pocket diapers because they are adjustable and they should last Sienna for the rest of her diaper wearing time. Many other types of cloth diapers come in different sizes so you need to buy some of each of the sizes. I don't have any experience using these with a newborn but they fit Sienna wonderfully now. We haven't had a single leak or explosion since Sienna started wearing them.

We received 5 pocket diapers (they each come with 1 liner and 1 newborn liner) and 2 additional liners. We use about 5 diapers during the day so I'm using them every day and washing every night. I use a disposable diaper for nighttime but when I get more, I plan to use them at night too (maybe with a double liner). I hang the diapers and the liners to dry overnight and use them again the next day! I'd love to invent a washing machine with a cloth diaper cycle on it!

Honestly, I love them. I really wish I had done this years ago. Its a little annoying having to wash every night but worth it. They are pretty bulky so Sienna def has a booty now. Plus they are so darn cute!

So if you have any questions, feel free to ask. I'll share from my three weeks of experience! Plus
Emily, Andrea and Jeni use BumGenius
SaraBeth uses Fuzzi Bunz
My friend in "real life" Melanie uses Prorap

I'm sure any of them would be happy to talk about their experience with cloth diapering. I can put you in touch with them if you want- just email me. I just realized everyone but Melanie lives or lived overseas. Coincidence?