I have been asked by a few of my pregnant friends about this topic and I thought doing a little blog about my experience with it would be a good way to not leave anything or anyone out. Our decision to Cloth Diaper was not an easy one. I literally thought about it throughout my entire pregnancy and then once she was about 10 weeks old, I decided to do it and I'm so glad we did.
Why Cloth Diapering?
The main reason we did it was to help the environment save $$$! I mean really, when it comes down to it I am always trying to find ways to help our household save money! Especially because I was not going to be working and I would be spending a lot of time at home, I knew it was something that I could do everyday to help.
Zoey HATES being dirty, she would pee the smallest amount and would FREAK out. I estimate that every disposable diaper was about 25 cents so I was like holy cow, this is going to add up! For the first couple of months, we were changing about 12 diapers a day. That was just one of many things I really didn't know I was getting myself into before she was here. I mean people always say babies just sleep, eat, and go to the bathroom but I don't think you really understand how true that is until you have one and are with him/her 24 hours a day 7 days a week!
Which Brands?
Doing research for cloth diapers, I soon discovered there are hundreds of brands and designs available out there. Just another decision to make when it comes to choosing baby stuff! So which diapers did we chose? We decided to go with Bum Genius 4.0, Fuzzibunz elite, and GroVia. I just so happened to be buying the bulk of my cloth diapers around Thanksgiving so I got them at an awesome Black Friday Price. I have a total of 21. I compared the prices from pretty much everywhere and actually found them to be the cheapest at a local boutique called Sugar Babies in Sumner, WA when I went into the store and got the military discount.
Isn't it gross?
No! If I was cloth diapering someone else's baby and had to put their pee diapers in my washing machine, I don't think I would be comfortable with that but when it comes to my own precious bundle there's nothing that grosses me out. Except she did throw up on my face yesterday and it got in my nose. Ew. Anyways, its kind of a weird concept but it works. Yes, you are putting pee and poop into your washing machine but it cleans them very well and it's not like it transfers to your clothes. Plus, having a baby you will be getting pee, poo, slober, throw up, boogers and all the other gunk they make on your clothes, and on their clothes, and on your furniture, and on the floor and pretty much everywhere else no matter how hard you try not to. Trust me.
How does it work?
I have no clue how the old school cloth diapers with the pins and the huge piece of material work so I can't help you there if you decide to go that route. Some people still love to do it that way but it just wasn't for us. Yes, other people in my family have changed her cloth diapers but if I ever decide to put her in daycare I will be using disposable. I'm pretty sure that's a rule at most centers and I wouldn't expect another person to cloth diaper her. Each of the diapers I got work a little differently but are still the same concept. After she goes to the bathroom, I put the dirty diaper into one of two designated cloth diaper trash cans that have lids. If there is poop, I spray it off into the toilet using a diaper sprayer first. If you decide to breastfeed, you don't even need to spray the poop first. You can just throw it right into the washer, poop and all but if you have a sprayer, you might as well spray it off first. Then about every three days when I have about 3 clean diapers left, I take the inserts out of the diapers and throw the insert and shell right into the washer and do:
one cycle on regular cold no detergent
then I run another cycle on hot with detergent extra rinse
then I dry them in the dryer. A lot of people hang dry. I don't do that and have not had any problems with the material breaking down.
The detergent I use is Charlie's Soap but I think here in the Pacific NW, I would recommend Country Save. I heard Rockin Green is great too!
Bum Genius 4.0 (One Size Pocket Diaper)
Basically, there are snaps on the hips that go horizontally and snaps that go vertically. The ones that are vertical stay the same until your baby gets bigger and you do not unsnap them when you wash them. Then there is an insert that you put in the pocket that also has a snap. You can use this diaper until your baby is potty trained which is great!
Pros: Can handle a big load! (pun intended)
Cons: A little bulky and the snap button for the insert kind of protrudes out, so I think Zoey can feel the bump on her lower back but I don't think it bothers her.
Fuzzibunz(One Size Pocket Diaper)
This one works exactly like the Bum Genius but it does not have the vertical snaps, it has adjustable elastic in the diaper that is really easy to adjust. The insert doesn't have snaps so it is one size.
Pros: Smaller size so it has less bulk and fits more like a disposable diaper.
Cons: The pocket is really small. I have small hands and it's a struggle to get my hands in there to put the insert in.
Gro Via (Hybrid Cloth)
This one is completely different than the other two. I have 3 shells and then 6 inserts that snap onto the inside of the shell. So when she goes to the bathroom, I unsnap the insert and put a new clean insert into the same shell (as long as it's not dirty) so it's less things you need to purchase. I would say you could easily have 3 inserts for each shell but I only have 2.
Pros: Has the best absorption. Great now that she is sleeping through the night and wakes up with a Niagra Falls pee.
Cons: Takes forever to dry! Right now because it is winter, I will dry the diaper in the dryer and then put them in front of the fireplace to finish drying. During the summer I think I'm going to have to dry them in the dryer twice.
Financial Breakdown:
On average for size 1 and 2 diapers Huggies and Pampers, I found it was about 25 cents per diaper on the low end. Eventually she would use less diapers but they would get more expensive so I did all my math at about $3.00 a day for diapers.
Disposable Diapers
.25 x 12 diapers a day= $3.00
$3.00 x 2 years =$2,190
Cloth Diapers
On average $22.00 per diaper x 20 = $480 plus the cost of water and electricity
Disposable $2,190 vs Cloth $480
Even adding the cost of washing and drying diapers 2-3 times a week. The math was a no brainer for us.
I actually made a cloth diaper. It took FOREVER so I don't recommend it. I started on a second army camo cloth diaper with cute pink snaps but it hated me and we aren't on speaking terms. I think I ended up actually throwing it away. We still use the first one I made but I won't be making anymore.
You can even sell your diapers once you are done for about $15.00 each depending on the condition or save them for the next baby which will save you EVEN MORE money! Oh man, love it.
Would I do it again?
Yes I would. Unless I'm working, then I probably wouldn't want to. I plan on saving mine for the next baby in about 4 years :)
I know that is tons of information and it may seem a little overwhelming but I promise it is really easy to get the hang of and they are so cute!
xoxo,
Jolie
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