And sorry that this is the longest blog in the history of blogs :)
By the way, a little testimonial from my husband. Last week I went shopping and he stayed home with the kids. Well, he said he smelled baby poop coming from Ashley. I had a disposable on her because we have a few and it was handy. He opened up her sleeper and she had poop all the way up to her chest. Ugh! Not a fun time. So this past weekend, I again left the house alone, but before letting me leave, Kirk asked me if Ashley had on a disposable or not, because he wanted cloth this time because she doesn't have blowouts in them and he doesn't want to clean up a huge mess again!!! How about that for a changed man?!
Oh, another By the Way tid-bit, ALWAYS, and I mean ALWAYS use the bio-degradable liners for kids with people poop. I forgot once with Tessa this past week, and icky-icky. Now I know why people hate cloth diapers, if it wasn't for the liners, I don't think I could do this either. So, if you decide to try it, PLEASE make sure you order liners too, otherwise, you are not going to enjoy it at all, trust me!
Prefolds- these are the white rectangular diapers (sometimes used as burp cloths). You can't buy wal-mart diapers, they don't work. There are diaper-service quality prefolds you can buy, they are cheap, like less than $2 a piece, but have to be folded and pinned, or snappied on. FYI, a "snapppi" is a little y-shaped stretchy item with little teeth on the end (similar to ace bandage grabbers) that holds the diaper on. The snappi is super easy to use. I tried the prefolds for like a day, and decided that this was hard-core cloth diapering. I mean, Ashley peed through this diaper by the time she finished nursing. So I would change her when she woke up to eat, then change her again when she finished eating, then change her again when she started to fall back asleep. This meant for a lot of changes, and then if you add Tessa to the equation (I didn't have prefolds in her size to try), that would be over 20 diaper changes a day, maybe 30. Needless to say, I only tried these for one day! Also, I have a very hard time keeping the newborn runny poop in these because they don't have any leg gussets to catch the poop. Now, I am going to try to make a few prefolds to have as a backup, but I want to make mine with flannel and put a microfiber towel in the middle to be the soaker area. Microfiber is VERY absorbent.
Prefolds do require a waterproof cover, which are easy to use. They Velcro on similar to a disposable diaper and come in cute colors and patterns. And they can be used over and over during the day, as long as they don't have poop on them.
So, in my opinion, prefolds are too much of a hassle for me, even though they are super cheap, I just can't do it.
Fitteds- These are nice. They are all cloth and come in different sizes. They range usually from newborn to x-large. They are usually made out of some super soft materials and come in fabulous patterns and colors, and I mean fabulous! I tried a few on Ashley, and they fit well and keep the poop in. They have leg gussets and elastic on the back to prevent blowouts. These also require a waterproof cover, unless you just let them where the diaper with no cloths over it. But there is an option of having wool clothing to go over the diaper, which sounds weird, but it's not. In fact, I wish I had some fitteds so that I could get the cute wool covers (tell me those aren't darling pants). Wool is naturally water-repellent, and when you add some lanolin to it, it because pratically water-proof. The wool covers come as just covering the diaper (like the panties that come with little baby dresses), as shorts, or even as pants. Most have draw stings, and you can get them with cute little designs on them, like animals on the back or rainbow colors. I totally think they are the cutest thing ever!
Anyways, fitteds are great, but the only downfall I can see is that you have to buy sizes. So that means more money. But that also means that if you plan to use them for another baby later on, they will have less where and tear. They do make one-size fitteds, by GoodMama, but they come in at $35-$38 bucks a piece, yikes. But I tried one, they are great diapers, but not really a true one-size because Ashley was 2 months old, and they thing swallowed her. So they could probably be used around 5 months and on.
So, I like fitteds, I really do.
Pockets- These are what I use. They have a water-permeable inner lining, and a waterproof outer shell. In the back, there is a slit or opening, and this is where you slide in the absorbent liner. You can control how much absorbency the diaper has by how much lining you put in. Also, these can be bought in a one-size, and these really are one-size. They can go from 8 lbs to 35 lbs, or so they say. Ashley and Tessa share diapers, and Tessa is about 26 lbs or so, and Ashley started in these around 11 lbs, when she was 2 1/2 months old. So far, no blow-outs in these, and that means a lot since she just had a blow-out (a HUGE blow-out) in a disposable last night. There is a little work involved since after the wash/dryer you must "stuff" them with liners again. It doesn't take very long, and I don't mind since I know I won't be washing anymore poop-stained shirts and pants now.
So, I totally love my pockets. They work great, and I think are totally cost efficient. I paid $18 per diaper, but they are one-size and Ashley will where these her entire diapering life, and then hopefully the next kid will use these also, so totally cost efficient.
All-in-Ones- These are waterproof on the outside and have a thick liner built in, similar to the pockets but you don't "stuff" the liner since it's already sewn in. These can also be bought in a true one-size, but are a little bulkier since you don't control the thickness of the liner. The only real downfall I have heard of (I haven't tried these yet) is that they take forever to dry since they are so thick.
Wetbags - A necessity for your diaper bag. A cloth bag that has a waterproof layer in the middle for your dirty diapers. Also great for when your kid has an "accident".
OK, enough terminology. Here is a list of links to find tons and tons of info on CDing.
Diaper Pin - this is a great website with reviews of almost any and all diaper brands out there, plus lots of info on cloth diapering (CDing for short).
Jillian's Drawers - If you want to try out CDing but don't want to make a huge investment, try out Jillian's Drawers program. You put down a deposit, they send you some great NEW diapers to try out for 21 days, if you don't like them or don't want to buy them, you mail them back and they refund you all but $10. If you keep all the diapers, you don't pay anything extra, and your next order is free shipping. So it's a great way to try before you buy!
Diaper Jungle - This is a wonderful website that you should really look at. It has tons and tons of information, and it's super easy to navigate around on. On the home page they have 3 columns: why use cloth, choosing the right diaper, and how to wash CDs. Really this is a great place to check out.
Baby Bummies - this is where I bought my diapers. She is in American Fork, so if you are local, you can go check out her stash and pick up diapers to save on shipping costs.
Cotton Babies - Another great online store that sells practically every diaper out there.
Diaper Swappers - I LOVE this website. It has sooo much infomation on it. It is a huge database of forums, including diapers for sale or trade, Work-At-Home-Moms online stores, lots and lots of information about CDing, with forums you can ask questions on about any subject, from feeding to diapering to being thrifty for your family. I love it.
I was thining about hosting a "home show" on diapers. So that everyone can check them out in person. This wouldn't be a bring-your-checkbook kinda home show, just an informative show to learn more. Would anyone be interested?
No comments:
Post a Comment