...but you've come to expect that from me, haven't you?
I began the cloth diapering trial by purchasing two BumGenius one-size diapers which, in theory, should fit both Ben and (insert name of our second son here). I put them on Ben a couple times, but only when I was reasonably sure he wouldn't poop, because I didn't want to deal with a cloth diaper poopy ...yet. Ha ha. What I learned is that owning two cloth diapers is mostly just annoying. You have these dirty diapers, even though they're only wet with urine, and they sit around until you have a load of laundry that's compatible so you can wash them. I wasn't getting a very good "feel" for cloth diapering, I wasn't DOING much cloth diapering, and I didn't really know where to go next. You can spend about $18 on a new Bum Genius diaper, so buying more diapers just to try things out seemed crazy. My compromise was to spend about $35 on six prefolded diapers, two diaper covers .........and a roll of paper liners to put in the diapers ahead of time to ease my dealing with poopy diapers.
I wish I had taken a picture of the prefolds before I washed them! I intentionally bought unbleached diapers, and I bought Chinese prefolds as opposed to Indian prefolds (Chinese are supposedly more durable, Indian softer), but when I pulled the diapers out of the package, they looked like painter's drop cloth. Heavy, stiff cotton. I did the recommended three washes, though, and after even one wash they looked so much better! I did one whole day of cloth diapers using the prefolds and rotating the two covers. Ben did make me a pretty messy present in one of the prefolds, and I hadn't put a paper liner in, and I assure you I did not enjoy getting the excrement into the toilet, or swishing the diaper around in the water, or any other part of that diaper. I couldn't wait to do laundry at the end of the day to get that poopyness cleaned up. Yuck! It did stain a little, but I hear that the sun bleaches these things out. Too bad I don't have a clothesline .... but I'm working on that. I'll be honest, it's nowhere near the top of my to-do list, but I'm working on it.
So anyway. I learned from that day that if I really want to do this whole cloth diapering thing, and I do, I need to accessorize a bit. I needed a diaper pail with a liner that can go right in the washer, because although the plastic grocery bag I used worked perfectly well, it had bits of poo stuck all over it when I was done and I threw it away. It was gross, and I would rather have recycled it. Plus, we try to use reusable grocery bags anyway, so our supply of plastic bags should be rather slim. (I did, however, already have a very snazzy wet bag that I received as a gift from a cloth diapering friend, which will be perfect for my diaper bag! I need to post a pic, it's so cute!) Second, I really felt that having a diaper sprayer (which attaches to the back of your toilet, and facilitates poo removal from cloth) would make my cloth-diapering life a LOT easier. So last night I got online and starting shopping. I put every single item I could imagine wanting into my "shopping cart" just to see how much it would all cost, keeping in mind that I had already spent some money on the original BumGenius diapers and the six prefolds and two covers. I won't lie to you, I didn't love the number. Then I convinced Josh to mute the Mets game for a few minutes and we hashed it all out. It's probably no secret that as grossed out as I am by cloth diapering and dealing with poop and all of that business, Josh is even less interested... so the idea of spending a few hundred dollars on more diapers and pail liners and a diaper sprayer for our toilet didn't really excite him. But let's be honest, I'm not exactly a girly girl, I hardly ever really go shopping, and well - I have been persistent about this idea for awhile now. I got the go ahead and ordered just about everything on my wish list.
As a quick aside here, Josh isn't (yet) convinced that all of this will save us any money in the long run. I am trying to imagine myself keeping a tally of how many diapers we use in the first few months of (insert second son's name here)'s life, to demonstrate its cost-effectiveness, but I doubt that will happen. But, then I remind myself, this whole cloth diapering thing is actually 99.9% environmentally-motivated, so if we break even, we're good. And I'm sure we'll at least break even.
And now I sit and wait! Ben is wearing cloth in the meantime, with paper liners sometimes and sometimes without, but soon enough my glorious package from Jillian's Drawers will arrive. I can't wait for it to get here.
Oh! I almost forgot! I had been doing some shopping on Etsy the other night, looking for some cute reusable nursing pads, and I came across a particularly helpful seller (WeeEssentials, if you want to look her up!). She custom-made me three pair of nursing pads (flannel, cotton, bamboo, and waterproof PUL - in a cute print!), and shipped them out within two days when I told her just how pregnant I am. Anyway, she also sent me samples of her lip balm (heavenly) and some "soap bits," which can be used in a foaming soap pump or to create a solution for making your own wipes. I emailed her to thank her for her prompt shipping and told her that I was trying cloth diapering, but wasn't planning on making the leap to cloth wipes. She pointed out that cloth wipes can actually be easier - because just as you plop your poopy disposable wipe into your poopy disposable diaper and throw away the whole poopy mess, you'd most likely want to do the same with the cloth wipe - drop it into the same diaper pail as the poopy diaper. Her handmade items are so very cute, and well-made, that I went ahead and ordered the cloth wipes. They are flannel on one side and terry on the other, and they come in a box that fits them perfectly. I know I could make my own out of strips of pretty much any cloth, or even use baby wash cloths, but I decided that these special wipes are my own little treat for biting the bullet and going cloth - might as well go all the way!
And that's the (looooooooooong) update from here. :)
4 comments:
Wow! Good for you! Keep those LOOONNNGGGG updates coming. I like to hear how it's going.
Do you like the prefolds? I know they are the cheapest but they seem so much more likely to leak or come off. Did you get the snappies?
I didn't mind the prefolds at all, EXCEPT that they are wicked bulky. Ben has a huge bum and he waddles, his legs are so far apart! I may not have mastered the perfect fold yet. If you have a good diaper cover, you don't have to use pins OR snappis. My trial pack came with one snappi in it, but I didn't use it. At least I haven't yet. Basically the good diaper covers fit over the prefold in the same way a BumGenius would - stretchy leg gussets and velcro tabs. Not terrible at all, but I think the pocket-style diapers are easier on the dads because they're a wee bit more similar to disposables. We'll see.
I do love that you're grossed out about the cloth diapers, but have the determination to go forth with it. It makes the whole process so much more accessible to read about. :) Love hearing all of it!
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