To anyone out there thinking of using cloth diapers, do it! I can't even begin to tell you how much more enjoyable cloth is than disposables. The first month I was using 'sposies diaper changes were something to be done quickly and gotten over with. Buying them was depressing, and heaven forbid the baby pooped right after a change, there goes $$ down the drain. Cloth though? Wow! Changing time is so fun, picking out a diaper to match the days' outfit, accessorizing with some cute Babylegs, maybe even go for gold and match it all with your diaper bag ;) Shopping for diapers has become an addiction. I found myself stalking new posts on Diaperswappers waiting for someone to sell the coveted Blueberry Minky OS at a cheap price. (Which I did finally find, yay!) I love that it doesn't matter how many diapers I use a day, or how many wipes it takes to clean up that poop explosion, because it's all going into the wash and not into a landfill.
Places to shop:
A few of my favorite places to shop for dipes, both practical and cute.
Diaperswappers.com - A forum for parents to buy, sell and trade.
Etsy - For all things handmade
Hyena Cart - Cloth diapering mecca
Side note, some of these great shops take Revolution Money Exchange (RME) like Paypal, but without the fees. Sign up now and get a free $25. That's free diapers!Wash routine:
Here is how I take care of my diapers. It's really much easier than you would think. When you take off the dirty diaper, toss the whole thing into your wetbag and forget about it 'til laundry day. If your baby is exclusively breastfed, it's all water soluble. Just use an extra rinse at the beginning of your wash. (Another great reason to breastfeed!!! By all means, if you've got questions about breastfeeding, please contact me) Once your baby is 6+ months old and you've added solids to their diet, you can purchase a sprayer that attaches to the toilet to get the solids off. None of that toilet dunking you may have heard about! Eww *wink* My wash day goes like this:
- Dump all the diapers out near the washer
- Turn on a cold rinse
- Remove inserts from the diaper, toss it all in
- After that rinse, start a hot wash/cold rinse
- Add 1/2 a capful of detergent (See this site for lists of cloth diaper safe detergents, a great source for cloth diaper information)
- After that's done, run one more cold rinse to make sure the detergent residue is out
- Dry on medium heat
And that's it! When they're dry I stuff my pockets so they're ready to go when I need to change a diaper. It couldn't be easier.
I'm a big fan of "one-sized" diapers that grow with your baby, but there are also great choices that are sized. Like these: Green Acre Designs. To learn how to measure your baby, click here.
And finally, I'd like to share a couple photos of my "stash". Thanks for reading!
GADs:
Blueberry Minky OS & Mother's Touch OS
Twilight Bumgenius 3.0
White Bumgenius 3.0
Grasshopper Bumgenius 3.0
Butter Bumgenius 3.0
Babylegs:
8 comments:
your covers are all so clean. My thirsties seem to be constantly "dingy" despite being washed 3x a week at the least. I've got to start trying so of these other brands...I'm not in love with my thirsties.
Have you ever tried soap nuts for cleaning cloth diapers? I find them to be the best for getting the smells out.
Miranda,
I found your blog through BlogU. I'm trying to add a calendar. Where did you find your calendar icon? How did you get the border around each post. I'd really appreciate your help, you're blog is so cute! Thanks!
I bought a TON of those Blueberries when they went on sale last month. I love them! I also love the OS Pocket WonderWorks but you can only get them on Ebay.
Wow! I didn't know this. I've never used cloth diapers... all I know about is the ones you have to fold that are plain white. Well, hopefully I'm almost done with diapering 'cause I hope to start potty training by September. I'm just waiting for the signs of readiness. Well, I'm sure you'd say use some reusable ones for training too and not Pull-Ups, huh? After four children, you just taught me about cloth diapers.
And I wish I'd had some of those baby legs with each one... would have saved some knees! :-)
My youngest is 6 now, so diaper time is over for me. But I remember cloth addiction and loved those diapers. Times have changed, the current faves aren't what they were when I was CDing, but I am sure they are still great. I loved our hemp diapers and the hemp doublers. I loved washing them and taking them out of the dryer warm and smelling good, then folding them and putting them away.
Enjoy, it all goes SO fast. My oldest is 14 now, and my youngest is 6...I think that makes me...old. LOL
Today's cloth diapers are so terrific compared to what we had when I had babies. Not only are they fashion fabulous, but seem to be so easy to use and clean. I will definetly be recommending these to all the new mothers I meet. They have to be much more comfortable for the little ones than the disposable diapers in use. Not to mention, the land fill problems we have, cloth diapers are so much more environmentally friendly.
Just had to click on another link...I'm glad you dove into trying cloth (after reading your one post about not being sure and reading the many comments you got). I have two kids and CD'ed them both. Like I mentioned before, I have a one-month old, and it's nice to already have a stash ready for him (nice to you see you using the lingo, LOL).
I love what you've got. Great pics. I'm jealous of your GADs...I live in Canada and haven't mustered the courage to buy any GADs online, as most don't ship to Canada. I have about 2 dozen BG's when they first came out 4 years ago, so they're not the 3.0s. Those Blueberrys look awesome!
Anyways, good luck to you and cloth. It's the most fun that can be had with poop! But warning you now, if you hadn't figured it out already: it's terribly addicting!
check out http://www.diaperpin.com for a great resource...I'm on the forums there as Xandria.
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