Save Some Green-Cloth Diapering

So, I am absolutely in love with cloth diapering. I was warned by my sister-in-law that people who do cloth diapering get addicted and become quite fanatical about it. Well, she was right. So, count me in as one of the crazy people.

I thought I would write about it because I just love it so much. I was a little apprehensive about the whole process: how to get started, what do I need, is it going to be disgusting and/or complicated? Luckily there are some really good Internet resources and the aforementioned awesome sister-in-law that got me started.

About being disgusting. Let's face it. I would rather be getting brownie batter on my fingers than baby poop, but dirty hands are going to happen regardless of what you put on your baby's bum. I will say that Evan has actually only had blow-outs in her plastic diapers. So far, no diaper rash either.

It makes me feel good to know that I am not adding all of the trash to the landfills. And with an HE washer and dryer, washing is a breeze. Right now since she is only breastfeeding I don't do anything to the dirty diapers before I wash them. I don't rinse them, soak them, pre-treat them. I just chuck them in the diaper pail until I am ready to wash them and they go straight into the machine. I know it will get more disgusting as she gets older, but again that is unavoidable whether or not we use plastic or cloth. I wash her diapers every 2-3 days. I think driving to Walmart to buy plastic diapers is alot more complicated. I even ordered my diapers online and they came straight to my door. Believe me, if this was difficult I would not be doing it. I love the earth, but even I have my limits.

Not only is it great for the green earth, but it is good for the ecological environment of your wallet. Evie is pretty much outfitted at this point for her diapering life for under $200. I probably could have done it for even cheaper, but I over-ordered some things because I just didn't know what I liked best. I even use baby washcloths for wipes, so there is one more thing I don't have to buy repeatedly.

I have actually found a surprising amount of joy in doing it. It somehow feels like a really organic mothering experience to fold the diaper and put it on my little baby. It just feels really nurturing like trimming the crust off of your kid's PB&J sandwich.

If anyone is interested here are some resources and ideas:
I really like unbleached chinese prefold diapers. Then I use a "Snappi" fastener and a "Bummis Super Whisper Wrap" diaper cover. My sister-in-law like Thirsties covers. There are lots of products and it can be overwhelming, so I got started by ordering the "Try It" kit off of www.cottonbabies.com. I have found that site to be very useful. Also, www.diaperpin.com is the mother of all cloth diapering websites.

Here are some pictures of my little hippie in the making.


Okay, I don't know how to un-rotate this picture, sorry. Anyway, this is a chinese prefold with a twist-type fold on Evie. The twist helps soak up more pee. The green thingy is a "snappi" fastener. It doesn't snap, so I can only imagine that it is named a snappie because it is a "snap" to use. This is the Bummis Super Whisper Wrap diaper cover. This goes over the cloth diaper and provides the waterproof barrier. The cool thing about this is that this doesn't have to be washed everytime you use it unless it got really dirty in a blow-out type situation. You can reuse it like 5-6 times before you wash it. Bottomline, this saves you ALOT of money because you don't need tons of these. I only have 3. And you don't have to get frogs, I just thought, "Hey, why not?"

Is this the picture of a happy baby or what?!?