cloth diapering: let's get down and dirty...

So when I was pregnant with Finn, Landon and I discussed what method of diapering we wanted to do.  I found a ton of information online, and we quickly realized that we were interested in cloth diapering.  My mom cloth diapered all of my siblings and I (think old-school rubber pants/big ol' diaper pins), and Landon's parents went the disposable route.

There were a lot of reasons we decided to pursue cloth diapering, but cost was the main pull for us.  On the Fuzzibunz website, they have a price comparison chart, and it really impacted us when we looked at the numbers.

We registered for cloth diapers and accessories for our baby showers, and we were blessed to receive most of our stash before Finn was born.  We actually use a combination of cloth and disposables for some different reasons.  I always put Finn in a disposable at night, and we generally take disposables with us if we are out for a whole day or gone for a weekend since it simplifies things for us.  But most of the time, Finn is in a cloth diaper.

Anyway, without getting into all the details and logistics, I just wanted to share a quick post on how we do the diaper thing.



This is our diaper shelf in Finn's room.  We have 4 different kinds of diapers, Fuzzibunz, bumGenius 4.0, Flip diaper, and SunBaby.  We also have our stack of disposables for nights and naps now that Finn is taking one 2.5 or 3 hour nap each day.

The Fuzzibunz and bumGenius are my favorites, and I have noticed that although the SunBaby diapers were super cheap, they aren't holding up as well in the wash.





Instead of using a diaper sprayer attached to our toilet, we use Bummis biodegradable diapers liners that are flushable.  This helps a ton when Finn has a dirty diaper.  Most of the mess is contained on the liner and we just drop it into the toilet and the diaper is left with only a little mess.  The dirty diaper goes into the diaper bag and awaits a washing. We are currently using disposable wipes, and dirty wipes are collected into a trash bag and thrown out with the garbage.  If I ever get around to it, I want to look into reusable wipes.



We hang our diaper bag in the garage since our laundry is right inside the door.  Every couple days I wash all the diapers.  I put them in the washing machine and run two light loads on cold, then one hot normal load with a small amount of detergent.  I dry mine on low for 20 minutes.  Some people don't dry their diapers but I do.  Hopefully in the summer I can put them on the patio to dry and let the sun bleach out any stains.

I will say that with cloth diapers, you have to watch for build up and be prepared to strip the diapers.  I have only had to do this once, and it really wasn't that hard.  You basically boil and scrub the diapers to remove the buildup of detergent, oils, and any other things that cause the diapers to smell bad and not absorb as well.  Finn was having some trouble with rashes and leaking, and after I stripped the diapers, he was totally fine again and the diapers seemed like brand new.  **Edit: I will be doing a post strictly dedicated to stripping diapers.  This description is extremely basic and I need to do more of a step-by-step process on how I do this.  It will all be much more clear after that. :)**





And here's the little man modeling his diapers. :)  He has worn these since he was a few weeks old, and they have adjusted with him as he's grown.

We love using cloth diapers, and we love being able to do disposables on the side too.  Being flexible and keeping things simple is important to us, so having a combo has worked well for our family.  I was super intimidated by cloth diapers when we were starting out, but they are so much easier than I expected.  There has been some trouble-shooting involved, but with the internet and so many friends of ours doing cloth, it's been easy getting answers when we need them.

I was listening to a Simple Mom podcast yesterday that mentioned cloth diapers, and the speaker made the comment that every time she sees the washing machine full of diapers, she realizes how many less diapers are going into the landfill.  She also said that even using one cloth diaper each day will prevent 365 diapers from going into the ground.  While the environment wasn't the main reason we started with cloth, it definitely is important to us.

Bottom line, if you are thinking about cloth diapering, then do your research and consider buying a few to try out.  A lot of people seem scared at first, but love the decision afterwards!  And know that there is no one way to cloth diaper.  The best thing to do is figure out what works for your family right now and rest comfortably in that decision.