Adventures in Cloth Diapering

I have a love for cloth diapers. A love so great I am compelled to share it with others!

I became interested in using cloth diapers with Aidan was born and I met other moms online that cloth diapered. I would cruise through diaper sites trying to figure out what everything was & how to use it. The choices for cloth diapers are endless now, it is so different from the plain white flat diapers & rubber pants my mom used on her three daughters. I ended up not using cloth with Aidan, because he went to work with us every day until he was almost 10 months old, then he went to daycare. At the time, I didn't think cloth diapering would work unless you were at home, able to do frequent changes & run the washer often.

I re-visited the idea when Sean was born. I managed to convince Doug to let me buy a small amount to try out to see if it was something that would work for us. I thought it would be a good investment, we had two in diapers and the expense of buying disposibles was not appealing. I had read that children with Down syndrome often do not potty train until over the age of 4. I also read that using cloth helps the child potty train because they can feel being wet easier and get changed more frequently so they are not used to be left in a wet diaper for long periods of time.

When Sean was four months old, we finally got started out using cloth with 6 Fuzzi Bunz Pocket Diapers and 3 Kushie All-In-One Diapers. My dear friend Jane sent me a few other diapers to try as well. I found that I liked using the cloth diapers and it wasn't as difficult as I thought it would be. Sean started going to daycare when he was six months old and I never thought to ask if they'd use the cloth (I just assumed they wouldn't.) I tried to use it at home, but eventually I quit because it just didn't seem like we were using it often enough. I sold off the diapers we had and went back to sposies.

A year ago, we decided that it would be best for the boys if I quit working and was home with them. After being home a couple of months, I suggested to Doug that we again give cloth diapers a go. I figured it would save money in the long run and there was not any reason why it should work out this time since I'd be home all the time. This time, I bought 5 Very Baby All-In-One Diapers and a few Fuzzi Bunz. I read about a new cloth diaper that seemed to be revolutionizing the diaper world. I bought my first BumGenius Diaper to try out and quickly fell in love. Doug loves using the BumGenius diapers, they are called the Daddy Dipes by many. I sold the Very Baby diapers because I didn't like how long they took to dry and invested in more BumGenius.

Over the past year, I am occassionally enticed by new or different diapers so our diaper stash has changed from time to time. When Sean became the Master of Velcro, I re-vamped the stash to consist of diapers that have snap closures. Blueberry Pocket Diapers are now the bulk of what we use. I have even found love for the classic prefold diapers like my mom used! We use them with adorable & durable Wiggle Worm Bottoms Covers. No yucky rubber pants for my boy!

Now my love of cloth diapering is trying to branch out to others. On October 25th I am hosting a class on cloth diapering for my local La Leche League group. I bought an adorable all-in-one Nanas Bottoms diaper to give as a door prize. I also found 3 matching wipes by Miss Mindi to include with the diaper.



I also bought 18 cloth wipes for the class, made by a WAHM, Miss Mindi. I plan on pinning a fact about the benefits of cloth diapering onto each wipe and giving one to each parent that attends the class. We will discuss the benefit & then they get to keep the wipe!



Also, I did a little birthday shopping for my niece, Mackenzie. She loves Sean's cloth diapers and wanted some for her dolls. I had these cute ones made out of Minkee fabric by another WAHM, Stacey. Since I don't have any dolls, I had Mr Brown Bear try them on.






It may be a long road before Sean is using the potty full time, but in the meantime using cloth diapers sure makes the baby stage a lot more fun!