What I Know--{Covered in Mod Podge}

Happy Friday!  

Please welcome Michaela to the series!

Hi Southern Lovely readers. I can't thank Lindsay enough for having me here today. My name is Michaela and I blog over at Covered in Mod Podge. I'm thrilled to be here to talk about what I know...cloth diapers.

I'm going to give you fair warning; this post talks about both pee and poop!

For my family, making the decision to use cloth diapers was an economic decision. Looking at how much disposable diapers cost, it was hard to stomach. I am a stay at home mom/MSW student so we were looking to save as much money as possible.

Convincing my husband to go cloth wasn't nearly as difficult as I thought it would be. Basically, I had to show him that these weren't the safety pin needing, plastic pants wearing cloth that we were in as children.

There are so many different options when it comes to cloth. They definitely aren't your parent's diapers any more. Basically, there are three basic kinds of diapers. There are prefolds which you wrap around your baby {think oldschool here} and then cover with a waterproof cover. There are pocket diapers that have a waterproof outside and a fabric pocket on the inside. Into the pocket, you stuff an absorbent core. Then you have All in Ones. These have a waterproof outside and then absorbent core that is permanently attached. Both the Pocket and AIOs fit a lot like disposables.

In addition, you have sized diapers and one sized {OS} diapers. Sized diapers come in small, medium, large, etc. They fit a weight range and then you have to buy another size. These diapers tend to be less expensive than OS initially, but cost more over the life span. OS diapers fit from 8 pounds to 35 plus pounds {or birth to potty training}.

Confused yet? I know it can be a bit overwhelming. Stick with me!

Because cloth diapers do take an initial investment, we decided to start with a Newborn Diaper Rental Package. This served two needs. First, it let us try out cloth before making a large financial investment. Second, it let us get our tiny newborn into cloth before she was big enough for the diapers we thought we'd like {or daughter was born a bit early and at 6lbs 7ozs}.

Emma at 4 weeks in a rental diaper

The Newborn Rental was wonderful. In our case, we put down a $100 deposite and then were sent enough fitted diapers and waterproof covers to make it through a day. At the end of 12 weeks, we sent all the diapers back and were refunded $50. This worked out to $50 for the month we actually needed the diapers for. You can't diaper a newborn in disposables for that little money!

We were given a bumGenius 4.0 OS pocket, a FuzziBunz OS pocket, and a Happy Heinys OS pocket diaper as shower gifts. We used these three diapers to make our decision. For us, the bumGenius blew the rest of the diapers out of the water. The FuzziBunz made my little girl look like she had a giant wad between her legs. It looked so uncomfortable. The Happy Heiny was ADORABLE. Who wouldn't want a cow print diaper!?! However, it fell apart in the wash. The customer service really fell short.

First day in bumGenuis

Emma was ready for the bumGenius OS when she was about 8 pounds. For us, that was at about 5 weeks. I got a little worried at about 8 months, 17 pounds, and 27 inches that she was going to grow out of the diapers long before she potty trained. However, as soon as she started walking we tightened the diaper down. I'm now sure that she'll be in them all the way to potty training. The diapers have held up great wash after wash. We have several friends who are using older "models" bumGenius diapers on their second child. I'm sure ours will make it to our second as well.

Twelve months, 19 lbs and 30 inches

What about washing, you ask?

Getting a good washing routine down can be a bit tricky. However, there are tons of websites out there to help figure out what washing routine works best for you. Be sure to wash the diapers according to manufacture instruction. If you don't you can void your warranty.

The biggest issue is finding a detergent that is cloth safe and works with your water and washer. What works for one person might not work for another. PinStripes and PolkaDots has a great chart of detergents and if they're good for cloth. We use Ecos Free and Clear that we buy off of Amazon. I've heard some Costcos even carry it.

What about quantity of diapers? Do you spend every hour of every day doing laundry?

We own 21 bumGenius 4.0. We bought 6 of them used from an acquaintance. Ebay always has used diapers for sale. Also, depending on the popularity of cloth in your area, Craigslist can be a good place to look.

When Emma was one month old, we'd have to wash diapers every day. My little girl peed like crazy. By six months old, we washed every day and a half. At thirteen months old, we wash every other day. Cloth diapers shouldn't sit dirty more than three days.

Now, I hate doing laundry. At the beginning, washing that frequently was a bit overwhelming. It quickly became a part of my routine. Now, every two to two and a half days seems like nothing.

We feel like cloth diapers have saved our family a significant amount of money. We've only had diaper rash when our daughter was on antibiotics. We do use disposables when we are going to be gone all day or when she's at Mom's Day out. Some states don't allow cloth at daycares.

The best part about cloth? No poopy blowouts. The only leaky poo problems we've had were when our daughter was in disposables. Sure, there's pee leaks from time to time. But no more so than a disposable diapered kiddo.

If you have any questions, I'd be happy to try to answer them. You can email me at: coveredinmodpdoge@gmail.com.

 

Lots of good information here. Thanks to Michaela for letting us in our her experience!