Cloth Diaper: My Experience

Well. It's about time I finish this post. 

After years and months of wanting to cloth diaper I finally got pregnant. Then after weeks and weeks of debating if I should really do it, doubting if I would like it at the end, and trying to convince the hubby that this was for us I went for it. I started my stash and waited for Adrian to be born. Then he was born and I freaked. So one day I simply decided not buy disposable diapers so that when we ran out I would have no choice but to use my cloths. I went cold turkey. 

After researching I found that Bumgenius were the most commonly used cloth diapers. Many of the websites and blogs I read for info suggested that you picked two brands to work with in case baby didn't like one you had options. Well I'm the type that believes that babies are just that. Babies. They can't tell you if they like one thing or the other. You assume they don't because they cry or look uncomfortable or whatever else so you try something else. Now I'm not saying this is the case with everything. Like bottles for example. If a baby doesn't like the feel & flow in one bottle no matter how many times you offer it he's not going to take it. But if you insists and insist and insist giving him no choice eventually he'll realize he doesn't have a choice and become accustomed to that specific bottle. Don't you think? I think we as parents are just not persistent enough and we want to please our babies so we look for the best possible way to do so. Either way that's not the point for today so lets get back on track.  

I decided to only purchase the Bumgenius brand. The AIO Pockets 4.0 because the brands options were endless and I was getting overwhelmed. These ones had the most reviews and the best review so I said to myself "you know what? this is it. We will both learn to adjust to them eventually." In the end I wanted to save money more then anything and although there are many many different styles, designs, and colors I was pretty set on what I wanted. To save money while having my baby look stylish ;) 

We started diapering at about 7ish weeks old. At first we were using the prefolds with the thirsties covers. So far so good. But I felt that six cover was not enough. I don't know if I was folding it wrong (I was using the angel fold) or what but I would almost always end up with a mess. A poopy mess. So there went the covers. We would use up to 4 or more covers a day and then the next day we would only have 1-2 available and laundry wasn't due till the following day. Great! That was a problem. It kind of resolved quickly though because about a week later my kid stopped pooping every 2 hours and got a bit more regular and less messy.

I still remember the first time I used cloth. I was home alone and super excited to try it on him. I waited for the first diaper change in the early morning and just loved how he looked. Super adorable I tell you. Minutes later I had called my mom to tell her and right in the middle of our conversation I noticed my kid was having a BM. I let him finish his job while still on the phone. Then as I started to change him I had poop coming out of everywhere in this diaper. Biggest.Mess.Ever! I had poop on my hands, his legs and toes, clothes, bed, everywhere. All I kept saying was I cannot believe this is happening to me.  I thought, God must be trying to scare me away from cloth diapering or something. Then I just burst into laughter right there and then all on my own. After the fact I had called my mom to tell her about my experience and she just laughed at me. How rude!

At about 9-10 pounds I started using my BG supply. What a difference that made. With the mess that is. It was easier to put on and it fit perfect. My baby's bottom looked huge! But cute :) when I would dress him in normal clothes the diaper would take over it hahaha it was cute and annoying at the same time. Eventually my baby grew into the BG as it should have and we haven't looked back since. 

There's been exception to this of course, like when we traveled to Puerto Rico a couple of months ago. I was not going to spend my vacation washing diapers and driving around tje island with soiled, poopy diapers. So we decided to use disposables. Then a time before that when our washers got messed up and we couldn't do laundry. Yes I could have taken a trip to the laundromat but it was way easier to just take a little break from all the washing. 

My biggest fear when I started CD'ing was cleaning the poop off of them. I always thought, eeeww that's gross. Not to mention I'm a visual person and not knowing what to expect was driving me crazy! I searched and searched and searched the web and nothing. How did a messy CD looked like? Can the poop really just come off like that? Can the diaper really last 2-3 years and another child, or two? So many questions I couldn't wait to test out myself. 

Then one day out of the blue, right before I started to CD, I came  across this blog. It showed how a dirty diaper looked like and how to clean it. After reading that I wasn't scared or worried anymore. It was exactly what I was looking for. If it wouldn't have been for that blog I don't know if I would be writhing about my experience today. 

I honestly have to admit that cloth diapering has been a great decision. Even the hubby who wasn't on board at first loves it. Of course that he doesn't help out with the washing or stuffing but he has no problem changing the diaper pooped or not. I plan to continue until AJ is potty trained and on to my next child as well. 

We did dealt with some ordor issues and that almost made the hubby throw out my stach and go back to disposables but luckily it got resolved. I google and read forums about it and then finally found some info on the BG website. I followed the instructions listed there and we haven't had another issue since.

To wash my diapers I started using Green Mountain detergent and it worked just fine. I bought that over at cotton babies and it lasted about five months. Then next time around when I went to order it they had it on back order for some weeks so I ordered the BG brand and I'm still using that. I do a cold rinse with a hit wash and an extra cold rinse. The inserts wet bag and pail bag goes I'm the dryer and the covers I let air dry overnight. Iberia the summer I plan to changing my laundry time for during the day and taking the covers outside to dry.

I'm still a little iffy about the poopy diapers but not as much. It has changed quite a bit after starting solids and aiding formula so I started using flush able wipes and that makes it a little better but honestly I find myself rinsing out the pooped diapers and it doesn't face me anymore. I never thought I would get over it but I guess with nursing as a major I was bound to sooner or later ;) 

 

 

Overall cloth diapers works fur me, my baby, and my family. If you are thinking about trying it I say give it a go. You'll be surprise at how much you'll end up loving it. 

Two of my favorite blogs I used to get me started were a Heather Drive and My Life on Transition. Julia talks about it in great details. Kelly's mom is another helpful site and currently Kaitlyn from Wifessionals us doing a serious on both diapering. I recommend checking it out. She makes it look so simply and it is. Good Luck!