I'm not sure at what point I decided to look into using cloth diapers, but I know it was because of the money it would save our family. My cousin had been using cloth diapers for her little one and sent me several videos on how to use the style she had. It was much easier to see this working through her videos than it was through pics of how to put together diapers that I had come across on several blogs. I originally thought I would just use them here and there. In fact, it wasn't til my first was almost 2 months old that I tried them at all... And then I was sold.
Cloth diapering is certainly not the easy route to take, but I knew that from the beginning. Finding a routine that worked for me took some time and eventually I found that washing diapers every 2 days worked perfect. I stared by air drying on hangers in our doorways. It wasn't the most practical, but it got the job done. Somewhere along the way my cousin sent me another video of things she had been working on around her house and I happened to notice she had her diapers air drying on a rack similar to the one I have picture here. I thought, "how easy is that!" So I got one and man has it made life smoother on diaper day. No longer do I lug out hangers and clothes pins to dry diapers. Now I give a quick shake and lay the diapers over the rack and we are good to go.
When I first started out I only had 10 covers and 30 prefolds. How I managed a young baby pooping frequently with ten covers? I don't have a clue. Somehow it all worked. But eventually I found myself wanting more covers and that's when I discovered cloth diaper buy/sell/trade groups on Facebook. New covers for the brand I was using had gone up considerably in the first year of using cloth diapers. I wasn't about to pay $11 for a single cover... I know its not *that* bad, but I'm doing cloth to save on cash... So the hunt began. I would occasionally stumble across covers for $7 shipped to me and usually they had two or three so I could get them for $10 or $15 shipped depending on how many I bought. I bulked up my covers to where I had 24. I dont think I'm completely happy with not every prefold having a new cover to use, buta Im sure I'll go on the hunt again soon for a few more covers. Another thing I eventually added was a few packages of flour sack towels to make a thicker "overnight" diaper once little one was starting to sleep 8 hour stretches consistently. And, after unsuccessfully trying to get hubby to change diapers when I had to go somewhere and he was left to babysit, I bought him some all-in-one diapers which have been worth every penny to not have to buy disposables just for those rare occasions.
I think one of the biggest mistakes I made was trying to "strip" my covers before I fully understood the process. Several had been stained a faint yellow with that awful breastmilk poo and they always looked dirty. A bleach bath did nothing, sunning for several days did nothing... I decided to "strip" them. Unfortunately I did something wrong and ended up practically ruining the PUL. Thank god they did not leak after that... But their quality was not longer great. Fortunately I hadn't stripped my entire cover stash so only a handful were half ruined by this mistke. After that I decided stains really didn't bother me that much, after all these are POOP catchers we are talking about here!
I've been one of the rare few who used homemade detergent on diapers and *not* suffered major consequences. (This is based on things I've read on threads in cloth diapering groups I've followed.) At one point I attempted to switch to Tide laundry powder because, on one such group i was following, they swore that homemade laundry soap would ruin your diapers. Dont know why I didn't just leave well enough alone and keep doing what was working for me. My little one ended up with a red bum right away and I swore I'd never do that again. (He does have sensitive skin which is sort of one reason we use homemade laundry soap in the first place). In recent months I've experimented with a more natural laundry soap recipe. Its taken a few months to work the kinks out in the recipe ingredients itself and all that, but one thing I do know is I dont like it for diaper laundry. So back to my original homemade recipe it is, tho I may hang onto the new recipe for clothes, towels, blankets and such.
When we discovered we were expecting a second child I knew right away I would need to add to my diaper stash. This time I want to start out with cloth as soon as possible. I really think I may give myself a week or two to recover from birth before I expect to be back to some of my normal routines. Buying newborn diaper covers is quite fun because they are SO small! I'm thinking I may have two in diapers, at least for a little while, so I've added another 10 diapers to my stash and some that are more hubby friendly. I may add a few more if I feel we need it once the new baby arrives.
I must say I sort of feel like a pro at using cloth diapers now. Its been quite an interesting experience and I've learned a lot by using cloth. Any time I've used a disposable on my son they just frustrate me to no end and I can hardly wait to get back to our cloth bums. (We use disposable while away visiting family because it makes the whole vacation go smoother, plus before we leave I have all the diapers washed and air drying so they are ready to use the second we get back home).
When my grandma saw my son in a cloth bum for the first time, not long after I had first started using them, she remarked at how fancy mine were compared to what she had used on her babies. Even my mom, who I found out used cloth diapers too, was impressed with the snaps on the covers because she had to use pins to keep diapers on me when I was a baby and she thought they were just awful. I know what I have is pretty basic compared to what is available out there today, but I thought it was interesting they both wished they had then what I have now. Makes me grateful to be a cloth diapering mama in this time period.
I find it encouraging that several friends and my sister have shown interest in cloth diapering their children because of their exposure to cloth diapers through me. I do cloth diapers because of my little one's sensitivity to many of the disposable brands and because it saves us money. I'm always glad to answer friends questions and help them find something that will work well for them because I love cloth diapers and want everyone else to love them too.
No comments:
Post a Comment