Ready to go

I'm due in 6-7 weeks now, and thankfully we confirmed that this baby is a boy, so he can wear all these cute covers. :) I've never used cloth diapering as a way to save money so much, but at this point in our lives (with almost 4 kids, and trying to start a business) I'm really grateful that we're all set and won't have to spend any more on disposables than we WANT to. Yay!

Not Forgotten

I've been pulling our cloth diaper stash out again lately. It hasn't really been used in almost a year now (since we moved from Virginia) because Katy potty-trained (more or less) pretty soon after that. But I'm halfway along with this baby, and getting interested in what we have (a lot) and what we need (thankfully not much). For the first time I am super grateful about the costs-savings using cloth is going to provide this time around. We will use -some- disposables, but I'm going to try to use cloth as much as possible. And since I have most of the basics already, it really won't cost much.
Hoping that this baby really comes out a boy (like they think he will) or she will look a little silly wearing some of these cute newborn covers I've been acquiring lately...

Thankfully we're all set for prefolds, and won't need much in covers/one-size diapers once the baby hits 12 lbs or so. Still have a bunch of Flips covers (even some boy-ish ones I had lent to my sister). It's fun to deal with a different color scheme, especially since I didn't use a LOT of cloth on Reilly, since he was 18 months when I started.

Who needs a swimming suit?

It's true. I have 3 kids, and I've never bought a pack of swim diapers. An unstuffed pocket diaper works perfectly!

Just a shout out and some pictures!

I haven't posted on here in forever, but I thought I should, just to let you know I haven't given up cloth diapering by any means... :) We didn't do it for much of December and January, because we were in Provo without on-site laundry facilities in the middle of winter, but it just wasn't going to work out.  Katy's in cloth about 75% of the time, and though I've tried to get rid of a lot, I still have a lot of Flip covers (mostly snaps) and inserts, BumGenius pockets (3.0 and 4.0, aplix), a Thirsties wrap and a half dozen Green Mountain Diaper prefolds, and a few other random pockets. (some Kawaii Pure & Naturals she's about to outgrow, a Katydid, an Evolution diaper, etc.) I have to say my favorite right now is a Flip with an organic insert. Trim, clean lines, and oh-so-absorbant!
Jaina is (sort of) potty-trained, or at least hasn't worn diapers in like 6 months, so we just have one in diapers. (She's in pull-ups at night; I tried a few cloth trainers, but my kids are just too chunky for the regular ones I've found and I don't feel like making any... maybe I'll get industrious once we move to Virginia and I have my sewing machine back!)
Here are a few pictures of Katy in her cloth diapers over the last 7-8 months!

4 months-ish - snappied sherpa prefold

5 months-ish, Kissaluv size 1 fitted

Katydid pocket. It fits better now that she's older I think...

8-ish months; BumGenius OS pocket, blossom

BumGenius 4.0 pocket in... can't remember the color name. Light purple. :)

Pretty diaper laundry!

You can't see it, but she's using an unstuffed pocket as a swim diaper. Awesome.

11 months-ish in her new Thirsties wrap over a GMD prefold.

BumGenius rave

I've been thinking about mentioning this for a while. I have tried so many different brands of diapers (and styles) and after about 2 years of cloth diapering, at least 75% of my stash is BumGenius diapers. (BG one-size 3.0 pockets, and the Flip system) I don't know what it is about these, but they just perform better! Not to mention I like the solid, pretty colors, so I can coordinate them with my kiddos' clothes. I try to change often, but I am a busy mommy, and I often forget to do it soon enough. Time after time after time, BG's surprise me with how leak-resistant they are. Sure, we still have leaks, but only when the inner is completely soaked. They really do exceptionally well. The leak-proofness of their new(ish) Flip cover is what convinced me to finally try night-time diapering on Jaina (which I had been afraid of for a year and a half) and I haven't had a single night leak. There was a time between 12 months and 18 months when I thought my kids had outgrown the BG OS fit, but when I picked up CD'ing again (after a 6 month break) Jaina fit pretty well in them, and that's almost all she wears. They have expanded the fit in their new 4.0 diaper (I have one and love it!) and I don't think that will be a problem with Katy. I am so excited to see what new colors they come out with soon. You can be sure I'll be checking my e-mail and cottonbabies website to find out!

These are actually little XS All-in-Ones,
which I loved when Katy was tiny!

P.S. If you look at all the pictures below, Katy is always in either a BG or a Thirsties wrap over prefolds. :) They make up the other 25% of my stash...

So you want pictures of our little fluff-bottom?

1 week - BumGenius AIO x-tra small

I didn't use cloth quite as much as I thought I would the first 2-3 weeks, (mostly because her cord didn't fall off until that point, and those Huggies Pure & Naturals had the sweetest little cord dip...) but after that we have used cloth on her about 75% of the time. She wears a disposable at night (because why change her and wake her up when the little sweetie almost NEVER poops at night?) and 3-4 during the week if we're going to be out for several hours sometimes. (usually to avoid changing her in some random public bathroom unecessarily). Otherwise she wears a combination of prefolds and covers, pockets, and AIO's, and we change every hour to two hours. She's a cute one!

Thirsties Duo Wrap with snaps (sz 1) over a preemie prefold. 2 weeks.

That is one fluffy bottom...

5 weeks? - BumGenius AIO small

BumGenius One Size pocket

Thirsties Duo Wrap (sz 1) over a prefold

GMD small unbleached pf, snappied

Flip cover over a stay-dry Flip insert

WAHM pocket, babylegs

GMD Chinese prefold (red-edge), snappied

and the same Thirsties Duo Wrap over that. (unsnapped to its largest size)

A Great Article About Cloth vs. Disposable

About disposable diapers and the environment.
               here is the link:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jennifer-grayson/eco-etiquette-how-can-i-c_b_572807.html

Eco Etiquette: How Can I Convince My Husband to Use Cloth Diapers?
Send all your eco-inquiries to Jennifer Grayson at eco.etiquette@gmail.com. Questions may be edited for length and clarity.
My husband has been fine with the green changes I've made in our household. He doesn't complain about composting, taking canvas bags to the grocery store, or even the vegetarian dinners I make. But we're expecting our first child, and he's drawn the line at cloth diapers. He says it's too inconvenient. How can I change his mind?   -Layla

Well, for starters, the cloth diaper argument couldn't be more timely: Last week, I wrote about how the BP oil disaster is compelling Americans to consider new ways to reduce their oil footprint; more specifically, by reducing the amount of petroleum-based products they buy.
Plastic disposable diapers, of course, fall into this category. I regret I didn't think to include them in last week's column, because the statistic is a whopper: Nearly 3.5 billion gallons of oil are used to produce the 18 billion throwaway diapers that Americans toss each year. To put that in perspective, that's more than the amount of crude we import annually from Kuwait.
Need a visual? Picture one of those diaper commercials where someone pours a container of liquid into a nappy to demonstrate absorbency. Now replace the pretend pee in that cup with petroleum -- that's about how much oil (2/3 cup) it takes to make just one disposable diaper.
Of course, relaying these facts to your husband (along with any of the other convincing environmental arguments in favor of cloth diapers, like less landfill waste, water pollution, and destruction of virgin forests) may do little to change his mind if convenience is his priority. We all do stuff that's bad for the environment because it's more comfortable, right? If that weren't true, then 300 million of us would be biking 20 miles each way to work and making home-cooked meals out of the organic produce we planted in our backyard gardens.
So to sway your husband, I enlisted the help of the aptly named Sarah Greenshields, COO of GroVia, which makes one of the most convenient cloth diapering solutions on the market: the hybrid diaper. (Hybrid diapers are essentially Cloth Diapering for Dummies. Gone are the pins and folding of yesteryears: Instead, an outer washable shell fastens much like a disposable diaper; inside, you can attach either a washable cotton pad or an eco-friendly disposable liner to do the dirty work.)
I played the part of the questioning first-time parent (not much of a stretch, as those of you who regularly read my column know); Sarah countered with her case for cloth.

Jennifer Grayson: My mom says she tried using cloth diapers with me, and she gave up after a month, it was such a mess.

Sarah Greenshields: Diapers used to be these big, huge squares that you'd fold into shape, and then you'd use pins, and then you'd get scared that you were going to poke your baby with a pin, and then you'd have to put plastic pants over the cloth diapers. And the plastic pants, they were equivalent to today's shopping bag -- just big and bulky...so what we've done is stripped out all that extra nonsense and made it so, so simple.

JG: But we don't have a washer/dryer in our apartment. Isn't it gross to use laundromat machines for washing dirty diapers?

SG: Not at all. Most laundry cycles are going to finish on at least one, if not two, rinse cycles, so you're cleaning the washing machine out well. Nowadays, laundry detergents are so sophisticated that you don't need to worry.

JG: Don't you have to rinse off the um, more solid matter in the toilet first? I don't think I have the stomach for that.

SG: Even if with disposables, you're always supposed to take the poo and wash it down the toilet, no matter what.

JG: But people who use disposables don't actually do that.

SG: They should. You take the diaper off, you wrap it in a plastic bag, you put the plastic bag in the garbage...I mean, you're making a poop bomb.

JG: But three years of having to rinse off poop in the toilet...

SG: Well actually, your children toilet train much, much earlier [with cloth diapers]. From my personal experience, my daughter started using the toilet all by herself at 15 months.

JG: Why is that?

SG: They do feel the moisture up against their skin. I also think that when you're cloth diapering, it may take an extra minute or two...but that extra time and communication with your child can really encourage the child to become aware.

JG: But isn't feeling that wetness unhealthy?

SG: [With the GroVia hybrid] you have an organic cotton [soaker pad] up against their skin, or you have a corn-based [disposable liner] against their skin. No dyes, no fragrances, no chlorine. Babies who have chronic rashes do much better with cloth diapers. There's a whole thing going on with Pampers right now: Their Dry Max diapers are causing severe diaper rash.

JG: OK, it seems like you win the health argument. What about cost?

SG: On average, a family will spend $70 to $150 per month on disposable diapers. For cloth, it's a lot of money up front, but it's cheaper over the entire time you're diapering. It's about $375 to get your full cloth diaper setup, but you've paid yourself back in the fourth month.

JG: Thanks for giving me the bottom line on cloth diapers, Sarah. Sounds like it's my number one choice (and my number two).

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