Cloth Diapers

I have been thinking about cloth diapers for about a week now. I have to say that if I knew everything I know now, I would have done cloth diapers from the beginning, so I thought I would share my knowledge so others are not as misinformed as I was.

First of all, cloth diapers have come a LONG way since the old flat diapers that you had to fold, put diaper pins on, and then those plastic bottoms on top. The diapers that we have chosen are called Flip and they are a brand from the store here in town called Cotton Babies. Basically, there is an insert that is microcloth on one side (the side that touches their bottom) and the other side is terrycloth. The microcloth wicks the moisture from their bottom. These inserts fit into the cover which has flaps on the front and back. Then the cover snaps close. These diapers are also one size fits all, which means they can be tightened across the waist and they can be lengthened, all using the snaps. At first, I thought the snaps would be hard, but they aren't and the alternative is velcro and from what I understand, that wears out over time.

Next, after he soils a diaper, you just pull out the insert and put in another one. We store the soiled diapers in a plastic tote bag inserted in a trashcan. When we are on the run, we have a wet/dry bag we use. After a few times of changing the insert or if there is a huge poopy diaper, we will change out the cover.

When it comes to laundry, we are doing it on Mon, Wed, and Fri. It seems like a lot, but the loads are easy to do. We just throw it all in and then only the inserts are dried in the dryer. The covers are hung dry, but they dry in about 2 hours. Because we are exclusively breastfeeding, everything is water soluble. That means no rinsing or dunking in the toilet, it all just goes straight into the washer. Also, that means nothing stinks (YEAH!!!). Once he starts on solid foods (another topic), we will have to throw out the solid poop, but that shouldn't be too bad.

The best part: the cost. We paid $300 for all the diapers, inserts, cloth wipes, and our bags. We will make that back in about 6 months and then we can keep on using them and even use them for the next kid. Here's a picture in his new diaper and a few extras.






It's hard to tell, but this is one of Noah's first smiles. He started doing this today.