Two weeks of cloth diapering of various sorts, and I’m still in love. Not only that, I’ve created converts. People who KNEW disposable diapers were way better than cloth have now seen the light. A friend who is currently trying to get knocked up with her third little. Auntie, who isn’t pregnant, but would like to have at least one baby soonish. Even Daddy is on board, changing diapers when we go to visit. No one around me looks at me like I’m crazy when I go on about the wonders of cloth.
Come to find out, people I never thought were cloth advocates ARE. My mom, for one, she even helped me to buy some more diapers, giving me a little loan to do it sooner than I would be able to myself. One of my aunts used cloth on her son, and that was more than 30 years ago (yes, we will leave it at that!) when disposables were the ONLY way to do it.
I even like using flats. Each morning I slap a flat on him, no cover, since I only have one crocheted one that is just too bulky for anything but night. I let his little body air out after his nighttime flooding (which I’ve been using flats for and he can’t get out of them, so the bed stays nice and dry!) He seems to like running around in the flats and they give his skin time to air out, which is helping with his rash issues alot. He hasn’t had a major rash since the SWITCH, which is wonderful for both of us. No more monkey butt! I have to change him as soon as he gets wet, which I should be doing anyway, so it’s not really an issue at all. The pinning… not so much my love. If I was using proper birdseye, it might be easier, but I’ve been using receiving blankets, and that flannel is HARD to pin.
Now, as to the new diapers I bought. I looked and looked and researched and got opinions. I know now what I like in a diaper, sort of, and what I don’t. I don’t like the inserts. They don’t stay in place. I don’t like PUL against sensetive skin, it leaves redmarks on my little (another reason to let him run around in flats at home). I do like using a prefold as an insert, but I don’t have enough of them, just a few that missed getting turned into rags or getting tossed when he grew out of needed 40 burp cloths a day. Not to mention, those are the Gerbers… not great for diapers, though they made premium burp rags.
Fluffy butt!
I found alot of options; prefolds, flats, fitteds. The one I think best for us, prefolds and a cover. That didn’t narrow it down all that much. There are Real Nappies (which I almost went with because they have nice little sets of everything you need), many and varied organics, alot of bamboo or hemp options… expensive or cheap… ARGH! I finally decided to give Green Mountain Diapers a try. Their sizing is larger than most prefolds, and since Dillon is a heavy wetter, he can use the extra layers in their prefolds. And if we decide to go with fitteds, I can try them there too, at a relatively low cost.
Then onto covers. That’s when I started getting headaches and didn’t know where to turn. There were expensive ones, cheap ones, exposed PUL, hidden PUL. I don’t know! Again, I resorted to GMD. I love the reviews and explanations and pictures of all the diapers, even on toddlers! Their website is THE most informative I’ve found. So, I ordered a Thirsties and a Bummis, recommended by Karen of GMD for first time cloth diaperers. I really want a few wool pull up covers for nighttime… but I need to measure my little. He’s a big boy, already moving into 3Ts, even though he’s not yet 18 months. GMD is also wonderfully priced (some of the covers are a bit higher than elsewhere, but as far as flats and prefolds of that quality, they are number 1).
Using cloth is a wonderfully carefree experience, but buying it is another thing altogether. It’s a headache. It’s difficult to find honest reviews. Some of them are really pricey, so it’s hard to rationalize buying and trying. My recommendation? Find some second hand to try out. I think I will be scouring craigslist and diaperswappers in the future.
Monkey Man 