Cloth Diapers : What We Really Think

Samson was about 8 weeks old, when I got brave and decided to snap on one of the cloth diapers.  We've been using cloth diapers for quite some time now and we've learned a lot along the way. People often ask me if we still use cloth diapers or they act shocked that we are still using them (often with heavily cynical voices). Bottom line: we love it or we're crazy enough to not hate it. Second bottom line: we aren't quite all in, but we're committed to what works for us. Third bottom line: we are saving loads of money.

Diaper Choice : Charlie Banana One Size Pocket Diapers. Two thumbs up. The fit is great, the style is great, they come with two sizes of inserts, the elastic on the back holds in all the poop. Zero blow outs so far... but never say never. (We've had several blow-outs in disposables). I definitely recommend them. We have 19 diapers, which cost us $215 out of pocket. I can't even begin to stress how good of a deal that is... $215 for the diapers Samson will wear for 2+ years! I'm thinking about investing in some new inserts though (not in love with microfiber, what do YOU use? Please let me know!)

Diaper Pail/Bags : At home, we keep a regular lidded trash can in the bathroom next to Samson's room with the diaper sprayer. Holds in smells okay, keeps the grossness contained & is very easy to clean. On the go, we use Planet Wise and Itzy Rizy wet bags. Both hold in smells and grossness exceptionally well. I've stashed a massively dirty diaper in the diaper bag after a mid-church diaper change and no-one was the wiser. Impressed.

Diaper Sprayer : Bumkins cloth diaper sprayer. Do you need one? Yes No. Should you get one? Yes. Definitely yes. I jumped the gun on using the cloth diapers before we actually got the sprayer installed. So for a while we dunked and swished. Honestly, it wasn't that bad, but considering that we had a sprayer just anxiously waiting to fulfill it's poop cleansing purpose, it was kind of undesirable. The spray is adjustable and easy to control. I feel like the diapers and inserts get clean much easier with a little pre-rinse.

Detergent : We started out with a bag of Rockin' Green courtesy of my cousin Jess. I ran out before I had re-ordered so I did some quick research to find an inexpensive cloth diaper safe detergent in-store near me. I bought a huge jug of ECOS Free & Clear laundry detergent from Target. I'm smitten. I use it on diapers and all of our clothes. I love that it's liquid, which for whatever reason is more appealing to me.

Wash Routine : For reference, we have this washer and this dryer, which I highly recommend. Also, I do a cycle with HOT water which isn't recommended for Charlie Banana diapers. However, ensuring that my diapers are clean with as few chemicals as possible is more important to me than voiding a warranty, so make sure you educate yourself on your own particular brand of diapers before you commit to any routine.

It took a lot of trial and error to get to this point. This is about 2 hours worth of washing and 1 hour of drying. It might seem like a lot of water, but keep in mind we have an energy efficient machine. We haven't noticed any change in our water bill because we are still using well below the minimum usage fee.

1. Rinse with Aqua Jet - Cold Water
2. Quick Wash - Heavy - Hot Water -  Line 1 ECOS Free & Clear
3. Normal Cycle - Heavy - Warm Water - Line 1 ECOS Free & Clear - 2 T OxiClean Free & Clear
4. Rinse with Aqua Jet - Cold Water
5. Timed dry - Very Low - 60 minutes, or we line dry outside when the weather is nice.

Disposables : Yep, still use them. I always have some in the diaper bag and in the back of the car. I try to pack one cloth diaper in the diaper bag, but if we are out for an extended period of time, I prefer not to carry around a bag of dirty diapers. To each his own. We use disposable diapers every night and we still using disposable wipes every diaper change. If I had to estimate we use about 2 disposable diapers a day...we use The Honest Co. diapers and wipes, and love them. I highly recommend their products and their subscription service. As a busy mom, there is nothing better. They send reminder emails to select diaper designs and adjust your delivery date as necessary. You can adjust your delivery rate (more often or less often) and a sales rep for The Honest Co, says they can even split your bundle if you think your baby is in between sizes (or uses larger diapers at night for more absorbency.) Here is my referral code for The Honest Co. if you decide to give one of their bundles a try!

Overall, we are happy with our choice. Cloth diapering wasn't even on my radar until I was pregnant and observing the mommas around me. And cloth diapering wasn't on Aaron's radar until I told him we should cloth diaper Samson. There are some days I feel a little crazy but, it feels good to spend less on monthly expenses, to produce less waste, to put something gentle on my baby's skin, and to pat that cute fluffy cloth diaper bum.

A baby in a bow tie

Becoming a six month old is a big deal. Samson can check off all the boxes on the long list of accomplishments the pediatrician will tell you to watch for. We are so proud of every milestone he reaches & we gladly cheer him on & coax him to the next one. However, I'm still in total disbelief that we are halfway to having a one year old! It feels as if Samson has been a part of our lives forever, but it also just feels like he just got here! Time just blurs together, managing to both crawl & speed by in the blink of an eye. But, I wanted to pause it for just a moment & capture some of the sweetness to hold on to. In honor of his half birthday I snapped some pictures of Samson, aka Sam, aka SamBam, aka SammerJammer, aka Baby Bear, aka Squirrel (he has daddy to thank for thank one), aka Cash's brother, aka he cutest baby who ever lived. Without further adieu...

Sweet little birthmark on his back & his fluffy cloth diaper bum.

And just in case you think you can turn your back on your baby for even a second...

Reality: can't even put him down without Cash being right next to him.

Cloth Diapers : Part 2

Deciding to cloth diaper was fairly easy for us. Aaron says I’m the one who decided, but he really did get on board after we shelled out some serious dough on just TWO boxes of diapers. It really came down to money and me not being able to step down from a challenge. Since I will be working part time when I go back to work and won't be able to supplement our income as easily as before by picking up extra shifts we really had to tighten in our budget and find places to save. Plus, I'm not scared of poop. Not one bit. 

Several people have mentioned poop with utter disgust when I talk about cloth diapers, but I must admit, I’m no stranger. This may not be for the faint of heart, but I am an x-ray technologist at a major hospital in our area. I have seen things that will turn your stomach inside out. Poop, pee, puke, blood, gun shot wounds, stab wounds, foreign bodies, gangrene, open chest wounds, bones sticking out of body parts… I could go on but I’m sure you aren’t interested. Let's just say, I’m not worried about baby poop. And for the record, you folks who aren’t yet parents and think a throw-away Pampers are the key to not having to touch poop are in for a big surprise someday. Haha :)

To get started I made a list of things we'd need to start cloth diapering:

• Diapers
• Wipes
• Diaper Pail/Bag for Nursery
• Travel sized Wet Bags for the Diaper Bag
• Inserts
• Laundry Detergent
• Diaper Sprayer

Diapers

We will be using Charlie Banana pocket diapers (all in two diapers) with snap front closure and adjustable elastic around the leg holes. This is a bit more pricey than other cloth diaper routes. But we felt comfortable with our decision knowing that we wanted convenience and quality. We also knew we would like to re-use the diapers in the future. These diapers are made to fit a newborn baby to potty training toddler. Our goal is to have 18-24 diapers, we probably won't buy them all before Samson is born though, because we'll want to be sure these work for him before going all in. 

• Investment : $150 (12 diapers), approximately $300-350 for a complete stash

Wipes

These can be purchased and several people have even suggested baby wash cloths, but since I can sew I'm planning on just snagging some fabric from JoAnn's next time I'm on that end of town and making some of my own. It would be easy to use my own sewing machine, but to make them even faster, I'll probably borrow my mom's serger (Hi Mom! Thanks in advance!)   We will always have some disposable wipes on hand, but since we will already be doing diaper laundry, there is no reason we can't toss these in the laundry too. We'll have to see what works best for us but we'll either just use plain water to moisten the wipes or make a homemade spray to clean his tush with. 

• Investment : $10, still need to purchase/make

Diaper Pail / Wet Bag for Nursery

I'm still up in the air about this. I can't decide if I simply want a bag to hang on a hook, or a bag to put in a pail. If used properly, both would contain odors and mess just fine. I really like the ubbi diaper pail. It can be filled with regular trash bags for disposable diapers (no fancy refills needed) or a washable wet bags for cloth diapers. It costs a whopping $80 though, which is pretty pricey when you include buying two full size wet bags to go along with it for $25 a piece. I'm open to suggestions here moms!

• Investment : Not sure! Help!

Travel Size Wet Bag for Diaper Bag

Received a Planet Wise bag as a baby shower gift.  I'm planning on starting with two or three, but haven't purchased anymore yet. I really like the Planet Wise bag but, I've also heard good things about Itzy Ritzy bags. Any cloth diaper mommas have any other favorites? 

• Investment : $0, received 1 as a gift ... plan on purchasing one more for $15.

Inserts

Charlie Banana diapers come with two microfiber inserts and should be able to withstand normal diaper situations all on their own. It's unlikely that we will have to purchase a full set of extra inserts to find success with our cloth diapers. However, I've heard boys might need a little extra absorbency to get a diaper to last, especially at night. My cousin Jessica, who is cloth diapering a little man of her own has given me some really awesome advice and generously gifted us a few extra Hemp doublers to test out. 

• Investment : $0, received 3 as a gift ... typically run anywhere from $3-$8 a piece, depending on the material they are made of. Won't buy any more until we start cloth diapering and we find out what we really need.

Laundry Detergent

I've made my own laundry detergent in the past, so that was my first thought. Unfortunately though last year when we moved to our house outside city limits our water went from soft city water to hard country water. Our clothes simply weren't getting clean and it was much simpler to run to the store and buy a bottle of Tide versus fix the homemade detergent recipe. We have since switched to All Free & Clear and will be using it for both our clothes and Samson's clothes. However, we will be using a detergent specially made for cloth diapers to protect our diapers. We will be using Rockin Green : Bare Naked Babies Detergent. Our water company was recently bought out by city utilities and after they run the pipes all the way out to the boonies next year we'll have much softer water, so maybe I'll try some homemade detergent recipes out to save some money!

• Investment : $0, our first bag was a gift! $16/bag, which does 90 loads in a he washer

Diaper Sprayer

Not a necessity, but an awesome poop avoidance device. This attaches to your toilet and sprays the diaper clean before you toss it in the diaper pail/bag. I wasn't sold on wanting one until I found the Diaper Dawgs company. The silicone "dawgs" that they are known for act as a barrier between you and whatever funk you might come across in the diaper. Their really cool product though is the collar that they make to keep the diaper sprayer's spray contained. If you want to see it in action, check out this video (warning: this video displays real diapers with real poop!)

• Investment : $60 for the sprayer and the spray collar, we still need to purchase these

What I loved about making this list is that I can see exactly where our money is going and it's not in the trash! We recently bought a box of Newborn Huggies (88 diapers) and Size 1 Pampers Swaddlers (100 diapers) and spent $50! Holy smokes... that's just a few weeks worth of diapers. Not good for a tight budget. It also made my heart happy to think that some of these items were gifts and some our diapers will be paid for with gift cards. The generosity of our friends and family never ceases to amaze me. We feel SO loved and SO supported. Thank you, thank you, thank you from the bottom of my heart!

I calculated our initial investment to include 24 diapers ($350), homemade wipes ($10), 1 additional travel wet bag ($15), 1 full size wet bag for the nursery ($15), and the diaper sprayer/spray collar ($60). Any additional wet bags or a diaper pail aren't a complete necessity. I didn't factor in detergent because there are far too many variables for a first time cloth-diaper mom to make an informed calculation. Hopefully I will do an update in the future once I have some experience and will re-evaluate this list and the costs involved.

Initial Grand Total : $450 

Cloth Diapers : Part 1

Disclaimer: You can find this information and more other places on the world wide web. This is my spin on the cloth diaper debate. I'm here for your entertainment folks, so keep that in mind and feel free to laugh at my jokes and weird humor. If not, it's going to be a really long and awkward post...

I’ve struggled to write this post for quite a long time. Probably due to the fact that I have had received lots of mixed reactions from several people. Positive and negative. The ones that didn’t necessarily shock me, but really annoyed me came from people who don’t even have kids. What?! If you haven’t lived 24/7 with a pottyin’ machine and been responsible for changing (and paying) for the diapers, I don’t think it’s fair for you to get all judgey. Who knew butts could be so controversial?

So first and foremost, I’m not trying to persuade anyone that my decision is better than anyone else’s. I'm not against disposable diapers by any means. Samson will be in them for the first several weeks of his life and we will always have them on hand, just in case. Cloth diapers have a lot of appeal for us though. Aaron and I put a lot of thought, effort and research into what was going to work for our family and this is what we decided to try. That being said, we are first time parents and there is a HUGE learning curve. This isn’t going to be a pros-cons list. I’m just trying to put some good cloth diaper vibes out there. I will be doing a separate post with specifics to our situation, like why I'm not that grossed out by poop and how much money we will be spending. This one will be wordy enough. So without future ado…

Cloth diapers will save us money. It will save us money on diapering kid number 1, it will save us even more money on kid number two, etc. It doesn’t matter how thrifty you are with your coupons or your economy sized boxed store brand diapers, you will literally spend hundreds thousands of dollars over the course of your child(rens) days in diapers. There are several websites that will break it down for you. If you are truly interested in the economics of it, feel free to google it. I won’t refer to any one website in particular because I feel like there are far too many variables to take into account for the variety of people who may be reading this. Your personal savings is dependent on the type and brand of both cloth diapers and brand of disposable diapers. I knew that the disposable diapers we would be using would be Huggies, Pampers, or something like Honest Company, so I consider our savings to be fairly substantial. Your savings would be less if you use a store brand disposable diaper. Your savings would be greater if you use a less expensive cloth diaper option. No matter how you slice it though, cloth diapering will save you money. A lot of it.

Cloth diapers are eco-friendly. Yes I will be doing more laundry, using more water and electricity than a strictly disposable family. I promised I wouldn’t be biased, but you are nuts if you think my extra laundry will have more impact on the environment than your poop bombs. Solid poop from a disposable diaper is supposed to be flushed down the toilet before tossing the diaper in the trash. Most people don’t know that, or they just don’t care. But just think of all the poop baking in those plastic Diaper Genie bags in the landfill. Can’t wait until our great-great-great-great-great grandkids dig that up. Our new washer and dryer are energy efficient and our diaper detergent is biodegradable, therefore reducing the impact of increased laundry loads. You are welcome future generation.

           

Cloth diapers are non-toxic and gentle. Aaron even judges me for this sometimes, but I usually am very cautious about what we put in to or on to our bodies. Except McDonalds French fries, God knew what he was doing when he created the French fry man. I try to make smart choices when it comes to certain foods and products that we consume and use. Do I think all things should be organic and 100% clean? No. Did you read what I said about the French fries? Also, if you think I’m wiping my tush with some eco-nut or store brand single ply, you are insane… I want it plush. Charmin all the way baby. As a kid, I had really sensitive skin and I’m sure my baby will be no different. If cared for properly, cloth diapers can help reduce skin rashes and irritations.

            

I could add that cloth diapers are cute, but I really think that’s a matter of opinion. They are cute now hanging out in Samson’s diaper drawer, but their job is to catch pee and poop, so I’m not sure that I could persuade anyone over to team cloth when that little blue diaper is doing it’s duty. It’s a diaper ya’ll. So instead of pointing out the cute factor, I’ll point out that there are so many types of cloth diapers. There is something that will fit in to every lifestyle and every budget.

            

If you are having a baby anytime soon and haven’t looked into cloth diapers, I highly recommend it. It wasn't something I would have ever considered until I started noticing people around me doing it and started asking questions. It's helpful if you have real people to use as resources, I have some friends and relatives who I consulted. If there are any introductory classes at shops or boutiques near you, check them out! 

Tomorrow I will be posting Part 2 and Friday will be my weekly update!! 

31 weeks

Today : 31 weeks + 5 days

Weight Gain :  19.5 lbs

Maternity Clothes : Yep. Most days I mix and match. These are maternity jeggings from Old Navy my sister-in-law let me borrow. This shirt is just a medium non-maternity shirt from Old Navy, a size up from my regular. 

Stretch marks : No. My belly button is not really an innie anymore, although it doesn't qualify as an outie quite yet. I keep expecting to wake up one morning and it will have popped like one of those red thermometers you put in your Thanksgiving Turkey. 

Sleep : I'm getting plenty of sleep, but in weird shifts. I'm pretty consistent in waking up at 4:30 AM. I follow that up with a 2 hour nap after Aaron leaves for work. This means I've gone full hobbit mode a la Bilbo Baggins and have breakfast AND second breakfast. Fantastic.

Sickness : Nope

Movement : Yes.. there's a dance party in my belly right now. It's all fun and games until the elbows come out. I am starting to wonder if Samson might be laying side-to-side though, because more often than not I'm feeling jabs and kicks simultaneously on opposite sides of my belly. Another factor in my side-to-side theory is that my stomach feels lower than it has been in previous weeks and I think it would be too early for that to happen normally. 

Cravings : Peanut Butter Oatmeal... I think I've had it for breakfast every day this week. Except for today, because it was Friday and it was payday and we had donuts. Oh, and obviously Dr Pepper. 

Exciting happenings : Got coffee with a girlfriend I hadn't seen since this summer (sorry Holly!), went to Babies R Us with my mom, had some friends over for dinner, worked on some things for the nursery and got our first box of cloth diapers in the mail. 

As promised, I definitely plan on doing a dedicated post about our decision to cloth diaper and what it entails soon, but just in case you got really freaked out and started envisioning the earlier generations, white Gerber cloth diapers, diaper pins and plastic pants.. here is what cloth diapers look like today.

These are Charlie Banana one-size hybrid cloth diapers. Theoretically, these will fit Samson from birth to potty training and will last through multiple children. They go on just like disposable diapers and I promise there is no toilet dunking involved. The outside is a soft water-resistent fabric, the inside is fleece... which is definitely nicer than that maxi-pad feel of disposables. In between those layers is a pocket that you stuff with a soft microfiber insert. If you're still unsure about the whole thing, it's ok, Cash is too...

Also, one last bit of exciting news for the week... Due date milk is in stores now! I'm not sure why this has always been so fun for me. All big events are marked as near, upcoming and HOLY SMOKES EXCITING when you see them printed on something real and tangible. Graduation, weddings, birthdays, etc. Nobody else but my sister-in-law Ashley may get this excited about milk, but maybe I'll convert you.

If you aren't an organic milk drinker, you'll have to wait until December to nab some for your own refrigerator, but in the West household, we've got this date in our fridge and on our calendars! Woohoo!