Beginning the Cloth Diaper Adventure

I've been curious about cloth diapering for years. I'm pretty economically and environmentally conscious, so that's what drew me to them. We live in the country where well water is free and we have to get rid of our own garbage. And honestly since I'll be staying at home I envision myself not leaving the house for days at a time, so I would always have to keep a bigger stock of disposables on hand. Since getting pregnant, I've started following a few blogs to try to learn more. It's something I at least wanted to test out.

I'm gonna be honest, the Internet is stupid overwhelming. What type should I get? Which brand is best? Snaps or Velcro? There are a million ways to cloth. Most of the blogs did not help me, as they were mostly reviews saying how awesome every product is. They also talk about specialty products (creams, detergents, etc.) that make it all sound so high maintenance. Ain't nobody got time for that. I pretty much concluded not one way works for every parent and child and that as much as I like having matching sets, I needed to get a mixture of everything to test myself.

I learned the gist of the basics (these explanations are just my own interpretation of other blog posts):

1. Prefolds: old fashioned cloth diapers set inside a cover; covers can be used multiple times between washes (if not poop soiled); cheapest; quickest to wash/dry

2. Pockets: diapers and insert system, wash separately and re stuff the absorbent pad inside the cover

3. All in one: basically a cloth version of disposable diapers, no folding or inserting; good for sitters or reluctant dads; longer drying time; most expensive

Newborn All In Ones

I figured I would start with pockets to meet in the middle of the road, but I needed to go to a specialty store to talk to someone who had done this before and feel things out. I found Pinstripes and Polkadots south of Bloomington. When I got there, the owner walked me through her showroom and explained the basics again. I'm not gonna lie, I was still overwhelmed. Too many options. I just wanted someone to say 'start with this.' Thankfully, she did have a handout of charts outlining how much of everything you need based on type of diaper and how often you want to wash. 

She said she personally hated the added steps of stuffing the pockets and recommended a mix of prefolds and all in ones. She also explained the differences in sizing (newborn and one-size), then let me go from there. At this point, I was totally second guessing myself. I still didn't really feel like I knew where to start. But I was already there, so I just started guessing at picking things out.

I decided to get a separate set of newborns, which supposedly should last a good 4 months before being outgrown. Since this is our first kid, that means this set should get a good year or more of use between all our kids. This cuts down on use of the one-size and plus they will fit better. I got 3 covers, 8 prefold inserts, and 3 all in ones. I also got a one-size all in one which would fit Landry, so I could test it out. Then I went on my merry way.

When I got home and started washing things, it started to click. I just needed some hands on time. I was able to do this. I realized I didn't have a very big stash, and I needed more. The thing about cloth is the more you have, the less you have to wash, the longer they last. Since the store was about an hour away, I just shopped Amazon. Prices were honestly within pennies of each other (some higher and lower), but Amazon would be more expensive if you have to pay for shipping. Go to a store if you can help a small business.

Dresser Drawer for Prefolds and Covers

So for now my stash is:

6 newborn diaper covers (2 Thirsties, 4 Rumparooz brands; 3 Velcro, 3 Snaps) - cost range $10-$13 each

Diaper Covers

20 prefold inserts - cost $1.79-$1.99 each

3 newborn all in ones - cost $15.50 each

Newborn All In One

Newborn All In One (inside)

Newborn All in One (inside with flap out)

1 one-size all in one - cost $19.99

With tax, I spent about $165 on my newborn stash. I should be able to wash every other day with this set. If the average newborn goes through 10 diapers per day, disposables costing 28 cents each, we should break even after 59 days! I would not be surprised if I pick up a few more things, and of course this is only for the newborns, but that still means we have a lot of wiggle room to work with before coming close to the cost of disposables. Then all future use with future kiddies would essentially be free, only excluding the cost of detergent or if we purchase more. Yippee! 

I did test the one-size all in one on Landry. I found it to be extremely easy and I felt it could hold a gallon of pee - not to mention it looked completely adorable on his little bum. The real verdict won't come until we can use them on baby girl. We'll have to wait and see if they all work for her (and me). The good news is we have a few boxes of disposable diapers to get us through the first few days and late night wake ups while we get adjusted. I'm not putting much pressure on myself to use cloth exclusively, but figured I should at least try it out. We'll see how it goes! Wish us luck.