Tales of a Teacher Wannabe.: Cloth diapers-a follow up!

So as you may remember I did a blog post during my pregnancy about our plan to cloth diaper. Its here if you want to read it. So I thought I would do a follow up post with our experiences thus far.

We started CD'ing (cloth diapering) in the hospital. Yup you got it, a "sposie" (disposable diaper) has never touched my kids bum. Not that I would never put one on him, but there is something very satisfying about knowing that the diapers I prepared for him have been used since birth. We simply took the diapers, and a wetbag to the hospital with us. The dirties went into the wetbag and came home with us to be washed. I did use the "wipes" the hospital provided. Of course those wipes were actually paper towels that I wet with water. I really should have just brought my cloth wipes with me. That would have been softer on his bum.

We have been doing GREAT with cloth diapering. He is now over 11lbs and is fitting into all of my one-size diapers. So I have WAY more than enough diapers to do laundry every other day, or even every third day. But I actually enjoy diaper laundry. Yes i know that is sick and twisted, but its true. I enjoy folding his diapers, and his little clothes so I end up doing it daily. I am kind of sad. So here is what I have learned thus far:

*I really really like the ease of AIO's. I LOVE our BumGenius AIO One-size Organics. They are so soft and absorbant, and very trim underneath clothes. I will probably be buying more of these sometime soon.

* I also really like using fitteds. I didnt have that many fitteds but have since been ordering a few more here and there because I like using these for out of the house, etc.

*When he was really small I really preferred using the tried-and-true prefold diapers. They were easiest to get a good fit with and so easy to wash. I still use my prefolds now, but he just pees SO much that they dont absorb enough.

* Thirsties Duo Wraps are the shiz. I also really like my sized Thirsties covers. The gusset in the legs makes all the difference. I have NEVER had poo or wetness escape from one of these covers. I dont plan to buy any other type of PUL cover.....ever.

* I like wool...but not that much. My kid pees a lot, seriously. So wool just doesnt seem to work that well for us. But I use it occasionally. And maybe I will use it more when he is older, he might pee less when he is older.....right?

* I like pocket diapers. I really didnt think I would. This surprises me. I figured it would be a pain in the arse to stuff them. Which it kind of is. But because my kid pees a lot (as previously mentioned) I really like that I can "double stuff" the pockets and get more absorbency with them. This allows them to be more absorbent for night-time. So I dont have to change him at every feed if he is very asleep, because changing him makes him scream (thus waking up). Right now I have 5 BumGenius 2.0's and 3.0's and 2 Rumparooz G2's that I double stuff with microfiber at night. These give us a bit more absorbency so he doesnt need to be changed as often and they also keep him dry since they have a layer of fleece that keeps the wetness away from his skin. I am really liking these so far and just bought two more. But I will say that it is kind of a pain to stuff them after each wash.

The biggest thing I have learned is that cloth diapers are easy. They are absolutely no harder than sposies when you consider that blowouts happen pretty often in sposies (at least in my experience) and then you have all that poopy clothing laundry. I have never had a poop blowout, and though we have had leaks they were completely user error (meaning they werent put on correctly) usually because they werent tight enough and left gaps around the legs or waist. He is very adept at pointing his boy parts right out of the diaper and peeing. Which leaves his diaper completely dry but his outfit completely soaked. He's talented I tell you! So I really do urge anyone who is interested to research cloth diapers, and find a system that works for you. It will save you money, and they are so darn cute!

And in light of all the controversy with the new Pampers (I think) Dry Max diapers which are leaving children with horrific chemical rashes I can breathe easy knowing my cloth will never do that to his oh-so-sensitive areas.