Cloth Diapers: A Year Later

One year ago

Raegan's bottom has been in cloth diapers for a year now, and we are very happy with them. I feel good about our decision to invest in bumGenius. Several friends use them and we have traded tips over the past year. Things were a little rocky at first when we began experiencing bad leaks one month after using them. I was very frustrated with changing her outfit several times a day and considered giving up. But the lovely customer service friends at Cotton Babies talked me down from the ledge and all is well. I was using baby wash cloths dipped in a wipe solution instead of disposable wipes. Some of the oily ingredients in the solution were causing the diapers to repel, thus the leaks. I switched to baby wash and water for a while, but now we use disposable wipes like sane people do :)

Overall, I don't consider cloth diapering to be hard work. My least favorite part of the cleaning process is stuffing the inserts back in the diapers after they are clean and dry. Honestly, though, that's about the only thing that I consider extra work. It's hard for me to consider turning dials on the washing machine as hard labor. It's very rare that we have to spray a dirty diaper any more. I just empty it into the toilet. I let Raegan come to the bathroom with me when I empty her diaper. It serves me right that her first phrase is "bye poop!"

Ammonia is no joke!! I was prepared to be grossed out by poop (which isn't bad at all), but that is nothing compared to the choking smell of urine-soaked diapers being cooped up for 2 days.

Our utility bills have not changed with 2-3 loads of diapers per week.

I might reconsider snaps instead of velcro closures, but originally I chose velcro for speed during diaper changes with a wiggly baby. The snaps last longer from what I hear.

Picking the right detergent is very important. I started with Country Save powder and was very pleased with it. I can't find it in stores here and shipping is $10, so I looked for an alternative

when my box ran out. On the bright side, one box lasted about 9 months. Next I tried Hard Rock by Rockin' Green, which is formulated for our hard water. It wasn't all that great, but it turns out that I had a bag that was part of a batch that was recalled for being too weak. Rockin' Green sent me the new Hard Rock 2.0 for free and it has been awesome so far (7 loads).

Bleach the inserts once a month! Why did I just learn this 2 months ago? It does wonders for the ammonia build-up and stains!

Cloth diapers will affect the way clothing fits the baby. You may need a bigger size than you would with disposables. For the most part, Raegan wears the clothing size that's true to her age, but the diaper does fill out the pants and onesies more than disposables. Keep that in mind if you like to shop ahead for bargains, i.e. buying next summer's clothing on sale at the end of the current summer.

Raegan has never slept at night in cloth and I don't plan to ever try. I know it works for some people, but you have to stuff more inserts into the diaper and I'm not up for that.

I'm not a cloth diaper extremist. She sleeps in a disposable, and I occasionally use disposables for an outing, like her well-checks. It's too much to juggle naked Raegan on the scale, a wet cloth diaper in my hands, and getting a clean diaper on her. I think it's unrealistic and too much pressure to tell yourself you will never use a disposable, never give a pacifier, etc. Being flexible takes the pressure off of me feeling like I have to be perfect or that I'm evil for using a disposable.

24 diapers plus a few other supplies cost about $350. Buying a $9 package of disposables each week for one year would have cost over $470, a $10 pack = $520, and so on. So if she is in diapers for 2 years, that would be easily $1,000+ in diapers. According to some estimates I've seen, I'm being conservative with prices and frequency of purchases. The big payoff comes when baby #2 can wear them. . . wait for it. . . down the road. I had to get that in :)