I'm Sorry, Environment

For 18 months, we did our best to help the environment by minimizing the impact with disposable diapers by using cloth diapers and cloth wipes.  We experimented with prefolds and covers before I found my love with pocket diapers.  Then I became obsessed with cute, home made diapers, such as the one in the picture - penguins and snow flakes!  But I was also practical and stocked up on a lot of solids from Fuzzi Bunz.

I thought by November/December time frame, I would have to pack it all up and give up since most of my cloth diapers had a weight limit of 30 lbs.  However, I found a great lot of Bum Genius diapers and had a gift card to Amazon where I bought more diapers.  These would allow me to go to 35lbs.

At Aidan's 18 month appointment, he was 33.6 lbs, so I thought I had another month of use, however, his chunky thighs were getting red marks where the largest diapers on the widest setting wrapped around his legs.  So it was time...time to pack up the cloth diapers, apologize to Mother Nature that I couldn't do more, and go buy disposables.

So now, each week, I have two less loads of laundry, which left me wondering what the heck do I need to do?!  It is easier to pick Aidan up from daycare since I don't have to carry a large diaper bag full of dirty diapers...nope, instead I pick up a small black bag.

We continue to use the cloth wipes for napkins and face wiping.  We seem to go through a lot with milk spills, so at least we are saving some paper towels, and they can easily be thrown in with our weekly towel laundry. 

So until next time, all the cloth diapers are packed away...

Cloth Diaper Obsession

What started as using prefolds and covers turned into finding the cutest pocket diapers possible.  In fact, I sold off most of my prefolds beyond the size Aidan is in now in order to fund buying cute One Size pocket diapers.

My Original Loot (And there is more, but this I scored an awesome deal on from Craigslist)

I blame my mom for introducing me to FuzziBunz One Size because my collection consisted of a variety of prefolds (where I did develop favorite brands) and covers (Thirsties and Bummis).  I loved used them and was enjoying CDing, but when I received these cute and easy to clean/dry/stuff cloth diapers, I was instantly hooked.

So this is how I start my day...I lay out 12 - 16 cloth diapers.  Right now, that includes at least 3 prefolds and covers and the rest are One Size Diapers.

I have a variety of Velcro and snap closures, and I love diaper pics because of the adorable model *ahem, Aidan* and the cuteness of the diaper.  See evidence below:

Does this diaper make my butt look big? No, it makes your butt cute.

So I had FuzziBunz One Size, and then I ventured over to Happy Heinys to try out a Velcro closure for pocket diapers.  I found some cool patterns (owls, puppy dogs, and skull & cross bones).  But then I sold more prefolds, so I had to buy more One Size pocket diapers...More HH, this time an orange swirl and silly monkeys.  Then, I went over to Etsy.com to find some robot, safari, and Ooga one size cloth pocket diapers.  So I am waiting on these 5 diapers to arrive, but I AM EXCITED.  I love picking out which CD Aidan is going to wear...I even have favorites.

Now to find more stuff to sell so I can buy more cute cloth diapers.

Researching Cloth Diapers

I know it's still early in the pregnancy, and I don't plan on buying anything for the baby anytime soon, but I have thought a lot about cloth diapering.  There is an overwhelming amount of information on the Internet, and I'm not sure where to begin!  From another blog I have followed, I found this website very useful: Green Mountain Diapers.

GMD seems to have packages for those new to cloth diapering, and the diapers are ALL COTTON.  I have read a lot about wool, and how it holds smell and often has to be stripped, whereas cotton usually does not.  Cotton does not seem to have this problem, but maybe cotton leaks more??  No idea, I have a lot to learn over the next 8 months.

I also need to convince my husband that cloth diapering is the way to go.  Not only is it good for the environment, but from everything I read, it is much better for the baby.  Cotton is more breathable and there aren't all those chemicals (like petroleum) like there are in disposables.  This isn't to say that we wouldn't need disposables every once in a while, but my plan is to use cloth diapers 95% of the time! 

If anyone has suggestions or other websites with useful information, please share!