Monday, May 30, 2011

Cloth Diapers Update

I said I would update on how things were going and I'm happy to report that I am a fan of cloth diapers.  I have even gotten my mom to feel somewhat comfortable with them, too.  We have tried a number of different brands in a couple of different types.  Of what I have gotten, I'm pretty happy with all of them, but in general anything with a double gusset is best for us.

I was weary to try cloth at night because I thought that disposables would have the best absorbency but as Colin continued to leak through everything I could throw at him, including a disposable with a cloth liner included, I took the leap and put him in a Rumparooz over night recently (upon the suggestion of a friend who said she has had great luck with them at night).  When I left for work the next morning around 6:30 he still had not leaked and when I checked in with my mom, he had officially made it overnight without a leak!  And seriously - isn't this the cutest thing you've seen lately?  (I'll get a picture of the fire truck one, too; that one takes the cake in cuteness.)  You almost don't need pants when they are in a diaper and it's warm outside.  Actually, I think the only time Colin put on pants this day was to go to dinner because it was getting cooler.



When it comes to prefolds, I'm liking them, too.  Originally, I wasn't all that excited about them because unlike the pocket diapers, he sat in wetness because there was no fleece lining.  I went to my favorite nursing store, Sweet Beginnings, where they happen to sell cloth diapers, too, and she pointed out fleece liners that go between the prefolds and the baby's bottom.  While it doesn't take away all the wetness using the fold I use, it makes a huge difference.  That said, Colin seems indifferent to being wet or dry so I don't know if it makes him feel better but it definitely makes me feel better.  I haven't bought more of the actual prefolds because we have some in storage that I'll have Mike get to me but I did get another Sweet Pea cover because they are my favorite.  As an aside, I have one of their pocket diapers, too, but am not the hugest fan of them because there are no inner gussets.  We put him in one overnight last night and he made it through the night until 6 AM with just a small leak but I definitely had to change him then; he wouldn't have made it until he was up for the day at 8:30 or so.

The laundry isn't too bad now.  I have been warned though that as soon as he starts eating solids, I may change my opinion.  I do diaper laundry every other day or so and as long as it's sunny, I can dry them outside.  The worst part is the smell of the actual bag that we hold the diapers in until it's time to do laundry.  When you open it up to add a diaper, you definitely get a good whiff of ammonia.  I guess it could be something we just get used to, we'll see.

Overall, I really do like using the cloth diapers.  One downside is that you need bigger sized clothes for a cloth diaper butt (see above...) but for me that's actually a plus.  Colin hasn't been able to fit in to any of this 3-6 month clothes that I got him for summer so now I have a way to get him in to his clothes!  I know that it's not something we'll always use 100% of the time, but getting over the hurdle of changing from disposable to cloth has gone well as far as I'm concerned.  I also know it will get more complex as he starts eating solids but for now, I'm just going to get used to the general idea of cloth and go from there.

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