Cloth diapering

There is a baby somewhere under all these clean diapers....

Like every new mom-to-be, I had a few ideas/opinions about how I would raise my kid.  It's so easy to watch other parents and judge, thinking about the choices they are making and how I would never, ever do those things with my kid.  And then my kid was born and I understood.  Sometimes you just need to do things to keep yourself from going completely insane, and sometimes those things are the exact things that you said you would never, ever do.

So when it came to cloth diapers, one of the ideas I really, really believed in, I had myself
organized before Cillian was born.  All of my diapers were prepped (you have to wash cloth diapers a bunch of times before you use them, to make them more absorbent) and they were sitting on display in a little basket waiting for a wee baby bum.

And then I had a c-section and everything became difficult.  I had this sweet idea that I would be cloth diapering when Cillian was two weeks old, but after the surgery I wasn't allowed to do laundry and then it seemed like there was always a reason to not start the cloth diapering: we were given a bunch of disposable diapers, so we wouldn't want to waste them; we were going on holiday, and who wants to do laundry on holiday.  Cillian was also filling his diapers often and I only had six cloth diapers, which was how many I was recommended to have.  The two week grace period I had given myself turned into twelve, and we were so reliant on that fancy little wetness indicator strip on my Huggies , that Chris and I both started to rethink this whole cloth diaper idea.  I started to think that I would just sell them and write it off as a naive mistake.

It was around this time that Cillian grew out of the size one diapers.  I didn't have any size two diapers, so I had to go to the store and buy some.  As I was paying for them I did the calculations in my head for how much disposable diapers would cost us over three years, the same calculations I had done while I was pregnant, and realized it was time to start cloth diapering.

I am now a complete convert, seriously who did I wait so long, and I hate having to put him in disposable diapers for those odd times we still use them.  Here are the reasons I love cloth diapering:

1. The cost.  The initial investment is higher for cloths, the brand I use is Funky Fluff , a awesome company from right here in Toronto, (I plan on doing a review soon), and their stay-dry diapers are $18 each.  I currently have eleven Funky Fluff diapers, and three other cloth diapers that will fit him in a few months.  This is enough that I could get away washing them every other day.  I lucked out and had my in-laws purchase the first six for me as a shower gift, and then Funky Fluff had a 40% off boxing day sale and I bought five more for around $50.  These diapers are one size fits all and will last for his whole diapering "career", and even for a second babe should we decide to have another. Fifty bucks vs. how much I would be spending on disposables? I win. I am also washing them myself, so I don't have to pay for a diaper service.

2. The environment.  Yes I am washing them, so I am using water and heating that water, but I do laundry every day with a baby anyway, and I have been using cold water to wash my clothes since 2003.  I think I am owed a little hot water.

3. They are so soft and Cillian loves them.  From the first time he wore them, he loved them.  I have chosen to stuff the diapers as an All-in-one diaper, so he has the softest flannel against his bum.

4. They are easy.  Every night after I put Cillian in his overnight disposable (because I want to make sure he sleeps as long as he can, right?) I dump all of the diapers, along with the wet bag I used to store the dirty ones, in the washing machine.  I rinse and spin, then do a full cycle, followed by another rinse.  I hang them to dry and then take five minutes to stuff them every morning.  During the day I just use them like disposables, take one from the basket and put the soiled diaper in the wet bag that hangs on my change table.  Easy peasy. I quickly switched to cloth wipes as well, and I throw them in the wet bag and launder them every night too.

5. They are adorable.  I have every colour of the rainbow and Cillian looks pretty dang cute in them.  Seriously.  

So there you have it, my cloth diaper 101.

Happy Thursday!