We are
loving our cloth diapers! I had no idea I would like them this much! I wanted to do a little summary post to share why we are using them, how we are doing it, the costs associated, and what we love about them and hopefully it will help someone out! When I was pregnant I had no idea where to start, it was all pretty overwhelming. But I'm thankful to have two great friends who helped me out by sharing all their experiences and plenty of advice (thanks
Emily &
Heather)! (Please remember this is only our experience through 3 months, who knows how things will change down the road.)
Here are the main reasons Corey & I decided to use cloth. While they are also great for the environment, I'm sorry to say that wasn't the main motivator for us, mainly just an added bonus!!! Oh and while they are also pretty adorable, but this wasn't a motivator for us either.
1. Cost savings! Total we have spent $208 and have been gifted about $141, so our total stash including diapers and all accessories is $349. You also have to take into account the added cost of doing the extra laundry every other day. But in the long run, especially if we are blessed with more than one baby, I'm positive this will save us plenty of money.
2. Safe and more comfy for baby! First of all, cloth diapers do not contain any of the chemicals that disposables do. Second of all, they give baby less diaper rash. Reese had a little red bottom at first with disposables, but we haven't had any issues with the cloth...they really wick away the moisture from her skin.
How we are doing it: we use mainly covers and flats/pads/inserts (whatever you want to call them) and a few pocket diapers for nighttime mainly (it is easy to stuff them with multiple inserts to help with absorbancy for long hours). Covers are the cheapest option since you can get away with only a few and reuse them multiple times (with different inserts). Knowing what I know now, I probably have more covers than I need, and could have got away with just one system. Here's what we have:
GroVia Hybrid System:
3 grovia covers - I bought them during a memorial day sale, 3 covers for $30, unfortunately they only offered pink, purple, and tangerine, so if we have a baby boy some day these might be night time diapers only :) I love the grovia system with a newborn who is exclusively breastfed for now. The pads have "gussets" that hold in her runny newborn poo really well. They covers are also adorable. While I love the Grovia system, if I would have known what I know now, I probably would have gone without buying these. I think we could have gotten away with just flips (which are much more affordable) and a few pockets for nighttime.
2 stay dry soaker pads - these were gifted to us by a friend and are my favorite of their two soaker pad types. They seem to wick the moisture away from baby much better and are more absorbant. They run around $18 for two.
2 organic cotton soaker pads - we bought these off amazon and paid $17. They also work great, but the stay dry are my favorite.
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| here is one of the grovia covers, one of the stay dry inserts (on top) and one of the cotton inserts (on bottom) - (i took pictures on laundry day so i'm missing some in the pictures) |
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| here is the cover with the stay dry insert snapped in, you can sort of see the gussets on the sides |
Flip Cover System:
3 flip covers & 9 stay dry inserts - I bought the covers in a buy two get one free sale for $28 and bought 3 packs of 3 inserts for $12 each, total of $36. I really like the flips, its pretty amazing how dry they feel against the baby's skin when they are soaked through. Since they are flat, when baby poops it most of the time will get on the cover so it will not be able to be used again without washing. However, I've heard this will be great when baby eats food (not just breastmilk) and their poo changes. (Also now that she is 3 months, she really only goes once or twice a week).
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| 2 of our covers and some of the inserts. One side of the inserts is microfiber and the other is stay dry which goes against baby's skin. Its amazing how soaked they can be but feel completely dry to the touch. |
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| an insert sitting inside the cover |
Pocket Diapers:
Bum Genious 4.0 - We received two of these as a shower gift. They run around $18 each. They so far have been great, while they are a little bulky, they seem to be pretty absorbant. Having pockets is really convienent for night time because you are able to stuff them with multiple inserts when you need more absorbancy. I love these and am thinking ov getting one more for laundry day. Right now she can wear them 12+ hours at night with onlhy 2 inserts and have no leaks.
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| stuffed with two inserts, these diapers as well can be soaked but feel completely dry against baby's skin |
Charlie Banana - I bought this one on clearance at Target for $12. I love how trim it is and the materials are all really soft. However, I have had trouble with this one leaking on me when stuffed with one insert after only 2 hours...I guess I need to try two inserts, but I feel like they aren't nearly as absorbant as the bum genious. I don't use this diaper too often.
Fuzzibunz - I bought this one at a consignment sale for $9. Its the same trimness as the Charlie banana, but the fabrics are not as soft...maybe because its been washed many times already? I use the charlie banana inserts because it didn't come with any. It was an impulse purchase when I was using multiple diapers at a time during the night with her, I really don't use this one now too often.
Accesesories:
Wet bags - I just purchased two of these, one small one for my diaper bag and one large one for her bedroom. To tell you the truth, you could get away without buying these if you wanted. We did for well over a month and survived no problem. I would just bring a grocery type baggie with me in my bag and would just carry the dirty diaper down to the laundry room after each change. However the bags are much more convienent. Both the bags we have are
Monkey Foot Designs. They are so great and withold the smells really well. ($42 total)
Cloth wipes - We have 12
bumgenious ($12, purchased for us), 10
ragebabe ($15, purchased for us), and 10
charlie banana (I bought these on clearance at target for $12). I love them all and have favorites for whatever diaper situation we have going on ;) I think 32 is the perfect amount to have.
Detergent - At first we used
Rockin Green - I loved this stuff, but have since switched to plain old tide after doing some research. Since the RG was $16 for a small bag, the tide is much more affordable. We wash on cold once without detergent. Then we wash on hot with detergent. Then we do another rinse to make sure all the detergent is out.
Diaper Sprayer - Will use this later when she eats solid foods. Exclusively breastfed babies poop is water soluble, meaning it can be thrown right in the washer. This was a gift and they are around $60.
