Yeah! New Covers

If I had the money...don't we think that all the time? And yet one of the reasons we went to cloth was cost effectiveness. Anyway, two diaper covers was NOT "covering it" for us with Baby J. I did some work for a friend and used the money to buy two more. One is just another regular one to go over my birds eye flats, and the other is an all-in-one...WOW. I LOVE IT. I use it for nightitme when he needs more absorbancy. If I had the money I'd have all all-in-ones. And I'd probably get bum genius so I didn't have to buy more than one size, as I'll have to do as Baby J grows. However, my Thirsties work great and are still way cheaper for me. If you're thinking about cloth, here's some things I've figured.

Bum Genius 3.0 retail at about $17.95 each...and you have to figure you're gonna use at least eight a day and need at least two days of them. Minimum you'd spend $287.20-up front.

With my Thirsties I spend $11.25 per cover and have 3 covers plus one all-in-one at $17. (and I need two all-in-ones to rotate...just don't have the cash yet). There are 4 sizes of Thirsties to buy as your baby grows- so that is $271 total-over the first two years, not all at once. You have to figure though that I make my own soakers (out of leftover fleece) and wash and wash and wash my liners (of the 100 or so that came in the roll I'm still using my first 15) and I got all my tri-folds and birds eye flats for free from my mom who had hung on to them.
If I was starting cold turkey, nothing given to me, all the money in the world I'd do Bum Genius.

Hanging my wet (clean) diapers in the boys room every other day has been great for keeping some moisture in the air in their room as the temperature drops.

Liners I Love

I use the imse vimse liners for...excriment...but I also have had some success using pieces of sewn fleece to absorb extra urine. I will post a picture of how I sew it someday. Basically I get fleece remnants from the fabric store or left overs from projects I have here, sew them into basic 4"x8" pieces (double thick) and stick them in the diaper! Fleece is so soft and it absorbs a lot of moisture. These have been working great while my boys are sleeping and not getting changed as often-also great for road trips!

Still Learning...Still Loving

So I am still learning so much about cloth diapering...or as I see it abbreviated often CDing. I made the decision to temporarily put Snug in a disposable for a couple of days after dealing with diarrhea. A liner can only do so much in that case. We are also potty training him, but we can pull a diaper off his bum as fast as his little underoos...enough said.
I also have decided perhaps I am not going to make it with only two diaper covers for Baby J. Poor guy is in his big bro's rubber pants for potty training. Well, another load of laundry and I'll him out in a jiffy. I normally don't dry them, but once in awhile isn't supposed to hurt. Anyway here's some pics of him today.

My view as I nurse...lucky me! Look at those yummy little toes.

National Baby Wearing Week

Go wear your babies!

Couldn't help but put that in there. Baby J loves to be in his sling(s). It frees up both of my hands. Although I did start this blog to write about cloth diapers, I love cloth of all kinds. I dabble here and there in sewing. I made my own ring slings (see picture above). If you are in the market for one, I am willing to make them-leave me a comment and I can contact you. Anywho, this was supposed to be an entry to tell you about another cloth site that I love.
www.cottonbabies.com
Go wear your baby!

How-To-Where-To

How do you put them on? Where do you get your stuff? What is that?
First I'll show you what I use and where I got it.

These are my diaper liners. I got mine at http://www.imsevimse.us/
I like them because they are machine washable/dryable. Unless they have been pooed on I just throw them with the diaper into my diaper pail. I usually just hang them dry too. Oh yeah, and flushable.

Because I use tri-fold or Birdseye flat diapers I use a diaper cover. I got mine at http://www.thirstiesstore.com/ They were recommended to me by several people I talked to who use cloth.

This thing is awesome! It is a Snappi. I got mine new on E-bay. You can also buy them on various cloth diaper sites.

HOW TO

Here is the part of the show when Jenney comes out and tells us how to.

In this illustration I will be using my favorite-tri fold. You can get these at Wal-Mart (yes, IN the store, amazing you don't have to go online).

Lay the diaper flat on the floor...see this is so hard.

Fold the bottom part of the diaper in as shown. Leave "wings" at the top.

I am so sorry about this view. If I knew how to edit it, I would. Lay the liner on the diaper and lay the baby in it with the "wings" a little higher than the hips.

Bring the front of the diaper up and the "wings" in. Hold with your non-dominant hand.

Stretch the Snappi from one side to another and then pull the middle tab down and hook. (Snappi fasteners have little teeth things that grab the cloth...they are really flexible little rubber band things)

Put the diaper cover on snugly using the Velcro. Baby J loves it!

Why Cloth Crazy?

I am a recent 'convert' to cloth diapers. Although I was a bit nervous at first, I love using cloth. Although many people may think it is a bit weird, I truly believe that it is a great option for my kids. I get lots and lots of questions from people...this blog is to answer those questions and hopefully help anyone who is thinking of trying cloth.
Why the name cloth crazy? Well, I am told all the time I am "crazy" for using cloth and I guess I am "crazy about" using cloth!

Q: Why did I start using cloth?
A: It started with environmental reasons. I read several places about how they estimate a single disposable diaper will take over 200 years to decompose. We were throwing away at least one 'Wal-Mart' shopping bag a day at our house-ouch!
Next it moved to financial. My family is trying very hard to be debt free and use the money God has entrusted us with wisely. Cloth diapers are re-usable and durable. We save approx. $55 a month using cloth. (2 kids in diapers)
Finally I read some convincing articles online about the chemicals used to 'absorb' the moisture in disposable diapers...not sure I want my kids sitting in that stuff 24 hours a day.
SODIUM POLYACRYLATE, TBT (TRIBULYTIN), and DIOXIN are 3 chemicals used. Do an online search on them and see what you think. Other sites that talk about this are:
http://www.borntolove.com/
http://www.mothering.com/
http://www.ecobaby.com/cloth.htm
I noticed when I was changing my kids a gel like stuff stuck to them-and if the diapers had been in a pool there was TONS of it all over them.

Q: Doesn't it cost more in utility bills?
A: I only have to do a load of diapers once every other day. I line dry the diapers outside when it is nice, and on a drying rack when it isn't.

Q: How much did it cost you to start using cloth?
A: This was a concern of mine when we started...I looked at hundreds of websites looking at cost. In the end I was blessed because my mom still had all the cloths from when my brother and I were babies. I also bought 3 diaper covers (approx $12 each) and some Snappi fasteners (approx $10 for 5 of them). Last but defiantly not least I got diaper liners so that I don't have to flush and swirl-eeeewwwww. (Ok, I still do this, but not as bad as it could be)

Q: What do you do with the dirty diapers when you are out?
A: Due to my two loves of recycling and saving money. I put them in plastic bags that zip that were otherwise destined for the trash. Currently I am using the re-closable plastic bags that my baby wipes came in (I get them in bulk). You can buy special bags for your diaper bag, but I don't have the $$ for that yet.

Q: What do you do with the dirty diapers when you are at home?
A: I have a mesh laundry bag that I put down in a simple flip top garbage can. The lid is closed so it is not stinky (I add baking soda if it does start to smell) and all I have to do is pull out the mesh bag and wash it with the diapers when I do laundry.

Q: Do you ever use disposable?
A: Yeah. I use them overnight right now until I figure out something more absorbent to put in the diapers. I also use them if I am leaving my kids in a church nursery and I won't be the one changing them.
****Update...I now use fleece liners I've made to help with overnight absorbency so I do not use disposable overnight. Also I've trained a couple of teen nursery workers on how to use cloth and so I am taking disposables less and less.

I don't have all the answers, and even though I am loving cloth, it isn't perfect. Have questions for me? I'll try to answer them. I had tons of questions and had to do lots of investigating. Hopefully this will save you some time!