Part of Dirty Diaper Laundry’s Cloth Diaper Carnival Part IV, This month is “Where did you first hear about/ see cloth diapers?”
Cloth diapers were on my radar long before I even thought about having a baby. I knew one day, however, that I would have a baby
and that I could not bear to throw away thousands of diapers or spend all of that money! A few years before I was pregnant my cousin was in town from Portland, OR with his two children, one of which was in diapers. When his son needed a diaper change I noticed something different! He was wearing a cute cloth diaper cover. It turns out that those diaper covers were for g-diapers, a innovative new diaper that was a hybrid of cloth and disposable. The outside cloth layer was washable and the inside was a flushable or compostable insert. When they left my house I immediately looked up the diaper online to see what it was all about! I was excited to see that they had a website with a little video to watch, but I was bummed by the fact that the diapers were only available on the west coast or for ordering online. I thought this was it though, this would be a way to diaper my child someday and still respect our environment.
As the years past I would occasionally check on the g-diapers and see if they were making any changes and if they were for sale in my area. I also began to look into other completely cloth options. At the time I never discovered a “Bum Genius”-like diaper, I did however find instructions on how to sew my own cloth diaper (this would of course need a cover). I thought I was making some headway so that I would be prepared for one day when I had a baby.
When the time came that we were thinking about trying to get pregnant, I spent all of my time thinking about the diapers, I became obsessed! I spent hours researching. This was a few years after my initial online searches and g-diapers had now made it to the east coast and they were sold in stores! I looked into this option breifly, but quickly realized that I did not want to spend that kind of money to diaper my child and I knew there had to be a better option. I dove into the world of cloth diapers and discovered, pockets, all-in-ones, one-size and all-in-one/pocket hybrid…my head was spinning! I loved how cute the diapers looked, but I could not wrap my head around what the differences in all of the diapers were. As I dug more deaply I disovered websites such as diaperswappers.com where I could go to ask questions about the diapers and about what people liked best. I began to rely on the opinions of many mothers online who had been using the diapers. I could not find any local person to help me out. I was a self-taught cloth diaperer!
Once I was able to get my bearings, I finally decided to make a purchase. I found someone selling some Blueberry cloth diapers on craigslist, I bought all 13 diapers, sixe x-small. I added to my collection by finding some more Bum Genius 2.0 size small diapers. Finally, with the purchase of some one-size Bum Genius 3.0 pockets diapers I was ready to go. I now had to figure out the wash routine and I would be ready for my baby!
A local woman, who began a cloth diaper shop, Soft and Cozy Baby, about mid-way into my search for cloth diapers was advertising her cloth diapering workshops. The workshop was on a weekday morning and I was upset that I could not attend because I was working full-time. I knew I had everything pretty much figured out, I just wanted to attend to see if I was missing anything.
To my surprise my son was born the Monday before the workshop. The workshop was being held just around the corner from our pediatrician’s office. On that Wednesday we took our son to the pediatrician and then we decided to check out the workshop. At the workshop I asked about laundering the diapers. I was told I should put the diapers in with no detergent on cold and when that cycle was finished to run the diapers on hot with a small amount of detergent. I actually bought some Fuzzi-Bunz detergent and I was on my way. Would you believe that almost 11 months later I am still using the small Fuzzi-Bunz detergent bottle one tablespoon at a time!
My cloth diapering journey has taught me so much and I am continuing to learn. I also love to take my time to pass my knowledge on to others!!!
{ 7 comments… read them below or add one }
I am on my second child, who is 8 1/2 months old and am JUST getting into cloth diapering. I’m still in the “head swimming” part. What kind did you eventually end up liking best and why?
krys13@msn.com
Hi, stopping by for the Carnival! Great Post!
So you like sized diapers? I’ve only used one-size so far to save money. I’m thinking that when I have another baby, I might want sized for a newborn.
I don’t use sized diapers anymore, but they were perfect for a newborn. I thought the one-size would be huge on my son, he was 6 lbs-12 oz when we was born. If you have a bigger baby you may be okay with just a one-size.
Krystal,
I really like my Bum Genius Organic All-in-one, One-size Best for now. I like that they are a great fit, that they don’t need to be stuffed and that they are organic cotton. I actually like the snaps better than velcro b/c they stay nice wash after wash, but I have mostly velcro diapers. I say that these are my favorite for now b/c I have just recently discovered wool diapers. I love the wool covers and the fitted organic diapers for under the covers. I only have a few of these tho, so until I get more, Bum Genius remains my favorite. I have some Gro-Baby, Fuzzi Bunz, and WAHM diapers, but the Bum Genius are the most easy to use, the only draw back is that they are slow to dry. I hand all of my diapers to dry and the quickest drying are pocket diapers, and slowest are all-in-ones, but it is not a big deal of you are on top of the laundry! Also check out my other posts on my blog for more about the wool diapers and check out the cloth wipes giveaway!
you actually got me thinking that once I get rolling and learn what i need to learn about cloth diapering, i’d love to put on a workshop for local women. maybe during one of the mom to mom sales at my church. Get a table to “sell” the idea of CDing instead of selling old stuff!
That is SO great you got to go to the workshop. I would have loved to experience that! A friend of mine had a “diaper party” (like a tupperware party! lol!) a few months ago with 1 disposable convert by the end of the “party”. I think letting people see hands on how easy it can be will definitely help people make the switch! Way to go!