Cloth Diapering

MINI FLUFF GIVEAWAY

My two favorite WAHMs have joined me in a mini fluff giveaway!

Green Genes is offering $15.00 off a future stocking on her Hyena cart and Momma Made is offer $20.00 credit towards a purchase (excludes deposit on group fluff).

TWO winners will receive a digital code or email verification from the prize they won.

There will be TWO drawings on Sunday February 15th 12:00p.m. mountain standard time. The winners will be announced right under this post and will also receive emails.

In order to be eligible for BOTH drawings you must like each Facebook page

Green Genes: https://www.facebook.com/greengenesclothdiapers

Momma made: https://www.facebook.com/groups/639883059370426/

or 

https://www.facebook.com/ByMommaMade

Then follow my blog by returning to the home page and on the right hand side above some of my other followers click "Join this site" 

LASTlY Comment on this post DONE so we can keep track for the drawing through Random.org 

Good luck and enjoy browsing their amazing Fluff! 

Source: Pinterest 

I decided to blog about my gained knowledge and experience regarding cloth diapering over the quick 18+ months. I've been asked by many close friends not only to explain the process but also get them started on their own cloth diapering journey.

and YES friends it is a journey in which some love and even get addicted to (the fluff) and some hate leaving it behind much quicker than they began. 

Cloth is not for everyone and each parent and family has different likes, dislikes and ways of doing things; ours is by no way the correct way and is by no way more superior to anyone else's it is just what works for us and if I can help aid in finding what works for other families I'd love to do so! 

I wanted to break this blog down into a few categories and it took a lot of time and consideration on what is really important to "know" before starting out. So I hope that you feel I have put together a great deal of information and even some real life stories from other amazing mothers I know who have liked, loved, used, and even disliked cloth diapering!

1. Our Journey

2. Diaper types & Things to consider

3. Acronyms 

4. Where to buy

5. Real life experiences

So lets begin, buckle up sit back and guess what you don't even have to take notes since this will always be available YAY!

Our Journey

Even though I've been working on this post for days my mind seems adrift as to where to begin with our journeys story. I can't quite recall two years ago and what exactly made me want to cloth diaper but I can surely assume it was the want for a more green-lifestyle and the fact that we were living on a tight military budget and the thought of disposables each month murdered it. 

But I do recall trying to figure out what type, what brand, what was an acceptable cost, did quality matter, even the size! I was completely overwhelmed but forged ahead anyway googling as much as I could, reading other blogs, using Pinterest and even watching youtube tutorials! I decided that going with a wide selection of cloth diapers instead of one particular brand would allow me to see what worked best for our family; this proved to be a great idea down the road. Ever since Jack left the NICU he has not been in a disposable but things didn't always go smoothly; his little legs did not do while with elastic at first so by the grace of the good Lord during my donor milk hunt a meet a WAHM (work at home mom-diaper maker: Green Genes) and she introduced me to fitteds/AI2 and let me in on all the cloth diaper LINGO! This was the AHA moment for me; actually understanding and compiling all I had read and tried to learn prior to starting out. Shortly after that trip we started adding fitteds/ AI2 to our stash; they are more expensive but the resale on them YES RESALE we can use the diapers until he potty trains, strip them and resell for almost 90% of what we bought them for! Which is another reason I love cloth diapering. 

By the way the patterns...oh the patterns are endless. 

Fitteds/AI2 tend to not be water proof unless they have a hidden wind-pro layer so often people use covers. We have never used a cover but normally use our fitteds/AI2 as our at home diapers and pockets for public. Most of our pockets are Charlie Banana from Target and our fitteds/AI2 vary from different WAHMs but my two favorite are Momma Made (She has a b/s/t Facebook page) LOVE HER WINDPRO diapers they LAST so long and are so ABSORBENT. Second, but not in second place would be my friend from LA green gene diapers. Her quality, knowledge and fun custom diapers put her at the top of my list! (She also has a b/s/t Facebook page and hyena cart)

Does cloth diapering take more time for our family?

Back in San Diego I can honestly say NO; it becomes second nature to rinse the diapers after they are dirtied which takes less than a minute and then putting them into a container until diaper washing day (which for us is every 5/6 days due to our large stash).

Plus a few dirty ones and one OTB (on the butt) hehe

Now that we are off-grid I wash the good old fashion way! 

Tub, scrub brush, and hose.

This is more time consuming but still well worth it since I am a stay at home mom and we are on a tight budget with all the homestead projects. After I am done we hang dry on the line and then bring them into the bus to finish drying at night. 

IF diaper day and laundry day fall near each other I get a break and take them to the laundry mat. YES they are all rinsed prior to going so poo in a public washer is not a concern! Even with our off-grid lifestyle I can't find any reasons to stop and switch and I am no super woman my husband can attest to that! and yes toddler poo is no joke and you'll hear more about that later haha but that leads to EC potty training and earlier potty training period! 

As for traveling and we all know that our family has made quite a few trips in the last two years; and by few I mean A LOT.

Texas to New Mexico.

New Mexico to Arizona and back maybe three times??

New Mexico to California and back TWICE

and finally California to Arizona! 

We cloth diapered during them ALL. It is just as easy as disposables; you change the dirty diaper, throw it in a wet-bag and deal with it at your final destination. 

I'm almost positive there is more to our journey but I can't pull it all together on one piece of paper.. or one computer screen of course no matter how hard I try! But cloth diapering has opened my eyes to some really great people and even better a great parenting style including extended breastfeeding, tula'ing (baby wearing), co-sleeping, baby led weaning and overall a more attachment parenting style of raising Jack. 

Our journey has not always been easy and we have defiantly had some trials, errors and learning curves to adapt to be we enjoy it and it is right for our family. I am proud that we are one step closer to a green eco-friendly lifestyle.

Oh! Our wash routine:

2 regular HOT washes with Tide original FULL cup 

***we did not have any luck with multiple types of cloth diaper soaps and were advised by a few WAHMs and other moms to use tide and it works GREAT.

2 extra rinse cycles with no additional soap this is due to the large stash we have and wash at once

Water level at medium to cause friction and better washing power

Diaper rash:

Which hardly exists in our house except with certain foods and teething! 

We exclusively use coconut oil and by the next change he is good to go.

Diaper types & Things to consider

These two charts were really helpful in the beginning to determine the main types of diapers and a quick guideline of what may or may not work for you.

A quick chart regarding Pre-Folds which are the most budget friendly diaper type available 

Pocket liner types:

I personally love the charcoal bamboo liners  and find them to hold more
Charlie banana and many other pocket brands come with microfiber
Bamboo is a more eco-style liner

Different rise styles!

Fold down

Sorry so bright! You fold the diaper down to make it smaller and it presents another row of snaps

Snap in insert of AI2

Snap down rise (I prefer this over roll down)

Snap down to whatever snap to make it smaller

Cost and Eco-friendliness is often considered when your thinking of cloth diapering.

These four photos (two above and two below) were the main charts that I still remember seeing two years ago! Being a nanny for multiple years I had thought I had a handle on how many diapers babies go through and the cost of them but it was not until I saw these that I really grasped the fact that I did not want to pay for that many nor did I want to add that many to the landfill. 

In addition, you have to recall the resale I spoke about in our journey. Some diaper types and brands hold higher resale up to 90% but there is likely a chance of gaining back about 40%-60% of your total costs. As far as the water bill going up we hardly saw a increase and you'll hear a bit about that in the real life experience portion  of this blog post.

Lastly, I know that not all parents are going to cloth diaper and that cloth diapering does not work well in ALL families but this warning is something to consider as well and these types of warnings are found on many objects in the baby retail world which personally makes me crazy and upset. We all want the best for our children and providing a healthy and safe environment is at the top of most parents list. I am glad that there are more green companies appearing in the disposable diaper world and hope that helps families in their hunt for the right disposable diaper which I'm sure is just as hard as finding the correct cloth one.

Other things to consider:

Time & laundry access

Initial start up cost

Commitment

Whether to get one type at the start or a large assortment

Sizes: do you want to rebuy multiple times in the course of cloth diapering or just get One Size

Acronyms 

This list is provided from a large cloth diapering resale Facebook group called Cloth Diaper Swap ll

This will help you understand the resale LINGO and allow you to buy pre-loved diapers with ease!

Hang with me here there are a lot of acronyms!

 Where to buy

(Naming the main places on my list to buy)

Target: Offers Charlie Banana pocket diapers and disposable liners

Etsy: Offers a wide selection of WAHM diapers

Hyena cart: Is flooded with WAHM diapers as well

Baby boutiques normally carry well known corporate brands 

Amazon: Your able to search a large selection of well known corporate brands

WAHM B/S/T Facebook pages: Once you find out who you like you are able to get in on stocking days and resale diapers via their business page

Cloth Diaper Swap on Facebook: with over 35,000 members

Cloth Diaper Swap ll on Facebook: with over 16,00o members 

Babies r us: Has multiply types such as Gdiapers, Bum genius and Thirsties. 

Think of your baby shower and where to direct people to get you cloth because getting part of your stash from gift cards or baby shower gifts can change your washing from every other day to every three-five days!

Real life experiences

I tried my hardest to ask a wide selection of mothers about their experiences cloth diapering; some with full time out of house careers, some with multiple children, some who weren't successful and/or satisfied with their cloth diapering journey! 

This is the last bit to an extremely long blog post and I hope this has helped open your eyes to the endless possibilities regarding cloth diapering. If you have any further questions feel free to ask me or leave a comment on the blog and to the moms/families who cloth if you feel I left out anything important let me know as well! In addition, I wanted to mention that often times local baby stores offer classes on cloth diaper education and youtube provides some great tutorials as well! 

 Jen is a mother to three beautiful girls ages nine, seven, and five weeks. She not only owns a Remax office and sold 5.5 million last year in sales but she offers Placentia encapsulation and belly binding for post baby mamas! She clothed with her two oldest and is back on the road again with little Aria.

Q: Why did you decide to cloth diaper?

A: Much cuter than spouses and they don't have all the chemicals

Q: What type and brand do you use and why?

A: Gdiapers its a good hybrid diaper thats good for baby and the environment. Yet easy to use!

Q: How much have you spent on your stash?

A: Not too much yet. I'm buying as we go/need

**With Gdiapers you purchase by size they are not one size

Q: Do you feel it is time consuming?

A: Nope not at all

Q: Will your child attend daycare and will you cloth during that?

A: Probably won't attend daycare anytime soon (comes to the office) but will likely send disposables and continue to cloth at home.

Q: How often do you wash? 

A: Only wash when liner gets dirty; another plus to this brand.

Tiffany is a mother of a school aged boy and a little girl; she works full-time at a local Rv & boat dealership and enjoys family time with her significant other and mastiffs. 

Q: How long did you cloth diaper?

A: Not long maybe a couple weeks at home.

Q: During that time what was your favorite brand or type?

A: Thirsties

Q: Do you regret stopping? and would you try again if you have another kid?

A: Dont regret stopping. I think for some people its great but just not for us.

Q: What was the main reason you stopped? 

A: One of my biggest things was the thought of poop diapers in the washer.

Q: Do you feel you budget else where to afford disposables? 

A: As far as a budgeting I don't think that exists in this house. 

Q: Do you plan to sell the cloth to recoup some of the funds?

A: Yes I sold all but two.

***On a side note she expressed that they are looking into healthier disposable diapers and are trying a couple different brands out currently. 

Skye a stay at mom of four boys who sells Younique and Arbonne! They are living a fairly gluten free organic lifestyle not only with food but even household and beauty products. This summer they will be working towards their dream of owning a home and being sustainable. 

Q: Why did you decide to cloth diaper with your final little (she did not cloth with her first three)?

A: Started to cloth diaper to minimize the amount of synthetic chemicals my child comes in contact with and reduce the amount of trash my family creates. Also to save money for future house development. (She is able to put that extra money away each month)

***plus she stated that when she found out that diapers from when she was a child (80's) still have not decomposed in the landfill she couldn't sleep well at night adding 5-7 diapers per day to the landfill.

Q: How much have you spent compared to the previous kids?

A: Spent about $150  so far but have saved over $500 in six months. Roommates also "killed" six diapers and inserts so had to replace those!

Big picture looks like this (her calculations):

 Disposables times THREE!

$60 per month times 24 months= $1440 per child 

Cloth $15 per month for soap and water bill= $360+ initial $150=$510 total plus resale after.

Q: What type or brand is your favorite?

A: Grovias for the day. Pocket with microfiber and a wool or flannel cover for night. Favorite brand is a WAHM called Nikkis diapers.

Q: Is it time consuming?

A: It is more time consuming; rinsing after, washing, putting away. But not overwhelming so defiantly worth the extra five minutes per diaper to change and a load of wash. 

Where coming up on the end! Keep reading. 

Alishia is a stay at home mother of two under three years old! They live a lifestyle some may not agree with but it works for them and that is all that matters at the end of the day. They are co-habitating, anti-vaxx, anti-circumcision, pro bed sharing, pro breastfeeding, homestead-hopefuls, gluten/dairy free, and somewhere between vegetarian and paleo as we are currently struggling with the thought of a soul passing on just to fill our stomachs.

Q. Why did you decide to cloth diaper?

A: I researched when I was pregnant in 2012 and decided the chemicals and stress on the landfills was NOT for me.

Q. How much have you spent to diaper TWO children?

A: About $360 total for our ecoable diapers

Q: What type or brand is your favorite?

A: ecoable because they are 1) organic 2) part hemp which means super absorbent 3) they are user friendly and hold up to hard use 4) cheaper than non-organic popular brands at $16 each after shipping.

Q: Did the first diapers last both kids?

A: Yes! the first diapers will last through Kira. SO WORTH IT.

Q: Is it more time consuming?

A: Yes but worth it for our family.

Stephanie is also a stay at home mom to a little boy who is about to turn two! They are a family practicing self-stainablilty on their mini farm. Currently raising goats, rabbits and chickens and lets not forget how the black thumb turned green last garden season!

Aside from that they live in an farm house in New Mexico and are practicing a minimalist lifestyle!

Q: Why did you decide to cloth diaper?

A: Financial, environmental, and adorableness factors!

Q: How much have you spent cloth diapering?

A: About $250 plus were gifted some by friends and grand parents

Q: What brand or type is your favorite?

A: Honestly, I still prefer T-shirt diapers; I would recommend it to anyone since everyone has them! See link for example: http://www.pennilessparenting.com/2011/03/cloth-diapering-for-penniless-parents.html

with the use of Snappi pins!

In addition, we like green mountain pre-folds they are pretty amazing and often our go to.

Q: Do you feel it is more time consuming?
A: Defiantly more time consuming but worth it for us. Although it may not be for everyone and thats okay!


Ivette is a mother of two under three as well! They are a technologically inclined family with dreams of green living and goals of raising gently powerful human beings. She is working towards becoming a birth educator while her husband keeps information security to heart.

Q: Why did you have hopes of cloth diapering?

A: i wanted to not irritate my kids bums and since sensitive skin runs in the family, we thought cloth would prevent that.

Q: Why did you think it was not a good fit for your family?

A: It became a problem when my girl started getting horrible rashes with cloth and non with the disposables we use.

Q: How much did you invest? and did you recoup the costs by selling?

A: We invested about $100. We may have recouped in use and it has been a lifesaver when we can't afford to buy sposies at the time ($ shortage and unexpected expenses). I'm still sad I didn't keep using them permanently.

Q: If you tried it did you find it more time consuming?

A:i did find them more time consuming because of all the stripping, and sanitizing and making sure they were dry and available. But my biggest problem was that it was still giving my daughter horrible rashes.

Q: What type and brand did you buy/like?

A: Most were kawaii baby. With inserts. I have about three covers that are cute, but don't remeber the make. They were used before, so i bought second hand.

***She has cloth diapered little man when scheduling and time permits. He has much better skin and the diapers don't irritate!

Alright, are you guys still with me???

Hailee is a mother to quite the little man just about Jacks age and a pregnancy that mirrored mine! They boys did not want to make it easy. Hailee and the love of her life Robert are trying to navigate through parenthood while achieving some amazing goals such as their inspiring debt pay offs! They are currently living in Wyoming and often travel to Denver for fun! They may or may not long for their old Florida lifestyle and that does include the Gators! She focuses on their future business development while he achieves his bachelors degree and hopes to fulfill his dream of coaching football. 

Q: Why did you decide to cloth diaper?

A: For all the benefits for our little guy; mainly because I noticed when he wore disposables he would get extremely red and chapped looking. With cloth that never happens. No rashes for us!

Q: How much have you spent?

A: Personally only #30 we received a lot of gift cards for our baby shower plus actual diapers as gifts as well. So probably around $250 is what our stash would've costed that includes, wipes, wipe warmer, wet-bag and diapers.

***make sure you make your diaper needs/wants clear for your baby shower and offer them ideas on where to buy! 

Q: What type and brand is your favorite?

A: Majority of our stash is Charlie Banana from target but I find them to be bulky. I really like my SAHM fluff the best.

***Charlie Banana are the least bulky out of Jacks diapers; this is because they are pockets and the Fitteds/AI2 are much larger and thicker.

Q: Is it more time consuming?

A: Not really only a extra load of laundry every two days. Even then  that doesn't consume my time. The washer does all the work.

Maren is a mother of two wonderful boys eighteen months apart; of which have extremely different personalities but are equally amazing. They live in Sunny San Diego and enjoy a simple life in their small home with a wild little bird dog named Pearl.
Maren left her position at San Diego University last year to to focus on her family and was able to budget and not pay me (haha I was her nanny..but knew it was a temporary gig!) 
Any who she is now pursuing her dream of running work shops out of her studio in the backyard. Arts: Lost and Found (check them out at Artslostandfound.com) While her husband continues in his career shaping surf boards and hitting the waves!

Q: Why did you choose to cloth diaper?
A: Because I'm CHEAP!!! I cannot wrap my head around spending money on disposable ANYTHING. I would not wipe an ass, or a countertop, or my hands with dollar bills and then put them in the trash, so I'm sure as hell not going to add the additional steps of going to the store and putting paper towels, paper napkins, and disposable diapers into my cart to that equation. I pay almost the same for my water bill with or without cloth diapers, and I use Tide regular powder for the diapers exclusively, so that adds a bit of cost to each month. But when I compare to disposables (which we use for nighttime because I could not find a solution for my megawetters), it's a no-brainer.

Q: How much have you spent to cloth both boys?
A: Let me check my spreadsheet...haha. (YES I LOVE HER...SHE LEGIT SAID THIS!)
I've spent about $350 for two boys, which doesn't include random items gotten as gifts, disposables used at night from about 9 months-on for each boy, or wipes... because toddler turds are so foul that I have switched to half disposable wipes, half cloth.

****I told you there would be poop talk..leave it to Maren! But no really we use disposable wipes when money permits simply because toddler poo is no joke!

Q: What type and brand is your favorite?
A: We used flats or flour sack towels with hand-knit pull on wool covers until about 4 months; then switched to prefolds with a PUL cover through potty training. I use the same size-small prefolds for the life of diapering, snappying them when the boys were little, then folding like an insert once they're mobile. I also have about 20 pockets for caretakers that are a little wudgie about cloth diapering.

Q: Do you think it is time consuming?
A: Yes, it would be more time consuming for the average bear. HOWEVER, I am a total homebody hermit. So the idea of leaving my house to get diapers if we run out is my personal concept of hell. I love that I never run out of diapers - I just throw a load in as soon as we're running low. And the prefolds and covers are super great for wash-and-go -- stuffing or folding needed. So, while it is more time consuming to spray an epic ca-ca out of a cloth diaper than to fold it up conveniently into a disposable, it's a skill that develops over time and isn't a big deal in the bigger picture.

Q: Will the first set of diapers last both children?
A: Yes! Just literally by a thread. I will have diapered two boys for $350 in cloth diapers, plus the cost of 3-6 disposable wipes/day, and 2 disposable diapers per night. I'm happy with those numbers.

Q: Do you feel excited knowing you'll be able to resell and recoup some of your funds after both boys have been clothed for $350?
A: Yes! I will probably recoup about half the cost incurred on my pockets and covers. My prefolds are TRASHED. Which I kind of love - it makes me happy to have used a reusable resource into its very last useable state.

Folks I have one more real life

experience left to blog about once

I get her replies so stay tuned..

not that you need this to be any

longer right??

I just wanted to get you the best

possible information!