I have been planning on writing a short blog about our cloth diapering for some time now. My hope is to share our experience as well as inspire others to consider cloth diapering as a possibility for their babes. I will preface this blog by saying, we did not choose this diapering system at first for any other reason than to save a few Benjamins but as with all other experiences we found cloth diapering to be more beneficial in so many other ways. Secondly, I should say thank you to my good friend Alicia for sharing her experiences and encouraging us to give the "old fashioned" diapers with a new spin on them a try.The diapers are as cute as there names....FuzziBunz, BumGenius, Happy Heiny's, Woollybums and Kissaluvs just to name a few. The modern cloth diaper contains adjustable snaps, straps, velcro, little doodads called snappies, are all-in-one, pocketed, fitted and come in a number of designs. One dia
per will take your babe from 5-30lbs simply by adjusting snaps. Unbelievable! It really has been fun to see the reactions of people whom we tell we use cloth diapers. The most frequently asked question is what diaper service do you use? I laugh and say "me". That response then leads to the next most frequently asked question "how do you rinse them out and you wash them in your washing machine?" Like I said I am the diaper service so....... that would be rinsing them in the toilet and yes they get washed in the washing machine.
per will take your babe from 5-30lbs simply by adjusting snaps. Unbelievable! It really has been fun to see the reactions of people whom we tell we use cloth diapers. The most frequently asked question is what diaper service do you use? I laugh and say "me". That response then leads to the next most frequently asked question "how do you rinse them out and you wash them in your washing machine?" Like I said I am the diaper service so....... that would be rinsing them in the toilet and yes they get washed in the washing machine. I must pause for a commercial intereption here. If you do plan on washing your own cloth diapers, do not open the lid of the washing machine in the middle of the cycle. That is something I could have lived without seeing!
The benefits as I stated above are much more than we expected. We figure on Ainsley alone, we have saved at least $2500 and for the next baby (no, I am not pregnant) we can reuse the diapers. Less "blowouts"-if you are parent you know what I am talking about. No diaper rash. Less trips to the trash can=less diapers in our landfill. Kasey say's you can't beat that "junk in the trunk" look. Less trips to the store to buy more diapers. Increased sensitivity to wetness giving us hope that Ainsley will be easy to potty train (stay tuned). And lastly it is way too much fun to see the reaction of everyone when we tell them we use cloth diapers!!!
So here we are, Ainsley is 8 months old and still in cloth diapers. Kasey and I are fairly proud of ourselves for sticking with it. We wash diapers every 2-3 days, hang them to dry in the sun if possible, fluff them in the dryer for a few minutes, fold them and viola a ready ready to use diaper meant to keep Ainsley's heiny happy, woolly, fuzzi, smart and very kissable!!
Here is the detergent recipe I got from my friend Alicia for washing cloth diapers. It's so easy!
1 cup Borax
1 cup Washing soda
1 cup Oxiclean free
We mix up a large batch to last a few months. Store in a bucket or box and only use 2-4 tablespoons/load. No smellie diapers.
Jenn
I couldn't have said it better! We love CDing as well! One of the other benefits we see (other then all the ones you listed!) is being more aware of Ila's growth and size. I think we notice her size changes a lot more then we would with disposable diapers. Maybe because we fold ours though, I have to get the size right :)
ReplyDeleteThanks for the blog, I think I may just have to follow in your footsteps and write one on my blog to tell all our friends and family about the awesomeness of CDing!
So fun hear a little more about your experience! And, fun to see little Ainsley in one of my diapers!:) Great job sticking with it, you're over the hump now and it's a breeze from here on out!
ReplyDeletexoxo
alicia