Cloth Bum

It was about this time last year that I woke James up at 5:00am to look at a barely positive pregnancy test. I was in tears, he was in shock. We both were beyond ecstatic. After a full confirmation that we were officially adding to our family, a flood of questions began to arise. What names did we like? What theme would the nursery be? Would I become a stay-at-home mom or would we do daycare? You know all the basic questions a new discovered parent asks themselves. But one question that was something we needed to decide (and I had to do quite a bit of research on) was cloth diapers or disposables.

It may seem silly to some... "why wouldn't I just use disposables?" "They are so simple and easy!" "Cloth is too much work". But I wanted to explore my options. (We had decided for me to be a stay-at-home and any way to cut our budget deserved a few minutes of my time). So, something I never dreamed of doing had suddenly peaked my interest and the research began.

I read blogs, I looked through pins, I talked with friends (this was probably the most resourceful). Anything and everything I could do to understand this process, I looked into. I ordered some inexpensive diapers from one site and thus my collection began. I had no idea how complex the cloth diapering world had become from the time when my grandma would use cloth. So here are just a couple tips I have learned on how to cloth, keeping it simple and inexpensive:

1) Order different styles. I remember telling a friend that I would be doing the all-in-one diapers only. And, I haven't even purchased one because I like what I have now. I got several free diapers (just paid shipping) from shopdiaper.com to try it out and I was given several from a friend as well. They were pockets with a microfiber insert. Then I discovered covers and in my head, those were the most cost efficient. We have gone primarily with covers, but I do love my pockets that I have. However, even our diaper covers have evolved. We started with flips, but I quickly discovered Alva's from a cute online store (Mott's Tots Boutique) and they were $10 less then flips. I also loved how they had a longer flap to hold the insert (and my husband even prefers those, too). Plus, we discovered that flour sack towels work wonders as an insert and a fraction of the cost!

2) Hand-washing. Ok, I admit that sounds extremely complicated. But I found an awesome website called Fluff Love and Science that has answered a lot of questions and has helped me with pretty much any problem I have. They also have a hand-washing routine and considering we have to pay for laundry and do not have control over the settings this is great for us. It takes a little bit of time, but for some reason I enjoy the systematic way they have it laid out and I actually accomplish a lot of tasks in between cycles. Killing two birds with one stone.

So all in all be flexible with your routine and diapers you choose if you are considering cloth diapering. I am so thankful that I didn't say that I was only going to use cloth at the beginning and that we received some disposables, because we didn't start until after the first couple of months to only use cloth and we even sneak a diaper in at night several times a week or when we travel. This system works for us..and works for us right now. When he starts solids, I may not be able to do it anymore. When I have two, this may not work. But we spent about $100 to start and that will last not only for this year, but with multiple kids. So saving money, with a little bit of work right now- it works for us. 

There's a tid-bit for you.