the Cloth Diaper Adventures #4: The One Where I Answer Questions

Question: How long is one size good for?
Answer: The cloth diapers that we chose grow as Bug grows. As Bug gains weight, we can lengthen and widen the diapers. So far we've gone up in one size by undoing the snaps and lengthening the diaper.

Question: Are you planning on diapering with cloth until she's potty trained?
Answer: That's the plan. I've heard that it's easier to potty train with cloth, but I don't know yet. I will keep you posted though.

Question: Do you really save a lot of money doing cloth diapers?
Answer: So far, I don't really know. We haven't had to buy disposable diapers. When we've used cloth diapers they are the ones we received from our shower. But we would have flown through those diapers if we hadn't of used cloth, so I imagine we have saved money.

Question: What do you do with the poop? 
Answer: Right now we are exclusively breastfeeding, so the poop just washes right off in the machine. When we start doing solids, I'll have to adjust my methods.

Question: What type of cloth diapers do you use?
Answer: We use AlvaBaby pocket diapers. I was a little hesitant to use the pocket diapers, but I have found that they are actually a lot easier than I thought they would be! And the hubs doesn't mind them either. Bonus.

Question: Where did you research cloth diapers?
Answer: I did a lot of researching on Pinterest. I found great blogs on cloth diapering. I wish I had saved them so I could share them on here with y'all. Unfortunately, the baby brain didn't let me. Of course, a lot of what I did was trial and error and finding out what worked for us.

Question: How many cloth diapers do you have?
Answer: I have 25. That's a little overkill though, but I do think it will serve us if we ever have 2 in diapers at the same time (no I'm not pregnant...this is an "if" and a "when").

If I missed any of your questions, or didn't explain anything well feel free to leave a comment! I love talking about cloth diapers. They have been a great experience for our family!

Thoughts and Questions!

I've had quite a few people ask me questions about cloth diapering. That being said, I've been thinking about doing a Q&A about all things cloth diapers for those who have questions. 

So, if you have any questions about cloth diapering and need someone to ask them feel free to email me @ beautifulfamilyaffairs{at}gmail{dot}com. If you're reading this from my Facebook link, feel free to private message me.

the Cloth Diaper Adventures #3

The One Where I Wash My Diapers:

Step 1: Separate. 

Whenever I change Bug's diapers, I separate the insert and the cover and put them into the wet bag. Right now I don't bother with scraping the poo off because she is solely breastfed and it just rinses off in the wash. Which brings us to step 2...

Step 2: Rinse. 

I put all my diapers, inserts, and the wet bag all in the washing machine and set it on a complete cycle without soap with cold water. This gets all the mess off of the diapers.

Step 3: Wash.

I wash my diapers in hot water with a tablespoon of powder soap. No liquid soap used on these diapers. Side note: we don't use liquid on any of our clothes. Instead, we make our own laundry detergent and I use this as our diaper detergent.

Step 3: Rinse #2.

I re-rinse all of my diapers in cold water. This is to get any extra soap off of the diapers. 

Step 4: Dry.

I hang dry both covers and inserts. It typically takes anywhere from 12 hours to a day to dry. I'm hoping that will speed up once I get my outside clothesline up and going. Of course, it's April in Georgia which means major pollen everywhere, so I'm okay with not hanging my diapers outside...

Anyway, that's my diaper washing cycle. If anyone has any tips for when the poo changes that would be greatly appreciated!

the Cloth Diaper Adventures #2

Well, we're a week in with this whole cloth diapering adventure. How am I feeling?

I'm still loving it!

We're doing cloth the majority of the time. The only time we switch to disposable is if we're going to be gone for the day. This past Saturday we made a day trip to South Carolina, so we made the trip in disposable. But Sunday, when we went to church and small group, we made the trip in cloth. They did spectacular! 

Like I said, I'm still pretty much smitten with these things! I love that they seem to be so much softer on her bum.

her first time in camo!

Plus I think they just look cute on her bum!

I'm still getting the hang of the whole caring for them thing, so give me another week and next week's post will cover the diaper's care!

Is that not the cutest cow bum you've ever seen?!

the Cloth Diaper Adventures #1

I've decided to chronicle our adventures in cloth diapering our firstborn...

My personal favorite: her ladybug (or Minnie Mouse) diaper

Today we embarked on a journey...a cloth diapering journey. I always said that we would cloth diaper in hopes of saving money, plus it makes for an adorable baby bum.

A friend of mine told me about Alva Baby diapers. I immediately checked them out and saw how inexpensive they were...This is doable, I thought. After talking with the hubs, I picked out 25 and hit the purchase button. 

On their website, it says that it'll take 3-4 weeks for the diapers to get here. Good, I thought, that'll give me more time to prepare. Low and behold though, they turned up about a week later! It felt like Christmas opening up and looking at my new selection!

It took me another couple of days to actually wash them. I justified this with "researching" what the best method would be for pre-washing and caring for my diapers would be. But boy was I confused! There was so much debate on how to wash and how not to wash, and what detergent to use and not to use. Many methods contradicted each other and ended up just confusing me more than I already was. 

I eventually decided to just wing it. I knew what "not to do" and just made sure that I strayed away from those things. 

So today is our first day using cloth diapers. 

It's a learning process for me. One that I'm willing to work on and find the best method for us.

How cute is that jean bum?!

I'm excited about this journey that we're on! The hubs is anxious (more nervous) about learning the techniques of cloth diapering this weekend. 

I am proud to say that these diapers contained their first major poop! Typically this poop would have been a blowout in her disposable diapers, but the cloth diaper contained it! I was ecstatic! It's the little things.

To Cloth or Not to Cloth, that is the question...

Whether 'tis nobler in mind to suffer

The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune

Or to take arms against a sea of troubles

And by opposing end them.

Okay, enough of my Shakespeare rant. But I couldn't resist David Tennant as Hamlet. Amazing. Purely amazing. 

But seriously, to cloth or not to cloth? That has been the biggest question of my pregnancy and one I have been wrestling with for a while. Do we take the step and attempt to use cloth diapers or do we stick with the traditional disposable diapers. The heaviest weighing factor is the cost effectiveness. Disposable diapers cost a lot of money, around $2000 or more per child. But that cost is spread out over months. The cost of cloth diapers depends on the style of diaper that you buy and how many you buy. This is more of an upfront cost. But you can reuse diapers for each child you have. So it's only a one-time fee depending on how well you care for the diapers.

With the idea of me being a stay-at-home mom after this school year (this is the goal, we'll see if we make it - please pray that we do!), it shouldn't be too much trouble for me to keep up with a stack of cloth diapers and caring for the diapers. The thing would be getting a routine down (which I think I could do).

Everyone of my family members, especially the hubs, is against the idea. But the whole cost thing is really getting to me. I am trying my hardest to save as much money as I can, another thing helping me to get home for good. Of course I know there are coupons and I could coupon for inexpensive diapers, but I just don't know. There's something tugging at my gut that just leans towards the cloth!

Help! Do you lovely moms out there have opinions for me?! Advice? If I do go with cloth diapers, what should we go with? (Side note: I won't start officially cloth diapering until probably around 2 months or after we've established life at home with a new baby)

Any advice will be well taken and would be very much appreciated!