Cloth Diapering, Part One

I had planned on cloth diapering from day one, but pretty much everything I had was too big, or didn't leave a little space for her umbilical stump. We used the "just in case" disposables, and stuck with those for the first week and a half. Her little stump fell off, and she now has a cute little belly button, We've started with the cloth and so far I love it!

The first time we put her in one, she blew out everywhere. Bad first impression. I pressed onward, and have had much better luck. With newborns you will be dealing with the occasional blowout no matter what diaper you use. I would say that the instance of this happening is about equal.



XS BumGenius

 

So far I've used our newborn BumGenius diapers, which work much like a disposable. It is an "all in one" diaper, meaning that you don't need a waterproof cover or inserts or anything. It is definitely the simplest. I've heard that over time it gets more difficult to clean because the ammonia smell builds up in the microfiber, but I've read that this can be remedied by putting them in the hot sun to dry.

We have also been using pre-folds with a waterproof cover. It takes practice to get the pre-folds just right, but once you do it's apiece of cake. The benefits of pre-folds is that they are by far the least expensive route, and you can fold them to fit a smaller baby, so you don't need different sizes.



Pre-fold, held on with a Snappi



Pre-fold + Waterproof cover

So far so good. We still use some disposables here and there but If i do I'm limiting it to two a day. As a stay at home mom I feel that I have no excuse not to cloth diaper. It really is easy, and is better for my baby, and planet earth! It's actually kind of fun, if you can imagine cleaning up baby excrement as being fun....

To be continued....