Cloth Diapers

Hippie Chick asked me how cloth diapering was going, and I thought I'd write about it here since I don't have a whole lot else to talk about. (Except that Mystery Animal I almost ran over in the national forest on my way into town for groceries... what was that Mystery Animal? Too small for a ground hog, didn't move like a squirrel or rabbit, not striped like a skunk, fluffier-tailed than a possum but smaller than a raccoon - and besides, this was broad daylight... hmmmm...)

Cloth diapering is a big commitment, for me at least. We do not have a washer and dryer so doing the diaper laundy every third day requires hauling the diapers either to my mother-in-law's (who just lives next door thankfully) or to a laundromat. I've done them at my sister's house too, while visiting with her and her baby. But usually I do them twice a week at my in-laws' and once at the laundromat.

It's a pain, but I like using them a lot better than disposables. I don't like the way disposables feel or smell (with the exception of Seventh Generations, which is what we used when we first brought Pearl home from the hospital, and what I recently bought a pack of so we don't panic when it's laundry day and the diaper supply is running low. They're alright.), and having to shell out the money for them all the time would drive my thrifty soul nuts. The fact that you can just toss out a disposable when you're done with it and never think about it again is nice... except I do still think about it, sitting in a landfill for the rest of eternity. I feel much better getting use after use out of cloth diapers.

During the day, if we're hanging around the house, Pearl usually wears a chinese prefold with either a wool soaker or a prorap plasticky cover. I don't like the proraps much. I'm slowly converting my prefolds into fitted diapers - directions to do so (with pictures!) can be found here and here. You lose a little bit of the absorbancy of the prefolds, as you're doing away with some of the cloth, but that doesn't matter for us, because the diapers rarely reach their maximum absorbancy - Pearl cries as soon as her diapers are at all wet/poopy.

Which brings us to the topic of nighttime diapering! At night we use Fuzzibunz, diapers with a waterproof outside, fleece inside, and space in between to stick absorbant material. The fleece keeps her from feeling the dampness so unless she poops at night, which she doesn't do often these days, I don't change her diaper until morning. It's awesome.

We also have some Kissaluvs, fluffy fitted diapers, that we generally use when out and about since they're easier to put on than prefolds.

So cloth diapering is indeed going well! It suits us. Well, my husband loves the ease of disposables, so when she outgrows all these diapers I might see if it's worth it to him to spend more money and get more Fuzzibunz and less prefolds, cause I want him to like it too!