What I've Learned about Cloth

Posted by  | Tuesday, October 23, 2007  at 9:17 PM  
I have learned lots of things since starting down the cloth road 10 months ago. Here are the four that stick out to me the most:

1. Bum Genius 2.0s, One-Size Diapers are great for the family that is looking for the easiest diaper to use and that has the money to buy them. These diapers are user-friendly because they are so similar to the setup of a disposable. (*An AIO would be even closer, but since these pocket diapers are size-adjustable, you don’t have to purchase multiple sets.) If this sounds like you, I would first purchase one diaper to be sure that you like it. Then I would purchase a dozen Bum Genius 2.0 One-Size Diapers from Cotton Babies for $203.40. I would then wash these every 2-3 days, doing a cold presoak & rinse, a hot wash with less than a ¼ cup of recommended detergent, then another cold rinse. My advice is to definitely stick with this washing plan from the beginning and DON’T DEVIATE – this will help avoid a lot of the buildup problems that can come with synthetic fibers (see Krista’s Cloth 101 post).

2. A Diaper Service is great for the family that wants to use cloth because of health and environmental reasons and that has the money to spend. You do have to make the initial investment of purchasing your own diaper covers. You can receive a week’s supply of Chinese Prefolds for about the cost of a week’s supply of disposables. For example, Baby Biz in North Carolina charges $16.95 per week for 80 prefolds – a good number for a newborn baby. I would say that price is comparable to a pack of Huggies. We use a diaper service because we want to cloth but don’t have a washer/dryer to wash our own. You can find a diaper service in your area by searching the National Association of Diaper Services.

3. The cheapest way is actually my favorite! Even after using great pocket diapers, I have found that I prefer to use a very cheap diapering system. A dozen prefolds, a few covers, and some pins/Snappis and I’m good to go. Check out my last post on my current diaper stash for more info.

4. I would say my number one reason for using cloth is environmental. I am a conserver by nature, and hate to see things wasted. For me, cloth is a way to reuse items so that I can leave less of a negative footprint on the environment and not continue to buy the same items over and over. I have a picture of my husband walking out a weeks worth of disposable diapers from when Samuel is one month old. Those went straight to the trash. I now look at the same bag of diapers (cloth this time) I take out of the pail each week and realize that they will be the same ones in there next week and the week after that and so on, living a long life of being reused.

7 comments:

Jeffrey & Shannon said...

Hey there. Jeff and I are seriously considering switching to cloth, and would LOVE to use a diaper service. However, I've done several searches, and there are none in our area. We live in an apt. and have no washer/dryer of our own. I have a 16mo and 6 week old, so letting diapers soak in the washer, or running them through an extra rinse cycle is not only inconvenient, but not really plausible, since we're using coin laundry. Any suggestions for making washing easier?
Thanks!
Shannon

Anonymous said...

Hello All,

My name is Kate, and I linked to your blog through my brother and sister-in-laws blog. I have been reading your posts for a couple of weeks now, and although, I am way past the stage you ladies are on (I have a five year old)I really enjoy reading what you have to say, and reminicing bout the "good ol days" (not really, it only gets better :). I just wanted to put my two cents in when it comes to the posts on cloth diapering, so let me just first state, that I come from a very christian back ground (southern baptist)and love the Lord. My desire is to raise my son to know and love Him as well. When reading your CD post last week I did not take offense to what was being said, but honestly felt that some of it was a little "out there" for you to be posting on a blog that anyone can see. I truly appreciate the purpose of this blog, and I think that it is a great place for women to come and find other friendly women to have discussions and questions/answers. I also think it has the strong possibility of being a ministery to some. You just never know the oppertunities that God puts before us. With that being said.... there is the STRONG possibility of making women feel like failures with some of the way things are worded. I believe that you all have great intentions, and strong feelings that you are doing things the "right way" but for some things there just is no right or wrong way. Sometimes, it's hard for us as Christians to see that. We want everything to be either black or white so that we know we're in the "good graces", but let's face it... sometimes it's just not the case. I do not think for a second that my child (who wore disposable diapers) was a risk for Toxic Shock Syndrome, nor have I ever read or heard of any baby suffering from TSS. I feel like that kind of comment could really scare and worry mothers who chose to use disposable diapers, for no reason. When someone makes a decision about what to do with and for their child, it should be because that is what THEY FEEL IS BEST FOR THEIR FAMILY not becuase they have been scared silly! I know that ya'll have said in comments and in posts that what you do, you do because you feel that it is the best thing for your family, but then some of the way you word things really does come across as condecending. For example the "flour mill" or whatever it was... that comment could have been better worded. Lastly, the quote in your comments section about taking care of God's earth until he comes to redeem it... OK... yes.. we should.. but God also gave us wisdom and knowledge to discern for ourselves and our situations... Case in Point.. if your going to take it to that level, maybe we should all be driving around in horse drawn carrages for surely vehicles are much worse on the environment that disposable diapers!!!
I really hope I didn't come off to harsh. I just wanted to share some of my thoughts on the issues. Maybe read and re-read these posts and pray over them before they are posted, just to make sure that no one is un-necessarily hurting feelings. Otherwise, good job ladies... I do really enjoy and will keep on reading.. I may even just try the cloth diapers with baby number two, when ever that may be ;)
Sorry that this is such a long post, and I hope it makes sense... I am at work right now.. so back and forth with typing on here...

Anonymous said...

Ladies,
Thank you, thank you, thank you for all the input into the world of cloth diapering! I have a 3 1/2 month old son and have been trying to decide for about 6 months what kind of cloth diaper to go with. A friend of mine told me about your blog and I've been checking it everyday to read the latest! Also, I am very much interested in your upcoming topics.

I do have a question for all of you. I think I'm going to go with a pocket diaper. Is there much of a difference between bumGenius, fuzzi bunz, and happy heiny??

MMS said...

Just my two cents here. I think we as women are naturally defensive about the way we mother. I catch myself in that mindset all the time, especially with family. If my mother-in-law or even my best friend and sister suggest something to me, my knee jerk reaction is "What's wrong with what I do? They're saying I'm doing something wrong." I've REALLY had to take my thoughts captive in that area. More than likely, my advice-givers are not intending to say I'm doing something wrong.

I've chosen to use disposables, to exclusively pump, to make my own baby food, to have my baby sleep primarily in his crib, etc. And I'm OK with that. It works for us. My sister has been doing pretty much the exact opposite of what we do (with the exception of diapering), and it's OK.

Would I like to cloth diaper?
Well, honestly, I would like to have a desire to. I wish the laundry didn't scare me, I wish we had the cash up front to invest in a supply of cloth diapering, etc. But we don't. And that's alright with me. I enjoy knowing about cloth and how it works, just for the simple fact that it's information on mothering. Do I feel less Godly for using disposable diapers? Absolutely not. If I had conviction about using cloth and decided to ignore my conviction for conveinence, then I would definitely have an issue in my relationship with God.

I really think we need to give each other a break here as women and let other women mother according to their convictions. It's not really going to matter when our children are 15 if they ate a jar of bananas instead of a freshly mashed banana OR if they wore a disposable or a cloth diaper. It's a choice that the writers of this blog have made, and I think they should be applauded for doing so because they are mothering according to their convictions. It's not an issue of morality (to most anyway), so it's not really something to get defensive over.

I'm proud of the fact that I'm still pumping at almost 9 months, that we make our baby food, and that Noah sleeps so well. Those are all areas that are important to me, and I feel succesful for having been faithful with them. Do I look down on my sister's mothering for using formula and Gerber? No.

How about we give other mothers "props" for the areas in which they feel successful instead of making it mean that we're doing something wrong?

So that's my take . . . for what it's worth . . .

Krista said...

Amanda,
I've looked at all three of those pocket diapers and, of them, prefer the bumGenius. Here's some of my reasons: I like the stitching best on the bumGenius and think it is less prone to leaks around the waste; it has a trimmer fit; I like the construction and features of it ie. where the laundry tabs are, how microfiber is inserted, etc.; and I also really like the colors and how "cute" they are.

Unknown said...

Shannon,
Washing diapers in the coin wash isn't all that fun of an experience. I did it for about a month before we switched to the diaper service. First, I would use prefold diapers as opposed to a pocket diaper b/c I think they would be easier to clean in the coin wash. Here is what I was doing:
1. I would rinse the diapers myself beforehand with cold water(my coin wash had a laundry sink, or you could use your bathtub). Now, you are rinsing poop, so be sure to clean your tub really well afterwards.
2. I would then wash the diapers with hot water & a small amount of detergent (here is where Christina's suggestion of Dawn would work really well).
3. You could next pay for another wash with cold water and no detergent/dish soap (this would be like an extra rinse) - I sometimes did and sometimes didn't (I mean, come on, it's a whole other $1!!).
4. Line dry your diapers or dry them on high heat.
The above is for making washing as cheap as possible. If you wanted to spring the extra money, you could 1) put diapers (poop and all) in the washer and wash with cold water and no soap, 2) wash with hot water and Dawn, 3) wash with cold water and no soap. This is easiest and least messy, but most expensive ($3).

Michelle said...

I agree with Mary about all of us being passionate about our mothering. Being a "minister's wife" often comes with lots of advice. I've had to learn as Mary said that just because someone suggests something doesn't mean they're telling me that my way is wrong...they're mostly trying to be helpful. Ultimately I have to continue to remind myself that I know what's best for my child.

I love your blogs, and the openess you have on sharing your techniques of motherhood. I do believe that some of the hottest conflicts out there have to deal with parenting. I can't wait for your messages on breastfeeding as I'm in the middle of that controversy right now. Thanks for all you do! God Bless!!

~Michelle

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