Cloth during the past 1 1/2 years

Not much has changed in our cloth routine since we first discussed cloth on POH back in October. We bought six Indian Prefolds, two Bummis Super Whisper Wrap covers, and that's it. Our total investment in cloth has been less than $200. So, as I look back over the past 18 months of cloth diapering, I have a great sense of satisfaction knowing we have saved TONS of money!! On top of that, if the Lord blesses us with other children, we already have a stash that would keep us from having to spend more money on new cloth diapers.

Like Hollie and Christina have said, we do buy disposables every now and then. And, it seems like it's been more often lately. In fact, we went for over a year without buying a single disposable. (We had several packs on hand, and I made them last for a year without buying more.) Even if we went on outings during the day, I used (use) cloth. Lately, however, we've been traveling more often and I do NOT tackle cloth when we're staying overnight, days, or weeks in other places. I also started using a disposable at night. This was one of the best decisions I think I've made with cloth. Here's why: Lydia is a great sleeper and would be in the same diaper for more than 12 hours. That is too long for her to be in a cotton diaper (it would leak) so I had to put her in synthetic fabrics (they absorb more). However, synthetics also build up that yucky ammonia smell over time, especially if not changed regularly, and it smells AWFUL! I got tired of having to strip my diapers and do all kinds of wash routines with pre-washes, extra rinses, special soaps, etc. I realized I just didn't have the time to deal with it being in full-time language study. So, for the last 6 months or so Lydia's been in a sposie at night and it's made all the difference in my continued love for cloth.

Finally, although we have a pretty broad variety of diapers, lately I have almost exclusely been using the BumGenius! one size. It is just really, really easy to take on and off if/when Lydia decides she wants to sit on her big girl potty. It's very trim, especially now that she's on the largest size with all the snaps out. And, it dries so fast on the line. When you live overseas and don't have a dryer, how quickly a diaper can dry on the line is an important consideration.

We really like cloth and are so thankful we have gone this route. While I think it's great we've helped the environment, etc. I get most excited about seeing how much money we saved over the long run.