Cloth Diapers

If you had told me 10 years ago that I'd EVER decide to use cloth diapers, I would have laughed in your face. I probably would have written that off as one of the grossest things I could imagine. However, much has changed! When we started talking about having a baby, I really thought this might be a good idea for us - mainly due to the financial benefit. I've seen a few friends use them with lots of luck...and of course my 2 new blog friends decided to use them too, so it's been fun to chat with them about the exciting world of fluffy bums!

Ok, so I mentioned the financial benefit. I read up on this a lot - and it looks like it costs about $1200 to diaper one baby for one year. Ouch! So, it would be close to $2500 to diaper Brenna for 2 years. And that was before I knew how much of a champion, um, diaper-user she would be. If you multiply that by the 4 kids we wanted, it could be 10 grand to diaper them all! If you multiply it by the 2 we will probably have because of my total weakness, it's still almost $5,000. And that doesn't include wipes. Anyhow, I've fallen in love with some super cute diaper brands, and they aren't always the cheapest - but they aren't the most expensive, either! Even when the average cost is about $15 for each - that's still only $300 for 20 diapers - and I pretty much only order them if they are on a killer sale. The greatest thing - I can reuse them! Which, quite honestly, makes me a little sad that I won't get this buying thrill with the next kid since I'll have to reuse the ones I have. I figure by then I'll have a toddler to be keeping up with, so diapers won't really be a priority, right? Oh, and there is another benefit - if we have another baby while Brenna is still in diapers, they could hypothetically use the same diapers in the one-size variety!

Yeah, turns out there are lots of options. Sized or one-sized. All-in-ones or pockets. Snaps or velcro. We have some of it all. Right now Brenna is using mainly sized diapers since she is so small. She's wearing extra-small and small BumGenius all-in-ones (AIO), small Fuzzibunz pockets, small Blueberry pockets, newborn size Lil' Joeys, and one-sized Rumparooz. The all-in-ones are definitely easier, as you don't have to stuff the pockets with a soaker. However, they take FOREVER to dry - I usually give in and just use the dryer. The pockets dry much faster because I can take out the soakers and dry them separately. She was also wearing some Thirsties, but they leaked and I hated them, so we sold them.

Sold them? Yep! Turns out their is a huge cloth-diaper utopia called diaperswappers.com where people stalk diapers that other babies have worn. Oh yeah, it's weird. However, I'm a huge fan. I've bought lots of diapers off of there. Usually I buy ones that are brand new that people just decided they didn't want and are selling cheaper than retail price. Yeah, score! Just last week I sold my first diapers - 6 thirsties and 1 goodmama and made a hefty $80 before shipping costs. Yay!

Ok, so what's a goodmama? It's the cult classic of all diapers. People are crazy over these things. I can't really afford them unless I find a great deal. We have one - and it's super adorable. It's a brown and white cow print. It doesn't fit yet - but when it does - you'll for sure get pictures on here! They are all snaps though, which Jonathan doesn't quite love, so we'll stick to the velcro so that Daddy will keep being supportive of my little-bit-earth-but-not-really hobby! Yep, after seeing how many diapers we went through in a day when we were using disposables during her itty-bitty stage, I decided that even though saving the planet wasn't my motivation, it was a pretty awesome advantage. Saving the world, one cute butt at a time!

And, as if you didn't think I was weird already, I guess I should tell you we are using cloth wipes at home, too. For these reasons - they are easy and good for her bum, we are already doing laundry of the, um, poopy variety, so why not?, and throwing away wipes that aren't contained in a diaper is pretty gross. We're still using regular wipes when we're out and about, though, don't worry. I'm not crazy enough to carry around a spray bottle in the diaper bag. And just in case you're interested, I just use a mixture of water, a little baby lotion, a little baby oil, and a little baby wash to spray on the wipes (which are actually just receiving blankets cut up.....until I order some real ones because I'm tired of the ones we have fraying like crazy!). Ok, that's all on this topic for now. Go ahead and mock me, I can take it!

Ouw sweet little BumGenius!

I love my Fuzzibunz!

Smilin' in my minky Blueberry!

Polka dotted Rumparooz

Cutest diaper ever - Lil' Joey!!