What I've Learned about Cloth Diapers

There is a whole community online of cloth diapering parents, which is helpful but also a little overwhelming. I started looking into cloth diapers right when I got pregnant (an easy summer job gave me lots of time to research online). After all my research and no baby to test out the diapers on, I ordered a Bum Genius Flip. When A came along, I realized the Flip was not the diaper I wanted to use. It was way too big. So I went back to the blogs, forums, and shopping sites and started my research over.

We've had A exclusively in cloth diapers for the last 4 weeks, and here's what we've learned about all the brands we've tried.

Bum Genius Flip: This was the first diaper we tried and the one I wanted to make work because you have the option of putting in a disposable insert, but they are a one-size that grows with baby, and even for our 10 pounder it was too big-spreading his legs way far apart. We never even used it.

GroVia All-in-2: This was recommended by a friend. We had the same issue as the Flip- it was way too big. And it took forever to dry.

GDiaper: We bought these because they were the only cloth diaper Babies R Us carried, and I had a coupon for them. They leaked every time we used them. I liked the fit a lot though. GDiapers also have the option of a disposable insert, but they are made with the same gel in disposable diapers, which is bad for baby and the environment. 

Swaddlebees: We tried the old side snap model and the Simplex. I liked them both a lot, but couldn't find anyone who carried enough for me to have a full supply. I got frustrated trying to purchase them from different companies, so I gave up. I found out on a forum that the company just doesn't keep their supply meeting their demand. I just tried putting the Simplex on again yesterday, and it leaked. I'm happy we didn't wind up with these as our main diaper; the snaps are much more difficult and you have to put an insert in, which would be harder for grandparents and friends to use.

Picture Source: Bumgenius.com

Bum Genius All-in-One 3.0: This is what we settled on. The only thing I dislike about this one is it takes forever to dry. I was using them still a little damp, but yesterday my mom suggested turning them inside out before drying them. They've been coming out completely dry since I started doing this. We had a few leaks recently ,but we started putting inserts in at night, and haven't had a leak since.

I highly recommend cloth diapering. We find it as simple as using disposables-really! If you are thinking about getting started, you might want to try a diaper trial (I just heard about Jillian's Drawers). I wish I had known about this before we tried all these. You pay a deposit and get to try a bunch of varieties. I've also discovered the Diaper Swappers Forum that has been very helpful. I posted some concerns on there and got a bunch of responses that were helpful right away. 

Why did I do all this researching, trial and error, and suffering of some big leaks? The simple answer is the first two weeks that we used disposable diapers, we went through about 200 diapers, costing us about $100. In my opinion, it took just as much time to take out the trash of stinky disposables as it does to throw a load of laundry in every day.

The cloth diapers we've decided on are probably going to cost us about $1200 over A's lifetime, and we can  reuse them for future babies, or sell them or give them to friends.

The biggest reason I wanted to go with cloth is because the disposables are one of the worst pieces of garbage we have, taking up to 500 years to decompose. I don't know about you, but that's not how I want to leave my mark on the world. 

A's First Month

A is already 4 weeks old. It's unbelievable how fast 4 weeks has gone by, and how much he's grown! At 2 weeks old, I remember thinking this new parenting thing was really a challenge. But now I'm loving it. He's already sleeping longer at night and he's working at a smiling. He loves books; his favorites are "Brown Bear, Brown Bear What Do You See" and "Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day."

Here are some pictures of the past month.

Dad cutting the umbilical cord

Sleeping in the hospital

Dad with A

Grandma and Grandpa with A

Nana and Papa with A

Uncle A, meet Little A

A's first moments home

Uncle T with A

Our Family Photo

Our first visitors: N...

and N

with a mohawk

sleeping like uncle T

Dad feeding A his first bottle

R playing copy-cat

38 Weeks and Still Growing

We've blown by the 37 week marker where it's safe to deliver and we're still growing strong.

The doctor says he thinks our boy will be about 7 1/2 lbs, but he hesitated when he said it so I think he's trying not to freak my out with a potentially bigger boy. This was especially concerning when I told him Nate and his brothers were all over 8 lbs, and all he said was, "huh."

I think we are finally ready for him to be born; Nate is getting us ready materially (we now have car seat bases installed in both cars, and he seems to be nesting more than I am, cleaning everything) and I'm finally psychologically prepared.

We'll keep you posted! 

Baby Shower

I'm finally posting some pictures with my head attached to the growing belly. I know it creeped some of you out to see all the headless photos. 

 The wonderful hosts, Nate's Aunt Linda and my Godmother Barb

 The quilt my mom worked on up until the last minute. She says letters N, O, and P have been to the Panama Canal. She also worked hard to find eco-friendly materials, though it's a challenge in Mankato. She was able to find fleece that was made from recycled products for the back. 

36 weeks

Sorry for no picture this time. Imagine a woman who's 9 months pregnant and that's pretty much exactly how I look.

I'm now scheduled for weekly doctor's appointments until Baby Boy gets here. This definitely helps to alleviate some nerves as I get closer to the due date. It's nice to have a professional checking to make sure I didn't miss the signs of labor or something.

To my relief, Dr. Baram tells me he'd guess the baby is about 6 lbs and would expect an average sized baby-around 7 1/2 lbs. He also reassured me that the very annoying Braxton Hicks contractions are not the real thing, and I'll just need to tolerate them until the real contractions begin.

No green updates to report, except that plain white onesies are much more exciting  to get as a gift when they are organic (thanks Julie!)



I'm excited to finish stocking up on all the "necessities" (in quotations because all we really need is a car seat and some warm clothes-I'm reminded of this when Nate's mom tells me he slept in a drawer for the first few months. Babies don't need nearly as much stuff as we somehow acquire. But it's all so cute and little!)

I'll try to get a picture up soon!