Cloth Diapers

So here is the story of my journey into cloth diaper land. It all started when I was talking to my best friend. Her sister-in-law uses cloth diapers (she has 4 kids and only cloth diapered the last 2 but wishes she would have done all 4). I had never even heard of people using cloth diapers these days.

These were the first thoughts going through my head:
1. Ew.

2. Sick.

3. Gross.

4. Why???

You see folks. I used to nanny these 2 cute boys. They were sure fun but I have watched them since they were tiny tiny and I understand diapers. I understand the whole digestion process and that it leads to human waste...aka POOP. I have changed A LOT of diapers in my day so I didn't understand why in the world anyone would want to use cloth diapers...ever...

Then I started researching and couldn't stop. I became obsessed with the idea of cloth diapers and even became...dare I say...converted to the cloth diaper cause. I will post some links for those of you who are interested but here is the run down and the reasons as to why I became converted. Oh and my husband is on board with this idea. I converted him too :) If you ever want to use cloth diapers it is crucial that your husband be on board or else you will be changing a lot of diapers by yourself. Not fun.

Reasoning for my madness:

1. They cause less diaper rash. Sensitive skin runs in my family. Have you ever dealt with a baby who has diaper rash?? It is probably one of the saddest things I have ever seen. My nieces and nephews get it VERY bad.  Nothing works for them. Not creams, not anything. The chemicals in disposable diapers cause this rash...there are no chemicals/gels/additives/etc. in cloth diapers. My husband wasn't converted with this fun fact.

2. Go green! I love my Mother Earth and I want to do my part in keeping her pretty, so this only adds to that. This wasn't the part that converted my husband either. Did you know you are actually supposed to clean out disposable diapers into the toilet before disposing of them? But no one does this.

3. Studies have shown that babies who are cloth diapered actually potty train faster. Why, you may ask? Well because they can actually feel when they are wet. There is a gel-like substance in disposables which prevents this. Now whether this is the case for our babies or not, I won't know until I try but I am all for having the odds in my favor. This didn't really convert my husband either. He wasn't quite ready to jump on the bandwagon yet.

4. They are CHEAP! Really they are. At first it may seem expensive, but I got my entire diaper stash for a little over $200...and this diaper stash will last me through MULTIPLE children. $200 for ALL of my diapers. My diapers are ones that grow with my babies so I don't have to buy new ones when my babies get bigger. I just adjust my diaper to fit my baby. Disposable diapers are expensive. I am cheap. My husband loves the idea of being cheap, and this is the main reason he jumped on my cloth diaper bandwagon with both feet firmly planted.

There you have it folks. Yes we are a cloth diaper family. Yes I understand that babies poop and pee and guess what, I am totally surviving and it is EASY. I am lazy. I promise. And I wouldn't do this if it weren't easy.

And they are cute. I mean look at our little peanut in her adorable cloth diaper:

The one she is wearing in this picture is called a "Happy Heiny" and I went with these because they are actually mini Happy Heiny's which means they are more for newborns. They last from 4-16 lbs. You stuff these diapers with an insert and then strap them on. They have a velcro closure so they are super easy to use and so so so soft on the inside. They clean up awesome and I owe part of that to my yummy diaper detergent, Rockin' Green. I use the Lavender Mint Revival and it smells so yummy. I kind of want to bathe in it...yikes.

We will also be using the Flip system when Miss Mona decides to gain a few pounds. This system is awesome. It goes from 7-35 lbs. (I thought I would just go with this system only but when we found out that Mona Jean was going to be a little munchkin we decided to get some Happy Heinys and I am so glad we did!) We hope to use these until Mona decides to potty train. They come with the Flip cover that is waterproof and you place an insert inside. When baby goes to the bathroom you just take out the insert and replace it with a new one. The shell is easily cleaned out if anything spills over. I am excited to start using these and I will tell you how it goes...we just have to wait until Mona weighs enough for them.

I have absolutely LOVED cloth diapers. They are so easy, surprisingly. And they will be a great money-saver in the long run. They don't stink like disposables do and they really do clean up so well. My husband doesn't even mind changing them and that is partly due to our awesome diaper sprayer we have connected to our toilet.

Here are some links I promised earlier:

A basic rundown of why people use cloth diapers is found here.

Here is a rundown of how you do it.

Here is a link of many frequently asked questions for your further understanding of how all this hippie stuff works :)