Gone Green

At first I thought cloth diapering meant all or nothing, no disposables...no reason why I thought this. I hoped I'd receive some of the g-diapers I picked out on my registry, which had either disposable or cloth inserts, could be thrown in the toilet if disposed, and very cute covers. Unfortunately, they were quite pricey, and when I was finally ready to buy them myself, they ultimately seemed too complicated and expensive. I soon found out that if I was going to save the world I'd be breaking my bank. I held off, not ready to commit to g-diapers and having too many other things to focus on. At about 6 months, my diapering/lactation guru, Lisa, posted her experience with cloth and, as it turns out, her favorite ended up being simple prefolds and covers.

Well, I had prefolds like mad from the shower, and covers couldn't be too much for a couple. Suddenly cloth wasn't going to be so expensive...in fact, it would be under $20 for me to give it a try with crappy gerber plastic covers and some extra diapers. I was soon in love with cloth diapering and wished I hadn't wasted 6 months waiting to start. I had one of those light bulb moments, too: I could use a combination of cloth and disposables, duh! So at night, and when I'm out working with Stefan accompanying, we stick with disposables (a class of 20 children doesn't wait for a diaper change!) But otherwise, it's all cloth!

I was NOT in love with the gerber covers, however, and soon found Econobum Covers, for about $8 a diaper, and they came with wicked thick prefold, good enough for long naps. Yes, I said "wicked", for that Cleveland Steamer of a diaper, much like the night Melissa was married;P. The adjustable daipers have a lot of snaps and are gusseted, so I shouldn't need to buy more for a very long time (if ever). The only other cost consideration is the washing machine (nominal). Total cost (without HE washing machine cost as I don't feel like figuring that out): Under $75. In a month, they have paid for themselves.

So we're happily cloth diapering, I love it, Stefan is doing his part to save the earth, and all is Kittens and Sunflowers here.

PS How To Super Cost Effective...
1 dry diaper pail (I used a small trash can with a lid)

29 prefolds (24 is a great number of prefolds for washing every 3 days or so) I'll be looking for hemp when I actually buy these again.

5 (adjustable) covers (3 could work if I was on a budget, and had back-up plans for if all three were suddenly unusable.) I prefer Econobum.

2 Snappis diaper things (replace pins- they are so worth it, you'd consider them free, despite paying a couple of bucks:). One would suffice, but I lose things.

Solid soiled diapers are rinsed in a the toilet. Everything else goes straight into the pail. Occasionally I add baking soda to keep it fresh. About every three days (taking into consideration time I have, smell of the pail, and sun drying time), I wash the diapers on the most heavy duty setting, with the most rinses possible in our HE front loader. We have to use special detergent, and the wash isn't as abrasive I suppose, but they come out OK doing it this way, which is different than how I've read to care for the diapers. I put white vinegar in the fabric softener dispenser, no it doesn't react with the baking soda. Then they are hung out on the line to dry..the sun is the MOST AMAZING stain remover, bleaching all the poo if allowed to stay out all day. In a bind, I use the dryer, but that makes it all less green:)

I had fun playing with diaper folds. The bikini was best when he didn't sit so much. It seems uncomfortable to have a whole twisted diaper pushing on your sitz bones. A traditional fold is what we use now. AMAZINGLY blow out, up the back diapers do not happen any more or less frequently than with disposables. The aforementioned Lisa, told me of the Jelly Roll, where you roll the sides slightly diagonally from the front. It contains the poo. You Tube has a ton of diaper folding videos.