How Do You Cloth Diaper? Part I: The Diapers

The great thing about cloth diapering is there are about a million ways to do it. This is part of what makes it so confusing when you're a newbie - you're getting different advice from everyone and you kind of start to think that everyone is crazy and nobody knows what's what. The thing is, something different is going to work for everyone, and you really just have to jump in and find what works for you and your baby. 

We've been cloth diapering for awhile now, and while it was very intimidating at first, I think we've finally figured out what works for us. 

The Diapers: As you can see, our stash is really varied. That's the best way to go in my opinion; I always have an option for all of my diapering needs!

The bulk of our stash consists of prefolds and covers - I initially bought these because they are the most inexpensive option (well, besides flats! I still haven't been brave enough to learn how to use those!) but I've ended up liking them a lot more than I anticipated. I generally use these when I have E all to myself; most other people who watch him aren't huge fans of cloth diapering and don't want to pull out the wet and potentially soiled insert to switch it for a new one, but I don't mind it at all. I almost never have leaks with my prefolds and covers, and often use them for overnights. 

I have several different brands of pocket diapers - each brand has a feature that they're best at, and I haven't met a brand that I have no occasion for. Some I like better for nights, some I feel are super reliable for when we go out (and cute - that's important to me because I want people to think "What? A cloth diaper? CUTE!" not "What, a cloth diaper? Ick!") and some are trimmer and look better under clothes, but are better for shorter periods of time.  It all just depends, so that's why I really love that I have a mix. I definitely would not change my wide variety even if I could afford to buy a whole new matching stash!

AIO (All In One) diapers are a minority in my stash, and in my humble opinion are a luxury item. I only have a couple of these, and while I don't feel that they're a necessity in a cloth diaper stash, they are quite convenient. They're my first choice to leave with babysitters, because there is nothing different about them than a disposable diaper besides the fact that they are washable! A velcro AIO diaper is very non-intimidating to people not familiar with cloth, and that helps a lot when you're trying to convince people that cloth diapering is not that hard. Or weird. Or crazy. But since caregivers aren't doing the washing, they're not really going to notice the difference between an AIO or a pocket. So they're cool and nice and convenient, but I certainly wouldn't die without them. 

Fitteds are even rarer than AIOs in our house - when I first tried one I didn't "get" it. Most other diapers have a polyurethane lining (PUL) - basically, plastic - to keep it from leaking; fitteds do not. They are very trim, and come in a million adorable prints, but because of their lack of PUL they need a cover (same covers you would use with a prefold!). That made no sense to me - I know some people worry about the chemicals in the PUL, but I am not one of those, so fitteds just perplexed me (why have such a cute diaper just to cover it up? WHY?). However, a couple of months ago E got a pretty bad diaper rash and Katie told me to put him in a fitted overnight - since there is no "plastic" lining, it allows the air to circulate and would help the rash get better. GENIUS. It totally worked. And ever since then fitteds have totally clicked for me, and I wish I had more. As I type, E is in one for the night because again, he has a bit of a rash (I'm making it sound like he gets them a lot, but he really doesn't. He just happened to have one today!). If I add to my stash it will probably be more of these, and I would definitely say having a few of these is a necessity. That being said, I personally probably wouldn't build a stash of exclusively fitteds. 

Now, of the above, probably two-thirds have snap closures and one-third have velcro. When I first started out, I preferred velcro - it's very similar to putting on a disposable diaper, it's fast so you can hurry up and do it before your squirmy toddler gets away, and there is less guesswork involved in getting the right fit. As E has gotten older, though, he's figured out how to get a velcro diaper off. That is bad, bad news. Remember the time I woke up and his diaper was off and he almost pooped in my bed?! Yeah. So my preference changed. To snaps. Which he still does not know how to remove. I'm thrilled about being able to let him run around outside in just a diaper this summer without having to worry about him going streaking. As a bonus, snaps tend to last longer than velcro, so if you're planning on using your diapers for multiple children it's a way better investment. Now, personal preference and investments aside, I think there is a place in every stash for both. Velcro is so much better for apprehensive caregivers. It's so similar to disposable diapering and it's so easy to get a leak free fit. Even now, I occasionally have to adjust E's snappage after I've already put the diaper on and sent him on his way, and for someone who isn't the primary caregiver and isn't used to cloth it can be really confusing. Refer to the above picture of the way my mom put on a snap diaper. Lol!

So those are the diapers that make up our stash. How about you? How do you cloth diaper? 

Things To Love (And Learn!) About Cloth Diapering

We've been doing great in cloth diapers, and our stash has grown enough that I don't have to wash diapers every night any more!! Yippee!!

It's so not as big of a deal as I thought it was going to be. It's like one more load of laundry a week, and it's fast laundry, not takes-hours-to-sort-and-fold laundry. That's it. That's the only thing that's different. I don't have more leaks than with disposables, I have considerably less trash, my house smells a lot better since the poop goes in the toilet and doesn't sit around in the trash can, and I don't ever have to worry about running out of diapers. I love it. 

I'm still learning, though. I learned a very important lesson about cloth diapering the other morning. 

E had slept in my bed, and was in only a t-shirt and diaper since he had spilled a cup of water from my bedside table on his pajamas and I was too lazy to find him another pair. So it's morning, and I'm all groggy but I can feel E moving around so I have to wake up. I look to my right, and there's his diaper. HIS DIAPER. Without him in it. As soon as I registered that, I heard a grunt. A GRUNT. I intuitively knew what was going to happen, and I jumped up and grabbed a cloth wipe from my stash. Just in time, I CAUGHT HIS POOP. WITH A WIPE. IN MY HAND. If it weren't for my superior reflexes, he would have pooped on my pillow. Oh. Em. Gee. 

So the lesson is: don't put your toddler in velcro diapers without pants. EVER. From then on I've been using snaps at night with pants or a onesie on top. He's never managed to get snaps off, but I'm sure he'll learn in no time! 

In case you've had some mishaps of your own, I'm giving away a $25 gift card to Diapers Etc.! They have revamped their web site and it's better than ever. The giveaway is being sponsored by Diapers Etc and EcoChic Parties. Yay! 

Mandatory Entry: 

• Follow my blog via Google Friend Connect and leave me a comment telling me about the funniest diaper mishaps you have had - cloth or disposable! 

Extra Entries: 

• "Like" Diapers Etc on Facebook
• Follow Diapers Etc on Twitter
• Follow @EcoChicParties on Twitter
• Follow me on Twitter! 
• Visit Diapers Etc and tell me what you're dying to spend your $25 on! 
• Enter other giveaways from the blog party - one entry for each other giveaway you enter! (Unfortunately, you can only win from one blog, though. Just FYI.)
• Tweet this giveaway: "Win a $25 gift card to @DiapersEtc! Join in on the @EcoChicParties fun with @HauteSingleMama! #clothdiapers http://bit.ly/i6bQzu  Ends 2/28 "

Please leave one comment per entry completed. Have fun! This giveaway will end 2/28. 

Open only to US residents 18 years or older. I was provided with a cloth diaper from Diapers Etc. No other compensation was received for this post. All opinions are honest and my own! 

Cloth Diapers - The First Weekend

Because of the fact that I entered school in the spring, I've received financial aid for spring, summer, fall, and now spring semesters consecutively. Unfortunately, aid is only available for 2 semesters out of the year... so that means this time, my spring money has to last through the summer. 

As a result, I'm trying to cut corners financially speaking. One way that I've chosen is through exploring cloth diapering. 

I've gotten a lot of strange looks and comments, up to and including "cloth diapers are ridiculous," "seriously?!"  and "ewwwwwwww!" especially from my family (that I live with). That's made the transition a little rocky, but other than that little hurdle, it's a lot easier than I expected. 

I have a little mini-stash of 6 diapers, which is enough if I wash them every night. Two were generously donated to me by each of my friends Katie and Beth, so that's four, plus one that I won from one of Becca's giveaways and one that I'm lucky enough to be able to review. So total expenditure = $0. Not bad, eh? 

I was very, very intimidated at first as I had NO idea what to do with the diapers in the first place. There seemed to be so many ins and outs of washing them, and everyone has "what works best for them" so there really aren't any hard and fast rules. The first time E pooped in one I ran to Twitter like OMG NOW WHAT?!?!?!?! But it turned out fine. 

E has been in cloth this entire weekend! Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. We had a little mishap Friday night where I didn't anticipate his nighttime wetting volume, so he leaked some. But hey, that has happened to me with disposables too! 

My mom and step dad (who frequently watch E) are adamant that they don't do cloth, so I'll still have to keep disposables on hand for them, and I don't really have enough of a stash to provide daycare with any. Even having him in cloth part time will cut down on the amount of diapers that I'm buying, though. At least that's the idea. 

Plus? My room smells WAY better now that there aren't poopy diapers sitting in it all the time. The poop goes into the toilet - imagine that! I was afraid the cloth diapers would make it smell worse but I have to say, the complete opposite is true. I'm not sure if that will be the case once I get enough diapers that I don't have to wash every night, but we'll see. Maybe it will! 

Christmas Break

Merry Christmas, a few days late! I don't have our Christmas pictures uploaded yet, and I'm too lazy to go get my camera, so that will have to wait for another post. We had a fabulous Christmas and I hope everyone else did too!

I'm enjoying my time off of school. We're just hanging out - not too much to do! It's been very rainy here in the desert which is pretty rare, so we've been hunkering down at home since we don't really know what to do when water falls from the sky!

Since we've had so much at-home time, I decided that it's the perfect opportunity to try out cloth diapering. It's popular with a lot of my bloggy friends, and if they jumped off a bridge, I'd totally do it too. (J/k. Sort of.) So here we go!! I'm trying out the 5 diapers that I currently own - E's had his little bum covered in cloth all day today and so far, so good. They're all different brands so we'll have to see which becomes the favorite. Watch for some cloth diaper reviews and giveaways coming up in the next couple of months!

And that's that. We're just lying low. I hope everyone else is getting some down time to spend with their loved ones too!! Happy Holidays, everyone!