Cloth Diaper Catch-Up

The last time I talked about cloth diapers on the blog was way back before LJ was born. Which is kind of funny, since she's been in cloth diapers since she was 6 days old! I used Pampers on her the first 6 days because a few people had given us some. On that 6th day, though, I put her in one of her newborn fitteds and was instantly hooked.

So cute!! And holy crap, I can't believe she was ever this scrawny.(These are Clover fitteds and a Thirsties newborn cover.)

Because she was so small, most of my diapers didn't fit her yet. All she could wear was the newborn fitteds and covers I bought. And I only had 12 of those, so she wore Pampers part-time for a few more weeks. I tried to put her in cloth as much as possible, though. Once I ran out of disposables, I decided not to buy more and just make do with the cloth I had. And it was fine! It didn't take her long to grow into my one-sized stuff and prefolds.

I mean, I can't even. Tiny LJ, cute Rumparooz newborn cover, and still-big post-partum belly. Bliss.

Before LJ was born, I was washing C's cloth diapers once every 4-5 days. Since she was only wearing one diaper a day (overnight, actually), I just didn't have much diaper laundry. Sometimes I'd stretch it to once a week. But once LJ started wearing the cloth, I started washing diapers every 2 days. Once she fit into most of my stash, I had enough to go several more days between washings, but she was going through so many in a day that the diaper pail would get full quickly. Its not a good idea to wash too many diapers (or clothes, for that matter) at a time; they need room in the washer to get clean.

Washing every other day really wasn't a big deal. Maybe because I was already used to diaper laundry. Honestly, though, everything about this baby has been kind of low-key. I think a lot of it is because I'm not a first-time-mama anymore, and have more confidence in myself. Whatever the case, nothing seemed like a big deal this time. (A good example is the night feedings. When C was a newborn, I knew she'd be nursing every 2-3 hours round the clock, but every time she woke up to nurse in the middle of the night, it was a huge deal to me. I felt exhausted all the time, it was so hard for me to get up and do what needed to be done, etc. When LJ was a newborn, I had a different mindset. Instead of the "woah-is-me-my-baby-won't-let-me-sleep" mindset, I got in my head that she would be waking up every 2-3 hours and need a diaper change and a feed, and that was normal and unchangeable. And it was easier. I had no problem getting up and taking care of her. I was still tired during the day, but it didn't slow me down. And no, I didn't go back to work, but I also quit taking naps around 3-4 weeks post-partum, so its not like I was catching up on sleep during the day. I have just truly found the second baby to be easier on me. I guess I'm just lucky!)

I've used Eco Sprout laundry detergent since for LJ's diapers. I used All Free & Clear for years, but once I tried Eco Sprout there was a noticeable difference. My diapers were clean before, but now they're CLEAN. I'm not in love with having 2 separate detergents, and the Eco Sprout is not the cheapest thing ever, but its worth it to me.

C is no longer wearing cloth diapers, by the way. She does still need a diaper at night (she has an immature bladder and just can't hold it all night, and she doesn't wake up during the night to go potty - and I am not about to wake her up!), but I finally gave in and admitted that cloth wasn't working for her anymore. Nothing I tried was containing all her urine and she was waking up soaked every single morning. So I tried her in Good Nites training pants and they are wonderful. The actual panty part is reusable, which I love. She just gets a new insert every night, which is basically a huge, thick disposable pad. It holds an impressive amount of urine, and she's never had a leak in these. They're expensive ($18 for the starter kit which includes 2 pairs of the panties and maybe 5 or so inserts, and then $8-9 for a pack of 18 inserts), but hopefully she won't be in them too much longer. And it still beats having to wash her sheets every day!

Anyway, LJ grew out of her newborn fitteds around 11 pounds, which sucked because they were supposed to fit until 13 pounds. She got chunky very quickly! I'm so glad I didn't do the newborn rental option at Sweetbottoms like I had thought about. I would have had the diapers for 3 months, and wouldn't have really gotten my money out of them, since she was about 2 months when they quit fitting. I was able to use my regular size prefolds on her after that, and they were bulky but fit fine.

This is a bumGenuis pocket diaper. She was around 2 months old here, and I had it almost as tight as it would go to fit her. All my BGs are used, though, so they're a little stretched out. I feel like a new one-size BG would have fit her just fine, and probably sooner than mine did.

I have more pictures of her in cloth diapers, I'm sure, but at the moment this is all I can find! LJ is now almost 8 months old and hasn't seen a disposable diaper in several months. I think November was the last time I put one on her, and she got a terrible rash from it. These days, I wash diapers every 3 days (unless she fills up the diaper pail sooner). I'll get some more photos and do another update soon!

Next Saturday is the annual Great Cloth Diaper Change, and I'm super excited! Our location won't be participating in the Guiness aspect this year, but we're still doing the change and raising awareness. And we'll be getting swag bags and the chance to win prizes, so you can't beat that. To gear up for the Change, I've been participating in an Instagram photo challenge every day. #GCDC2015 takes you to some great cloth diaper-related shots!

Wool!

So I finally jumped on the wool train with cloth diapering. And I'm in love! Seriously, I can't believe I've been using cloth diapers for 3 years and I haven't tried wool before now. Its a whole new world, and its awesome.

I said in my last post that I purchased a Sustainablebabyish Knit Wool Cover from Sweetbottoms. It is absolutely adorable, for starters.

I love the color, and how soft it is. I've always had in my head that wool is stratchy and rough. But not these diaper covers. And the wool covers that I was given last month are not stratchy, either. Wool is also not hot like I thought. It allows a lot of air flow, so its perfect for diapering.

It does have to be taken care of specially, though. That's the only downfall to using wool. It has to be washed by hand using special wash and lanolin. The good news is you should typically only have to wash a wool cover every 2-3 weeks, depending on how soiled it gets. Wool is self-cleaning, which is awesome. I washed and lanolized C's and she wore it every night for about 2.5 weeks before I felt the need to wash it again. And honestly, I probably could have been fine letting it go another several days. It didn't stink at ALL after all that time.

Washing and lanolizing is a super easy process, and its not really all that time consuming. The drying time is the worst. This cover took over 4 days to dry! I just washed it again this weekend, so we'll see how long it takes this time to dry. I squeezed more water out this time, so hopefully that will make a difference. I'm just scared to be too rough with my wool. I'm sure its more durable than I think, though!

I purchased Eucalan No Rinse Wool Wash in unscented, and Sheepish Grins Solid Lanolin.

So far, I've been pleased with both products, though I might try liquid lanolin next time just to cut down on the mess. I only took one picture of my washing/lanolizing process, because its really not that interesting to see. I just got a big bowl, filled it with lukewarm water and a splash of the wool wash, then swirled the wool covers around in there (the first time, I washed my new cover and one for my friend to try).

The wool wash made a few suds, but nothing crazy. It sat just like this for about 15 minutes, then I dumped that water out. You don't have to rinse, but I didn't feel right not rinsing, so I did run some clean water in there and gently swish the covers around before dumping that out, but that's it.

Next, I added about a teaspoon of the lanolin, a tiny amount of the wool wash, and some water to a mug and microwaved it. I just put it on the "beverage" selection, which is about a minute and 30 seconds, I think. That just gets the lanolin dissolved, and the wash gives it something to bind to. I filled my red bowl back up with lukewarm water and then added the mug full of lanolin. Then I let that sit overnight.

The next day, I gently squeezed the water out of the covers and then rolled them in a towel to get out more water. Then I just placed them on a towel on top of my drying rack (so they'd lay flat) and let them dry. I did rotate them every half day or so, just so they'd dry faster.

I think I used way too much lanolin the first time, since when the covers were dry they were still tacky and had obvious spots of lanolin still on them. After research, I discovered that this is not a big deal at all, so I left it alone. This weekend, I washed my green cover again and used less lanolin with better effects, though time will tell how long it takes to dry this time!

After one night of using the wool cover on C, I was hooked. When I put her on the changing table to take it off her, the smell did not make me hold my breath. There was NO smell at all, in fact! (Obviously, the diaper underneath still smelled pretty bad, but at least I didn't get a wiff until the wool was off, haha!) Like I said, C slept with this wool cover every night for over 2 weeks, and I never once smelled her diaper, and she never had any leaks at all. She loves the cover and it seems to be comfortable enough for her. Its too bulky to put pajama bottoms on top of the cover, but so far she hasn't minded. On cool nights, I just put on a pair of knee-high socks and she's been totally fine. I think if she's still in diapers this winter I'll invest in a pair of longies, just so her legs are covered, too. The Bean will most likely end up with longies, too. ( ;

And look how cute C is in her wool cover!

Can't beat that with a stick. Its adorable AND it really WORKS. I love it!

Obviously, more than one wool cover is a necessity, unless I want to go back to stinky diapers (and occasional leaks) in the morning. I wanted to try a different type, preferably something cheaper than the Sustainablebabyish one, though I was hesitant since just like with everything else, you get what you pay for with wool. I found an Etsy shop that sells wool covers made from sweaters, which I thought was pretty cool. I think I paid $19 after shipping for it. I have yet to take a picture of it, but its a slightly different style than the green one. This one is a large, as well, but its very snug on C. I'm not sure if it'll stretch any, but right now it'll only fit over a prefold and cover, not one of her bulkier pocket diapers. Though, she's worn this new cover for the past 2 nights and its been great so far. Still no smell, and no leaks, even though she's just in a prefold.

Next, I want to raid the local Goodwill and see if I can find any cute wool sweaters, cause I want to try to make my own covers! For some reason, being pregnant has made me very pro-DIY this time around. I have insane urges to sew things, and I don't even have a sewing machine or know how to operate one! lol. I really want to try a wool cover, though, and if I can find a cheap sweater in good condition, you better believe I'll be cuttin that baby up to try it! ( :

Newborn Fitteds

Apparently, these days I can only post once a month. And apparently, the only thing I can talk about is cloth diapers. Oh well. ( :

I just realized I never did an update on the Sweetbottoms event last month. It was so fun! I mean, if you're obsessed with cloth diapers, that is...haha. Actually, my friend that went with me doesn't even use cloth diapers and she had a great time, too. Sweetbottoms seriously has something for everyone. Well, if you like more of a "natural" take on baby things, anyway...

The store was actually not crowded at all, which surprised us. The weather wasn't that great, though, so maybe that had something to do with it. My friend and I stayed a couple of hours, I think. We had so many questions! I brought one of the fitteds I was given to figure out what size it is. Bummer, its definitely not newborn size. I'm thinking more 3-6 month range on those fitteds, but I guess time will tell. (Once I realized they weren't newborn size, I forgot to look at other fitteds to see what they matched up with!)

I spoke with one of the sales ladies there about the newborn rental program, and she led me to the sale rack, where they had bags of newborn fitteds on an awesome sale. 6 for $25, I think it was! And that night, everything was an additional 10-15% off (its been so long now that I can't remember exact figures). I couldn't pass that deal up. Buying them like that was cheaper than the rental program, and they are mine to keep now. I only bought 12. After much deliberation, I decided that if nothing else I'd have at least enough for one day with this baby. But hopefully, the prefolds that I have will work fine with her. Depending on how big she is at birth, my prefolds may be pretty bulky in the beginning, but I really think I can make it work. I may end up purchasing more newborn fitteds, though, who knows!

My newborn fitteds. They are so tiny!

I mean, seriously?! I don't remember C ever being that tiny, but I guess she was. Its hard to believe in just a few weeks I'll have another baby small enough to fit in these....

These are used, of course - since they were on such a great sale. But they look brand new. And I think they run around $14-15 each new, so 6 for $25 is a steal (that's just over $4 each, not counting the discount I got).

They all look like this on the inside. No staining at all. All the snaps are in perfect condition. Whoever used these before me didn't use them much! Each one came with an insert, but the insert doesn't snap in or anything. I asked about that, and the sales lady said I probably wouldn't even use the insert, except for maybe at night if I was able to go longer between diaper changes. Sounds good to me.

On the left is one of the fitteds I was given. Clearly, it is not a newborn size! I was shocked at the size difference.

I didn't buy any covers that night. It took me so long to decide on the fitteds and some other things that I just didn't have time to think about covers. Plus, I was spending too much money...haha. So covers are definitely something I need to be purchasing in the next 11 weeks....yikes, do I really only have 11 weeks of this pregnancy left?!?!

While we were at Sweetbottoms, I asked about wool covers. I've mentioned a few times that I've been wanting to try them for C, since her diapers are so stinky in the mornings. (And it doesn't look like she'll be ready to wear panties to bed any time soon - which is fine.) Well, I had done lots of research beforehand, and knew I wanted to look at the Sustainablebabyish Knit Wool Covers. They were so soft! After seeing the large in person, I knew it would fit C just fine, so I ended up bringing one home. Of course, that decision lead to a long discussion on wool care and some more purchases, but that's for another post! My friend jumped on the wool train, too, even though she uses disposables on her baby. She said sometimes her son's diaper leaks at night. She's not interested in going the cloth route, but she was interested in trying a wool cover. I think she ended up with a pair of wool longies (which I would love to have!). I also gave her one of my wool covers (that was given to me, but are not newborn size) to try, though I haven't heard if she's tried any of them yet. But apparently, lots of people use wool covers over disposables at night to help with any leak issues. Pretty cool.

Another purchase I made that night was a roll of 6 fleece liners. I've been wanting to try them, as they're supposed to help with the stay-dry feeling. Some of my homemade wipes are made from a fleece-like blanket, and I've used those before as a barrier if I had to use non-cloth-safe diaper cream on C. It worked really well, and her hiney was dry when I took the diaper off, which I loved. But I wanted to have some liners just to try them out.

They are super soft and nice quality. But, honestly, I can't tell any difference when I use them on C. I still throw them on top of her diapers sometimes just because I figure it feels nice on her skin but I can't tell they're keeping her any drier. I'll try them on The Bean before I make a final judgement. They were pretty cheap, though ($6 for 6), so I didn't exactly break the bank to try them. Supposedly, poop slides right off fleece liners, so that might be nice with The Bean!

I have yet to wash the newborn fitteds I bought, but that will be happening soon as I am slowly preparing for this baby. So far, I have one newborn diaper cover, and obviously I need at least 4-5 more. I have a small stash of Best Bottom diapers, and people say they get down to newborn size, but it sure doesn't look like it to me! Though I'm wondering if once I put on a bulky prefold if one of those BB covers would work just fine...there's so much experimentation I need to do for newborn cloth diapering! Too bad I don't know anyone with a newborn for me to practice on. ( ; I'll just have to wait and do some trail and error when The Bean makes her arrival!

Diapers, Diapers, and More Diapers!

Recently, a new friend of mine gave me a super nice gift - a huge bag of cloth diapers! Used, of course, but still. So nice of her! I know this woman because her dad married my aunt earlier this year (I was the photographer for the wedding, too), and she doesn't live around here, so we're not close by any means. I just say that to emphasize how nice it was of her to give me these diapers. I got to meet her baby girl on Easter at a family gathering, and I noticed a cloth diaper peeking out under her dress. Naturally, I had to know what type of diapers she uses and of course we got to talking! Cloth diapers can bring anyone together. ( :

Anyway, one of her friends had given her all these diapers, but she didn't need them. At her baby showers, she received a ton of new cloth diapers, so she didn't feel the need for a bigger stash. (Obviously, she's not addicted like some of us! Lol) She said most of these diapers needed repairs like replacement elastic, but I told her I'm not afraid of a challenge!

I got the stash last week, and WOW. I was floored when I saw what it consisted of.

Okay, so it doesn't look all that impressive from this picture, but trust me, it is. There are 12 (TWELVE) BumGenius pockets (I think most of them are 3.0s, but some are 4.0s for sure), 9 assorted fitteds, and a variety of wool products. Wool! The very thing I have been wanting to try for the past 3 years (but have been too scared to spend the money).

I had to get some help on some of this wool stuff. There are 3 items that I just wasn't sure about, but I have been told that they are newborn sleep sacks.

They are open on both ends, so its strange to me, but I'm gonna try them and see how it goes. Wool is supposed to be great about containing smells and leaks. And apparently, you only have to wash wool stuff every 2 weeks or so. That's pretty cool.

Next are 4 pairs of wool covers. I knew what these were! The cream colored one has a tag so I know what size and brand it is (though I can't remember now, haha), but the others I have no clue. Once I learn how to wash them (I know it has to be done by hand, but I'm not sure what type of detergent to use), I'm gonna see if they fit C and we'll try that overnight. If they don't fit her I'll just save them for the Bean. And I'll end up buying a wool cover for C, I'm sure.

There were 3 prefolds from BabyKicks in the stash. I'm not familiar with this brand, and they don't look anything like my prefolds, but that's gotta be what they are. They're very soft, and I'm sure they'll work great as stuffers for pocket diapers.

Now for the fitteds!Ain't they cute?! I have no experience with fitteds, and didn't realize they came in cute colors and designs. Not that it matters, since fitteds require a cover (they're not waterproof at all). Which is exactly why I've never been interested in trying them. Why have to deal with putting a diaper on the baby, just to have to put another diaper on top of that (basically)? But everyone says fitteds on newborns are the way to go. So we'll see! I'm not positive these are newborn size, but they seem to be.

That's the inside of one of the fitteds. They all (well, almost all of them) have 2 snap-in inserts with them. I imagine they're pretty absorbent! The cute green and white clover one doesn't have snaps on the outside. So I'm not sure if I'm supposed to use a Snappi with it or just let it be under the cover...but I'll find out!

And now for the BG pockets. I have one BumGenius that I got for free with an order. Its been in the nightly rotation (since C has always only worn pockets at night, not during the day), but its never been my favorite. I don't have any real complaints about it, I just found I liked the Kawaii pockets better (which is funny, since the Kawaiis run $11-13 and the BGs are more like $17-18. On my BG, I had to have the velcro closures removed and replaced with snaps, since the velcro quit working after about a year of use, which was disappointing. I had a girl I know do the repair, and some of the snaps she used messed up after a few uses. Now, there's only a few settings I can use on that diaper. I need to replace the snaps! Anyway, these BGs are in pretty good condition, considering they are obviously used. Well-loved, I guess! The ones that have velcro are all in good condition, and all the snaps work (I tested them all, lol). All of them will eventually need the elastic replaced, but only 4 were in dire need.

You can see here that the elastic is not quite as tight as it could be. The diaper should be more puckered in the middle. Some of them laid completely flat. (Though, after inspecting all these, I realized that all of my current pocket diapers look the same. We don't have leak issues, but I'm wondering if I need to replace the elastic on them, too?)

I did some research and decided that replacing the elastic was super easy and I could totally do it myself. I'll do a separate post on that. So far, I've only worked on 2 of the diapers. It was easy! Since I'm a very beginner sewer, and don't have a sewing machine, it took me a while to do those. Oddly, I really enjoyed making the repair and am looking forward to tackling the rest of the diapers.

Cloth diapers hold their value pretty well if they're in good condition. These could probably sell for a decent amount of money. So I feel very blessed that they were just given to me! I didn't take the time to research what these diapers would sell for used, but I did quickly figure what this stash would cost if I purchased it new. WELL over $500! Wow.

On Friday evening, Sweet Bottoms in Raleigh is having a "wine and dine" event. A friend of mine and I are going, and I can't wait! Obviously, I won't be partaking in the "wine" portion of the evening, but I'm excited to be able to go to the store again. I have a ton of questions and there are a few things I'd like to pick up. And my friend graciously gave me a gift card for the new baby! ( :

Newborn Cloth Diapers

There are a lot of things I'm excited about with Baby #2 on the way, but I have to admit, getting the chance to use cloth diapers on a newborn is up there near the top of the list! Man, I am such a nerd, lol.

Cloth diapers were a foreign concept to me until C was 3 months old, so I have no experience with using cloth on a newborn. In fact, we didn't switch to cloth until she was 4 months old because it took me forever to research and decide which type of cloth diapers to use. Since we made the switch to cloth, I knew my next child would be cloth-diapered as well. I can't say that I'm gonna be crazy about it and say that she will never feel a disposable diaper, though. I remember how tough the first few days are with a newborn, and I feel sure we won't want to add in the stress of figuring out a cloth diaper solution for her. So my plan is to have her in disposable diapers for the first week or so, then do a gradual switch to cloth. If things go well, maybe we'll switch sooner, who knows. The point is, I'm not going to stress myself out by saying I have to use cloth on her immediately.

I am looking forward to it, though! Newborn cloth diapers are SO CUTE. (Well, I say that about them all, but newborn ones are so tiny!!) After much research, I've almost decided to rent newborn diapers instead of purchasing them. Why? Because newborn diapers are not cheap, and they only fit babies for a short period of time (around 3 months, maybe less). I just can't justify spending hundreds of dollars when I know we won't use them for very long. Even if I bought all prefolds and covers, I'd spend well over $100. (Fortunately, all C's diapers are still in excellent shape, so there's no reason we won't be able to reuse them once this next kid is big enough to fit into them. And yes, all of C's diapers are "one-size," but they don't truly fit newborns, so newborn diapers will be a must.)

My favorite diaper store, Sweet Bottoms Baby in Raleigh, has a newborn diaper rental program. Its $215, and you get 24 new and gently used (and sanitized) fitteds. After 3 months, you return the diapers for a $100 store credit. So actually, you're only spending $115. My research indicates that fitteds are the most reliable diapers for newborns, even better than prefolds (and easier). Fitteds run anywhere from $14-25 each. Plus, you have to have a cover for them. (That's why I never considered fitteds for C. Too much expense.) With the diaper rental, I'll still have to buy covers, but its possible that some of my one-size covers will fit just fine, since fitteds do add some bulk. Even if I do have to buy covers, I'll only need 5-6 (depending on how often I want to do diaper laundry). So it won't be a major expense. I love that after 3 months, I just return the diapers to Sweet Bottoms and I don't have to worry about reselling them or storing them myself. And I already know what I want to do with that $100 store credit! (Hello, structured carrier!)

My mind is not completely made up on this diaper rental, but I am heavily leaning that way. The plan is to ride to the store and look at the diapers in person and talk to people about them. When I was researching cloth diapers for C, I didn't spend much time at all with fitteds since I knew I wasn't interested in them. Newborns are a totally different game, though! I'm excited for the challenge of finding what works for us and our new baby.


Meanwhile, I'm looking into wool covers for C. She's completely potty trained during the day, but I don't foresee her getting out of nighttime diapers for a while. Every morning she wakes up with a completely saturated diaper. I'm okay with that, and I'm not rushing her to get out of diapers. Its really not a big deal at all. The only problem is now that she's older her pee STINKS. Some mornings the smell is almost unbearable, and if of course gets into her PJs, so she has to wear a new set every night, which is annoying for me. And her diaper pail will almost knock you out with the smell when the lid is opened! Its truly awful. Even when she was wearing diapers full-time and pooping in them, they never smelled this bad. I can't decide if I need to change my washing routine or give wool a try (I've read that wool is great for odors). I'll probably pick up some cloth diaper-specific laundry detergent when I go to Raleigh and see if that helps before I spend the money on wool. For the past 3 years, I've used All Free & Clear on all our laundry and haven't had any problems, but I know things can change over time, so that could be the culprit here. We'll see!

Great Cloth Diaper Change 2013 - Done!

The Great Cloth Diaper Change 2013 was a success. I'm not sure if we broke the Guinness record from last year yet, but I bet we did. Hopefully they'll release the final count soon. I'll be sure to do an update once they do.

We had a great time Saturday! Our location had about 35 or so babies in the change, which I thought was pretty impressive for our area. I had no idea cloth diapering was so popular here. It was neat to see so many fluffy butts in one room. ( :

I still haven't had time to go through everything in the swag bags we were given. There are a ton of coupons in there. When I opened the box (we got a box and a bag), I asked C what was in there and she said "mail!" Then I told her to look in the bag and see what was in there, and she said "more mail!" Silly youngin. Everyone got an adorable diaper cover by Bumkins. Its green and has a green eggs and ham theme. I haven't taken a picture of it yet, because I plan to do a full review on it once I've had a chance to try it out. I've never used that brand of diapers before, so I'm curious. It looks to be a really nice cover, though. Tons of snaps, so there is lots of room for adjustments. Last night I set all the snaps to make the diaper as small as possible - I can easily see how it would fit a newborn.

We also got a nice bib in our swag bag. I think I got a boy bib, but oh well. Its blue and has red rockets on it. Still, free bib! There were lots of free samples of cloth-friendly laundry detergent, diaper creme, and baby soaps and lotions. Hopefully sometime in the next few days I'll get a chance to go through it all and see exactly what I have.

Oh, yes, I almost forgot the little wet bag! I don't think I've talked about wet bags here before, so I definitely need to do a post on that soon. Wet bags are essential if you're gonna cloth diaper. They're lined with PUL (just like the diapers are), so you can put soiled diapers in the bag and (if its a good bag) nothing will leak out. A good wet bag will also keep the smells in. We were all given a tiny wet bag Saturday. Its perfect for holding just one diaper, which is great if you're running errands and know you won't be gone long. I sent it with C today in case she has an accident in her big-girl panties. I think it'll be great to send to her grandma's since its so little and takes up so little space in the diaper bag.

In the raffle I won a $15 off coupon to a store that sells nursing tanks. I don't have a need for it right now, but I'll probably order one in case I have another baby. And if I don't have another, I'll just give it as a gift to someone else. ( :

As for the actual diaper change, it was very quick and kind of anti-climatic. But honestly, you're just changing a diaper, not very exciting! We all sat on the floor with our babies. There was a professional photographer there taking pictures. First, we all had to hold up the diapers we intended to use...

This was my view from the back. Well, part of my view. I found it was hard to take pictures of everything with a squirmy toddler while doing what the photographer said.

At exactly 11am, we all changed our babies' diapers. (Well, I took off C's panties and put on a diaper! I think she was the only kid there who didn't arrive in a diaper.) Then, we were told to hold up our babies for the picture. Not so easy to do with a 30 pound toddler!

I wasn't the only one struggling, haha. I loved seeing all the adorable prints everyone had! I don't think anyone had the same diaper. I put C's cow print diaper on.

And that was it! After the change, the kids ran around and played while we had the raffle drawings. I wished I had bought some more raffle tickets because they gave away some really great prizes.

C totally surprised me. I just knew she would throw a fit when she realized I was putting a diaper on her. But she didn't. She saw all the other babies in their diapers, and I guess she wanted to be like them. She laid right down on the blanket and let me put the diaper on with no complaints. Then she wouldn't let me take it off until it was time for us to leave!

I thought this was cute. C with her "boyfriend" haha.

So that was it. The event was fun, and I'm glad we participated. I'm kinda sad that we won't be able to next year. Our event was pretty small compared to some of the ones I'm hearing about on facebook. The one in Raleigh had over 300 participants! I bet that was amazing. They made a full day of it. Maybe one year I'll go there and be a part of it. Who knows. ( :

The rest of our weekend was pretty great, too. The weather wasn't that wonderful (cool and very windy), so we weren't outside much, but we still had fun. Late yesterday evening, C told my husband that it was a pretty day and she wanted to ride Sunshine. I was inside cleaning up a little, but when DH told me that, of course I dropped what I was doing and went outside! C likes to ride, but not very often, so I'm all for it when she decides she's ready. We just ride Sunshine together bareback around the yard. I love sharing my horse with my daughter. I really hope she'll grow up to love riding as much as I do. I hope everyone else had a good weekend, too!

The Great Cloth Diaper Change 2013

Tomorrow C and I will be participating in the Great Cloth Diaper Change! I am so excited because this will be my first year. What is the Great Cloth Diaper Change, you ask? Its an event created to increase awareness of cloth diapers primarily. Its also a Guinness Book of World Records thing - every year, they try to break the record for the number of people simultaneously changing cloth diapers.

Last year, there were 15 participating countries, and everyone around the world changed diapers simultaneously - which meant that in some countries, the change happened at 2am! This year, we'll all be changing diapers at 11am local time, so it will roll around the world. The record was broken in 2012:

The new world record shows 8,251 qualifying participants

 at 189 locations on 4 continents! 

This far exceeded our 2011 record 

of 5026 simultaneous cloth diaper changes!

(from the GCDC website)

I can't wait to see if we break the record this year!!

I wasn't able to attend last year because the event was held on the same day as my cousin's bridal portraits. I did her makeup, plus I was her Matron of Honor, so I had to be there. And I wouldn't have missed seeing that for the world! In April of 2011, I had just started my cloth diapering journey, and I hadn't even heard about the Great Cloth Diaper Change, so I missed it. Next year, unless I have another child between now and then (which I highly doubt will happen! haha), C won't be eligible. Plus, I REALLY hope by next April she'll be completely out of diapers!! So 2013 is my only chance (until baby #2 comes - if that ever happens) to attend.

Even more exciting is my local chapter of the Real Diaper Association is hosting an event! So we won't even have to travel far to do this. Plus, I registered early enough that I'll be receiving a "swag bag" tomorrow full of goodies. I have no idea what's in there, but I feel like a kid at Christmas. ( :

It will be so neat meeting more mamas that use cloth diapers on their babies. I have one friend that uses cloth, and I'm a member of a facebook group for local cloth diaper users. I did attend one local cloth diaper meeting, but they've since changed their meeting time to when I'm at work - boo. So I'm excited to be around other mamas with babies with fluffy butts. I love seeing what diapers work for other people. And I love seeing all the cute prints on those little bums!

Here's a a few of the requirements for tomorrow's event, set forth by Guinness:

~Each location must have at least 25 participants (and they must be at least 18 years old). 

~The baby being diapered must be 39" or less.

~The diaper must be 100% reusable (no hybrid diapers), and commercially available. So no WAHM or self-made diapers unless they are sold on Etsy or a site like that.

There has to be witnesses and pictures taken to prove that we did, indeed, all do the change at exactly 11am, and that we weren't lying about the number of participants. I'll just be hanging out with C and putting a diaper on her - no work involved. ( :  And yes, the diaper will immediately come off since she wears big girl panties all day!

Speaking of that, I'm very curious to see how this goes for her. She absolutely refuses to wear a diaper during the day now. If I even mention it, she flips out. I'm sure I will be bribing her tomorrow to let me put on on her briefly - haha. I'll be sure to post a recap of the event on Monday, and hopefully I'll have a few pictures to share! I can't wait!



In other news, this weekend looks to be pretty relaxed. No plans for tonight, and the only thing on the agenda for tomorrow is the GCDC event. Maybe I'll convince my friend to take the babies to the park or something after lunch. Sunday, another friend's baby is turning 2, so we'll be going to her birthday party. That'll be fun. I love watching C interact with other kids her age.

So yeah, we have 2 events planned for the weekend, but for us, that's pretty slow. The next few months are going to be so busy...just like the last few have been! I'm definitely ready for a vacation (which should be happening late in May - woohoo!). Next weekend we'll be going to the NC Pickle Festival, and that's always a lot of fun. I'll also be having a girls' day with my best friend, and we're going to a spa!! I'm so excited. ( :

Potty Training Update!

I think the last time I blogged about our adventures in potty training, C wasn't too thrilled with the idea. Last summer, she was well on her way to being potty trained - I could take her out of the house in big girl panties and she'd do really well. Then suddenly, she decided the potty was terrifying. For months she wouldn't go near it. Nothing happened to her on the potty, so I'm not sure where the fear came from, but you know how kids are, especially toddlers! Kind of like the weather in NC - if you don't like what you're getting, wait 5 minutes!! (Speaking of that, we had sleet/freezing rain/snow on Friday, today its 39 degrees, and in a few days its supposed to be in the 70s!)

Thankfully, about a month ago C decided she does, in fact, like the potty, and doing her business in it. My mother-in-law had her in big girl panties for a large portion of every day, though not all day, and she was having 2-3 accidents a day. But she was trying! At home, however, she just wasn't into the potty. I could get her to pee in the potty right before her bath, but that's about it. We kept trying, though, since she was interested during the day.

About 2 weeks ago, a rash popped up on her hiney (not in the typical diaper rash area, on her butt cheek). It looked like a bug bite, so I didn't think much of it until it started itching her a few days later. Well, the area got bigger, redder, and started to look raised up. I finally realized it was probably yeast and started treating her with Lomitrin (athlete's foot/fungal cream). She had a rash similar to this when she was younger and the Lomitrin cleared it right up. Unfortunately, that didn't happen this time. I've had my mother-in-law keep C out of diapers as much as possible since letting the rash get air seems to really help more than anything.

Thankfully, C has really taken to potty training now. Some days she doesn't have any accidents! She only had 2 all weekend with me, and one was completely my fault (she told me she had to pee, but I thought I could wash her hands first - we were eating lunch. She tried to hold it but couldn't!). I even took her to church in panties yesterday! We were there 2 hours and used the potty 3 times, but that's okay. Her bladder is small. ( : At a wedding shower yesterday, she used the potty I think 4 times in 2 hours. Whatever it takes!

I think she's a ways from being able to go without a diaper at naptime and definitely overnight, but this is a really good start! Yesterday she was even telling me when she had to go potty, as opposed to me having to ask her every 10 minutes. Progress!!

As for her rash....we're going to the doctor tomorrow for her 2 year checkup, so I'll definitely have him look at it. Yesterday I bought some Monistat and started putting that on it. I also started her on probiotics. 2 hours after using Monistat on the rash, it looked a LOT better and wasn't itching her anymore. Last night, though, she obviously slept in a diaper, and this morning it looked terrible again. :( Tonight this mama might just have to be brave and let that baby sleep in panties! I'm sure if its not better by tomorrow the doctor will give her a prescription.

I did try home remedies, too, in case anyone is interested. Apple cider vinegar seemed to irritate the rash more (which is odd because everything I read said ACV was very soothing to a yeast rash). Soaking her in baking soda didn't do a thing except relieve the itching while she was in the bath. I've cut out her bubble bath, and only use soap on her when its absolutely necessary (its winter, she's not gettin that dirty every day), and have stopped washing her hair every day (so she's not always getting shampoo on her skin). I don't know how long probiotics take to work on yeast, but we just started those yesterday and I didn't expect an improvement overnight.

The diapers will have to be treated for yeast, too, or it will keep coming back. *sigh* Friday I got some soap nuts and washed the diapers in that on Saturday, but they need more than that. The health store in town was out of grape seed extract, which is what is supposed to help kill yeast in diapers. I found out this weekend, though, that tea tree oil does the same thing. And I found out today that Walgreen's carries TTO (its in the ethnic hair section for some reason), so I'm heading over there this afternoon. TTO + Oxiclean + soap nuts = hopefully bye-bye yeasties! Let us pray.

I hate that my baby has had to suffer through this terrible rash, but at the same time I'm tickled that she's really potty training!! :D

Adventures in Potty Training

One of the many benefits of cloth diapering that I've heard from the beginning of my journey with cloth was that cloth-diapered babies tend to potty train faster. That certainly wasn't a deciding factor for me, but it was a nice little extra. Even though we wouldn't be continuously buying diapers for C, I knew it would be nice to have her out of diapers sooner. After diapering a child for 21 months, I can say that any time she's ready to ditch the diapers will be fine with me!

Not that its hard work, or even an inconvenience. Not really. Its just something I do. But it sure would be nice to stop doing it! Of course, once the diapers come off, we'll be rushing to the potty a zillion times a day (and at night, I'm sure). But C is starting to hate the changing table. Or anywhere that her diaper gets changed, actually. She used to love diaper changes, but these days she seems to think changing her diaper is the equivalent of getting vaccinations at the pediatrician's office. :/

C technically started potty training in May, when she was 17 months. That was the first time she peed in the potty. She's always came into the bathroom with me and watched me do my business. (Its easier to let her follow me rather than trying to rush while she's alone in another room! Plus I figured she'd learn by observing, and she did.) Earlier this year, I noticed that every time I put her in the tub she'd pee while the water was running. Then I'd have to drain the tub and fill it up - cause I'm not bathing my baby in pee water (even if pee is sterile)! So I got her a special potty seat (it goes on top of the regular seat, and the hole is smaller so she doesn't feel like she's falling in) with Sesame Street characters on it, and started sitting her up there every night while I started her bath. Eventually she figured out she was supposed to pee in there.

It went great for a while, then we hit a road block. So I invented the Pee Pee Song. From what I've heard, all mothers sing some variation of a pee pee song while potty training. But mine's more modern. Take that Luke Bryan song "Shake It For Me." Got that tune in your head? Now replace the lyrics of the chorus with this:

Pee pee, girl, pee pee for me, girl, pee pee for me, girl, pee pee for me!

Its a huge hit in our house. (haha) Most of the time I compliment the song with my awesome dance moves. Too bad I can't share those on the blog! Anyway, C gets a kick out of my performance, and that usually does the trick. Eventually, she started singing along with me.

We did the peeing-in-the-potty-only-before-baths thing for a while, then I realized that she could probably pee in the potty at other times, too. (I know, I'm brilliant. I mean, I do have a master's degree!) I told my mother-in-law about our progress at home with the potty, and she immediately jumped on board. She purchased C a bunch of training panties. Genius! I had been looking for weeks at my favorite cloth diaper store for cloth training pants. They are so expensive its ridiculous. And most of them are super thick like diapers. Which is great for accidents, but they seem to really absorb, which seems to defeat the purpose if you ask me. I purchased a few different ones, and ended up hating them. My mother-in-law went to good ol' WalMart and bought Gerber training pants. She knew I didn't want to go the Pull-Ups route (waaaaayy too expensive and we all know how I feel about disposable diapers!). These Gerber panties are basically underwear that are a little thicker than regular undies. They absorb just a little pee, enough to keep it from making a humongous mess. But not enough so that C can't feel it.

My MIL (mother-in-law) got lucky and was able to find some girlie prints at WalMart and K-Mart. Of course, when I went all I could find were boy prints or plain white ones - yawn. C wears a size 2T in the panties, and apparently they don't make much of that size. I guess because its uncommon for a child that size to potty train? Who knows.

Anyway, we had great success for a long while with the training pants. C slept in a diaper, I put a fresh diaper on her in the morning, and once she got to her grandma's she was in training pants all day except for naps (though she usually stayed dry during naps). Once I got home from work, I'd put training pants on her until bath time. Eventually, I got brave and started traveling with her in training pants. Only short drives, but still. She was very good about telling me when she had to use the potty, especially if we were somewhere other than home. I guess its more fun to a toddler to use other people's toilets? Yuck.

C had even started pooping in the potty! Not consistently, but she was getting the idea. During all this time, my MIL and I decided we weren't going to rush C at all. If she was 3 then we'd be pushing the potty thing, but since she's not even 2, we figure if it happens, great, if not, okay. Some days she doesn't like the potty at all. We just take it in stride. She does get rewards if she uses the potty. Usually a sticker, sometimes a treat. But I wouldn't say we bribe her. We don't say "you can't have this until you pee in the potty." But if we ask her if she wants to pee in the potty and she does, she gets a reward. (Not every time, though! Sometimes she just gets praise and a high-five.) C is very proud of herself when she uses the potty. She hasn't gotten the hang of wiping yet, but she tries. And she can't quite pull her pants up and down on her own, but she helps.

Well, lately, C's not really interested in the potty. Maybe its because she's teething, or because she's been sick, or because we're not pushing it. Who knows. I think my MIL still keeps her in panties some during the day, but I haven't asked lately. I still ask her to pee before her bath, but most days after work if I ask "do you want to pee in the potty?" and she says no, I drop it. And most of the time lately she says no. No big deal.

I didn't really expect her to be completely potty trained by the time she's 2, or anything like that. At first, I was confused as to why she seemed to be regressing in this area. But then I read that its completely normal. She'll get it straight, eventually. This time next year, if she's still in diapers most of the time, we'll have to start really working hard on it. But for now, we're just letting C set her own pace with this.

That's pretty much how I've done this whole mothering thing. I've listened to my baby from day 1, and I've gone with my instincts. So far, its worked for us. People told me to get her out of our room long before I did (she was 5 months when I moved her from the bassinet beside our bed to the crib in her room), people told me to get her used to a bottle long before I did, people told me to start her on solids long before she let me know she was ready (she tasted solids at 6 months but didn't eat them regularly until 9 months), people have been telling me to wean her already for almost a year now. And when people find out I still rock her to sleep every night and at every nap time, they say I should be able to lay her down and she put herself to sleep. Well, what C tells me is almost always the complete opposite of what everyone else says. She knows what she needs, I just have to listen to her and ignore everyone else. She's only gonna be a baby once in her life; why rush her to grow up? She will when the time is right. ( :

My...er, my child's diapers

Okay, so I bought them. I wash them. I stuff the pocket diapers. When I'm not at work, I'm the one that changes them. But I guess technically, they're not my diapers, since I don't wear them. Whatever. I still refer to them as mine.

I've said it before, but I absolutely love cloth diapering. It makes me happy when I think about how much money I've saved my family by not having to purchase disposable diapers all the time (not to mention wipes and diaper pail bags!). It makes me happy when I see my baby's fluffy butt in a cute color or print. And it makes me happy that her diapers won't be sitting in a landfill for eons, not decomposing.

I don't mind the extra "work" involved with cloth diapering. Really, the washing machine does all the work. I just turn the knobs. Yes, I had to figure out the best washing routine for our washer and our water, but that wasn't too difficult. And the diapers don't have to be neatly folded and put away. Some people leave them in a clothes basket and never fold them. But I'm anal about things like that, so mine do get folded and placed into a dedicated cabinet in C's room. I also like to stuff the pocket diapers all at once so I don't have to do one every night. But none of that is hard. Its just...life. To me, at least. I don't even mind dumpin her poop in the toilet. (Which is what you're supposed to do even with disposables, did you know that? Human solid waste is not supposed to go to a landfill.) Especially now that she goes with me to the bathroom and watches, then says "bye-bye, poop!" as I plop and flush it down. So cute.

I thought I'd share what diapers I use on C, and explain why. I use a mix of different types of diapers. Most people I've talked to use just one type or brand. I didn't go crazy trying different things in the beginning, but I decided I liked a little variety. A lot of people I know use solely pocket diapers (I'll show mine later in this post). I didn't like that idea because a) they're bulky, b) you can't reuse the shells of the diapers (I'll explain later), and c) that's a lot of stuffing!! You can get some super cute prints in pockets, though...!

The majority of the diapers I use are called prefolds. (I realize now that I should have taken these pictures on something other than a white background...sorry.) The picture on the left is a prefold opened all the way. You can see how it quilts up, that helps with absorption of liquids. When you first purchase prefolds (if they're new), they're a lot bigger and flat. They have to be "prepped" - washed and dried several times (I think I did mine 4-5 times), and then they will shrink and quilt up, making them more absorptive and ready to use. The picture on the left is a prefold that has been trifolded. That's how we use them on C. You can fold a prefold different ways and fasten it with diaper pins (the old fashioned way), a snappi (I do this occasionally - snappis are not sharp like diaper pins), or some other newer contraptions on the market. But to me, that's too much work when trifolding it works! Oh, and prefolds are very cheap. I got most of mine for around $2 each. There are more expensive brands out there, but I've been happy with mine. (And I have no clue what brand they are anymore!)

Obviously, you need somethin to hold the prefold on the baby. That's where a cover comes in. Covers range widely in price. I tried the Kawaii Baby covers and fell in love. They're cheap (around $6 each), are practical, solids colors, and have a handy little flap in front that holds the prefold in place nicely. I have almost every color that Kawaii makes in their covers: white, baby blue, pale yellow, lime green, and pink. Here's my blue one.

Those snaps you see on the front are so you can adjust the size of the cover. These can be used from birth to potty training! C still has plenty of room to grow in these, if need be. You can see in the second picture the flap I was talking about. Sometimes when she was smaller and still had those explosive poos (you know the kind I mean!), some of it would get on the flap, but not always. I also love the fact that the inside of these covers is soft, not plasticy feeling like some other covers I have (I'll show them next). I also chose to use velcro (technically, hook and loop) closures instead of snaps. Snaps are supposed to last longer, but to me velcro is easier to adjust and more user-friendly. I haven't regretted going with hook and loop.

Here's a shot of a prefold in the cover.

Pretty simple.

When I first started my cloth diaper research, I read a lot of reviews about the Best Bottom system. I had to give it a try. At first, I loved it. Then I went through a phase where I absolutely hated it. Lately, I'm on okay terms with my Best Bottoms, but I still prefer my good ol' prefolds and a Kawaii cover! Here's a BB cover:

 


Very similar to the Kawaii cover on the outside (most covers pretty much look the same on the outside). The inside is where its different. First, the BB covers have exposed PUL (polyurethane laminate) on the inside. PUL is what makes diapers "water proof," basically so they don't leak. Sometimes the exposed PUL bothers C's skin, especially if its a hot day. That's really the only think I don't like about the BB system. You probably can't see it in my picture, but there are two snaps on the inside of BB covers, one at each end. These snaps hold the insert in place. I like that. You can also use a prefold with these covers, and I do that all the time. That cuts down on the amount of PUL touching C's tender skin. But these covers are not as stretchy as the Kawaii ones, so I feel like they're tighter on C, which is a good and bad thing. They do a great job of holding in messes, but I feel like sometimes they are a little too tight. I only have 3 BB covers: the pink and yellow one below, and 2 solid white ones.

Here's a shot of the side gussets of the BB cover. I really like this. Those gussets really form to her chubby thighs and keep messes in.

 And lastly, here's a shot of the cover with an insert snapped in. The inserts I bought are the mediums. I also purchased 2 larges, and they are just a little longer. They also come in smalls, but I didn't see any need to get those since she was around 5 months old when I bought these. This diaper system can be used from birth to potty training, as well, though you probably will have to purchase the different sized inserts to keep up with a growing baby, which means more cost. Best Bottom recently came out with a potty training system. I purchased a set thinking I would love it, and I hate it! Its just basically a set of panties with the PUL lining on the inside, and you snap the inserts in just like the diapers. Only it is a royal pain to get the inserts in the panties without it bunching up. Its a good idea in theory, but in my opinion, it just doesn't work.

For nighttime diapering, I decided to go with pocket diapers. Pocket diapers can be stuffed differently depending on what your baby needs. In the beginning, I only stuffed mine with one insert and that did the trick. As C got older, though, she started peeing more at once, so I went to 2 inserts. Soon, I realized I needed a little something extra, and I discovered hemp liners. I forgot to take a picture of my inserts and liners, but they're not exciting. The inserts came with my pockets. Every brand I know of comes with 2 inserts. And I bought HempBabies hemp liners. They are incredibly thin strips of hemp fabric, but they absorb a lot of wetness. With that addition, we don't get any leaks at night, and C stays in her diaper around 12 hours most nights.

The best part about pockets is that if its a good one, it leaves the baby's skin feeling dry. Meaning she's not laying in a wet-feeling diaper all night. C's little hiney is dry every morning, unless she's just peed. The inserts are microfiber, which does a wonderful job of absorbing liquid. Microfiber can't touch the skin, though, because it will suck all the moisture out of there, too. So those inserts are only used to stuff pocket diapers.

Again, I decided to go with the Kawaii brand of pockets. They're much cheaper than some other brands out there (around $9-11 each, while some brands run closer to $20!), and in my opinion, work just as well. I have several Kawaii pockets. I also got a free bumGenius pocket diaper with an order once. bumGenius is one of the top-rated brands, but it doesn't perform any better than my Kawaiis. And the one they gave me has hook and look closures, and after a year, they are having trouble sticking. My Kawaii pockets are all snaps. I figured snaps would be safer at night, since they won't get caught on anything and peel open like velcro can. Plus, snaps are harder for little fingers to open! I have no desire to wake up to a diaper free baby, haha.

Here's one of my favorite Kawaii pockets. This one is a minky fabric on the outside and it is super soft inside and out.



When I first started buying diapers, I told myself to be practical and get gender-neutral colors. That way, if we ever have a boy I can use the same diapers. I really did try! But I couldn't resist some of the girly ones. I don't see why the blue cheetah print above can't work for a boy...right? ( :  My other pocket diapers are solid pink, solid purple, solid yellow (gender neutral!), and I have one more print, a Kawaii lime green with white and yellow daisies. Oh, and I bought a Fuzzibunz pocket a while back to give it a try. Its not my favorite diaper, but I like that it is much trimmer than the other pockets. If we used pockets all the time instead of just at night, I'd probably go with Fuzzibunz (even though they're more like $17-20 each). The one I have is a reddish orange color and says "Does this diaper make my butt look big??" SO cute!

As for my wipes...I am extremely simplistic here. Lots of people purchase actual cloth wipes, and that's all fine and dandy. But they're expensive and honestly, who cares? They don't need to be pretty and they don't need to absorb, they just need to wipe and clean up hineys. I just bought cheap baby washcloths from Target and Walmart (Target's are larger, but I don't have a preference). I also cut up the thin blanket the hospital gave us. DH was kinda upset over that one, but honestly, we would never have used it since we got a gazillion baby blankets before C was born. Plus, this way, I figured we'd see the blanket daily for years. Craftier people would sew the edges of the cut up blanket so they don't fray, but not me. I don't know how to sew, though one of my goals is to learn. The fray doesn't bother me at all.

You can buy fancy-schmancy cloth wipes containers, too. Or even use wipes warmers that are designed for disposable wipes. But C's never had warm wipes on her hiney, so I didn't go that route. I just keep a few wipes in a disposable wipes box with a little water. I only keep enough for a day or so in there so that the water doesn't get all nasty. I just wring out a wipe when I need one, and that's pretty much it. Some people use special wipe solution for cloth wipes, which actually wash the baby's hiney, but I don't see a need in that. Plain water works just fine, and I don't have to worry about anything irritating her sensitive skin.

So that's it. I have probably 3 dozen prefolds (give or take), 5 Kawaii covers, 10 Best Bottom inserts, 3 BB covers, 1 Fuzzibunz pocket, 1 bumGenius pocket, and 4 Kawaii pockets. Oh, and one random cover I bought from a WAHM (work-at-home-mom) that I just couldn't resist. Its not one I use often, though. It doesn't fit very well and has the exposed PUL on the inside. Plus, after a few washings the sides started to pile and fray. But its still cute (picture below). I have enough diapers to get through 4-5 days without washing. I don't recommend that, though, because they do get smelly in the diaper pail. I'll do another post on my washing routine and all that. These days, I only wash diapers twice a week, since C is slowly potty training and most days only uses 2-3 diapers a day (she's in training pants most of the day), plus a pocket at night. I have enough diapers that I could probably just wash once a week, but that would be nasty! ( :

Why I Chose To Cloth Diaper

Cloth diapering is probably the "crunchiest" thing I do. (It wasn't the first, but since breastfeeding is such a controversial topic, I'll save that one for later!) It has come to my attention that "crunchy" is not a term that everyone is familiar with. "Crunchy" is basically another term for "green" or "environmentally friendly." I like the term because it sounds cooler (haha). Plus, "green" gives the impression that I recycle like a maniac, only buy natural or organic products, and am vegan. But that's not me at all (especially the vegan part - I very much love meat!). A friend of mine says I'm hippie. I see why she says that, but "hippie" makes me think of dreadlocks, weed, and "peace, love, and happiness, man." Also not me. So "crunchy" it is!

There are lots of "things" I do that make me claim to be crunchy. And like I said, cloth diapering is probably the most crunchy thing. When I first started using cloth diapers, many people had negative reactions. Here's a sample of questions/comments I heard in the beginning:

Can't you afford REAL diapers?
What do you do with the POOP??!
Don't you have to wash them, like, every day?? And doesn't that take a lot of time, not to mention electricity/water?
That is disgusting.
That's too much work.

And the list goes on and on. I think now that I've been cloth diapering for about 15 months now people have finally accepted that it's just my thing. I've even convinced some that its a better way to diaper. I have to admit, when I first started learning about cloth diapers, I had some of the same thoughts. I knew cloth diapers was what my generation was diapered with, way back in the day. I knew some people probably still used them, cause they couldn't afford "real" diapers. But that's about all I knew. I never had any desire to look into the subject. In fact, at our baby showers, we got so many disposable diapers, we had enough to last until our baby, C, was 4 months old, and we were estatic!

I first heard about modern cloth diapers when C was about 3 months old. I was googling baby pictures to get some ideas for her upcoming photo shoot. I stumbled across one baby portrait and the baby was wearing a cloth diaper. It was SO cute that I started researching where to find a diaper like that. I didn't realize that it was an actual diaper, though; I thought it was just something cute for a photo. That one little picture started it all....I found cloth diapering websites, youtube channels, chat rooms, all kinds of things online. And I learned. I thought it might be something I'd like to try, so I bought a diaper. My first purchase was a Kawaii Baby pocket diaper, and we did use it in C's photo shoot. I also found a woman in my town who was giving away her old diapers. I met up with her and got a bag full. Unfortunately, those diapers were so worn out I wouldn't even consider putting them on my baby, but they were useful for my research.

When C was around 4 months old, we ran out of disposable diapers. It was Easter weekend. She has very sensitive skin (just like her mama), and the only diapers that didn't bother her too much were the Pampers Swaddler's Sensitive. And of course they were hard to find. On Easter Sunday, DH (that's "Dear Husband!") and I went to WalMart to get a pack of diapers. They were out of the Swaddler's Sensitive in C's size, so we bought the Pamper's DryMax. Well, in my opinion, those diapers are pretty much the devil. Poor baby C's butt looked terrible after just one diaper change.

Right then and there I decided I was going to try cloth diapering for real. I did a TON of research, and decided that prefolds and covers would be the best option for me. Well, prefolds during the day, and pockets at night. (I'll do more posts later on the specifics.) I started out using the cloth only part-time, just when I was home with C. Then I started sending her to my mother-in-law's in a cloth diaper, but providing her with disposables to use throughout the day. When C was around 6 months old, I asked my MIL (mother-in-law) if she'd give the cloth a try, and she said yes. After that C was cloth diapered full-time. MIL still had a few disposables left over, and occasionally she'd use them up, but every time C's poor little hiney would get a rash. The same was true for the disposable wipes. When I started using cloth diapers, I switched to cloth wipes as well. Once we all made the switch, disposable wipes really bothered C's skin. There's just so many harmful chemicals in those things!

Obviously, the chemicals in disposable diapers and wipes don't bother every baby, so that's not a good motivation to make the switch. It was a huge factor for me, though. Cost was another factor. Once we ran out of the diapers we got from our showers, I started figuring up how much disposable diapers would cost us. Holy cow, its a lot!! I "saved" over $800 by using cloth diapers in the first 12 months (if only I had actually saved that money!). It would have been more if I'd started using them sooner, when C was going through more diapers a day.

Convenience was another factor for me. I never have to run to town to get diapers or wipes anymore. "Running to town" around here is not the simplest thing in the world. I mean, yes, we have cars and all, but we don't live near town. The closest one to us is 15 minutes away, and the WalMart there doesn't normally carry the kind of diapers that we used to like (at least, they never did when I needed them). So the next option was the bigger town about 30 minutes away. Not exactly a quick run. I never run out of diapers now, because I have more than enough for several days and nights, and then I just throw them in the washing machine.

Cloth diapers are environmentally friendlier than disposables, too, though that wasn't a huge consideration for me (I am ashamed to say). Disposables just sit around in landfills and take for-freakin-ever to decompose. Plus, then you've got human waste sitting around in landfills - ew. When you use cloth diapers, the poop goes into the toilet and into the septic system, where it belongs. Doing something better for the environment wasn't the major appealing thing for me, but I did think it was pretty cool and it did make me feel good!

One more motivation for me: the cute factor. I know, I know, its a diaper, it holds pee and poop - what's cute about that? But, seriously, there some adorable ones out there! And yes, I care about how my baby's butt looks under her dress.

I am proud to say that I cloth diaper. Its not a lot of work (I'll talk about that in a later post). I enjoy it. The only time C gets diaper rashes now is when she eats something that doesn't agree with her stomach, and sometimes when she's teething.

But my favorite thing about cloth diapering? Its led me to make more "crunchy" changes in my life. It opened up a whole new world to me, one I've thoroughly enjoyed exploring. ( :

For more information about cloth diapers:
The Real Diaper Association
Green Mountain Diapers - Tons of really great info, though I've never ordered from this site.
Dirty Diaper Laungry - She also has a YouTube channel.
Sweet Bottoms Baby Boutique - This is where I got the majority of my diapers. They're in NC and they offer free shipping!

Hello and welcome!

Hey ya'll! I'm Nikki. Being an obsessive blog reader for quite some time now (we won't go into details about just how obsessive I am...!), I decided it was high time I started my own blog. (I've actually had one for years, but its become more of a diary of sorts, so its terribly boring to everyone but me.) Here, you'll find a wide mix of topics, including country life, crunchy living (more on that later), food, cleaning, health/beauty, parenting, and much more -  basically, whatever interests me. ( :

To start, here's a little background info on me. I live in a very rural area of North Carolina, born and raised here. I got married back in 2009 to my sweetheart, who would probably prefer to remain anonymous for now. We had our first child in 2010, and she is currently 19 months old (my, how time flies!!). The husband and I both work full-time, and I am blessed with a good mother-in-law who keeps my daughter. We live on a farm of sorts. We have horses, cows, chickens, ducks, and rabbits. And the standard dogs and cats. And a garden. The husband does a little crop farming on the side, and he runs a side business as well (yeah, he stays busy!). I sell Mary Kay on the side, too, though I'm not very successful at it, if truth be told. Oh, and I teach horseback riding lessons, as well.

Having a baby completely changed me. I know lots of people say that, but I can honestly say that every aspect of my life has changed (in a good way) since she's been born. I've learned so much about myself, my marriage, and life. I've become crunchy. (Like I said, more on that later!) I've become so many things I never dreamed I'd be, but I love it. I certainly don't claim to have it all figured out, but I invite you to join me on my journey to learn more. I'm constantly learning ways to be "green," save money, be a better mother, be a better wife, and be a godly woman. (Yep, I'm a Christian.) Its taken me a long time to realize I needed to make some changes in my life, but now I've jumped in with both feet and I'm lovin it! God's got an awesome plan for me, and I'm doing my best to be what He wants me to be.

Stick around, you might learn somethin useful with me along the way. At any rate, you're sure to be entertained! ( :