Cloth diaper stash

I finally have all of my cloth diaper stash and supplies. I totaled out at 26 diapers, which is enough that I would only need to wash every 3 days. I have been washing every 2 days, not sure if I will go to 3 or not.

First a couple of diaper explanations.

Pocket diapers have a pocket that you stuff with an insert, the insert absorbs all the moisture and the pocket creates a barrier between the insert and the baby's bottom. The pocket stays dry as the insert wicks away the moisture. The inside of a pocket diaper is usually made of fleece since fleece doesn't hold moisture well and it allows for easy passage of moisture to the insert. You can stuff pocket diapers with microfleece inserts, bamboo inserts, or hemp inserts. You have to take the insert out of the diaper before washing. Most pocket diapers have a waterproof outer made of PUL fabric.

AIO stands for all in one. This means that the diaper is ready to go and be used at all times. No need to stuff a pocket or anything, you simply put it on the baby and that's it. These are most like a disposable diaper since there is no prep work needed. They do take longer to dry and they are not "customizable" the way a pocket diaper is where you can put any kind of inserts you want in the diaper. The inside of an AIO diaper is usually not made of fleece but other fabrics like organic cotton. Most AIOs have a waterproof PUL outer like pockets.

OS stands for one size. Some diapers come in different sizes and some are one size only, meaning the diaper has enough adjustability to last all the way from a tiny baby to a toddler ready to be potty trained. I only have OS diapers. Sized diapers are not as bulky, OS diapers tend to be on the bulkier side but last longer.

Microfleece inserts are the cheapest kind of inserts and are usually what comes with a pocket diaper. They are on the bulkier side.

Hemp inserts are much more expensive than microfiber but are much thinner and thus reduce bulkiness of the cloth diaper. They are very absorbent.

Bamboo inserts are more expensive than microfiber but less expensive than hemp. They are the trimmest/least bulky of all the inserts.

So here is my stash!

Rumparooz OS: I have one Rumparooz diaper in yellow. It is a pocket diaper with fleece inner. What I like about Rumparooz is the double leg gussets, meaning elastic around the legs on the outside and on the inside of the diaper. This diaper tends to be pretty trim, so if I'm looking for a diaper that's not bulky I might choose this one. It has velcro closures.

Rumparooz

Fuzzibunz Elite OS: I have one Fuzzibunz Elite OS diaper in turquoise. It is a pocket diaper with a fleece inner and is very trim. This is one of my trimmest diapers. It has snap closures. A good daytime diaper, they are too small to be stuffed at night but it is nice to have such a trim diaper for day.

Fuzzibunz

Kawaii Velcro Square Tab OS: This is a Kawaii Baby diaper in red. I have a lot of Kawaii Baby because they are very inexpensive but comparable in quality to the more expensive diapers. It is a pocket diaper with a fleece inner. I only have one Kawaii with the square velcro closure.

Kawaii Baby

Kawaii Snap Square Tab OS: This is a Kawaii Baby diaper in pink. It is a pocket diaper with fleece inner. It has snap tabs. Almost identical to the red diaper above, the only difference is the snap vs velcro closures.

Kawaii Baby 

Tots Bots Easy Fit OS: This diaper is kind of a cross between a pocket and an AIO. It does have a pocket but the insert is actually attached to the diaper. It does not have a fleece inner but is bamboo. The insert is also bamboo. I love this diaper, the fit is perfect and it is fairly trim. The inside is so soft. It has velcro closures. I love it because you get the best of both worlds of a pocket and an AIO. It dries quickly since the insert comes out but since it's connected it makes stuffing the pocket very quick and easy. They also come in really fun prints. I have 5 total, from top left cherrylicious, tutti frutti, yellow, mushroom magic, and white.  This is one of my favorites.

Tots Bots

Charlie Banana OS: These are very similar to the fuzzibunz. They are pockets with a fleece inner and are very trim. I have two in orange and light blue. They have snap closures. As with the fuzzibunz, these are good for day but not for night.

Charlie Banana 

Smartipants OS: Smartipants are definitely one of my favorites. I have three total in bubble gum pink, lovely lavender, and mellow yellow. These are pocket diapers and I am not sure what the inner is made of. It doesn't seem to be fleece but is very soft. I like this diaper because the pocket opens up at both ends instead of just one so they are very easy to stuff. They are also very trim and the fit is absolutely perfect on Cameron. They have snap closures. They have less snaps than other diapers which I like better because it makes it easier to close up the diaper.

Smartipants 

Bumgenius Elemental AIO OS: These are my only true AIO diapers. I have two, both in clementine. I really love the fit of these diapers. The insides are made of organic cotton. The organic cotton is stiffer than the fabrics used in my other diapers but very absorbent and I can't imagine we would have any leaks with these. They have snap closures.

Bumgenius

Kawaii Minky Snap Square Tab OS: The only difference between the other snap Kawaii diaper and this one is this has a minky fabric outer. I have one in this green, brown, and pink dot print. It is a pocket with a fleece inner and has snap closures. The minky outer does make it bulkier than other diapers. This one is good for overnight because it has a very large pocket to stuff with extra inserts, but that makes it bulky.

Kawaii Baby

Kawaii Bamboo OS: This Kawaii diaper is very similar to the diaper above but it has an inner made of bamboo instead of fleece. I have one in tabby cat print. It also comes with bamboo inserts instead of microfleece. It has a minky outer and is bulkier like the one above. I love the bamboo inside, bamboo is very soft.

Kawaii Heavy Duty OS: This is the diaper I have the most of. Basically, they are cheap but compare very well in quality with the more expensive diapers. I have 8 total, two are not pictured because they are doubles and wouldn't fit in the picture. I have one in pink, purple, blue, and white, and two in yellow and lime green. They are kind of your basic pocket diaper. They have fleece inners, velcro closures, and are fairly trim. They are versatile and work well for night and day, trim enough for day, and a large enough pocket to stuff with extra inserts at night.

Kawaii Baby

The whole stash (minus a couple that are dirty). I have 26 total, there are 23 pictured here. Two are dirty and one is on Cameron :)

These are my inserts. The first on the left is a Kawaii bamboo. This is by far my favorite insert and I use all bamboo during the day. They are extremely trim and incredibly soft. Using these inserts makes cloth diapers almost as trim as a disposable. The middle insert is a Bumgenius microfleece doubler. I don't like microfleece for its thickness but these doublers are much thinner. Doubler just means that it's not meant to be a lone insert and only to add extra absorbency in combination with another insert, hence the name doubler. But that is why they are thinner than normal microfleece inserts, they only add absorbency so they don't need the same amount of thickness. I use these during naptime when Cameron needs more absorbency in the front of her diaper since she sleeps on her belly. You don't actually put these in the pocket but lay it on top. It has one layer of fleece which goes against the skin. The last insert on the right is hemp. These are thicker than bamboo and fairly stiff so I do not like them for daytime. But they are incredibly absorbent and don't add a ton of bulk so they are great for night. At night I use a bamboo insert plus a hemp insert. I can leave her in the same diaper for 12 or 13 hours and her bottom is still dry in the morning, it's amazing!

These are my wet bags. They are made of waterproof PUL fabric so I can throw all my used cloth diapers in the bags. Then I carry the bags down to the washer, throw the diapers in and throw the wet bags in.

You need a cloth diaper safe cream for your baby's bottom. Most creams will not come out in the wash. This is one of my favorite baby products ever and I wish I had known about it sooner. It is called CJ's Butter and it looks like a thick beige paste in the pot. But when it is applied to the baby's bottom it literally melts, just like butter (hence the name)! It then looks just like an ointment. It is a protective/preventative cream that can be used with every diaper change to protect your baby's skin from any moisture. It smells fantastic!! There are a lot of different scents but I have warm vanilla cake, and it smells just like that, a freshly baked vanilla cake. Mmmmm!

Cloth diapering update

When I posted on Wednesday about our decision to cloth diaper we had only test run a few diapers and were still in the process of really switching over. Now we have been fully cloth diapering for a couple of days so I thought I would talk about my initial thoughts.

Overall, I absolutely love cloth diapering. We have most of our stash (still waiting on a couple more diapers to come in the mail) and I love all of the different diapers we have tried. I am mad that we didn't start sooner! I definitely do not regret switching so far.

The way most of the diapers are made is with a pocket that is made of fleece and then you stuff the pocket with an insert that absorbs all the pee. The insert wicks all the moisture away from the fleece and the fleece stays completely dry, hence Cameron's bottom stays completely dry. I love that part of it. I was worried she would feel wet when I changed her diapers but she is pretty much never wet. Even overnight she stays dry. This was my main concern as it would allow for more diaper rash to pop up if she was sitting in wetness all the time. Not only is she never wet, but the fleece is SO soft!! I can't imagine how much more comfortable Cameron is having a soft fleece diaper on her bottom and around her legs rather than a papery diaper!

We have had no leaks or poop blowouts to speak of. This was my other major concern, disposable diapers had always worked so well for us in that area that I was worried I would regret rocking the boat if we had an issue. I am happy to report though that cloth diapers are just as effective at retaining urine/poo as disposable diapers.

The diapers are so adorable on Cameron. I talked a little about this in my previous post but I am loving how cute the cloth diapers look on her more and more every day. This past week it got pretty hot in our house so I gave her lots of diaper time which I didn't mind at all. In a way I was still able to dress her up without even putting clothes on her! Cloth diapering is just fun. I know some people wouldn't agree with that statement but picking out which diaper she wears next makes diaper changes enjoyable. And I have to say that I kind of enjoy the cloth diaper laundry. If any of the chores in the house fall behind, it won't be cloth diaper laundry. I like having fresh, clean diapers and putting them all away knowing they are all ready for Cameron to wear again.

I had bought a bunch of disposable diapers in advance thinking that I would be saving myself the trouble for a while of having to go out and buy them. Well I was wrong about that but fortunately we were able to go and return them all this morning. We got $200 back which almost paid for my cloth diaper stash. Getting all that money back felt really good and now I can start saving money every month!!

So after just a few days of fully cloth diapering I can say I am a believer. We did keep a backup stash of disposable diapers for things like going on long trips where we won't want to deal with cloth diaper laundry or if Cam gets a yeast diaper rash again like she did while she was on antibiotics and we don't want to spread it throughout the diapers. And like I said in my last post, I will definitely do a picture post detailing what is in my cloth diaper stash but we're still waiting on a few things.

Cloth diapering

Yep, I said it, we're switching to cloth! Cloth diapering is something I had been considering since I was pregnant. But then life happened, Cameron came so early and I just had other things on my mind. When she was in the NICU I couldn't make the commitment because I was overwhelmed with other things. We also had the issue of her being so tiny that she wouldn't fit into cloth diapers for a while. Well, now she is bigger and life has calmed down so I got back to thinking about it. Finally I tried one out and decided I liked it enough to make the switch. Josh wasn't exactly thrilled about the idea because of the gross factor of reusing diapers, but honestly what do people think babies wore for all those years before disposables? Cloth! They have been used for ages!! Way longer than disposables!

Why am I cloth diapering? **Disclaimer: I am not saying that there is ANYTHING wrong with disposable diapers, this is just how I've come to feel about them**

First and foremost, I don't like the chemical smell when she pees. That is the main reason I'm switching. I know the UTI had nothing to do with what kind of diapers she wears but that is what brought the issue back to the front of my mind. She was put on antibiotics, got diarrhea, and got a bad diaper rash and I could only imagine that the chemicals weren't helping. Not saying disposable diaper chemicals cause diaper rash or anything like that, and who knows if the chemicals really even touch her skin, but every time she peed and I could smell the chemicals it would bother me. So anyways, that's reason number one. I'm sure Cameron would be just fine and the chemicals probably wouldn't even affect her, but for some reason I can't get past it anymore.

Reason number two, money. It will save us quite a bit of money over the years that she is in diapers. Josh and I could always stand to save some money and this is a great method of doing so. We use about 8 diapers a day and at 18 cents a diaper that is about 525 dollars per year. It only cost me about 300 dollars to put together a diaper stash that will last the whole 3 years Cameron is in diaper. So it will save me about 200 dollars the first year and the full 525 the second and third years.

Reason number three is because they are super, duper cute and much easier than you think. The cloth diapers many people think of are the old fashioned kind that you have to fold and pin. Well, modern day cloth diapers are MUCH different (at least the kind I'm using). They act exactly like disposable diapers, there is no folding or pinning or anything, you simply put them on the baby and hold them shut with velcro just like a disposable diaper. Then you take it off and throw it in a wet bag, and when you have a full load you transfer all of the diapers into the wash. It really is that simple. If they poop you do have to shake the poop off into the toilet but I personally don't think that's that big of a deal. I will be washing them every other day and it is easier than normal laundry, no folding involved! Then there's the cuteness factor, they come in fun colors and patterns and Cameron looks darn adorable in them!

Reason number four is for the environment. I like to think I am environmentally conscious. While this isn't the main reason I'm switching it definitely is a plus. I can't feel bad about the fact that I am more green because of cloth diapering!

Here are a couple pictures of Cam in one of her cloth diapers. I will go more into the details of what my cloth diaper stash consists of in another post!

Checking herself out!