Baby Booty

When we - or, more accurately, I - were contemplating the whole cloth diaper thing during pregnancy, my sister would send cloth diaper reviews from blogs that she came across (here, here and here). Getting the down and dirty facts from those in the thick of things was invaluable and much better than the FAQ section of cloth diapering sites. Now that we have some experience of our own, here are my initial impressions. Oh, and I realize that the only person taking interest in this post is my sister.


Let me start by saying I am sold on the whole cloth diapers movement (pun intended). For those tracking Daniel's opinion, he very eloquently stated "they're good". We initially used disposables until we could muster enough energy and diapers to transition to cloth (NOTE: During this time the massive amount of garbage being produced was just as astounding as the amount of money spent on disposables - really, I have no idea how people afford disposable diapers.) Obviously cloth diapering has some upfront costs, but it should pay for itself in a few months according to our calculations. I have also read cloth diaper babies get fewer diaper rashes and potty train faster - I cannot attest to either of these - but I am for both of those benefits.

Here is my other words of wisdom on the subject:

Germaphobes beware. No way to put this delicately - if the thought of handling the, uhhh, output of your baby requires gloves and lots of surgical soap then you either should A) invest in a cloth diapering service or B) pass on cloth diapers. I might add that as an amateur germaphobe myself (I have my moments) this was my biggest initial fear, but you do get over the shock of sticking your hand in the toilet pretty quickly once your child pees and poops on you...repeatedly. In other reviews, I have heard of people putting everything directly into the wash - no rinsing prior to the wash cycle. This creeps me out even more - I just cannot imagine washing machine technology being able to handle this on a daily basis and I am not down with poo-poo wear.

Get the diaper sprayer. Technically this is not an essential item for cloth diapering, but in the wise words of Matthew Mcconaughey's character in Dazed and Confused* "It'd be a lot cooler if you did." With the sprayers on back order, we did without for a few days and that was a few days too long, in my humble opinion as the dip, dip, flush technique leaves much to be desired. That's right - dip twice in the toilet and flush the toilet while holding one end of the diaper, repeat until clean or your back gives out.

Get cozy with your laundry room. If starting an in-home laundromat appeals to you, then cloth diapers will too. Be prepared to run lots of loads in order to keep up with the output of your precious little pooper. In my limited experience, the key is routine and keeping on top of the heap...and having disposables on hand just in case. Which brings me to...

Mix in some disposables. If you aren't superhuman, then chances are good that disposables will come in handy. Mostly when the laundering schedule just didn't keep up with real life or you finally venture out into the real world with the little bambino.

Now you might say to yourself, if she is going to complain about the work and getting dirty, why didn't she just go with a service? Very valid question. St. Louis does have a cloth diaper service, but they don't use the diapers I wanted to use. Plus dirty diapers sitting around for a week or more just didn't appeal to me.

Other notes - equipment:

• We chose BumGenius 4.0 diapers in hook/loop and snap closures.
• Get the spray hose and don't look back.
• For storing dirty diapers until the trip to the wash, we have a few wet bags that rotate. They are absolutely fantastic - they go in the wash with the diapers so cleaning them is easy, they take up little room and they come in assorted designs.
• The diapers do add a bit a bulk, although we haven't purchased onesie extenders, I am contemplating the buy.
• For the full enviro-friendly experience, go with cloth wipes. We tried this for a few weeks, but the wipes smelled funny in the warmer so we abandoned this mission. We may try again, making a homemade wipes solution that will keep the smell on the up and up.

* Regarding Mr. Mcconaughey in the movie Dazed and Confused: probably his finest acting job to date, in my humble opinion. Lovable and creepy in one go and his Southern accent has never fit better.