Then, I moved to Cleghorn. I started going to a MOPS group at our church and one of the months there was a presentation done by some of the moms on cloth diapers. I got one surprise after another. The first of which, was how many mom were doing it! I found out there were several moms in MOPS that used cloth diapers and several more that were planning on using them. The other thing I was surprised by was how cute, yes, cute they were! There were pretty girly colors and fun designs! Another thing that surprised me was that not a single diaper on display was stained. They were all nice and white! The moms doing the presentation talked about how they NEVER had blow outs or diaper rashes. That was what surprised me the most. After dealing with Hayden and her blow outs, sheet changes and multiple outfits a day I couldn't imagine anything holding that girl in. But, even after a beautiful presentation, I still wasn't a believer.
Several months passed and I started getting to know a lot of the other moms that used cloth diapers. Kellie, a HUGE advocate of cloth diapering, was working on me pretty good. I got all kinds of information from her; got to see the diapers up close and personal, breakdown on cost savings, "green" benefits. Then I started talking to Kyle. "Do you think this is something we should think about?" "What if I spend the money on the diapers and hate it?" "Would you use them or would I change all the diapers from now on?" I went from being completely grossed out and never even considering cloth, to thinking it may not be a bad idea.
I have to admit for all you "green" people out there, that is not my primary concern. I love our planet and I believe that God wants us to take care of it, but I also believe that this world will be long gone before disposable diapers cause the destruction of mankind. The main reason I was thinking about it was the cost. I had finally gotten Hayden out of diapers and really liked not buying them any more. Plus, if they really were as good as everybody said then maybe I would really like them.
So, I took the plunge. After LOTS of talks with Kellie I finally decided to go with Flips. A few weeks before Brynlee was born I bought 7 covers and 18 inserts for less than $200. I got the special laundry soap that was cloth diaper approved and had all kinds of fun looking at my crisp white inserts and bright colored covers when they arrived.
After Brynlee was born I waited for quite a while to put them on her. They looked so huge! Technically I think you can start using the one size diapers (meaning they are adjustable and fit children all through their diapering years) at about 8 lbs but Brynlee was born that big and I still thought they seemed really big for her. And plus, when they are first born they pretty much poop in every diaper and don't ever go very much. I just felt like it was a waste of laundry. I used the nb diapers I had and went through one package of size 1 diapers before I put them on her just 1 day shy of 8 weeks. What a cute little bum!
After using them for 2 months now I have to admit...I kinda like it! At first I was a little indifferent. I didn't love it but I didn't hate it either. I went through the diaper changing motions and just DID it. There is a such thing as disposable inserts for cloth diapers that I thought I would never use but I actually ended up using those when I went on a long day trip out of town. They worked great! I made a couple other out of town trips including vacation in Okoboji and used disposable diapers. For the Okoboji trip, it just made sense to use disposable. We were outside most of the time, on the beach, it was OOBER hot. Cloth diapers would have been hot, I would have had to change her more often and it would be a pain since we were in a stroller or car most of the time. But...I was surprised at how much I missed using the cloth! I went through more clothes because (as all you moms know) poop likes to shoot right out the back of diapers. Plus it was just plain weird not seeing her little bum in a bright pink diaper :)
Granted there are some things I do like about disposable diapers. 1) Wearing clothes that are actually in her size and not out growing everything so quickly (cloth diapers are bulky so you have to wear larger clothes a lot of them time). 2) How little her bum is and how I can just curl her little body around mine when I hold her...cloth diapers don't allow as much flexibility in the hips. 3) Baby powder...I LOVE the smell of baby powder! You can't use any powders or rash creams with cloth diapers because it messes up the absorbancy. 4) Sticking her toes up by her face and her mouth. Ok, so typing that out seems a little odd but I KNOW I am not the only one that does it! I love playing with Brynlee's feet and the flexibility of little babies as they suck on their toes or put their feet in their ear. It's not so easy when she has a big diaper on. Those feet just don't quite make it up to her face as easily as with a disposable diaper. Anyway, as you can see...the things I miss are quite trivial and no big deal at all. Totally worth the sacrifice if it means fewer poop stained clothes and not buying diapers any more. Yay for saving money!
A little note on the diaper styles. As I said, I have Flips and I LOVE them. I also have a few BumGenius which I don't love so much. The BumGenius diapers have a pocket and you stick the insert inside, whereas the Flips don't have a pocket and you just lay the insert inside. Brynlee tends to get wet around the waist and legs where it leaks out on the fabric. With the Flips, the insert doesn't even touch the elastic around the legs so we don't have that problem. Those are the only 2 styles I have tries so far but I think it's safe to say that I won't be trying any more with pockets :)
That is the latest on my most recent adventure. So I guess the moral of the story is...Never say never!
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