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Yesterday I received a bunch of packages in the mail bearing the fruits of my online shopping labor. It was a bit like Christmas in September.
Here’s what I got:
Dyed Prefolds
Tie Dye set
I’m going to paint something on these, but I’m not sure what exactly yet.
From Gramma Paula, a M&M shirt in our favorite color!
And today I got the Babylegs that I ordered.
Quite dashing aren’t they?
No not that kind of diaper problem…
My problem is I can’t stop buying them. Unless you have cloth diapered, you won’t understand why this would be a problem. It’s not enough to just diaper your baby’s butt. Of course you could, and it would be cheap and work well, but it’s infinitely more FUN to not just diaper your baby, but have very cute diapers and covers to go over them.
We mainly use prefold diapers, which are sort of a rectangle shape with extra material sewn into the center to make them more absorbent. They are one of the cheapest and versatile ways to cloth diaper. And you don’t have to use pins (although I choose to) and plastic pants anymore. Cloth diapering has advanced WAY beyond that. If you don’t want to use prefolds, you can use fitteds, which are just like a regular disposable diaper, except they close with snaps or velcro. Unlike prefolds, they have elastic legs to keep everything contained. Then just put a wool cover over the top and you’re set.
WOOL? I hear you asking… Yes! Wool doesn’t have to be itchy and scratchy like the sweater your mom made you wear in cold weather when you were a kid. There’s tons of different types of wool and wool fabric that takes away the prickliness of wool and is soft enough to use as a pillow (if you really want to use a diaper cover as a pillow…). Wool has a naturally occurring component in it called lanolin that makes it waterproof. That’s how sheep stay dry in the rain! As you use the wool product, the lanolin gets worn away and you simply wash it and re-lanolize it with lanolin you buy at the store. Also, wool has a sort of “self cleaning” property to it. The fibers trap any moisture and let it evaporate instead of holding it close to the baby’s skin. This makes it very breathable (good for getting rid of diaper rash) and cool. I generally only wash my wool covers if they get poo on them.
But what if you don’t want to be bothered with all of that? NO problem. You can use an All In One diaper or a Pocket diaper. All In One diapers function exactly the same as a disposable. There’s an absorbent layer (free of the chemical gel stuff used in disposables…yuck) that is sewn onto a waterproof layer that’s usually made of PolyUrethane Laminate (PUL) and the whole thing closes with snaps or velcro. You simply wash it after using it instead of throwing it away. Pockets are similar, but instead of coming with an absorbent layer, they have a pouch or “pocket” that you can put your own absorbent material in. You can use prefold diapers, microfiber towels, or buy special inserts that fit into them. It’s very customizable.
Having said all of that, it really seems like you spend a lot of money cloth diapering. You can. You definitely can spend some bank on cloth diapers, but you don’t have to. Our initial stash of diapers cost less than $200 and they lasted for 4 months. I could have stretched it out longer if I would have invested in more doublers (inserts that you stick into the diaper to give it more absorbency…like for overnight or naps). I’ve spent about that much since then upgrading sizes and replacing a few things that I didn’t like. Here’s the best part about cloth though…when I go to have another baby I will be able to use everything over again because I won’t have thrown anything away. The things I replaced were sold to other people who wanted them (for about 80% of the price of what they were brand new). There’s just a ton of good things about cloth diapering and I have loved it. It’s about a thousand times easier than I thought it would be. I even love doing the laundry (which for me is saying something)!
Speaking of…going to go fold me some diapers…
My daughter went to get the mail the other day and I heard her say “Cool, someone sent us Pop Tarts!”. She brought down this…
I think it’s brilliant! If I bought Pop Tarts, I would definitely start using the box to send things. It beats spending money on those stupid mailing package things that I have to go buy every time I want to send something.
Anyway, inside it was this…
It’s a medium Bummi’s Super Whisper Wrap (I have no idea why it’s called that…it certainly doesn’t make him whisper) that I got from the For Sale Or Trade forum at Diaper Swappers . Yes, it’s USED diaper paraphernalia…I never thought I would do it, but I’ve had very few problems so far. It’s a diaper cover made out of PolyUrethane Laminate (PUL) which is a waterproof material that keeps his diaper from leaking onto his clothes or whatever he might be sitting on (like my lap). Since we use mostly prefold diapers, this is an absolute necessity…for the most part. Most of you probably have no clue what I’m talking about. I’ll have to make an “all about cloth diapering” post sometime soon. It’s really not as icky as most people think. I know I was surprised by how easy it actually is. People always ask me “But what do you do when he poops”. Duh! What do all mothers do any time their baby poops? They clean it up and get on with life. The only difference here is that people who use disposable diapers throw their baby’s poop into our landfill where it will seep into our ground water, while I wash our diapers and the poo goes the same places everyone else’s goes…in the sewer. See, it’s better for everyone!
Time for me to show my geektastic cloth diaper tendancies…
This is the first time I have ordered anything custom made from anyone. I’m getting some of this yarn from Tiny Lady Cooperative. It’s Blue Faced Leicester, also called “poor man’s cashmere” because it’s very soft.
The name of the colorway is “Hagrid” (from Harry Potter…gee I wonder why I like it).
I hope to have this yarn knit into some longies for Travis for the winter time. Longies are wool pants that also function as a diaper cover to go over cloth diapers in colder weather. The way wool prevents the diaper from leaking is from the natural lanolin in it that forms a waterproof barrier. It’s also very breathable, which helps reduce diaper rashes.
I’m so excited!
