Cloth Diapering Update

So we've been doing the cloth diapering thing for month or so and its been going really well. I feel like we have really gotten into a groove with it and its become part of our routine. We haven't really had any problems thus far and have found cloth diapering to be relatively easy. When I talk about this however, I still get tons of confused looks and questions from people so I thought I would give some insight into how we do it and why we love it.

First of all there are a ton (and I mean a ton!) of options as far as what kind of cloth diapers to use. We chose to  go with the BumGenius 4.0 One Size diapers. What that basically means is that these diapers have a plasticy outer shell stitched to cotton inside. They have a pocket where you stuff in an insert into the diaper for more absorbency. You can find the specifics on our diapers here. We chose this kind because I had used them before and they are easy to use and easy to clean. The one size refers to the 3 rows of snaps on the front of the diaper so they can expand as our baby gets bigger. (That way as he grows, we don't need to buy more, pretty awesome.)

These diapers are awesome so far. I mean just look at how cute our little man is in them!

We haven't had any leaks or blowouts like we have with disposables. He also has had way less diaper rash in these guys than when he was exclusively in disposables. (Side note: I have nothing against families that choose to use disposables, I'm just letting you know what is working for our family :) Another thing we absolutely love about these diapers is that you only have to buy them once. We haven't bought a pack of diapers in almost 2 months. LOVE! Now these suckers aren't cheap but we were lucky enough to receive all our cloth diapers at our baby showers from our super generous family so we didn't have to worry about fronting the cost.

Ok, enough gushing about these diapers, how do you work these things? Well they are super easy as far as actually changing the baby, really similar to a disposable. Just slap it on, do the velcro and viola! As long as the diapers are pre-stuffed (meaning the clean inserts are put in the clean covers after they are all washed/dry) its a no-brainer. So how do we take care of the dirty ones? Its pretty easy too. We just us a regular trash can from Target with a diaper pail liner and throw them in there.

You do have to separate out the inserts from the cover for washing but that's not really too gross...yet. Since baby Steven is exclusively breastfed we don't have to worry about cleaning off the dirty diapers just yet. That's right, you can throw the dirty diaper with the, um...mess, on it and everything right into the washer. Some people probably think that's gross but I assure you it is totally fine. So we throw all the dirty diapers (inserts and covers separate) into the washer and wash on hot with the detergent and an extra rinse. Then we dry the inserts in the dryer and line dry the covers and viola, time to stuff diapers again. See, pretty easy! And really not that much work if you think about it. I do one load of laundry a day and save about $20 to $30 a week by not buying a pack of disposables. I say its worth it.

When Steven gets older and eats solids we will have to start cleaning out the messy diapers. But don't worry! Steve has installed a diaper sprayer like this one on our toilet to make that easy peasy too. Thus you just spray the mess into the toilet before throwing the diaper in the bin. So we will just add that one extra step to our routine, shouldn't be a big deal.

What about when we go places? What do we do then? Well turns out these cloth diapers are pretty portable. I just take along a wet bag in the diaper bag like this one and we are good to go. I just put the dirty diapers in there when we are out and sort them when we get home. Granted, the cloth diapers do take up more room in the diaper bag but that's about the only downside.

So overall we love our cloth diapers and they seem pretty happy to be a part of our family too. The best part is we should be able to use these for years to come...yippee! So yes, I am crazy about cloth diapering...or maybe just crazy in general. But there you go. If you have any questions feel free to leave a comment or just ask me!

Oh and here's a really cute picture of the baby :)

The Last Week

We are nearing my last week of maternity leave and it seems that once again time has moved faster than I could have imagined or anticipated. I was so lucky to be able to take an extended maternity leave and spend the first 12 weeks of my son's life taking care of him full time. What a blessing it has been to be able to hold, cuddle and love on that sweet boy 24/7 for the past 3 months. I have cherished our time together, baby boy!

It will be sort of sad not being able to be there with him everyday like I have been. If we could figure out how to make it work financially for us, I would stay home in a heartbeat. I have discovered that there is really no greater blessing than being able to spend time with my son, watching him grow and discover the world around him. I am envious of all the other moms who are able to stay home and enjoy that time with their children everyday. I wish we had that option right now, but we just don't. Hopefully someday in the future we will.

So I'm trying very hard not to be sad its my last week home with the baby, but its very hard. I am not looking forward to going back to work full time and being away from him for 11 hours everyday. Of course I am worrying about the transition, probably way more than I need to. I'm sure he will probably be fine. He is going to be in the best hands possible, with his grandparents. We are so blessed to have that support from our parents and we couldn't be more grateful. But that doesn't mean a mommy won't worry. Hopefully everything will go fine, but I'm sure there will be some tears (mine and his) on the first few days back to work. Wish us luck!