well.
we're doing it.
cloth diapers...
we've been at it for over 6 weeks now, so i feel like i can give my opinions (at least as to how they have worked with our baby so far).
plus, i have a less-than-secret goal of transforming as many minds toward cloth as i can.
reasons i wanted to do it:
1. i've always been a tree hugger at heart.
2. i had read that it can be thousands cheaper from birth-potty training. and i've also always been a cheap-o at heart.
3. they're crazy cute. and who doesn't want baby poop to come in an owl-patterned contraption?!
here are the conclusions i came to after a LOT of research online and at cloth diapering stores (yes, they exist. i'm not crazy).
there are a million ways to effectively go through the process.
here's mine:
thirsties duo wraps.
we only have 6 covers in size one, 6 in size two.
i liked this brand because they aren't one size, so they're less bulky, but two sizes isn't overwhelmingly more expensive, and with slightly less use they will be more likely to be used with more than one baby. one tip: the snap kind are far superior--last longer and wash better.
for prefolds, my favorite are cloth-eez prefolds--easy to use!
to attach, we use a snappi... and we use a pail liner that's by a local person, but the thirsties pail liner works, too. just with a regular trash can with a foot pedal lid.
basically, we wash using tiny bubbles detergent every three days--dump the diapers from the liner into the washer, rinse once without detergent, then wash with on hot and dry normally. too easy, really.
questions i had:
it's going to be hard, isn't it? it really hasn't been as tortuous as i (and everyone else...) thought.
does it stink up the house? not at all... though we are still just on breastmilk poop (then we have to break out the bum genius diaper sprayer...)
does it do weird things to the washer? no, because of the high heat cycle--it's always clean after!
does it give him a big butt? yes. for sure. haa. luckily i like big butts and i cannot lie.
are they way more complicated to put on? matt, who had never changed a diaper, changes him all. the. time.
are they hard to use when you're not at home? not at all! we just take a travel wet bag to put the dirty ones in, and wash those like the pail liner!
does he leak a lot? not at all!
that's all. that's just my life right now, and it was hard for me to figure out which ones to use... so i felt obligated to pass on my knowledge about poop.
