Disclaimer- This post is about diapering... hence the title. If you don't want to hear about diapers, or information regarding my daughter's bathroom experiences, you can skip this blog. Again (sorry!) there are no cute pictures of Grace (next one, I promise)
Back in 2009, when we were planning what we would do with our baby (that we were positive we would be expecting soon), we had decided to cloth diaper. We knew it was better for the environment, and long term more cost effective for us too.
We never lost this thought process entirely. It wasn't immediately feasible with Grace because we didn't know what size she was going to be at homecoming. Then life got busy with her at home, and who had time to research and buy cloth diapers in the first weeks and months of learning how to parent?
As it came time to register for new baby, I decided that now was the time to research, put the diapers I choose on the registry, and start cloth diapering both kids when he arrives.
Okay, so this week I will be about a month from my due date, and just two weeks from what is considered term (i.e. he wouldn't be considered premature if he arrived then). However, our latest big box purchase of disposables for Grace started to run low last week. We had to choose to jump into cloth diapering or to order another big box (not cost effective to do small packages).
We went for cloth diapers! Very exciting.
We made our choices and ordered what I thought we needed, and waited for them to arrive.
There are a lot of great posts about cloth diapers out there, and this is not intended to be one of those, but just our experiences.
So, we had 3 diaper covers from a friend to start. We ordered 6 gdiapers, 12 cotton cloth inserts, 3 hemp inserts, and one bumgenius freetime all in one. In addition, we ordered a few other items to help facilitate cloth diapers.
Now, I will be the first to admit that I am NOT the most patient person. The adoption process helped grow me in this area, but still, I don't wait well for things, especially if I don't have to. So, the cotton inserts and the one bumgenius arrived before the gdiapers. I felt that thanks to my friend's three covers, we could make it on the four. I was wrong. I needed the gdiapers.
Day 1- Started the day with diaper cover number 1 and an insert. I had to replace the insert once, but overall this diaper combo did good for a while... and then it leaked, so I had to change the cover as well as the insert. No problem... went to a second diaper cover, this one that fastened with velcro. Trouble is, I have a toddler... who kept undoing the velcro. Which means that 1- I had to keep chasing her down to refasten it and 2- Diapers are not very effective when they are only half on.
Okay, no problem, I went to my bumgenius (since the other remaining diaper cover was also velcro, and would have the same problem). Guess what... she chose this time to go #2. The problem with this is that while the diapers that are covers and inserts can just have the insert replaced, the bumgenius are called an all-in-one... which means when it has to be changed you have to change the whole thing.
For those of you doing the math, this does mean that by 2pm on my first day trying to cloth diaper...I was out, and back to disposables.
I really liked the bumgenius, so I decided to run out to a store that I knew carried them and buy three more, especially since two of my three covers were not going to work with my daughter.
Day 2- Now equipped with four clean bumgenius diapers and one possible diaper cover (though it was actually a bit small, and I think that is why it leaked) I felt confident that today, I could make it.
She started the day in diaper 1... and went number 2. Goodbye diaper 1.
Diaper 2 went on, and was worn until Grace and I needed to leave for errands. I wanted to make sure I had the best chance of success at no leaks and the same diaper for the errands, so I changed diaper 2 before I left, and even added an insert to diaper 3 for good measure. Worked great.
Got home from errands, and changed diaper 3. I knew I was in the last bumgenius, but with the cloth insert, it lasted so long in the morning, I was feeling good that we MIGHT just be able to make it to dinner time or close to it (which means her bath and the nightime diaper that we haven't switched over to cloth yet because we still had a lot of them). Nope. #2 strikes again, and for the second day in my cloth diapering adventures... I only made it to the early afternoon before she was back in disposables.
However, I DID get my gdiapers order on this day, so I knew we could make it the next day.
Day 3 and 4 went well now we had 6 extra diapers. We start the days in a gdiaper, so that her first #2 only gets an insert dirty, and we can keep using the cover. We replace the insert a few times during the morning, and then around lunch switch over to the bumgenius, which I like better and are more absorbant thanks to more layers. If needed, I can switch back to gdiapers by the end of the day, and keep going through the inserts till bath time. I think both days ended with two gdiapers and two bumgenius diapers used, which gets me to my goal of every other day wash (as opposed to every night which had been the previous few days). Good stuff.
The added benefit of the gdiaper is that they also sell disposable inserts for them, so we can do a hybrid cloth/disposable diaper for people watching her to not have to worry about what to do with the cloth insert, and they can just dispose of the insert like normal. They are velcro, but the velcro is in the back (smart people there) so she can't undo it herself. They do need to be changed more often though.
The bumgenius is more absorbent, and so can last longer without needing a change, and also is a good value for its ability to be different sizes, and the same diaper can grow with your child, or in our case be used for both children, even at their different ages, depending on how you snap it.
I think we will stick with our combination of gdiaper and bumgenius, and though it is a little early to tell, at this point, both Blake and I feel that the change was not that difficult, and we will be able to continue cloth diapering, even when our son arrives.
For those of you who need a visual- here is what the bumgenius looks like:
http://www.bumgenius.com/freetime.php
and here is a gdiaper:
http://www.joyfulabode.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/gdiapers2.jpg
The white in the picture is the waterproof liner with various options for inserts inside it. The outside is just cloth.
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