Let the cloth diapering begin!

  You know that "oh my gosh" moment you have, that moment you realize you have a brilliant idea that you can't believe you didn't think of it sooner. Well that's how it was with me and cloth diapering. So I've been constantly looking into it, trying to figure out where to begin. Some days I would be excited to try to start up, and other days, I didn't really feel like doing it. I figured I would just stay with the disposable diapers and leave it at that. I asked several people about it, and looked at the different styles and kinds of diapers out there.
  My Mom said she tried cloth diapering my sister (her oldest child) but ultimately chose to use disposable diapers instead. I'm sure my Husband got sick of hearing me talk about cloth diapers and how I was so interested in trying it. I can't tell you how long I bugged him about trying them. I think the real kicker was telling him how much money we would end up saving after we initially got our stash of cloth diapers built up. The only problem is cloth diapering can be overwhelming to anyone who is new to it, and it's a bit pricey starting a stash up. So my advice for anyone starting out, don't fret, there's always someone willing to help you. Luckily we have a local store that sells cloth diapers.
  So the only problem we had was finding affordable cloth diapers to get started. I had been talking with my sister-in-law about cloth diapering because she asked me about it. I had been talking so long about doing it, and she asked for information and if we had started. At that point I sadly, had not started using them yet because we were in the process of figuring out which ones we wanted to use. I wasn't able to get out to our local cloth diapering store yet. So I sent her what information I had, and she sent me different information she had been finding. So one day, she sent me a message telling me about a local organization who helps low income families in their journey into cloth diapering. WIC is constantly sharing different things with their families about things that will possibly help them. I went to a breastfeeding support group one day, and had a good time. So WIC definitely looks out for their families.
  So I sent in an application to see if we would be accepted into their program. A few days later I received an email that they wanted to set up an appointment with us. I was thrilled that we'd be able to cloth diaper and save some money in the process. I'm so thankful that there are organizations out there like WIC and Heiny Helpers. While I was extremely excited for this appointment, I was a bit bummed how far away the appointment was. I read on Facebook about a sale on cloth diapers at our local store, The Green Nursery. So Sunday, April 22, 2012 I went into the store and was amazed to see all sorts of diapers. I thought this trip was going to be simple. Drive there (which took me some time to find), pick up a diaper and leave. It was NOT that simple. A woman came out and explained all the different kinds of diapers. I won't get into all of them, because I don't know very much about every single one.
  After hearing everything she had to say about all the different diapers, it was an easy choice for me. I picked the Flip diaper. What this is, is a shell that has two flaps, one at each end. You stick an insert in, and snap it up and you're done. When it's time to change, you pull it out and replace it with a new one. I figured this would be easiest to start out with, and it was the cheaper option to start out with. So I purchased a shell and a box of three inserts. I couldn't wait to get home and slap that sucker on Chester's bottom. I should mention, I picked a lime green shell, because greens my favorite color.
  I arrived home, got the diaper put together and on Chester's bottom. Already I loved it. He looked cute as all get out, and I was just so excited to actually be doing what I had wanted to do since I could remember.
                                                  So here he is in his lime green cloth diaper:

Now, I haven't taken pictures of the process of doing it yet, because I was just super excited to get it on him, so I'll be doing that for the next cloth diaper blog. I did was his liners this evening though, and here is a picture of those:

Basically, they look like huge maxi pads. They're so simple to wash, and they so soft on his bottom.


  Now, cloth diapers take special laundry detergent or you'll have problems with leaking. I used some of what I received at the baby fair. I decided not to use the wash machine, because I didn't want to run it for 3 liners and waste a ton of water. I used a bit of water in the tub, added the liners and detergent, drained the water, rinsed the liners and soaked them in clean water. Then I made sure to ring them out very well and laid them out to dry. I'm very excited to get more into cloth diapering. I want to try out different kinds. I love the one I have now, but I feel different kinds would be good for different occasions. Also, I wanted to add that I went on a search for liners, some that wouldn't cost me an arm and a leg, and found that Walmart sells a pack of ten Gerber pre-folds for about $14. I spent about that much on the pack of three. Now I know that money was well spent because the three liners are AMAZING, but I'm glad to see that I can buy the pack of ten.


  I'm so excited to be cloth diapering. I've wanted this for so long now, and now that Craig is on board with the the whole thing, it makes it all the more exciting for me. This is just the beginning of the research I'm going to be doing and trial and error, finding which type of cloth diaper we like best. I haven't even ventured into the idea of cloth wipes, I'd like to take this one day at a time. So for now, that's a shell and three liners. After our HH appointment, I'm sure it will open my eyes to tons of different possibilities.


  I'll be sharing all the details about my journey and the obstacles and fun we have along the way with this. I'm stoked to share this with anyone who reads.