Venturing into Cloth Diapering!

Today I went to Cloth Diapering 101 at the Bumbledoo store downtown. I had been wanting to learn more about cloth, so this was the perfect opportunity. After looking at all my options, I decided on pre folds (the price probably won me over) and a BumGenius all in one. Basically I wanted at least a few all in one diapers for when the kids are at Sunday School (church) or grandma's house. All you have to do with these is change them and throw them in a wet/dry bag! Easy! Pre folds are not difficult either from what I understand. Basically you take the cloth, fold it around your baby, close it with what they call a "snappi," and put on a cover. The cover is the water proof portion. You don't have to wash this unless it gets soiled. So from what I hear the covers will be washed 1-2 times a week while you will wash the cloth every other day. I'll be doing more laundry, but thank God for the washer and dryer =). I'm home anyway working with both the kids and job, so it will just mean an extra 2-3 trips to the garage every other day. I'm also planning on line drying. We will see how that goes, but the sun is supposed to bleach out any bacteria that could be left in the cloth. Here are a few things I've learned from friends:

*Use a detergent that is cloth safe. No dyes, perfumes, brighteners, etc.. I use All Free and Clear and they say that is fine although the Bumgenius site says warranty is void if you used detergent with a brightener. SO, I might be changing detergents for that reason.

*Throw diapers in a wet/dry bag at home or on the go: http://www.kellyscloset.com/Planet-Wise-Wet-Bags_p_3436.html (Home bucket. Thank you Jessica Crosmun)

*Wash every other day

*Strip diapers (dawn original formula soap) about every 6 months

*Cold pre wash to get all the "nasty" off, hot wash with detergent (use less than recommended. The less detergent the better), and cold rinse with nothing.

*Use the hose attached to the toilet to initially rinse diaper into the toilet

*You need about 24 one size diapers or about 12 of each size if you are using sized diapers.

Ok, so I learned a lot today! I sound like a cloth diaper guru and I haven't cloth diapered my first child yet =). Thanks friends for all of your advice and tips!

So why cloth diaper? Well, according to Urban Mommies.com (http://www.urbanmommies.com/babies/diaper-cost-comparison-sheet/ ) disposable diapers cost anywhere in the range of $2500-$3200 from birth to potty trained. Cloth diapers range from $400-$1,000+ laundry in the range of $540 (mostly dryer use). BUT with cloth you can use them for more than 1 child and/or SELL them after your done! SO, you make money back if you properly take care of them (or just use them for 2-3 kids). I don't know about you but that sounds like a cost savings, and I squeak every time I go to Target for more diapers and formula. Next month Elizabeth will be one year old and all you mom's know what that means (whole milk! YAH!). I wish I could have breastfed for longer than 7 months but I couldn't, so formula prices bite me in the wallet. I'm hoping diaper prices won't after the initial investment!

What else did I purchase? A sprayer for the toilet, a training diaper for Gabriel, a snappi to close the cloth diaper, and a wet/dry bag. Wish me luck people!!!!! I'm hoping to use these for the next baby Barnett.

Bumgenius all in one:

Prefolds:

The cover looks just like the outside of the BumGenius all in one above.

Hose that hooks to toilet:

and last but not least, the snappi:

More to come on this venture! My diapers are currently going through their "prep" cycles. Basically you have to wash and dry cloth diapers 3-5 times before initial use to make them super absorbent, soft, and pre shrunk. This part isn't fun. I'm not liking this, but I guess I won't have to do it often. I should have bought more diapers before doing this (only doing it with 7 right now), but I didn't want to buy a whole stash without trying them out... Again, wish me luck!