Thursday, July 7, 2011

My baby's got back: cloth diapering

My husband and I agreed we go the cloth diaper route when we found out we were pregnant. Not knowing what we were getting ourselves into, I signed up for a cloth diapering workshop through New & Green Baby Co.

The teacher made it all seem pretty easy. She discussed all the different types and brands of diapers and explained how to wash and care for them. Not wanting to spend time experimenting with different brands of diapers, I followed my teacher's recommendation and chose TotsBots Easyfit diapers.

The start-up cost of cloth diapering is a major deterrent so most online diapers stores have a gift registry. I registered for 20 diapers plus accessories (specially formulated detergent, dirty diaper bag, diaper pail liner, etc) on the New & Green Baby Co. site.

There are a few features that make the Easyfit stand out from the rest:
  1. the lining and insert are made from a bamboo and polyester making them very absorbent
  2. the insert is removable for quicker drying but it never gets lost, because it's attached at one end to the diaper
  3. the closures are velcro, making them easy to close when you're half asleep, but have a special  tab to stop the diapers from attaching to each other in the wash
Tots Bots Easyfit cloth diapers

My one complaint, besides the cost, are the colours Easyfit come in. Ugh. (Side story: When I bought the remaining diapers on my registry, I selected as many neutral-coloured diapers as possible. I bought all of the white, and what I thought were "mushroom" coloured diapers, the online store had in stock. You can imagine my horror when upon receiving the diapers I discovered the mushroom diapers were not a soft grey or taupe but instead a psychedelic pattern of brightly-coloured, cartoon mushrooms.)

The first two weeks of cloth diapering have been pretty hassle-free. I've found they are surprisingly easy to wash and care for. And plus, they give Pud this adorable big bum.

Photo credit: Olive&Ash Photography

I'm sure cloth diapers must have some drawbacks that we haven't encountered yet. So I've decided to document our experience using them to see how our feelings change. Each month I'll review the maintenance, fit, and most importantly, the absorbency of the diapers as Pud grows from an infant surviving solely on breast milk, to a terrorizing two-year-old eating adult food. Will we still as positive about cloth diapers in two years? Will we still be using them?

2 comments:

Melissa said...

So last night I was with Chloe and Jen ... and usually they are prepared to talk all things baby. So when I brought up "how do I know which cloth diaper to buy?" I was ready for a good discussion. Instead I got "read Steph's blog already" and so I did. Thanks! Melissa

Unknown said...

Hopefully the cloth diapering posts were helpful Melissa! If you have any questions, fire away. Also, I'm always interested to learn about other people's experiences with cloth diapering so pass on any thoughts or insights.