Return of the Cloth Diaper

I love cloth diapers. I really do. I first looked into cloth diapering when I was pregnant with Gabriella. I was really intrigued by the newer styles of cloth diapers... they look a lot different than the cloth diapers my mom used (prefolds, pins and rubber pants) and even the cloth diapers my sister used (fitted cotton diapers with covers.) I ended up chickening out because the initial purchase is a bit hefty and I was afraid I wouldn't like them.

We used disposables quite complacently until at about 4 months Gabriella started to blow out. We're not talking about a little diaper leakage here and there. I mean, every single poop every single day would explode out of her with impressive force. It would shoot right out that back of her Pampers, up her back and often it nearly reached her shoulders. Jonathan and I would compare horror stories, "I had one that went through three layers of clothes and covered the bouncy." "Oh yeah? I just changed one that got so far up it got in her hair." Seriously. I swear to you that it made it up to her hair more than once. We tried different brands of diapers, different sizes, but none could contain our sweet baby daughter's poo-explosions. I got so sick of trying to get poo stains out of clothing every single day that washing cloth diapers started to look a whole lot more attractive. They were at least meant to get pooped on. So, I ordered some diapers online, snapped them on her and waited for the poo-explosion. Lo and behold... they held. No slime up her back. No stain treating. No daily bath (OK, so we did still have to bathe the kid, but at least it was on our own terms.) That alone would've been enough to convince me to use cloth, but I discovered that there are a lot of good reasons to cloth diaper.

Why I love cloth diapers

• It is better the environment.
• It is better for my baby's bum. I use fleece lined pocket diapers. They are very soft and very good at wicking away moisture. No diaper rash. No exposure to the chemicals and bleaches used in disposable diapers.
• It is better for my checking account.
• They are way cuter and come in lots of colors.
• Studies show that cloth diapered babies experience a reduced rate of childhood asthma (because they are not exposed to the chemicals in disposables.)
• Did I mention that they look super cute and I can coordinate diapers with outfits?

I cloth diapered Gabriella quite happily until we moved to Portland. In Portland we encountered a big obstacle... married student housing only offered a shared coin operated laundry room. The coin-op front loaders didn't have options for adding extra soaks and rinses and pretty soon I was spending more in quarters than I would spend on disposables, not to mention the lugging the diapers down to the laundry. I did it for about four months, but finally put Gabriella back in disposables. When we moved to our new place I was very excited to have a washer and dryer and to be able to get the cloth diapers out for Juliana.

Here is Juliana in her ballerina print Happy Heiny

Cloth Diapering is easy. I use pocket diapers. Mostly, I use Fuzzi Bunz. They have an outer waterproof layer (called PUL. It is thin, soft and flexible. It is nothing like the rubber pants I sported in my infancy.) The inner layer is soft microfleece that wicks away moisture. You simply stuff the diaper with an insert to the absorbency you need. I stuff my diapers when they come out of the dryer and they are ready to snap or velcro on. Diaper changes aren't any more difficult than with disposables. Jonathan was the biggest skeptic of the whole cloth diaper venture, but before long he became a huge fan. He finds them easier than disposables (probably because I do the washing, but whatever.)

After the diaper change the diaper goes into the diaper pail which is lined with a reusable waterproof PUL liner. When I was the diapers I toss the liner in with the diapers, no touching anything icky. I wash every other day. Easy Peasy.

When I started I didn't think I would use cloth at night or out of the house, but I do both easily. I also now use cloth wipes. If you are interested in using cloth diapers I would love to answer your questions or point you to more information.