So this is what I first thought of.
You know, a piece of cloth held together by a couple of safety pins. I was definitely wrong.
What really drove me to start researching cloth diapers was hearing how awesome they were from people I knew who used them. I have a couple of co-workers who use them and my step-sister uses them as well.
Fortunately, for Adam and I, there is a great store called Time for Baby here in Kearney that has a good range of types. I won't go into all the details about the variety of cloth diapers there are but if you want to know more, I would recommend checking out The Diaper Jungle. The owners of the store are amazing and so knowledgeable and helpful. They showed me all of the different types, what they recommend, and the biggest difference between disposables and cloth. Besides the obvious (much more environmentally-friendly) the other big difference is cost and that is what really made me interested.
I would really love to be one of those people that is doing it for the environment, but for me, that is an added perk to the amount of money we are saving. You see, with cloth diapers, you buy the amount you need, your baby uses them from essentially birth through potty-training, and that's it. You don't have to buy diapers every week or every month-you pretty much use what you started out with at birth. Yes, it is an up-front investment, but if you look at the long-term, it is estimated you are saving about $2500.
Getting Adam on board was a little bit harder. Luckily, Time for Baby was having a cloth diaper workshop in which they discussed the different options they have and we could hear from real families about their experiences. Adam kept an open mind going into it and when he started to hear about how easy they were to use and the money we would be saving, he was sold. Especially since we can use these with future kids also.
Going to that workshop made me hear about all of the other benefits that go along with cloth diapering. Not only do they save you money, are good for the environment, but they are also great for preventing diaper rashes. I have read, and heard this time and time again. Because they material that is being used is so much more absorbent and chemicals aren't being used, they rarely give babies diaper rashes. This means a less fussy baby!
I definitely don't think it is for everyone and I do think you need to be committed to using them. Again, I didn't have the best attitude when I would hear about people using them, but I have had a change of heart and Adam and I are excited to use them.
Like I said, there are lots of different kinds, but Adam and I have decided to use the Best Bottoms brand. We like these a lot because of the ease of use, the reviews we heard from friends, and you don't need as many of them based off the material they are made out of.
Here are what they look like.
The material of the shell (the part that is colorful with the snaps) is water and stain resistant. Unless the baby makes a huge mess, you keep the same shell on, and just change the liner (the part that goes inside the shell that absorbs everything). The shells are the most expensive piece so if we don't need as many of those, that is great. There are some diapers out there that you have to wash the shell and the liners after every use which means you need a lot more of the shells.
Some 31 Week updates...
-Baby is about 3.5 lbs and is approx. 16 inches long. Apparently she is heading into a growth spurt. This must explain me needing to eat about every two hours and never feeling full...
-More recently, I have started to feel nauseous in the morning. I never had morning sickness in my first trimester but the past few mornings, even after I eat breakfast, I have a really intense wave of nausea. Not fun!
-Our little baby girl is starting to run out of room and has started to find a place for her little feet under my ribs. It isn't super uncomfortable, yet. Just feels weird.
Stay tuned the next couple weeks because I will be featuring our nursery reveal!
I really do like the ones you've picked a lot, but don't limit yourself to one kind. You may need a super absorber for over night or long car trips - such as a pocket style or all-in one-type diaper. Also, I've found that while your baby is still nursing, you pretty much have to change a shell every time they have a BM with the all-in-2 style diapers - they can get too messy to wipe out. However, they are great for the 15 > or < wet diapers a day she might have at first.
ReplyDeleteOne other tip - I would recommend not using them right after the baby is born or they could be permanently stained from the new born baby "tar." We waited a couple weeks to start using our clothes, plus they just didn't fit the first few weeks since we didn't buy the new born size.