A Lesson in Cloth Diapering

That's right.  I use cloth diapers.  And the most frequent question I get about them from my peers is, "How are you liking the cloth diapers?"  They say it with a slight smile, as if they think they know what my answer will be before I give it.  I think they expect me to say (with an underlying "I-really-hate-them" tone in my voice), "Oh, they're ok.  But I wish I hadn't made the investment, because I feel guilty using disposables, but I'd really rather use disposables than cloth.  I hate stuffing them, and they're gross to rinse out, and I wish I'd never gotten them."  If you're honest, that's probably what you're expecting to read in this blog post.

But you're WRONG!  I LOVE my cloth diapers.  When I was researching them, before Lily was born, I wondered if such an investment would be worth it, and if I'd just hate everything about caring for them.  Well, let me tell you the answer to "how I'm liking the cloth diapers."  I love them.  And the biggest reason is that I end up doing way less laundry because of them.

What?!?  Less laundry???  Yep.  You see, I birthed a very talented child.  She can blow out of absolutely any kind of diaper I put on her... except cloth.  When she wears disposable, I end up bagging her clothes, soaking them, scrubbing them, prewashing them, scrubbing them again, hot water, cold water, Oxi-clean, Spray n Wash, stain-fighting detergent, rewashing, sun-bleaching.  I've done them all and all imaginable combinations thereof.  And I hate it.

But when my darling baby wears cloth, the diaper catches all of the nastiness that she can throw at it.  I joke that the disposables, when they see what's coming, simply surrender.  They don't want anything to do with that stuff - they're like France, waving the white flag.  But the cloth, they are like the Marines.  They're not afraid.  They do not give up.  The do not lose.  Wanna see a line up of my cloth diaper Marines:

That's them between battles.  I have a portable clothes line that travels between the back yard and the basement (depending on the weather).  It's where these amazing diapers recoup and prepare for the next round.  The sun bleaches them to be as white as the day I received them in the mail.  It's simply glorious.

For any of you moms interested in the kind of diaper I invested in, here's the scoop:  I bought Giggle Life diapers (12 microfiber, 12 bamboo).  I bought them because they were the most cost-effective at the highest quality I could find, and they got great reviews on the cloth diapering blogs I read.  They can be purchased on their website (http://www.gigglelife.com/catalog/) or on Amazon (that's where I found them).  Having used them for about 4 months now, I can attest to the quality and value of the investment!

They are what's called "pocket diapers" and here's how they work...

Above, the blue is the outside of the diaper, the white is the inside (of another diaper).  The white pad-looking thing in the middle is the pad you stick into the pocket of the diaper (see below):

If your child is a "heavy wetter" (particularly at night) you can put in more than one pad, or double up a pad at the front or back of the diaper.  Giggle Life diapers each come with 2 pads.  I use one pad in the diapers during the day, and 2 in the nighttime diapers.  When the diaper is dirty, I pull the pad out of the diaper, and throw both in my dry diaper pail (aka a trash can with a lid with a liner in it).  When it's time to wash, I throw them all in a cold prewash cycle, then in a cold wash cycle with detergent (homemade detergent works great - no dyes or perfumes), then hang them up to dry.

When they're all stuffed and ready to be used, they look like this:

What could be cuter than that???  Well, let me tell you - Liliana in a cloth diaper!  Behold...

Ok, so maybe the hat and pearls are overkill, but seriously, what could be cuter?  :)

One other thing I want to note is the quality of the Giggle Life company.  The diapers are manufactured in China, but from the research I've done on the company, they get them from China because they are the highest quality diapers for the best price that they could find.  And the manufacturer they get them from is reputable.

The company had a promotion in the month of February where you could leave a review on their site, and they would enter your name in a drawing for a diaper.  I never win such things, but I was so happy with my diapers that I left a review anyway.... and I WON!!!!  Can you believe it!?!  I was psyched about it for like a week!  It was awesome!  I have since received and initiated the new cloth diaper into the rotation.  So I now have a stock of 25 diapers that takes me about 3 days to use up.

What's the life lesson from this post?  There isn't one.  I simply had no idea how much I would love wrapping my baby's bottom in soft cushy microfiber rather than papery-disposable-trash.  I still use disposable eveyr now and then, but I often use my cloth even when I'm out of the house.  I love my cloth diapers - I don't hate rinsing them out (I have a hose thing that reaches from the shower to the toilet), I don't hate washing them, I don't hate stuffing them, and I certainly don't hate saving TONS of money by using cloth!

Oh, and I should note that in that picture, Lily is wearing only a diaper NOT because she pooped all over her clothes, but rather because it's a shame to hide baby rolls under clothes all the time.  :)