Cloth Diapering, Third Baby's a Charm

I am an attorney, as is my husband. We currently live in Berkeley with our two daughters, and are expecting our son this May.

With our first child, I shuddered at the thought of cloth diapering. I had decided it was not for me before really knowing anything about it. Then, one of my closest new mom friends started cloth diapering and learning and sharing more about it. I became somewhat interested, but my husband was adamantly against it, and being a law student married to a law student, we already struggled to keep up with adult sized laundry, let alone that of our new babe. Then, with our second child, things in our lives were even more hectic, my husband was taking the California Bar Exam just 4 days after our second baby was born. He maintained his reservations, and told me that he would not change a cloth diaper. Thus, due to circumstance, it just wasn't an option for us.

Then, however, when our first daughter was about 3 years old and finally potty trained during the day, and our then 19 month old was nowhere near being potty trained, I became frustrated and appalled at how much we were spending on diapers. (I am painfully aware of the waste treatment issues and the fact that it takes 500 years for a disposable diaper to decompose). I found myself buying large boxes of diapers to be used for our larger daughter only at night, and for our toddler day and night. Not only was it costly, but incredibly wasteful and daunting. Afterall, the disposable diapers simply did not hold the amount of liquid we needed them to, regardless of brand, size, absorbency. Every night, at around three or four in the morning I would hear the familiar, "Mama! Come change me, my jammies are wet!" and of course they were, along with all of her sheets and blankets. There had to be another way.

It was then that I decided that I was done buying disposables, especially with another little one on the way. I also keep on top of all of our laundry and the girls', I figured it wouldn't be too daunting to do a load of diapers every other day. So, I decided that I would buy cloth diapers, since I could use them for both girls and their soon to be here little brother. Plus, once my three year old is night trained, I can use the diapers for another one of the kids, and it won't be a waste of money or material.

It was important to me to do my research in advance, afterall, I didn't want to buy a diaper that would be too small for a 3 year old, or too big for a newborn. I got in touch with my friend who had CD'ed her two little ones all along, as well as some other moms online, and gave them my two daughters' sizes, and my criteria, and based on that information placed my order. I had heard the prefolds were one of the least expensive ways to get into CD'ing, so I picked up an Econobum, and my friend sent me some that her girls had outgrown, along with a Bummis cover and a Fuzzibunz pocket diaper. I ordered two Thirsties fab fitteds size large that were on sale for my 3 year old to wear at night in addition to two covers and 4 of the BabyKicks joeybunz hemp inserts, since I had heard these worked well overnight. I also picked up a Flip diaper, to see how that compared to pocket diapers.
With my first order from Kelly's Closet, I received a free KaWaii diaper, an economical pocket diaper, and I loved how well they held up for the price, so I made sure to pick up a couple more in my next order. I also ordered a Happy Heinys and a Knickernappies, upon another mom's recommendation, and a bumGenius, for good measure. For my next order, I received a free Rumparooz, which I anticipated as being the perfect fit for our newborn, since big thighs run in our family, and it didn't fit my girls that well. I've since received another Rumparooz, a camoflage Kawaii, and a cow print Kawaii as gifts for my son's stash (thank goodness for cloth diaper baby registries!), and I ordered a few more Econobums and bumGeniuses for my daughters. I try to take full advantage of the different sales, and keep up on reviews from both friends and blogs.

I started out with All Free & Clear, but after reading detergent reviews, was happily surprised to find that our local Whole Food's carries Planet, so I switched to that. My husband admits that the laundry isn't as bad as he thought it was, I got a laundry hamper and drying rack on sale at Ikea, and we've slowly gotten into a comfortable routine. My older daughter comments about the colors of the diapers, and I point out which ones will be for her soon coming little brother. The picture I've attached is of my first order of diapers and prefolds from a friend, which I've since added to. My stash is definitely a source of pride. I only wish it had worked out for our family sooner!

By Caitlyn