Change to Cloth Campaign - WINNER + RUNNER-UP!

Winner of 6 bumGenius pocket diapers: ERIN L.

I never imagined that I would use cloth diapers. It just wasnt something that had occurred to me. I knew that my mom had used them on me but that was about as much thought I had given it.

So when we were pregnant with our first child, and the cloth diaper lady came to one of our birthing classes to tell us all about cloth diapers, we sat and listened. Then once she started telling us the amount spent on disposable versus cloth my husband perked right up. He was the one that wanted to try them, think of all the money we will save and if you donate like them then we will just sell them.

Thus began our adventure in cloth diapering. Our oldest daughter was a week early and we had not received our diaper package. It was the basic most economically packs, prefolds, covers, snappi's and she added in a few Fuzzi Bunz in each size for night time use.

We had no idea what we were doing so it was all trial and error those first few months. I learned quickly that I preferred the pocket style diapers. So we ordered what we needed and went from there using the prefolds as stuffing.

Now 3 and half years later with 2 children I never imagined the impact that one simple choice would make in our lives. It changed the way I think of things and the way I look at our environment.

One of the major things was financially having 2 children 20 months apart using cloth has saved us thousands of dollars. What I had purchase for our first child I was able to use for our second so the amount of savings for us was huge. I also learned how great wool covers can be and started making wool soaker covers for our diapers to use, too.

We had never thought about recycling before using cloth diapers. It directly impacted that for us and helping us to see how much we use and what effects that will have on our environment. Not only did it help us save money it helped us realize how wasteful we were being. And has helped us learn slowly how to reuse certain items that we would have normally thrown away.

I love my cloth diapers. I love telling people about our cloth diapers and hope that by our story that will encourage others to use them as well. So far at least one of our friends has been converted to using cloth diapers with their new baby due soon.

It's the best thing we ever did for our children. It makes me feel good that by using cloth diapers I am doing something good for them by protecting them from harmful chemicals, and that by our use of cloth diapers we are directly impacting our environment for the better.

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Runner-up and new owner of 3 new bumGenius pocket diapers: AMANDA G.

There are so many benefits from cloth diapering that I don't even know where to begin. Let me start with how we became a cloth diapering family. We originally started out using disposables because when I thought of cloth, I envisioned (as many other moms do) sharp safety pins & noisy, bulky, diaper covers. Also, the only person I knew who had cloth diapering experience was my Aunt and she did not recommend it because of how difficult she felt that it was for her back in the day. So, I let go of the idea...for a while. Later, as finances grew increasingly tight & my daughter developed what seemed to be a never ending diaper rash, I decided to research cloth diapering online. I discovered this whole world of cloth diapering options...so many in fact, that my head was spinning. I was more than overwhelmed with the wealth of options and information. But I didn't know anyone who cloth diapered and I was really nervous about venturing into the unknown without a support system.

Then, one day a friend of mine (whom I had not seen in a while) posted a video of her daughter''s first crawling attempt. It looked like she was wearing a cloth diaper cover that I had seen while doing my research (a really cute one too). So, I asked her if they did cloth. To my surprise, and relief she told me they did in fact do cloth and would not do it any other way. She proceeded to tell me all about their brand of preference (bumGenius) and why they chose it, where to get them, how to care for them, etc. and she also told me why disposables were SO bad (besides the high costs) for the baby. I was instantly sold & converted. And because I actually knew someone doing it, and having a great amount of success with it, I finally felt at peace with making my decision. I told my husband all about it & amazingly, even he was willing to jump on board. I excitedly placed my first fluff order that evening.

Switching to cloth diapers & wipes has proven to save our family a bundle of money already and at every diaper change, those savings continue to grow. With the savings, we not only have extra money to put towards other necessities but, we also have a little more wiggle room for some fun stuff (like Baby Legs). :) Another great benefit to going cloth is that my daughters room no longer reeks of diapers. Going cloth has also made me (and my husband) even more eco-conscious than before, not only in helping the environment but, also in our food and personal care choices. Cloth diapering is part of this whole green movement and because of that, while visiting various cloth diapering boards, web pages and blogs (like Kelly's Closet), I have found a wealth of valuable "green" information that I can use to improve our families lifestyle.

Not only have cloth diapers improved MY lifestyle but, also my daughters lifestyle. Oddly enough, while waiting for my first shipment of fluff mail to arrive, my daughter developed a UTI, which can be very common with disposable diapers. The doctors wanted to run all kinds of tests to rule out the possibility of the UTI being caused from something more serious, but I knew deep down it was because of the disposables. So we got the doctors to agree to hold off on any additional tests unless she had a re-occurrence. Since going cloth, back in August, there have been NO re-occurrence''s of a UTI. Also, prior to going cloth, my daughter seemed to have a rash 24/7. I tried several different creams/ointments to no avail. I could only use one brand of wipes that would not cause/worsen her rashes and it happened to be the expensive name brand wipes. Any other brand, then her delicate skin literally began to bleed. Once we started cloth, her rash quickly disappeared. Now, she rarely gets a rash and when she does it''s usually due to teething or a food allergy. But, I have found that using the Magic Stick ointment works wonders for both types of rashes.

So, as you can see, cloth diapering has changed our entire family''s lifestyle. I think the Change to Cloth Campaign is wonderful because I, myself am a convert and I am constantly trying to convince several of my friends to Change to Cloth as well. Even my husband excitedly tells other fathers about life w/ cloth diapering. Life is good with cloth!

-Amanda G.
Mom to Mikaela Faith, 15 Months Old