Diapers

I had so much planned to do today, because I had to stay home and wait on the mailman. I only got about half of it done, but my cloth diapers came in, yay! I have been planning on cloth diapering for many reasons, but the big number one is the cost. Once I am on maternity leave, my paycheck is going to drop by 45% and I wanted to be sure we could afford everything that was needed. If we buy diapers now, we can save in the future. Another reason is because I have seen what is inside disposables, we had one explode on K when he was little, and I was not wild about those little chemical crystals that came pouring out onto his little legs!

I spent lots of time online checking out all my options, finally I decided I wanted to go with 'pocket diapers'. Basically, they are just like a disposable, but you stuff a thick liner into a pocket that runs from front to back. I kind of got sticker shock, they can run from 9 dollars to over 23 dollars, per diaper! Finally I found some on eBay for about 5 dollars each. I ordered five just for a trial.

These are the covers, what I like most about them is that they are adjustable. The zoo one on the left is full sized, while the camo and jean ones on the right are the smallest size. The blue and cow prints are about medium. All you have to do is adjust the size by moving the snaps around. We both agree the red camo is our favourite,but the jean one is a close second for me.

These are the bamboo liners that came with them, one for each. They are quite large and supposedly shrink once they are washed a few times, I have washed these once already. They have to be prewashed three times before use to bring them to maximum absorbency.

While I waited the month for these to be shipped from China, I did more research. I found another type called prefolds. Basically they are a large cloth that you fold, throw it into a cover and snap it onto baby. When it is time to change baby, you just throw the large cloth part into the wash and you can re-use the cover, this way you can get away with only having a few covers when in actuality you have many diapers.

I found a kit online called the Bummis organic diaper kit. It comes with oodles of stuff and was only about 200 dollars, after tax. Free shipping! Bummis is a Canadian brand, so I feel a little safer using it. 200 dollars sounds like a lot, but for the amount of stuff you get, I think it is worth it. I am also pleased with shipping. I ordered Monday, here it is Thursday and the mailman dropped it off!

These are the actual diapers, there are 24 of them. They apparently puff up and shrink after being washed, which makes them more absorbent and quilt like.

The kit comes with a 'wet bag', it is basically a bag to put your dirty diapers in. It is very big (folded in half here) and is lined inside with a rubbery-plastic so nothing leaks. I really like the pattern! Here are four of the covers that came with it as well.

A close up of the four covers, my favourite is the frog in the upper left. They are kind-of boyish, but I think they will work on a girl as well.

The other two covers are just plain white. The one on the right is open and you can see the shiny waterproof layer. This is what is inside the wet bag as well.

The kit comes with 3 packages of 100 disposable liners, these you just put inside the diaper so you can just lift it off and flush the mess. So easy! There is also a package of fleece reusable liners, they are so soft!

Finally, it comes with a small sample package of a laundry soap that is supposed to be really good for cloth diapers. I think I will use it for my prewashes, but I prefer to use liquid detergent and I have sourced a really good type in my city. The small jar is cloth diaper safe bum cream (a lot of creams will apparently make the diapers repel water, not good). This is something the website threw in for free.

I also ordered these funny looking things. They are something to 'pin' the diapers without using actual pins. They have little teeth on them that is kind of like the little things you use to hold the brown ace bandages, and they are super stretchy so they can be used on any sized baby.

I plan on ordering a few more covers from other companies, just because of patterns that Bummis does not carry. There is a winter camo one and a snake skin one, both patterns that Mr Picky will like.

I can't wait to try everything out, I have found mostly good reviews on the Bummis products, I am hoping to be able to add mine to them. Now I just have to wait for January!

Hope you are having a great week!

~Natasha,