One of THOSE Crazy Moms

Okay, well, *I* don't think it's crazy, but YOU may think it's crazy that we have switched Asa to cloth diapers full time during the day (we still use a disposable diaper at night).

What?!?  Where did this come from??  I have been intrigued by cloth diapers since before Asa was born.  My friend Holli was the first person I knew using cloth diapers, and she made it seem SO easy.  And to be honest, they were even cute (alright, so her ADORABLE daughter didn't hurt the cuteness factor).  I mentioned it to Matt when we were expecting Asa, and as much as I tried he was not to be convinced.  He was grossed out (he thought I'd throw a load of dirty diapers AND our clothes in the washer at the same time and never quite got that image out of his head) and there was NO changing his mind.  He said he'd be willing to reconsider if we had more children.

Enter:  pregnancy #2!  Ha!  I started gently mentioning to Matt I'd like to try some cloth diapers on Asa to see what I thought.  I had read a LOT about cloth diapering and determined what style I thought would work best for us.  The amazing thing is that cloth diapering these days has soooooo many options!  And even if you choose to use a prefold (think the style of cloth diaper often used for a burp cloth) and cover, you never need to touch a pin!  There are great inventions, and modern cloth has come such a very, very, very long way.  No rubber pants.  Seriously.  The diapers we are using on Asa look and go on JUST like a disposable.

After trying a couple different styles and determining that Asa is quite sensitive to some synthetic fibers (microfleece in particular) we have settled on mostly pocket diapers.  They are shaped just like a disposable diaper, but there is a flap in the back of them to a "pocket" into which you can stuff whatever type of absorbent insert you want.  From absorbent to most absorbent, the most common materials are microfiber, organic cotton and bamboo, and hemp.  You can customize 1 insert or 1 insert + a little extra booster, change the type of material you insert for play time diaper vs. naptime diaper if you have a baby who is a heavy wetter when sleeping, etc.  If you don't want any mess on your diapers, you can even use a fleece (or flushable) liner between the diaper and your baby's skin so any mess flips right off into the toilet (that is how we figured out Asa's skin does not like fleece).  In our case, because fleece and Asa do not agree--he got a bright red rash and broke out in welts everywhere the fleece liner touched him--I either use a flannel liner (not as great at shaking off messes, but still helps) or nothing.  And the "nothing" option isn't as bad as I thought.  Since switching to trying no liner, I am very thankful for the utility sink in our laundry room, and we plan to install a diaper sprayer at the new rental (you can buy one or make it a DIY project).  Serious--the diapers come out of the wash smelling like NOTHING, smelling CLEAN, and they are still white on the inside.

We also have a few all-in-one diapers, which means an absorbent insert is actually sewn into the diaper.  The ones we use have an insert sewn in AND have a pocket opening in the back if you want to use it overnight, etc. and want to add even more absorbency.  These are GREAT for people unfamiliar with cloth diapers and we'll be using them in Asa's diaper bag when he's in the church nursery (the nursery already welcomed us to change him over to cloth while he's there).

You might STILL think I'm crazy.  But we don't have leaking issues.  I might change diapers SLIGHTLY sooner than with disposables, but not more and 1-2 more diapers a day (IF I change more than I did with disposables, it's usually just 1 one).  And that "extra" diaper doesn't cost me ANYTHING more.  I even hang dry--and they dry QUICKLY--our pocket diapers (that's another advantage over all in ones.... pockets dry super quickly) and our microfiber inserts.  I do use the dryer for our all-in-ones for now (I might try drying them outside when it warms up) and our hemp inserts as they are suuuuuuch a thirsty material and take a long time to hang dry.  As for washing, I wash every 2-3 days using a cold rapid wash (you could try a cold rinse and spin, I haven't played around toooo much since my washing routine is working great... why mess with it if it's working?!) with no detergent followed by a hot wash/cold rinse with extra rinse using detergent.  You do have to be careful what kind of detergent you use with cloth diapers and how much you use--there are formulations specifically designed not to be high sudsing so your diapers don't develop detergent build up and can easily rinse clean.

It's really NOT that complicated.  It's really very simple.  And when your baby asks for his fire engine print diaper by making siren sounds whenever he sees it, it becomes extra irresistible. ;)  If you have cloth diaper questions, please ask!!!  If I can't answer it--because I will admit I'm newer to this than many mamas--I'll be happy to ask someone else for you or direct you to someone with more experience.

P.S.  Matt is coming around.  I think he still thinks I'm more crazy than sane when it comes to this, but he's becoming intrigued.  He's pleased to see how clean the diapers really get in the wash.  We're not changing clothes because of leaks (we didn't much with disposables either though).  He has requested we stick with disposables for Anna Reaghan, at least for awhile.  That is our compromise.  But I see him coming over to the cloth side..... hehe :)