Cloth Diaper Love

A few updates now that Owen is 7 1/2 months old and has been eating solids for about 6 weeks. See below in red.

 

I have been thinking about this post for a long time and I’m finally ready to write it! I want to share my obsession with cloth diapers now that I know that I love them and we have been using them for about 7 weeks now. I had first heard of cloth diapers from my sister in law but I didn’t look into it much. Then one of my favorite blogs, Young House Love wrote about using cloth diapers and I really became interested in it. I read a lot about it before I had become pregnant and then when I got pregnant, I read everything I could find about cloth diapers! I knew I wanted to use them and I want to share our experience so far. I figured that no matter what, you are going to be dealing with poop. So after researching a TON, I decided to for it and we have really loved it so far.

Owen’s first time in a cloth diaper! He is so tiny, I think he was about 10 or 14 days old here.

The main reason that I decided to use them was to save money. I got the following information from http://loveclothdiapers.blogspot.com. Let’s assume that the average family using disposables will consume about 63 diapers a week (9 changes in a day). Each disposable diaper costs about 27 cents (a package of Huggies on Amazon.com). Therefore, disposables are costing roughly $68 a month, $816 a year, or $2,040 in 2 ½ years, and this is conservatively speaking. And if you take care of your diapers, they will last a long time and you can use them for multiple kids! We are planning on having more kids (don’t think about that right now…) so we could save thousands of dollars in diapers! The initial up front cost of cloth diapers for us was probably around $400 for everything-the diapers, laundry soap, garbage can and liners, etc. I also received a few cloth diapers as gifts which I LOVED! So $2000+ vs $400? Not too shabby.

Another reason I was happy to use cloth is the environmental factor. I’m not a super hippie granola person in general, but it is nice to know that we are not putting thousands of diapers in the landfill. I have also heard that many kids in cloth diapers tend to potty train earlier. I wouldn’t complain about that either.

I was pretty overwhelmed with all the information out there about cloth diapers. And since I’m an obsessive researcher type, I read just about anything and everything. And there is a whole world of cloth diapering fanatics out there. Honestly, it’s crazy. And there are so many different kinds of diapers so I’m just going to show you guys what we have and how it’s working for us!

I have a few different types of diapers and I like all of them. Here is what I have:

(12) BumGenius 4.0: These are pocket diapers where you stuff an insert into a pocket. They have snaps and the fit can be adjusted depending on how you snap them.

(4) Charlie Banana: These are also pocket diapers but they are a bit more trim than the BumGenius. And they come in adorable colors and prints. They are sold by Target and they are my favorite diapers.

(1) FuzziBunz: These are pocket diapers as well and very similar to Charlie Banana but I still like CB better!
(2) BumGenius All In One: These do not require stuffing and everything is all together in one diaper. These are convenient but more bulky. We have one with velcro and one with snaps.

(1) SoftBums Echo: I really like SoftBums because they are very trim and small. The Echo has an insert that snaps into the diaper part instead of a pocket. If the diaper doesn’t get dirty, you can re-use the diaper and put in a new insert. I always just use it once.

(1) SoftBums Omni: This is almost the same as the Echo except that it has a pocket. So you can stuff the pocket or snap the insert in.

We have 21 diapers and I do laundry about every 3 days. When we change Owen, we take the dirty diaper 2 steps across the hall to his bathroom and either shake the insert out or pull it out and throw them both in the garbage can with a PlanetWise Pail liner. These liners are antimicrobial and I have not noticed any smell at all in the bathroom with the diapers. I have two bags so I can use one while the other is in the wash.

We have a sprayer attached to our toilet to spray off the poop but we don’t use it. Since Owen is only eating breast milk right now, the diapers do not need to be sprayed. I have not noticed any issues when washing them without spraying so we are not bothering with it yet.

When it is time to wash diapers, I pull out the bag with the dirty diapers and dump everything in the washing machine. I turn the bag inside out as I dump it all into the wash. I do one cycle on cold without detergent and then one cycle on hot with detergent. After much deliberation and research, I am using Charlie’s Soap as well as the Charlie’s Hard Water booster. It is a natural non-toxic biodegradable detergent and so far I really like it. It is $12 for a big tub and it only takes a tablespoon to use so it will last forever. I have since switched to regular Tide powder because we started having some weird stink issues. I stripped my diapers and started using Tide and haven’t had any issues since then.

After the wash is done, I pull out the inserts and usually lay them to dry on a drying rack in the sunshine in our bay window. The sun completely bleaches any stains on the white inserts. It’s honestly amazing! Sometimes I put them in the dryer if I’m in a hurry. I hang up the diapers on this sweet Octopus Hanger from Ikea (my mom gave me two for a shower gift!). It is perfect for drying diapers and I’m sure I will use it for other things in the future.

After everything is clean and dry, I have to stuff the diapers by putting the microfiber inserts inside the pockets. It probably takes me about 10-15 minutes to do. It’s not a big deal and I have never really minded doing laundry. I get a strange satisfaction out of seeing neatly folded clothes and the same goes for clean diapers ready for the babe!

Owen has recently started sleeping through the night (YESSSSS), so I want to be careful about him getting diaper rash from being in a diaper for 8 hours or so. You are not supposed to use most kinds of diaper rash cream with cloth diapers because it can ruin them so I have these liners that are kind of like dryer sheets that I can set on the diaper and then use diaper cream. It creates a barrier between the diaper and the bum so I think it will help. They are flushable so it makes it really convenient. I think we will also probably use them when we are travelling and using cloth but so far we haven’t had to.

 

Some things I love about cloth diapers:

• Big money saver
• Better for the environment
• NO BLOW OUTS (or leaks)
• They are cute!

Some things I don’t like about cloth diapers:

• More bulky than disposables (but I have some that are less bulky than others)
• You have to wash, dry and stuff them
• I’m kind of scared about when he starts eating “real” food and we have to deal with nastier poop! Update: this has actually been easier because his poops are solid and I can just plop them into the toilet. I have only had to use the sprayer twice so far.

So far the cloth diapers are a success! My mom thought/thinks I am looney and lots of people are way skeptical when they hear about it. But things have come a long way since our parents were using old school cloth diapers and we have loved it! We plan on continuing to use them with Owen and our future children. If anyone wants to know more, let me know!

Lately

This is going to be 99.9% Owen updates so be warned! He is 6 weeks old already and we have been loving every second of having him in our lives. I have taken a picture every week and used photoshop to write how old he is and it is so crazy to see how much he has changed in such a short time!

He used to be a tiny squishy baby and now he is a chunky monkey!

I forgot to take his socks of for 6 weeks, but he has started smiling a lot and it is the cutest thing EVER!

Dan gave him his first bath in the tub and he seriously loved it. He loves the tub and I think he would stay in there for hours!

My mom gave me this awesome Solly Baby wrap for my birthday and I have been using it a lot! It’s basically the same as a Moby wrap and it’s a huge long piece of fabric that you wrap around your body then put your baby in it. I have gotten the hang of it and now I leave Owen’s legs out. He really likes it when he is tired or upset and he falls right to sleep in it! I love it and think it’s super cute and I’m excited to use it when we go out more often. I don’t keep him in it all the time, but I love cuddling with him and he is so cozy in it!

Dustin and Kaley came to visit when Owen was only about 2 weeks old. Their little Reese is 2 months older than Owen but they are almost the same size! She is definitely longer than him but he is a big kid. She is a doll and it is so fun to have our good friends have a new baby at the same time as us! We are already planning the wedding!

We got TONS of snow over the past few weeks and it was piled at the end of our driveway. We probably had about 3 feet on the ground at one point. It was nuts and so pretty to see. I especially loved not having to drive to work in it!

Dan finally got his truck! He has been talking and dreaming about getting a truck for years and after looking for over a year, we finally did it! He loves it and I’m going to love having something to use to pick up furniture, haul dirt and plants, and to use for any other projects that don’t fit in our Honda!

We drove to Logan to get the truck and it was the first time we had been out of the house for more than an hour or two with Owen (except at parent’s houses). It was an adventure to change and feed him in random places, but he was a trooper and did great! Luckily we had the truck which made it much easier to change him!

Owen and I bundled up on a warm day last week and went for a nice walk together. I ended up taking off my coat and gloves because it was so warm! I loved it and can’t wait for it to warm up more so I can get out more with this baby!

I absolutely love the stroller we ended up with, thanks to my awesome girlfriends’ suggestions. We just got a snap and go stroller frame that our car seat can snap into. It is super light and small and very convenient. I have already taken it to the store a few times by myself and I can’t imagine having to haul something bigger around and put it in and out of the car. We will need to get a “real” stroller eventually but the snap and go is only about $60 so we will probably look for a jogger stroller in the next few months.

Cutest picture ever!

Christmas with Owen!

I got a few more pictures from the hospital and days after we brought Owen home that I wanted to share. Below is not the best picture of me but I still like our first family picture! One of the first things my sister said to me when she came to the hospital was “your hair is a mess, you need to fix it”. Yes, that is my top priority sis…

Super proud Daddy!

We had some visitors come to the hospital after Owen was born. It was really fun for Dan to call our families and tell them he was already here because it was so fast! They couldn’t believe it!

Uncle Jon. Already a total pro with babies and kids.

Grandpa and Grandma Hill. Owen is their 16th grandchild and one more is coming in May! I’m sure there will be tons once all 8 of their kids are done having kids!

Of course my family came, but I didn’t take any pictures! I don’t know why Dan missed it but I think I was too busy talking to them and telling them about the birth that we didn’t get pictures. But they were there and I loved it. It was so amazing to see my mom with her first grandbaby and she loves him so much!

Mike and Hailey came to the hospital on Christmas Eve (the next day). They are due in May and having a boy too! Hooray! Owen will have 2 other boy cousins in the same grade as him! So awesome.

We were able to go home from the hospital 24 hours later on Christmas Eve at about 6pm. It was so awesome to get to be home for that and the drive home in the snow was a little stressful for me! I didn’t sit in the back with him but I should have because I worried the whole way home! Luckily he survived.

We had Jimmy Johns for dinner (they were open on Christmas Eve!), and just enjoyed our new little guy. It was awesome and then we got up on Christmas and opened presents. Dan did amazing and got me a bench for my digital piano, a Belgian waffle maker (I’ve wanted one for years), perfume, and a subscription to Consumer Reports! I’m obsessed with researching every product we buy and every vacation we go on and every time we go to Grandpa Goats’ house, I always read it! So I’m stoked! He also got me an awesome rose gold watch as a “push present” for having Owen. I think that’s the dumbest name and I didn’t expect or want any gift but he is awesome and I love my watch.

Dan was pretty happy with his gifts too. I got him some “Alaska Boots”, some DVDs, a gift card to Scheels, a sweater, a work out shirt, a wrench set, and a sweet axe. He loves random outdoor things that he really doesn’t need and may never use but he was happy!

We had some visitors over the next few days and we loved it. Lissie is awesome with babies and she is always taking care of her baby brother Benson.

Ben and Becky and the girls were visiting from Mongolia and we were so happy they were able to meet Owen!

Grandma Sampson (or Grandma Lanea? Not sure yet…) came the day after Christmas with Steph and Andrew.

He loves Auntie Steph!

It took three of us to change him! And yes, we are doing it on our kitchen table…

We opened presents with my family on the 26th and it was really fun. We all got mom a big blanket with a cute picture of her and dad on it and she loved it.

Mom got us some awesome gifts too. Dan got a full Camp Stove with all the extras-griddle, carrying bag and side shelves. He also got a gift card to Scheels and I got a new video camera! We don’t have one so I’m stoked to be able to take videos of Owen and use it for vacations and everything. Mom and Steph also got Owen lots of things he didn’t need but we loved it! He got a full Carhartt outfit…overalls, shirt and sweatshirt! It’s pretty adorable and Dan is obsessed with Carhartt stuff and my dad loved it too so I think it’s great!

Owen was just a little jaundiced and the doctor said to put him in the sun and he loved it! He was super toasty warm and loved sunbathing in front of the window!

We had a great Christmas with our little guy and we loved having family come visit. It was so fun to be home and look around at my little family and enjoy Christmas together. All the snow was pretty awesome too! I am so blessed to have such a wonderful husband and beautiful, healthy baby, and just a great life!