Adventures in Baby Diapering

So, I know everyone is expecting to hear that my experience with cloth diapers was a massive failure, but a couple days in and one load of laundry later, I think that I will be able to stick with it.

Don't let anyone fool you into thinking that cloth diapers can be as easy as disposables--They're not.  And they definitely require more time.  However, it probably adds up to only a minute or two extra per diaper change.

Here's the process for you curious souls:  I use Bum Genius 4.0 diapers with snap closures.  These require me to stuff an insert inside--either a small daytime insert or a thicker one for nighttime.  Wet diapers go straight into the diaper pail.  Dirty diapers are sprayed off with our Potty Pail Diaper Sprayer and then put into the pail.  I wash them every other day, tossing the entire Planet Wise Pail Liner into the washing machine.  So, besides spraying,  the dirty cloth diapers don’t have to be handled anymore than disposables do.  I also make my own cloth wet wipes with Baby Bum Drops solution (which smells amazing) and put them in a wipes warmer.  The wipes are washed with the diapers.

The Bum Genius cloth diapers fit the baby similarly to a disposable except that they are still quite big on little Isla, which I suppose is a good thing since we are hoping she can wear them for over a year.  They are adjustable in both the rise and waist, and supposedly fit a baby from 8-35 lbs.  However, I found that they were entirely too big until Isla was closer to 10 lbs.
The upfront costs of these diapers is high, but the overall expenditure will be less than disposables, especially when using the diapers on multiple children.  Because of the extra effort required, I wouldn’t recommend these diapers to everyone, but since I'm staying at home for now, I have the extra time to save a few bucks using these diapers.  Not to mention that they are so darn cute!