Cloth Diapers - the newest accessory

When I first heard cloth diapering, I pictured those cheap white ones everyone uses as burp clothes. To be fair, for years, that's what a cloth diaper was. I read statistic after statistic about how many diapers (that will never biodegrade) will end up in a landfill for one average baby (3,000 pounds worth or 8,000 diaper changes), but I didn't want to stick my child with pins, or *gasp* have poop in the same place I put my clothes. Plus, at least the disposible diapers had cute designs.

Of course, disposible diapering wasn't without it's own problems. When we had used Pampers, we had a special name for when the poop came out of the diaper - a "poopsplosion" which happened very nearly once a day. When we switched to Huggies, the problem of poopsplosions slowed down, but there were the other problems of running out, constantly worrying about which size he should be in, and knowing I was putting harsh materials against my son's very sensitive spots. I had heard several friends raving about cloth diapering for the first ten months of my baby's life, and finally got around to trying them. I went to CC BUMS on facebook - a wonderful mama who works from home making cloth diapers. She was recommended to me by my good friend Angie, and was a huge help. She custom created 3 "All in ones", the cloth equivalent of a disposible - just put it on the baby (it snaps closed) and go. She also made 2 one size diapers with a fleece liner for waterproofing. They were adorable, comfortabe, and had no leaks. I was excited, but I wasn't entirely sure I was ready to try cloth diapering over night yet. Afterall, we share our bed with our baby, and any leaks would not only negatively impact the poor Bubba, but us as well!






I then heard about a store one town over, in Naperville, called Comfy Bummy. Phil and I took a trip over there, and found all sorts of wonderful things. We picked up 7 all in one diapers made by Bum Genius. They're extremely cool - there's a pocket you can stuff with extra pads to make the diaper more absorbant. They have velcro rather than snaps, and they're one size - the one diaper will last through potty training. Of course, over time, the leg elastic might start to wear out, or the velcro might get pilly -but in that case, you contact the company, and they replace the defective part, or the entire diaper, and you go on your merry way. Plus, all of my research indicated these diapers will NOT leak. And, oh boy, let me tell you - they don't! Plus we found biodegradable liners for the diapers. That means that when he goes number two, we can just lift the entire liner out, flush it down the toilet, and it will break down - genius!




We also found a soap called "soap nuts" and I absolutely LOVE it!!!! It's made the nuts in a tree, and it's completely all natural. They have natural sudsing agents and natural fabric softeners so the clothes and diapers come out incredibly soft and clean - plus when you're done with them, you can compost them if you feel so inclined. It was about $13 for 85 loads which is actually CHEAPER than my tide which is $15 for 64 loads.

So now, I've got my cloth diapers and I love them. They are so wonderful, eco friendly, and soft on the baby's bottom. I love the designs that are out there to choose from and I love the fact that I can make a small difference by doing this. But I better watch out - this may become my newest obsession - making sure James' butt looks fashionable at all times!!