Fluff Mom Monday

This week's Fluff Mom is Melinda from hippie-mommy.com. Read about her cloth diapering experience, and then be sure to check out her website (especially on Fridays when she writes about cloth diapers!). Also be sure to check out tennygreenies.com, a cloth diaper lending service, which is an awesome organization that she supports.

Tell us about yourself! What is your name? How many little ones do you have? How long have you used cloth diapers?

The name is Melinda. I have two kidlets: Brye who will be 5 in January and Freedom who will be 2 in May. We’ve been using cloth diapers non stop since Brye was about 4 months old… Like way back in May of 2005. (wow it’s been a while). I blog at www.hippie-mommy.com. Every Friday I try to write about cloth diapers.

What made you decide to use cloth diapers?

A few days after my son was born, my family decided to tell me that my Grandfather (who was more like a father) was dying of cancer. At three weeks old, Brye and I drove from North Carolina to Quebec, Canada. It was February, and not much to do. My family was researching natural ways to prolong my Grandfather’s life. I read a lot about toxins and set about to change our lives. At that point in time, I thought disposables were the only option. Oh and being in another country only being able to find huggies sucked. It was a small farming town so everything was overpriced. Once I got home I found an awesome forum called Carolina Mommas (www.carolinamommas.com). There were some moms talking about “CD’s” and I of course thought it was music related. One mom offered to sell me some diapers, and lend me some to try out and I was hooked. I mean who could resist the cuteness?

What was the first cloth diaper you bought?

6 Infant Chinese Prefolds and a Medium white Bummis super snap cover (which I still have and use)

Tell us about your cloth diaper stash:

Here is my blog post from back in March about the stash. It’s changed a bit since then (http://www.hippie-mommy.com/2009/03/stash.html) I need to update it with a new post.

13 Bum Genius 3.0 Pockets, At least 3 dozen prefolds (12 infants, 24 regular and maybe 6 toddler and 4 under the nile?), Bummis covers, Bumkins covers, Thirstie covers, Wonder wrap one size cover, Prorap covers, WOOL

Here are some pics of my stash:

What is your favorite cloth diaper? Why?

Really depends on the age.

I LOVED prefolds on Freedom as a newborn. All in ones and pockets are easy for family members (and those days when you don’t want to chase an 18 month old around to get a cover on after she takes off).

Tell us about your wash routine

Ideally:

Cold rinse. Charlie’s soap, amount depends on the size of the load. Hot wash. Preferably hot rinse. Rinse until the suds are gone.

I use Charlie’s on everything. I just got some Rockin Green Soap to try out.

Have your friends and family been supportive of your decision?

My family was. Sparked a lot of conversations about how diapers had changed over the years. My mother in-law still calls them rags… Even the Bum Genius. My husband was so-so. I think since Freedom, he’s come around to it more. He thought I was crazy and wouldn’t stick with it.

Any challenges with using cloth diapers? What did you do about it?

Not having a washing machine currently at the house. I was hand washing until I went back to work. I did have a problem with daycare when Brye was a baby. I’ve always had a problem with my mother in-law not washing the diapers that the kids wore up there right and having to strip them. I did mention she calls them rags, right? Lol

I also learned the hard way about making sure all the detergent is rinsed out. Brye got an awful rash.

Your best piece of advice for someone new to cloth diapering

Try one of everything that interests you. If you buy used diapers, you can usually try more out at a cheaper price. Diapers in excellent/good condition re-sell pretty well.

Your favorite scripture, quote, or anything else that you'd like to add?

I just wanted to take a moment to mention that I manage a branch of Teeny Greenies (www.teenygreenies.org). My branch is known as Gnome Grown Teeny Greenies (www.gnome-grown.org). We are a free cloth diaper lending service. Our mission is to help get cloth diapering into the mainstream by providing diapers and diapering support to any all local families who wish to cloth diaper their babies. We serve not only the families who can’t afford their own diapers, but also families who like to try cloth diapering and don’t know how or where to start.

Thank you, Melinda, for sharing with us, If you're interested in being a Fluff Mom, email me at familyofthecloth@gmail.com