Tell us about yourself! What is your name? How many little ones do you have? How long have you used cloth diapers?
I'm Justine mommy to two little munchkins, Seamus who is 3½ years old and Kieran who is 9months old. I've used cloth diapers for just over 5months now. I also have a blog where I talk about my life and sometimes have some reviews and giveaways (family/children products) http://sliversun.blogspot.com/
What made you decide to use cloth diapers?
I wanted to use cloth with my son but it just wouldn't work back then, we lived in a tiny apartment with coin-op laundry and the machines hardly ever worked. I had the chance again
to try cloth with my daughter, but it took some persuading to get my husband to agree to it. I wanted to cloth diaper her from the get go but dear ole hubby said no, that was until his hours at work got cut so badly that we couldn't afford disposables.
What was the first cloth diaper you bought?
Our first diapers were 2 prefolds that I made out of old t-shirts, then we got some Gerber prefolds and lucked out and found a Bummis cover at a consignment shop in town. I was then blessed by a couple ladies that I'd met off of a mommy site, one of them sent me an awesome Thirsties Duo cover and the other sent me a box full of fitteds and pockets. I've since found a love for pocket diapers and those are the ones I stay on the look out for.
I've also noticed how much garbage we were going through while in disposables and am so happy to not be putting more into our landfills
I've also noticed how much garbage we were going through while in disposables and am so happy to not be putting more into our landfills
Tell us about your cloth diaper stash (numbers, sizes, types, brands, etc.):
I have mostly pockets, some fitteds, and some prefolds. I'm trying to ween the fitteds out because right now I'm just not feeling the snappi love and only 2 or 3 of my fitteds have snaps on them. I love my pockets, I have a variety of brands, some WAHM ones, and some of the bigger known ones. I have about 17 pockets, 2 FuzziBunz(one OS and one Medium), 1 BG 3.0, 1 Whamies, 1 BumJoy, 4 Cooshie Toosh(I believe lol), 4 Kawaii Baby (though only 2 are usable right now, bad elastic), 2 Nubunz, 2 that I made out of fleece and flannel, and some other unknown WAHM ones. I have my 12 original Gerber prefolds that I've dyed and some I've added flannel to, to make them work a little better and I also have 6 Bummis Organic Cotton prefolds, and 6 newborn Indian prefolds.
What is your favorite cloth diaper? Why?
I love pockets, they are easy for me to do, and they are more trim fitting then my fitteds. I love that I can make them more absorbent at naps and night by adding to them, and thinner during the day. I really like my Whamies OS, BGOS and FuzziBunz OS. The FB OS did take a little for me to love it cause I couldn't get it to fit her right but after a couple days I figured it out and now love it.
Tell us about your wash routine
I first run a cold rinse cycle, then I add a tiny squirt of Dawn, some baking soda and then some Rockin Green, I wash on Hot and 2 rinses, sometimes I will run another hot wash and 2 more rinses if I have time.
Have your friends and family been supportive of your decision?
They thought it was weird at first, but now my sister in law wants to CD her future children. My mom didn't think it was too weird because she clothed me for a little as a baby, she was just amazed by how much they've changed. And my brother...he calles me a hippie (lol)
Any challenges with using cloth diapers? What did you do about it?
We are battling stink right now, and I'm still trying to fix it, I need to try the vinegar route to see if that will help. I also wanted to use cloth wipes and it took hubby 3months or so after we started cloth diapering to let us fully switch to cloth wipes for her, it took a bad diaper rash and her screaming from disposable wipes for him to agree to the switch.
Your best piece of advice for someone new to cloth diapering
Try different kinds, what works for one person may not work for another
Your favorite scripture, quote, or anything else that you'd like to add?
Some days it can be frustrating/annoying to wash diapers but in the long run its saving money and our earth.
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6 comments:
OMG! She is the cutest little girl I have ever seen. I LOVED reading and looking at this post!
This is a great post! I'm always interested to hear about people's cloth diapering experiences or what made them convert.
My name is Andrea and I'm a mama to two little ones. Mickey who is 19 months and Josie who is 7 weeks. I've been cloth diapering both of them from the beginning and I wouldn't have it any other way!
I decided to use cloth diapers because I couldn't stand to know that I was contributing such a HUGE amount of waste to landfills...waste that would take hundreds of years to decompose! Hubby was right on board from the get go (thank God!)
The first cloth diapers we bought were Happy Heinys OS. I couldn't get them to not leak at first, it was really frustrating. Everytime I changed Mickey's diaper, I'd have to change his whole outfit. Then we tried fitteds and prefolds, those seemed to work MUCH better for us.
Stash...hmmm, let's see. Two dozen newborn unbleached Indian prefolds and 4 XS Bummis covers to start. About 7 Happy Heinys OS, a whole bunch of fitteds...Thirsties (my fave, not incredibly absorbent, but sooo trim), Happy Heinys sherpa fitteds, Crickett's hemp fitteds, Bamboozle, and lots of WAHM fitteds. I LOVE to try out new diapers...I'm still on the lookout for the BEST diaper. Hopefully I'll find that one day. ;)
Fave is Thirsties. They're soft, the colors are great, they are not too expensive, they're made in the US, and they dry REALLY fast. They may not be the most absorbent, but we just add a doubler in between the diaper and the cover, and voila! more absorbency!
I wash everyday. Cold, hot, double rinse. Pretty much the same as everyone else it seems. I tried soap nuts, but I wasn't real crazy about them. I just use regular free & clear laundry soap, nothing fancy.
Everyone has been really supportive. And if they weren't then too bad, it's our decision and I'm very proud that we made it! :)
The leaking in the beginning was the biggest challenge, that was soooo frustrating! But we just kept trying out new things until we found what worked for us!
I agree with your advice, just keep trying different things until you find what works for you. Don't give up!
"Dear Lord, The gods have been good to me. For the first time in my life, everything is absolutely perfect just the way it is. So here's the deal: You freeze everything the way it is, and I won't ask for anything more. If that is OK, please give me absolutely no sign. OK, deal." - Homer Simpson. I just love that. I feel that God has been so good to me, I am truly blessed to have the family and friends that I have. :) :)
Justine, you have such a precious little girl! I have an extra question for you: what cloth diapers do you wish you could add to your stash?
Jill, I love reading these every Monday! And I LOVE your new blog. I read on Google reader so I sometimes miss cute blog makeovers.
Andrea, would you like for me to repost your responses on a Fluff Mom post? Email me at familyofthecloth@gmail.com!
Autumn, thanks!
Thanks ladies :)
Autumn, I really want to try Smartipants, Rump-A-Rooz and Nifty Nappy. But I also love trying WAHM ones, the first diapers I was given were some WAHM diapers made by a friend from a mommy site I go to(and she sent me some others but I loved her diapers, I'm just not feeling he snappi love so I'm not using hers right now lol)
First let me say that I am your 100 follower.
Second, I want to say your daughter is super cutie.
Also is this something that you just join in on??
http://couponmommyof2.blogspot.com/
Lots of Cloth diaper giveaways
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