Fluff Mom Mondays

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

My name is Rose and I have one daughter who is now 11 months old. We have used cloth diapers with her since birth and I am a huge cloth diaper advocate! I blog at Mommy and Sweet Pea.

What made you decide to use cloth diapers?

I wanted to use cloth diapers because I knew it would save us money and be healthy for our little one and the environment. I wrote about our story of getting started here.

What was the first cloth diaper you bought?

I bought some prefolds and Thirsties covers. I also got some Little Beetle fitteds that I loved!

Tell us about your cloth diaper stash (numbers, sizes, types, brands, etc.):

Right now I have:

AIOS: 18 BumGenius one size, 5 Medium Thirsties pockets, 2 Medium VeryBaby AIOs, 1 Medium Fuzzibuns, and 1 BumGenius Organic

Fitteds: 8 Goodmamas, a Guerrilla Fluff fitted, a Muttaqin fitted, and a Nifty Nappy fitted. I also have 2 Kissaluvs fitteds on the way. I am also about to buy some more Goodmamas used. I don't need them but I love them!

Covers: 4 Medium Thirsties covers, 5 wool longies, and 2 wool shorties. The longies are Nifty Knickers (2), made by me (2), and made by my mom (1).

All of my newborn and size small stuff is currently out on loan to various friends. Hopefully I'll get something back for my next baby! I think it's great to share cloth diapers because most of them last through more than one baby, and that way you get to try different brands without paying.

What is your favorite cloth diaper? Why?

As you can probably tell from my stash, I use a lot of BumGenius and Goodmamas. The main reasons I have gone to using only AIOs and fitteds are the convenience and rash prevention. When my baby started crawling, she stopped tolerating holding still for a diaper change for more than a minute. So, I wanted the easiest thing to diaper her in. For us, that turned out to be either AIOS or pockets, or fitteds with wool. With these two options, you have a diaper and pants rather than a diaper, a cover, and pants to be put on at each change. I'm looking forward to summer and maybe using just a diaper on the bottom and a dress on top! My baby is also prone to rash, and using just cotton next to her skin turned out to not wick enough moisture, unless a very breathable fabric is over the top, such as wool. She never cries when she's wet so it is up to me to check her really often. Since we have stopped using prefolds and PUL covers, she has had a lot less rash.

Tell us about your wash routine

I use a bucket and a wet bag to store my dirty diapers until laundry time. I dump everything into a cold rinse first, with about 1/4 cup of white viengar. After the cold rinse comes a regular wash on warm or hot, with about 1/2 my regular amount of laundry soap. I use Arm and Hammer Free (no scents or additives). Sometimes I do an extra rinse after the wash. In the summer, we dry on the line outside in the summer, or for about 60-70 minutes in the dryer in the winter. I found the Thirsties pockets dry much faster if you turn them inside out when putting them in the dryer.

Have your friends and family been supportive of your decision to use cloth?

Yes! Although, I think some of my friends may be getting a little tired of hearing how great cloth diapers are. My parents used cloth with me and my siblings so they are fully supportive, but don't really get my obsession with the CUTENESS of the diapers.

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

For a little while we were getting some stink issues with our microfiber inserts and fleece. I did a hot wash with 1/4 cup of bleach, and then some extra rinses and that has totally cleared it up! If it was sunny I would have tried sunning everything first. Since we didn't have to do that until about 10 months of using cloth, I'd say we've had very few problems! We did have some leaking in the past, but mostly when we were using the infant prefolds and she would pee several times before we got to change her, or when the diaper wasn't fitting around her legs properly. We have almost no leaks now.

Your best piece of advice for someone new to cloth diapering

Start out with 2 types of diapers, and if they aren't working for you, try something else. Read the blogs and the forums for ideas, and then go for it! Diapering can be fun and a positive part of your relationship with your child when you find the right option for your family.

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

To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose....