I realized this morning in the shower, I’ve been cloth diapering for two years now. From dipping my toe in, to taking the full on plunge. Here are some things I learned over the course of last couple of years.
I Love Cloth Diapering. No, really…I do. All of my original stash of diapers has paid for themselves & I am essentially using them for “free” on Mr. E (our second son) The colors are adorable. I love the “fluffy bum” effect. I don’t have to run to the store. I don’t have to price compare or clip coupons to get the best deal. I’ve got the best deal already: they are paid for in full!
Pick Your Favorite Brand & Stick With It. When I first started on this endeavor & then quickly fell in love with it, I decided I’d become a connoisseur of cloth diapers. I’d try all the brands! I’d write about them all! I bought BumGenius, FuzziBunz, Apple Cheeks, Happy Heiny’s, Doopsy, Blueberry, Lovely Pocket and Rumparooz. What *seemed* like a fun idea at the time - turned into a logistical problem quickly. Not all the inserts would fit every single diaper - meaning you had to know which insert went with which diaper. It took stuffing them all, forever. And made it hard on my husband who wasn’t doing it as often, to know what went where.
BumGenius quickly became our favorite brand and still is. Others did not hold up well & I’ve had to toss simply because they wore out and started causing problems. (I only recently learned that you can send off diapers for elastic repair if needed - opps!)
Go With What Works For Your Family. The cloth diaper purists will throw their heads back and yowl when they hear this but….you don’t have to cloth diaper full time, all the time. We CD during the day. At night, Mr. E goes into a disposable. We tried nighttime cloth diapering, but just couldn’t make it work for more than 6 hours at a stretch. I value my sleep (and sleep equals sanity!) too much. When Mr. E was a newborn, we didn’t start cloth diapering him until he was several weeks old. Give yourself a break & be flexible.
Laundering. Know Your Water/Machine/Etc.
If you have hard water, that effects your diapers. Don’t know if you have hard water? Call the water utility authority or look it up (Google “hard water area map”). Have a HE washer? That effects how you launder them. Going into it armed with as much research as you can really helps. And the sun? The sun is your friend! Line dry those suckers (or if you don’t have a clothesline, get a drying rack to go outside) because nothing will bleach them better.
Cloth Wipes are AH-MAY-ZING! When I started cloth diapering I thought cloth wipes sounded weird and really out there - like fringe, cloth diapering fanatic out there. But then I tried them. Oh my goodness! They work so much better than disposable wipes. You know those poopy diapers that take 6 or 7 wipes to clean up the mess? Cloth wipes take 1. BAM! And they seriously clean the skin way better! Plus, you can use the wipes (I love the Thirsties brand) for other purposes like wash cloths in the bathtub or after mealtimes.
To sum it up: I’m really glad we are cloth diapering. I love saving the money. I enjoy it in a hobby kind of way. But, I don’t sweat the small stuff either. I go with what works for me & my husband. I adore how precious my babies (well, now just one baby) looks in them. Who can resist this: 
