I'm Not Crunchy! Ok Maybe Just a Little!!: Cloth Diapering Part One

This is literally the best choice I ever made when it came to my daughter. We made the decision to cloth diaper after my daughter was found to have a sensitivity to disposables. That is what got me, why would someone have a sensitivity to something that was so common? So I did my research and found out how they make a disposable diaper and what absorbs the urine. Ok so the absorbancy part I learned the hard way when a dog tore open a disposable diaper and it was not pretty. Then we had to figure out a budget for cloth diapers. I didnt want to buy a few diapers here and there I wanted to make the change all at once so this is how I did it.

In August 2011 I had $200 to spend so I got on ebay. I bought a dozen cheap prefolds 4 prorap covers and 30 babyland pocket diapers. I do NOT recommend the babyland diapers. We have had so many problems with them that I will explain later on in this post. The first diapers to ship were the prefolds and covers. I had to prep these diapers and so I took them to a family members house to do this. It took 7 washes and dries before they were even resembling a prefold. This was all I had to cloth diaper our 4 week old daughter with for almost 3 weeks. But I refused to give in and I hand washed those prefolds in my bathroom and hung them to dry on the shower curtain. I lived in an apartment too which made it very difficult. The babylands arrived and I was able to wash these once and dry them. These were the worst investment ever. I still use them cause Im waiting on the new cloth to get here but they are barely holding up.

In November we moved into our house and I was able to perfect my washing technique. It consists of a cold prerinse to remove the "nasties", Hot/cold wash with 1/2 recommended amount of detergent, extra cold rinse to remove extra soap. Detergent must be free of additives, whiteners, and phosphates. I use Seventh Generation Free & Clear cause it is sold in my local grocery store. As for drying I put anything that does not contain waterproof material, elastic, or wool into the dyer. Everything else hang drys.

So here is my suggestion if you want to go cheap use prefolds and covers. These last the longest and are the most economical. You can also go with pockets from china such as Alvababy, Sunbaby, and Babyland. I just ordered 24 sunbabys so when they get here I will do a review on them. If you dont need to conserve money there are a million cute options for cloth diapering.

I just ordered my newborn stash for all you moms that are getting ready for a new little one. Here is what I ordered. 1 dozen xs prfolds, most moms will actually be able to skip this size because it is most commonly known as preemie but my daughter fit these prefolds for almost a month. 1 dozen sm prefolds, if you are going to skip preemie I would buy 2 dozen of these. 1 best bottom with 3 snap in inserts, I think these are going to be my favorite. 1 bumgenius 4.0 one size pocket, This might take awhile to fit the new baby. 1 thirsties duo diaper cover in size one, 2 proraps in size nb, 1 bummis super whisper wrap in newborn, these are all covers for prefolds. 1 grovia NB AIO, I wanted to try it. Here are some pictures: