cloth diapering so far

**This post has been edited as of Tue Mar 27 @ 3:28 P.M.**

Before baby got here, I knew I wanted to cloth diaper. I searched "cloth diapers" on google and the first thing I found were kissluvs cotton fitted fleece diapers. "Great!" I though, these look good! So, I registered for a whole bunch of them and ended up getting 18 of them.
They are these:



These had to be used with covers, as they are not waterproof, but I hadn't done much more research so I wasn't, at this point, aware of all the other options out there.

For the first few weeks, we were just using disposable diapers to deal with the meconium and just long enough until we could get the laundry caught up and get into a schedule with baby. Boy, everyone seems to think disposables are SO much easier, but I just found it to be quite the opposite. I felt like we would go through so many of them and just into the trash they would go, day after day after day. No more diapers? Darn, we need to go run to the store to BUY some more. Ugh. I felt like I was drowning in disposable diapers. Before I had the baby, I thought I might get spoiled to the disposables at the beginning and not want to do cloth, but it was definitely the opposite of that. So, after about 3 weeks, we tried on our first cloth diaper, put on the cover and...no success. The diapers were newborn size, but with the added bulk of the cover, the whole thing came down to her knees and spread her legs way too far apart. Well, hell..Now I have these 18 diapers that I don't know what to do with that aren't going to work for her.

So, I talked to another mama that cloth diapers and she recommended the All in Ones (AIOs) and talked about her love for the Tots Bots Easy Fit One Size (OS). Now, I'm not totally caught up on all the abbreviations and jargon yet, but there are tons of abbreviations and internet speak in the cloth diapering world, and TONS of cloth diapering options, too! You have your prefolds, your pockets, your all in ones, your one size, doublers, covers, etc, etc, etc. A one size is supposed to fit your baby from 8 lbs until they potty train (this is accomplished by having different snaps for different size rises that you can adjust to your baby) and an all in one is like a disposable in the fact that you don't have to stuff it or prepare it, it's already all done for you. I decided to order one Tots Bots Easy Fit which is a combination of both of these. I was super excited to get it in the mail and boy was it cute! Well, no success there either. My 10 lb baby wasn't fitting in a diaper that was supposed to fit an 8 lb kiddo. Darn, again.
That diaper is here:


So, off I went to the Green Bambino in Oklahoma City to check out some more options. Maybe if I could actually see the diapers in person, I would have a better chance of being succesful, because at this point I was feeling like we'd be in disposables forever and I was starting to hate it! The woman at the Green Bambino told me that maybe I should try some newborn diapers, because with girls, they can actually fit for quite a bit longer. She recommended the Bum Genius AIO in XS and I bought two to see if they'd work. Success! These seemed to work great! The only downside was that Aven was growing so fast and these weren't adjustable to fit her as she got older. I toyed with the idea of ordering a whole stash of them for a few days, but then decided against it. So, back to the Green Bambino we went!
Bum Genius AIO



This time, I was introduced to sized diapers. These would be another option besides the One Size type of diapers. I looked at the Thirsties Duo and a few others and finally decided on the Thirsties. Although they're technically a size small, they still have an adjustable rise that will grow with baby until we need the next size up, and because they're cloth, we can either sell them when we're done or we can keep them for the next little one! This seemed like the best fit for us. I bought two of them, tried them out, and so far we're loving them!

We love this tunnel design because the diapers dry a lot faster since you can flip them inside out. Plus, I can stuff an extra layer of absorbency underneath it! And I also find that the wetness doesn't go all the way up to the elastic on the back because it's not attached to that part of the diaper, which is more comfortable for baby.



I went home, got on amazon and ordered 20 more! We were so excited to get these babies in the mail. We immediately washed and dried and put them on baby! We are absolutely loving them so far. If I feel like I'm running out of diapers, I head to my laundry room instead of having to head out to the store (which is almost an impossibility with a newborn). Plus, they are SO much cuter than disposables. No diaper covers when she's wearing a cute outfit because these are already so darn pretty. Not to mention that I'm not contributing to the tons and tons of garbage that I already throw out every day. Did you know a disposable diaper takes 600 years to decompose? Gross. That means the diapers that were on my bottom when I was a baby are still sitting in a landfill somewhere. Not to mention my MOM'S diapers! whoa.
The only problem we've had so far are a few wet leaks at night (probably because I need to stuff an extra layer in there for absorbency) and a staining issue. I've ordered a clothesline for the staining because the sun is supposed to bleach those stains right outta there!



How do you go out, you ask? Where do you put your diapers, you're thinking? Wet bag!
We have the Planet Wise Wet Bag!

Dry dipes in the side and wet ones in the middle. Take them out when you get home and throw them in your diaper pail! Viola!



**We're also using cloth wipes in our Prince Lionheart Wipes Warmer. We use the warmies with it and we love them! I do have to make new wipes every few days, but it doesn't take that long so it's not that big of a hassle. Also, I once saw the wipes warmer on a list of things that you didn't need to buy for your baby. Let me tell you, though, there's a huge difference in how baby acts during a diaper chance when I'm using a warm wipe vs. a cold one! She loves her warm wipies!
Anyway, here's what I use for my wipes:
1-2 T Coconut Oil (I've hear it's anti microbial plus it's smooth on her bottom!)
2-3 pumps of her baby wash (we use Rainbow Baby Oh Baby, because it's all natural and free of harsh chemicals, sulfates and mineral oil! Yuck!)
2 C HOT water
Put the wipes in, ring them out, and stick them in the wipes warmer! Done!



Oh! I ended up being able to return two of my six packs of the kissaluvs, but since I washed one of them from the other pack, I had to keep that one. I think we might use a few for nighttime or sell a few. I'm just glad I was able to return the majority of them.

Are you thinking of cloth diapering? I can't answer all your questions, but if you have any, feel free to ask and I'll try my best to answer!