Tuesday Tells All

Meet Angela!

What seems to now be common sense was a world of confusion just 2 years ago. Our eldest daughter was a honeymoon baby, and though we were happy, we knew there would be choices that had to be made before she arrived. 
 
The easiest, we thought, would be cloth diapers. Among the benefits were no gunky stuff from disposables, less waste, less rash, and no running out to get diapers. Ever. What we didn't know then was just how vehemently people would oppose this decision, as if they had a right to decide our childrens' well-being. 
 
We found, as most preparing parents do when they start researching, that there are so many things we never thought of until another parent asked us where we stood on the subject. And so, our journey began, 
Ronny and I just assumed that there was only one kind of diaper, that being the ones our parents' generation used, so these would be the last thing we purchased before Jenerin's birth. With so many people on our registry, we were sure to get plenty of them. Boy, were we wrong. We got a lot of the diapers, but could not find the pins. We knew nothing of these handy doodads called "snappi"s 
 
When she came, we did what we were instructed, using disposables until the meconium stage passed. How disappointed we were to find that we got exactly what we paid for with the colored trifolds we got from Target. They got soaked every time, which kept us from going anywhere without worry. Back to disposables and that disgusting gell on her bottom. We had to go back to the trifolds when Jenerin got a substantial tear from one too many vigorous wipings. 
 
I finally figured out that these things just weren't gonna work. This led me to a real research trip on better ways to try cloth diapering. It was time to find out why so many moms would not only torture themselves, but turns out the benefits of cloth diapering that I was having such a hard time with. This journey was not as difficult as I had imagined. 
 
I found a store online that turned out to be just down the road from me. I had found my best resource, for the owner offered classes on everything diaper and baby wearing related, and genuinely cares about her customers. I never had to take the classes because we covered everything in our visit to the store. The only thing stopping us was the heavy initial investment. We talked about finger pokes and diapering services, BumGenius, FuzziBunz, snappis, and all--in-ones. 
 
We decided on BumGenius 2.0 pockets, honestly because they were relatively inexpensive. We still have these. 

We had one leaky diaper, ever, and only because each of us thought the other had changed her. While other parents around us complain about the cost of diapers and which diaper rash cream is best, and why that goop attacks their babies skin, we are very happily cloth diapering. We still have our very first diaper cream, barely used. We also kept our trifolds. They're cut up into wipes. We waste nothing. 
 
Since our initial purchase, we bought 2 dozen 2.0's, some medium FuzziBunz, and were given some DryBees. The 2 latter seem to have a little issue with dipping in the front, which makes me think Jenerin must need to grow a little more before we can use these regularly. 
 
We recently returned to our neighborhood store when we found out we were expecting our second. We were shown the organic 3.0's, that not only snap, but require no inserts, and can fit our newborn when he arrives. We love them so much we're using them during the day and primarily using the 2.0's for overnight. 
 
Ronny's exact words to his friends that refuse to even consider cloth diapering? "You're an idiot." We think it well worth it to spend the money upfront and treat baby's bottom better. We live in an apartment building and have to use a public washer and dryer, so the only thing we would recommend for those who are in our situation is to go for the service. Good luck in your adventures!

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Update: 9Mar2010
 Now that my son is born, I feel the responsibility to update my experience, as it was not as I expected. We thought that since the BG generation 2's and 3's were recommended for 8+ lbs, they would fit handsomely on our son, once his stump fell off. We were SO excited to try them, and now we know....
  Our thoughts were that we could continue to use the velcros on our daughter, and put the boy in snaps. Soon after, we realized the reasons we wanted snaps. We had NO problems with the 2's with our daughter, but she had chunky legs. Our son, even though he outweighed her at birth, is very slender in that area. The velcro has lasted this long, although it attaches to EVERYTHING. Also, your baby has to wear clothes, so your skin doesn't get scratched, or your clothes caught.
  Both types have proven a challenge for my lanky little man as far as absorbency, but have withstood my daughter with an extra insert. We haven't been able to do the preliminary wash properly with the 3's.
  Now that he is almost 3 weeks old and we know what to expect, we just change him more often. Our daughter has decided that she likes taking velcro apart, so now she is in the 3's and he is in the 2's with an extra insert. She gets the  2's at night with an extra insert and zippered pajamas. At least until she figures zippers out, that is. We're hoping at that point she'll be ready for potty training.
  There are a few things I feel I need to add, even though I was told differently:
 1. You don't NEED a special detergent. They do add to the non-smelly life of your diapers, though.
 2. You can use diaper creams on your baby, if need be, and it will wash out in time. It does temporarily decrease the absorbency, but if your baby has a rash, isn't that more important? I used an organic rose-chamomile powder, just because I liked it.
 3. Like it or not, this stage will pass.
     Good luck, once again, with your adventures.

Thank you so much Angela!!!!