The Great Conclusion

Yesterday we sent back the cloth diapers from our trial package, though we did keep a few - the bumgenius pocket diaper and the two prefolds. We also purchased 12 bumgenius diapers from Jillian's Drawers, the company that did the cloth diaper trial for $200 (and they threw in a free pair of babylegs...see below).




The diapers came today and are in the wash as I type. After seeing how many diapers we have not had to use over the last 3 weeks because of using cloth only about 1/3 of the time, I am very excited to see how few we will be using now that we have essentially tripled our cloth diaper supply.

I've been working on the math for cost per diaper of disposables and trying to guesstimate how many of each size we would use over the course of Emma's diaper-wearing years. If we were to only buy Costco diapers, which are already much cheaper than Pampers or Huggies, we would likely spend between $700-800 from now until Emma turned 2. If she doesn't potty train until she is 2 1/2 it could be another $150-200.

While the initial investment was a little steep, it looks like we should have a cloth diaper paid for about every 2 1/2 weeks. So it will take a few months for us to make up the money we spent on our bumgenius, but if we have more children, we will already have made the investment in cloth.

We aren't cloth crazy either. If we're out for the day with Emma or traveling, the disposables will go back on her bum! So we will have to buy some disposables once in a while.

This has been quite the experiment for Martin and me. We've done a lot of research, mostly because we don't know anyone who uses cloth diapers! We have found many great resources on the internet, which I may put together in a blog post sometime soon, but we also hope that through our experience we can be a resource to others. So let us know if you have any questions or comments about cloth diapering!

Cloth diaper pictures

Well after the first week, things are still going pretty well in the cloth diaper experiment. We are looking into getting some used diapers so that we dont have to buy them all new. There are several diaper swapping websites, as well as eBay, where you can find cloth diapers for sale.

My favorite so far is the bumgenius one-size pocket diaper:

This diaper is so much like a disposable. They run about $18 new. It has a fleece lining and you stuff a terry-cloth liner under the fleece. The liner is what actually absorbs. The fleece stays dry against the baby's skin! These diapers have snaps that change how big they are, so that you never have to buy a bigger size and they velcro shut in the front. The only thing I dont like is that they are a little bulky under Emma's clothes since she is still really small. I think that will become less of an issue as she gets bigger.

Next on my favorites list is fuzzi bunz:

Fuzzi Bunz makes fitted diapers in different sizes and a one-size diaper (this is one-size). It has a ton of different snaps on the front (which are all covered in the picture because Emma is on the smallest setting) to adjust as your baby grows. This is also a pocket diaper with fleece, so it is very similar to the bumgenius. I dont think its quite as easy to use because of the snaps instead of a velcro closure, and for that reason it doesn't seem to fit quite as snugly in the back. Since these are the same price ($18) I would rather go with the bumgenius. (However, I have heard that these have a higher resale value than the bumgenius)

Thirsties all in one:

This diaper is a little cheaper (about $15 I think) and it is sized. Since I really wanted one size fits all, this one isn't quite as appealing. It does not require a liner like the pocket diapers, but it does have a pocket that can have a liner stuffed inside for extra absorption. I have had some problems with leaks with this one. I'm not sure if it just does not have as tight of a fit on Emma or if I would need to use an extra liner inside. Either way, I'm probably not going to be buying any. Thirsties also makes a fitted diaper that requires a cover (I didn't take a picture of this one). Multiple things I didn't like about that, including needed to purchase new sizes, and having to buy a cover and a cloth diaper, which is more than the cost of one bumgenius.

And now, the pre-fold:

The pink thing is called a Snapi and takes the place of pins on a cloth diaper. Doing the folding and getting it to stay on Emma was WAY easier than I thought it would be. And even though this seems to be the cheap way to go with cloth diapers ($2), there are some other costs. You need a cover for the cloth, and those can be anywhere from $10-20, which brings the cost right up near bumgenius. Also, since these are just cloth, the moisture stays up against the baby's skin. So in that respect the fleece seems like a cleaner option.

Finally, the gdiaper:

Firs of all, these are so cute! Its a cloth cover that has a plastic insert that snaps in place. A paper insert goes into the plastic and is flushable. These are really cool, and definitely a green option instead of a frugal option for diapering. We have stuffed the cloth prefolds into the plastic insert and that has worked fine. But the gdiaper covers are size small, so we would only be able to use them for a little while.

The experiment continues this week....

Cloth diapers - the first day

Well, Emma's first cloth diaper lasted a whopping half hour - then she had the biggest poo ever!! It was rather nasty, especially because I thought I needed to dunk and clean off some of the poopies. What I forgot was that since Emma is exclusively breastfed her poo is water-soluble and thus does not require any dunking! Even though the first diaper was a little yucky, I put her back in a cloth right away.

My game plan was to start with the easier to use diapers and as I got more comfortable to put her in the harder ones that you have to fold. So the first 3 or so that I put her in looked pretty much like regular diapers - they were the bumgenius, fuzzibunz, and thirsties all in one diapers. Then I decided I was ready to attempt a pre-fold. It actually was a lot easier than I had expected, especially since you don't have to use pins anymore.

Because of getting a late start on Monday and being out on Tuesday, I only used the cloth diapers for about half of those two days. Today, however, we've been in cloth diapers since the early morning and are still going strong! We'll see when the time gets closer, but I'm feeling like I may try them overnight today also.

Since the program I'm doing does not give you enough diapers to use cloth 24/7 I am supplementing with gdiapers. These are a lot like cloth, except that the entire insert is flushable. I used the gdiapers for the first time today too, and they are really cool. The only problem with them is that the inserts are just as expensive (on sale) as disposable diapers, and more expensive regularly. I was given a trial set, so I'm probably not going to buy more unless I get a really good deal. Since we are looking into cloth more for the cost than the environmental reasons, I'm not feeling too attached to the gdiapers.

One complaint that I do have is that most of the cloth diapers seem to be bulky and look funny under Emma's clothes. Some of her smaller outfits that she was getting close to growing out of actually don't fit with the cloth diapers. This could be because she is still pretty little, but we'll see. Its not really a good enough reason not to keep going!

I do have a bunch of pictures of the different diapers, so I'll post those soon.

The great experiment

Cloth diapers!

I'm a little scared and nervous about this one. But I got a really great deal: I have all of the diapers in the picture to try for 3 weeks and it will only cost me $10! Its a trial program to encourage people that cloth diapers are not as scary as they seem, so they give you a bunch of different types to try, and they're all brand new. Now that the business from the wedding is over, we're going to start this week and see how it goes.