Diaper Debate

After reading several different diapering posts way before baby c was even a glimmer in my mind, I had it in my mind that I wanted to do cloth diapering.  

Now, when I told my family I was planning to do cloth diapers, they looked at me like I had 6-heads.  I tried explaining that they're not like they used to be, you don't have to pin them and there are lots of different options, but they still didn't understand.  I decided that the blog-world would be my cloth diaper supporters.

There are several posts that I relied upon as I was doing my research.

• Julia at My Life in Transition
• John and Sherry at Young House Love
• Katie at Bower Power

And those are just a few of the blog posts out there.  Then I found some of these great resources to help answer some questions, etc.

• The ABC's of going cloth by Dr. Momma
• Basics of Cloth Diapers and Comparisons by PinStripes and Polka Dots
• Cloth Diaper FAQ by Zoolikins
• Detergents by PinStripes and Polka Dots
• Washing Instructions by Niki's Diapers
• Where to buy:  Cotton Babies, Amazon, Target, Babies R Us to name a few

Then there was the cost comparison that I found at DiaperDecisions.com:


Where the grand total for disposables came out to be:  $2577.35
One-Size Pockets (based on a 12-pack of BumGenius at Cotton Babies):  $203.40 * 3 = $610.20
All-In-One One-Size (based on a 12-pack of BumGenius at Cotton Babies):  $264.95 * 3 = $794.85
**Based on the fact that we would be going to daycare and wouldn't have time to wash every day, we figured that 36 diapers would be a good number.  We also determined that All-In-Ones were the only way we would be able do it, vs. getting different sizes.** 


So we started with the one-size pockets from BumGenius.  After hubs took a look at them, he decided that he wasn't a fan of the whole pocket thing.  If he was going to be on board with the whole cloth diapering, then they needed to be the All-In-Ones.  

So we decided that it was worth it to suck-up the extra $185 or so and go with the All-In-One, One-Sizes. I spent a lot of time looking for one-size, all-in-ones and they were definitely hard to find without pockets.

cottonbabies.com

We got a variety of each of the colors.  Here they are all pre-washed (5-times!!) and snapped and ready to go packed away in a dresser drawer below the changing pad, as well as a few others I have to find room for in there afterwards.  We ended up with 36 diapers total.  We did this based on the assumption that he would wear about 12 diapers a day and we would want to leave a few at daycare, plus we'd need some for him to wear while we washed the dirty ones.  It is probably waaaay more than we need but to us it seemed about right.  (By the way we got some totally cute free Baby Legs because we spent more than $100 - we ordered them in 3 different batches so as to spread out the cost)

We knew we'd need some wetbags, so we went with a big 'pail-size' one and a smaller travel-size one (Medium bag)  (Btw, that is not the pattern I intended to get I must have clicked the wrong one, but oh well, I'm over it and think this one is fine).  I think we'll need a bigger travel one.  We also still need to get a 'pail' for the bigger one to stay in his room.  (It's on the registry, just need that registry completion coupon!)

cottonbabies.com 

Cleaning the diapers, while I know it won't be the most desirable work, it is what it is and I think we can handle it.  We also are going to get the diaper sprayer (registry coupon!) that you can easily install on the toilet.  (Check out the Young House Love post above).  We also got some of the bumGenius detergent as well (thanks to the bulk pricing at cottonbabies) just because it's what we felt the most comfortable with for now.

cottonbabies.com 

 As you can see, Cotton Babies was our store of choice for most things.  They had the lowest prices that I could find and offered 12-packs of diapers which made for a price discount on the diapers.

We do have some disposables for the first few weeks of his life and/or until he fits into the cloth diapers.  We also are going to use disposable wipes too I think.  I am hoping that we are up to the task (otherwise we just spent a lot of money).  I am worried that we are missing something or may be over-looking something but I guess we'll figure that out as time goes on.

Anyone else doing cloth diapers?  What have you gotten so far?  Anything I'm forgetting?  Did your family look at you like you had 6 heads too?!?!?!