the low down on the "down low"

Yay! I'm finally writing a blog post that I had promised (unlike the updates of Avery's room, etc. oops!)! We FINALLY started using cloth diapers a few weeks ago! It took so long to get started because baby girl is so teeny - she started off wearing preemie disposables (!!!) so needless to say, the newborn-sized cloth diapers we bought just didn't fit her...and we weren't really anxious to deal with any messy blow outs. So far, I LOVE cloth diapering our baby. It's not only environmentally friendly, it's cheaper than disposables, super easy, and I'm not running out every week to buy more diapers! It's also addicting - have you seen some of the diapers out there? So cute! I want 'em all (but at about $18-$25 a pop, I'm not likely to get them all lol). 

I wrote a post prior to Avery's birth about which items we were planning on purchasing to start out our cloth diaper stash. Well, they've been put to good use already! 

So cute, right?! I know. 

Here are the diapers that we've been using (and loving): 

The prefolds and fitteds that we purchased (from Green Mountain diapers) had been washed and dried 5 times prior to use. This helps ensure proper absorption - you don't want poo or pee rolling right off of the diaper! Our covers were washed and hung dry once prior to use. 

The covers that we have include: 2 Bummis Super Brite newborn wraps, 2 Thirsties newborn wraps and 5 Rumparooz newborn covers. The wraps are all aplix (Velcro) and the covers are snaps. My favorites are the Thirsties wraps with prefolds during the day and the Rumparooz covers with a fitted for nighttime. I like the Bummis too, they work just fine, but I prefer the others. I also prefer snaps over Aplix - I think they will last longer and are more secure. If we are going out, I will sometimes use a fitted diaper with a snap cover - they hold more pee so she can stay in them a bit longer and it makes going out a lot easier (not that it's all that hard anyway). 

Fitteds are pretty self explanatory - you snap it on then put a cover over it. Here are the 2 prefold techniques that we are using: 

A pad fold: just fold the prefold on the folds, fold down the back (for girls) or front (for boys), center it in the cover or wrap, and insert baby! Super easy because you don't need to use any fasteners! I was a bit wary of using this fold because I wasn't convinced it would hold everything in, but it's really the only fold we use (and hubby likes how easy it is too). 

The other fold we use is a combo: 

Using the same pad fold as above, I place my newborn prefold (the tan one) inside of a bigger prefold (the white one). Fold the front edge of the bigger prefold over the front edge of the smaller, insert baby, and do a jelly roll fold with the bigger, using a snappi or pins to fasten. A jelly roll fold involves rolling the edges in, pulling the front of the diaper up over baby, then bring the back corners up front and fastening. We use this for heavy wetting days mostly, but I've found that this is much better for containing poo and I can use my covers a lot longer this way (poo doesn't touch the cover!). 

We wash the diapers about 2-3 times per week, depending on how much Avery goes and how often we change her (no more nighttime changes with fitted diapers though!). 

Here is our wash routine: 

Wash #1: cold wash, no detergent, no extra rinse

Wash #2: warm/cold wash, Rockin' Green detergent, extra rinse

Dry: prefolds and fitteds in the dryer, covers hang dry.

Super easy and because they are such small loads, it really doesn't take long at all.

Cloth diapering is so easy that we've convinced our moms (Avery's grandmas) that its no big deal and they are willing to use them when watching baby! 

We've slowly been building our stash of one size pocket diapers for after Avery outgrows her newborn stash (that may be a while). Right now we are stocking up on bumgenius brand diapers - recommended by our friends Ashley and Trevor (I've mentioned their blog in previous posts). I also want to get a few Rumparooz one size diapers because I love the covers so much.   

Before Avery was born, I discovered Modern Natural Baby in Ferndale. It's a natural parenting store with tons of cloth diapers and other goodies. If you are interested in switching to cloth, I highly recommend stopping by there - the amount of advice and support they can give is endless! The owners are awesome (a wife and husband) and are more than willing to help out newbies. They also offer classes! I just stopped in over the weekend and picked up 2 new bumgenius diapers as well as some pail odor remover. A testament to their great customer service: I paid for my odor remover and left it at the store, not noticing till I got home, called the store and they are shipping it to me free, no questions asked and happy to serve! I'm totally not being paid to advertise for this store, I just am in love with it! So go there!

Also, if you read my blog and have any questions, always know that I'm more than willing to help out! Just ask :)

Happy cloth diapering!!