Monday, December 13, 2010

Diaper Diaries, Day 1

I recognize that this series of posts will be interesting to almost no one.

But a few will probably find it helpful!  (Hi, few!)

I thought I'd chronicle my ups and downs of cloth diapering this week to let you know what I think.  My hope is that at the end I'll be able to say, "If I can do it, you can do it!  Let's save money and the environment together!  Yay!"  So, here goes.

Day 1

We planned to wait until Dec. 14, Sweet Pea's 3-month "birthday," to start with our cloth diapering shenanigans.  I thought we might have to wait even longer though, because her skinny little legs were just not wanting to fit in the diapers.  Well, this morning I woke up next to some huge kid that couldn't possible be mine, but she must be, unless someone switched our baby for a bigger twin who looks exactly like her.

These overnight growth spurts wig me out, man.

We went to church, ran a couple errands and came home with a baby who desperately needed a diaper change.  I figured I could open my next box of diapers or...I could put her in cloth. 

So I did.  Because let's face it, these shiny new diapers are so cute.  And she's so stinkin' cute IN them.
"Uh, do these diapers make my bum look big?"  Yes, yes they do.

They fit great!  I am guessing she is between 13 and 14 lbs. right now.  Snapping them on is a breeze and they seem so soft and comfy.  If I were a baby, I would wayyy prefer this breathable microfleece to a plastic-y disposable.  The snaps still allow for a good adjustable fit and the leg casings are tight enough. 

I wanted to leave the first one on for a good amount of time.  Our baby is not a heavy wetter, nor does she get many dirty diapers.  She uses up ALL of her nutrition!  (Note to new mamas:  It totally freaked me out the first time she went two days without a dirty diaper.  I happened to have her two-month check-up on day two, so I told the doctor I was concerned, and she told me breastfed babies can go TWO WEEKS without a dirty diaper.  Our baby seems to not have dirty diapers in the middle of growth spurts.)  So, I kept checking for leaks and finally, after four hours, decided to just change her.

She barely felt wet!  The microfleece was barely damp to the touch, truly about the same as a disposable.  (Yes, I've been feeling wet diapers to see how wet they really are!)  This is good news to me because I've been concerned about too much dampness next to her skin.
     
I think I'm going to make washable wipes, too.  It seems like it would actually be easier to just toss a washable wipe in the pail (ok, right now it's a plastic grocery bag) along with the diapers, rather than walk a wipe to the trashcan or toilet.  I thought making my own wipes would be way too crunchy for me, but if I just cut up some extra flannel I can toss them in a ziplock with some water and be good to go, at least for when she's just wet.  When I changed her the first time I was like, "Uh, what do I do with the wipe?" because I'm used to just rolling it up in the diaper and tossing.

Yay, I just spent lots of time writing about diapers!  Yay!

2 comments:

  1. Anonymous12:33 PM

    I LOVE hearing about your cloth diapering experience. Keep these posts coming! :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. that's a great idea about the reuseable wipes. i was turned off by them because it seemed like you had to carry around a spray bottle, but keeping them damp in ziploc is genius!
    did you do the whole washing treatment of the cloth diapers before you used them? i heard you have to wash them like three or four times for the absorbency to set in?

    ReplyDelete

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