Ever since this post, I’ve received several questions, emails and comments about cloth diapering, and rather than keep writing emails, I’m going to answer in a post.

So, to those of you who think I’m a Crazy Nut, feel free to skip this post. Unless, of course, you want to just confirm what you already thought and what we all know to be true.

But before you go thinking I’m a complete loon, let me just say that I use cloth diapers because I actually like them. Truly. I’m not lying. And so does John. In fact, he’s more into it than I am–which is definitely saying something. There’s just something so… nice, for lack of brain power to think of a better word… about putting a soft cotton diapie on little baby buns. Add that to the enormous amount of $$$$ saved by being able to “re-use” your diapers rather than tossing them, and I’m hooked. I even like washing and folding the diapers, believe it or not. It just works for us.

Now, do I LIKE rinsing yucky diapers in the toilet…. uh, no. But we’ve honestly had more total blow-outs (the kind that require the clothes themselves to be either rinsed out or tossed) in disposable diapers than we have in cloth.

There’s a half a million other reasons why I like cloth, but it really doesn’t matter. Because if you want to use ‘em, you’re going to and you’ll have your own reasons, and if you don’t, then you won’t. So profound, I know. But the one thing I must say is that we prefer balance to militancy, and don’t see cloth diapering as being a matter of biblical importance.

So here’s the answers to the questions.

• When did you start using cloth? The majority of our diapers were given to us as baby gifts before Troy was born (we had registered at cottonbabies.com) and then we just added to our “stash” little by little as we needed bigger sizes. But for the first couple weeks, while we figured out, you know, how to be PARENTS, we just used, GASP, disposables. We don’t know when we’ll start putting the new baby in cloth this time… maybe sooner, since we’re pretty used to it now, or maybe later, being that we will have two little people in diapers.

• What kind of diapers do you use? We’ve tried several brands and types of diapers, and we have found that we’re just plain ol‘ prefolds and covers kind of people. We love our Chinese prefolds and our Prowraps covers, and we just use a hemp doubler at night. We originally used about 24 regular (small) prefolds and four Bummis covers, but as soon as Troy grew out of the smaller sized Bummis, we switched to Prowraps because they have a “gusset” around the legs that greatly helps in reducing leaks. This is the same reason we weren’t too impressed with our FuzziBunz… Troy wore them most often at night and almost always leaked out of them. Now that he’s older and eats solid food all the time, that isn’t really a problem, and Bummis work well, but for newborns and infants, I’d strongly recommend the Prowraps or something similar. (I haven’t yet tried the “next big thing”–the BumGenius diapers–so I can’t give any sort of info on those. I’m hoping to try a couple with the new baby, though, just for fun.)

• How many diapers do you buy to begin with? The most sought-after Q&A! I searched and searched for an answer to this one before we had Troy, and could never quite find the perfect answer. We ended up with about two dozen of the small prefolds and four newborn sized covers. We washed diapers about every other day with this, although I’d say it’s better to have a few more covers than that. In the beginning, having only four caused us a little stress at times. We also had four of the small sized hemp liners for nights. Troy was terrible when it came to diaper changes during the night (you’d think we were seriously hurting him or something), so we tried to keep those to a minimum, but in the first few months, at least one change a night is usually a necessity. Thus more than two hemp liners for those night times diapers. By the time we needed to get the next size up of anything, we had a better idea of what we needed, didn’t need, wanted more of, or thought we’d try, so it’s a bit easier the second time through.

• How do you wash your diapers? The best and most FUN question of them all. :wink: There are about as many “right” ways to wash diapers as there are cloth diaper users… but, just for the record, here’s what we do…. when we change a diaper, it gets rinsed if needed/dirty and then goes directly into the dry pail. (Along with the wipes, if you’re using cloth wipes… which we haven’t with Troy, and plan to begin doing once this bebe has arrived.) One Very Helpful Thing is using these liners in your diapers once your baby is eating solid foods. Breastmilk poop is water soluble and doesn’t always need to be rinsed, but once the baby is eating solids, it’s absolutely necessary, and these liners save a TON of yucky rinsing. Just pull out the liner and flush it. Diapering bliss. :) When it’s time to wash, I dump the diapers into the washer and do a couple hour cold soak with about a quarter cup of baking soda. Then I do a spin cycle to get rid of the rinse water and switch the washer to HOT before doing a regular wash with regular detergent. When the washer hits the rinse cycle, I add a splash of vinegar, then finish the whole thing up with a second regular rinse cycle. As for drying… the very best thing is hanging your diapers on the line to dry–the sun bleaches them and keeps them fresh and white. We still haven’t got our line put up since we moved, so I’m still using the dryer for our diapers. No fun. (Covers should never be put in the dryer though… it can ruin them.)

So, if you’re still with us…

I can’t think of much else that’s really important, except for remembering the fact that cloth diapering is a system, and as such, has to be one that works for you. This is just what works for us and Troy… ask me again when the new baby is six months old and I’m sure I’ll have different recommendations or ideas.

Hope this answers some of those questions… if not, ask some more. If you’re already a cloth user, I’d love to hear your fav’s, your likes and dislikes… or any info I’ve missed.

To the rest of you, I’m impressed if you’re still reading. :)

And back to normal blogging we go….