Cloth Diapering: Day 1

Yesterday I started trying out cloth diapering with Ian. I'm not sure how long I'll try it out before I decide, but we'll see how it goes for this first week. And if you're not curious about cloth diapering, you probably shouldn't read this post, because it will be boring.

I had a doctor's appointment in the morning (the baby's not coming soon, unfortunately) so we started when I got home. This is how my system works, which I think for me is the easiest and cheapest option.

I take a cloth diaper and fold it in thirds lengthwise.


I put it in the diaper cover and fold down the extra length (unfortunately the cloth diapers I got seem to be a bit long compared to their width, but that's okay. I won't make that mistake again.).


I put a bio liner in (biodegradable and reusable if they don't get dirty. They make clean-up after dirty diapers virtually painless),


or a doubler if Ian is going to go a while until I can change him, like at night.


Then I Velcro it closed and cram his fat bottom into his pants.


When I change a diaper I use a new cover just so I can get the next diaper ready, pull the old one to the side, and get Ian taken care of before I take the time to take care of the wet/dirty diaper. It works pretty well so far.

Yesterday I had two dirty diapers and some wet ones. Here are the pros and cons, in my opinion:

Pros:

• You don't have to throw away a diaper, and your diaper pail doesn't have to be emptied every other day to the trash. You just throw in an extra load of laundry when you do laundry.
  
• Cloth diapering is just as expensive as disposables, and really pretty easy. So far.

Cons:

• You do have to view the waste products slightly longer to dispose of them.
• It's hard to tell when you've got a wet/dirty diaper because they're harder to smell than with disposables.

When I first put Ian's diaper on I had folded down the extra length in the front. It looked really funny and he had a hard time sitting down. After laughing a lot, I changed it to the back. He had a much easier time. He did get one diaper cover a little dirty but I washed it in one second. I'm pretty sure he had been dirty a while and I just couldn't smell it. He had no leaks through the night but did sleep fitfully. I'm not sure if this is because he was bulkier than usual or if it was just one of those nights for him. He also got a diaper cover a little wet this morning but I should've changed him earlier. I have a hard time telling when these diapers are wet, too, and it had been a while.

I had read various places that it's hard to fit a cloth diaper into baby clothes now days because cloth is so much bulkier than a disposable, but with Ian's baggy boy clothes it has been no problem.