Friday, July 29, 2011

A Fluffy Challenge

So I have had pretty strong opinions about diapers since I was three months pregnant with my daughter. My mother used cloth diapers on me when I was a baby and I always thought I would be a cloth diapering mummy, too, just for that reason. Then I went online. Oh, the wonder of the World Wide Web! Oh, the wonder of mondern cloth diapers! Have you seen the colours? Have you seen the prints? Have you seen the soft, cuddly bamboo fleece, the silky minky, the superb organic cotton? I was thrilled. No, I was enraptured with the endless variety and customizability of what cloth diapers had become in 27 years.
Sadly, our particular living situation was not cloth diaper friendly, so my husband and I decided that we would use disposables for the time being. Enter frustration. The "eco-friendly" disposables that we used in the beginning were a big pain in my behind... and my daughter's. I found them scratchy, stiff, and very square. We switched to Pampers, mainly because I had about a hundred coupons from the hospital care packages we received. Those worked okay, until Pampers changed their diapers to the "drymax" ultra thin style. Diaper rash. Sagging. Leaking. We switched to Huggies. One size was too short, the next size was too big in the waist. Wing droop. Sagging. Frustration. We tried Fisher Price. Have you ever seen a baby with a diaper wedgie? Terrible.
Our daughter is 17 months now, and with another one on the way and our living situation changed, I have been as determined as ever to switch to that wonderful fluffiness I drool over in my mind. Is it really the answer, or is the grass always greener? My husband was worried that it would be too much work, especially when baby 2.0 comes along. He was hesitant to spend that big chunk of change all at once. I began to wonder if he was right.
Enter a wonderful friend and dear sister in law. She used cloth diapers on most of her children, but no longer needed them. She gave her stash to me last night to try out for a while. Herein lies the challenge: prove to myslef and my husband that I truly am a cloth diapering mummy. I like versatility. I like simplicity. I like AIOs and hybrids and one size diapers... I am trying out prefolds and Bummis Super Brite covers. If I can handle this, I can handle any cloth diaper, right?
Day one: Elysia seems happy in the cloth diapers. She certainly looks cute in the pretty pink Super Brite cover. I like that I actually feel better somehow, even though it has been less than a day, just knowing that she is in cloth. I like that it's fairly easy: put on cloth diaper, secure cover over diaper, let child play... change cloth diaper, wipe cover clean, resecure over new cloth diaper, toss used diaper in pail.
Okay, so I'll be honest. Already I have noticed a couple things that need work. First, since my daughter does have a very narrow waist, the prefolds are a bit big and I have to overlap them in the front. My daughter also has small thighs, so it's a bit hard to get the cover to fit snugly enough at the legs without creating a little wing droop. I am sure we will find a solution to those problems.
My goal: if I can cloth diaper with this system for the next five months, but still set aside the 60 or so dollars I normally spend on disposables each month, I'll have enough money saved to purchase whatever fluffy system I choose! Cheer me on. Ask me questions. Give me tips. I will continue with updates. And in case you all were wondering, yes, I am back!