6.18.11: My newest adventure

This week, by chance, I started cloth diapering Rex.

I had considered cloth when Rex was born but after doing a bit of reading and looking at the price of cloth diapers ($20 a piece) I decided against it.

But then my friend Amy started cloth diapering and she talked my other friend Mickelle into it and then Jami started cloth diapering and then I got pregnant and decided to join the club. About a month ago I started looking for deals on gDiapers (the brand of cloth I plan to use) and built my stash (cloth diapering lingo for my cloth diaper collection) for baby Alice up to 14 pounds. I spent $100, and it wasn't/isn't complete, so I continued to check KSL--a lot of people buy cloth and then change their minds so sell them, new, at reduced prices. People tend to like gDiapers so it's not often that they pop up on KSL. But this week some did. A lot of some. Used. This girl liked her gDiapers. No big deal. Poop is poop.

After thinking it over for a day and saying that if the diapers were gone after a day, it wasn't meant to be, I checked again and they were still there, so I bought them. $100 got me 6 medium gPants, 3 large gPants, 6 liners, and 18 inserts--6 of which were brand new. I was excited. I spent the day boiling and rewashing everything and then Wednesday night put Rex in his first blue diaper.

He loved it.

He asks for his blue diaper all day.

He only wears the blue diaper (gDiapers have removable inserts so I only have to wash the insert until Rex pees/poops through).

I also love it.

Maybe not love. Like.

I mean, cloth or disposable, I'm still wiping someone else's bodily fluids off his little bum.

But it hasn't been that different from disposables. It takes the same amount of time to change a diaper. The only difference so far is where I put the diaper--disposables into the trash can, cloth into the grocery bag (I still need a wet bag, hint, hint). I have had to do 2 extra loads of laundry. Boo hoo. But I don't use the dryer. I already have a drying rack, so I just walk upstairs and hang the diapers on my back porch where the sun bleaches them--white trash/environmentalist style. I think this is going to be a good investment, especially since I can use them on Rex now and save money on his diapers too.

Things that I don't like:

1. Rex loves his blue diaper--I had planned to potty train in about a month. I was thinking that getting new underwear would be really exciting for Rex, but looks like his blue diaper is just as exciting.

2. I haven't figured out how to get the pee smell out of the inserts yet. I think I need to use more detergent. Or some vinegar. I need my cloth diapering sage Amy to get back from vacation and tell me what to do.

3. I need new liners. gDiapers, unlike other cloth diapers, do have some recurring costs--like liners that wear out every 6 months or so. The ones I have for Rex are about worn out so I get a few more leaks than I'd like.

Things I do like:

1. Not filling up a land fill.

2. Knowing that I'll never run out of diapers again.

3. How cute Rex looks in just a diaper these days.

4. How slim the g's are.

5. Rex no longer leaks through at night (I double up liners).

6. For some reason, I feel more in control of my life when I use cloth diapers--no diaper company is going to tell me what to put on my kid's butt.

7. Feeling like a super mom because I cloth diaper my kid, even if it only takes about 2 seconds longer a week than disposables.

Above: Rex showing off his brown diaper--he peed on the blue one. Yes he still has an outtie and yes maybe I should be concerned about how willing he was to lift his shirt up for this picture.

Below: Rex admiring his own cloth diaper. Like I said, I think these might make potty training a little harder, not easier, as cloth diapers are supposed to do.