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Wednesday, April 6, 2011

Interview with a Cloth DIapering Mamma

Once I started cloth diapering, I thought back to my friends that had been doing it for a while. I'm pretty sure I thought they were crazy when they told me they cloth diapered but when I found out my friend Becca, of The RLR's, was a cloth diaper diva I was not at all surprised. Becca is creative, fashionable and thoughtful. She is a fantastic mom who has little ones close in age to mine. Infact her little(well, maybe 'little' is the wrong word) Zeke was born one day before Liam.
Since Jodi and I are still newbies to the world of cloth diapering, I thought it would be nice to get a perspective from a cloth diaper veteran.


What made you try cloth diapering with your first?
I was always a bit "crunchy" minded. I met a girl in my birthing class that used cloth diapers and then I just started reading a little bit about it and then decided I'd like to use them. I also wanted to save money and create less waste.

You used Prefolds with your first and now pockets with your second, what prompted the change?
After I started CDing I got some supplies and diapers from friends who were done CD-ing. Some of the things I got were pocket diapers and so that is where I first had experience with them. I had also seen blogging friends who used the pocket diapers. When I got pregnant with my second baby, I saw that Babies R Us and also Target had Bumgenius diapers on their registries. I registered for some, just to give them a try and got some as gifts. So, that was my first time using the Bumgenuis pocket diapers. I really liked them and now use them most of the time

For a newborn, what was your favorite fold?
Eve was such a small baby that I didn't start putting her in cloth diapers until she was 6 weeks old. We mainly stuck with just folding the diaper in thirds with the excess length folded over in the back. We tried using snappi fasteners (again, hand me down from a friend) but didn't like that so much of the wetness was against her skin with the diaper wrapped all around her legs. We always just folded the diaper in thirds and didn't fasten it with anything.

Same question for a 6 month old and then a toddler?
Diaper folded in thirds. Just laid in the cover and snapped the cover on. Same for 6 months and for toddler.

What are your favorite pre folds and pockets?
My favorite pocket diapers so far have been Bumgenius. Prefolds have been OsoCozy (they are the only ones we have used though.) 

What are your favorite covers?
Favorite covers have been Bummis super snap. Again, we haven't tried a large variety of covers though.

What is the biggest hurdle you faced with cloth diapering?
I think the biggest hurdle with cloth diapering was replacing the elastic in the covers we had for Eve. She used the medium size covers from the time she was about 8 months old all the way until she was over 2 and so the elastic wore out after too much washing. I think it was partly my fault. I didn't always line dry them and I think too much heat from the dryer caused the elastic to wear out. Anyhow, ripping out and replacing the elastic was time consuming and annoying. The only other hurdle was washing out the poop before we installed a diaper sprayer. That diaper sprayer made a HUGE difference. Oh, and if I didn't keep up with the laundry, sometimes I'd be almost without diapers!

Most used detergent?
I just make sure that my detergent has no dyes or additives. I have used Earth's Best laundry detergent, All, and also some homemade detergent. I occasionally add baking soda or borax to the wash too.

Any tips for new CD moms?
My tips would be to make sure to get the accessories you need. Like wetbags for when you are on the go and also cloth swim diapers. I also highly recommend using a diaper sprayer on the toilet! And using some essential oil in the diaper pail is very helpful (some pail liners have a tab you can put the oil on or you can just put some on a rag and throw it in your pail.)





Baby Eve 




Baby Zeke(I love the BabyLegs!)
Thanks Becca! And Becca also happens to be the winner of the Baby Brezza Kitchen Wipes! I promise it was randomly chosen!!!




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