the times they are...

...a changin'. Gosh, I love me some Bob Dylan. No joke. I got turned on to him sometime in high school and have loved him ever since. I've seen him twice in concert, when he's played in Syracuse. Both times equally amazing. I love a good live show!

Alas, Bob is not the topic of today's post! (so sad, I know!) Instead, I'm sharing the story of how we came to use cloth diapers. We've been cd'ing for a grand total of five days-yes, *5* days. On our second day, we had a wedding to go and I managed to cd the whole day! It was a true test and was not as hard as I thought it would be. There was no diaper changing area (or makeshift for that matter) of any kind in the ladies' room so I changed Meghan's diaper on one of the chairs in the reception room! Luckily, she didn't poop while we were there, that would've been a bit more difficult!

But, I digress. When I was pregnant, I had considered cloth diapering because I knew we wouldn't have a lot of money for disposables and wipes and because of the environmental benefits. When I shared my wish to cloth diaper with friends and family, I was shot down by everyone-including my own mother who had cloth diapered my sisters and I! I was shocked to say the least. Everyone said it was gross and too much work, etc. So, I dropped the issue. Until I found myself spending ungodly amounts of money on disposable diapers and wipes! At 9 months old, Meghan was going through $50-$70 in diapers and wipes a month. And that's the conservative estimate based on BJ's prices (a wholesale club), when in actuality I was more likely buying them at Walmart due to the store's proximity to our home.

So, I started doing some research and discovered a plethora of information and products for the "crunchy mom". I had no idea that cloth diapers had come as far as they have. There are just so many options to choose from-flats, prefolds, covers, wraps, plastic pants, fitteds, all in ones, all in twos, the list goes on and on! (Not to mention the materials they are made out of-cotton, pul, minky, plastic, indian cotton, chinese cotton, organic cotton, bamboo, micro fleece...)

When I mentioned to my Dad, about a month ago, that we were definitely switching to cloth, the first thing he did was give me a sideways look and ask "Oh, you're getting a diaper service then?" Of course, he had been through cloth diapering my sisters and I, with my mother, in the 1980s and I can imagine the horror. No fancy pants then. Ha, I am so glad for the advances in cloth diapering!

If I had an unlimited supply of moolah, I would most likely go with all in ones. Simply because they are the most similar to disposables and easy peasy for everyone. But since we are not millionaires, we went with prefolds and econobum covers. I had a package of 6 Gerber prefolds that I had received at my baby shower, you can find these in any big box store. They are similar to birds eye cloth and thus are not nearly as absorbent and the organic cotton prefolds I bought later on. For our initial stash, I bought 4 econobum covers (12 prefolds came with them), a pack of 6 osocozy prefolds, a kissaluvs diaper pail liner, 200ct biodegradable/flushable grovia bioliners, 8 pcs diaper pins, tea tree oil (for wipe solution), plastic spray bottle (wipe solution) metal drying rack, plastic garbage can + lid (for a diaper pail) for about $130. That's 2 months of disposable diapers and wipes. And Meg will be in diapers for at least another year, if she potty trains by May 2012, it will have saved us $500-$700!

I made my own cloth wipes by cutting up some flannel scraps I had on hand and a 5T flannel long sleeved boys shirt I got on clearance at Walmart for $1. (I got about 18-20 wipes for $1, sweet!) I made my own wipes solution today with 2 cups warm waters, 2 tablespoons baby oil/baby wash/baby lotion and 4-5 drops of tea tree oil (natural anti bacterial/microbial). And it's been working great so far!

At the wedding we went to over the weekend, I got a surprise from my mil, not only a gift, but also the knowledge that she reads my little blog. (Hi Kim!) She gave me a mother ease wrap (with an adorable zoo animal print) and 4 snap fitteds and 4 snap in doublers! Bonus for us! She had gotten them from someone else and had used them for swim diapers. Meg used them yesterday and did great! I did great because there were no pins to prick myself with! The fitteds do take the longest out of everything to line dry, but I'm ok with that, I've got plenty of prefolds, so I'll never run out.

Drew is slow to hop onto the cloth diaper wagon. He usually only changes Meg's diaper once a day because he's only home from work for a few hours before she goes to bed. The first couple of days, he only happened to be around for a #2 diaper (you know-number two) and he "didn't want his first diaper to be a poopy one." Which is fine with me, I totally get it. And he did watch me change a couple to see what he needed to do. Yet every night, I end up taking over to make sure the prefold is snug enough and that everything is leak proof for overnight. Hopefully he'll be a pro in no time. :)

(Also, I started this last Thursday, it is now Wednesday night/Thursday morning!)


(I purchased my stash in 3 transactions from 3 different websites: www.kellyscloset.com, www.diaperjunction.com, and www.tendercare.com due to what each store had in stock that I wanted to buy)