Thursday, January 5, 2012

"Cloth diapering, Fun, Easy and just down right Addicting" Must be posted by 9 Jan, 2012

When I had my first baby on 3 February, 2008 my whole world changed. I was 29 years old and had no clue as to how much this tiny little guy was about to impact my life!
It started off gradually. I began taking baby steps in the every day choices I made in order to provide for him the best environment to grow up healthy and strong that a mother could provide. I breastfed and started eating organic food. I began to eliminate my home of all toxic household cleaners, and personal care items.

In September of 2010 I began researching cloth diapers.
The images that entered my mind when I first thought of "cloth diapers" were Gerber prefolds, pins and plastic pants! Yikes!! As my fingers struck the keyboard and I used Google to search "modern cloth diapers" I was pleasantly surprised! The images looked nothing like the ones in my mind, instead, I was intrigued by images like these:






*photographs used by permission from Cotton Babies*

The reason I first started looking into cloth diapers was because on several occasions when I changed my son's diapers I noticed there were little gelatin looking balls on his skin. This was cause for concern. What were these little gelatin balls and what were they doing on my baby's skin? As I started researching what disposable diapers were made of I was shocked at what I found. The top three items that really caught my attention were: Sodium Polyacrylate, dying agents and dioxins!
According to The Health Wyze Report:
"Disposable diapers pose a health risk to children. We have previously reported on sanitary pads and tampons causing endometriosis through dioxin exposure. Dioxins are a byproduct of chlorine, which is used during the bleaching process. Dioxins accumulate in the body throughout the lifetime of the victim, which makes this a particularly important topic. Dioxin exposure as a child will impede the immune system of the individual forever. It means that they will never be as strong as they should have been. Dioxins are responsible for a range of reproductive and developmental problems, damaging the immune system, along with causing major hormonal imbalances and cancer. Many infants are now exposed to dioxins 24 hours a day, and yet society wonders why girls are beginning puberty younger than ever, and hormonal disorders are becoming increasingly common in children."
Did you read that??? "Dioxin exposure as a child will impede the immune system of the individual forever" and dioxins are linked to CANCER! What the heck were those chemicals doing next to my baby's skin??? I was left speechless! I could not figure out how in The Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave these so called 'safe' baby items could be sold and purchased by good intending parents around the nation who were probably oblivious (like I was) to the dangers within!

As I was searching the Internet, I found a blog giveaway for 2 one size Fuzzi Bunz diapers. I entered, and I won! That winning opened the door to what I now proudly call my 'cloth diaper addiction.'

As I continued to use cloth diapers on my second son Joshua, I was amazed at how many different kinds of cloth diapers there were. There were pocket diapers, all in ones, fitted diapers, one sized diapers, all in two's, hybrids, prefolds and covers, and the list goes on!

When I received my two Fuzzi Bunz pocket style diapers I could not believe how soft they were. They came with two inserts each and easy to follow instructions. I washed them and then the next day tried them on my son! They were awesome!! Of course at this point, he had only peed in them! I was so amazed at how easy they were to use. I washed them again and hung them out to dry for the next day's use. I knew at this point that two diapers were not going to cut it, and I HAD TO HAVE MORE!!

The biggest hurdle before me was convincing my husband to make the switch! You see, my husband (love him) is a very down-to-earth, old fashioned kind of man. He sticks to what he knows and what tends to be "the norm." He likes loves numbers and is VERY logical in his thinking (after all, he has served in the Army for nearly 20 years)!

I knew I had to PROVE to him that cloth diapers were right for us, and for our babies! So I set out to work the numbers. I calculated how much our disposable diapers cost, and how many we were using per month. (Keep in mind, at this time, we only had one child, Aaron). This is what I came up with.
Cost of pampers = approximately 25 cents each.
Aaron (9 months old at the time) was using approximately 9 disposables in a 24 hour period which = $2.25 per day which = approximately $67.50 a month, which came out to a whopping $810.00 per year that was literally being thrown away in the trash!!

My husband was still was not convinced.
When I gently reminded my husband that we both knew we wanted more children, and that each child would cost us at least $810.00 per year in disposable diapers alone, he started to listen. When I factored in having two babies in diapers at the same time, and the cost of approximately $810.00 a year doubling (newborn babies require more frequent diaper changes and if using disposables, would cost more than $2.25 per day) to approximately $1620.00 a year, he gave me the green light! Good thing too, because shortly after making the switch to cloth diapers I found out we were expecting another baby!
Joshua was born in February of 2010!


When determining the cost of using cloth diapers, one must also factor in the cost of water usage and electricity. For us this has not been an issue as we are a military family and live on a military base, and pay no monthly water or electric fees. So if you are trying to determine if cloth diapers are right for you, you should also take into account the cost of water and electricity usage for the extra loads of laundry you will be doing.

Another thing to consider when you are thinking of making the switch to cloth diapers are the accessories you will need. Cloth diapers need to be washed in certain laundry soap, not any old store brand soap will do. I use Rockin Green and I LOVE it! It's pretty economical, at about 30 cents per load (if you have a top load washing machine like me). If you have a front load washing machine, it's only about half that at about 15 cents per load! Very doable. You will also need a pail liner or hanging wet bag. If you have only one child in cloth, you can get away with only two med-large sized wet bags. If you have two in cloth at one time (like I did for over a year) then you will need at least 4 wet bags. Two per child, one to store soiled diapers and the other to use while you are doing the wash!

I gradually started building my cloth diaper stash. By the time I was done, I had purchased 15 Fuzzi Bunz one size diapers which cost me approximately $300! Still less than the $810 per year that I calculated we were 'throwing away' with disposables. During my first year of cloth diapering I had spent $300.00 on 15 cloth diapers. If I had been using disposables, I would have spent approximately $810.00! I had saved $510.00 in the first year alone!!
I also purchased two medium sized Mommy's Touch size medium wet bags which were $12.00 each. This brought my grand total to $324.00 (keep in mind I had won the two Fuzzi Bunz one size diapers so in all I had 17 Fuzzi Bunz one size diapers in my stash)! My favorite place to buy cloth diapers is Cotton Babies! They carry everything you need to get started on your journey with cloth! They sell several brand name cloth diapers, to include the award winning BumGenius cloth diapers! Cotton Babies also has a GREAT information section on their website where you can learn more about cloth diapering basics and how-to tips!

Do you think $300.00 per year is still too expensive? There are several other ways to cloth diaper that are less expensive. I would have to say that the least expensive way to cloth diaper is to use prefolds and covers! One of my favorite is the Econobum! You can purchase one set (one waterproof cover and one prefold) from Cotton Babies for $9.95. Cotton Babies also sells Econobums in a kit, which have 3 diaper covers, 12 prefolds and one wet bag for $48.95!

Hypothetically, let's say you wanted to start out with 15 diapers, like I did. You can purchase the single Econobums (one diaper cover and one prefold) for $9.95 each. $9.95 x 15 = $149.95 (still way less than the $810.00 a year for disposables)!! Or, you can buy two of the kits and end up with 6 diaper covers, 24 prefolds and 2 wetbags for only $97.90! The great thing about using prefolds and covers is that the covers can be reused (without washing) unless they get soiled! So ideally, one cover could last you all day long, and you would just change the prefolds throughout the day!

Another little thing that sort of creeped me out when I was first considering cloth diapering was the poo-factor! I mean, I was envisioning wearing plastic gloves and swishing poopy diapers out in the toilet with a clothes pin on my nose! But you know, cloth diapering and cloth diapering accessories have come a long way. No more swishing out poopy diapers in the toilet. Now there were things called diaper sprayers!
*photograph used by permission from Cotton Babies*
These things are awesome! You simply attach it to the water flow from your toilet and viola, you spray your diapers clean. I have found too that only few of my diapers actually need to be sprayed, as when babies are breastfed or have soft stool! Most of the time the stool is solid and you simply knock it off into the toilet! You can purchase this BumGenius diaper sprayer from Cotton Babies for $44.99. A diaper sprayer is not a must-have accessory to cloth diapering, but is a nice accessory to have if you can afford it!

So now that we have determined that cloth diapering is inexpensive, let's talk about how easy it is to use cloth! I mostly use one size pocket diapers (BumGenius and Fuzzi Bunz are my favorite). I like the one size because they last from birth to potty. One diaper for all stages of growth (cost efficient). Pocket diapers normally come with two inserts, a small and a large, the small to be used on a newborn, and a large to be used on an older, larger baby!
Pocket diapers are one of the most easy diapers to use. You simply place the appropriate insert (small or large) into the pocket opening of the diaper and you are ready to go. When you change your baby, simply drop the wet diaper into your wet/dry bag and let it stay there until wash day. If the diaper is soiled, simply knock the solids off into the toilet and flush, then place your diaper into the wet/dry bag until wash day!

When wash day comes (for me, I wash diapers every other day to two days, now that my oldest is potty trained), simply take the diapers out of the wet bag and pull out the insert and place both the insert and the shell into the washing machine. Then run a cold rinse. Once the diapers have been rinsed, do a hot wash with your cloth diaper safe detergent, followed by a cold rinse. If you are using microfiber inserts (which come with most pocket diapers) you can throw them into the dryer (using wool dryer balls are a great idea), but I ALWAYS hang my shells to dry. I've never placed them in the dryer.

Keep in mind that you should always check with your brand's manufacturer care instructions for your diapers so that you don't do something that may void your cloth diaper warranty!

It is so easy to use cloth! I actually enjoy washing my cloth diapers, I know... it's kinda weird :)

Cloth diapering is affordable, easy and fun! How is it fun, you ask? Well lets be honest here, babies in cloth look so adorable, and I've had lots of fun taking pictures of my littles in their cloth diapers. Just take a look at these pics and tell me "what's not to love?"

My youngest son Joshua in all his fluffy goodness!!


I do not have any newborn pictures of my boys in cloth, but just look at this little gem sporting a BumGenius artist series cloth diaper in Eiffel Tower: (it does not get much sweeter than this):
*photograph used by permission from Cotton Babies* 

Once you've tried cloth diapers, you won't go back! And if you are anything like me, it will become not only a fun hobby, but a heart-felt addiction!

Please leave me a comment!
Have you tried cloth diapers? If not, why not? If you are a cloth diapering mama/dad what made you decide to use cloth? If you use cloth diapers, what's your favorite part about cloth diapering?
If you do not currently use cloth diapers, but would like to, what would you say is the number one hurdle you face in making the switch?

I'd love to hear your thoughts!

Disclosure: These are my own opinions and experiences mentioned above. Though I was not compensated for writing this post, I am submitting this post into a contest!

~Mama of the Littles~

167 comments:

  1. Thanks for the post. Although I've been convinced to cloth diaper for a while, this has a lot of good information that I plan on passing on to friends, in hopes of getting them interested as well!

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  2. I love this. I am a cloth diapering momma of two toddlers and I would never go back to sposies. You are right, it is an addiction. How could it not be, they are so cute. Nifty Nappies are my kryptonite, lol. My 2 yr old son actually prefers his cloth over sposies which we use on occasion (hubby isn't always on board with cloth). We got started originally because I am a stay at home mom and I am always trying to find ways for us to save money. Thanks so much for this post. It made my day.

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  3. Passed this on to a friend of mine who is wanting to enter the cloth diaper realm. Shes a little overwhelmed right now so I'm really hoping this will help. I love my addiction and I love the fact that my husband is now joining me. He has now started helping me pick out prints and has even done the laundry a few times. :0) Thank you for a wonderful look into our world!

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  4. I love cloth diapers. I use them at home. If we are going to town or out for the day. I sometimes use the disposable. My husband still isn't thrilled about the cloth diapers but I found out he as been telling his friends with new babies how great they are because I have saved so much money using them. I wish I would of used them with our first child. I have used them with the second kid since birth. We are having a third in May. I will be using cloth diapers on this one too. I wash my dirty cloth diapers every night. I don't have a lot of them. When I found out what we are having, I know I will want a few new ones. They are addicting because you can get any fabric you want. Cloth diapers are great.

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  5. I wanted to cloth diaper my oldest two kids (now almost 7 - on Jan 9th! - and 4.5yo) but neither time was DH on board and I didnt push too much. Then we found out we had surprise baby #3 coming. We had given all the baby stuff away by that point and really were going to have to start over with buying things. But our budget was tight. And DH had redirected his career into teaching companies how to go green and build green - eco-friendly was quickly becoming a main way of living for us. So we set out to be as green as we could for the new baby - from buying less and buying used to looking into cloth. The baby is now 7mo and we love using cloth - both for enviornmental and financial reasons! We have even gotten a handful of other friends started using cloth! We will never go back to sposies and I hope to get even more friends using cloth.

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  6. I started using Cloth Diapers with my youngest (now nearly 2!)...I don't really remember why, but if I am honest, the cute factor was a BIG thing for me. LOL My first purchase was actually Bum Genius 3.0's, and I loved them! I did not start when she was a newborn, as I knew if I over-stressed at the beginning, I would not stick with it...so, as soon as she fit into the BG's (one-size) we started! Since I had a small stash, we wore them out pretty quick, and due to a tight financial year, I experimented and tried some other brands, some which were much cheaper...I am now expecting a new baby, and am hoping to get back to a full stash of BG's as they are still the best diapers I have ever bought! We will have 2 in diapers now though, so would love to win another 12, and cut down on how many I'll need to buy before this baby arrives! I am planning on starting at birth this time, and am also slowly trying to build up a newborn stash as my babies are little bitty...and newborn diapers are the easiest to clean... :)

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  7. We Cloth diaper and have since our daughter was born. We used disposables for day #2 and day #3 because we were worried about her stump. Her behind was so red and extremely irritated after 2 days and immediately went back to cloth and it cleared up in 12 hours and we have never had any issues like that again and have never had diaper rash. She is now 5 months old. We chose cloth because of the chemicals that are in sposies as well as the cost and environmental impact associated with sposies. It takes 500+ years for a sposie to decompose! They are easy to use and so much CUTER than sposies!!! erlisha[at}live dot com

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  8. My daughter was just born (quite unexpectedly) yesterday morning. We are still in the hospital and she's already in cloth diapers brought from home. People are shocked when they see the diapers I've accumulated during my pregnancy, both in variety of prints and styles, as well as the sheer number. I think I already qualify as a cloth addict and Sloane is just over a day old!

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  9. I started using cloth when my son was 8 months old. We switched because buying a pack of diapers every 3 weeks was adding up! My favorite part is realizing how much money I'm saving!!! :)

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  10. My favorite part of cloth diapering is saving money. I don't have to be "mad" (not that I would anyway) when my newborn goes through 3 or 4 diapers consecutively...you know what I mean? It also keeps the poop in better than flimsy disposables on my skinny kids!
    hnnhhyr at gmail dot com

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  11. After child #2 was born, I visited a friend who does cloth diapering and decided it would be doable! I currently have 17 diapers for my two year old and 6 month old, which means I have to wash every day and sometimes resort to disposables. The biggest hurdles are: time to wash and dry, bulkiness in diaper bag, and dealing more directly with the poop. But the benefits are that I'm saving us money (in the long run), they're better for my kids and the environment, and that they can be so cute! As soon as I have enough "practical" diapers I'm going to try to get some cute ones!!

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  12. I cloth diaper my 19 month old son full time. I have used cloth diapers on three of my four children. I am in love with cloth. I switched because I knew disposables were not good for baby or the environment. I think part of the reason may have been how cute cloth is! The hardest thing for me was getting my husband on board. My mom bought the first diapers in my stash for me. After I used them my husband loved them because I saved some money! I love all cloth and have a wide variety of diapers. My favorite changes everyday! Mrsfuzzy2424 at gmail dot com

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  13. " My hubby and I decided to go with cloth diapers for our little girl. We decided it would be best for our daughters health (no chemicals & less diaper rash), and for the planet! We have saved ( so far ) in her 6 weeks of life over 516 diapers from the landfill! That's a lot of diapers! Not only that but it's better for the budget.
    We have used cloth diapers from day 1. We decided to use OS cloth diapers that would fit from birth to potty training. I have to say that one of my favorite parts of cloth diapering is seeing such cute little diapers on her butt, not ugly like the disposables! I love to match them to her outfits. I also love that the cloth diapers contain her messy newborn poop! We haven't had a single blow out yet!
    Diaper laundry isn't hard either. I hope that more disposable users decide to switch to cloth. None of my friends use cloth, but I decided to take the leap and am so glad I did! Now I am trying to switch my friends to cloth :) I would love to add a couple to my stash, and to share some with friends.
    reinventinglolliatgmaildotcom

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  14. Great post! We have been cloth diapering for 28 months now! We decided to do cloth b/c of how much money we could save. Despite all the nay-sayers in our life we went ahead and decided to strictly cd our son. Now those people are telling us how smart we were to make that decision and wish they had done the same also. We now have two in diapers and haven't spent more than $400 total! We couldn't imagine putting our kids in disposables now, we just LOVE our FuzziBunz! We continue doing it for money reasons, but also for the health of our children and the environment. Oh yeah, and the cuteness factor is out of this world :)

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  15. Love this! I have two children, one 5 and my youngest is 19 months. I just switched to cloth diapers after just learning the dangers of disposables. (better late than never I guess.) I had to do some convincing to my hubby also, but what sold him was we will be able to use the cloth diapers for baby #3 whenever we will be blessed with him/her :o)

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  16. You are so right... it most definitely becomes an addiction. I remember almost one year ago I bought 3 cloth diapers to 'test out' and try to convince DH it was the best option. Thankfully he fell in love with them too, and now that we have a second baby, we are racking up the savings! :)

    smoo06 at yahoo dot com

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  17. ive cloth'd 3 kids of my own now plus extras- and convinced a few friends to try it out, too! we will never go back to sposies, we love cloth! currently i have 2 of my own in cloth(2yrs and 2mos) and am cloth diapering an extra during the week =) cotton babies is my fav company, as well.

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  18. Can't wait to use cloth diapers when we have our first baby - there are so many things that make them better than disposables, love this post!

    ace040107@gmail.com

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  19. Wonderful information! It's so hard to know where to start when friends ask for more information on CDing. I will have new little bum to diaper next month, and have started looking more into OS to try out. Thanks for your thoughts!

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  20. I love this post!!! I have honestly yet to read such a comprehensive post that isn't overly lengthy and let's face it, daunting and boring as so many cloth diapering basics posts can be. I am a cloth diapering mama myself. My hubby took no convincing once we learned how harmful disposables were. There was no way I could let those touch my baby's precious skin! And then of course the incredible savings and keeping diapers out of the landfill. And not to mention how stinking cute they are!! I am addicted to. I don't know what it is about a cloth diaper that is so addicting, but I am hooked!!

    sp244707 at ohio dot edu

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  21. Love it! I started CD'n about 8 months ago and can't picture not doing it! No more stinky trash! And no more horrible rash breakouts for my little one! I absolutely love cloth! And will never go back!

    linniegurl14 at gmail dot com

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  22. Your post was so helpful! Thank you so very much! Hubby and I both want to cloth diaper our little ones but we get so nervous we will lose our patience and give up! Especially when we are out and about and have to change a diaper in a public place. But we really want all the health benefits for our babes. I mean, how can you go wrong when its healthier and cheaper?! I just keeping reminding ourselves that our babies deserve the best and if we can give it to them then it makes it all worth it! Thanks for even giving us this opportunity! I would love to start our babes out with some help from another person with the same awesome views :)
    Brei1013@gmail.com

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  23. I love cding. I've been doing it since my 7 year old was about 3 months old. I was tired of buying diapers and initially started as a cost thing. Now on our 3rd child i am addicted. I love the prints, i love that i KNOW what i put into my wash and that its safe. I love the fact there is no trash. I love everything about cloth and have turned so many of my friends on to it!!!!

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  24. This article is fabulous! When we first started cloth diapering it seemed overwhelming. 15 months later we are still going strong! We are expecting another baby in March and hope to cloth diaper from birth.

    sweepskelly at yahoo.com

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  25. Im a cloth diapering mama, knew I wanted to use cloth since pregnancy, but after she was born was nervous to begin. If it wasn't for dh pushing me to use the few we had part time, I may have never began. I've been in love since though, and cloth diapering has opened so many more green doors for me.

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  26. Great article! I love Cotton Babies and BumGenius, too!

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  27. This post was great! PACKED with information! I'm due with my first in June and have been doing a TON of research. My first reason to consider cloth diapers was $$$$! But the more research I did, the more perks I found... they're super cute, better for baby's bum, and not nearly as much "work" as I thought they'd be. It took a little hard evidence to convince my hubby. I've had him thinking about it, but after showing him your post he's on board!! :D The money graph was his favorite part. Thanks for the awesome post! I'll definitely be sharing it with a few girlfriends!

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  28. We LOVE cloth here! I started using pockets on my first daughter at 4months and gradually have tried it all, pockets, fitteds, prefolds, flats, wool, fleece, you-name-it, we've tried it. I am now using cloth on my 2nd daughter who has been almost exclusively cloth diapered since birth.

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  29. Lindsay Thomas. Lindsayandandy@hotmail.comJanuary 5, 2012 at 3:56 PM

    We used cloth with my second from 6 months till she potty trained. We used BG and loved them. I tried to use cloth with my current baby but found it really hard in the newborn phase to find something to fit. He just hit 11 lbs and we have started using BG pockets and some FB. We love cloth and it has became a normal part of our lives :)

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  30. I am curious about cloth diapers! My hurdle is the poopy ones.

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  31. I am curious about cloth diapers! My hurdle is the poopy ones.

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  32. I could'nt have written this any better-- I wish I read this years ago when I started having kids! =)
    I have 6, but 3 are in diapers and I'm expecting my 7th in April =)
    The way I decided to use cloth diapers was because of my beautiful Grandmothers wonderful suggestion:
    When I had my 4th baby, I had Preeclampsia that needed a lot of medicines to try to treat for up to 6 month after baby was born.. I had to quit breastfeeding because of my meds & that was very heart breaking for me. I talked with my Grandma about how it just broke my heart & she suggested that I could try to use cloth diapers & maybe that'll lighten my heart break.
    I saw some giveaways on some face book pages & won a one size chocolate Fuzzibuns. When it came in the mail,I wanted to get more. I kept entering giveaways until I had a dozen. I wished I could buy my own but I live check to check and when I saw a giveaway open I jumped all over it =) I was soo happy to win, even if it was a boy colored diaper, I didn't care (I have all girls). (I get all tickled when I see another cute diaper in a new giveaway =) My 3 girls all share the diapers I currently have. I did have issues with ammonia & almost gave up until I tried Rockin Green (Hard Rock) I still have not mastered a good "bed time" routine yet, (to take care of the leaks from my oldest daughter)-- I just put a mattress pad under her sheet. I'm glad my Gram suggested Cloth Diapering... it led me into a more greener/safer lifestyle-- moreso than before.
    I have not tried the diaper sprayer yet, but sounds like a life saver, especially since I'm currently Cloth Diapering all 3 of my lil girls-- & am expecting girl number 4 in 3 more months!!
    This would be awesome to win for the new baby. I know I've already mentioned that my 3 girls all share the diapers I currently have, but it would be nice to have a brand new set for the new Baby Doll right from the start. =)
    Wonderful story, thanks for writing & sharing it. Also, thanks for the opportunity to try to win.
    P.S. I don't know how to leave a comment here unless I click the "anonymous" button thing, but heres my info:
    On face book, I'm Tina Kash
    My email is: MY6BBZ@gmail.com

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  33. I remember when I first thought about cloth diapering. I thought it was going to be so difficult and didn't think it would be for me. My baby was 4 months at the time and a friend of mine was cloth diapering 3 little ones.. I thought she was crazy. She introduced me to a website that was doing a giveaway for a diaper and I tried winning one to see what it even looked like and how it would fit. I didn't win. I was super lucky to have started blogging soon after and got hooked up with an amazing cloth diaper maker *blissful booty* and she started my stash off with enough diapers to cover 1 baby, wipes, wipe water, a spray bottle and a wetbag... boy I hit the jackpot. When I got them I was super scared though and didn't know if I could pull it off... I even jumped into night time cloth diapering and CDing in public. I have not looked back once. I LOVE IT! I have several different brands in my stash and have had my eye on the Bum Genius Elemental Eiffel Tower diaper for a long time. Thanks for posting this! Great job mama :) onemoreflewoverthecuckoo.blogspot.com/

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  34. For my husband and I were honestly were not prepared for our daughter. We were excited to expect her do not get me wrong, but I know for my husband the joys were mixed in with the reality of not being able to provide for the costs. She was born a September baby and with winter just around the corner my husband was nervous about his job situation. He is a landscaper and weather was a big factor to whether we had any income coming in. I have to say that that winter was the worst! He did not work a single day through it all and it is a miracle that we were able to pay rent that Christmas!

    Thanks to the people of our church who threw us a wonderful baby shower we received boxes of disposable diapers to carry us the first months! But knowing that diapers would not last so long I sought out for information on the web and found a huge support and wealth of information online of mothers who blogged about cloth diapering their little ones. What made us take the plunge was the Need Factor. We simply just could not afford buying disposable diapers continually. We needed a solution and cloth was our alternative.

    I did ask around and put out there to the women of our church that we were looking into cloth diapering our daughter--graciously a family that had cloth diapered their 5 our of 7 children gave us their prefolds and prorap covers which worked so well for our newborn daughter! :) and another family that we met on craigslist donated their prefolds to us {they simply would not accept our payment! they insisted on us taking their prefolds!}

    Now our daughter is one, and we have not turned back to disposable diapers. And now after doing it a year, I just cannot imagine wasting money on something that cannot be reused for another day. I also cannot go back to disposables knowing the harmful chemicals that are in the diapers.

    My relatives are still lifting their eyebrows at the idea of cloth diapering--it is the Poo Factor that's just too weird and too awful to handle. But I have to say that I have grown somewhat immune to it! I understand what you mean when you "enjoy" washing and laundering cloth diapers. I do too! It is something of the enjoyment of knowing that you've saved about $30 again and that it will all come out nice and clean and ready for use again!

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  35. I haven't had the opportunity to try cloth diapers yet but I've been looking into it as an option & almost everything I've read about them makes me want to just go for it. Thank you for writing more details about them, I learned so much from this one post that I've been wondering about and didn't know!

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  36. I knew before my first son was born that I wanted to cloth diaper. I didn't want him in harmful disposables, I didn't want to create all that waste, and I wanted to save our family money. I am happy to say that after 5 months of using cloth I am completely hooked. I tell every new mom that I know about cloth diapering and how beneficial it has been for my baby and me.

    Thankfully, my husband has been supportive of cloth from the beginning, and even though I started out with an Econobum kit, he was quick to learn how to use prefolds and covers.

    My baby has had very minimal diaper rash, which I contribute to cloth. I'm also excited that you can get so much use out of cloth diapers, and I'm planning to use them again with any future babies.

    It took a little bravery to cloth diaper on vacation, but with the right kind of cloth diapers (mainly pockets) and a good wet bag, it's a cinch! And any concerns anyone has about how much work laundering the diapers will be is cast aside when you consider the good feeling you have when taking fresh, crisp white diapers off the line instead of taking out a garbage sack full of dirty disposables.

    My mom cloth diapered my sisters and me, so I am happy to say that I'm a second generation cloth diaperer!

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  37. My cloth diapering adventure started similarly to yours. I had a cousin that was cloth diapering her baby girl, and after she showed me her one-size diapers, I started searching them out on the internet. In my searching, I came across some cloth diaper giveaways and entered a few, and won! After I got my hands on that first cloth diaper I only wanted more! I've LOVED trying out different brands and styles. My son was 18 months old at the time that I started trying out cloth, so I'm very excited to try out cloth on my next baby (due in July!) from the start. I love that cloth diapering saves us money (we're on a tight budget trying to buy our first home!) and I love knowing I'm not contributing to disposables in the landfill. One of the biggest hurdles I've faced is my husband. :) He would really rather pay more for disposables than have to rinse poop out of a cloth diaper. But I do most of the diapering in our house as a stay-at-home mom, so we work out a compromise. Although I don't cloth diaper full-time, I still feel good about the difference I'm making. I hope that my children's health will be better for it too. Although I don't have a lot of support from friends and family, I've found so much support from cloth diapering moms online, and I think that my friends and family are starting to recognize some of the benefits of cloth. They are, at least, surprised to see how different cloth diapers are from what they imagined them to be, and how they were say, 30 years ago. I hope that I can influence other moms in my life to give cloth a chance too! Thanks for this amazing giveaway!

    katiekstewart at gmail dot com

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  38. Thank you for the honest blog post! We are ttc our 3rd baby and I've already began my stash. I so wish I would have cloth diapered my first two daughters! It really hurts my heart that I knew nothing about cloth at those times. I cringe at all the money we could have saved. Eeek!

    It wasn't *too* difficult to convince my husband. He knew it would be cheaper, but I think he was weirded out about the washing process and, of course, the start up costs. But, I'm a SAHM and I do all of the house cleaning and tending to children anyways, so it's a win-win really!

    I love how great cloth diapers are! Not only the money aspect, but how they have no chemicals in them and we know what they really are made of.

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  39. Been using cloth for over 2 yrs. I started slow with gdiapers but within 6 months was using full cloth. My son is 3 and potty training but I'm expecting twins do my stash will be reused!! Love having my kiddos in natural diapers and saving money isn't bad either

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  40. thank you for the honest and informational blog post. I have not used cloth because.... I don't have a baby yet. We're TTC and I'm already trying to convince my hubby that cloth is the way to go. It first started as my sister mentioned when her babies arrive she'd like to cloth diaper them. I started looking things up and bam... now I'm a full on cloth diaper lover.

    The biggest hurdle for me will be the upfront cost of cloth. I'm hoping that I can find somewhere to register for the fluffy goodness whenever we do conceive... but, looking at the savings above I know I can convince hubby either way that cloth is the way to go to be more economical.

    I can't wait to cloth diaper my future children to help keep them safe, save the planet of the nasty disposables, and save ourselves some money (baby's college fund)

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  41. I LOVED CD'ing my boys, I am lucky to be surrounded by many cloth diapering mamas who introduced them to me. I got pretty geeked getting "fluffy mail"!

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  42. Love this!! We use cloth and LOVE it!!! It's so addicting! This is my 2nd child to use cloth with but 4th child overall, I wish I had known about it with my older 2. They are so much easier than you think initially. I just love how cute they are and how much more comfortable they seem in them

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  43. I have clothed diapered by oldest two part time. I am just now starting up a stash for my daughter ( my last baby too!) who is 9 months. My biggest hurdle is affording the stash of diapers. I slowly add some here and there.

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  44. I have cloth diapered. However, my daughter got rashes, terrible rashes, every single time she had a cloth diaper on. :/

    We will try again with our next child (hopefully it will be a better experience, because I really prefer it)!

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  45. I would say I am a cloth diaper addict! After this birth of my first son J in 2012 I didn't see the point of disposable diapers..my MIL asked if I wanted a cloth diaper service as a gift but like you all I thought about were thin prefolds and rubber pants. NO THANK YOU! So I reluctantly started with disposables. Then J got a bad rash that just would not go away, so I started to research my options and thus I came across modern day cloth diapers. I bought the bummis starter kit was was instantly hooked on cloth. After that I started to venture out to gDiapers and have now moved to anything and everything cloth!I collect them! I love that we have not bought a sposie diaper in well over a year and have saved a lot of money. Plus knowing my little man is comfy in his cloth diapers makes it all worth while. Plus, he's never had another bad rash!

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  46. Hi! I've been cd'ing for about 5 months now, my son is 12 months. I wanted to start but it took me winning a wahm made diaper by rumpkinz to get the ball rolling....and we haven't looked back! Babysteals and patience helped bring my stash up to 36 diapers for $210 total including 3 wetbags etc. I'm now helping a good friend who is pregnant with her first and seriously struggling by helping her build a diaper supply before she delivers. It's easily the funniest part of having my baby!

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  47. we are just getting into cloth diapering.. baby is 5 months.. so far i love the cuteness of them all. way cuter than boring sposies. lol

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  48. Thank you for posting such great info! Ive been cloth diapering for about a year now and of course I am an addict now!! But I wish I would have come across something like this blog while I was doing my research bc you basically sum up all of my questions that I had at the time! Great job!

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  49. I love how much money cloth diapering saves, and I figure if you're gonna be spending all day dealing with poop anyhow, you might as well have something to be EXCITED about when you're doing it! :) I love the fabric and color choices, and it's just so much more rewarding to see a little padded tush than a plastic disposable diaper butt :)

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  50. I love this post! I am going to print it out and make copies to give to all the people who give me crazy looks, and say "your going to use what??" I have a 2 year old son and a daughter on the way.
    We are starting off cloth diapering really slow with prefolds and covers and have a cloth diaper order currently on layaway and hope to have it out before our new addition arrives. People just don't understand how really easy and affordable cloth diapering can be. (& addicting and fun)

    One of the best things about cloth diapering that you didn't really touch on, but I feel is awesome is the relationships you get from other cloth diapering moms. It is like you are instantly a part of this awesome group of women, who will give you lots of encouragement and advice!! :)

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  51. I have been cloth diapering for almost 2 years now. I started when my oldest was 2 months old. I couldn't stand the gel balls all over my baby when he was in disposables or the poop-splosions! I now use cloth on both my 2 year old and my 7 month old and I LOVE IT! I love how cute the diapers are and not ever having to run to the store in the middle of the night.

    richardrachel at hotmail dot com

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  52. I can totally relate to your gellies freak-out. We'd intended to use cloth on our son before he was born, but we had decided to use disposables for the first couple weeks and then start using cloth. He was blowing up diapers from day one. The disposables leaked and left those gellies on his skin. I gave up on them when he was just 6 days old and switched him into his GroBaby OS cloth diapers. He was still so little that they didn't fit well and also leaked because they didn't fit properly yet...but no gellies! Since both cloth and 'sposies gave us constant leaks, I was not deterred by that at all. I just did a LOT of laundry. After a week in leaking cloth, he'd developed enough pudge to fit into the cloth and the leaks stopped. Woot woot!

    I'm investing in newborn cloth for the next one and he/she will have a fluffy butt from day 1.

    I'm also totally addicted. My stash is getting to be (ahem) monumental. I'm not sure how much money we're actually saving, although, I know when we reuse our cloth on the next child (and possibly the third!?) we'll have saved money for sure! :-D

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  53. I am so glad I found out about cloth and decided to try it. I just wish I had started cloth diapering my son sooner, from birth versus at 3 months when we started. It was truly love at first sight when I saw him in his first fluff (Thirsties duo wrap size 1 with some tiny Gerber prefolds) it worked very well and from there I expanded my horizons. I originally wanted to try cloth because it was summer, he was getting rashes and his old-school pediatrician told me to put him in cloth (how awesome is that?) to clear up his skin - hence the reason I rushed to the store only to find out all the "cloth" they had were those prefolds, luckily I got some kind that does NOT have polyester in it. I also for some reason hated seeing those little crystals disposables let out stick onto his soft, cute skin, once we switched to cloth I loved not seeing those anymore.
    I wish more people could really know how awesome it is and I try to help them consider it every chance I get, without being too pushy. It's just so easy and not at all so difficult as I had once thought it would be.

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  54. I love my cloth diapers! I would never go to disposables. As I visit family I teach them how to use cloth and how I like my cloth washed. I'm always scared something will happen to me and I want to make sure my daughter and her cloth are protected! I love to read posts on cloth diapering and yours is great! If I were to win this I would share with my sister on law. We researched cloth together. Her daughter is a year older then mine but when she was pregnant we would go to diaper stores and get as much info from workers and shop0ers as we could. I am trying to build my stash now as I'm hoping at the end of this year to get a bfp with #2 :) thanks for the great post and the give away!

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  55. I LOVE cloth. I have used cd for 3 out of 4 and will not go back. Your post was very imformative. It was mostly about saving money for us and finding something without chemicals. We have saved $ though I have never done the numbers.

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  56. Believe it or not I got into cloth diapering in the same way. I entered and won a contest. I love how my boys seem to enjoy the cloth more and I love not having to smell baby powder all the time. Now I am just trying to find more and find the prefect cloth for my fire hose little men. Thank you so much for this post. Really enjoyed reading.

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  57. I wish I would have done a little more research before my oldest baby was born, I considered cloth but decided against it until I was pregnant with #2 and the thought of having two in diapers made me want to get another part time job just to pay for diapers! (not really, but those large night time pull-ups are NOT cheap!) I love my cloth diapers! No more running to the store in the middle of a WI blizzard! (Not that we have HAD any blizzards this year, 30+ degrees in January? Really now!?)

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  58. I do it to save $. I also believe cloth is the best way to go this past year I opened a cloth diaper store called Healthy Heinys in Clinton NY

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  59. Great post! I am going to use cloth on my baby for environmental, health, and economic reasons. It is such a no brainer!

    Jsapalio at yahoo dot com

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  60. I do it to save $. I also believe cloth is the best way to go this past year I opened a cloth diaper store called Healthy Heinys in Clinton NY

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  61. I started not even having heard of anyone cloth diapering, and then a friend of mine started and was talking and my first thought is "are you crazy?" But then I saw them and was curious, started doing research on cost and chemicals that are in disposable diapers and I was converted. I've LOVED cloth diapering. I've used bumGenius pocket, Flip diapers and inserts, prefolds/fitteds and overs. Love them all! Am so happy that we've done it with both our children!

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  62. we cloth diaper - we just hit the 1 year mark in December!! I started just like you. I had seen Charlie Bananas on zulily one year ago November and wanted to order them b/c they just looked so cute. I said "ok maybe with the next baby.." Then they were on again a few weeks later. I remember sitting on the bed in our little apartment (we were military at the time) and told my husband that I wanted to use cloth on our next baby... well he pointed out that O was only 6 months old so it wasn't too late and offered to buy me 2 just to try (because "buying 1 diaper was just silly" haha - little did he know!). Well I remember we tried it overnight for the first time (bold I know, but I didn't know better then!) and she sleet through the night and woke up with dry skin!!!!! we were shocked. we waited and waited for zulily to have them on again to stock up, and ended up finding a few brands on clearance. Then when he was out of work transition military we loved them even more and that's when i started winning them on giveaways (we needed to save). He wasn't out of work long and that's when the full blown addiction started!! haha we finally had money to spend on them and i went CRAZY!!!!! i actually LOVE my stash. i have actual love feelings toward it :) am i nuts? haha

    kari meeker
    karilynaley at yahoo

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  63. I love this blog! I am a new cloth mama to a 8day old baby girl. I started to cloth because I am a student and my boyfriend was the only money maker which isn't much. He recently got laid off so I am so happy that i decided to cloth it has saved us so much. All in total we've spent around $200 and the majority of my diapers are prefolds but they work great. My boyfriend wasnt fond of the prefolds but he's learned to love them and the money we're saving. After learning all the toxins and harmful matters in disposables it only makes me love cloth diapering even more. Being a new mama and her being my first child I will do anything and everything to make her safe and keep her away from as much harm as possible. I've come to love washing my cloth and seeing them nice and clean. Plus i love FLUFFY BUTTS its just so cute!

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  64. I decided to use cloth because it saves us a ton of money and I was given a whole set from a friend. My favorite thing about cloth is always having them in the house and never running out unless I don't remember to do the laundry. Well a few other things I like are not having a diaper genie anymore (stink) and not having all the chemicals.

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  65. I started cloth diapering because my sister does and she gave me some newborn diapers to start with. I became addicted, I love cloth diapering because I feel like I'm doing something good for the environment. We still use disposables sometimes, mostly because my husband hates to cloth diaper, but I HATE buying diapers.

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  66. I cloth diaper and I love it! I am not a huge fan on mid-work-week laundry, so I solved that problem with buying more, lol!!! So far I think bumGenius is my favorite followed by my favorite WAHM over at Mud Butt Cloth Diapers!!!
    beckyfluff at gmail dot com

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  67. Really excellent and in-depth overview, thank you! Cost was what convinced us to switch as well, although several months into it, my husband surprised me by remarking to a friend that he would still cloth diaper even if it cost MORE! He's sold on how much better it is for the baby. :)

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  68. I love cloth diapers! I am cloth diapering my second child right now and I am having a hard time not buying him cute diapers right and left. I started using cloth for many of the same reasons you stated and I have even turned on a family member to using cloth on their baby too. :)

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  69. My oldest, who is six, was not cloth diapered. I had NO idea people still even used it back then. I never saw anything about it anywhere. When my now 18 month old was born, I still had no idea cloth was around. Then, one day a coworker said she was going to start cloth diapering her child. I literally thought she was nuts and a total granola for sure! Well, my cheapness and gulit eventually got the best of me. I hated spending at least $60+ a month on diapers and wipes. I felt guilt over throwing that huge load of diapers in the trash weekly. I asked her about cloth and decided to use the trial program at Jillian's Drawers. I was so intimidated and clueless. It was hilarious. Through trial and error, I decided cloth was for me. Is there anyone who tries it and doesn't just love it?? I slowly built up my stash and it has been love ever since. I even started using cloth wipes. I have made changes in other areas due to my cloth diaper use. It has changed my household. I use mama cloth, we use few paper towels, reusable bags, reusable water bottles, reusable snadwich sacks and lunch pails, we recycle like crazy, and stopped using paper products to eat our meals. Cloth diapering has changed our life in many ways, and for that I am grateful. I feel we have a healthier household because of it. I am a proud cloth diapering addicted mama!!! I can not get enough and will be sad when my son is potty trained. Hmm.......what will my new hobby be???
    Debbie Moretti :)

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  70. A year ago this month, my husband and I decided to start getting ready for baby. I read on a chat board that a mom was using modern cloth diapers, and I cringed. The thought of putting poo in the washing machine honestly made me want to gag, but I was curious enough though to do a quick Google search, and from the first picture (literally) I saw of one I wanted to do more research about using them for our children.

    I did more research on cloth because I wanted to make an informed decision about them vs. disposable diapers, and I learned that you don't put poo in the machine, among other important facts like keeping chemicals out of our home and off our child.

    It's important to us that we teach our children how to care for the planet (which is why my husband is on board), and it occurred to us that we needed to practice what we preach. We want our child in cloth the minute he/she is born! Until we have a baby, we have actually been using our stash to show diapers to others and get them on board too by loaning them out to friends and family members that are expecting. So far I have "converted" three people :o)

    If I'm honest, there's one more reason why I want to cloth diaper though. It really doesn't have to do with anything practical (like saving money, etc. even though cloth diapering has been a gateway to participating in other green activities). I want to cloth diaper because it's actually a fun hobby and it honestly gives me something to do. Researching and trying new brands, types of material used, closure methods (there are ones that tie, ones that snap, hook-and-loop, drawstring, all kinds of things), solving diapering issues, and doing laundry and figuring out which soap works best with my HE machine and water all provide some level of mental fulfillment. Frankly, I think disposables are boring!

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  71. I have been cloth diapering part time for almost a year now... I just started yeasterday with my one month old now that one size diapers are starting to fit him and i started with my almost 2 year old when he was about 7 months old.... and quite frankly i am still a little grossed out by poo in cloth but benefits far outweigh grossness factor :)

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  72. I CDed my older son for 3 months and then went back to work fulltime. It was too overwhelming to work, pump and do extra laundry. When my younger son was 20 months, I read a blog post on earth day. For whatever reason (I think i was done wasting money on disposables) I had a crisis on conscious and ordered 5 diapers. Slowly eased family and child care provider into the idea and now sad to see the beginning of PLing because it means the end of diapers. Seriously, who would have thought I would be sad to see my kid out of diapers.

    vrclay30 at yahoo dot com

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  73. Wow so much great information! I currently don't use cloth but have been interested in it since before I ever had my baby (now toddler hehe)! The main hurdle I think for me is I'm a little worried about the start up cost of the diapers and washing them for fear that I would do something wrong and mess up their absorption but this article has really made it seem more simple than I previously believed so I would love to give it a try with my next one! :-)

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  74. Thank you for such a comprehensive look at cloth diapering! My head was literally reeling last night after reading a few different blog posts about cloth diapering, and this was so clear and to the point! I really appreciate it. Although my son is almost 15 months, we have another one on the way in late March and I know that #2 will not be the last. Cloth diapering is definitely where we are headed. :)

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  75. I have been using cloth diapers for 2-1/2 years now and love it! The diapers are so cute on their little bums and I don't have to make crazy runs to the store just for diapers. My biggest hurdle was and still is my husband who after this long still bugs me about them (only because he knows it will get a rise out of me LOL).
    allenetria @ yahoo . com

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  76. I love cloth!! I am currently using cloth with my second child and have been using them since my son (now 3) was a newborn. My mother in law cloth diapered both her boys and asked me when I was pregnant with my oldest if I had considered it. Honestly, I hadn't even given it a thought, because I didn't know anyone around me who was cloth diapering. She found this article on cloth diapering and the advantages: savings, enironmentally friendly, great for sensitive babies, the variety, ease of use, etc. It has several different cd in the article: Bumgenius and Fuzzibunz are the ones I can remember. I immediately told my husband I wanted to look into cloth diapering and find a brick and mortar store where I could "play" with them. Luckily we found only one store in our area and we were able to fall in love with fluff. Thankfully our mother in law bought us about 10 Bumgenius diapers to start us out and we haven't looked back.
    Even though our oldest son spent 3 weeks in the NICU due to prematurity, we requested using cloth there. The nurses were so happy to do it and we even were able to talk to other new moms about it.
    Our biggest hurdle using cloth was traveling. With my oldest, I was so nervous to carry the cloth and a wet bag around with me. I would pack disposables for travel for the "ease of it." As he got older, I thought it was ridiculous to have to buy a pack of sposies when we never would use them all before he grew out of them. I am proud to say that baby #2 is over 7 months old and never been in a sposie (thank goodness because he has very sensitive skin). I found that it is just as easy to travel with a cloth as it is with a disposable, especially if you use cloth wipes too!!
    Since I started, I have tried to educate more mamas about the ease of cloth and my sister started cloth diapering her daughter even though she was 8 months old. My husband coaches football and when I change my son at the games, I get so many people who ask me about it. I think to spread the love of fluff as cloth diapering mamas, we just need to make people aware of the options out there and that cloth has come a long way!

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  77. Great info Mama! I am sold on cloth diapering and can't wait for my baby girl to get here so I can take pics of her in her pink and purple fluff!! Thanks for this post!

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  78. I never thought that I would be a cloth diapering mama until my Grand Finale baby was born with his daddys very sensitive skin and had a serious rash for the first 2 weeks he was born...doctor says dont worry he will be fine, but when i noticed that it started to bleed and wasnt goin away... we decided to invest in the short term heavy cost of cloth diapering...NOW, Im hooked!
    Im always trying to find the cutest and newest diaper to put on my babies bottom! I have to say that there have been family members who frown upooriten it and family members who really support us in our decision! MIL is very crafty and has even made me 10 diaper covers, and then there is our fav

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  79. favorite cousin Vanessa who helped us get through with cloth! my only regret with cloth diapering is that we didnt do it with our 3 previous children :)

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  80. I am 3.5 months into cloth diapering my first child and I'm obsessed! Not only are they non toxic, absolutely adorable and cost conscious, but they work so much better than disposables at containing poo! That gets my vote! The hubby even prefers them. I am happy to say that I have even converted two other expecting mamas to cloth already!

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  81. Just as you are glad to have convinced your hubby, so am I...even if it's for baby #3!

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  82. I just got a diaper sprayer and so far I am not in love with it. I think dunking and swooshing was easier and used less water. Thanks for this post though. - Trisha

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  83. Sorry, I got distracted and didn't share why we use cloth diapers. Back in 1997 when I was pregnant with my first child, finances were very tight since I had lost my job and my husband was not making much money. (I had been the main financial contributor.) I looked into how much disposable diapers and wipes cost and then looked into the prices of the local cloth diaper rental company. I didn't know anything about buying my own diapers. The internet was not a go to thing at the time. The rental/laundry service was cheaper than using disposables and I didn't have to wash the diapers. I just had to buy some covers. I am a very frugal person so we used our rental prefolds as much as we could, and when we traveled we used disposables that I had picked up on sale. Luckily for us, none of our kids are allergic to disposables.

    Flash forward to baby seven... I was washing diapers on my own and started with prefolds and covers -- the only diapers I was aware of. They worked great but my HE FL washer was having a harder time with ammonia in the diapers. So, I branched out and tried some AIOs, AI2s, Pockets, and even old-fashioned Flats. I LOVE my origami folded flats closed with a Snappi. They are cheap, easy to wash, quick to dry, absorbent, and oh so easy.

    When my SIL discovered she was having twins she asked me about cloth diapers. I bought her some starter prefolds and she has used them successfully. Like me, she uses them when at home and uses disposables for traveling. Many people think CDing is an all or nothing thing. That's not true. People could save money and decrease waste in the landfill if they only used three cloth diapers a day or if they used cloth diapers for nights and weekends when they have more time and don't have children in daycare.

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  84. Cloth diapering is definitely a hobby for me. I don't think I'm completely addicted, but I love, love cloth diapering. It's pretty cool that a fun hobby is actually healthier for my baby & better for the environment.

    I do not have a diaper sprayer and so far, don't find it necessary for cloth diapering. I can usually either dump the poop and if I can't, dunk & swish is really not as bad as it sounds!

    Thanks for sharing your cloth diapering story!

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  85. I definitely fall into to cloth diapering addict category! I started nearly two years ago, when my third son was 14 months old. Now I still have him in cloth, as well as his new baby brother. I initially started to save money and lessen our environmental impact, but I've gotten so addicted to the cuteness that I haven't saved as much money as I had hoped. I'm not complaining though. ;)

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  86. At first I was interested in cloth diapering because (now don't laugh) in case there was a massive earthquake and mass hysteria thus the world running out of disposables. Silly I know but I wanted to get some for my emergency kit only. After reading your article, I've been swayed to see the health benefits too. I didn't realize that they could be deemed as a possible hazard to my baby's health! Thanks for the post!
    luckyseattlemom at gmail dot com

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  87. Saying that cloth diapers are addicting is an understatement! They have turned into an obsession.. or let's say my passion (sounds better!). I had thought about them when I was pregnant but was so intimidated by all the information that is out there so I gave up. I was told about the trial program at Jillian's Drawers by some girls on an online forum I posted on. I figured I would give it a try, if I didn't like it I was only going to be out $10. We got the box of fluff, prepped it all and tried a few out! My favorite were the BG's and the Thirsties Duo and we ended up keeping them from the trial.

    I was hooked from there! It took a little while to figure out our wash routine but I would say that was the hardest part. Now I love trying out new brands and styles and enjoy supporting WAHMs with my purchases! I love how good they are for the environment and for my baby. We waited until my LO was 3 months old to convert but our next one will be in cloth from day 1!

    fmgrice2(at)yahoo(dot)com

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  88. Great post. I was first interested in cloth diapering for the savings. But after a little researched I fell in love with how cute the diapers are. I think a little part of me also felt slightly rebellious in that I could do something that everyone I knew thought was "down right crazy" and I liked that. Mostly now I still love the savings and the cuteness and of course have become totally addicted.

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  89. I am definitely addicted to cloth and am even branching into mama cloth. It is better for babies, better for mamas and better for the earth and better for your wallet!

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  90. I appreciate you taking the time to share your story. Having a child now for only a short time, I've learned that there just is no one-size fits all approach. For me it became clear with breastfeeding-- all the advice, people saying never ever use formula. We would "top off" the baby when my breasts just needed a break or couldn't supply enough to satisfy him. Just those couple of ounces a day took the pressure off of me to build my supply. Likewise, there is no one way to cloth diaper. Thanks for your experience as it gives insight into how to proceed into mine!

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  91. I have cloth diapered since the day my LO was born. We decided to CD for health reasons.. And are addicted because they are so cute. I love that with cloth I don't have to worry about all the chemicals being next to my babies skin. I LOVE talking about it!!

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  92. I started with Cloth from the get go with my first, using a diaper service, little did I know I would have a 5.9 pounder who couldn't fit into the pre-folds that they provided. Then my SIL introduced me to Fuzzi Bunz and I LOVED them. SO I bought them a little at a time in all 3 sizes as needed thinking I'd use them for all kids that followed. Little did I know that different kids fit different diapers. I dealt with leaking for a year and a half with my second, a girl because her thighs were too small to work with fuzzi bunz until I gave up and went back to pre-folds. Now on number 3 I use pre-folds too, and my fuzzy bunz are really well worn (after being passed back and forth between my SIL and I), I wish I could afford to buy more pockets but pre-folds are all we can afford. I would LOVE to be able to go back to pockets! daniellehurt187 at aol dot com

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  93. We love cloth! I bought some BG 3.0s before my son was born and they've been going strong for 2 years. We're planning on #2 soon so I'd love to have some new dipes to add to our stash!

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  94. I started looking into cloth when my oldest was a babe, but not having the extra cash to build a proper stash really deterred me from going fully with it and I quickly gave up. When I got pregnant with my youngest I was determined to go the cloth route ( my oldest has sensitive skin and often was.plagued with diaper dashes) if only to avoid the rash problem.
    I built up a decent stash over my pregnancy and let me tell you it was the best decision I made. I so regret not switching with my oldest and am officially an addict- all my friends know to contact me with fluffy questions and ive converted 3 over to fluff already....I'm slowly working my way into wool now, but if I won I would use these diapers to getaway friend started in cloth- shes still onthe fence and I think having a decent stash gifted would help convince her

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  95. I started CD'ing my DD when she was 5mos old. I went with Flips because they had the option of disposable liners. Little did I know that I would HATE the disposable liners and just use cloth! I loved them and still do! I have a nice stash right now that is growing slowly by a diaper here and there. I will be needing some more diapers when we go for #2 because I have a couple delaminating on me. My biggest drive when I started was saving money so I could be a SAHM. Secondly, I have a very sensitive-skinned child and she couldn't tolerate most disposable diapers. She was only able to wear Huggies, but when Huggies changed their formulation we had to quit using 'sposies altogether. On the rare occasion when we use disposables, we have to use the dye-free, bleach-free ones to avoid rashes, something I have never had to worry about (after finding a good wash routine) with cloth!

    I have also helped a friend come over to the "Dark Side" as a cloth diaperer. She is using cloth from day 1 with her new baby boy (born on Dec 25, 2011!).

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  96. I am also addicted to cloth and I love entering giveaways to try and win more! They are all so adorable that I want to try each one on my baby's bum. Now that I am expecting my second I am so happy I can buy some new brands just for him. My hubby was against the idea and wanted to do what everyone else was doing at first also. Finally I convinced him by just saying I would wash all the diapers and he wouldn't have to deal with the icky parts. That is what we have been doing for the last 15 months. He helps change diapers but leaves the poopy ones for me to rinse and put in the pail. Sometimes compromise is the key for reluctant spouses. At the time he thought I would use cloth for a couple weeks and then give it up. He obviously didn't know how addicting it was!

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  97. I loved CDing my son! Now that my second daughter has arrived, I really need to get back in to the swing of things!

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  98. I just started cloth diapering my son last month when he was 17 months old. I wish I had started from the time he was a newborn because I love it! I am now a cloth addict as I do not buy disposables anymore. Whenever I have another baby I will be cloth diapering from birth.

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  99. We've been using cloth diapers for the past almost 3 years! We originally switched because my 2nd daughter was born premature (33 weeker) & she would get awful rashes from the sensitive diapers. There had to be a better way!! One of my friends used cloth diapers (Gerber prefolds & plastic pants!) because her son had such sensitivity to disposable diapers, so I took the plunge with some GMD prefolds I bought off of a local lady & quickly discovered just how easy cloth diapers are!! My hubby wasn't too keen on them at first, but now he changes cloth diapers like a pro & even brags to his friends about cloth. I'm so proud! He was laid off this fall & I am SO thankful we had a stash of cloth diapers then too--just wash & reuse, so no extra expense or hardships when we're down on our luck. And I even sold a bunch to help cover some bills!! Can't sell used disposables, that's for sure!! I love cloth diapers & share the fluffy love whenever I can! :)

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  100. #99... I love cloth diapering! I have 3 LO's & didn't start til my 3rd was 4 months old. We started b/c we were having the diapers blowout. They couldn't hold the poop & clothes were getting ruined. We were fed up, so I talked to an old friend of mine who I went to high school with, who cloth diapers her son. She talked me into trying it. I wouldn't change it for anything! I love cloth!

    Ljbaldonado (at) gmail (dot) com
    ChaloobyBabyBoutique (dot) etsy (dot) com

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  101. I love my fluff! I have done pretty well to keep the addiction in check, and have only spent about 150 on my entire stash. It feels great doing that little something extra for your baby.

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  102. I love cloth diapering! I was cd'ed as a baby and have always used cloth pads for myself. I am big on the environmental impact of sposies. I love doing diaper laundry and my boy's adorable fluffy bum.

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  103. I <3 cloth and have convinced at least 5 friends to switch! Not only are that cheaper, safer, and more co-friendly... but they are WAY cuter! I have a 15 month old who has been in them since 2 weeks , but I am having our 2nd in july and will only use cloth again!

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  104. I have used cloth diapers on both of my kiddos. I didn't start with my DD#1 until she was about a year old and willing to finally give it a try. I got a really good deal on a 3pack of GroBaby dipes. So they were my first. I was so unwilling to try them for a long time because I didn't want to have to "deal" with poop. Fact was, I was already "dealing" with poop, so that is how it all started. I knew it would save us money and that was exciting and so was all the fluffy cuteness...which I have to admit is probably my favorite thing about it. Well, that and hanging the dipes on our clothesline in the summer. They are absolutely adorable out there in the sunlight and breeze. We now have DD#2 and I have to admit, I haven't been as diligent at using cloth diapers this time around as I had planned. They are all prepped and ready to go, but I ended up having an emergency c-section due to a cord prolapse, so recovery has been a long road and the added laundry has become my biggest hurdle. I use to enjoy washing the dipes, but this time around I am having a heck of a time just trying to keep up with everything. Hopefully I will get my ducks in a row soon because she will be cloth diapered. :)

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  105. We cloth diaper to save money, produce less waste, and because I believe it's healthier for our child(ren). It has been one of the best decisions we've made and 20 months in I still love it!
    etwilkins at gmail dot com

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  106. We are a cloth diapering family, and might I say I LOVE it! I'm not 100% sure why I started cloth diapering, other then I Love doing things with a more natural approach (Home Birth, Herbs instead of Prescriptions, CoSleeping Etc...). I thought about cloth diapering with my first daughter in 2004 and again with my second daughter in 2006 but we where living with Inlaws and I was REALLY intimidated with washing the diapers in there washer. I imagined it being a huge chore that would leave the washer icky inside from the poopy diapers. So I never started. When my first little Boy came in 2011 and we no longer lived with the Inlaws and I had my own washer :) I knew that now I could try it out. I started looking into what diapers to get and was tottaly overwhelmed with the choices,and prices of the differnt brands. I had read that most people liked pockets so I got on ebay and bought 6 of the cheapest pocket diapers I could find for about $5.50 a piece. My love for cloth grew from there! And can I say I was really releaved at how stinking EASY washing the daipers turned out to be! I really love that I ALWLAYS have diapers on hand. I never have to worry about forgetting to pick some up from the store, or not having enough money to buy any. All I have to do is make sure they are clean and dry and they're ready. I could go on about all the things I love about Cloth Diapers but I believe this comment is too long already. I <3 cloth!!

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  107. Amazing blog post! We started using cloth diapers on our 2nd LO when she came home from the hospital at 3 weeks (she was a preemie). I had a very small stash of Grovia Newborn AIO and she is a super heavy wetter. Great diapers, but just did not work for us. I thought about quitting b/c it seemed to hard, but I kept researching. I was able to get a handful of used newborn Fuzzibunz and Thirsties and then decided to give prefolds a try b/c they seemed more cost effective. It turns out I really like using prefolds and covers, but now I'm going back to work so I have been slowly building up a stash of pocket diapers for our daycare provider. I'm still trying to narrow down a wash routine for our HE front loader and hard water situation, but I'm making progress. Overall, I'm very glad I stumbled into this whole new world of cloth diapering!

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  108. I plan on cloth diapering our first that is due in April. I don't remember how I stumbled upon the idea of cloth diapering, but once I started researching it, I knew I had to do it. I want to stay home with our baby and I can't think of a better way to save money, along with keeping all those chemicals in disposables away from my baby. Thanks for the informative post. I'm still working on what I need and I love hearing reviews of different pocket diapers.

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  109. Great post. I wanted to CD from birth with my son, but couldn't start until he was about 11 months old. My addiction has been growing ever since. GroVia's AIO comprised my "started stash", and they are still my favs, although now I love pockets too. Can't wait to CD from birth with my baby #2.

    cmcosman at yahoo.com

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  110. The gelatin type balls on my sons skin were reason for concern on my son also when he was in just disposables, but that wasn't when i started to cloth diaper. I still didn't know much about it until I saw several friends di. So I checked into it but didnt have the money for it... so i entered a bunch of giveaways! I won several giveaways and convinced my husband it was a better option. now he has let me buy some diapers but still not enough to diaper both our boys full time... I'm still workin on him though ;) I also need t owork toward ssome of the accessories you mentioned, like wet bags and a diaper sprayer... in time i may have a complete stash?!? I sure hope so
    coreybelle86 at yahoo dot com

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  111. My interest in cloth was peaked when a friend of mine started blogging about how she's going to make the switch to cloth, and then started mentioning the different brands she was trying. I only knew of the old flats with pins, so when she started naming brands I was curious and googled them. It was great timing because shortly after her posts I found out I was pregnant.

    I wanted nothing but the best for my baby, and I didn't want to damage the environment either, so I started researching diapers all the time. I then presented the idea to my husband (starting out with the cost of disposables vs. cloth), and he was okay going with whatever I wanted (thank you, husband!), so I started researching and asking questions left and right.

    We've ended up with a variety of (mostly pocket) diapers, ended up switching detergents for our regular laundry, cut out all fabric softeners in favour of wool dryer balls, in addition to a handful of other (greener) choices that all started from one little blog post.

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  112. When we were pregnant with our first my husband really wanted to use cloth. I liked the idea, but I had no idea where to start and frankly the whole idea scared me!
    So, we started with disposables and they were horrid! Blowouts, stink and not to mention the garbage and cost. So finally when our daughter was 6 weeks old my husband pleaded with me to call our local diaper service and try it out.

    We went to the diaper service and the woman showed me the prefolds and Bummis covers. Needless to say I was not moved. Hubby thought it was cool so we signed up for a month trial.

    From the first time I put my baby in a prefold I was HOOKED! Both my husband and I could not believe how easy it was! I always kept a few diapers trifolded in a cover for my husband to grab-he liked that ;)

    We use pockets now~love!

    Vashti M
    hun423 at hotmail.com

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  113. Cloth was one thing I Really wanted to do for my little one. In fact, I had been thinking about how to make a better diaper than a prefold with plastic pants when I discovered it had been done.

    The environmental perks and money saxvng factors are a win-win!

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  114. Great post! We love our cloth diapers, I started stocking up before my first was born Jan 2007 and slowly changed which ones we've used. I've sold some I didn't like and bought other ones. You can definitely do cloth on any budget you want, which I love, but the chemicals is just plain scary! I have endometriosis and now have two daughters, apparently there is about a 7 times more likely chance they will have it because I have it :( So anything that might reduce that risk, such as avoiding dioxins, I'm game for!

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  115. Your post is wonderful and full of awesome information!

    I'm a cloth diapering mama of a 9 month old. We made "the switch" when my son was 3 months old and have never looked back, and will never even consider disposables for any future children we have.

    You're absolutely right, it's an addiction! In more ways than one. I just can't resist a fluffy bum!

    Our initial reason for switching was the cost. As a military family living on one income in an expensive area, we NEEDED to save money, and spending $80+ dollars a month on diapers was just out of the question. It was a challenge to convince my husband, but the cost savings eventually won him over. You can now find him happily spraying diapers in the bathroom fairly frequently!

    On top of not being able to justify spending a ton of money on disposables, I just couldn't fathom spending all that money to just "throw it away". I prefer to save money, not throw it in the trash! The fact that those diapers would out live the next 5 generations of my family was enough to make me gag!

    My absolute favorite aspect of cloth diapering though, has to be the fact that I KNOW I am doing what is BEST for my baby. I know all parents say they do the best for their children, but when it comes to cloth versus disposables, there is NO contest. How is putting a chemical filled piece of paper on your baby's bum the best thing for them? While I don't say that out of malice, because I know it's because of lack of knowledge, not lack of wanting what is best for your baby. I can say with confidence that if more people knew about cloth, and knew what was in a disposable diaper, they would never, EVER touch them again, let alone let them touch their baby's most sensitive areas. Education is the key to spreading the word about cloth and I hope that I can be a good advocate for what we do, because I really "love" cloth.

    Once my husband is out of the military, which is due to happen this year, we plan to open a diaper business in an area where cloth is not the norm, in hopes of educating people and spreading the word about doing what is best for babies.

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  116. Great post! Thanks for sharing your journey!
    I started using cloth with baby #3 in May 2010 when he was 3 weeks old. I started with the gDiaper system and was very sad when it wasn't working for us. It seemed that no matter how I adjusted them we had leaks, every hour or so! Determined not to go to disposables, I muddled through until the bG 4.0's came out in July 2010 and bought my first 6 bG's, sold my gDiaper stash on craigslist and fell in love with pocket diapers! My son is now 20 months old and we have quite the variety of pockets (fuzzibunz, Happy Heiny, bG, rumparooz) prefolds with covers from Bummis and Thirsties, and a few AIOs, fitteds and wool covers. I do use disposables when we are traveling due to convenience and lack of suitcase space, but after every trip, I'm so happy to get back into cloth.
    I started my own blog (http://theclothexperiment.blogspot.com/) documenting our journey in cloth with links to cloth and other kids friendly giveaways out of necessity when friends started asking me about cloth diapering. I found it easier to blog about issues and questions than to answer each of them individually. So far I've converted 2 to cloth and one friend is going to use cloth with her first after his arrival in April.
    With baby #4 due in August, I'm looking forward to cloth diapering from birth! Yes, I'm a cloth diaper addict and loving every minute of the fluffy cuteness!

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  117. Great post. I have used cloth with my first son from 7 months-2 years old. I now have a second and use cloth when at home. I would love to try different types of diapers this time around. I also discovered many new brands are out there. 5 years ago, I had no clue so many different brands even existed. Your post explains cloth diapering really well! Thank you.

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  118. If you had asked me five years ago if I would ever use cloth diapers, I would have said you were crazy. Through the blogosphere I learned about modern cloth diapers and my curiousity turned to interest which turned to commitment. We had our first baby in May and have now been cloth diapering for 7 months. We love it! It has some challenges, but it is fun and we feel it is best for our baby. Many friends and family doubted us, but after seeing us use cloth several have jumped on board. I mentor teen moms through a group called YoungLives, and my new goal is to expose my YoungLives girls to cloth diapers. They are so much more affordable in the long run, and most of my girls are in pretty difficult financial situations. I would love to be able to share cloth diapers with them so they could try them out.

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  119. I am now a cloth diapering mom. At first, I tried it to save money. I bought some used diapers off of craigslist, and tried it. The first ones I bought, I didn't end up liking. So I sold them and went back to disposables for awhile. However, when we lost jobs, I really needed to cut back on spending so I looked again to cloth diapers as I had a friend who cloth diapered. I got some free and set to using them. They were fitteds with a cover and seemed to make my daughters bought look huge. In addition if air dried they were kinda crunchy. I still used them as we needed to save money. When we did have some money, I began buying pocket diapers. I liked those better because they only required 1 step- much easier with a squirmy baby. I sold the first diapers I had used many times, to make some money for the new ones. Since then, I have for the most part used cloth on my son. Only when I don't get the cloth diapers done (i.e. I'm sick, and don't get to the wash) or if we are out of town and can't do laundry do I use disposable. I love the softness of cloth diapers. (My pockets are still soft even when air dried...think it was just that the others were so well used they didn't do well) Also love how cloth diapersdon't leave chemical gel on babies butt. Love the cute prints, and I love saving money.

    freefluff@ gmail.com

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  120. I too am addicted to cloth! It makes me happy to know exactly what is being placed on my baby boy's behind. I don't wonder what chemicals he's sitting in or what he's being exposed to. I KNOW what detergent is used, what fabrics are used, and what each if those play in his development. I am loyal to BG 4.0 OS pockets though I also love supporting WAHMs and buying super cute fluff from them! Reading about other people and cloth diapers makes me smile. And if the stars align and I have more babies, they will never see a single disposable. :-)

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  121. I decided to start cloth diapering before my DD was born. I had one friend who cloth diapered and a great cloth diaper store in town! After much research and consideration I decided to use GroVia AI2 because I love the idea of "saving money" reusing the shells and just changing out the inserts. I loved that the inserts had a water proof backing and the Grovias colors and prints were adorable! I still use mostly GroVia AI2s during the day and a few other random diapers I have collected over time. At night I use bum genius pockets, they hold so much more stuffing and pee! There are so many things I love about cloth diapering it's hard to pick one! I love that there are so many choices in scents for diaper detergent and so many options for butt cream (latest favorite is CJs in Pink Sugar! The stick makes it so easy!) I also love the cute factor, seeing my daughters cute little cloth bum just makes me smile!!

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  122. I am brand new to cloth diapering. Actually, I have yet to use them because my little princess won't make her appearance until April. But, I have been researching cloth diapers since I found out I was pregnant and I have finally started building my stash. I am currently gravitating toward the one-size pocket diapers (for daycare and night) but plan to use prefolds at home as well to help save $$$. Your post is very encouraging to someone who has yet to try them out but is very determined to make it work!

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  123. I hav used coth for the majority of the time with 2 out of 3 of my kids. I plan on using cloth 100% from brth when #4 gets here in June!! loved your post!

    stephanie girard
    crafty3mama@ yahoo.com

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  124. I love this article and it is so true! We started with CD when my daughter was about 8 weeks old after using all the diapers we were given as shower presents. I use BG and Soft bums and would never go back. My husband actually made a sprayer for me for our toilet for so much less and I bought a lot of used diapers. To date I haven't spent more then $500 for everything including our hamper wet bags and detergent! :) I think cloth is amazing and totally worth the time!

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  125. I watched my SIL cloth diaper her children after starting off on a stash made with less than $100. After seeing her fold her receiving blanket flats and pinning them, I knew I could, too. I also fell in love with the adorable prints, so I knew I had to use cloth!

    When it came time to start my own stash, I had a little over $100 to spend, so I knew that my stash would only last so long. I have to say that I have been extremely blessed because after starting off with flats and covers, I now have a fairly large stash of pockets (which are much easier to use now that my daughter is a super wiggly worm!) And I don't think I paid for any of them! It's been a huge, huge blessing!

    One thing that has made sticking with cloth harder has been the lack of a hot water heater attached to our washer. I hand wash our diapers so that they will stay clean, and now that I'm pregnant, that energy is becoming less and less available. But if we switch to sposies, there's no way that we could afford groceries. We're already having trouble paying our bills! If it weren't for cloth diapering (and breastfeeding, too), there's no way that we could have made it this past year...or even look ahead to taking care of another baby without having breakdowns. Cloth diapers have saved our budget and our sanity!

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  126. We have been cloth diapering for almost 2 years now and there is no way I would ever go back to disposables. Our daughter has sensitive skin and the cloth seems to work well with her. We chose to cloth diaper because I always loved the idea of it. My husband was cloth diapered and every baby picture made me want to give it a try. It seems everything old is new again, and diapers are right up there. Saving money is a benefit for us and now we will be cloth diapering 2 at the same time again. It is nice to know that we aren't throwing away hard earned cash. All the environmental benefits and those for our children are wonderful extras. My favourite part about cloth diapering is watching how enthusiastic our older children are to help change diapers, guess the cloth diapers are just that "cool" hahaha.

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  127. I'm only 20 years old, and can't say I have any diapering stories or experiences. Heck I'm not even married yet (crossing fingers it won't be much longer now). But I've been wishing more and more that I would have started a "hope chest" a few years ago. I've been slowly transitioning into more natural products, and I really want to start my own family with those habits. I came across cloth diapering sometime last year, and I've been intrigued ever since. I connect diapers with Walmart, crowded and noisy stores, huge shopping carts, and a thinner wallet. And maybe it sounds silly, but I have different associations with cloth diapers. They seem more personal, gentler, and I dream of my own little family just starting out. It's like the difference between a home-cooked meal and settling in with a Disney movie vs greasy fast-food on a sticky table and corralling screaming kids into the car. Cloth just sounds more like home and the better choice, rather than taking mothering advice from big name brands trying to sell me something to put in my garbage can. I plan to have homegrown children that are not raised by manufacturing companies. (Note - I'm not strictly against mass-produced items or supercenters, I just think moderation is best). Besides that, I believe in work over waste. And if I gain a new hobby/addiction (which I probably will), all the better!
    So I figure I may as well start that "hope chest" now, and you can bet it will have cloth diapers in it! I can't wait!! Thanks for the article, the inspiration, and for helping add to the goals of a future mother!

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  128. I decided to cloth diaper because I knew it would be more comfortable for my baby. I always would think to myself "If I were a baby what would I want to wear...chemicals or cloth?" The decision to cloth diaper was an easy one for me to make. When my son was born we thought we would gently ease in to using cloth full time, but it really took no time at all. I am proud to say that in one year we have never bought disposable diapers and everything about that makes me feel good! They make my son feel good too because I can only imagine how it must feel to be surrounded by fluff 24/7!

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  129. I am a first time mom, my daughter was born in September 2011. I knew as soon as I got pregnant with her that I wanted to cloth diaper her. The thought of putting chemicals from disposables next to her skin really bothered me.... and the thought of throwing all those disposables in the landfill really disgusted me. More people should turn to cloth diapers, they are so comfortable for baby AND keep all the messes in.... which is more than I can say about disposables which ALWAYS leak that newborn poop! Cloth diapering has been very addicting since there are so many colors, prints and styles, but I will still be saving money over disposables. I love that I can re-use my stash when we have baby #2 so I shouldn't have to spend a dime the second time around..... and then can pass them on to another cloth diapering mama :)
    ~Nicole R.

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  130. When we first found out I was pregnant, I was 19, hubby and I were both still in college and we both worked at a pizza joint, barely getting by, just the 2 of us. We did not have the money for things as simple as disposable diapers.
    The more I thought of it, the more I liked the idea of cloth. At the time, I didn't know about the world of modern cloth diapers and we were honestly skeptical of gerber prefolds and plastic covers. But I figured if my parents could cloth diaper me, I could cloth diaper my kids. So we went ahead and bought a few packages of gerbers, pins and plastic pants. There were a few hard months. I was oblivious, I used chlorine, we had rash problems, leaks… it was a mess. One of our dogs got ahold of a dirty diaper and ripped it to shreds. Imagine my utter disgust when I realized the diapers were stuffed with a foam-like fabric that did nothing to absorb anything… no wonder we were having so many rashes and leaks! Finally, I couldn’t take my daughter’s discomfort and rashes anymore and we bought a few packs of disposables. She still had rashes, but they weren’t as bad.
    Then I got into blogs. I read a review of a BG4.0 with amazement (what are these wonderful diapers and why on earth didn’t I look online before?!) It was a giveaway. I entered and WON! Trying that diaper for the first time was like a light bulb. I knew there was a way to diaper my baby girl without breaking the bank, without the rashes and without the leaks.
    Now I have the world’s most eclectic CD stash and I love something about every single diaper. We don’t have more than 3 of any specific diaper, we’ve got prefolds, fitteds, pockets, AIO, AI2, hybrids, all different brands as well.
    I love that my daughters’ sensitive skin is no longer raw from chemicals, I love doing diaper laundry, I love how much money we aren’t spending, I love that my daughters love their diapers, I love how cute they are and I love that we aren’t contributing more waste to the trash!

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  131. Oh, I forgot to add, we're currently on our 8th moth CDing our second daughter and those diapers are still holding up! Sure, we've had a few casualties, but all in all, I've been able to diaper 2 kids for essentially the price of one. (I'm hoping we don't have to put too much into more diapers as we don't plan on having another baby). It would be great to get a few more diapers so I can transition some of the more worn ones out.

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  132. Love the post! Great info about the crazy stuff in disposable diapers. I convinced my husband as you did with the money you can save. However, I was interested because I knew they were better for the baby. I never imagined how fun and addicting it would be for us. We love cloth diapers and have convinced several couples we know to give it a try. Being well informed really helps you get started. I will definitely be sharing this post with friends. Thanks for writing!

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  133. I started using cloth diapers with my son. He's our first and is soon to be 1! I wanted to make a decision that was good for our son, the environment, and our wallets! What's more, a friend let me use her stash of prefolds and diaper covers that she was no longer using. It worked ok, but I started to feel that it was a burden and I was making a sacrifice to achieve the aforementioned goals. However, last month I got my hands on some one-size pocket diapers and they have totally changed my mind. Not only are they just as "easy" as disposables, they are more comfortable for my little guy and lots of fun! I look forward to cloth diapering all our subsequent children.

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  134. I first started exploring cloth diapers when I took a Bradly Method childbirth class. She said that she hadn't had a problem with diaper rash with any of her three kids. She also had to crunch the numbers in order to convince her hubby that cloth was the way to go. It was great to hear her explain the numbers to us, it saved me having to "sell" the idea to my hubby. As soon as he gave me the go ahead I started to buy a few different types of cloth diapers. The fuzzibunz were one of the first I tried and I love them. My baby hasn't had any skin issues in the last 4 months (we starting him in cloth his first week). I just wish someone would have told me how darn addicting cloth can be. I love window shopping online and get so giddy when I have fluff mail in transit. Thanks so much for your blog post, it is always so great to hear other people's stories. - Mary M.

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  135. With our first child, we used disposables, I had no problems with them, but I did hate having to spend SO much on them. Then when we got pregnant with our second, my HUSBAND actually suggested cloth diapers. I immediately had visions of my younger brother in cloth and the poop leaking down my dad's side. My first thought was totally yucky, and NO WAY. Luckily, I had a friend who did cloth diapering, with newer diapers (my brother is 22 now) and she showed me how easy they were. I wasn't totally convinced, but I did want to save money. I had basic sewing skills at the time and we decided to have me make some diapers so we could try it. Once we started, I was hooked. I couldn't believe how easy they were, plus, my FAVORITE part was NO blowouts!! None at all! With my daughter we have pictures of poop all the way up in her armpits. My son never had a blowout in his cloth diapers. That fact alone was totally worth it to me. I knew how much work I had to put into washing my daughter clothes daily because of how many blowouts she had. Washing diapers was MUCH easier then that. After we started cloth diapers we ended up switching to cloth wipes too, and I did the calculations on how much it cost, and I figured, even with using cheap target diapers, and factoring in our cost of cleaning, and the cost of the supplies for me to make the diapers, we had EASILY saved $900. Plus, my son was able to potty train at about 20 months. Which also saved money, because we were able to stop using diapers. And boys usually don't train that early (gotta love cloth!)

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  136. Thanks for this post! I love that more and more people are hearing about cloth diapers. When I had my oldest son (now almost 5) I had no idea I had any other option besides disposables or old fashioned diapers with pins and plastic pants. With my second son I started cloth diapering him at 4 months and have never looked back. I love it! It has saved us so much money and has changed our lives in many "green" ways! I have also gotten a couple of my friends hooked on cloth diapers too! I am so thankful we discover this wonderful new way to live life!

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  137. I love cloth diapering. My husband and I were registering at Target when we were pregnant with our first child. There were sooooo many baby things, and it was quite overwhelming. We got to the aisle with diaper genies. Did we really need one? As I contemplated scanning the bar code, my husband (yes, my husband!) said, "Aren't we going to try cloth?" I did the research... ordered the diapers (mostly Fuzzibunz and BumGenius), and I waited for my son to be born. When he was first born, I used the newborn disposables that I was given. They were easy, and I sort of regretted the whole "dive into cloth diapering." However, I wanted the money I spent to be put to use... and I LOVED cloth. There was NO turning back at that point... and I just may have a cloth addiction. I've probably spent close to $600 on fluff, but I know that is STILL far less than what I'll spend otherwise. Plus, my diapers are in GREAT shape (extra special care) so I can use 'em again and again. :) So... thanks for your post, I agree wholedheartedly with so much!

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  138. Hi, I am fairly new to CD'ing. We started cloth diapering our 2nd son when he was 8 mos old. Our main motivator for cd'ing is the fact that we love our kids so much and want them to live happy, HEALTHY lives. Modern society seems to run on convenience (disposables, microwaves, fast food, processed food, etc). If cd'ing can help extend the lives of our kids and provide them with better health, than it's a no brainer. My favorite part of cloth diapering is seeing them on the butts of our kids after the diapers have been washed. They are sooo cute!!!

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  139. Terrific post! I also felt like you before I began cloth diapering, imagining those famous flat diaper, pins and rubber pants. I wanted to do it for the envrionment, my husband for the savings... and now that I'm doing it, I'm having just the best time finding new prints and trying new styles. I particularly enjoy Cloth Diaper Swap boards, where for just a few bucks, I can get rid of what doesn't work for me, and give another mama what she wants, and vice-versa. Again, a great way to recycle and reuse instead of throwing away! You never know who might consider you oldies a treasure! Thank you for your well written essay, I may have to send it to many of my friends when they look at me in disbelief saying: "You're cloth diapering? Eww why? I didn't peg you as a hippie!" Thanks again!! Best of luck in your contest as well! :-)

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  140. We definitely plan on cloth diapering! It is better for our baby, the environment and our wallet! I have had tons of problems with skin allergies and when you consider the amount of chemicals that are in disposable diapers (some were even recalled last year because they were giving babies chemical burns!) it is a no brainer to go the cloth route. I love discovering all of the different styles and brands!

    jennifercausby at hotmail dot com

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  141. I didn't cloth diaper my older two (5 and 3) because I was afraid of the time constraints, intimidated by the bewildering array of choices, and because of daycare.
    With my twins, however, I was determined to do cloth, and started building my stash 5mos before they were born, even knowing the high risks of the pregnancy, and knowing they could be in NICU or extremely small for some time.
    I made it to 37w1d in pregnancy with them, and their combined weight was 13.75lbs! Both healthy.
    Anyway, cloth has been a fabulous journey. I feel so happy we're using cloth with our babies!

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  142. I have to say that I count you among the small group of mom friends that helped me make my decision to cloth diaper. I'm on my third, and probably last baby, and every day I think about the fact that I didn't cloth diaper my other two, and what was I thinking, and how come I didnt realize that it was so easy and so fun! Being green was never easier, and even though that's only a perk for me, I still love it. I've discovered a wonderful community of women in the blogging world, on diaper swap boards (which was invaluable to me when I first began my journey), and now several friends which I have "paid it forward" and have introduced to the cloth diapering world. Its been a wonderful rollercoaster ride for me this past six months!

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  143. I've come to love cloth diapers, as being a single mom and limited income the few diapers i do have are amazing!! Now i need to use the on my baby (10 months) she has a bacteria and poops sometimes up to 20+ a day which cause her to be raw at the hospitals when she was admitted she was bleeding and her bacteria was finally under control except we couldn't get rid or the rash so as soon as we got hom she was back in cloth and days later she was better, no more pain from her bottom!! Even now she is very sensitive down there so I'm contantlu washoig my 10 diapers it would be a blessing if i won these diapers!! I've recruited 4 moms to cloth :)


    sammi_sweetheart@aol.com

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  144. We started CDing dd (who is now 4 and SHE won't give up her overnight diaper for panties!) when she was around 8-9 months. We did it mainly for the money reason. We had just bought a house and our ds was in his last years of high school and we knew we were going to have the cost that come with high school coming up. She was CDed part time when we were home because the daycare wouldn't touch them and then when my SIL moved in and started watching her, she wouldn't touch them either! When she started potty training, I made the mistake of going to pull-ups at night (yeah I know what WAS I thinking??!). I finally got tired of throwing our money away on something that was 1. not even being peed in and would fall apart after 2-3 nights of wear and 2. putting chemicals in contact with her skin that didn't need to be there. So back to CDs we went. I was afraid she wouldn't want to wear them but amazingly she was excited (I had to buy a few new ones to fit her!) to wear new pretty diapers! I had been building my stash for our next baby so I had a couple of OS diapers too that fit her. We are now down to 4 diapers in our rotation and it will usually take me a good month or longer to actually go through those 4 diapers...if she doesn't decide she wants to keep wearing the same one over and over! She may wet once a month overnight but she refuses to wear panties. The last time she did, she had an accident in our bed and I think that scared her! LOL I have a nice stash now with NB and OS for when we have our next baby (hopefully this year is better than the last 2 in that department!). I have been trying to convince my ds and his gf to CD our grandson but so far they have both shied away from it because they are afraid of the poo messes! I told my ds to just use them here at home when they are here and at least try it out. Still working on them so maybe I'll get to use some of my NB diapers and try them out on him! :-)

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  145. I decided to use cloth when I was pregnant with baby number four. I had used cloth briefly with my second child, but it was in the way you described imaging cloth diapers to be, and it became overwhelming and I was under educated about the whole process and I quickly gave up. One night, pregnant with my fourth baby, I was sitting on the sofa thinking about diapers. Some of my friends bought some diapers every week so they wouldn't have to worry about it after the baby was born. So I thought about that and I did it out per the diaper and I definitely remembered how many diapers an itty bitty baby uses those first few months and I shook my head. Also being concerned about the environmental impact I thought to myself, well crap, I'm paying how much per diaper change to fill up a landfill?! Really?! And so having cloth diapering mommy friends I began to hassle them, umm, I mean, ask them lots of questions about cloth diapering. I decided that we would do it. I too had to show my husband the numbers, but then he was quickly on board, as long as I promised some aplix closures for ease of use.

    We started with some basic covers and prefolds, I was so excited when they came in the mail. Still pregnant I got them all ready to use long before the baby would come. But, she came early due to complications. She was small when we brought her home (just under 5 pounds, I thought I would break her she was so tiny compared to her older brothers and sister) and the dipes we had, though meant for smaller babies were just way too big on her tiny self. We weren't able to get smaller dipes and so sposies it was. I tried the cloth dipes on her weekly until finally, finally they fit! But the ones we had chosen put too much pressure on her tummy because they were just too bulky and there was a lot of extra spitting up going on as a result. I felt defeated, but instead of throwing in the towel, I decided to just throw in the prefold and try a different style of dipes. And my journey with pocket dips began! Oh how I love pocket dipes. I love them so much that not only is the baby using them but our three year old who is on the autism spectrum and is not potty trained is also using them full time. He was hesitant at first and it took some doing to get him excited but now he loves them too and begs for his "fluffy butts"!!

    And now here we are expecting baby number 5 and I couldn't be more excited to cloth diaper another bum and from the very start this time. And I will admit, I am also giddy about adding to our stash so that we have enough for all the cloth diapered bums in the house!

    My favorite part about cloth diapering is that they're so soft and nice on the baby's bottom and they don't leave those gel things or cause rashes and they just seem very comfy for the babies. They seem happy to wear them and I am happy to not spend money to fill up landfills!

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  146. We decided to cloth diaper upcoming baby #2. I was kind of on the fence about it until I saw a sign at a science museum that said disposable diapers stay in the ocean for 450 years. That was when I decided to switch over. My biggest challenge was convincing my husband. I asked him what he thought about cloth diapers and if he would be interested in it. It turns out, I didn't have to do a lot of convincing once I told him how much money we would save. Once we decided to cloth diaper, I started entering giveaways and have won several CDs to start my stash. I also only put CDs on my baby registry. Thanks to giveaways and gifts from family and friends, we have a sizeable stash for baby due in 4 weeks. I will be using GroVia OS covers with biosoakers while in the hospital since I don't really want to come home with a newborn and do a bag of dirty laundry.

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  147. thanks for the post!
    i started cloth diapering when our 3rd boy was about 5 months old. before that i did not even know there are modern cloth diapers. i had the same images in my mind as you. a friend (from new zealand) uses cloth on her boys and this was when i first saw modern cloth diapers. She is using Fuzzibunz perfect sizes and gave me a few to try out. that very same day i was hooked. our stash is made of OS Fuzzibunz, some of them the new Elite Grovia AIO and Hybrid, Softbums and Thirsties. Unfortunately I am not having my husband on board. He won't change any diapers, does not like the fact, they start smelling after a day in the pail, some take longer to put on, ....... But anyhow, we use them, daycare uses them and I love to save money and make their butts look cute.
    I probably spent about $400-450 on them and for sure I will spend a few more but I am still saving money. Not even talking about the fact of selling them at the end.

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  148. When I found out I was pregnant- a friend of mine had a newborn and she was cloth diapering. She used to go into the local store and come to coffee with me with her newest cloth diaper purchase and I called her a CRAZY person. Why would you spend all that time and effort when you dont have to?! disposables were the only thing I knew- so why would I choose cloth? In hindsight- I wish I had registered for cloth diapers instead of having to deal with returning the boxes of disposables I never ended up using. Once my daughter turned about 3 months old- she started getting VERY bad diaper rashes- open sores, I felt so bad. And our pediatrician recommended I try switching to cloth. Thinking back on my friend- I called for advice and asked her if I could borrow a couple to "test it out. Well- as you can see from the reason I am writing this post- I am ADDICTED to fluff- and my babys bottom has never had another bad diaper rash. I love cloth for many reasons- for the health of my daughter, the health of our environment, and in supporting at the SAHM businesses who I buy custom diapers from! Thank you for this fantastic giveaway! yay fluffy bottoms!

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  149. We switched to cloth a little late. My son was about 10 months old when we switched. I was so sick of buying diapers and I often, like you, would find the gel bits on my sons skin. This concerned me as well. A handful of my friends, both close and distant (thru FB) used cloth diapers and they seemed to love them. I finally decided to take the plunge and I started out with a CD trial. We weren't sure b/c they were so big and bulky and made my son walk funny. When the trial was over we had a store credit for the cost of the trial. We decided to order 5 GroVia AIO's b/c they seemed to be the least bulky (even tho I didn't really like them in the trial partly b/c they didn't have a stay dry liner). We also ordered a pack of fleece liners to keep my son dry and some flushable liners per my husbands request of not touching the poo :) I quickly fell in love with the adorable owls and airplanes GroVia's that I ordered and then I ordered 5 more! Then I had 10 diapers! I was happy I LOVED my diapers. I strated following blogs and entering giveaways shortly after that and learned about so many other kinds of diapers and ended up getting a few BG 4.0 for night time b/c the GroVia were not cutting it. Then BAM... hit with ammonia! I was so upset about the burn ALL over my sons butt I was crying. I was so upset I spent all this money and would not be able to use these diapers. I called the diaper store once I calmed down and quickly learned how to tweek my wash routine to get the ammonia out... my front loader just wasn't getting them clean with the little water it was adding. Now we have a great wash routine down and I am a cloth diaper addict! I started with those 12 diapers and now my stash has over 40 of all different kinds. Most of which I have won! I would love to win these diapers and pass them on to my cousin who would love to cloth diaper here baby but is unsure as I was. Free diapers may just be the push she needs to give it a try and get hooked as I have! :)

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  150. I'm not due until the end of March, so I haven't even begun cloth diapering but I'm so excited to! My sister cloth diapered her daughter and so that's what inspired me to try as well. It seems so much less wasteful than the alternative, and so much friendly to the pocketbook in the long run. But most of all I just think they are so much cuter and more fun! I've already collected a large stash of fluff and I don't even know how well it will work for us. I sure hope it does, or else my husband might have a fit!

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  151. yes... I love cloth diapers and cannot think of putting a disposable diaper on my baby's bottom. I am starting to look into cloth trainers too!!

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  152. I am a cloth diapering mama and I have been for a little over a year. I absolutely love everything about it. Poop doesn't bother me at all...haha...this is my third child and I had to clean up after each one. My husband constantly complains about something or a another when it comes to cloth... "I'm not dealing with it, you choose cloth", "they are so disgusting", "they come out of the dryer stinky", etc. I put up with all this poo because I want what's best for my child and the earth. It does suck to not have a supportive spouse though. He doesn't have to buy diapers and he STILL doesn't appreciate it! Anyways...good luck in the contest and sorry for the rant on your blog.lol

    Thanks for sharing!
    Jessi G. :)
    lovemyhnk@yahoo.com

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  153. I love this post! I am due at the end of April and we've already started a small stash of cloth diapers. I read LOTS of blogs from cloth diapering momma's and I was really intrigued. My husband wasn't on board at first either but showing him how much we could save and how much healthier cloth is for baby's bottom he was all for it! I've gotten lots of negative attitude from family members but we are dead set on using cloth. Plus how cute are cloth bottoms?? I'm so excited to start using them and to prove others it's not as bad as they think.

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  154. When I found out I was pregnant, I immediately started researching cloth for cost savings. It seemed so overwhelming at first, but now, it all seems SUPER easy. Still waiting on the baby to come, but I've helped another friend who just had her baby commit to cloth, and I can already tell that it's going to have a huge pay off. So excited about cloth and about sharing it with others. Thanks for sharing your story! :)

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  155. I use cloth diapers. I started with the birth of our 5th, and last, baby. I started for a few reasons all bunched up in a coincidental manner. 1st, before I had Maybelle, a dear elderly lady I know whom volunteers at a thrift store, collected a whole bag of all different types of flats and prefolds for me. She gave them to me one day and was so proud of them. I was quite thankful, however, had no idea what they were! She of course, was from an era where that is all there was. I kept them in the bag and put them with the rest of my baby stuff collection. About a week after Maybelle was born, we were at my son's Karate class and she had a blowout. When I went to get her diaper to go change her, there were none! I had forgotten to put them in the bag. Another parent loaned me, none other than, a cover and a prefold and showed me how to use it! That was all it took. I was an addict! I still see her around town and thank her everytime and make sure to show her whatever fluff Maybelle is sporting at the time. This all came at a coincidental time because we were still learning how to be a one income family and the last thing we could afford was paper diapers every week.
    Maybelle is 14 months now, and her cloth collection has grown quite nicely. I love cloth!!!!!
    mmjohnson555@gmail.com

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  156. We are ttc!! So No we have not used Cloth diapers but I would love too!! I love that they are so cute. Plus we have very sensitive skin in both my husband side and my side. So cloth will probably be the way to go for us. I think the biggest hurdle will be laundry lol.

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  157. I am just starting cloth diapering, on my third child. After 3 years of spending way too much on disposables, we realized that the cost of diapers was the reason our budget wasn't working anymore. I started working weekends to cover the cost of diapers. We canceled cable, we sold our truck and still didn't have money at the end of the month. I didn't even know cloth was an option. I started using old t-shirts cut up as wipes to eliminate that expense. It wasn't until I had some old used prefolds given to me as rags that it hit me... Why don't I use these during the day to save some diapers? Now I am slowly building a stash, I have my 2 year old & 3 year old in prefold stuffed underwear during the day and my 2 month old in some WAHM covers & prefolds. We still resort to diposables at night, but that should change soon. I have saved up some of what we would have spent on disposables and I am looking to pick up some used diapers that can handle the nights. I am sure once our disposable dependance is eliminated and the toddlers are completely potty trained (which is going great now that they feel wet) we will be able to get back on our feet.


    cloth mamas: contact me if you are looking to destash! tdellarosa_at_gmail_dot_com

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  158. Thank you for such a great post! We used cloth exclusively with our second until he was 17 months old. We are trying to use cloth on both our second and third, but it is difficult because we no longer have a washing machine available to use all the time, so keeping up with cloth diaper laundry is very difficult. Plus my stash of FuzziBunz is almost unusable because the PUL has wrinkled and I'm afraid they'll leak. I would love to go back to CDing full time on both children. I cringe everytime I have to use disposables.

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  159. i.ve been cloth diapering since February of last year so almost a year now. YAY lol im glad i made the switch i bought them when i was preggos but i was afraid of trying them but one day i sat there looking at them i was super excited when i bought them so what was holding me back so i put it on my little one and feel in love i love everything about them except for the bulkiness in the os but it was still cute lol i started to get addicted to them with different brands and fun colors and prints i even tried some prefolds and flats which i love them to and the covers are awesome i even have some WAHMS
    Bonnie Rodriguez
    anotherlostangel333@yahoo.com

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  160. I am using FuzziBunz cloth diapers! I love them...they are so easy to use. I have two boys using the FBs (One 2 years old and the other almost 4 months old!) and neither one of them have had issues with FuzziBunz (such as leaking, etc).

    My most favorite thing about cloth diapering has to be trying all of the cool cloth diapering laundry detergents out there! I've tried "LuLu's in the Fluff," "Rockin' Green," (one of my favorites), "Ruby Moon," "Little Bubbles," and "Seventh Generation Citrus and Bergamot Flower" scented. So far, my favorites have been Rockin' Green and 7th Generation. I also love the fact that my two year old enjoys helping mama with washing his diapers...he loves to watch the washer go through its cycles! It's so cute!

    Thanks for offering this giveaway! Cloth Diapering my be hard work, but it is so worth it!

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  161. My husband and I are actually expecting our first son with in the next 3-4 weeks. When we decided to start trying I made some decisions as to what/how we would parent and using cloth was on that list. So while still trying I very very slowly started trying to buy up some cloth here and there (that didn't really work lol) but now that he is on the way we have a decent new born sized stash and will be diapering him in cloth from the time he is born!

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  162. When I started using cloth had no idea the impact it would have on us. At 6 months my son was put on a formula that costs $800 a month with the money saved from using cloth and help from our family we are able to get his formula. At 15 months my son had a feeding tube put in I was worried diapers would hurt the first few days after surgery. With The adjustable rise/sizing we were able to keep the diaper away from his site. I have 2 friends that are pregnant that are going to use cloth because of our cloth diaper experience. I believe this article will give them more confidence in their choice.

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  163. I think you did a wonderful job covering all the basics and info needed for cloth diapering!! Good job sharing!! :)

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  164. You won!! Congrats!!!

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