The switch to cloth!

GMD pre-fold secured with a Snappi (1st time, much better folding now)

3 weeks ago we made the big switch to cloth diapers! There are many assumptions that people make about people who use cloth diapers. Honestly, just then what did you think of when I said that?! That we're extreme tree huggers, some think that it's something only poor people do, some think it's something that only rich people do, and some would assume that I love to do dirty laundry. However, none of those are true and none of those are the reasons that we made the switch. We chose to switch to cloth diapers after Leeland got a severe diaper rash that wouldn't go away. I tried every cream I could think of and my poor baby was in a lot of pain. At one point the rash was so bad that his poor bum looked blistered. I couldn't take it anymore. After talking with a friend who already does cloth and doing some research online I was enlightened about the facts of disposables. They contain a lot of chemicals that just aren't good for your baby! And there's the added fact that they take at least 500 years in a landfill to decompose.... meaning that Leeland's diapers would still be in the landfill when he has great great great great grandchildren and is long gone from this Earth.

My 1st assumption about making the switch was that it was going to be a ton of extra work, but it's really not an inconvenience AT ALL! My diaper stash includes 24 pre-fold diapers, 5 all-in-one diapers and 5 diaper covers. I really like the pre-folds but they aren't as convenient as the all-in-ones. I purchased only a few of the all-in-ones for when Leeland is in the nursery at church, with Grandparents, or with Daniel. They are the simplest of the cloth--they look exactly like disposables but they are cotton and have velcro closings. I have to do diaper laundry about twice a week and its the easiest laundry that I do-- there isn't much folding and they don't have to be hung up, just put into the bins on the changing table. We also switched to cloth wipes just for the convenience of not having to separate out trash from laundry, they're eco-friendly and mine were completely free! There are websites that you can buy cloth wipes from, but I just made mine out of receiving blankets (cut 2 squares and sew together). I received probably about 50 receiving blankets at my baby shower and have never been able to use them all, so I cut up about 10 of them to make the wipes.

On top of all that I just said, no diaper rash, no diapers chillin in a landfill, and a happy baby, we are also saving a ton of money which is an awesome perk. Supposedly the average person is going to spend about $5,000 on diapers for their baby from newborn to potty trained. The cloth diapered family only spends about $800. My diaper stash was $200 and what I have will get him to 30 pounds before we have to buy alternate sizes. Another bonus is that if we have children later on, we can keep what we already have and for the next child we will just have to buy the newborn and small sizes.

Thirsties Duo diaper cover.  Cute stripes!

He loves them! And way better designs then disposables! :D