Venturing Into The Land Of Cloth

Big changes going on around here lately. First of all I got a diaper bag. A JJ Cole Swag Bag to be exact. I haven't used one in ages and certainly haven't bought one since the twins were little. A few weeks ago though I decided that enough was enough and decided to get organized.

Here's the loot inside:

Eucerin lotion, mini first aid kit, polka dot bag, Aleve, mini container of coconut oil (for diaper rash~which he doesn't have), Body Butter, Aloe Vera gel (why?) and Ricolas because you just never know. I also threw in one board book, one soft bunny toy, a couple changes of clothes and a few diapers. 

I have to admit though that I'm not sure this bag is going to be quite big enough or sturdy enough for the long haul. Sigh.

Which brings me to the real reason for the new diaper bag, our NEW diapers....

I have always wanted to cloth diaper, but have found a million reasons not to each and every time. It's sort of scary to try something new when you're used to doing things a certain way. The idea of cloth diapering can be sort of intimidating at first, but I finally just thought to myself, "hey, this is your last chance to try it lady, what are you waiting for?". 

Figuring out where to start was a bit overwhelming, cloth diapering has changed over the years. There are seriously a ton of options and so many companies competing~way more varieties to choose from than disposables. Luckily I have a few friends who are experts and were more than willing to lend some advice. Still, I did a fair bit of online review reading before making our initial purchases.

This adorable little Charlie Banana All In One (AIO) Pocket Diaper is what jump started the whole thing, maybe you've seen them at Target recently? I stumbled across them a few weeks ago and almost bought the box set because I thought they were so darn cute, but I'm so glad I didn't because honestly these turned out to be my least favorite by far. I actually returned the one pictured here (unused of course). Much too bulky and I didn't like that the pocket loaded from the front.

Some of the best advice I got was to not invest in only ONE diaper, which seemed daunting at first because it meant doing more reading, more reviewing, but everyone who said it to me was absolutely right and I'm glad I took the time to try out a few different varieties.

Here's what we have now: Bum Genius 4.0 Pockets, Best Bottoms, Kawaii Minky Pockets and the one Charlie Banana dud.

Bum Genius 4.0 Pockets I love these! They are one size and so they grow with your baby and they are pocket diapers which means they are very similar to a disposable. These are super easy, never leak and they are my go to diaper when we are out of the house and the only thing I've tried for overnights so far. We have 5 of the covers and about 16 inserts. Each cover is sold with 2 inserts. The only downfall is that the covers need to be line dried, so it takes a little longer to cycle them through a complete wash, but they're still my favorites.

My next favorite are the Best Bottoms diapers. The covers are sold separately from the inserts and they are different from the pockets because the inserts snap into place inside and so the cover can be reused throughout the day. Yesterday this little hedge hog cover got us through the entire afternoon and all I had to do was replace the insert a few times.  I have 5 of these covers and about 15 microfiber inserts. They have a handy gusset around the leg hole, you can sort of see the 2 layers there, which is very handy and I like the fit so far.

Plus they come in adorable patterns, if you thought the hedgehogs were cute just check out the Fox Trot pattern below, perfect for my little fox. As an added bonus they were designed by a cloth diapering mama who runs her own business ( Nicki's Diapers) and so I feel great about ordering from her. Plus she sells all sorts of diapers, not just her own.

Which brings me to our final diapers, the Kawaii Snazzy Minky.
Brendan suggested we try these because they are super budget friendly, our bundle of 12 was less than $90, which is pretty cheap compared to other diapers. They arrived early this week and I prepped them all in a hurry because I couldn't wait to try them. Unfortunately I have mixed feelings about them so far. I want to love them, I really do. They are adorable, super soft, do a great job (no leaks so far) and I don't even mind that they are a bit bulky but the elastic across the back panel is super SUPER tight, so it's impossible to get a proper fit without having the back of the diaper sort of cutting into his torso. I'm not sure if it's because the elastic is too thin or simply cut too short or a combination of the two, but yesterday it left a definite mark across his little back which isn't cool with me.

Maybe it's just his current size and age, maybe when he gets a little bigger we'll have better results with the fit of these. I'm not ready to give up on them, but I do understand why everyone told me not to invest in only one diaper and I sort of wish we had only bought a couple of these to start out with. I'm thinking about giving the Kawaii non-minky diapers a try to see if the fit is better.

The other items we had to purchase were a few wet bags, you need them when you are away from home so that you can bring the dirties back in a respectable fashion. We bought three so that we would be able to have at least one available at all times, these guys have to line dry and they take forever. We also invested in two diaper pail liners, which are essentially just big washable garbage bags from what I can tell. I decided to get two so that while one is being washed we have a clean one ready to go.

We also had to buy some diaper detergent, there are a lot of different opinions about this, but I just decided to play it safe and buy some. I'm actually going to try another brand when this bag runs out, but this was the only thing available immediately and I had wash to do. I have to say that the laundry aspect of this whole thing was exactly what worried me the most, but it has been so easy! I'm not exactly sure what I thought was going to happen but it's been a breeze and just another reason I keep giggling to myself over how happy I am that we switched.

I originally figured that we would still use disposables at night and while away from the house, but when cloth wound up not being as scary as I thought it would be I just decided to go all the way. He hasn't worn a disposable in nearly 2 weeks now, which isn't to say that he never will again. We still have a bunch left over from our last Costco run and I'm sure there will be times when I'll throw one on him, but for now I'm just surprised by how smooth this transition has been and I wish I would have had enough courage to do it sooner.