Cloth Diapering Update
Post by S
This post was supposed to be written back in August right after we prepped our batch of cloth diapers. The weekend I supposed to write the post was the weekend that G was born.
I wanted to attempt cloth diapers, so A left the diaper research and plans to me. The idea of landfill waste due to disposable diapers makes me cringe and as we bring G into this world it’s even more important that we attempt to leave the world a better place for the next generation.
When I first saw this shirt, I couldn’t get it out of mind. It pretty much summed up the main driver for cloth diapering.
Our plan was to give the cloth diapers a try and see if it would work for us. The plan was to:
- Start with disposables until the meconium passed but use eco-friendly disposables. Tushies were the ones I selected.
- Switch to Kissaluvs Size 0 (KL0) until he’s about 12 lbs and use some infant prefolds if we ran out of KL0s between washings.
- Go to Bum Genius 3.0s from 12 lbs to potty training.
I didn’t want to use prefolds exclusively (which is what diaper services use), and the thought of the added eco-impact of a diaper service coming from San Jose didn’t sit well with me either. But we did buy prefolds to use as backups and burp clothes since they are so cheap ($1.50 – $2.50 each).
Before G was born I placed our order with with Jillian’s Drawers for the KL0s and some prefolds (as backups). I prepped them so we would be ready to start using them we G came home. Here’s a pic of our first stash of diaper goodies.
The plan changed when G was born. He was too small for the Tushies (the smallest size is a Size 1) or the Kissaluvs, so we stuck with the eco-awful Pampers Swaddlers they issued us in the hospital. I was worried that 4 weeks of Swaddlers disposables would spoil us and that we wouldn’t give the cloth diapers a fair chance.
We started using the Kissaluvs two weeks ago. So how’s it going?
We had more leaks the first week (about 1/day). But realized it was because if any part of the KL0 wasn’t covered by the waterproof cover (we’re using ProWraps) then once the diaper was wet it just wicked the wetness to G’s clothes. Our leaks have been minimized, but if someone can recommend a better cover I’m all ears.
We decided to continue with disposables at night because the KL0s can’t hold the pee from even a 4-5 hour sleep session and there isn’t room for a doubler. Life is all about trade offs and in this case we chose SLEEP.
We need to change his diaper more often with cloth since he really tells us when he’s wet now. It’s getting easier to tell the diaper cry from the other cries.
We’re using about 6-8 KL0s per day and 2 disposables per night. We’re washing a load of diapers every other day. For now, we’re sticking with it. Let’s hope we make it to the Bum Genius stage in a couple of months.
I’m hoping it will be easy to stick with this plan since our day care provider supports cloth diapering and our good friends A&B are also doing cloth diapers — so we have a support group!
If you are considering cloth diapers, check out the Trial Program from Jillian’s Drawers where you can try a variety of cloth diapers for only $10!
And for more info on cloth diapering, check out the Tutorial at Jillian’s Drawers and let them debunk a few myths.
I like bumpkins covers better than prowrap
I think the fuzzibunz for nighttime are as good as disposables. The ones I have came with a microfiber insert that holds a lot of pee and I’ve never had them leak. They may not hold quite as much as a disposable, but 2/night would definitely be plenty…
Hi A and S! I have used BG3.0s on my preemie nephew (he’s just shy of 12lbs at 6months old) and haven’t had a leak yet! I have put them on him occasionally (I only have 2 so far) for the past 2.5 months. You might want to see if you have as good of luck! Those diapers are awesome!