Wannabe Hippies

We like to consider ourselves "conservative hippies." I guess it's becoming sort of the "in" thing to do - "go green," eat organic, recycle, etc. Our weirdness and desire to be adventurous and experiment with things (legal things, mind you) has grown exponentially since we got married. We got more than a few questions when we started making our own yogurt (maybe I will share details of this in another post). We love juicing kale and apples to make odd-looking green concoctions. We like to bike places when we can. Our last date night in Athens involved a trip to Trader Joe's to stockpile things to bring back to Albany. :) My next hopeful experiment is to start making my own laundry detergent (these small creatures turn your house into a laundromat!). All that to say, our latest and greatest success as hippies-without-the-pot has been cloth diapering. Below I will share a few of my reasons for wanting to cloth diaper:

1. It's cheaper - you can buy "one-size" (or OS) diapers that grow with your baby until he or she is potty trained!
2. There's a lower incidence of diaper rash with cloth diapers.
3. There are so many options now that you aren't limited to folding and safety-pinning.
4. The diapers are cute, so they complement my baby's cute bottom very well.

Some of you have asked about which cloth diapers we've decided to use, so I thought I'd post a few thoughts about them! As previously mentioned, we did a diaper trial through The Natural Baby and tried out several different kinds before we invested and bought more.

Some of the ones we tried include BumGenius 4.0 Pocket Diapers, BumGenius Freetime AIO, Fuzzibunz OS Elite, Flip OS, Kissaluvs AIO, Thirsties diaper covers and prefolds.

I had heard great things about the Fuzzibunz and BumGenius pocket diapers from friends of mine and felt pretty sure we would end up using some of those. But I'm glad we tried some others so that my feelings would be confirmed and I also discovered a new one I liked!

The BumGenius Freetime AIO is a perfect cross between a "regular" all in one (AIO) and a pocket diaper. The thing that's great about pocket diapers is that the pocket holds an absorbent insert (or two inserts for overnight absorbency) that can be removed when you wash the diapers so it gets extra clean. The regular AIO's are just as the name implies, one continuous piece that does not separate at all, much like a disposable diaper. There is less surface area exposed when you wash them though, so I don't feel like they get as clean.

The BumGenius Freetime combines my two favorite features of the pocket diaper, customizable absorbency and separate layers for extra surface area when washing, with the convenience of an AIO. The diaper has two "inserts" that are attached on one side. One insert, or flap, is attached at the front of the diaper and the other at the back, so the flaps overlap. The flaps are also foldable, so you can fold one end over at the front (for extra boy protection) or one at the back (for girl protection). The convenience comes in the fact that these extra layers are sewn into the diaper itself, so there's no stuffing involved. These are usually the first ones I pull out of the dryer after I wash them since they're ready to use immediately.

I have been very pleased with the BumGenius 4.0 OS and Fuzzibunz Elite OS pocket diapers as well. We've had much fewer leaks than we did while using disposables! They just feel so soft, too, so I feel good putting them on my sweet baby's skin. We opted for snap closures on all the ones we've bought since I feel that those will hold up longer than hook-and-loop (Velcro) closures, not to mention they will be a little harder for a bigger baby to take off!

I hope this has been helpful for anyone considering doing this and informative for anyone who is not currently in need of diapers!