Cloth Diapering Update

Just wanted to drop in and add a little update on our experience with cloth diapering. As I've mentioned previously, today's cloth diapers are not your mama's old prefolds with plastic pants... we're using Fuzzibunz Elite One-Size pocket diapers, pictured above. Fuzzibunz are made of a waterproof cloth exterior casing lined with fleece inside - the outer cloth and inner fleece forming a pocket in which to stuff absorbent minky inserts. The inserts draw moisture through the fleece and trap it there so that baby's skin remains dry. When I take a wet diaper off of my son, I can literally run my hand across the fleece without coming away with any moisture on my hand. It's pretty amazing. As a result, these diapers make diaper rash a problem of the past (as has been our experience)! Anyway, these diapers also feature about a zillion snap adjustments at the waist and adjustable elastic around the waist and leg casings, making them completely customizable to find the perfect fit for your baby from birth through potty training. I don't think I need to belabor the financial benefits of purchasing just one set of diapers to last you 2 1/2 or 3 years (and through multiple children as well). Fuzzibunz offers a lifetime warranty on their products and provides spare elastics with each diaper so that they can be replaced as they wear out - these puppies are designed to last, and to make your investment worthwhile. I know I sound like a Fuzzibunz salesperson, but I assure you I am not... just a highly satisfied customer!

My husband will tell you that removing the inserts is the worst part, though that doesn't really bother me. The inserts are usually pretty well soaked with urine and liquid poo residue, and they need to be removed from the diaper itself before all pieces are tossed into the wet bag to assure a thorough cleaning in the washer. The pocket is wide open for removal of the inserts - you don't have to squish your hand through a little poo-covered opening to get to them or anything - so you just pinch the insert between two fingers, shake it on out, and drop it all into the bag. Not a crisis. I find it rather ironic that men have somehow developed this reputation for handling "the dirty jobs" around the house... every guy I know whose baby is cloth diapered is bothered by this. So silly.

For me, the worst part is stuffing the diapers when they come out of the dryer. It's not all that difficult, it's just a little time-consuming. We've found the greatest success with leakage control by double-stuffing, so it's a tight fit and requires a bit of fussing to get them properly placed to prevent bunching. For now it's no big deal - I'm home all day and usually don't have trouble finding the time to do it. But I can see that, in a home with two working parents (which will eventually be us!), this task might become a bit of a hassle.

As for the positives... they are many!

• We'll start with the obvious... we haven't bought diapers since we started over a month ago (except for that one time that we drove an hour and a half to a family gathering and forgot the diaper bag... whoops!), so we've already saved close to $100 in diapering costs. You could add ointment savings to that total as well, as we were going through a good deal of A&D with disposables, using it at every changing to prevent diaper rash. We spent a little over $250 on our stash of 16 Fuzzibunz, so they're already well on their way to paying themselves off! 
• We haven't had many leakage problems - no more than we had with disposables. You always have the occasional wet-through around one leg or the other from time to time when they pee a little more than usual or go a little too long between changings. We haven't had any poop blow-outs at all, however, which we did have to deal with when he was in disposables. I think that the difference is the elastic around the back of the waist on the Fuzzibunz - there's no elastic there on the disposables, so poop is free to ride right up the back. Not so with the Fuzzi's! 
• Also, as I mentioned, his diaper rash problems have disappeared completely. He had some heinous diaper rash when he was in disposables - to the point where his skin was cracking open and bleeding a little - so we were having to use an A&D and Desitin combo to clear it up, followed by A&D at every changing as a preventative measure. No longer the case.
• So far we haven't had to use a sprayer at all to remove solid waste from the fleece. Everything goes straight into the wet bag as-is and directly into the wash every other day. Once he starts on solids this will begin to change, but so long as you're working with exclusively-breastfed-baby poo, you're golden!
• For the record, we also haven't had a single issue with pee/poo odor or staining, nor has there ever been any left over poop residue in the washer. I know that many people are a little weirded out by the idea of putting dirty diapers in the same washer where they wash their clothes, but there's simply no reason to be concerned - nothing gets left behind!
• I feel great about the fact that I'm not contributing to the ever-growing waste problem plaguing our environment. I, for one, would like to leave behind a decent planet for my children and grandchildren to call home. It takes something like 150 years for a single diaper to degrade in a landfill, and we're filling our landfills with untold millions of them every day! YIKES!!! 

I'm sure that we will spend a bit more on our water bill as a result of the extra laundry loads, and in areas where water is expensive I can see that becoming an issue as far as cost-effectiveness. Luckily we don't pay a whole lot for water around here. We're actually using a less expensive detergent on the diapers than we use on our regular laundry (Arm & Hammer Free), since it's best to wash them in bare-bones detergent to prevent build up of any chemicals or residues on the fleece or minky that might affect their absorptive properties, and the baking soda helps to keep any odors in check. At any rate, over time, the cost-benefit ratio absolutely works out in our favor. If you don't believe me, check out the math. 

Suffice it to say that we are very happy with our decision to cloth diaper our little guy. It's saving us a lot of money and diaper rash woes, and it's a lot easier and far more convenient than you may think. I hope that you will consider it for your family, too!