Cloth Diapering: my way.

Since it has been hot here in Texas, Elliot has been running around in just a diaper a lot. This has prompted a lot of people to ask me about cloth diapering.

Some common questions:
- "WHY would you ever want to use cloth diapers?"
- What kind do you use? Where do you buy them?
- Where do you put the diapers when they're dirty? Do they stink?
- How do you wash them? How often?
- Don't you have to rinse them?
- Do you have to touch poop?!
- ... isn't it really gross?

Well, I'm about to address all the above questions, and more. In fact, {lucky you!} I'm about to give you a complete cloth diaper run down. A lesson, if you will, about how and why I use cloth diapers.

Why I cloth diaper:

- It saves money.
Disposable diapers are expensive. I don't know if you've looked at the price of a box of diapers lately, but it's pretty ridiculous. And how long does a box last? For Elliot, less than a week. It is estimated that we spend an average of $2000 per child on diapers. I can think of a lot of better ways to spend that money than throwing it into the trash {or a diaper genie}.

- It's better for the planet.
A single child, while he is in diapers, leaves behind approximately 2.7 tons of non-biodegradable waste... and that's not including the waste created by manufacturing the diapers themselves, either. Nobody really knows how long it takes a diaper to decompose... because nobody has ever witnessed it. That's right- it takes over a lifetime for just ONE diaper to decompose. The average child uses about 4,000 before potty training!

- It's healthier and more comfortable for my son.
Would you like stiff paper or plastic against your most sensitive areas? I definitely wouldn't! I always joke around with my husband that they better make cloth Depends by the time I'm 80. Elliot has NEVER had a diaper rash in cloth diapers- and I attribute this mainly to the fact that he does not have paper or chemicals against his bum. It seems like all of my friends who use sposies are constantly battling yeast infections... but we've never had that problem.

Even worse, disposable diapers are full of chemicals. They contain polyacrelate gel, which wicks all the moisture away from your baby's skin, all kinds of dioxins, which are among the most toxic chemicals known to science and are listed by the EPA as highly carcinogenic chemicals, and several other chemicals such as sodium polyacrylate, tributyl-tin, ethylbenzene, toluene, xylene and dipentene. If you want to scare yourself, look up the side effects of just one of those chemicals.

All of the big disposable diaper companies {Pampers, Huggies, Luvs, etc} refuse to release the contents of their diapers- that means they have something serious to hide...
- you can read more about this here: Livestrong article on chemicals in cloth diapers

- They are ADORABLE!
... do I even need to explain this one? They're cute. 'Nuff said.


My favorite diapers + where I buy them:

I have tried a lot of different kinds and brands of cloth diapers, including Fuzzibunz, BumGenius, Flips, Rumparooz, Thirsties Duos, Best Bottom, Itti Bitti Tuttos, Kawaiis, Sunbabies, and prefolds + covers. Out of all of these, my favorites are Kawaii and Sunbaby. They are much cheaper than the other options, come in a ton of cute prints and colors, they are durable, they fit well, they don't easily leak, they're both one-sized, meaning they adjust to fit one baby from shortly after birth to potty training, and they're ADORABLE.

Sunbaby diapers are thinner and trimmer than Kawaiis, but they don't last quite as long between diaper changes. Kawaii Baby diapers are virtually bulletproof, but give him a puffier butt.

Click HERE to visit the Kawaii website or HERE to visit the Sunbaby website.

At night, we use a Kawaii or BumGenius with two inserts. When he was younger, we also had to add a Joeybunz hemp insert... because this kid pees A LOT at night.

I do also really like Fuzzibunz and Flips, and still use and recommend both of those, but they don't come in very many different colors, and they are a lot more expensive. So I use the ones I have, but I don't think they are really much better than Kawaiis or Sunbabies to justify spending so much more on them. I buy all of my supplies {wet bags, etc} and other diapers at Kelly's Closet. They have a HUGE selection, a diaper dollar rewards program, and often have "free diaper" coupons which I love!


Where I store clean and dirty diapers:




I keep my clean diapers organized in cloth storage bins. Most of them are in the four bins you see there, but there are more in Elliot's closet, because we have a lot of diapers.


Once they are rinsed, I keep my dirty diapers in a hanging PlanetWise wetbag, which I hang on the bathroom door. I have two of these, so that I have one to use while the other is in the wash/drying, and I also have two smaller wetbags for in my diaper bag while I'm out and about. If the bag is zipped, they do NOT smell EVER. I'm not kidding.


Diaper Changes:


This is where I change Elliot's diapers. Doesn't look like a conventional changing table, does it? Nope. It's my bed. I absolutely hate changing tables. They're too small... and I can't change babies when they are lying sideways. Plus I don't like worrying about the baby falling or rolling off that tiny table. And nobody ever uses them once their babies get older so they end up just taking up space. To me, changing tables are just a waste of money.


I keep a basket of 4-5 diapers and a box of wipes on my dresser. I just set the dirty diaper on the nightstand until I get the new diaper on him. Once he is all dressed, I put him down and he usually follows me into the bathroom to watch me rinse and toss the diaper into the wet bag. When he was younger, I'd put him in his bouncer or swing while I took care of the diaper.

Elliot often has meltdowns during diaper changes... or he tries to escape, so I also have a random collection of trinkets in my room to entertain him with while I'm changing him. Sometimes I bribe him with a tasty treat like a few chocolate chips. That's the only drawback to snapping diapers... they take a little bit longer to put on than velcro ones. But we manage. Worse comes to worse, I do some serious baby wrangling... or just wait a few minutes and come back to try again.



My Wash Routine:



I wash my cloth diapers every three days. Unfortunately, our townhouse doesn't have washer and dryer hookups, so I wash them in one of our apartment complex's laundry rooms. I do two full hot cycles- the first with detergent, the second without. It's very very important to make sure all of the detergent gets rinsed out of your diapers, or else you will have leaking and stink issues.

I tried all kinds of special detergents, and spent a lot of money in the process. But it seemed like everyone on Diaper Swappers was raving about how well Tide worked on their diapers. Once I finally tried it, I never went back. It works better than anything else I tried, and it's not outrageously expensive. I use up to the "2" line in the first wash, and I prefer the "clean breeze" scent.


I hang my diapers outside to dry. You can machine dry diapers, but since I have to pay $1 each time, I choose to line dry them outside. Plus, machine drying is tough on cloth diapers and they last a lot longer if they're not machine washed... and I hope to use my diapers on all of my kids!


Rinsing, Touching Poop, & all that Fun Stuff

I'm a rinsing nazi. I rinse every single diaper- pee or poop. I know a lot of people who don't rinse pee diapers, but the thought of diapers just sitting in pee for 2-3 days really grosses me out. I've been rinsing my diapers in the bathroom sink ever since I first started... I just rinse out the sink and wipe it down with a lysol wipe afterwards. I did just buy a diaper sprayer, but need different parts to connect it to our toilet :(

For poop diapers, I swish them around in the toilet first and most of the poop comes off in there. If you know what you're doing, you do NOT have to touch any poop. In fact, since cloth diapers actually CONTAIN giant, messy poops, unlike disposables, I really don't touch poop... ever. I am also proud of the fact that I have never had a stain in any of my diapers! You'd never even know what they were used for! Cloth diapering, to me, really isn't any grosser than using disposables. Either way, you have to wipe your baby's butt and smell/see the poop in the process. Yes, it takes a little longer to rinse a diaper out than it does to just roll up a sposie, but the benefits make it worth it to me.

Well, that's about it! If you have any other questions, feel free to ask. Cloth diapering may not be for everyone, but I really like it! Here are a few more pictures of Elliot and his adorable fluffy butt, just for fun. :)


Thirsties Duo cover with a Flip staydry insert underneath.


Sunbaby diaper.


Fuzzibunz.


Kawaii "snazzy minky".


& another Sunbaby.

My nature boy.

It has been SUPER nice here lately- in the 70's and 80's over the past couple weeks. It's a good thing, too... because Elliot has decided that being outside is pretty much the best thing ever. He charges out our back door the MINUTE he finishes breakfast, and spends pretty much all day outside, other than his naps. It rained a few days ago, and he pretty much acted as though the world was coming to an end because he couldn't go out and play.


See? Happy as a clam, playing on the jungle gym.


Sticks- one of Elliot's new favorite chew toys.


Elliot pointing and saying, Mom, look! A bird!! Which in Elliot speak sounds like, "BA! Baaa! Baaaaa!" He is absolutely OBSESSED with birds. If you ask him where the birdies are, he'll look out the window until he sees one... and yell and laugh and grin once he sees it. If, every once in awhile, he doesn't spot any, he will hold his hands up and shrug, like, "I don't know, mom, where are they?" It's uber cute. I should take a video of my little birdwatcher one of these days.


My little tree hugger ♥


Off on a mission.


I'm absolutely in LOVE with this picture!

Oh, PS: Elliot is now back in cloth diapers exclusively, and I am building up my stash in order to cloth diaper two under two.
You can expect a post about this in a day or two. :)

I haven't asked for a vote in... ages. In fact, I think I may have completely missed a reset. So, if you have a spare minute, would you mind clicking below and voting for us? I'll vote back! :) Thanks.

happy weekend!

I am in a fabulous mood today. It's labor day weekend, which means we get to spend four whole days together as a family. We've been celebrating by staying up late, sleeping in {until EIGHT this morning... is it sad that we think 8:00 is sleeping in?!}, eating good food, and spending plenty of time outdoors. It has only been in the 90's today, so I even took the camera out with us.

















Happy weekend, friends! I hope you're all enjoying it as much as we are!

a little boy's best friend

The little white kitty we brought home last week is now eight weeks old, and we renamed him Charlie. Well, according to Aaron, his full name is "Charles Xavier," like in X-MEN. Yes, my husband's a bit of a geek. I've just been calling him Charlie, though.
He and Elliot are getting along fabulously. They're like two peas in a pod. They do EVERYTHING together! Anywhere Elliot goes, Charlie is right behind him. If Elliot cries, Charlie cries. If Elliot's napping, Charlie is curled up into a ball somewhere nearby. It's really ridiculously adorable.
Before we brought him home, I always wondered how a cat would get along with a baby versus a dog... and apparently, I had nothing to worry about. Elliot is sometimes a little rough... patting hitting him when he's excited, pulling on his ears and tail, and he always crawls over and steals whatever toy poor Charlie is playing with. "Gentle, be gentle, be nice Elliot, play nice with the kitty, don't hurt Charlie..." those are frequent phrases in our household. Charlie has never once tried to bite, scratch, or even run away from Elliot, though. He takes it all like a champ. Don't worry- Elliot isn't ALWAYS so, uh, excited around the kitty. Whenever Charlie comes up to him, Elliot almost always greets him with a gentle hug. He also likes to copy me and pet "his" kitty, which Charlie clearly loves, judging by all the purring.
Elliot and Charlie are best friends.









If you have a minute, would you mind voting for us? I have two giveaways coming up! :D

93 degrees and 36 days.

First of all, there are only 36 days until my husband comes home!
I've never been so excited for something in my entire life. I just cannot wait for us to be a family again. Every day, as Elliot continues to do new things and become more and more active... I just keep thinking about how shocked Aaron is going to be when he sees him.
It was 93 degrees and sunny today. That might not seem like a big deal to YOU, but if you lived in northern Michigan, where we have eight months of winter and hardly any sunshine, you'd understand. IT WAS FABULOUS!! It was also my brothers' last day of school, which means Elliot and I no longer get to enjoy our quiet days to ourselves.
Elliot spent most of the day in just his diaper because he was a hot mess and has a pretty bad heat rash covering him from head to toe {literally}. Is there anything you can do for a heat rash? I don't think it bothers Elliot at all... but it bothers ME!
Some pictures I took this afternoon of Elliot in his choco truffle Fuzzibunz:



Handsome boy. It kind of looks like he's posing here, even though he's really just got his fingers in his mouth, as usual.


He likes to make funny faces.


And just for fun: trying on my sunglasses. :)

Speaking of Fuzzibunz, I'm really digging mine lately. In fact, they're pretty much the only diaper Elliot wears during the day, with the exception of the occasional prefold and cover. More on that in a cloth diaper update coming soon!

ConGRADulations!

My brother-in-law Nick graduated from high school on Friday. This fall, he is going to the University of Michigan on a scholarship through the Army's ROTC program, which means another member of our family is stepping into the military life. His graduation party was yesterday, so my father-in-law's house was full of people, laughter, and fun.
Everyone was "oohing" and "ahhing" over little Elliot- who, by the way, was a perfect angel the whole day. He is definitely not shy- he loves anyone and everyone who will pay attention to him. It was a beautiful day, so he was pretty hot and sweaty, and ended up in just his diaper later on. I'm going to miss having so much family nearby when we move to Texas.
Here are some of my favorite pictures from the day {I took MANY}:

hanging out with Great Grandma.


kisses from Grandpa Steve.






Getting those toes!






He really, really, REALLY likes dogs. I'm not surprised, since Aaron and I like animals so much, but you would think he'd be scared of a strange furry thing as big as he is! Nope! Anytime one of the dogs walked by, he'd get all excited and reach out for it, kicking his legs. Aaron and I definitely want to get either a small dog or a kitten when we move. I'm leaning more towards a dog right now, though, because:
1. I'm allergic to cats {but LOVE them}
2. you can't really travel with a cat
3. I think dogs get along better with small children than cats. :)


Come here doggy, I love you!

Oh, and guess what? ELLIOT ROLLED OVER TODAY!! The look on his face was priceless. We all clapped and cheered, and he was just laying there on his back with a confused look on his face like he was thinking, "what? what happened?!"

Elliot's first trip to the beach.

We had a fabulous Memorial Day today at the beach. I thought of my husband often, after all, this is a holiday dedicated to those who fight for our country, especially those who lost their lives, and my husband came about as close as you can come to dying while in Iraq. Without him, this little boy would not be possible. I thank God for what my husband does for our family and country every day. I am married to a wonderful man!
Elliot LOVED the beach. He was hot, sticky, and sweaty... but happy as can be! He couldn't stop looking around at all of the people walking by and was completely in awe of the "big kids" playing in the water {just wait a couple more years, buddy}. To my shock and surprise... he didn't even mind the FRIGID water! At first, I only dipped his toes in, but he liked it so much that he tried to launch himself head first into the water, so I walked out a step or two and let him stand in the gentle waves. He thought it was the best thing ever.
Dare I say it? I may have a beach baby on my hands. I'm not surprised. I was a water baby from the start!
Okay, I promised you pictures, and I took MANY. But here are some of my favorites:


Sleepy boy cuddling with mama.


My little cuddle man. :)


A few minutes later: zonked out. He took an hour nap amidst all the kids screaming, adults yelling and laughing, and seagulls calling. Amazing!


When he woke up, he was all smiles.


Of course, he also wanted to chew on his hands...


Yes, Elliot rocked his Fuzzibunz on the beach today. Why in the world would I cover up something so cute with swim trunks?! Besides, I doubt they even make them in his size. He still wears 0-3 bottoms.

Okay, I'm off to work on a blog design now! Lots of people took advantage of my memorial day sale, so I have lots of designing to do!! Elliot is in bed, so this is the time to do it!
Oh, and if you have a minute, could you vote for us, please? I appreciate every vote! If you comment that you voted, I'll vote back! :D