Cloth Diapering Madness!

So even before Butterbean was born I knew I wanted to use cloth diapers on him. I wasn't sure exactly how to or what to use, but in my research online I found a fringe following of "cd" moms who were CRAZY about cloth diapering their children. This research also led me to baby wearing and attachment parenting which has contributed to some of my parenting philosophies to try. But I digress.. this post is about cloth diapering. CD'ing (as it is referred to) has changed tremendously since the days of flatfold diapers and pins. There are a lot of websites to find a lot of choices and it's quite overwhelming. Due to my desire to be economical about it, (did you know that 36 preemie disposable diapers cost $9.00 which is about 3 days worth?) When I was pregnant, I ordered some infant prefolds and some wraps to have as a part of my changing table arsenal. Well, my little guy was ehm.. really little when we brought him home and my first attempts at diapering his little bottom made him look like a stick with a pillow tied to it and he could barely kick his legs for the bulk! I shelved the prefold diapers for a couple more weeks until last week. Tried it again, still major case of "diaper butt" they were soo bulky, so I bought a cheap 12 pack of birdseye flat folds and voila! Much smaller diaper butt! I really love cloth because I know that every clean one I put on is soft and absorbent and chemical free. His little disposables have this constant chemical odor and the odd absorbing gel that is inside kind of creeps me out, (not to mention the amount of trash they create.) I have noticed his skin has been irritated and blistering in some areas so I am using cloth while at home and 'sposies while out and about. Papa is still uneasy about wiggly baby and tying on the cloth diaper so I give him a break and let him use whatever creates the least amount of diaper changing drama for him. My favorite links for cloth diapering are www.greenmountaindiapers.com and www.cottonbabies.com. YouTube has been a great resource for videos made by moms who talk about cd'ing and their methods, organization, washing, folding and application. I learned how to fold the flats in an origami fold from the GMD website, a 5 year old taught me how to fold it! So really, anyone can CD their babies, if not too grossed out by it. Washing so far has been dead easy since it's breastmilk poop. I do a cold rinse with OxyClean and a hot wash with Charlies Soap. I prefold all the diapers and stack them so all I have to do when diapering time comes along is put it on and my little guy is good to go! Posted photos are butterbean in his indian prefold diaper with a Snappi closure (no pins necessary) and a Real Nappies diaper cover from Amazon.com.