Cloth diaper update

We did cloth diapering for my son's first few months of life when we had access to a cloth diaper delivery service. Then we had some major life changes and quit cloth diaper for about 2 years. Now he's in the potty training stage, but we're expecting a new baby this fall.

About a month and a half ago, we made the investment of $100 to get two cases of econobum diapers. Since our utilities are included at a flat rate in our rent, washing the cloth diapers doesn't cost us anything extra. We just have to buy cloth diaper laundry detergent and flushable liners, which are costing us a tiny fraction of the cost of buying cases of disposable diapers. (These diapers fit babies from 8 lb up to 35 lb, and will hopefully hold up through the time our second child gets potty trained).

Here's my latest take on this whole cloth diapering thing: Yes, It is a LITTLE more difficult for me than disposables, but I'm not ready to give up on it. Today's cloth diapers are much easier to use than the old fashioned ones, and with the money we're saving, I might even buy some of the fancier types of cloth diapers that are EVEN easier to use.

I think folding these prefolded diapers is about the same amount of work for me as picking up a case of disposables at the store (because there's only 2 dozen cloth diapers and I moved the changing station to next to the dryer!). And washing them is only a little more work than toting bags of dirty disposables out to the garage. I think its good for his potty-training that he sees me flush the poopies "bye bye" down the toilet (I know...I'm taking the potty training thing really slow). And every time I'm frustrated with putting the cloth diapers on, I just remember how much MONEY we are saving and how much we're AREN'T putting into the landfill.

The only problem I'm seeing is that Samson's getting a little more diaper rash. It seems it always only appears overnight, on evenings when he's had a lot of liquid and I didn't get him out of his crib to get changed right away in the morning. The diaper rash doesn't appear during the day, because I change him often during the day. Some people say a piece of fleece between his skin and the diaper would help keep his skin dry, so I think we either need to buy fleece liners for night time, disposables for night time, or start limiting his liquids in the evening! (Or, yes, get this kid potty trained!)

I'm going to keep using disposables when we go on long trips, but I'm going to keep trying and I'll let you all know how it goes!