That Cloth Life (Our Decision to Cloth Diaper)

Cloth Diaper Laundry Day!! So colorful!

Before I got pregnant, I always thought I'd become this chill mom that was down with whatever, but I should have known my personality wouldn't allow me to be that way. As soon as I found out I was pregnant, I started doing all this research about every aspect of pregnancy, childbirth, and motherhood. There is SO MUCH information about becoming a mother!! It's an easy rabbit hole to fall down.

Luckily, my bestie best bud 4eva was due four months before me and she's the most together person I know, so a lot of my anxiety was relieved by her being able to tell me what things to expect. Down to my hospital bag packing list, she had my back and I felt like I went into my labor experience with a more peaceful feeling than I originally expected. (Lists give me a serious peace of mind.) 

As far as *stuff* for baby, I essentially copied my friend's registry list, except for diapers. In my own research, I came across a lot of cloth diapering blogs and mom advice that intrigued me. I'll admit- I thought they were so cute, and that was a big draw for me. Early on in my pregnancy, my parents in-law bought us the newborn bundle of gDiapers off of our registry, which are a hybrid cloth diaper that have a cloth outer shell and can be used with disposable (and compostable) inserts. This helped cement my flirtation with the cloth diapering idea. We ended up doing exclusively gDiapers for the first few weeks because they were so easy and didn't required too much washing with the disposable inserts, which was clutch with the Lack of Sleep due to a Newborn Syndrome. Adrian grew out of the newborn sizes very quickly and we needed more of the small sizes to do them full-time, so I started to rotate in some of my adorable pocket diapers.

 Baby A. in his newborn size GDiapers

The other reasons to cloth diaper became clearer to me as we started using them- not having to go to the store for disposables was great. Baby A.'s cute little butt has stayed smooth and rash-free. I love doing laundry, so doing a load of his little fluffy butt covers is a relaxing way to end the day for me, as I zen out with a good episode of Snapped or Community and stuffing inserts into diapers. I think the whole "helping the environment" is a secondary reason for me, but it's nice to say I don't feel like I'm contributing to landfills. 

A lot of moms tell me or write about how potty training is easier, too. Of course that sounds like an awesome benefit to anyone, but I'll let you know how it goes! To aid in that process, I started doing a little elimination communication/diaper free baby training, wherein a mom learns their baby's cues and will even go as far as holding baby over an acceptable place for refuse to go, but I was way too lazy to keep that up with my 20 pound turkey. I can tell when he's gone in his diaper because he generally starts to freak out about it, since he probably feel the wetness against his skin more easily than with a paper diaper, and we try to change him as soon as possible. So, as long as he maintains cues like that, I hope that we'll be able to help him associate that yucky feeling with the need to go in his potty! 

Some of our first cloth diapered moments! How cute, right??

 I could easily go on and on about what I like about my diapers, and the merits of each brand (let's save it for another post). I tried a few different types and brands until I found what I liked and found worked best for our kiddo, but all of the little details of cloth diapering have been pretty much delightful for me. Granted, I do stay at home with our son for now...I just think most of the "work" I do to keep up with my reusable diapers is fun. But remember... I'm a weirdo that loves doing laundry ;-)

And I'll leave you with Baby A. loving life in his green Bum Genius!