Cloth Diaper Trial

After a couple of months of online research, I began to realize that cloth diapers could be a big savings for our family. I was skeptical though and wanted to be able to try them before I made a commitment and also, do you know how many different kinds of cloth diapers there are out there? My head was swimming with all the different options, including making you own! How did I know what I would like or what would work best for us?

Clockwise from top: One-size pocket diaper, sized pocket diaper, all-in-one diaper, fitted diaper (requires a waterproof cover)

I finally found a website that offered a 21-day trial of 6 different kinds of cloth diapers for only $10. So, they arrived yesterday morning in the mail and I promptly washed and dried them and put one on Hannah. She was ready to go down for her nap, so I put a pocket diaper on her with 2 absorbent inserts in the pocket and she took a 3-hour nap with NO LEAKS! I was immediately impressed. Not only that, but it was as easy to put on and change as a disposable.

Is that not the cutest little diapered bottom you ever saw?

After her nap we tried the fitted diaper with a cover. I felt like there were too many layers, too much bulk, especially since we were outside and it was really warm yesterday. She had a poopy in that diaper and it contained the mess wonderfully, though! After that, we used the prefold and the waterproof cover. Prefolds are "our mother's" cloth diapers that used to require pins, but they sent this cool little grabbie thing that grabs each side and the middle and holds it all together. When used with the cover they sent, Hannah had no leaks in that diaper, although it's not at the top of my list because it's just not as easy to use as the others. For bedtime last night, I put the all-in-one diaper on her with an extra insert because she can sleep for 12 hours some nights. I was thrilled when she woke up with no leaks this morning! The all-in-one is also not at the top of my list as it takes an extra long time to dry, however, it is as simple as using disposable diapers.

Before I ordered the sample package of diapers, I was leaning heavily towards the one-size pocket diapers (the yellow one in the picture). They can be used from 12 pounds all the way up to 35 pounds (well beyond an average child's weight when they potty train). By getting the one-size diapers, I could use them for both Hannah and the new baby after he or she got to about 2 months old. Now that I've used the pocket diaper, I totally love it and know that I could do cloth diapering using those!

Now, I will admit that it's a little more time-consuming to rinse the stinky diapers in the toilet and then do a load of wash, however, if it will help our family save money then it's worth a little of my time. Also, it will save on the amount of trash that Jeremiah has to take to the dump and it's better for Hannah's little bottom, so I think the pros outweigh the cons this time!

I guess now we just have to make sure we want to make the investment to do this full-time.