As a holistic mama, I was convinced from early in my pregnancy that I wanted to do cloth diapers. My little guy is now 10 months and so far my experience with cloth has been awesome. When I first decided to attempt cloth diapering and shared that with my friends and family most people thought I was crazy. A common response was “good luck with that!” But I have to say I’m very pleased with my decision and would support anyone who was considering taking the same road with their children.
I had 3 main reasons to do cloth diapers:
1) No chemicals. Disposable diapers have loads of chemicals and chlorine in them which I didn’t want near my babies bottom.
2) Environmental. Disposable diapers are the third largest consumer item in the landfills.
3) Financial. It’s estimated that you save about $1500 the first year with cloth diapers.
Why Fuzzibunz?
I have to thank my yoga and mommy friend Bethany. She was inspired to use fuzzibunz because her sister had such great success with them. I was SUPER intimidated about using cloth, getting set up and knowing what I was doing and she walked me through every step of the way. Check out her darling blog at babybythesea.blogspot.com
The design:
Fuzzibunz are a fleece liner with a cloth insert that is for absorption. The fleece keeps baby dry even when the insert is wet. We haven’t had to much trouble with leaking. As long as you change them often enough, and size them correctly you will be good to go.
What about the laundry?
Honestly, it’s not that bad. I only do 2 extra loads a week. The diapers are washed in a special detergent called Rockin Green. I run a cold rinse cycle followed by a hot wash and they come out bright white. You can dry them on low temps, but I like to hang dry mine outside on a sunny San Diego afternoon. I have two diaper pail liners as well that I wash with the diapers so I don’t have to use garbage bags. Every time I gather a fresh load of diapers from the dryer I say to myself ” I just saved the family $20!”
How to get set up?
I own 28 diapers which lasts me about 3 days. These diapers are about $20 each, so the initial investment is around $500. All of my diapers are the ‘One Size’ and they will fit from newborn until your child is potty trained. I was so lucky to get most of my diapers at my baby shower, so it was worth it to register for them. I also have about 30 cloth wipes. I pre-wet the wipes with a solution of ‘California Baby’ soap and a few drops of lavender oil in water. I keep them in a wipe warmer container- however don’t ever warm them up because I didn’t want my baby getting used to warm wipes.
What about out and about or traveling?
Easy. Really. I have a little washable baggie that I put used diapers in, and pack 3-4 fresh fuzzibunz with me. I used to use disposable wipes when I was out and about, but I now pack a few cloth wipes in a plastic wipe case and use them. We went on a 3 day road trip a few weeks ago and packed all of the fuzzibunz and had no problem traveling with them. We are off to Idaho for 2 weeks in June and I plan to bring the diapers with us then as well.
The adorable factor:
I think it’s safe to say Baby P loves them, and lets just be honest- these little diapers are super cute on him. I love them and couldn’t be happier.
