Our Stash

I think cloth diapering has grown to a cult-like obsession!  Eesh!

The cloth diapers of yesteryear are being swallowed up by the hundreds, maybe THOUSANDS, of new, modern, funky, recycled, cute, weird, practical, crunchy, fantastic diapers and diapering products available from one corner of the earth to the other corner of the web these days.  I have spent DAYS researching, bookmarking, highlighting, and comparing more diaper options than I ever realized existed before we had our little one.

I've decided something.

I don't NEED all those crazy options that are out there!  Don't get me wrong, many of them look great, but they just don't fit with our priorities.  My amazing husband didn't even bat an eye when I told him I wanted to consider cloth diapering our kiddos (current and future).  His only request (as it usually is) was that if there were going to be options, please limit them as much as possible.  No prob.  I googled, I searched, I read, I sifted, I consulted, I scoured, I skimmed till my eyes crossed.  I had some great pointers from one CDing mama in particular - to whom I am eternally grateful :)!  I finally came up with a list of priorities (in order):

1. Health.  My family historically has sensitive skin, and I've seen the nasty rashes kids can get from unhealthy diapering practices.
2. Cost.  Did you know some diaper covers can run you upwards of $80.... each?
3. Ease of use.  I don't know any parent that can actually use all her brain cells when she is up for the 4th time that night with a squeaky, hungry, drooly, poopy baby.
4. Fast-drying.  Our dryer sucks.  Welcome to Japan.
5. Longevity.  The whole point of using cloth dipes is to be able to REUSE them.  Why would I want to buy a new set every time we have another kid?

Following these parameters and a bit of experimenting during our little one's newborn stage, here's what we've settled on:

• GMD's Cloth-eez sized organic unbleached 100% cotton prefolds
• Thirsties covers (sized until I discovered the Duos - love the Duos :) )
• Snappies (we've tried tri-folding the prefolds - we prefer the fit and containment of a snappied prefold)

That's it.  Nothing special, nothing fancy.  Affordable (yes, it was an investment to begin with, but not nearly as large of an investment as most other diapering options out there), multipurpose (those dipes make great burp rags, doublers, etc.!), and cute to boot :).  We tried some of the other "easier" options such as fitteds and All-In-Ones (AIOs), but as my (did I tell you how amazing he is?) dear husband pointed out, they're really not any more or less complicated than prefolds, snappies, and covers.  I love that man!

The only concession we are making to more "simple" diapers is a half-dozen Thirsties Duo Diapers we have in the mail.  Changing diapers in Japan can be interesting on occasion.  We've been using disposables while out and about because we thought it might make life simpler (changing a prefold does require a smidge more time and room than changing a disposable).  Problem? No trash bins in the bathrooms.  Now if we have to carry around the dirty diaper anyway, then why on earth are we wasting the money, health benefits, and land-fill space on disposables in the first place?

Challenges: our dryer can't handle anything thicker than a prefold and I am not thrilled at the idea of unstuffing dirty pocket diapers.  Solution? The Duo dipes are "sleeve" diapers - every review I've read says the inserts no kidding wash out of the diapers in the washing machine.  Hallelujah!  Diaper changes as fast as a disposable, healthy as cloth dipes, AND I don't have to get my hands dirty?  I'm all there :D.  We'll see how it goes - the trial run will be while we're visiting in the States.

I suppose I also ought to share what we use to round out our cloth diapering system:

• Cloth wipes (purchased and cut up from old receiving blankets)
• Wipes spray (don't have a strong opinion on this, but we've been satisfied with these so far)
• Country Save powder detergent (we can use it on ALL our laundry - it gets my husband's mechanic's uniforms clean yet is so gentle on our baby's skin we've never had any residue problems or irritation due to laundry)
• Wet bags and pail liners - can't live without 'em!

Well that's it.  That's our stash.  It might not look as fancy as some other people's, or it might look more expensive than others', but we like it - it works for us.  Feel free to pester us with questions or just shake your head and think we're crazy! :)