I used Baby cheapskate to find some of my first cloth diapering resources. It was there that I was introduced to Jillian's Drawers - where I buy my cloth diapers. Jillian's Drawers has a program where you can test cloth diapers in your home for 3 weeks. At the end of the 3 weeks you can return everything and only pay $10!
I have since found a few other similar programs. Franklin Goose is does a month long cloth diaper trial program for $10. Diaper Daisy has a program where you only have to pay return shipping on the diapers in the 2 week trial. I'm sure there are many other trials out there too!
Another resource I've found is the ladies that write Prayer of Hannah. Many of them use cloth diapers on their children and share their experiences from many different lifestyles (including washing their cloth diapers in apartment complexes where the laundry is down the hall!).
Cotton Babies, the makers of bumGenius (our favorites), often will have items on sale, Sometimes they sell 'seconds' -- diapers with slight defects -- for discounted prices as well!
Diaper Pin is a website filled with cloth diapering resources. On the main page is a list of cloth diapering sales. There are also a number of forums where you can get information about cloth diapers from others who use them, including a place to buy and sell used diapers. You can also check out reviews on tons of different diapers, which could help the decision process!
The biggest thing that helped us to make a smooth transition to cloth diapering was the trial program. I totally recommend doing an in-home trial of diapers before investing the money. The best part for us was that we were able to see how it felt to used cloth diapers all day long, wash them at night, and them use them again the next day. We also were able to see several different cloth diapers and figure out which kind we preferred.
One of the scariest things about beginning to cloth diaper for us was that we knew no one who used cloth. Since starting cloth, we have met many people who use cloth diapers too (many of them bumGenius like we do). We've also been able to encourage several friends to try cloth and they have had great results!
If you have any questions about starting to cloth diaper or any of the resources that I mentioned, please let me know. On Wednesday I'll be going over our routine for daily use, care, and washing of our cloth diapers.
Excellent advice about doing an in-home diaper trial before investing money in this! Would you mind me asking WHY you opted to go this route? Did you use disposables first?
ReplyDeletesure! I should have mentioned this earlier - we used disposable diapers when our daughter was first born. I looked into the diaper trial when she was 1 month old and by 2 months old we had finished the dipaer trial, purchased our diapers, and were using cloth 24/7!
ReplyDeleteI used cloth diapers on all 3 of my kids and I love your suggestions. My friends and I would share diapers - when my child was done, they'd go on to the next baby in the group. I also made some of my own - old flannel sheets made soft and absorbent diapers.
ReplyDeleteI try to support cloth diaper moms now by making wool longies from recycled sweaters - much more breathable than the nylon pants and diaper wraps I used 20 years ago!
I really appreciate you posting on cloth diapers! I've been cloth diapering for almost a year now and am a huge advocate. Sharing resources and info about our routines and experiences really helps demystify the process of using them. I try to be as open as I can about using cloth diapers because people have so many misconceptions about them. Before I switched over to cloth, I was one of those people who never ever thought I could use cloth diapers. I changed my mind, however, after my son developed horrible, excruciatingly painful diaper rash that lasted months and would not go away no matter how much rash cream I used--and I went through several tubes a week! My mother suggested that it might be the disposable diapers and/or wipes I was using, so I decided to give cloth diapers and wipes a try. After doing lots of research, like Beth Anne, I settled on Bum Genius because they seemed so easy to use. I ordered 6 of them from Cotton Babies on trial (Cotton Babies has an excellent return policy that allows you to return diapers within 30 days as long as they have been properly cleaned and sanitized). I was shocked at how easy they were to use--just like using disposables and the best part was that within 2 days of putting my son in cloth, his rash went a way completely for the first time in months. I was so excited that I quickly order 6 more. My son is a heavy wetter so 12 diapers only lasted me one day, but with only one child at the time, I didn't find it all that inconvenient to wash everyday. I now have a much larger stash of diapers so that I wash every few days now.
ReplyDeleteI have since had another child, an 8mth old daughter, who wears the same diapers that my 2yr old son wears--making my foray into cloth diapers extremely cost effective. Although this wasn't my primary reason for switching to cloth, it was a wonderful benefit. I calculate that I would have wasted $200 a month on diapers, wipes and rash cream for 2 children. Instead I invested $500 on enough cloth diapers and cloth wipes for 2 children to last 2-3days. As a result, I saved almost $2000 this past year.
Final note: if you are interested in trying cloth diapers, especially Bum Genius or any of the other Cotton Babies brand diapers like Flip or Econobum, I would recommend buying them directly from Cotton Babies. They have the best warranty in the business. Like Beth Anne, the velcro on my Bum Genius diapers wore out and the elastic on a couple of them did as well, but Cotton Babies replaced all of them--no questions asked. I only had to pay to ship them back to the company.