My New Interest in Diapers

Remember the mountain of diapers I got a killer deal on last week??? Well, while I was thrilled at finding such a good deal on a necessity, staring at my newly acquired heap brought thoughts of filling landfills into my mind.

Several of my goals for this year are steps toward becoming a "greener" me and in turn, teaching such a way of life to my children. Using canvas bags instead of plastic at the store, growing our own vegetables etc. So what was I doing with this mass of disposable diapers which according to some researchers, will take up to 500 years to decompose in a landfill????

Well, I had no choice in the matter, right? These were a necessity, not a luxury. My baby needs them, right? Wrong.

Enter my good friend, Heather. She has now formally introduced me to the world of cloth diapering. I say formally introducing because I had heard of cloth diapering before. Heck, I actually had J in a pinned cloth diaper a few times when he was only a month old.

But, it was difficult. I had no idea what I was doing. I did not know how to fold it or pin it and worst of all...what was I gonna do when he pooped in it??? In short, it just wasn't for me.

On the other end of the spectrum, Heather has been cloth diapering her youngest (who is 5 week older than J) since he was out of the newborn size.

While were there for a playdate she showed me the cloth diapers she uses and gave me some tips on how to use and launder them. I never knew there were sooo many different kinds! And you don't need to use pins either! And it's super easy to wash them! Who knew?

Anyway, to encourage me she gave me a dozen pre-folds, a cover and a snappi to try. I must say - I love it! Honestly, I have yet to use them at night or when I go out. I've only used them at home so far but hey, baby steps right?

On top of it all she let me know about Rita's Rump Pockets. A free pattern for sewing your own cloth pocket diapers! So, I downloaded the pattern, found this great tutorial on how to make them, grabbed one of J's old receiving blankets and set to work.

Here's what I came out with.

Now, this would still technically need a cover, but I had it on him and he peed in it and never wet his clothes. I'm going to experiment with different fabrics including PUL and fleece so maybe I won't need a cover. We'll see!