the cost of diapering
review: overnight cloth diapering
applecheeks envelope diaper in lemon zest
many inserts = good absorbency = puffy bum syndrome :o)
we finally did it! we are now officially cloth diapering our lil guy full-time! as i had mentioned before, overnights were our last hold out. we were worried that having a wet bum would interfere with nate's sleeping and, as any parent, we did not want anything causing him to wake up in the middle of the night. but we decided to give it a go and find something that would work for his heavy overnight wetting. ilana at applecheeks suggested their envelope cover with a three layer insert and a stay-dry booster. after doing the initial prep wash (3 x in hot water), i was ready to test it out on nate. first impressions: he looked awfully cute in his yellow applecheeks! we stuffed the cover with the three layer insert, the stay-dry booster, and the two layer bamboo booster. once it was all put together and on our boy's behind, it looked pretty bulky. it was hard to put his jammies on, but we managed to fasten all the snaps. fingers crossed that this first night would go well. we were pleasantly surprised when we woke the next morning and realized that nate didn't wake up overnight. when we went to change his diaper, there were no leaks and the bottom of his undershirt wasn't even damp. the applecheeks diaper, on the other hand, was quite heavy. eureka! looks like we've got a winner on our hands! now we just have to get at least one or two more to keep us going between washes. in the meantime, we've started using our bamboozle fitted diapers again for overnights when the applecheeks one is dirty. we pair the bamboozle with either a bummis super whisper wrap cover or athirsties cover. then we layer on a 4-layer hemp doubler insert and a fleece liner to keep moisture away from baby's bottom. this has also proved to be a good solution with no leaks, great absorbency, but the same bulkiness as experienced with applecheeks. looks like there is no way around the bulky factor if you want to ensure no leaks. on a side note, one of my favourite things about applecheeks is that they are a canadian company (based in montreal) and all their products are made there as well!cloth diapering
- all babies look adorable in cloth diapers! (see above) they come in so many fun patterns and great colours that cloth is simply fun to use!
- they are way cheaper than disposable diapers (especially if you plan on having more than one child). you can save thousands of $$$ by using cloth.
- they are healthier for baby. disposables contain chemicals, toxins, bleaches, etc. also, while we've cloth diapered our son, he hasn't experienced any diaper rash.
- they are so much better for the environment. did you know that almost 1.5 billion diapers end up in canadian landfills each year?! the numbers for the u.s. are even more staggering at 27.4 billion per year. it is estimated that it takes 250-500 years for disposable diapers to decompose so they're going to be sitting there for a loooooong time to come.
- they are easy to use. this ain't your grandma's cloth diaper. choose between snaps or velcro styles. definitely just as easy as disposables. plus you save yourself time from having to run to the store to buy disposables every couple of weeks.
- believe it or not, they are less messy than disposables. before we made the switch, our lil guy always had "blow-outs". one particularly bad episode happened while we were at the mall! definitely not a good time. but ever since nate's been in cloth, no blow-outs have occurred.
- cloth is more comfortable against baby's bottom.
- potty training is easier! cloth diapers help kids potty train faster because it makes them more aware of urinating.