I'm taking the plunge

Literally.

Into the depths of poo and pee and washing cloth diapers.
We {me} have been at it for about 2 months now.

Ha. My husband laughed when I told him I wanted to give it a try. Or maybe it was more like..."Really?!! I think your crazy." Either way, not too long ago I would have said the same thing. Wait, I probably did. But then there were friends. Silly friends who were cloth diapering and said it wasn't that bad. So what the heck, if I can relieve bittys sensitive skin (1st priority) and save dough (2nd priority) while helping the environment at the same time (bonus), i'll give it a try. So try is what I did. I went online and researched and researched some more. (thanks to some great blogs it made it nice and easy{ier}). I bought a trial package with appx 12 diapers to try, and after 21 days I could send it all back for only a cost of $10. I've spent that on a coffee...

I didn't know the first thing about CD and so it seemed all very foreign. Plus I am still learning. But here's how I broke it down.

Prefolds + Covers
Fitteds + Covers
Pocket Diapers
All-in-ones
All-in-twos
Hybrids

Prefolds are the basic cloth diapers and what I had horrid visions of when anyone mentioned cloth diapering. Ha. They still are horrid if you ask me. They require a fastener and a waterproof cover.

Fitteds are a fitted diaper that look like a traditional disposable and also require a waterproof cover. For example, kissaluvs fitted diapers with a thirsties cover.

Pocket diapers are also made like a traditional disposable with either snaps or velcro, and a pocket to place inserts. Some of my favorite brands include fuzzibunz & bumgenius.

All-in-ones are just like they sound. An all in one diaper. You can add extra inserts by laying them inside or stuffing for extra absorbancy as well. Most popular is bumgenius, and my personal favorite grovia AIO. These are great for night-time and naps. The only downside is a long drying time for the bumgenius and monkeydoodlez. The Grovia has a snap in insert which is removed for washing and decreases drying time. {thus another reason why it is my fav}

Bitty's bum!

Then there are some hybrid diapers where you have a cover with a removable insert for stuffing which when soiled only requires that you change the insert, and the shell can be reused and changed as needed. Grovia also makes a this, as well as my personal favorite and my most frequently used daytime diaper, Gdiapers. Along with cloth inserts, they carry disposable inserts which make it the ultimate go-to diaper for out and about. {both GroVia and Gdiapers make disposable inserts for their hybrid diaper}

more of bitty's fluffy bum!

To confuse you even more, most types of diapers come sized, as well as some having an option for a one size. The great thing obviously about a one size diaper is that you only have to buy one size as opposed to 2-3 over the course of diapering. Fuzzibunz and bumgenius both carry these in their pocket diapers.

SO. My personal preferences are a good pocket diaper such as fuzzibunz or bumgenius or the bumgenius AIO for nighttime wear. For daytime wear I like gdiapers or any other pocket diaper. Gdiapers aren't absorbant enough for night-time wetting, but do hold up for naps.

So far my stash consists of:

 2 happy heiny pocket velcro closure

2 diaperchangediaper pocket diapers snap closure

3 gdiaper shells w/6 cloth liners and disposables as needed (all size medium)

2 bumgenius AIO  velcro closure(1 small, 1 medium)

1 bumgenius one size pocket diaper velcro closure

2 fuzzibunz pocket diaper snap closure ( 1 small, 1 medium)

1 fuzzibunz one-size pocket diaper snap closure

1 grovia AIO snap closure

1 monkeydoodlez AIO velcro closure

I am slowly expanding my stash but am still researching and looking for great diapers! Currently I wash every other day, not always because I need to but because my OCD. I can't let the diapers sit any longer!

For storage I currently use a medium sized planet wise wet bag for wet diapers. I keep this in bittys room. For poo-soiled diapers I rinse them in my laundry sink and leave them in a bucket, or a garbage bag lined trash can. On the go I carry a small planet wise wet bag.

This is just a little about my experiences and knowledge (um if you can call it that?) about CD. I plan to post more as I learn more!!

Here are some sites that I have found useful and reliable when researching or ordering CD:

http://www.nickisdiapers.com/

http://www.thegreennursery.com/

http://www.jilliansdrawers.com/