Now, living in the Portland-ish area, I consider myself at least aware of the vast majority of eco-friendly approaches to living. So I was vaguely aware of cloth diapering as a concept, but my mental picture was basically limited to those white cloth quilt-looking rags and a plastic cover. BumGenius who? Fuzzibunz what?
That first post (and a later update) got a little pebble of an idea going. As the 40 weeks passed by, I became a little more interested, but not enough to put much effort to learning whatever it is I needed to know.
And then I went to a cloth diapering workshop here. Now it’s noteworthy that any interest in anything could have developed out of the experience, since Baby Diva (BD) farted, pooped, fussed, cried, hiccupped, screamed, nursed, and sucked her little fingers throughout the hour-long class (ambassador for the newly born that she is). Apologies to the three other couples there, all expecting, who left looking a little overwhelmed, and I don’t think it was the all-in-ones that did it.
But as I bounced BD around the store to calm her down, what I found were rows and rows of adorable little diapers of all different brands. And patterns. And colors. They were just undeniably cute. And they just looked … better for BD than the plastic and bleachy little throwaway pants she was currently wearing.
By the time the workshop ended, I’m not sure I had really learned much (other than to leave BD with her dad for any activity that involves actually listening to something). But I definitely was on board with trying out the whole cloth diaper experience, and purchased a “starter kit” of various brands from the store. I was proud of myself too; I only picked out one girly color (an adorable pink/majenta colored Fuzzibunz diaper) just in case Future Baby is a boy.
At home, I spread the diapers out on the kitchen table. I then realized I had no idea what I was doing, since BD had prevented any actual acquisition of knowledge at the workshop. So I googled “Cloth Diapering 101.” From there I found a great 7-part series on YouTube. “Great” is a bit of an understatement; seriously this girl did an awesome job explaining everything.
Anxious as I was to get the experiment underway, I learned I had neglected to purchase the one thing that stood between the cloth diaper and BD’s little behind: laundry detergent. 7th Generation? Nope not good enough said most of the sites I read. This was a bummer; BD and I usually only make it to the grocery store during the week, and maybe a few other errands before train wreckage happens (see the cloth diapering workshop experience above).
Then I remembered my new AmazonMom membership. Something about 2-day shipping … free … cool! So I ordered some Charlie’s detergent, and voila! The stuff appeared on my doorstep today, along with the highly recommended “Bac-Out” (made by Pacific NW company Biokleen) and some Snappis, which I realized I’d need for a few of the diapers I bought.
I can hear the diapers tumbling in the dryer right now. I would be more excited, except this is wash-and-dry #1 of the 6-10 most sites recommend. Instant gratification there is not.
So, updates to come. Here are the diapers we’re starting with:
Fuzzibunz Perfect Size (small)
Bum Genius Elemental (one size)
Bum Genius Pocket Diaper (one size)
Little Beetle Organic Cotton Velour (small)
Prefolds: Indian and Chinese
Kissaluv’s Contour
Kissa’s Cotton Fleece
Fingers crossed for no leakage …
