Why We Cloth Diaper

When I was pregnant with Babygirl, I was like a lot of soon-to-be moms in that I looked up pictures of nurseries on Pinterest, drooled over clothes that I would never buy at Baby Gap, and spent countless hours researching the best detergent for cloth diapers.  Oh wait, that last one doesn't ring a bell with you?  Feel free to stop reading now, because it's only going to get weirder.

We've thought about getting her into cloth diaper modeling, but it's just so competitive

PROS
1) They are better for the environment
Had to get that one out there, because I know that this is The Reason a lot of people use them.  I was shocked at how quickly we filled an entire trashcan full of diapers within the first few days of bringing Baby home.  The average baby goes through 8,000 diapers before being potty-trained, and those diapers sit in landfills for centuries.  AHHHH.  Pretty compelling evidence.  Still, the big sell for me was that

2)  They save you $$$$
Especially if you plan to have more than one child, cloth diapers pay for themselves and then some.  We registered for them through Target and were gifted quite a few before Baby was born.  And because we use adjustable-sized diapers, we have all the diapers we will need until she is potty-trained.  

3)  They are not what you think
I know what you are thinking.  The ones your mom used that you have to fold and pin.  Those require needles and they scare me.  The ones we have for Baby are ca-UTE and come in colors like pink that hubs pointed out may not be practical for our next child.  Like if he were a boy.  Like saying that boys don't wear pink.

Boy wearing pink

CONS
1)  You will have to deal with... you know
Luckily my real job often requires me to deal with poop, so the idea of dealing with my sweet baby's poo ain't no thang.  Maybe you are not so lucky to have a job such as this.  This might be an Issue for you.  

2)  You will have to do laundry
Maybe you are like me and you love doing laundry.  As in, the putting-dirty-clothes-into-the-washer-and-pouring-detergent-on-them part.  It's the rest of the process that can be so very painful.  If I could find one chore to outsource, folding and putting away laundry would be it.  That said, about every other day you will find yourself confronting the washer.  But the fact that you are not spending $30 on a box of diapers might juuust lift your spirits enough to finish the task.  

3)  They are not cheap
These babies are made to last, so if you are not committed to the process, you could end up spending a lot of money upfront.  But you could always sell them on eBay!  (No joke - moms are rabid for other kids' used diapers.)

So there you have it.  The good and the not-so-good.  We use Bum Genius 4.0 diapers and they've come out squeaky clean every time.  We also use flannel cloth wipes (because at this point, why the heck not) and a spray wipe solution of water, coconut oil, and lavender baby wash that smells aMAzing.  The scent alone is enough to distract you from what you are actually doing.

In other news

I was standing at the sink, hearing birds chirping and my first thought was, "who turned the bird noises on the baby's swing?"  It did not immediately occur to me that those could be ACTUAL birds.  

And that got me pretty freakin excited.  Happy spring!