Our Cloth Diapering Journey UPDATE

{For those of you who missed my 2 Part Cloth Diapering series back in January 2010 be sure to go back and read Cloth Diapering 101 and Cloth Diapering Questions Answered: Mom to Mom. These posts will give you a little insight into why we decided to cloth diaper.}

UPDATE: I've been wanting to post a cloth diapering journey update for quite some time as I feel like I've learned a number of lessons over the past 2 years that might be helpful for other moms considering cloth diapering OR encouragement for other moms in the middle of it.

But before I begin, like the other posts, I have to clear up two misconceptions.

By posting this I'm in no way saying that 1) cloth diapering is the best decision or 2) I love cloth diapering. Neither of these statements are 100% true. Now, do I think cloth diapering has been a decent decision for our family - YES. And do I love cloth diapering - NO! ;) Hehe. I'm the first to say that cloth diapering is more work... BUT we are still very happy to have made the decision to cloth diaper. And - what about parenting isn't work anyway? I figure why not just add something else to the pile ;)

Now the following items are probably not going to make sense to anyone but those moms who cloth diaper... but nonetheless I wanted to post them as they may be of help to you ladies out there browsing the web for cloth diapering resources.

- Wet Bags

I had no idea I'd have an opinion about a wet bag. Well I do! My favorite (hands-down) is the FuzziBunz In and Out Wet Bag. Why? Because there is a zipper on the bottom!!! No joke ladies, the simple luxury of having a zipper on the bottom when doing laundry is AMAZING! 'Nough said.

- Bum Genius Customer Service.

This is the main reason I wanted to write this post.

When researching what cloth diapers to purchase I read a TON of blog posts, visited our local cloth diapering store, and talked with a number of CD moms. This specific Passionate Homemaking blog post stuck out to me during my reading so I added it to my favorite links list and went about my merry way. Hey - you just never know when you might need to reference it again - right?!

Well - sure enough, after using Bum Genius One-Size Pocket Diapers for just under a year I could tell that the elastic around the legs were starting to loosen. The diapers were leaking so quickly that I'd have to change Ms. Nora every 30 min or so just to keep her clothing dry. Grrr... I was not happy!

BUT I remembered Bum Genius's 1-year warranty (as noted in above blog post that I favorited) and contacted Cotton Babies about sending them back and trading them in. I was frustrated but not ready to give up. :)

Here's the bright side of the story - they were SUPER helpful and supplied me with 24 brand new bumGenius Organic One-Size All in One diapers!!! Woot woot! (Note: I requested the change in diapers as I'd heard that these were much easier to clean and fit better around the legs - I did pay the difference between the two though)

Moral of the story: I will still sing bumGenius praises solely because of their great customer service! Do keep this in mind when choosing what cloth diapers to buy. Good customer service is something worth paying for!

- Diaper Sprayer.

Ladies - this is a must if you're going to CD. We followed this DIY Diaper Sprayer tutorial and it works like a charm! Gone are the days of scrubbing the dirty diaper with your hands. Love it! You can also buy a diaper sprayer if you're not wanting to go the DIY route.

- Disposables.

Yes - I do actually have something to say about disposables.

I, for one, am not above using a disposable or two every once in awhile. Especially during this pregnancy, there have been times when I'm out and about and cloth diapering just doesn't sound like my cup of tea. So, I put Nora in a disposable. I figure - the CD have already well paid for themselves (we figured we were "even" at 10 months of using CDs).

All I have to say about disposables is that I've found that I LOVE the Target brand diapers better than any other brands. Here are the reasons.... 1)Low Price 2)They're actually cute - and by that I mean they don't have characters on them and 3) They don't smell (that is when they aren't dirty).

- Two Babies in Cloth?

I get this question a lot. Have I liked cloth diapering so much that I'm willing to cloth diaper two little girls at the same time?

YES! Well - that's the plan for now. We'll see how it goes. That might call for another update post in 6 months :)

So those are my thoughts for those interested!

Have a Cloth Diapering Question? Feel free to comment below!