Cloth Diaper Convert

When I first became a mom, I didn't give cloth diapering a thought other than, "I will NEVER be a cloth diapering mom. It's just plain nasty to rinse poop out of a diaper!" It seems like when Gavin was born, cloth diapering was just beginning to gain popularity and I didn't know many people who were doing it. I used disposables with Gavin until he was potty trained and didn't think a thing of it. When Owen was born, Gav was still in disposable diapers and so I just started Owen in disposables too. My friend, Erin, had twin boys a few months before Owen was born and so I was seeing photos of them on Facebook in their adorable cloth diapers and it peaked my interest. I still wasn't sold on washing poop out of diapers and so I kept on using disposables. I would say that I'm a pretty "crunchy hippy mama" by today's standards. I had water births, breastfed both boys for over a year, homemade my own baby food, I'm pretty particular when it comes to what I put on their skin and what they eat, and I try to just live as "naturally" as possible. I knew cloth diapering was right up my "crunchy" alley, but wasn't sure I was ready for what I thought was going to be a huge commitment. I contemplated switching to cloth diapers for over a year before I finally decided to just jump in head first. I think my biggest hang up when it came to actually committing to it was that I was afraid to spend the initial up front cost of cloth diapers and end up hating it (I now know that Cotton Babies, the company who makes Bum Genius, which we use, has a 30 day full money back guarantee. If you hate them, you send them back, unstained, for a full refund. Once I learned this, it took a lot of my initial fear out of spending the money to start cloth diapering). I finally decided to go all in on cloth when Owen was around 18 months old. Gavin had potty trained around 2 1/2 so I figured I probably still had about a year of Owen being in diapers and the cloth diapers would most definitely pay for themselves in that time period, not to mention using them on future kiddos. I ordered a set of twelve Bum Genius 4.0 diapers and got one for free so I had thirteen diapers to begin with. It wasn't a full stash, but again, I wasn't sure I was completely in this for the long haul so I didn't want to buy two dozen diapers and end up hating them. Once I ordered them, I wasn't quite prepared for them to arrive so soon. They literally got here overnight (I didn't know at the time, but Cotton Babies ships from St.Louis so they got here really quick!). I didn't have much time to think about it at all! From the time I decided to start cloth diapering to when I actually started was about a day and a half. I jumped in feet first! I had done a little research before hand about washing and caring for my diapers, so when they arrived, I washed them according to the prep instructions and slapped them on Owie's cute little bottom! It took a little bit to get used to how to fit them properly, because they are a bit bulkier than a disposable, but after about two weeks, it was all becoming a habit (and now, six months later, I could cloth diaper in my sleep!). There are so many misconceptions and questions when it comes to cloth diapering that I want to clear up and address in some future posts. I want other moms to know that it isn't as hard as you may believe and it can save a TON of money. There are MANY different styles of diapers and you are sure to find one that fits your needs and lifestyle the best! I absolutely LOVE my cloth diapers and can't imagine going back to disposables. I hope I can inspire some mom's or mom's-to-be to see that cloth diapering can be awesome!