If you’ve been around a while, you’ve heard this before, so I don’ t mean to bore you. 😉 Tell your own story and link up to my cloth diaper blog hop! Read on if you want to hear mine.
When I was expecting my first child in 2004, an acquaintance gave me a packet of info on cloth diapers. It inspired me to do a little online research, and I found Fuzzibunz perfect size diapers. I really wanted to try them, but I (mistakenly) thought that I’d need 24 of each size from XS-XL and maybe even petite toddler & toddler. The expense made my head spin. I started stocking up on diapers during my pregnancy, and I was getting name brand diapers for as little as 8 cents per diaper. I went back and forth for a few months, but once my daughter was born, I didn’t think much more about it. I kick myself today since we were struggling financially, newly living on 1 income, with a new baby. My Mom would come visit and often bring a box of diapers she got “a really good deal on,” but I suspect she was just trying to help without making me feel like I was accepting help!
When I was expecting my second child in 2008, I did more research and found Bumgenius. I decided that I absolutely wanted to use cloth this time around now that I could buy 24 diapers at $17.95 each (less when purchased in packages) and be set from birth to potty training. I still had never heard of a cloth diaper blog; I didn’t know such a thing existed! So the extent of my review reading was Amazon.com and similar sites.
I stumbled on cloth diaper washing info in my Google searching, and all the complex instructions spooked me. I didn’t want to spend $20 on special detergent when I was couponing & getting our laundry detergent nearly free. 3 months after my son was born, I found a cloth diaper group on Cafemom and asked 10,000 irritating questions that I’m sure they were tired of answering! When he was 4 months old, his horrible diaper rashes finally prompted me to go ahead and buy 3 Bumgenius just to try. I figured if it didn’t work out, at least I tried. I sent my hubby to a dozen stores in several states to try to find a “safe” detergent as listed on a “chart” on the web. He finally found one, but when I looked again, it was no longer a “safe” detergent! (I soon realized there were two charts that looked very similar.) The ladies on the cloth group directed me to a WAHM made brand that didn’t have any of the no-no ingredients (besides scent) and I ordered some.
The minute I put them on him, I was hooked!! They were so cute, and in the 6ish hours he had them on, his diaper rash completely cleared up (came back with disposables.) I bought 3 more diapers within a few days, and I washed those puppies constantly so I could use as few sposies as possible. I still have 4 of the original 6, and 2 were replaced under warranty. In fact, I had those 4 converted to snaps and my 3rd child is using them!
I used newborn cloth diapers on my 3rd child, and I use the re-used cloth (and clothing) savings to justify buying fun diapers. 😉
I kick myself over & over again knowing that my daughter wouldn’t have needed anything larger than a medium (or maybe even a small) Fuzzibunz XS, and boy, I wish that Bumgenius had been created when I was searching in 2004! I switched to cloth in October 2009, and in November 2009, I decided to start a blog. My hubby started one while we were building our house to keep family updated on the progress, and I thought it would be a good way to give myself something to do (I’ve always loved to write) other than be a Mom (hopefully you take that how I mean it) and I thought hmm…what can I write about? Cloth diapers! I had no idea that cloth diaper blogs were a “thing” and didn’t discover another until a good 6 months later. 🙂
Side note: I struggled for the first 6 months with stripping and trying multiple detergents. Now I use (GASP!!!) Tide with zero issues. I’ve been using Tide for 3 years and OxiClean Free for about 2.5ish.
So how about you? What is your cloth story? Link up!
Post contains affiliate links.
Maria wants to live in a world where cloth diapers are the norm and moms can make parenting choices without judgement. When she’s not chasing her 18, 14 and 11-year old kids around, you might find her checking out the latest gadgets, organizing something (again) or exercising in the fresh air. 
Glad you stuck with CDing – I don’t know if I would have made the choice without the great resources out there today (like your blog). Thank you for talking about detergents – I love hearing about what ‘over the counter’ detergents we can use on cloth!
<3 In hindsight, I wish I had just started with whatever detergent I had on hand and saved all the time and money I spent!
I was using Seventh Generation Free and Clear, but the diapers got the stinkies. I’m just now finishing stripping them. I’m going to try Tide powder, since it seems like very few people have problems with it. I hope I’m one of them! Using Tide, do you have to strip a lot, or just once in a while? I’m stripping mine using Calgon and bleach and rinsing the heck out them. I’ve just got prefolds left to do, which I actually just use for changing pads. Do you guys think that I should strip them too, or just wash them normally with the rest of the diapers?
I don’t strip at all anymore! Every couple weeks I will do an extra wash without detergent but that’s pretty much it. 🙂
I wrote a post today about my stinky experience, http://www.clothdiaperingagain.blogspot.com/2013/03/ammonia-rash-stripping-trying-not-to.html. It’s taken me three days to strip everything. I hope I have the same luck with Tide. I don’t want to strip my diapers again! Do you have hard water as well?
We have well water with a softener!
I can relate when it comes to the stupid list of safe detergents. GR. A lot of it depends on your water type. We’re using Ecos now because I hate buying soap online and our local health food store carries it.
tide rules! lol