Cloth Diapers... a new obsession.

Okay, I'm a pretty funny girl. I've had two children and had been content with them in disposable diapers. here's the thing though, Libby is not potty trained and Samuel is nowhere close and there will be two more nuggets in diapers soon! So today I have been researching cloth diapers like a mad-woman. Why? Numerous reasons. The biggest one is I can save some major moolah by going the extra mile and washing my diapers and putting them in cloth. The next reason is so I won't be putting chemicals like chlorine on my children. Third, I want to be good to the environment by not adding tons of disposable diapers that are hard to dispose of to land fills.

I was completely overwhelmed when I first started trying to figure this all out. Thankfully after some coffee talk with my friend Sarah I felt a little more prepared and pointed in the right direction. Currently, I'm feeling a little addicted. I joined www.diaperswappers.com and have been able to have tons of questions answered in their various forums. I have learned all about the different types of cloth diapers:

1.) Pre-folds. You know the kind our parents used on us. But now instead of pins they have these other options called a snappi diaper fastener. No pokes, no prodding. The good thing is these are cheap but they do require a diaper cover... but oh, the options of cute diaper covers!

2.) Contour. These are already pre-folded or shaped for you. Makes it easy. Use the snappi fastener and then a cover.

3.) Pocket diapers. These diapers you add an insert into the pocket and you're good to go. When washing you separate the insert from the rest of the diaper and wash. No cover needed.

4.) All-in-ones. These are the amazing ones. These are exactly what they say. You don't need a liner or an insert or a diaper cover. Bum Genius is the brand I'm looking at in this department.

I laughed when I had read someone saying that cloth diapering is now a hobby for them. I understand this. There are all sorts of amazing varieties, styles, prices, etc. Some all-in-one diapers are sized for various ages others come in a one-size fits most (8-35 pounds). I think I've become addicted and I haven't even bought one yet! There are a lot of great sites with a lot of information out there.

Some of my favorites are:
www.cottonbabies.com
www.sunshinediapers.com
www.cutietooties.com
www.softclothbunz.com

I am researching the following diapers: Bum Genius, Swaddlebees, Kissaluvs, Haute Pocket, Bummis, Thirsties, Happy Heiny's, Fuzzi Bunz, Drybees, oh and tiny tush.

I am learning how to launder them. How to dispose of pooh and such. What works best for newborns, crawlers, toddlers, etc. What products are helpful with cloth diapering, etc.

I'm not claiming to know much but I have enjoyed researching and putting together some ideas of how I'm going to be diapering my children.

I think Mike was a little nervous by this idea until I put together an estimation of how much it's going to cost us to diaper the twins. From birth till 3 the cost would be about $7,000 (I'm basing this estimate on the fact that a child uses about 10,000 diapers by the time they're 3). check out: http://www.naturalfamilyonline.com/5-diap/41-cloth-diaper-costs.htm This is not including Samuel's cost in diapers. Some cloth diapers can be expensive running around $17.00 per diaper. But they're made to last until potty-training. Others are much cheaper and if you get pre-folds you are really getting a deal. A lot of them offer package deals and sunshine diapers even has a trial diaper system where you try 24 various diapers for 3 months ($240) to see what you like and return them and get $120 credit towards the diapers you want to purchase. They have such cool ways to figure out what works and what doesn't. the point is even if I were to go the "high-end" cloth diapering route I will be saving us thousands upon thousands of dollars!

Anyway, being on bed-rest is allowing me to research and figure it out. Just thought I'd share this with you.

P.S.~ The higher-end diaper also have a good re-sell rate!