{What's in our stash?}

Kawaii Baby One Size Pocket Diapers

I have 8 of these.  They were my very first piece of cloth and I fell in love with them immediately.  I love the microfleece inner lining.  They are very soft and fit our toddlers really well.  They can be bulky and I've found with bigger kids, you need more than one insert.  But overall, they are fabulous.  These diapers come with two microfiber inserts from my favorite diaper store Sweet Bottoms Baby.  I'm not sure if that's standard or not.  I like that they are stretchy and don't really hinder baby's movement like some other fabrics/diapers we have. 

Alva Baby One Size Pocket Diaper

 

I have 24 of these.  I was attracted to them because of the price.  Visit Alva Baby's website and you'll see what I mean.  So many colors, patterns and choices.  They have a couple different types of inserts, diapers, wetbags and I think they even have some wool and leggings.  I think these diapers do the job well.  Some of the fabric feels cheap and they are lined with fleece.  Its very easy to clean, but not as soft as microfleece.  I really like the minky diapers and the solid color diapers.  

Bum Genius All-In-One Diaper

 By far and away our favorite diaper.  I bought 10 of these from a twin mom who was selling her stash.  I got an amazing deal.  I'm so impressed by this diaper.  An AIO just means that the insert is part of the diaper and you don't necessarily have to stuff.  They do have a place to add an extra insert for more absorbancy.  They can wear these for hours on end without leaks.  Today they wore them from 9:30am-1:30pm with no problems.  I was sweating it as I pulled them out of the carseats, but was shocked to find them dry.  

The only issue I've found so far is the time it takes for them to airdry.  Almost twice as long as a regular pocket.  This isn't an issue because we have plenty of diapers, but I've found that we both anxiously await their arrival back in the diaper cycle.  I've also been warned that the velcro can prematurely wear out.  I'm not looking forward to this :(  

*  I'm buying 6 more Bum Genius from a fellow twin mom who's boys are potty training.  She had the velcro one size (OS) pockets.  It will be nice to have another BG to try out.  Another great deal! 

We didn't branch out much once we found what we liked.  We'll likely try more diapers with our next baby.  The diapers we love for our toddlers aren't great for teeny tiny new babies.  I'm excited to cloth diaper from the beginning next time! 

 

{Cloth diapering twins: A review}

Our Stash
10 Kawaii One Size Pocket Diaper (snaps)
24 Alva Baby One Size Pocket Diaper (snaps)
10 Bum Genius AIO (all in one) V 3.0 size L (velcro)

Inserts
30 Bamboo Inserts
12 Bamboo Doublers (basically a trifold insert)
52 Microfiber Inserts

Cost
$398.83

Pros
-Cost.  Cloth diapering is something I've always wanted to do.  The price of building a cloth diaper stash was very daunting and the reason we didn't cd the twins from birth.  I didn't know cloth diapering could be affordable.  I've never spent more than $9 on a diaper.  I've gotten some for as little as $3 (co-op).  When I learned that I could cloth diaper on a budget I was ecstatic!  I also learned about the world of buying used cloth diapers.  Even this late in the game, cloth is saving us so much money.  We used to spend over $120/month in disposable diapers.  Its nice not to have that expense anymore.

-The smell.  I think disposable diapers have a nauseating smell when they get wet.  A mix of baby powder and damp cardboard.  They didn't do much to mask the odor of amonia when the babies got bigger, either.  Cloth smells like your detergent or nothing if your detergent is unscented.

-Not having chemicals against my babies skin.  Fancy used to get a horrible diaper rash every once in a while.  Our pedi told us it could be chemical burn from the diapers.  We used Pampers!  How could a diaper burn my baby's skin?  I read an article about a year ago about the chemicals used to make disposable diapers.  The word chemical was enough to get me seriously thinking of an alternative.  I wasn't naive, I knew they weren't 'organic', but seeing it in black and white lit the fire I needed to get going with cloth.  No diaper rash for either baby in the 4 months we've been cloth diapering.  NONE. 

-The environment.  In reading about the pros and cons of cloth (prior to my switch) I learned that disposable diapers are not biodegradable.  Every single diaper you throw away will sit in a landfill forever.  I'm not as green as I'd like to be, but we're taking steps everyday to make sure we conserve what we can and reduce our use of chemicals and toxins in our lives and our home.  I make our cleaners and laundry detergents.  A good friend just told me she uses vodka and hot water to clean her tub and its never been cleaner.  Can't wait to try!

-The are cute.  Who doesn't love a fluffy baby booty?  The diapers are soft and come in fabulous patterns and colors.

-Endless choices to help you succeed.  There are so many kinds of cloth diapers.  Fitteds, All-in-ones, All-in-twos, Pockets, Prefolds, etc.  There's a "method" for everyone.  They recommend trying several kinds of diapers to find out what works best for your baby.  What works when baby is a newborn may not work when he/she is 6 months or a year old.  We started late, we've always used one size pockets and AIO (all-in-ones).  I'm excited to try fitteds and prefolds someday when we have another baby.  I plan to cd from birth next time.

-Super EASY to use.  Many cloth diapers are as simple as disposable diapers.  There may be a few extra steps (like stuffing inserts in the case of pockets), but they are put on, pooped/peed in, and taken off just like disposables.  We used to throw disposables in the trash.  With cloth we discard the poop in the toilet, spray if need be and put it in our wetbag to wait for laundry day (I was every other day).  That's it.  When I do laundry I pull the inserts out of the pocket diaper and throw everything in to the washer.  I dry the inserts in the dryer and line-dry the covers.  When everything is dry I stuff the inserts back in the diapers and put them away to wait for use.  I'll address the laundry cycle below.  Generally it maybe adds 30 minutes worth of work on laundry day ABOVE what we did with disposables.  Not much at all.

Cons
-Getting used to the poop.  It took me a little bit to get used to dealing with the poopy diapers.  I couldn't just roll them up and toss them.  I had to actually get the poop off and "treat" the diaper so it wouldn't sit soiled for 24 hours until I did laundry next.  I flush the poop, toss the wipes in the trash (septic system) and if there is any 'leftovers' I spray it off.  If not, I usually just spritz the diaper with Bac-Out and toss it in the wetbag.  I haven't had any odor issues since I started using bac-out.

-Up front cost.  Even though we built our stash affordably, $400 is still a lot of money.  That's around 1/4 of the cost many families spend to build their stash.  It can be daunting!  Budgeting, buying through a co-op (they are all over facebook), buying used, buying from more affordable companies, etc.  It can be done!

-Can be bulky.  In the early days of cd, we ran into the issue of bulk-butt.  Some of their shorts/jeans didn't fit around the diapers.  I've since adjusted the inserts we use and bought bamboo.  It helps a lot.  They are more absorbent and much thinner.  Each type of cloth diaper has its issues, but this is one most deal with.  I've just started buying a slightly larger size pant and I prefer the built in expandable waistbands.  Easy fix, really.

-Figuring out your laundry routine.  When it comes down to it, you're dealing with bodily fluids.  These diapers need to be clean.  You put them back on your baby after their are laundered.  You don't want lingering bacteria and build-up.  It took me a couple weeks to find my stride here.  The right detergent and bac-out helped tremendously with that.  I run a double hot cycle with Tide Original Powder (recommended to me by a guru) and then a cold cycle.  Out of habit I still do the sniff test after the cycles just to be sure.  It takes some extra effort, but I can assure you its worth it.

-Water bill.  You will be using a lot more water with your cloth diaper laundry.  I think everyone worries about their bill making a big leap.  Even when we washed daily, we didn't notice a massive jump in our water bill.  I think the most it ever went up was $10, but that was when we ran the dishwasher and took showers/baths several times a day.  Cutting back on those made a big difference.  The amount attributed to cloth was probably just a couple dollars a month.

-Prep time.  While I don't consider the time spent stuffing and un-stuffing diapers to be significant, I suppose some may.  I do laundry in the evening, so my diapers can line dry all night and be dry by morning.  My inserts are dryer dried, so they're ready to go.  While the twins are eating breakfast I stuff diapers.  It takes me about 20 minutes.  Easy.

-Wearing out.  Cloth diapers can wear out with time, washing and use.  They are built to last until potty training, but not every diaper is treated equally.  They can bite the dust from time to time.  Most companies will work with you and send repair kits or even replace the diaper if the diaper is prematurely wearing out.  Velcro is notorious for wearing out.  I haven't had any issues and all my velcro is used (from another set of twins even!), but I know that's a major deterrent for some.

-Leaking.  When we first started cloth, I noticed a lot more leaks than I did with disposables.  Until I found the right diapers and inserts we struggled with this.  Once we found that magic combination it was smooth sailing.  I was cautioned to try several types/brands of diapers/inserts before buying a big stash.  I would echo this sentiment 1000%.  Babies are all different shapes and sizes and so are cloth diapers.  What works for one baby might not for the next.  Thankfully, at this stage pockets and AIO's work very well for us.  We haven't had leaks in a while and we use cloth 100% of the time now (including travel, naps, bedtime).

I know I'm leaving things out and I'll come back and add them as I think of them, but overall, this gives you a good picture of cloth.  Everyone does things differently, but general procedures are similar.  My babies are happier in cloth, I'm happier with cloth and even The Daddy has come to love cloth (never thought I'd see the day!).  He was VERY resistant to cloth.  I sort of just forced it on him (that didn't go well initially).  Within a couple days he was a changed man.  I don't recommend forcing cloth diapering on anyone, by the way.  I'm just proving a point that even the biggest skeptic has come to love it!

I have a very basic stash and I have nothing to contribute to cloth diapering a newborn.  I keep it pretty simple.  We bring ziplocs for outings and wash when we get home.  I don't have fancy sprays or creams.  I use disposable liners if I notice we need some lanolin or desitin.  I haven't had to use desitin yet with cloth, but my disposable liners are waiting for me if I do.  Drug store diaper rash creams are NOT cd safe.  They will cause build up (similar to the wrong kinds of detergent) and you have to strip your diapers.

There are so many websites out there to field any and all questions.  A lot of natural parenting stores are popping up all over the place and have classes weekly about cloth diapering, breastfeeding, baby wearing, etc.  If you are at all interested in cloth diapering your baby, don't make the mistakes I did and assume you can't afford to or that they are too much work.  They can be very affordable and I hope my pro/con list helped to chase away any fears.

I can honestly say I don't have a definite favorite as far as diapers go.  I love our Bum Genius AIO.  LOVE.  But I haven't tried any of the other big name brands.  I'll have to do another post on the pros/cons of each diaper brand we have. 

I don't think anyone reads this except family and friends, but I'm happy to answer any questions if someone stumbles my way!

{It happened}

Coach has been disrobing every chance he gets.  His interest in taking things apart, seeing what's inside, etc has re-focused on his wardrobe.  We cannot keep clothes on this child.  When we put them on he shrugs his shoulders and walks around as if he has to get used to it.  He's a trip.  His favorite thing to "work on" are his jammies.  All those zippers and snaps are a dream come true.

For the last several mornings I've gone in the nursery to find him unzipped and his diaper all mangled.  I knew it was only a matter of time before it happened.  Sure enough, this morning I walk in to an unzipped, no-diapered Coach.   My stomach sank.  I walked over to him and there it was.  A turd in the crib.  Thankfully (TMI) it was solid and the damage was minimal.  He didn't even get it on the bumpers.  What a considerate little guy!

It was on his sheets, his jammies and in random places on his skin.  Oh and he goosed his sister's bear pretty good too.  I guess that's what she gets for throwing all her stuff in his crib, right?  Maybe I need to put her crib on another wall if this is going to keep happening.  Oh God.  I've heard rumors about the toddler poop obsession and to be honest I think I'll die if that starts. 

I have a triplet mom friend whose boys used to paint the walls, crib, themselves.  I.cannot.handle.that.  I told the daddy that he's getting sewn into his pjs from now on.  He was wearing a disposable dipe because we can't find a good overnight for toddlers.  I might just triple or quadruple stuff cloth for overnight now.  He knows how to unsnap, but he gets bored and doesn't make it through all six snaps before moving onto bigger and better things.  This might be our answer. 

I'm ok with him being naked.  That's baby 101.  Nakedness solves everything.  BUT when he's in his bed or unsupervised (which is only when they're in bed at night), he needs a diaper. 

Speaking of cloth, we're done buying!  Grand total $273.83 for 32 diapers and 72 inserts.  A generous friend sent us cloth wipes, a wet bag and a diaper sprayer.  I still need to get that thank you note out.  I'm horrible about that!  I hit some major sales and found an amazing deal on bamboo inserts.  Who knew inserts could be more $$$ than the diapers?  For starting so late, I'm pleased with that #.  I wanted to stay under $300. 

They'll probably potty train in the next year-year and a half.  Gosh I hope they're pt'd by 3.  We spend $100+ a month on disposables, so we'll make our money back quickly.  I'm not sure if these diapers will last for the next baby, but that's the plan right now.  I'll add some newborn and prefold to the stash, but this should carry us through potty training with the twins and the next baby, supplementing here and there as needed.  Cloth diapers do break down, so there will be some replacements, but that's just the name of the game. 

Here are the last two dipes I ordered today that rounded out our stash. 

I love minky.  They are so soft and they stretch well.  I'm not a big pattern fan, but we have a lot of animal print and a handful of cute patterned minky's like these. 

{Coming to you live...}

From our new Kindle Fire HD!  So far, we love it.

This blog might contain some whining and be really boring.  Consider yourself warned.

We got cloth mail this week!  Diaper and our new bamboo inserts.  We had some leak issues with the crappy microfiber that comes with most diaper.  I tried doubling up on inserts (which worked), but that made for awfully bulky booties.  Their pants didn't fit over them.  Bamboo is pricier, but thinner and apparently much more absorbent.  I'm also hunting for affordable hemp and charcoal bamboo (just hearing about this).  I've seen the inserts cost as much as the diaper in some cases.

The daddy is home (very briefly) and changed his first round of poopy diapers.  I took Fancy with me to run errands today and Coach stayed home with the daddy.  He changed him, took care of the poop and put the new diaper on with no issues.  he even told me he's loving the new dipes and he's really glad we made the switch.  Yeah, I know, I had to look and make sure it was the right guy sitting there, too.  I'm happy he's acclimating to our new adventure so well :)

Molars are kicking our asses here this week.  Poor Fancy is cutting all of them...slowly.  Being sick and cutting molars is a tough hand to be dealt.  I've given her more meds in the last week than I have her whole life.  I'm pretty anti-med, but I can't let her suffer.  Lesser of the two evils, I guess.

My dad will be here Sunday!  Just in time for the baby daddy to leave...again.  I'm not gonna lie, this is rough.  The daddy's job ebs and flows with current events.  There's a lot of scary stuff going on right now in the world.  A friend and I were talking (texting) today about what a terrifying world our children and grandchildren are inheriting.  Very scary.

The babes and I are headed to a Renaissance fair tomorrow.  I've never been but I'm assured that it will be fun.  I'm excited!  Happy weekend!!!

{Mail call!}

More diapers showed up yesterday!

I have 2 more orders on the way and we should be set. 

I'm excited.

The poop still bothers me. 

But I'm getting there.

Already, just using the cloth we have, we've eliminated a diaper run.
We usually have to stock up once a week-at least.

The big box from Tarjay.

$25/week + wipes (also the big box) $13, add up fast.

Being able to eliminate (or come close) to $40/week in expenses is nice!

The more we save now, the more we can do to the house. 

I have big plans for our sweet little house :) 

We're a no credit card family, so everything has to be planned for.

Not to mention the redamndiculous gas and food prices. 
How depressing.
They just keep going up.
I realize we're in an extremely low COLA, those who live in cities must be absolutely losing their minds. 
Gas is $3.70 here today and its ridiculous that that's considered LOW.
When is America going to get a break?

We'd also like to kick up what we're saving in general and what we put in the babies savings accounts.

Someday they will get big and need cars and college tuition...

Dear Lord, that's scary.

For now, they're teeny little ones who now have the cutest diapers to cover the cutest butts.

:)

{shit}

It finally happened.  Fancy repeated one of my favorite swear words.  I was emailing pictures to myself from my iPhone and I accidentally erased a few.  I said "oh shit" and Fancy, being the almost 17 month old she is, repeated it.  She's been saying it on and off all day.  Usually when I am looking at my phone.  Woops. 

So while I love cloth diapering, nothing (and I mean nothing) prepares you for rinsing the poop off of the diapers.  I have been rinsing each diaper clean and laying it out to dry.  When its dry I throw it in the basket/pail.  I know that's a lot of work, but I can't let poop sit.  Not gonna lie, handling the poop is rough. We got the diaper sprayer a friend (Thanks!) sent but I need an attachement for our toilet to hook it up correctly. I'm kind of struggling to find the perfect wash routine. The poopy diapers still have a faint smell when they come out, which indicates bacteria. Not good. I'm getting mildly frustrated. I'm doing what all the websites/my cloth momma friends/cloth fb groups I'm in say and still coming out with stink. I'm not giving up, I'm determined to be successful here. I mean, I've got 22 diapers on the way and another 12 not far behind. I'll get the hang of things...right?

So I know the "guess what my beautiful, sweet, incredibly intelligent, nearly perfect babies did today" posts get old, but its kind of the point of the blog, so I'll proceed :)  Every morning we have a
 routine.  I go in the nursery and say "Good MORNING!" and they get all excited and start dancing around.  We change diapers and we all walk into the kitchen for breakfast.  I put them in their  high chairs and turn the alarm off to let Nellie out.  When Nellie comes back in from doing her bidness I say "Good Girl Nellie!"

This morning BOTH of the babies said "Guh Guh Nee Nee!" when she came back in.  Nellie and I were both so shocked we turned and looked at them in unison, they started giggling.  They're the cutest.  Coach is also really in to singing, dancing and doing the hand movements to certain songs.  One of those is Itsy Bitsy.  He even does the itsy bitsy fingers.  Fancy does it too, but Sister Sass can't always be bothered to perform.  I'm so amazed by them every single day. 

Today's photo-dump. 
(Yep, the one that transformed my sweet baby girl into a sailor)

They're watching Sesame Street in all these.  Believe it or not this was BEFORE Elmo.  They really like Abby Cadabby's flying fairy school.  There are also a lot of great kids shows on HBO.  Right now though, SS has slipped to second place.  They LOVE Dinosaur Train.  They go bananas when they hear the song start to play.  Its actually a really cute show, I don't even mind watching it.  They're usually asleep for Sid the Science Kid, but that's a catchy show too.

{Ee I Ee I Oh}

We have a toy that has farm animals and makes farm animal noises.  They've never EVER been interested in this toy.  They've looked right past it for the last (almost) year and a half.  For some reason, its now a fave.  It sings "Old McDonald" and as of today, the babies do too!  They've been mimicking the animal noises for a while, but today they caught on to the song.  They've been singing it all afternoon.  They don't quite have the "oh" part down, but we're close. 

Cloth diapering is going well.  Well, I guess as great as it can be with only eight diapers.  I'm jonesing for the others to start arriving.  Its definitely much more involved than disposables, but I'm very happy we're making the switch.  The diapers are so much softer and they seem to notice the difference.  The laundry aspect of it is a change, but I'm getting the hang of it.  Since we didn't start when they were newborns we're learning the ropes with toddler poop.  Its jarring, but I believe, very much worth it. 

{A bit of southern flair}

Today we went to check out downtown Fayetteville.  I'd heard about all these neat little southern shops (think polka dots, precious crochet dolls and monograms/initials galore!) and history.  It didn't disappoint!  We hit up Bumbledoo (formerly Sweetbottoms Baby) in search of cloth diapers.  I wasn't impressed with their selection.  They had some awesome hats (see below), adorable leather shoes, lots of breastfeeding resources and tons of baby wearing devices, but their dipes were on the $$$ side.  Its the fad, I didn't expect to get a bargain, but I hoped to at least come away feeling good.  I didn't.  They have a great natural line of diaper sprays, rash creams and other amazing whipped delights. 

After that we walked around a bit and ended up in a random accessories store.  They had everything and everything was monogrammed.  It was grossly over-priced, but I made out with a cute iphone cover:

I got it for $12.  I've seen in on the web for $40.  No idea why its that $$$.  I think its cute :)

At that point it was too hot to discover anymore and we came home.  The babies slept in the car sporadically so of course their nap was a disaster.  When they got up they were maniacs!  The Daddy taught them to bow (you know like "take a bow") and how to wink.  They "dance" at all of the commercials.  They're a hoot!  Sometimes a little sleep deprivation is pretty entertaining :)  They welcomed bedtime and are snoozing sweetly.  Hopefully this wicked storm doesn't wake them. 

We actually wore our new diapers today.  Only one because we were running errands, but it was a success.  I only used one insert and I should have used two.  Live and learn.  I tried to get some good pics, but they're never calm, so this is as good as it gets.  I prefer the solid colors to the patterns.  I think of all the diapers we have coming maybe 12 are patterns.  The rest are solid.  Just looks more classic to me. 



Happy weekend!  No plans here, just relaxing and enjoying the fam.  Enjoy!

{Mail call!}

Look what we got in the mail this morning!

Our very first "fluff mail" package.  I'm so excited!  I got them out and started snapping and unsnapping to familiarize myself with them.  The babies went bananas.  

They were throwing them all over, trying to unsnap, playing with the inserts.  They love the colors.  The next shipment won't be here for like 3 weeks (or more...), so I'm hoping we can get the hang of things with this little stack.  I *might* order more from the shop I got these from (even though they're more $$$) because they got to us in TWO days.  They came from Raleigh and the others will come from China, so I guess that explains it ;)

Off to start the prep process!  Hopefully we can start using them tomorrow or the next day!

{Co-Op}

So we're going full throttle with this cloth diaper business.  If you know me well, you know that's how I roll.  When I set my mind to something, I have to see it through.  I joined a Mommy co-op tonight.  Basically, they place large orders with companies in an effort to get products at cost.  Tonight's order was for cloth diapers.  You can imagine my excitement :).  My friend Angela has been talking me through all this.  I feel like I need to be paying her.  She has 3 month old twins at home and a deployed husband and yet she still finds the time to walk me through all this.  She's amazing!  Holding those itty bitty babies is making my baby fever even worse.  They're precious!  How were Coach and Fancy ever that small?

This diaper company is VERY budget friendly.  Their diapers range anywhere from $6 to $10 per diaper.  Tonight, with this co-op, I got them for $4.80/diaper.  With the highest quality insert that they offer.  Insane.  I'm trying to stay on the cheaper end of the cloth diaper world to maximize our transition (from disposables to cloth) savings.  Some of the more popular brands can be as much as $25+/diaper.  Whoa!  I'm sure they're amazing, but who can afford that? 

They say with twins you generally need 5-6 dozen cloth diapers.  That's 60-72 diapers.  With the average cost of cloth being somewhere between $15 and $20, you're looking at paying close to $1500 for a "stash".  We got started late, but we hope to use this stash for our next baby, also.  I'm not shooting for 72 diapers.  I'm hoping to land comfortably around 45-50.  I ordered 8 today from a local baby boutique and I have 10 coming from the co-op.  Once the co-op order is placed and paypal goes through we'll have paid $125.5 for 18 diapers.  That's an average of about $7/diaper.  About half of what the average diaper cost is.  I'm hoping to keep the grand total (when its all said and done) to under $350.  I think I can do it. 

Toddlers can go a little longer between changes and I'm anticipating having to test out several inserts/soakers before we find the perfect fit.  I'm hoping we can start getting used to life in cloth when these two orders arrive.  One is coming from China, so it will be an agnoizing wait!  Hopefully the time passes quickly.  We've had a good run in disposables, but there are so many aspects of cloth that I'm looking forward to.  Sure, more laundry, trial and error and its costly up front, but there are pros too. 

Over all savings (even with our late start) are significant, we can use them for our next baby, they won't have chemicals against their skin and they're adorable.  Now, I'm not sure, but I think even the daddy is excited to get them.  It was a little bit of a battle to get him to come around to the idea, but now that he's researching on his own, he's looking forward to getting started. 

The next co-op is Melissa & Doug toys.  I've heard talk about getting as much as 50% off of the asking price.  Whoa!  They haven't started this one yet, but its in the works.  I'm excited. 

{A new adventure begins!}

[credit]

We're making the switch to cloth diapers!  We're a little late to the party, starting cloth at 16 months, but we're excited to get going.  I've wanted to do this since day uno, but the daddy was reluctant.  My mom's of multiples group is full of women who CD and in talking to them I found that it was something I definitely wanted to start.  Better late than never, right!?!

The great thing about cloth is that it will not only cut our diaper bill dramatically, we can use them for the next baby and then sell them and make some $ back.  The cost effectiveness isn't really what convinced me to switch, but that certainly helps.  We're going to pick up some CD's today so the daddy can get the hang of things before I place the big order.  Its going to be an adjustment, but a good one. 

Plus, have you ever seen a cloth diaper stash?  Its the cutest thing EVER.