It’s official! We are 100% cloth diaper now! When we first began using cloth diapers we used disposables at night and when we went out, but we’ve slowly transitioned and now we only use cloth. We ordered some new style – the Bum Genius (3.0) brand. They’re great. If I were rating them I would give them 4 1/2 stars. Why not five stars? Because I think there are still things that could be improved.

Here’s what I like about them: 

- They are a one size diaper. This means that they can be worn from newborn through toddler. That saves you some major cha-ching!

- The diaper’s inner material is micro-suede. This material is revolutionary! It instantly wicks away moisture from the baby’s bottom keeping him perfectly dry. Micro-suede is also stain resistant so no matter what interesting colors Ezra may produce, his diapers come out of the wash a brilliant white. Micro-suede also resists pilling, so wash after wash the diapers look brand new.

 -Bum Genius diapers come in several way cute colors. We ordered grasshopper (green), butternut (yellow), twilight (blue), and white (uh… white). They also offer blossom which is a pale pink. 

- They are a pocket diaper so they stay nice and trim under all of his clothes. 

- They include two microfiber inserts – a newborn and regular insert. Microfiber is one of the most absorbent materials out there. 

- The leg casing is soft, but secure. No chance of leaks. There is also elastic on the back so there won’t be any of those wonderful “up the back” messes with the next newborn. It also makes for a comfortable and adjustable fit. 

Here’s what I don’t like:

- Really there is only one thing I don’t like about these diapers. The velcro fasteners. They are double sided so that you can roll it up like a disposable so it takes less space in the diaper bag. There are two problems with this. First and most importantly, it scratches Ezra’s tummy. In order to avoid this we pull the fabric out above the fasteners as much as possible. Also, the velcro catches on the diaper when it is rolled up and causes the front of the diaper to pill. We avoid this by not rolling up soiled diapers. 

I purchased some fabric so that I can attempt to make my own cloth diapers (if I ever get time!!). We’ll see how this goes

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Brad and I decided before Ezra joined our little family that we were going to use cloth diapers for our babies. When we told people our plans we had a few supporters cheering us on, but we certainly received lots of “What are you thinking? Ya’ll are crazy!” type reactions. We knew it probably wouldn’t be easy, but because it was better for our babies, better for the environment, and better for our wallets (in the long run) we took the plunge. We decided to start out our foray into cloth diapering with the Kushies brand. These cloth diapers are available in 5 packs from Walmart.com for around $40. Brad’s mom picked us up two packs so we had ten diapers to start with. The sizing goes by weight and the infant cloth diapers are from 10 – 22 lbs. When Ezra hit the 10 lb. mark at his last check up we started using the diapers… and quickly stopped. They were HUGE! The poor little guy had his diaper up to his armpits!

That was about six weeks ago and now that he is a little bigger we are giving it another go. Today is day two and so far things are going pretty well. The diapers still seem way too big for him. Not only do they come up to his chest, but they are rather bulky. The PUL is a little tacky and stiff, but this is supposed to improve with each washing. The absorbency also increases with each wash. This is true for all cloth diapers. Some of the Kushies brand prints are a little cutesie for my taste. They aren’t too bad though. I wish I would have read the reviews on diaperpin.com (they weren’t exactly the highest rated), but even if I had I probably still would have tried these out. The price is excellent for a name brand cloth diaper so if we had decided that cloth diapering was not for us we wouldn’t have been out too much money. I’m going to try out a couple more brands. I’ll be sure to post our results. What I really want to do is try my hand at sewing my own diapers, but my machine is in storage at my mom’s house. So for now I’ll support some of the WAHM’s out there and try out their diapers. I’ll you you know how it goes! 

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