Well this Writers Workshop prompt seemed a great way to review my first (almost) month of cloth diapering. I would TOTALLY do the way I chose to start cloth diapering all over again!
A month into cloth diapering and I have learned that while I love my cloth diapers, I approached the beginning stages the absolute wrong way.
I went into cloth diapering head first (that part I would do again), but I don't think I researched it well enough OR took the advice of others.I bought 15 FuzziBunz, and then bought 12 BumGenius 3.0's thinking that those were the best and what I needed. I never thought to follow the advice that said "start with a trail pack of diapers so you can find the brand or brands you like best" and another piece of advice saying that I should buy one to two of each brand of diaper I thought I might like and try them out before committing my whole stash to one or two different types of diapers. In the long run, I ended up keeping my BumGenius 3.0's and buying some of their organic diapers as well as a couple of their 4.0's ( I still want more of those!). The 15 FuzziBunz turned into 20, and then I quickly sold 13 of them off. It's not that I don't love my FuzziBunz diapers, it's just that the adjustable elastic is a pain to constantly adjust, I would rather have the adjustable snap rise. I had bought a few random diapers to try as well as about 4 GroVia shells and 7 soakers, and 4 Happy Heinys diapers, and I ended up selling all of those diapers because I didn't like them.
If I could start cloth diapering all over again, I would purchase a risk free 30 day trial pack so I could keep the diapers I liked and returned those I didn't like. I would buy one or two of each diaper I was interested in, instead of just buying one of random diapers (and never using them) or buying lots of one diaper. I would have definitely found my favorite brands more quickly and would have spent A LOT less money. I know that the diapers I chose would probably be the same, but I think I would have been happier with the way I got there.
I always wanted to try cloth diapers but it seemed like so much extra work. Good for you for doing it though!!!
ReplyDeleteIt's really not too bad in the work department. We have pocket diapers so there's no folding and pinning like the old school diapers, and I think I only do about 2 extra loads of laundry a week. We just wanted to cut down on our landfill contribution, ands it's definitely not for everyone! Thank you for the comment! :-)
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