cloth diaper update

if you were following me back in the pregnancy days, you'll remember we decided to cloth diaper azalea. we went to a class to learn about the different brands out there and tips to make it nearly as easy as disposables. i also read a lot of blogs written by moms who cloth diaper their babies, so those were helpful resources as well. when azalea was born, we started off with disposables at the hospital. we planned to put her in cloth when we got home, but we quickly learned that the cloth diapers we bought were way too big on her even though they claimed they should fit an 8 lb baby. so, we continued with the disposables for a few weeks. it was eye-opening to see just how many diapers a newborn goes through and how much you have to spend to keep them stocked. 

after a few weeks i decided to try the gdiapers on her, which are a hybrid between disposables and cloth. they have a cloth cover with a liner and you can put in a disposable (and decomposable!) insert. 

we had gotten some from our friends who tried them with their first baby, but decided they weren't for them. the first few experiences went well. they contained her pee with no problem. but then came the poop...oh the poop! (aren't you glad you're reading this?) :) major blowout...not fun! i was a little freaked out by it, but chalked it up to user error and decided to keep trying. i made sure they fit correctly...but it happened again. yuck yuck yuck. i was starting to feel discouraged about our decision. i started only putting the gdiapers on her after she had her big poop for the day (she's going to hate this blog someday) :) i decided to buy the cloth inserts for the gdiapers to see if those are better than the disposable inserts. i haven't tried them yet because they have to be washed 6 times before you use them to maximize the absorbency. i'll have to report back on those later, but i'm keeping my fingers crossed that they do better with containing messes. 

finally last week i decided to try the flip diapers on her...and they fit! well, they're a little bulky as cloth diapers always are, but they fit! these have a waterproof cover and cloth inserts. 

i kept my fingers crossed the first time. no problems when she peed! then came the real test...the flips did a great job containing her mess! i've been really happy with them. when the inserts get dirty, i just throw them into this waterproof wetbag.

i can't smell them at all. if the cover is dirty, i throw it in too, otherwise i just use it again. when i run out of clean inserts, it's time to wash. i simply dump the contents of the bag and the bag itself into the washing machine (poop and all!). they come out perfectly clean and my washing machine doesn't smell or anything. it's been so easy! my favorite thing about the flips is that they have adjustable snaps, so they will grow with her. just look how cute she is in them:

so far i've only been doing the cloth when we are at home. she wears disposables at night because they make her feel drier and therefore maximize how long she sleeps (which has been the whole night for the last week or so - hallelujah!) she also wears disposables when we go out of the house although i'm hoping to gain more confidence with the cloth and start putting her in them when we go out and bring the smaller wet bag we bought. 

so that's my update at 7 weeks on the cloth diapers. i'll do another one in a couple months...hopefully we'll still be going strong!