Hello there! I'm Amy, and this is where I'll be writing about my life as a mom. My fiancee and I are expecting a baby boy in February, and we are over the moon about it! In the meantime, we've got lots and lots of decisions to make, lots of preparation to do, and I've still got quite a bit of growing to do, too.

Friday, October 5, 2012

20 Weeks!

Yay, I'm half way there!! But that's not the most exciting thing about this week! On Monday, we found out that we are having a boy! Ok, time to start buying blue things.

 But really, what I wanted to write about today (and what prompted me to start this blog) is something a few people have asked me about this week: why cloth diapers? Well, the why was the easy part. It's more cost effective, it's better for my little baby's butt, and it's better for the environment. The hard part was DECIDING. Ugh. There are so many options! And so many places to buy them! And so many places to read about them! And the cloth diaper world has it's own language!! AI1, AI2, covers, hybrids, pockets, fitteds, soakers, doublers, countours, boosters, liners, flats, prefolds.... It was all very overwhelming. So I decided to start with little decisions.

I know that my mom is soooo excited about babysitting, but I'm not sure how excited she is about cloth diapering. That made my first decision easy: something with a disposable option. So a hybrid or AI2 (all in 2) diaper system. What's a hybrid diaper, you ask? Well, a hybrid diaper system uses a waterproof outer shell, and different options to go inside that shell, some washable and reusable, some disposable. You can use the shell for a couple of diaper changes, as long as it doesn't get any pee or poo on it, and just change the guts out. I've decided to try the GroVia (gro-via.com) and flip (flipdiapers.com) hybrid systems. My reasoning for choosing each of these brands was different.

The GroVia brand came highly recommended by a friend that used cloth with her first and is doing so again with her second. I read a lot about them, and decided they fit my wants very well. And they are adjustable, one size fits most! I don't want to use sized diapers and have to buy all new diapers every time baby grows out of them (look at how fast I'm making decisions now!). You get the shell, and then you choose either the stay dry reusable soaker pads (the part that absorbs the pee and protects the shell from poo), the organic cotton soaker pads, or the disposable BioSoakers to go inside. The reusable GroVia soakers snap in place, so you don't have to worry about them shifting around. They also make boosters that you can lay on top of your soaker for extra pee soakage, if needed (like at nap or bed time, or if our son turns out to be a "heavy wetter"). And liners! Nifty little things that look kind of like dryer sheets. You lay them between baby's butt and the diaper, and if they poop, you just pick the liner up (with poo contained inside) and flush it all way! Marvelous!! I even found a how-to online for making washable fleece liners.... trying this for sure!

My second choice is the flip system. They are pretty highly recommended online, and also seem to fit my wants pretty well. Very similar concept, you get the shell, you choose the Stay Dry insert, organic insert, or disposable insert to fill it with. Also one size. As far as I can see, they don't sell boosters or liners (bummer), and the inserts don't snap in, you "flip" (get it?) them up under a little flap at the front and back of the diaper shell. I also didn't want to stock up on just one brand, you never know what baby is gong to like! Or what's going to fit him best....

The last decision that applied to both brands: to snap or not to snap? Both brands sell shells that use a snap closure system or a velcro-like closure system. I like the look of snaps better, I like that snaps won't get stuck to other bits of fabric in the washer, and I like that snaps are harder for older baby to undo himself. Easy choice then. Snaps it is!

So I'm done deciding! Woohoo! But wait... then we made a trip (a little over an hour) to the closest store that sells cloth diapers and supplies. And I fell in love with Lil Joeys, by Rumparooz (kanga-care.com). They are so cute! And so tiny!! And sooo soft inside. But they are an AI1 (all in 1) diaper, and I didn't want to use all in ones.... did I? An all in one diaper has to be washed every time baby pees or poos, no reusing the outer shell. BUT, the Lil Joeys are newborn/preemie sized, meaning I can start my precious out in cloth diapers right away, instead of possibly having to wait until he gets a little bigger. Score! I've also read online the Rumparooz (the bigger, one sized version) and Lil Joeys are the absolute best at containing poo due to the double gussets inside. I saw that GroVia sells a newborn all in one too, it's a bit bigger than the Lil Joeys, but not as big as the hybrid shells. So I want to try some of those as well.

I want most of my stash (that's what you call your cloth diaper collection, so cool!) to be made up of these five diapers: GroVia one size hybrids, GroVia newborn all in ones, flip one size hybrids, Lil Joeys newborn/preemie all in ones, and Rumparooz one size all in ones. But there are a TON of other things I'd like to try! You never know what is going to work best for baby until you get them on him and try them out! 

I'm tired, so I'll tell you about the awesome "other things" I want to try next time! Good night all!

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