The Best-Laid Plans...

Back at the beginning of the year, we had come to a crunch-time financially. We looked for ways to cut costs and make more progress paying off our debt. One of the things that came to mind was switching to cloth diapers. After all, disposable diapers are expensive, and taking that big bag 'o diapers out to the curb on trash day was like throwing away money.

I did a lot of research, and asked an experienced friend for advice, and we made the switch around the end of February.

The first couple of weeks were hard, as we ironed out the wrinkles in our system. Cloth diapers aren't one-size-fits-all; we had to figure out a system that worked for us. And we did - I had things down pat, and had our washing schedule figured out. I really enjoyed seeing those diapers drying on the clothesline in the sunshine, thinking of all the money I was saving and how we were reducing our impact on the environment, too.

Several happy months passed.

And then the yeast bug struck.

It was about three weeks ago that Wendy developed the worst diaper rash she's ever had, and it came on in the space of about eight hours. Her entire diaper area - and I do mean entire diaper area - was raised, red, and very angry-loking. A trip to the pediatrician confirmed that it was a yeast diaper rash, and we headed home with our tube of Nystatin in hand.

While we treated the rash, I switched her to disposables, since many ointments can cause wicking problems with cloth. The rash was significantly better by the second day, and completely gone by the end of the week. A few days later, I switched her back to her cloth diapers.

And within 48 hours, the rash was back, almost as bad as it had been initially.

All I can assume is that the extra moisture and bulkiness of the cloth diapers is leading to these yeast infections. She can't keep getting them - they make her miserable.

So we've made the decision to switch back to disposables. We're close to potty-training; we'll be resuming our potty-training at the end of August, after our vacations. I'm not looking forward to the expense of the disposables, but it's certainly better than having a nasty chronic diaper rash.

This hasn't turned me off cloth - in fact, I prefer the cloth in many ways, and will try it again with any future children we'll be blessed with. In the meantime, our cloth diaper stash may be travelling to China to help out our friends with their new daughter, who is due in 8 weeks.

Update

I've taken on a few projects lately. Since I discussed them here, I thought I'd give y'all an update on how things are going.

1. Cloth diapers - so far we're doing okay. We've had some leaking issues at night, so we're trying different strategies to cope with that. We started out with some prefolds & covers, one Happy Heiny's One-Size Pocket Diaper, and two BumGenius v3.0 One-Size Pocket Diapers. The prefolds & covers are the most absorbent, but very VERY bulky - it's hard to get the munchkin's pants on over those. The Happy Heiny seems very comfortable, and it's a bit trimmer and cute - it's a cow print. The BumGenius are my favorite - easy to use, and almost as trim as a disposable. We're using a dry pail system, and so far everything has washed up pretty well.

2. Homemade laundry detergent - I'm not impressed. It was pretty easy to make, but I'm not convinced the clothes are getting clean enough. I'm kinda picky about the cleanliness of my clothes, and this just doesn't seem to cut it. Since I have a bunch left, I'm using it as a laundry booster for Wendy's cloth diapers.

3. Binky weaning - we started by clipping the tips back just a smidge. When that didn't make an impression, I clipped them WAY back, mostly removing the bulb. Wendy didn't like that - it was way too hard to hang on to. I decided to try her without it for her nap yesterday, and it was no problem. I also put her down without a Binky at bedtime; she went to sleep easily, but did wake and fuss a couple of times in the night. Overall, I think we're past the worst of it. I think clipping the tips helped her start to get over her addiction, so that taking it away yesterday was much less traumatic.

That's all I can think of for an update from here. We're anxious for spring, as I'm sure everyone is. The next major project is spring cleaning and getting ready for our yard sale. Wish me luck!

WFMW - cloth diaper information

As the cost of diapers increases by the week, and my girlie is nowhere near potty training (she's only 16.5 months), we are planning to switch to cloth diapers very soon. I may have tried this from the beginning, had it not been for the horror stories my mother and others of her generation have passed down.

I asked one of my friends from college for information, since she exclusively used cloth diapers for her daughter who is now almost completely potty trained. She had some excellent suggestions and references for me. After reading and researching, I'm excited to make the switch as soon as our budget allows!

I thought I'd pass this along for any of you who have considered cloth diapering and don't know how to start, or who are looking for ways to save money/help the environement.

First, I'd suggest checking out the tutorial at Jillian's Drawers. This easy-to-understand tutorial goes through reasons for using cloth, how to start, how to clean, cost comparison, and many other things. It's really helped take the anxiety out of it for me!

Next, Abby's Lane has a great selection of cloth diapering products - whether you're interested in prefolds & covers, AIOs, pocket diapers, or swim diapers. (See? Before I read that tutorial, none of that would've made sense to me.) They also have free shipping on orders over $50.

It's a good idea to check out Diaper Swappers as well; you can get gently used cloth diapering products here. This would be an especially good idea if you're not sure what style of cloth diaper you'd like to use. Buy it used, try it out, and go from there.

My experienced friend also recommended that I start with minimal supplies - a dozen prefolds, a few different styles of covers, and a pocket diaper or two. That way I won't be stuck with something I really don't like.

I hope this information will help you! I'll be sure to post more once we make the switch - I can't wait! (WFMW is usually posted at Rocks in my Dryer. Since Shannon's in Uganda, Melanie of Don't Try This At Home is guest-hosting.)

Previous WFMW posts:
Getting your digital pictures printed
Creating a closet
Diaper bag supplies
Drafty windows
Keeping track of medication
Easy meal ideas
Using tomato paste