They looked so cute, but I had no idea what to do with them! I started researching online and asking FB friends who are pros at CDing (cloth diapering). The CDing community has a language of it's own, and it's all quite confusing in the beginning. Also, there are so many different brands of diapers (BumGenius, GroVia, Kiwi Pie, Fuzzibunz, and other crazy names, haha), types (pocket, all in one, snaps, velcro, etc), sizes (some are suitable for 8-35lbs, some are specifically for newborns, or like disposables they have different sizes), etc...A bit overwhelming, but I became obsessed with going to websites (especially www.thegreennursery.com since it is local to Bloomington, IN, where I'm from), going to youtube.com to look at 'how-to' videos and reviews, and asking tons of questions to some of my friends.
So, I decided I would try them out on Anna, at least one or two CDs a day, the rest would be our normal disposable diapers. I was really nervous about what Wesley would think, but decided to just do it...
But first, I needed to figure out how to wash these things. I watched vidoes, I asked friends, and I researched on several websites. There are specific CD detergents, or apparently you can make your own somehow. I guess you are suppose to do a cold rinse first, then put your washer on the hottest setting, using your special detergent. Bummer, I didn't have any CD detergent yet, sooooooooooo I am probably going to get in trouble here, but I just used a tiny bit of my regular detergent (All Baby). The diapers I was given have a "shell" and since they are "pocket" diapers, it means there are liners that you stuff inside it. So the actual diaper I hang up to dry, and the liners I just put in the dryer with with some towels, and voila...Once the diapers have dried, I get very giddy, put the liners in the diapers, and stick on Anna. Wow, she looks so cute in them!
"Oh wait, what if she poops in that thing!!??!", I start thinking frantically. Crap! Literally! So, I look it up. Apparently there is a mini sprayer (like the one you might have on your kitchen sink) that you can attach to your toilet to spray the poopies away. Well, I don't have one of those..."Oh man, is that her pooping face?" Wesley looks worried, too. haha. Yep, she pooped in it. So, here we go....Luckily, it wasn't a yucky, sticky poop...just some rabbit pellets (poor thing, she's been a little constipated since we've started regular milk and stopped baby foods). Whew....that one was easy, they all plopped in the toilet. (Wow, am I a mom or what, talking so openly about poop!!)
So far, no nasty poops that we were disgusted by, and a lot of pee diapers...This was going pretty smoothly so far, so I asked Wesley what he thought about them (and ultimately, what he thought about buying more). The only con he has is that he can't tell if Anna needs a diaper change, because the Luvs diapers we normally use swell up if she has peed in it, and well...you can tell if she has pooped either way, haha. Wow, I was surprised, he was actually open to using these things, and possibly trying out some other ones. Ok, I guess I shouldn't be too surprised, he is Mr. "That can be recycled!!", and we've tried to do a few other 'green' things in our life, but this to me was BIG, because these CDs are expensive and quite an investment. So I show him a couple of the websites I've been looking at, especially the Green Nursery site, and show him all the different kinds and cute patterns. He's open to it, but ultimately he is leaving it up to me! (So Wesley!)
Ok, over the past few days I have added items to my cart on that website, and deleted them, and added something else, and put some detergent in my cart, and different kinds of diapers and I think I am finally ready to submit my first order!! I believe I have two or three different brands of diapers and a couple different types, to see which I like best before investing all my "eggs in one basket". I am so excited to start this new journey and see if it's really for us and see if we want to CD full time! (Seems a bit overwhelming, but I feel like it could really save us some money, since we will all too soon have two babies in diapers!!! ahh!)
