Makin the switch.....TO CLOTH DIAPERS!

Yes, you read that title right.  After 6 months of disposable diapers, I have officially made the switch to using cloth diapers.  Why you ask??  $$$$$$$  That's why.

Prior to Noah being born, I had considered cloth diapers, but at the time, I was working full time and childcare centers in our area wouldn't use cloth.  Completely understandable and I respected that.  Plus, working 50 hours a week and coming home to wash dirty diapers every other day didn't seem appealing. (Although I know plenty of women who do this and yeah, they are amazing!) BUT, now that I am staying at home and change 95% of Noah's diapers myself, I've decided to take the plunge.  Haha, get it? PLUNGE.  Well, it was funny to me.

I recently had a friend mention on Facebook the amount of money she would be saving with her second child by making the switch to cloth diapers, and it definitely got me thinking.  If I made the switch now, and used cloth for Noah and any kids thereafter, I would save a ton of money.  I did the calculations myself, and yup, she was right.  Money back in our pocket every month!  So, a new friend of mine that I've met at church is cloth diapering her 4 month old, so I've been asking her tons of questions and trying to get a better understanding of the whole process.  She breastfeeds her son as well (similar poop, lol) and she said it was super easy.  We set a girls date and headed to Greensboro to All About Baby.  Let me tell you, this store is AWESOME!  They have every cloth diaper option imaginable, plus tons of breastfeeding supplies.  They offer education classes for cloth diapering and breastfeeding as well.  Not only do they have brand new cloth diaper options, but also used options which are much less expensive.  I know, that may sound a little weird and gross, but it isn't.  These diapers are thoroughly cleaned and sterilized.  Honestly, most of them, you would never know were used by looking at them.  So during our trip the wonderful lady working at the shop educated me even more and I decided to purchase a few different types of cloth diaper options in order to really get a feel of what works best for me.  I went with 3 pocket diapers, one fitted diaper with cover, and also a prefold system (not like your grandma used).  For more info about these different options, check out this blog:  simplemom.net/4-cloth-diapering-choices-defined/  This blog post explains these different options as well as the expense involved with each.  Today I spent $98 dollars, and got 13 diaper changes plus a wet/dry bag for dirty diapers.  I say diaper changes, because some are just inserts that will get replaced, not the full diaper.  This should be plenty if I do laundry every other day.  It's suggested to have more like 20, but I'm just starting with a little less.



Here is my cutie patootie in his first cloth diaper!
http://instagram.com/p/dXwJMdOon9/

Over the next week I'll update you on my progress.  I'm very excited about this and even more excited about not having to buy a box of diapers every 2 weeks!