Parenting: Going Cloth

With my son I kept to disposable diapers. We were in an apartment and did not have an in unit washer and dryer. Times have changed. I now live in a house and have a washer and dryer in my basement. I am already washing my son's training pants every night. From the research it looks like it is cheaper to go with cloth even when going with the "designer" diapers. I am easing into cloth. I am already doing diaper type laundry every night so I might as well take advantage of the inertia of the existing routine

Abby's Lane ( http://www.abbyslane.com/index.php ) opened a brick and mortar store this weekend. It's a great place to shop and Stephanie is very knowledgeable. When I walked in the door I had one strategy in mind. After chatting with her and trying a few options on my 7 month old daughter I chose some different options than I originally intended. I got out the door for $69.66, this included a customized starter kit, a bag of Flips disposable inserts and 4 reusable Knickernappies cloth breast pads.* This was within my budget as I usually spend about $50 a case on disposables at Costco every 2 weeks.

My starter kit has:
1 pink snappi diaper fastener
1 blossom colored BumGenius** 4.0 one size pocket diaper with aplix fastening system
1 noodle colored Flip diaper cover (by BumGenius) with aplix fastening system
6 regular sized Osocozy indian unbleached prefolds
1 large BabyKicks Hemparoo Joey Bunz insert

For daytime I plan to use the prefolds, fastened by the snappi, with the Flip cover over them. For night diapering I will be using the pocket diaper with the hemp soaker stuffed inside the pocket. I still have a portion of a case of disposables if every cloth option gets dirty before laundry time. I look at the disposables as training wheels. Hopefully I will be freewheeling in the next 30 days.

The prefolds and hemp soaker are on their second hot wash as I type. Stephanie recommended washing them 2 or 3 times before use to maximize absorbency.

*I had been using disposable breast pads. They get terribly expensive. They also make a horrible mess if you forget and throw them in the wash.

** BumGenius offers a 14 day money back guarantee. This was a major deciding factor between choosing their products over the GroVia starter kit.