Going Green: A Mom's Journey to Cloth Diapering

Three weeks ago, I've decided to give cloth diapering a try. 

Is this a step back to the dark age?  I don't know.  But I need to do something about the persistent redness  on my one and a half-month old son's bottom. Not to mention the leaks at night despite using one of the more popular brands of disposable diapers (more popular, therefore, more expensive) and changing diapers every two hours.  Now, that's what I call "sunk cost". Literally. 

Most important of all, I'm trying to raise "green kids"--children who know how to care for their environment.  Using disposables that will end up in a landfill goes against the 3Rs--reuse, reduce and recycle.  It's time to up the ante.  The mom has to walk the talk.

Thanks to an iPhone and a wifi at home, I was able to browse the internet for available alternatives to disposable diapers.  This I did while breastfeeding my baby (my third, by the way).  Since my baby was still into cluster feeding, I had all the time in the world to search the internet.  And this was where I learned about "cloth diapers".

No, I'm not talking about the traditional lampin, the kind which tells you that it's time to change the baby's lampin because it's also time for you to change your shirt.  I'm talking about cloth diapers that are like disposable diapers in terms of the "stay-dry" feel, absorbency and supposedly leak-proof quality.  And unlike the traditional lampin, these "new generation" cloth diapers are soooo cute.

(Baby Basti wearing a FuzziBunz)

Who says floral prints look good only on girls?

There's a barrage of information on cloth diapers.  And honestly, I don't know what to use -- prefolds, contoured, fitted, all-in-ones or pocket diapers.  And since I personally do not know anyone who has tried these new CDs, I had to rely once again on the internet for the reviews on these products. 

If there's one thing I learned from the mixed reviews, it is that each baby is different.  What works for one may not work for the other.  So I've decided to buy different cloth diapers to see what fits my tester extraordinaire best.

These were the cloth diapers that I initially bought online:

12 Chinese unbleached prefolds                        P 1,300

3 Happy Heinys one size (OS) diaper covers            750 each

1 FuzziBunz OS pocket diaper                              1,100

1 Rocky Mountain OS pocket diaper                      1,100

1 Wahmies OS pocket diaper                               1,020

1 Bumgenius 3.0 OS pocket diaper                        880 (discounted price) 

With these, I and my baby are ready to start our journey into cloth diapering.

Next:  I'll try to write about my experience in using each of these diapers.  


***Update: Here's a review on the different pocket diapers that Basti has been using for the past 7 months.