Cloth Diaper Trial Packages are a great way to get you feet wet.

If this is you and I know YOU are out there… have you ever considered a Cloth Diaper Trial Package? Many cloth diapering boutique have such a creature.

Cloth Diaper Trial Packages are great idea! You get a package of a variety of cloth diapers, a sampling of all the different kinds of cloth diapers, and cloth diapering accessories.  Then for a small fee, you can wash and use they cloth diapers and accessories for a specified time. If you love them all great… keep them, if not send them back. You aren’t out much money and if nothing else you can tell all of your friends that you “tried” cloth diapering

Cloth Diaper Trial Packages are the best of all worlds… especially if you are on the fence. You have probably read that 27 billion disposable diapers go into our landfills every year and that those same disposable diapers that we throw away today will be there in the year 2500. You have probably also read that disposable diapers have chemicals and toxins in them that are not very safe on your baby’s delicate skin. You have most likely also read that even though it seems like a lot of money initially, disposable diapers still cost a lot more than cloth diapers.

Even after all of these facts, you may still be wondering… I don’t know if I would like using cloth diapers. What if I just do not like them? What if I spend a lot of money on cloth diapers and it just isn’t my cup of tea? All these are valid. Even though cloth diapering is very easy, I too was apprehensive before I began using them. Like all new things sometimes it is difficult to just go for it, especially when the “it” costs quite a bit of your hard earned dollars. This is why Cloth Diaper Trial Packages were created…. just for you. They are inexpensive and allow you to get you feet wet with cloth diapers, so you can decide for yourself if cloth diapering is for you.

If you are on the fence, try a cloth diaper trial package. There are many out there in cloth diapering cyberspace…look around.

If you do decide to try one, I bet you will see that cloth diapers truley are as easy to care for as everyone says they are….

….and you may just fall in love with all the squishy goodness.

I know I have!!!

However, before I started cloth diapering, I was a bit nervous. There were so many  diaper choices and I worried that it would be difficult, but I decided to try them anyway. Guess what? I never looked back. After about a week or so, I had a routine down and I found cloth diapering to be just as easy to use as disposables. I was already doing laundry everyday anyway, so another load or two a week was nothing to write home about.

Anyway to make a long story short, I love that my baby has cotton and soft fabrics against her sensitive skin. I know that with cloth diapers she is not being needlessly exposed to potentially harmful chemicals. Also, I can not imagine wearing paper underwear day in and day out, so it makes me happy that my baby wears cotton diapers rather than paper ones.

Besides, I love how cute my baby looks in cloth diapers. There are so many colors and patterns available that I never tire of seeing the same old white diaper. The chore of diapering has become fun. I love being able to choose which cloth diaper or diapering combo that I am going to use on my baby’s dupa at any given time. Also, I rarely, if ever, have “blow-outs” with my cloth diapers. They are so great at containing even the messiest of messy messes, which I can, definitely, not say about disposable diapers.

I love that I am no longer contributing to the massive amounts of disposable diapers that are ending up in our landfills every day along with all the encapsulated human waste just waiting to wreck havoc on our groundwater supply.

Finally, as I mentioned earlier, I love that I never needed to make a “midnight run” to the store to buy diapers. I am saving money, helping the environment, protecting the health of my baby, and loving every minute of it.

So, why do you cloth diaper??? I would love to hear your stories

So, what is all the fuss about a one-size diaper?  To begin with, FuzziBunz one-size pocket diaper do not have snaps on the front to change the length of the rise. Instead FuzziBunz uses adjustable elastic in both the legs and the waist. There are 8+ adjustments available in the leg elastic and 4+ adjustments available in the waist. No more readjusting the snap down rise, just find the settings that work with your child and no other adjusting needed until they need a larger size. Pretty easy, don’t you think?

FuzziBunz are committed to making a one size diaper that actually last for the approximately 3 years that your child will use them and maybe even for another child. Therefore, they designed these new on-size Pocket diapers with replaceable elastic. If it wears out before you are done with the diaper, it can be replace with no seem ripping or sewing. Now that is what I call innovative. Because without a doubt, the wearing out of elastic prematurely retires a perfectly good diaper, unless you (or someone you know) are a seamstress.

In addition to the elastic, FuzziBunz use only snap closure. Snaps usually hold up much better over time to wear and tear than hook and loop closures. Hook and Loop, like Aplix and Velcro,  tend to loose its “stickiness” over time and looks worn and pilly way before its prime. This, once again, requires someone with some sewing knowledge to “fix” the aplix.

Overall, I am super excited by the FuzziBunz One-Size Pocket Diaper. An in-depth review will follow as soon as I am done trying it out.

I don’t think enough people give the prefold cloth diapers the credit it deserves. First of all, it is the cheapest way to cloth diaper your baby. It is absorbent, versatile, and just plain simple. Pair it with a snappi and a pull-on cover and your baby it set to go. Want something even easier? Fold the prefold into thirds; place it in a snug fitting wrap style cover, like the Thirsties Diaper Cover; and velcro it in place. Can it be any more simple?

Prefolds are the work-horse of cloth diapering. Besides being easy to use, they are super absorbant. Chinese quality DSQ prefold cloth diapers are made of various layers of cotton twill, with more layers in the middle third. Cotton is a super absorbent, all natural material that your baby would love having against her skin. Don’t confuse these, though, with the cheap “prefolds” you would find at your local department store, they just don’t stack up and are hardly absorbent.

Prefolds are also virtually indestructible. Because they are made exclusively of cotton, you don’t have to worry to much about your wash routine. In fact, you can boil your prefolds if you want with no harm what-so-ever. As long as you stay away from fabric softener, which coats the fabric making it non-absorbent, you should have little to no problems.

Finally, who can resist a cute, chubby caboose in a fluffy prefold? Try prefold cloth diapers and I bet you will agree, they are a GREAT cloth diaper. Can you feel the prefold love?

The average baby wears diapers for approximately 3 years. At an overall average of 8 diapers per day, most babies use an astounding amount of about 8700 diapers during their diapering days. Based on the cost of three popular national brands, the cost per disposable diaper is around $0.26. If you factor in the cost of disposable diaper wipes, about $0.04 per wipe, than you are looking at $0.30 for each diaper change. It doesn’t seem like much, but compiled over 3 years and the total cost adds up to approximately $2600. I don’t know about you, but I think that is a significant amount of money especially when it is for essentially TRASH. Unfortunately, this amount doesn’t even include such costs as diaper rash cream, extra trash collection fees, gasoline, etc.

On the other hand, cloth diapers seem so expensive when you start pricing them. How can you possible save money using such costly diapers? Well for a minimum of about $400, you can cloth diaper your baby for the entire 3 years. This is using the most inexpensive cloth diapering option of prefolds, diaper covers, and a few pocket diapers for nighttime. However, if you choose a more expensive option, such as pocket diapers or all in one diapers, you could potentially spend around $1200. Factor in the cost of laundering your cloth diapers which is about $400 for 3 years, including detergent, and you are looking at a total cost of about $800-$1500. This is a total savings of about $1000-$1800 over the cost of disposable diapers.

The numbers don’t lie, you really can save money by switching to cloth diapers. Use those same diapers for a second child and you save even more money. Isn’t it a nice feeling to be in control of how much money you are actually spending on your baby’s diapering rather than throwing away your hard earned cash on trash? The choice is yours.