Cloth Diapering: If at first you don't succeed... (Part 1 of 2)

When you start planning on having kids (or when you're surprised with a pregnancy; either way), you undoubtedly think of how much your child is going to cost you (monetarily, amongst other things). When your little one's a baby, you know that you're going to be shelling out some bucks in diapers.  It's something you need SO MUCH of that people shower you with them in addition to other gifts before the arrival of your bundle.  So when Nic and I started planning for a family, we started thinking of ways we could save money.  We know that cloth diapering has come a long way, so we decided they'd be a great way to save some cash.  And also, they're better for the environment.  And later, we found out that they can actually better for your baby as well.  Win-win-win.  We knew that cloth diapering would take some initial cost up front, but in the long run, cloth diapering would save us money.  So the question became, which cloth diaper do we use?

Cloth diapers today aren't the same cloth diapers my mom wore.  I have one of her HUGE safety pins that someone lovingly pinned her diapers together with back when she was ity bity.  Cloth diapering in 2012 is a little different.  Overwhelmingly different.  No safety pins, no single layers of fabric; we've got options.  LOTS of options.  (Options that still include those that were used on my mom.)  When I started researching, I saw hybrid diapers, all in 1 diapers, single layers, double layers, and to be honest... I had no idea what most of the stuff was that I was reading about.  So I researched.

We decided on diapers called gDiapers.  They seemed easy enough.  You buy the outer shell in the size you need (they come in S, M, L, XL).  The greatest part was, they come in such cute colors!!!

The shells have little snap-in pouches that hold the cloth.

Then you buy the cloth in the same size as the diaper and stuff it in the pouch.

Easy enough, right?  So when she goes "potty," you change out the cloth and put in another.  If you need to, snap in another pouch.  After explaining it over and over (I admit, it sounds like a lot of steps), I finally got Nic and our families on board with the g's.  I was SO excited when she finally got big enough to fit in her g's!

But all the cuteness in the world couldn't make up for what happened with the g's:  ...LEAKAGE.  :( At first, I told myself it would take some time to properly put them on her; we needed to figure out how tight everything should be.  Maybe we needed to smooth something or make sure the seal was properly placed, or adjust the aplix (velcro).  So we smoothed and adjusted and kept trying.  When they didn't leak I'd think, Yay, I figured it out!!! only to experience a leak the next time I put them on her.  I had such perseverance, but all to no avail.  In all, I'd say they leaked about 25% of the time.  Most of the time, it was just a little bit around her legs... but still, they leaked.  The breaking point was when the shell didn't even catch the leak.  I was nursing her and her pee literally ran down my stomach.  Enough was enough.  Wasn't the whole reason she was wearing a diaper to stop things like that from happening?

Finding out that the cloth diapers I chose [after ALL THAT research] didn't work was disappointing.  Make that SUPER disappointing.  It made me feel as though I didn't properly do my research.  I started second-guessing myself.  Didn't I research?  I did, didn't I?  Didn't I stay up until wee hours of the night [er, morning?] looking at different diapers and reading about them and looking at prices and benefits and reading reviews?  Yes, I sure did. So why was I coming across more diapers that I felt like I'd never seen or heard of before?  Where were those the first time I was researching?  That was the feeling I kept getting.  And the answer is-- I don't know.  I don't know why I didn't come across those new options that I recently found, but I'm glad I did.  I have to admit, it took some convincing to get Nic on board with another cloth diaper.  After all, we'd been using disposable since the g's were leaking, and the disposables were easy.  You just throw them away!  But shelling out $30 twice a month just wasn't appealing.  I knew there had to be a better way.  I knew there had to be a cloth diaper that worked.

So I did more research and decided on a new diaper, which I'll talk about in my next post.  I wanted to take the time to show you the g's and walk you through my thought process because the g's played a big part in learning about cloth diapering.  I can't even diss the g's; they work wonderfully for other babies.  Babies with chunkier legs, I think.  The thing about cloth diapering is, it's a process.  You can research until all the names run together and everything sounds confusing and you're dreaming about cloth diapering, but it won't matter until you actually get to try them on your baby.  That is really the only way you can test whether they'll work.  Not every cloth diaper works for every baby; you have to find what works for you.  And unfortunately, my first try didn't work for us.  I didn't talk much to my family about how disappointed I was in the fact that they didn't work, but I really was.  Both Nic's and my family had spent generous amounts of money buying us our first g stash, and I felt a bit like I was wasting their money.  Also, I have numerous friends and acquaintances with brand new babies who are cloth diapering, and seem to have found the perfect diaper the first time and have it all figured out so quickly.  Why couldn't I be the put-together mom with the definite answers who had it all figured out so fast?  After being a teensy bit jealous, I had to put my ego aside and just be happy that it's working for them and then hope and pray that this next diaper I chose wouldn't result in defeating me too. ::this process is a bit exhausting::

Since they didn't work, I am selling these g's. If you have a chunky monkey baby and would like to give them a try (after all, look how CUTE they are!), I will sell them to you for cheaper than you can find them at stores or online. Look here and contact me!  :)