Green Green Green

Last summer I switched to drinking for the most part out of my Sigg Water Bottle. Who knew drinking water would make my day! Especially with my favorite Sanrio Character. So this is to reduce my footprint with the plastic water bottles that I've been tossing.

This winter I've been stocked with a variety of Cloth Diapers. GULP... I have been the most ambitious amongst my mommy friends when it comes to being green and using cloth diapers. So my research started with www.diaperpin.com & with www.diaperswappers.com

Which opened up into this crazy everything goes sub-culture. Most people cloth diaper very economically with prefolds and covers. I had the items but was hesitant to use that system right away. Cough it up to having a nanny who wasn't going to cloth diaper my newborn. So we were using disposables the first 6 weeks. It's ok. I jumped into cloth diapering after 6 weeks.

The Good...

I started with the wonderful Kissaluv size 0 with Thirsties Cover. This consists of a Fitted Diaper which absorbs all the mess, and a Cover that contains the mess and keeps it from getting out. At 6 Weeks, my baby was at it's last snap. So I barely got to use these diapers. I did get a few cycles out of them since they worked so well for my son. Then I loved the easy to use Drybees Hybrid All In Ones Pocket Diapers size small. These are diapers with an opening to slide an insert into. The insert absorbs the wetness. Works like a diaper but made of cloth and velcro. TThen we used prefolds fastened with a Snappi & an outer Thirsties covers, prefolds fastened with a Snappi & an outer size small & Apple Dumpling Gear wool cover or nb/small lovelybums wool cover or lastly our xs little beetles wool covers. Prefolds with covers was tricky at first. You have to master the Snappi. You also have to find a fold that works with your baby. I've had a few #2 blow outs. Not too terrible, but you do have to rinse it out of the diapers, and then as you do with all cloth diapers, thoroughly clean them with 2-3 cycles in the washer. I find this system intimidating at first, but once you do 1/2 a dozen, it becomes so simple.

The Average...
Thirsties covers with infant Cotton or Hemp Crickett's. This was a bit too bulky for my taste.

The Bad...

We also tried the sm Hiney Lineys because the XS was too small for my son. This system also wasn't very well contained. So I stopped using it. The sizing also runs very small for my baby. The 4 small GAD's were also too small. We kept getting crazy messes with those.

Lastly, I'm looking into cleaning with green products. Shopping for organic items like clothing, linens, etc. I'm open for re-using certain items for the future sibling/baby. Why purchase all boys bedding when the next baby can be a girl. I rather both babies get to use organic linens, blankets, onesies, etc.

I do use cloth wipes at home. This cuts down how much disposable wipes we use. 1 cloth usually takes care of a mess that takes 2-3 disposable wipes.

I'll update this as I come across more ideas and try to see if it works for me and my family.