I Love Cloth Diapers!

Andrew's first cloth diaper...BumGenius 4.0

To my complete surprise...I have come to absolutely LOVE cloth diapers. I was sure that they would disgust me...and the washing routine would just gross me out, but quite the contrary!! After doing a ton of research and reading of reviews, I decided to stick to two brands of cloth diapers: BumGenius 4.0 and Flips. I went in thinking that the Flips would be my favorite because I didn't think that they would take up as much space in my diaper bag, I imagined that changing them would be pretty easy and I didn't think that I would have to handle much of the "mess" of a dirty diaper with the flips...however, it turns out that I am in favor of the BumGenius 4.0 much more.
First of all...let me explain why I am in love with cloth diapers. To begin, Andrew's birth weight was 6lbs 12oz. I felt that he was just too little for the cloth diapers, so we started off with disposables. To be honest, I also needed to get used to the change of having a new baby before I started the change of a new diapering system. Once Andrew started to chunk up, I slowly started to use the cloth diapers. The biggest difference between the disposable and cloth diapers that I noticed right away was the main reason that sold me on the cloth diapers...the disposables kept on sticking to Andrew. Every time I changed his diapers, with the disposables, he would just start screaming...no matter how slowly I opened up his diaper. The darn things just stuck right on to his little man parts, it looked horribly uncomfortable peeling it off each time he needed to be changed. Now, with the cloth diapers...they were just so soft on his tiny bum. There were absolutely no tears when opening his diaper (using cold wipes is another story though)
As far as the gross part...changing a dirty diaper and actually having to handle the ickyness...IT'S NOT A BIG DEAL (I'll have to give my opinion again, once Andrew starts eating solids, but for now it really is not a big deal at all) For the BumGenius diaper, the opening of the pocket is in the back of the diaper and opens up easily by bending the diaper back. Then all you have to do is find the edge of the insert and pull it out and place both pieces into the diaper pail. I separate the inserts before placing it in the pail rather than when it's time to the laundry, that way I don't have to dig through the dirty diapers. For the Flips...it's even easier because the insert is sitting right there in plain sight, you just take the cover, with the insert laying inside of it, and place them into the diaper pail...the insert will just fall out by itself.

When it is laundry day, I just simply grab the liner out of the pail, and dump all of the contents in the washing machine followed by the liner itself. No icky mess, no dirty hands (don't get me wrong, I still wash my hands or use hand sanitizer because, let's be honest, there is nothing sanitary about changing a diaper whether it's disposable or cloth). I have a newer high efficiency top loading washing machine and matching dryer set. The wash cycle that I finally settled on for the cloth diapers was: I do a cold wash first without any detergent. Then I do a regular cycle, with HOT water, followed by an extra rinse. So far I have only used the Rocking Green detergent for the diapers and I have been totally happy. The diapers come out clean, no stains, and smelling fresh. When it's time to move everything to the dryer I pull out all of the covers and hang those to dry in the bathroom and then transfer all of the remaining inserts and pail liner into the dryer.
Once the inserts and covers are all dry, I stuff all of my BumGenius diapers before placing them back in Andrews changing table. I can't tell you how much easier it is when they are pre-stuffed rather than having the stuff the insert when Andrew is laying on the table ready for his change. When they are pre-stuffed the changing is exactly the same as with a disposable diaper. I get the clean cloth diaper and place it under Andrew's bottom before removing the dirty one. I open his dirty diaper, wipe things up as best I can, and then pull out the dirty one, place it to the side while I quickly snap his new clean diaper in place. Once everything is covered up (I can't tell you how many times I have been tinkled on during a diaper change...changing a boy's diaper is a totally new experience for me) then I take the dirty diaper and remove the insert, if it's a BumGenius, and then toss it all into the diaper pail.
I have been doing diaper laundry every 2-3 days now and I cannot believe that the diaper pail does not stink at all...Andrew's room, our house...none of it stinks like dirty diapers. I am the kind of person that likes things to smell good when I walk into the house. If I can smell my animals in any way, the house is going to be turned upside down until that nasty smell is gone (rarely does it smell, but on occasion my cat can do a number in her litter box...Lord help us!!!) So, I am thrilled that switching over to cloth diapers has not in any way added a funky smell to our house. My mom and I made a promise to each other to tell the other one if their house ever smelled bad (since we both have animals...you just don't want to become oblivious to the smell), and she hasn't said anything yet.
Now, as for my reason for liking the BumGenius more than the Flips, it's simply because the their are no moving parts with the BumGenius when actually changing the diaper. The BumGenius is easy to change, just like a disposable. The Flips, you are given the opportunity to change just the insert rather than the entire diaper. The concept is great...I just need to get used to it because it is a little more challenging for me to get the insert in the right place while removing the dirty insert...all while trying not to get tinkled on. I am getting better at this, so I'm sure that this won't be an issue for me in the near future. On the other hand, the really nice thing about Flips is that the insert does lay nicely on top of the cover directly in the middle, whereas with the BumGenius, you have to place the insert inside of the diaper and make sure it is all the way to back and laying flat...which, when you have a lot of diapers from the laundry to put inserts into, can be a small pain in the butt...very small!!!