Flats Challenge Day 3: Flats 101

Today is Day 3 of the Flats and Handwashing Challenge! So far it has been going really well for us over here. I washed my second load of flats in the camp washer today and felt like it went better and quicker than yesterday. Due to a rainy day today I hung the flats on my indoor drying rack and placed it near a window to get at least some indirect "sun" to help with stains.

Today is an open topic day for the Flats Challenge bloggers, and I decided to write a Flats 101 post! Before I started researching for the challenge I didn't know much about flats, and a post like this with all the information in one place would have been so helpful!

What is a flat?

A flat is simply a large square of fabric. The edges can be turned and hemmed or can be simply serged, and the size can vary from 27"x27" to 30"x30" or even larger! Most flats are only one layer of fabric, though sometimes you can find some that are two layers in order to have a decorative side. Flats can be made from really any type of absorbent material. Most are cotton, bamboo, hemp, or some combination of those. If you are looking for flats on a budget you can use cotton flour sack towels that can be found at most stores near the kitchen towels for around $1 each, or you can use receiving blankets as flats! You can even upcycle old t-shirts as flats: just take an XL-XXXL 100% cotton t-shirt and cut off the bottom, side, and top seams so that you end up with two large squares that you can use as flats! If you are on a very small budget a great option is to go to a thrift store and look for receiving blankets and t-shirts on a day when the thrift store offers $0.50 items. You could feasibly get a whole stash of 24 flats for as little as $6 - $12 if you found twelve t-shirts for $0.50 - $1 each and cut them to get two flats out of each shirt.

How do you fold a flat?

Since a flat is just a large square of fabric, it must be folded into a diaper to place on your baby. The amount of folds you can do is only limited by your imagination! There are many flat folding tutorials available online in both pictorial and video form. I have step by step pictures of four folding options and each one that I list has a link to a video tutorial from Dirty Diaper Laundry.

• First up is the Kite Fold: to do this fold, you first make sure your flat is square. Once it is square, the corners get folded in to make a kite shape. The bottom of the kite folds up to determine the rise height, and the widest part of the kite becomes the diaper's wings. Check out the tutorial to see this in action!

• Next is the Diaper Bag Fold: each side of your flat folds toward the middle, and then the bottom folds up to determine the rise height. Then trifold it like a prefold and fan out the top for wings. Fold the back down slightly to help contain poop, and then put the diaper on baby. Check out the tutorial to see this flat fold.

•  This is the Jo Fold: you fold all corners of the flat in toward the middle to make a smaller square and then trifold and fan out the wings. I have found this to be one of the quickest folds and it fastens really nicely onto baby. Check out the video tutorial here.

•  Lastly, this is the Origami fold: after you fold the flat in half to make a rectangle, you take one corner and pull it across so that you have a triangle facing you. Then you flip the whole thing over so the triangle is on the backside, and you fold the oblong side in toward the middle to make a thicker pad for the wet zone. This fold is tricky to explain, so definitely watch the video. Once you try it, it is really doable though!

• The other fold that I use often is the Pad Fold. I don't have pictures of this one, as it is pretty basic. Take your flat and fold it in half to make a rectangle. Then, fold it in half again so that you get a square. Then just trifold your square like a prefold and lay it in a cover. This is a great way to pre-load covers to keep in your diaper bag or to send along to Grandma's house. This is also a great way to continue using flats that might be too small to fit on your baby using a "fancier" fold. 
• There are a lot of other folds out there and in fact I just found this Master List of Flat Folds the other day. I can't wait to experiment with some new folds! Whenever I am trying a new fold I just remind myself that it really doesn't matter what it looks like as long as it stays on baby and contains messes. Once you get the hang of a fold it is easier to make it look pretty.

How do you fasten a flat?

There are three main options that I know of for fastening flats. The first one that most cloth diaper mamas are familiar with is a Snappi. You just clip it to each wing and to the front of the diaper and you're all set to go. I have found that some flats are very hard to snappi due to the type of material they are, though. Another option you can try is the Boingo. I haven't had a chance to try this yet, but it is the same type of concept as a Snappi but it has only two ends so you use one Boingo on each side of your diaper to hold the wings. The last option that you can use is a diaper pin. When I first started using my flats there were quite a few times where I found myself wishing I had a diaper pin, something I never thought I would have wished! Since my Snappis don't work on every fabric, I ended up going out and getting a few diaper pins to try and honestly I really like them. I have read that if you keep them stuck in a bar of soap between uses, it helps the pin glide through the fabric better. I need to try this because I have had a little trouble getting some of my pins through the flats. Overall though I like the pins because they give me the ability to fasten some of the fabrics that my Snappi struggles with. The great thing about diapers pins is that you can pick them up at most stores in the diaper section for about $1 for 4 pins. Much cheaper than the other alternatives and great for diapering on a budget!

What do you use to cover a flat?

Almost any cover will work over flats, depending on what fold you are using. If I have done some of the bulkier flat folds then I reach for my Blueberry Coveralls or my Bummis covers. If I am pad folding a flat, I reach for a GroVia or Flip cover. At night and naptime I always reach for my wool covers! If you are starting out on a budget, check out Imagine and Sweet Pea one size covers. I know that both of those are around $10 for a one size cover. You could even try a Gerber cover from your local grocery store. At around $5 that would be a great cheap way to start cloth diapering with flats, and with the money you save on disposables you could invest in a couple better quality covers. If you have a heavy wetting baby I highly recommend wool, even if you are on a tight budget. Check out my review of Gordy's Girl for a very affordable wool option!

I hope that this Flats 101 post will be a great source of information for someone looking at flats for the first time, or even someone looking into flats again! I will have another post later in the week comparing the different types of flats I am trying. I hope the Flats Challenge is going great for everyone participating!

Flats Challenge Day 2: Supplies and Preparation

It is Day 2 of the Flats Challenge! Today we are talking about the supplies needed and the preparation we made for the challenge. I began preparing for the Flats Challenge a few months ago, actually. I tried to get a little bit of everything so that I could compare and review the different types I am trying. Once I started trying flats, I really fell in love and have actually started to switch the bulk of my stash over to a flats and prefolds stash. This is why I have a relatively large flats stash right now! For covers I am using a mix of wool wraps, one size covers, and sized covers.

My flats:

• 5 flour sack towels - $4 for the set, purchased from Meijer on clearance. The regular price for these is $5 for five flour sack towels.

• 4 receiving blankets - I pulled these out of of my newborn baby clothes box. I had quite a few that were given to me when Ava was a newborn, so I chose 4 cute prints to become diapers.
• 2 Sweet Bobbins bamboo fleece - I paid $10 for these on a diaper swap page in EUC. I bought these especially as a nighttime solution. If you bought them new they run $9 each.
• 3 Geffen Baby hemp jersey - I bought these new from a website where I found a flash sale price of $13 total, though usually you would find three of these for $21.
• 3 Rebourne Cavewomen flats - I bought these new from Rebourne Clothing for $11 for three.
• 3 Diaper Rite large - I bought these used off of a swap page for $6.
• 2 Diaper Rite unbleached smalls - I bought these used off of a swap page for $5.
• 6 Imagine printed flats - I bought these used off of a swap page for $13.
• 2 Imagine Bamboo flats - I bought these used off of a swap page for $4.
• 2 Flip flats - I bought these used off of a swap page for $4.
• 1 Baby Monkeys Bamboo Terry Flat - I received this diaper at no cost to review (reviews will be posted once the Flats Challenge is over).
• 2 Orange Diaper Company Bamboo Terry Squares with doublers - I received these diapers at no cost to review (reviews will be posted once the Flats Challenge is over).
• 1 BumbleBeeBum Daddy Flat - I received this diaper at no cost to review (reviews will be posted once the Flats Challenge is over).
• 1 Urbun Sprout Fitted Flat - I received this diaper at no cost to review (reviews will be posted once the Flats Challenge is over). 
• 1 Brown Cow Cotton flat and cover - I received this diaper at no cost to review (reviews will be posted once the Flats Challenge is over).

My covers:

• Four Rebourne Woolie Wraps - I received one to review, three purchased by me later for about $30 each.
• 1 Gordy's Girl wool soaker - I received this to review. 
• 1 Flip cover - I purchased this used for $5.
• 3 Blueberry Coveralls - I purchased these new (seconds) a long time ago for $10 each.
• 3 GroVia covers - I purchased these used for $10 each.
• 3 Bummis Super Whisper Wraps - I purchased these new a long time ago for $14 each.

My first load of hand washed flats, covers and wipes!

My other supplies:

• 5 gallon bucket with lid - $5
• plunger - $5 (you can get this cheaper, but I wanted the blue one to match my bucket.)
• I use Soft Bottoms detergent which is around $10 for a 32 oz bottle. A bottle this size typically lasts me about two months for normal washing, and I think if I was to exclusively handwash flats I could make a bottle last four months. So the cost for this week should be about $1.
• I am not using a wet bag this week to see if I could in fact get by without one!

So my total flats stash cost is: $70 for flats, $102 for covers, $90 for wool, and $1 for detergent. Now, if I was just setting up a stash and not thinking about reviews I could definitely do with fewer covers and fewer flats. In fact, if I was on a tight budget I could easily have gotten my whole stash for $100 or less! Even so, with this larger stash that includes wool, the grand total is only $263. Compared to the $1500 - $2500 that most families spend on disposables during the diapering years for ONE child, this is still a huge savings!

Gordy's Girl Wool Soakers

With the Flats Handwashing Challenge coming up next week I wanted to highlight an awesome affordable diaper cover option. If you've been been around the cloth diaper community at all, you've probably heard about how awesome wool covers are. If you have followed through and looked up wool covers you have also probably discovered that they can be very pricey. Well, when I found Gordy's Girl on Etsy, I was really excited to have discovered a wool cover at a reasonable price. Priced between $8 and $14 per cover, these are a fantastic way to try wool affordably. All the products at Gordy's Girl are made by Shannon, a WAHM, and many are up-cycled wool. I love buying up-cycled wool because not only do cloth diapers keep disposables out of the landfills, but up-cycling old sweaters keeps them out of the landfills too!

Shannon sent a heavy wetter soaker in size large for Ava and me to review. The red portion is an up-cycled heavily felted wool and the gray on the waist and legs is a soft merino wool. This soaker doesn't need an extra layer in the wet zone due to the heavy felting on the main portion of it.

We used this on Ava over prefolds, fitteds, flats, and over our bulkiest nighttime solutions and got a really good fit with all of them. My favorite time to use this cover is at night actually! It does really well over nighttime diapers and I have never had a leak with this cover. I have found that since it is a pull over style the waist does stretch out a bit after a week or so of being pulled over a huge nighttime diaper. This has not affected the function for us at all though, and it does regain its snugness when I wash it. You can see in these pictures the nice fit I got on Ava!

Overall this soaker has worked great for us! I highly recommend these if you are looking to try wool for the first time or just want an affordable way to get some awesome up-cycled unique wool. Check out Gordy's Girl on Etsy to see all the adorable cover options she has.

Breaking Records, Raising Awareness, Helping the Earth

The Great Cloth Diaper Change is the highlight of cloth related events for me. Its proximity to Earth Day just makes the whole weekend feel like a crunchy mama holiday! In case you don't know what the Great Cloth Diaper Change is, let me tell you.

It started in 2011 as an attempt to set a Guinness World Record for the most cloth diapers changed simultaneously. That first year there were 5,026 diapers changed! Last year saw a huge jump in the numbers, as more people heard about the Change and more locations decided to host. There were 8,251 cloth diapers changed in 189 locations on 4 continents in 2012! The first two years of the Change the diapers were all changed at the same moment worldwide, resulting in some people in Australia changing in the middle of the night. Now that's dedication! This year they were able to do the same time locally so that more people could participate, so every change was at 11 am local time. As of the beginning of April there were 285 locations registered to host the Change, so it looks good that the record will be broken! One unfortunate thing is that a location needs at least 25 diapers changed in order to qualify towards the total, so the real number will be higher than the Guinness number. As of yesterday (April 22) the unofficial total for this years change is at 7,972 with 182 locations reported. Since there are 103 locations left to report, the record should be easily broken! The Great Cloth Diaper Change has become a really big event for cloth diaper families, and is a great way to spread the word about reusable diapers.

Ava and I attended the Great Cloth Diaper Change in Holland, Michigan which is hosted by our local cloth diaper shop, Ecobuns. If you are local, follow the GCDC-Holland's Facebook page to keep in the loop for next year's change! For the change, everyone has to hold up the diaper they will be changing into for a picture, and then after the change everyone holds up their newly diapered baby for another picture. Here are some photos of the 30 diaper changes we had at our location! (Photos courtesy of the GCDC-Holland Facebook)

Diapers up! 

Hold those babies up!

The Ecobuns team made this a really fun event, with giveaways, raffles, and even Fluff Photos with a local photographer: Little Lamb Photography! We got a Fluff Photo session for Ava, and I had so much fun getting some adorable diaper shots and even some neat breastfeeding shots!

The Great Cloth Diaper Change has really been a great way of sharing with people about cloth diapering as a sustainable option, and Ecobuns had a great announcement at our GCDC. Ecobuns is partnering with Nestlings, a local diaper bank, to provide cloth diapers as an option to low income families! Previously, Nestlings had done solely disposable diapers for low income families, but with Ecobuns' help they will now be offering cloth diaper kits! The timing of this announcement was just perfect for the GCDC and Earth Day.

In the spirit of Earth Day and of raising awareness, I have an announcement for our blog! In the blog article I linked above, Nestlings points out that many low income families have limited access to laundry facilities. Well, a couple years ago Kim, of Dirty Diaper Laundry, set out to show that even with no access to a laundry facility you can still cloth diaper. She started a really cool event called the Flats Challenge to raise awareness about flat diapers and how manageable it can be to hand wash your diapers! I will be taking part in the Flats Challenge this year and blogging about it here and linking up with many other bloggers to talk about flats. Leading up to the Challenge I will have some Saturday posts with flats reviews and information. As I learn how to fold and hand wash them I'll share my journey with you. The Challenge itself is going to be from May 20-26 and during that time I will only be using flats and covers and will be hand washing anything I use! I hope that my series will be an inspiration and a helpful resource to be shared.

This shows the steps to doing a Kite Fold with a flat.

Let's hear from you! Did you attend the Great Cloth Diaper Change? How many babies were changed at your location? Do you have a local cloth diaper store whom you could encourage to work with a diaper bank? Have you heard of the Flats Challenge? Have you done the Flats Challenge before? Are you thinking about doing it this year? Do you have friends who could benefit from a series on how to use flats to diaper affordably?

Saving More Money by Knowing About Peak Hours

If that sounds a bit like Greek to you, allow me to explain.

The electric company charges you for using energy, right? Well, they have determined when on & off peak hours are (in other words, when people are using a lot of electricity and when they aren't).

The numbers below are just an example of what one energy company charges. To find out what your company charges and their determined hours are, you need to call or visit their website.

So, for this particular company, their rates are as follows:

On-Peak Charge: 4.703¢ per kWh
Off-Peak Charge: 4.501¢ per kWh

Yes, it's just parts of pennies, but, when you spend your day doing laundry, including diapers (and cooking, and charging various electronics around the house and so on and so forth, it can add up!)

So, when are these hours? Here's where it gets a smidge confusing -

Service used beginning at 12:00 midnight March 31 and ending at 12:00 midnight September 30: The on-peak hours are defined as the hours between 12:00 noon and 8:00 p.m., Monday through Friday, excluding holidays considered as off-peak. So do your big electric draining things before noon and after 8pm.

Service used beginning at 12:00 midnight September 30 and ending at 12:00 midnight March 31: The on-peak hours are defined as those hours between 6:00 a.m. and 1:00 p.m., Monday through Friday, excluding holidays considered as off-peak. During these months, if you're up before 6am, go for it! Otherwise, wait til 1pm and later.

The off-peak hours in any month are defined as all hours not specified above as on-peak hours. All hours for the following holidays will be considered as off-peak: New Year's Day, Good Friday, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving Day and the day after, and Christmas Day. When one of the above holidays falls on a Saturday, the Friday before the Holiday will be considered off-peak; when the holiday falls on a Sunday, the following Monday will be considered off-peak.
That is EIGHT days where you can save more money!

So, if you are interested in saving some more money while you cloth diaper, see what your energy company has to say about their rates!

Pancakes anyone?

My son loves to eat pancakes. He asks for them almost every morning. Last week I forgot to buy some more. I get the frozen ones that you just pop into the microwave. So last night I decided to make some of my own and freeze them. I was able to get 8 free containers of the Fast Shake pancake mixes pictured below by using coupons! All you do is mix in some water and cook them up. This is something fun you can do with your little ones. I added in the water and let my son shake it up. He liked that a lot!

I just poured a little on to a pan and made about 1 1/2 - 2 in pancakes like the ones I would have bought from the store.

Then when they are done cooking you will need to let them cool completely other wise when you put them in the bag they will get moist and stick together. Which makes it hard to get them out.
Here are the frozen pancakes.
I have also done this before with waffles. He loves to eat these to except when you put these in the toaster they burn in the little squares where it is so thin.
If you like to save money or like to know what your kid is eating this is a great thing to do. I have in the past made jello and pudding and put them in small tupperware bowls then just keep them in the fridge. They make great lunch items and its way cheaper to make them than buy a 4 pack of pudding cups from the store.

Here is my sons breakfast from this morning!
What other items have you made and frozen or put in the fridge to eat?

How to convince your hubby...

So a while ago while doing some of our Monday Mommies posts I was checking out some of the other Mommy's blog. I came across one post that really caught my eye. Our Monday Mommy Whitney had done the most detailed post I had EVER seen on the costs of Cloth Diapers vs Disposable Diaper. If you really want to do cloth but are having a hard time convincing the hubby to do it show him this. It might be the one thing you need to push him over the edge and into a big fluffy pile of cloth diapers!

She runs her blog called Leaves of my Tree, which is where you will find this post:

"One of the first things you'll hear about cloth diapering is all the money you'll save, not having to buy diapers and wipes every week. but there are skeptics out there who say you probably won't save much, or any at all. figuring out the numbers takes time and patience (especially if you're like me, and your mind withdraws to a hiding place whenever you see numbers), but i decided to do it, and this is what i came up with. it is quite detailed, so stay with me - it gets a bit confusing!

drying diapers in the sun helps with stains

When we were using disposables, we preferred pampers over any other brand, and for wipes, we prefer walmart organic wipes. we don't change middle-of-the-night diapers, which saves us about two extra diapers a day - so a pack of each lasted us just short of a week, usually about five days.

$10 (pampers) + $2.50 (organic wipes)

total for five days = $12.50

365/5 (days in a year, divided by days
between diaper/wipes purchase) = 73

73 x $12.50 (cost of dipes/wipes)

total for one year of disposable diapers and wipes = $912.50

we also bought a diaper genie at walmart,

and about every two and a half weeks,
we'd have to buy another refill.

52/2.5 (weeks in a year, divided by
weeks between refill purchase) = 20.8

20.8 x $11 (cost of refill) =

total for one year of diaper genie refills = $228.80

$228.80 + $912.50 =
$1,141.30 total in diapering cost per year

on average, a child is in diapers
for about two and a half years.

$1,141.30 x 2.5 years =

total disposable diapering cost for one child = $2,853.25

john and i want five children. so -

total cost for five children
in disposable diapers

= $14,266.25

figuring out the cost of cloth diapering is a little bit more complicated. the initial cost of cloth diaper supplies can be pricey, but year by year, it is significantly lower than using disposable diapers. it would be impossible to write the exact cost, because most people don't just buy one type of diaper and a couple covers - starting off is very trial by error. here's (generally) how we (plan on) doing it (river has an odd assortment of cloth diapers currently, and we didn't CD him in the first 4 months). also, understand that this is not including the occasional splurge of a cute diaper cover. ;)

little-lions ($6.75 S&;H) unbleached
prefolds in three sizes (basically, SML):

infant ($17.95), regular ($18), and premium($23)

3 dozen infant + shipping = $60.60

2 dozen regular + shipping =$42.75

2 dozen premium + shipping =$52.75

total for prefolds = $156.10

guesstimated cost for covers at about $12 each,
and spending about $30 in shipping:

4 small, 4 medium, 4 large, and 3 one-size

total for covers = $210

i was planning on making some wipes out of second-hand XL shirts at goodwill for $2 a shirt. i was going to buy 4 shirts, and estimated about 9 wipes per shirt, so it would have cost me about $8 - however, a friend gave me some hand-made wipes, so...

total for cloth wipes = free

i use snappies as closures instead of pins, because they are way easier. i don't expect a snappi to last through five kids, so i think i'll buy 2 new snappies per kid. two $4 snappies x 5 kids

total for snappies = $40

$40 (snappies) + $8 (cloth wipes) + $210 (covers) + $156.10 (prefolds)

total for diapering supplies = $406.10

now we have to add the on-going cost of water (in our case, the laundromat) and detergent. we use charlie's soap to wash the diapers, at about 20 cents per load. charlie's soap isn't disinfecting, so to make sure i get the diapers really clean, i add a little oxygen bleach (never chlorine bleach) to the wash once a month. you must wash cloth diapers twice per use. for the cold wash, i hand wash and for the hot wash, i use the laundromat. it costs $1 per wash. we wash diapers three times a week, on monday, thursday, and saturday.

$0.20 (cost for detergent per load)
x 6 (number of washes per week)

total cost in detergent per week = $1.20

$1.00 (cost per hot wash at laundromat)
x 3 (number of hot washes per week)

total for laundromat washing per week = $3

oxygen bleach added to the laundry once a month

estimated total for oxygen bleach per month = $0.20

$1.20 x 52 weeks = $62.40

$3.00 x 52 = $156

$0.20 x 12 months = $2.40

total laundering cost per year = $220.80

$220.80 x 2.5 years

total laundering cost per child = $552

$552 (laundering) + $406.10 (supplies)

total diapering cost for one child = $988.10

going back to the laundering cost per child, multiplying by five (for five children) and then adding the initial cost of diapering supplies (because you can use the same prefolds and covers with every child):

total cost for five children
in cloth diapers

= $3,166.10

now, back to disposable diapering cost

= $14,303.25

that looks like a good amount of savings to me!

we have limited line space, so we dry some of river's diapers on our crib, saving us $3.75 a week.

now, this is how OUR family is planning on cloth diapering. it's not exactly how it's going to go (i'll tell you already that i've only purchased green mountain prefolds and have yet to buy any little lions :) we will probably have to replace worn covers, we may experiment with different kinds of diapers, snappies will get lost, products may be purchased from different websites where shipping is less or more, and washing them is not always going to cost a dollar a load (especially if we have our own washer and dryer some day!), but any way you look at it, there will be money saved.

perhaps a family buys only second-hand prefolds at a cloth diapering store for a dollar each, make their cloth wipes for pennies out of garage-sale t-shirts, and use gerber diaper covers, which are about $4 for a pack of 3. or say there's a family who will buy all-in-one diapers in small, medium, and large, thirty of each size, at $25 per diaper, plus 36 factory-made cloth wipes that are $10.75 for half a dozen - you're at $2,314.50 for supplies. and of course, there's the number of babies a family plans to diaper. there are many, many ways of doing the cloth diapering thing. and i'm pretty sure all of them are going to save you some money. ;-D"

Whitney, Thank you so much for allowing me to share this wonderful post with our readers!

Saving Money While Trying to Save Money (ie: How to Not Go Broke When Cloth Diapering!)

Many parents look into cloth diapering as a way to save money but then get turned off when they see the initial cost of the diapers (and all the accessories you "have" to have). Many assume that it is cheaper just to use disposables. If you think of a single diaper costing the same as a box of diapers, it can be a bit disconcerting. But, if you think of that single diaper being reused over and over (and over and over and over!) you can realize that, while the upfront cost may be large, it will definitely pay off very quickly! Here are some tips to building up your stash without breaking the bank:

Prefolds & Covers:
If you're up for 'any' diapering method, skip the latest and greatest, and go back to tried and true. This is definitely a very inexpensive, yet effective way, to cloth diaper your child. And not to mention, when you are done with the prefolds, they make awesome cleaning rags!

Buying Used:
Some may gawk at this idea, but great deals are to be had when buying cloth diapers used. Check your local Craigslist or children's consignment sale. Another great place to check is your local Freecycle. It's as simple as sending out a message asking for cloth diapers - you never know what response you'll get!

Wishlists:
If you're preparing for baby, start a wishlist at amazon.com or any cloth diaper website. Let people know your desire to cloth diaper your baby and pass along the information for your wishlist. If your baby has already been born and you're making the switch, start a holiday or birth wish list with the diapers you are interested in.

Ask Around:
You may find out that you have friends who cloth diapered their children and are done with their stash, even just temporarily. They may be willing to loan you their stash as you get started (what a great way to give cloth diapers a trial run!)

Win Them!
OK, while this isn't a reliable method of building your stash, it is a great way to try out new diapers for free! Check out Facebook and blogs for giveaways that happen everyday. You might not win, but if you don't enter, you can't win!

What ways have you been able to save even more money while making the switch to cloth diapers?

Before you seal the deal

If you are thinking about starting off with cloth, or if you are fairly new to cloth and looking for the right diaper for you there are options available just for you (well for anyone, but you will benefit greatly)! A lot of cloth diapering store offer deals where you can purchase some diapers, try them out for a period of time, then return them if you dislike them or keep them if you love them. Each store has their own way of going about their 'trial packs' with their own rules and quidelines so make sure you read the fine prints before making your final choice on which store to use for the trial. I have been asked by a couple of people about trial packs so I thought I would share with you some that I have found. I have not used a trial pack myself but have heard great things about them. Its a great way to try out all kinds of different diapers, see what works best with YOUR baby, because everyone has different experiences, and return the diapers that didn't work for you.

Here are some stores that I found that offer trials. Please keep in mind that this is just a few of many stores out there that offer trials. If you have used a trial from someone that is not listed please feel free to share it in the comments section.

Jillians Drawers:
-Offers 2 different trial packs, a newborn trial and a changing diapers changing minds program.
-These will cost you up front around $145 depending on what trial you choose.
-There program lets you try out the diapers for 21 days risk free. After the time is up you return the diapers. You get refunded all but $10 (deposit). If you keep some of the diapers they will remove that from the cost refunded.
-The trial seems to come with a good assortment of items to try out.


Nells Natural Baby
-Nells offers you the oppertunity to pick the diapers in your trial. You pay full price for each item you choose.
-Use the diapers for up to 3 weeks and return any you don't like for a full store credit refund.
-This is nice if you only want to try a couple of diapers, however if you return everything you received then shipping will be deducted from your refund.

SquishyTushy
-SquishyTushy has a lot of trial packs to choose from.
-They have returnable kits as well as non returnable. They have kits that focus on a specific type of diaper like an AIO or kits that include a little of everything. You are bound to find at least one kit out of their 14 kits that will fit your needs!

GoGoNatural
-GoGo offers a Love'em or Leave'em program. You pay upfront around $100 and get all but $15 refunded after your 30 day trial ends and you return your diapers.
-If you want to keep some of the diapers then keep them and it will be deducted from your deposit fee.
-A good assortment of items but you will probably have to wash each day to diaper full time.
-You get to keep your wet bag for free!

EcoBuns
-Ecobuns offers a try it before you buy it program.
-You pay $25 and pick one of three trial packages that best suit your needs. You get your diapers try them for 2 weeks and return them all.
-The products you receive will be used items that have been laundered correctly after each trial. They have no guarantee.
-This is a cheap way to try out diapers, you dont have a large upfront fee, you return all the diapers. If you like a type of diaper you can buy it new.


So that is a few of the stores I found that offer trial programs. Please keep in mind that there are so many other stores that offer them as well but I could never list them all! Also, remember to check locally for stores that sell cloth and could possibly have a pack for you to try out.

If you have used a trial pack before please share your experiences with us.
If you know of another store that has trial packs please share with us in the comments below with a link!

How to get started

Like many families deciding to switch to cloth diapering, I too had no clue how to get started. How many diapers will I need? What is a pocket diaper, All in one (AIO)diaper, a fitted diaper? I had no clue. So I started searching left and right for information on the web to help me clear some things up. I was still undecided as far as what I wanted to do, and still slightly confused. I didn't really have anyone to ask about cloth diapering because I didn't know anyone who did it. After a while I finally found a place that sold cloth diapers that was local to me. A friend of mine who was pregnant had registered for her baby shower at this store and so I checked them out online. They also have a store front that you can visit. So that's what I did. I headed on over to the store and had a mini lesson on all the different types of diapers and it cleared so much up for me. I now knew what people were talking about when they said AIO, fitted, pockets etc.

I would recommend to people if they option, to go to a store that sells CD's and physically touch them and explore the different kinds offered. If you look at them you will get a feeling for what you want to use. Some people like the simplicity of an AIO diaper, no stuffing to be done, no folding needed, you just put it right on baby. Others prefer a pocket diaper so that they can adjust the absorbency of the diaper, especially during night time, nap time, and trips away from home. One of my favorites is the option of prefolds with a cover. Yes it is a little more work to get the prefold folded the correct way then place in the cover then on the baby but I enjoy it plus its the cheapest way to go.

If you use prefolds and covers you will probably want around 2-3 dozen prefolds and about 4-6 covers. If you like snappi fasteners have 2-3 on hand. Also optional items are 6-8 doublers for night time and 12-18 fleece liners to take moisture away from the baby’s bottom.
If you prefer a Pocket Diaper or AIO Diaper you will probably want for babies around 20-30 diapers and for toddlers 15-25 diapers. Doublers for night time and inserts for the pocket diapers.
If you want fitted diapers with covers have about 2-3 dozen fitteds and 3-4 covers on hand.

These are just suggestions and once you get started you will more than likely start buying different types of diapers and have a huge stash in the bedroom to use.

A lot of online stores have the option of doing a Cloth Diaper Trial. This gives you the opportunity to try out the diapers for a couple of weeks and find out what style(s) suits you best. Here are a few good site I have found that offer trials.

Jillians Drawers - They offer a 21 day trial with a security deposit of around $150 depending on what size you get. After the 21 days are up you mail back all the diapers and get refunded all but $10 of your money back as well as a percentage off your first purchase. This is probably one of the best trials I have seen because it comes with the most diapers, a good time frame to use the diapers and the cheapest...however this might be harder for people to do because you do have to do the security deposit of the $150.

Ecobuns - They offer a trial package for $25 dollars. There have three different trial packages you can choose from that are tailored to fit more of what you are interested in.