Cloth Diapering with Thirsties Covers and GMD Yellow-edge Prefolds

Jenny P. asked, "Did you/do you use any of the larger sizes as well, or are the smalls really that versitile? They say they're good to 15lb. How do they work in the "real world"?"

As mentioned in my previous post on cloth diapering, I use Thirsties covers and Green Mountain Diaper Cloth-eez Prefolds. This is how they work for us:

This picture is showing an X-Small (NB) Thirsties wrap (green-right hand side)--the back of the prefold is folded under to fit the wrap.

The red is a size small. The prefold doesn't need to be folded under anymore.

Here is the Medium (orange) and Large (yellow) covers with the same small, yellow-edge prefolds:

I hope that gives a good visual. It's much cheaper to do it this way. I've used my prefolds for 2 1/2 years straight (that's washing and drying over 100 times!) and they are only now just starting to show signs of use. I highly recommend them.

Two Hands

I keep waiting for a time to blog where I have two hands free to type, but Miss Elsa has other things to say about that! So I will just type with one hand.

I've decided to try to do a series on paper/disposable products and switching to more "green" options. I will also be covering the 'hows' and 'whys' of doing so.

Here is the list that I'd like to cover. Some we have not gotten rid of yet, but plan to! I will also note at this time that the only thing that we have TOTALLY done away with at the moment is tissues; mostly owing to the fact that Tim has always used handkerchiefs and I so very rarely need to blow my nose that I don't think I have EVER bought a box of tissues:

• Paper plates
• Paper towels
• Napkins
• Toilet Paper
• Nursing Pads
• Feminine Needs
• Diapers and Wipes
• Tissues
• Sandwich Bags

At this point, I'm still taking suggestions for blogging, so PLEASE, suggest away! :) Any questions that I can answer? Probably my best topics would be reenacting and natural living.

Cloth Diapering

This is in response to Jenny P's questions to mamas about cloth diapering.

We cloth diaper. I've gotten all my supplies at Green Mountain Diaper's. They are a Christian business and they'll even send you free books and such with your orders.

I started cloth diapering with my son (aged 2 1/2) a few weeks after he was born. He is potty trained now, though he still wears diapers at night. We now have a 6 month old girl who we've cloth diapered since the first week or two as well. So yes, with your first baby, I too, agree with Amy and Serena; disposable diapers for the first few weeks until you're ready to give it a try! Nursing is more important than cloth diapering! :)

I got three dozen yellow edge prefolds and I have used them from the NB stage to the toddler stage. I wash them about every 3 days. I do not use Snappis or anything like that. I just fold the prefolds into thirds and lay it in a Thirsties cover. I tried the Bummis Super Brite NB size but I found them to be too small with the prefolds. With Elsa, I went straight to the Thirsties XS/NB size. They worked GREAT! Both of my babies started out at about 7lbs and kinda skinny BUT they both got chubby fast! I also only get three wraps in each size. You'd reuse the cover if its just been peed in. If its been pooped in, then it will need to be diligently rinsed out and hung to dry.

In my 2 1/2 years of cloth diapering, I could probably count the times that I've had leaks on one hand and that's usually because it wasn't fastened quite right, etc--that's not counting an overnight diaper that didn't have a doubler (oops :P). I use doublers at night for Elsa that a friend gave me, though the GMD's hemp doublers look really nice! For Nathaniel (and when Elsa gets bigger) at night I use two diapers laid flat and then folded into thirds. I do not soak them or anything extra. We also don't have hot water to the washing machine and I haven't had any problem with that either.

I have two large wetbags--one for washing and one for dirty diapers. I have one wetbag for the diaper bag, but I'd like another one. I also have one of their changing pads which I love--again, I'd like another one.

If I missed anything, just ask! I love cloth diapering! It has saved us SOOO much money and I love the thought that I'm not putting horrible chemicals next to such sensitive skin!

I also posted some pictures and descriptions about the GMD prefolds and Thirsties covers which you can see here.