Further Adventures in Cloth Diapering

So, I learned something today. About four years ago, we bought something called Gerber Birdseye prefold diapers to use as burp cloths for Wyatt. Because he had reflux as a baby, they worked out pretty well. One spit up from him could soak one of them. We used to keep them all over the house, and picking him up meant picking up one of the diapers. Because Oscar rarely spits up, they now are just stacked in a basket collecting dust.

I did know they were marketed as diapers, but I really never thought they were actually diapers because I'd only ever seen people use them as burp cloths. (Haha, the disposable people have done their marketing work well!)

However, today, I woke up and realized I'd forgotten to put the diapers in the dryer last night. Ugh. We only have 7 diapers right now because I've been trying out different kinds in search of what one I really want to commit to using most of the time. I did have a larger order on its way, but it didn't arrive until this afternoon.

So, I was faced with pulling out the disposables or getting creative. Since I really, really hate having to use disposables now, I got creative. It occurred to me that those burp cloths might actually work as the diapers they are called. And, really, considering how cheap they were and how much we've already used them, how great would it be if they actually worked out? So, I pulled out one of our Jamtots covers (I don't usually put our covers in the dryer; they come out of the washer almost dry and I want them to last longer; even in the dryer, the inserts take over an hour to dry), folded that bad boy up, and put it on my patient little guy.

People, that diaper actually worked! He even pooped in it, and I got to discover how someone could accidentally flush a diaper down the toilet (no, I didn't drop it, but I sure came close). I actually think they are easier to clean poop off of than our pockets, which is surprising considering all the space-age, fancy fabrics that they use.

I don't think I'll be reaching for this first or anything, and they'd be fairly useless if Oscar was a heavy wetter, but they work out well enough that my diaper stash just grew quite a bit without me buying anything. While I may buy another Bumgenius diaper or two for overnights and brave babysitters willing to try it out, I think we are pretty much done buying cloth diapers for the next year. That means I will have only spent $200 on cloth diapers for one year, possibly more if he doesn't grow out of the sized ones I have. Since we are also using cloth wipes now and washing things only costs detergent, plus I will most likely be able to resell our diapers when we are done with them, all I can say at this point is, why on earth did I not try this with Wyatt??

Here are some photos of the diaper with Gerber prefold in place. Sorry, no baby, he's already asleep for the night!