Fluffy Bum

When Squirrel Monkey was born my mom offered to buy us some cloth diapers to get us started. I balked because I was afraid that they would be too hard. Then I met some really awesome mamas who diapered their kids in these cute, soft, easy-to-use, adorable, fluffy, wonderfulness. Not the pre-folds, pins, and rubber pants your momma used. I asked my mom if her offer was still on the table and she responded by giving us the amazing gift of 18 BumGenius 3.0's and we were hooked. I had issues with cleaning and rashes so I didn't do it full-time. (I now know that those rashes were a milk sensitivity in Squirrel. More on that in a future post.) 

Here we are on our second kid. Disposable diapers are so expensive. We were spending about $60 a month on something we just throw in the trash. When you live on one income, you do what you can to save money. So when a friend of mine offered for me to buy her entire stash of cloth diapers I jumped on it. Honestly, it did us both a favor. Her two sweeties are now potty trained so she didn't need them anymore. And luckily, cloth diapers maintain their value for a long, long time. So I ended up buying her stash for about $3 per diaper. Great, right?! Some of them will eventually need help with a little elastic or just general sewing upkeep. But I counted this as a great deal. My favorites from her stash are the FuzziBunz.

Yep. That's snow. In mid-October...

So now we have Owl Monkey in cloth almost full time. I've finally found the right washing regimen. I sun my diapers whenever I can. This kills any ickies that could grow on them and also banishes stains. We tried to do cloth at night and found that we woke up wet 3 nights in a row no matter how full I stuffed that puppy with soakers. Per Gorillaman's pleading request, we bought another box of diapers which, using them only at night, should last us over 3 months. I'm loving seeing that fluffy bum crawling around the house. Fluff (cloth) feels better - so soft, looks better - we have a corduroy Tinkerbell diaper!, and smells better - no more chemically pee smell. 

Pretty much, once you get in a routine with your cloth diapers you can work out all the kinks easily. Now that I (nearly) know what I'm doing, it's fun! Once again, I feel like a part of that secret group of moms who know. *Wink wink* I'll teach you the secret handshake later.

Kitty nap-time snuggles

Squirrel's UPDATE: She's healing well now. Tomorrow we visit the doctor for her two week follow-up and I expect he will be pleased with her progress. 

Snoring and sleep-breathing has improved greatly!