It's not as gross as I once imagined...

...cloth diapering that is.  Before Reagan was born, I considered myself somewhat of an environmentalist.  Not in the activist sort of way, but in the recycling, composting, less-is-more kind of way.  Then I had a baby.  The amount of garbage per week has increased twofold and it's mostly due to the enormous amount of diapers babies require.  I used to think that I'd never be a cloth-diapering mama.  Oh how times have changed.  Poop no longer grosses me out like it once did.  In fact, we've had a reusable swim diaper that Reagan has worn several times to the pool & beach.  But as the diapers continued to mount, I decided a change was necessary.

Luckily, a couple months ago, a good family friend, Barbara Turner, went to a consignment sale at her church.  She called me immediately and asked if I'd be interested in a pack of 9 medium Fuzzi Bunz cloth diapers for just $30!  A box of 160 Pampers Cruisers costs nearly $50.  Reagan goes through anywhere from 6-10 diapers a day.  That adds up quickly.  So in an effort to reduce our environmental footprint & help out our budget, I decided to jump on the offer.  I picked them up from her in June during our visit, but was still hesitant to use them.  Fortunately, for her birthday, Grandma & Grandpa gave us a diaper sprayer:

This sprayer makes getting rid of the poop super easy.  You just attach it to your toilet and when needed, you spray the poop directly into the toilet.  These run about $50.  It was fairly easy to install and much more sanitary than washing out the diapers in the sink or tub!  The diapers come in two parts, a shell and a liner.  The shells are available in lots of different colors and are cute enough to wear as bottoms.  

They have 4 snaps per side on the top and 4 on the bottom, allowing the diaper to "grow" with the baby.  The mediums are perfect for Reagan right now (15-30 pounds).  We invested in another trash can to hold the diapers between washes, so in total the investment was $130 (but only $80 since the sprayer was a gift!).  That would barely get us through a couple months of disposable diapers!  Factor in the minimal water bill and it still works out to a great deal financially!  

We've been using these for a week or so now and still no leaks!  I'm thrilled with this product.  We still keep disposables on hand for traveling and for when Reagan goes to hourly care, but at home, we're sticking to cloth.  Even for bedtime!  

While some of you may be totally turned off by used cloth diapers, let me tell you that these look brand new, and with a new diaper costing $19.95, I'm quite content with someone else's hand-me-downs:)  I'll definitely be on the lookout for some small & large ones in the future.  The smalls for our next baby and the larges so we can continue to use them if our little fatty is 30 pounds before she's potty trained!