Xenia Kathryn

(Photograph unrelated to topic, other than the subject on the right, whose bum this post largely revolves around. This is one photo of our "Valentine's Day" trip to the zoo we made two Saturdays ago. It was a little gray, but we had a great time and despite the presence of the umbrella--ahem, parasol-- we managed to avoid the rain).

Hmmm... here's a change of subject that you probably didn't see coming!

Yesterday I made the switch back to cloth diapers. My dear MIL took pity on me back in my first trimester and bought me a pack of disposables. I was only planning on taking a brief hiatus... after all, wasn't I committed cloth diaper mom? Would my "Green Mama" card be revoked if I used more than one box of disposables? Well, each time I tried to get back into the groove of CDing, Susy would immediately get a bad, bad welt-like rash on her bum... a rash that would disappear just as quickly once disposables were used again. Yikes! Plus, my potty-trained big girl would get upset each time I left diapers to "soak" in the toilet "Mommy! You have to get the diapers out!" Clearly she was grossed out, and I guess I couldn't blame her. So between welts and early pregnancy and demanding 3 year olds, I gave into the fact that, for this "season in life," we'd go back to disposables. And though I hate to admit it, it's been an easy, breezy six months, at least in regards to diapering. More garbage? Yes. But easy.

So now, over six months later, I'm trying to get back into the groove of cloth diapering. I have new detergent, a new approach to washing them uber-efficiently, and a renewed desire to be a little kinder to the earth (and for V.'s--well, ALL of our sakes-- a commitment to rinse diapers ASAP--no more diapers "soaking" in the toilet). Plus, I'm hoping the transition back to cloth will help my soon-to-be 2 year old potty-train a little easier down the road (don't worry, I'm not rushing her). And of course I'd like to get back into the groove before Baby Boy is born.

Now I have a pile of prefolds and some Bummis wraps... none of which are really "working" for me anymore. Prefolds can be bulky on my very mobile toddler. She's been known to be seen with a large remnant of prefold diaper sticking out of the back of her pants. And the Bummis wraps are EXCELLENT, but the velcro has become rather weak and comes undone all of the time. What a pain! And yet, with all of these materials that I've already invested in, I can't really justify purchasing expensive Fuzzi Bunz or a fancy set of AIO diapers.

So I've thought about sewing my own AIO (that's All in One) or pocket diapers out of materials I have around the house (flannel sheets, my prefolds, old t-shirts, rain coat material, unused fleece from my sewing stash). Because really, no matter how cute store-bought cloth diapers are, after a full year or two of use, they all look faded and a bit dingy. Still plenty useful, of course, but not nearly as bright and cute as they once were.

One cost-efficient way to fix my Bummis is to purchase some APIX (I think that's the high quality velcro?) and replace the weak velcro with it.

I've also thought about sewing my Bummis wraps shut so that they are more like a vinyl diaper pull-on cover (sort of like the ones used in the "old" days) than a velcro wrap. Or, I've thought about sewing some pre-folds and fleece into an old Bummi wrap and and making it an AIO. Who knows?

Any sewing, cloth-diapering mamas out there with ideas? I know there are lots of internet resources and links, but that gets a little overwhelming and a lot of the sites just link to the same stuff. But if you have any insights or site recommendations that you've found helpful, please pass them this way!

Can you tell I'm starting to nest?