Cloth Diapers: Not a Big Deal

At least in our experience so far. This has actually been the ONLY baby related thing that has been way easier than I thought. But hey, we'll take a win where we can get it. I know there is a lot of information out there about cloth diapering, and when we got started, I was overwhelmed by all of it. There was all this talk about prefolds and flats and fitteds. I still don't really know what all of that means. So this is how we do things. Hardcore cloth diaperers might say we are doing it all wrong, but so far so good.

Honestly, the main reason we decided to do cloth was monetary. At first my Mike was a little grossed out by the whole thing, but when I told him how much people spend on diapers until a child is potty trained (the average is $2400) he was on board. It also didn't hurt that I am the one at home with the baby all day, so I'll be changing 99% of the diapers. :)

The Diapers

We have two brands of cloth diapers that we use. Fuzzibunz and Bum Genuis. We registered for these because they are the most popular brands, and they must be popular for a reason, right? We use one size for both of these, which means that they have elastic (Fuzzibunz) or snaps (Bum Genius) that allow your baby to wear the same diapers from birth to potty training. We got two 6 packs of Fuzzibunz from Amazon, six Bum Genius Freetime from Target/Babies-R-Us, and two Bum Genius 4.0 from Babies-R-Us. With gifts and gift cards, we spent around $100 out of pocket. These diapers are also available with velcro, which would be easier to fasten, but snaps last longer and last through multiple kids, so that's what we went with.

Fuzzibunz one size

Bum Genius 4.0 one size

Bum Genius Freetime

The Fuzzibunz and the Bum Genius 4.0 are basically the same, they just differ in the way that you adjust the size. Fuzzibunz has elastic and snaps, Bum Genius just has a bunch of snaps, but both work very well. They have an absorbent insert that gets stuffed inside through an opening at the back waistband between the outer waterproof layer and the inner fleece layer which touches the baby's skin. You remove the insert before tossing the diapers into your diaper pail (it's up by the waistband, so it really isn't gross), and stuff them back in when they come out of the dryer. It seems like an annoying extra step, but once you do it a few times, it's super fast. Here is a neat little graphic from the Fuzzibunz website showing the insert. The 4.0 is basically the same.

The other kind of diaper we have is the Bum Genius Freetime. It's the same shell as the Bum Genius 4.0, but it has two absorbent inserts sewn into the diaper so there is nothing to remove or stuff back in. It's all one piece. These are nice, they just take a little longer in the dryer.

The one other thing we have are a few hemp inserts. We add one of these (along with the normal insert) to a Bum Genius 4.0 for night time. They fit better in the Bum Genius than in the Fuzzibunz, so that's why we do that.

Overall, we have been really happy with the performance. There is a bit of a learning curve getting the fit right with the Fuzzibunz, but once I did get the fit right, we have had zero problems with blowouts, which is awesome. And pee does leak now and then, but in the last month, the one disposable diaper he wore leaked a ton, so he may just be a heavy wetter. But I'll take a little pee over a blowout ANY day.

The Set Up

Our set up is pretty simple. I have my cute little cart from Ikea. It is sitting right next to the dresser that our changing pad is on.

On the top shelf are cloth wipes in a wipe warmer. We have two sets of these cloth wipes from Amazon, but you could totally make them.

We have them in a Prince Lionheart wipe warmer, which is really just for normal wipes, but it works really well. I keep a large bottle of wipe solution next to it, and I only put in about half the wipes at a time. I use this cloth wipe recipe, but I just do a splash of baby oil and baby wash, and I also add a few drops of tea tree oil. I like this recipe because it was all stuff that I already had.

Also on the top shelf is a little tub of coconut oil for diaper rash. We haven't had any issues with it other than a tiny bit of redness once or twice, but I think diaper rash is less of an issue with cloth diapers which is another plus. Most diaper rash creams aren't compatible with cloth diapers (they will lose absorbency), but there are some out there that are fine to use with them. I just happened to have a big jar of coconut oil from Trader Joe's on hand, so that's what we are using. So far so good!

The diapers are on the middle shelf. All twenty of them fit perfectly! Then instead of a diaper bag, we use a large wet bag from Planet Wise in Navy Circuits. It hangs right on the corner of the nursery pegboard between the diaper cart and the changing table/dresser.

And then the diaper changing process is basically the same as with disposables. The only extra step is removing the insert from the diaper before tossing it in the wet bag, but it takes 2 seconds, so no big deal. With little breastfed babies, you don't have to rinse them or anything. Just toss them straight into the washer. Once babies start eating solids, you have to get rid of their number twos before washing, so we installed a diaper sprayer, but since he's still two months old, we aren't quite there yet. And cloth wipes may seem crazy, but it is so much easier to toss everything in the wet bag, rather than have to have a separate trash can or something if we were using disposable wipes.

I also have a small wet bag that I keep in the diaper bag with a cloth diaper for on the go changes. If I know I will be gone for a while, I'll put two cloth diapers in, but usually one is fine. I also keep a few disposables in the diaper bag just in case something crazy happens. :)

Laundry

Laundry is really easy with a wet bag, because you empty the bag or dirty diapers into the washer, and throw the bag right in too! 

To wash, we use: 1 Tbl. laundry detergent, 1 Tbl. blue Dawn, 1 Tbl. bleach

I use one tablespoon of homemade laundry detergent (equal parts baking soda, washing soda, and OxiClean) which I started making about a year ago. And by started making, I mean, I made it one time, and we are only halfway through it. There are tons of detergents that work for cloth diapers though. Here is a good list. I also add a tablespoon of bleach in the little bleach section (because it make me feel like it's sanitizing everything), and a tablespoon of blue Dawn dishsoap in with the detergent, which prevents buildup and we already had it.

I hit the little buttons that say "Pre-Soak" and "Extra Rinse", and let the washer do it's thing. I dry everything on medium heat.

That's about it. Since we have 20 diapers, I wash them every other day. That means I still have 2-4 that aren't in the wash, so if I'm not totally on top of switching loads or something, it's no big deal. And as he gets older and uses fewer diapers in a day, that will probably stretch out a bit more. But honestly, the hands on time for a load of diapers is 10-15 minutes from start to finish: including throwing it in the washer, switching loads, stuffing the inserts in, and putting them away. I think that is totally worth it for how much money you save, and for never having to run out to the store for diapers!

So the point is, don't be afraid. Going cloth has been one of the best decisions ever! Even if you don't want to deal with it all the time, or you're not sure if they would work for you, start with a handful diapers and just give it a go part time. Before we started using them, I was kind of afraid that it would be a nightmare and that we would totally fail. But we love it, and if we can do it, ANYONE can.

Nash: Two Months

Well, we made it through another month!

Every baby book says that 6-8 weeks old is the peak of baby's fussiness, and we definitely found that to be true with Nash. If you are having a baby, or plan on having a baby, just lock yourself in your house that second month with earplugs and a box of tissues and have someone hide all of your sharp objects. Just kidding. Kind of... The good news is that right around eight weeks, they start crying less and less and you can start to see the light at the end of the tunnel.

This month it has been crazy to see how much he has grown and changed. He discovered his hands and likes to suck on his fingers, he is smiling and "talking" back when you talk to him. He weighs almost eleven pounds and is 24 inches long.

Nash sleeps so well at night! We are crazy lucky in that regard. Babies are technically "sleeping through the night" when they have a 5-6 hour stretch of sleep at night. Well, he has been doing that since he was a week old. This month he has been sleeping from 8pm-ish to 6am-ish most of the time, which is amazing!!! Maybe twice a week, he will get up for a middle of the night feeding. However, during the day, it is less amazing. He still only napped all month in a carrier, or on your body.

He also started getting really fussy when he ate, which was frustrating for both of us. However, we just found out that I am not producing enough milk, so hopefully that will help the eating/nap issues. We are working to solve the problem with supplemental formula, herbs, and lots of pumping. So fun. :)

Because of the feeding issue that we didn't know about until a few days ago, our big newborn has become a skinny two month old. He is 24 inches long and weighs 10 lbs 10 oz. He has outgrown almost all of his 0-3 month clothes, and literally in the next week, he will probably outgrow the last few things that still fit in that size. He's definitely lost the newborn look.

one month • two months

He sort of hates tummy time, but he loves to be held and hold his head up and look around. From the moment they put him on me after he was born, he has been holding his head up trying to check out all of the action.

And the best thing that happened this month was that Nash learned to smile! Everyone kept saying, "Just wait until they smile. It makes things so much better!" Well, that's true. They look really cute, and they seem more like a human being. And Nash isn't a pro at smiling yet, so it's a lot of hilarious looking half smiles. So precious!

Well, that's it for month two. It was worse than the first month in some ways, but better than the first month in other ways. I'm pretty sure it will be like that for the rest of his life, but we can definitely see how fun it will be when he can interact more. We sure love him!

Nash: One Month

Well, as of April 16th, we have a one month old.

He grew over two inches the first month which means that he has already outgrown quite a few of his 0-3 month clothes. He is also a pound over his birth weight, but he is a lean, lanky baby. Look at those arms!

The first two weeks, he was a little angel. He almost never cried, he took great naps, and he was a chill little guy.

Since then, it hasn't always been super fun. For the most part he's still pretty good, but there are good days and bad days. To be honest, even though we love him, having a baby sucks sometimes, but I hear it gets better. :)

Most of the time, he will only take a long nap in a carrier. At least he still naps, but it's hard to get things done when I'm at home like showering or putting on deodorant. I can still make dinner and clean though! When we're out, it's actually a really good thing, because we know we can put him in there, and he'll sleep through everything which is nice.

This month all the hair on the top of his head fell out, which makes him look even more like an old man.

And he does look precious in his little baby clothes. I actually love little boy clothes.

Maybe some day we'll be on a schedule, maybe someday we'll feel like having a baby is normal, maybe someday I'll sleep for more than a few hours at a time. Until then, we are taking it day by day and trusting God to be near us and present during this time of adjustment. :)

Baby Naming and a Birth Announcement

Baby naming is hard business. You are picking something that this kid is going to have to live with for his whole life. thats a lot of pressure. A lot of people have asked about Nash's name, so I thought I would discuss it.

We were definitely not those people that had names picked out so that the minute we found out it was a girl or boy we could start referring to the baby by name. We didn't even make the middle name decision until like a week before he was born. And even then, we went back and forth. We also didn't tell anyone the name until he was born. It was our little secret.

NASH

At some point in the pregnancy, we made a list of names we liked, but we really didn't love any of them. Also, we had a lot of reasons to cross names off. I am a freak about a name being too common, so if any of them were in the top 200 most popular names or if we knew anyone with a kid named that name, we pretty much nixed it.

We found ourselves gravitating to last names as first names, but a lot of those sound too formal with Butler. We liked the name Bennett, but Bennett Butler sort of sounds like it should be "Bennett & Butler Attorneys at Law." Too fancy.

Another name that we really liked was Cash because we love Johnny and June, but when you put it with our last name, it doesn't work at all. Cash Butler sounds like something they would sell on an infomercial. "Is your cash TOO cluttered and disorganized? You need the Cash Butler!"

So when we hit a brick wall with every other name, I decided to see if there were any other musician names we hadn't thought of. Well, after some looking around, I came upon Nash. Like Graham Nash. Duh. We loved it. It's a last name, but it still sounds super chill. We also liked that it's a name everyone has heard, but we personally don't know anyone with it as a first name. So that became the front runner, and as time went on, we liked it more and more and liked all the other names on our list less and less.

 
ADAMS

We wanted a name with some sort of meaning or a family name and we kicked around a lot of ideas. Austin is where we got engaged, Hoxton is a hotel in we stayed at in London, and we had a bunch of family names and last names to play with. But in the end, Adams was the obvious choice.

I have some ancestors who had the last name Adams. They were revolutionaries: Samuel, John, John Quincy. The Adams last name continued in my family from them all the way to my grandmother, but she only had sisters, so when they all got married, Adams was gone. My parents decided to carry on the name and gave it to my two sisters and me as our middle name. Yep, all three of us had the same middle name! So before I got married, I was Laura Adams Noble. But when I went to change my name, I felt like if I was going to have a last name for my middle name, it should be my last name. So now my name is Laura Noble Butler. Adams was gone again. :)

After not being able to make a decision for basically the entire time I was pregnant, we finally decided to go with Adams a week or two before. 

And we had it. Nash Adams Butler. I like that his initials are NAB. That's all.

We're Alive

More importantly, we have managed to keep an infant alive for three whole weeks. Woo hoo!

Let's recap the last few weeks. Actually let's start with a little recap of the last nine months.

I thought for sure I would be way overdue and have to be induced, but the Lord did a miracle and I went into labor on my own three days after our due date.

After 18 hours in labor, I got a shot of some drugs.

Two hours after that, I got an epidural. Thirteen hours after that (including five hours of pushing and a little help from a vacuum) we had a baby.

My mom and sister-in-law Aaron were there for the whole thing, and Aaron took some beautiful pictures (nothing graphic! yikes!), so I will share those pictures and share about that day at some point. Thirty three hours of labor is no joke.

This is Nash at three days old. He weighed 8 lbs 4 oz at the doctor that day, which is 7 oz LESS than when he was born, and it still doesn't make sense that he was inside my body. 

We had great mom coverage for the first almost three weeks. My mom was here for two weeks, then Mike's parents were here for a week. We feel so lucky to have such wonderfully caring parents who changed diapers and did laundry and made lots of yummy dinners. But as awesome as having help was, and as much as we appreciate the very excited grandparents being here, it has been nice to finally just be a family. Mike is taking this week off, and after one day, it is already awesome. We basically hadn't been alone in almost a month. And we are really doing it. Getting a taste of what our life is like now. 

We went for a walk with my mom one day. The weather has been unseasonably sunny for Seattle the past few weeks.

We also hosted Easter dinner for both of our moms, my brother Tom and sister-in-law Aaron, Mike's brother John and his wife McCayla, McCayla's parents, and our good friends Andy and Jess. And by hosted, I mean, all of the people I just mentioned came to our house and made all the food. So thanks everyone, especially to our moms, Margaret and Sue! Nash even got dressed up for the holiday.

The first two weeks Nash was a little angel baby. He put himself on a schedule, went right to sleep by himself, and only got up once in the middle of the night. Then his third week he went through a growth spurt, and things have been a little out of whack. But that's life with a newborn. And he is still sleeping pretty well at night, so we'll take it! 

Not that it's super easy. I mean, you do what you need to to take care of them. That part is easy. Just emotionally it's difficult. You start worrying about them right when they come out, and it's hard when they cry and you don't know why or how to make them feel better. It's also just such a radical life change, and you wonder if you will ever feel normal again. You wonder if you will ever adjust to having a baby with you all the time. It's crazy. Yesterday my friend told me that after about three months, you are mostly used to it. So we'll see. She also told me that when their little girl was two or three weeks old, the baby was napping, and she looked over and her husband was crying. She asked him what was wrong, and he goes, "Are we ever going to be ok again?" And obviously they were, but it's nice to know that everyone freaks out for a while. :)

He is pretty cute. And so sweet most of the time.

So that's about it. We are taking it one day at a time. Yesterday I made lasagna, did laundry, used our cloth diapers, went to church, and kept a baby alive. So it was a good day. It also helped that Nash went right to bed at 9 pm and slept until 3 am. Heaven. :)

And I will leave you with a sneak peek of some pictures our friend Carly took this past Friday. She is a ridiculously talented photographer, and I can't wait to see the rest of them!

Baby Nash

Well, we had a baby! Nash Adams Butler arrived at 9:50 am on March 16th weighing 8 lbs 11 oz, measuring 20 inches long. We got to go home the next day and are loving life hanging out with our chill little guy! We are so blessed.

Some Nursery Pics

Well, March 12th (aka our due date) has come and gone and I am still pregnant. I was fully expecting to go late, though, so no big deal. Having finally reached a point in pregnancy where I'm not throwing up, I am not totally losing it that I haven't had a baby yet. If the majority of my pregnancy had been like this, I would have 10 kids. Maybe...

Our nursery has been pretty much complete for a while now. We basically just put a crib, dresser, and chair in our existing guest room. Guest nursery room. Also, if I get tired I can take a nap in there while the baby naps. Naps are less lazy if you sleep somewhere other than your own bed, right?

So here is what it looks like when you walk in. The chair and dresser over on the right, the bed in a cozy little window nook, and the crib right on the left.

When I talked about making a crib skirt, I showed the Ikea crib that we got. Well, with turquoise sheets and some robot inspired cog wheel art, it is looking pretty sharp. The art is just paper that I cut out with my Zing. I sewed it all with invisible thread, and attached it to some parts from the Home Depot plumbing aisle.

One of my favorite things is the dresser we painted and the pegboard that hangs above it.

I had seen so many cute pegboard ideas on Pinterest, and Mike's brother had given us one that he had left over from a garage organization project. We had planned to use it to do some organizing in our garage, but it sat around for a few months, so I stole it for the nursery.

Yes, that is a gun. In a baby's room. That's just how we roll. It's actually a 70 year old .22 that was Mike's grandmothers when she was a kid. The carved wood is gorgeous, and it had been sitting in a closet, so we thought we would stick it up there. We like it. The large white bin is wrangling all the socks and booties we have, and the silver buckets on the side have hats in one, miscellaneous pacifiers and things in the bottom one, and a handmade (by my sister in law McCayla!) plush robot which is so cute. My mom also found red and blue tin robots just like I talked about wanting in this nursery inspiration post! Other things you might spy: this turquoise clock from Target, some baby bow ties, and a dangling puffy cloud.

I have talked about this little Ikea cart before, and how my mom got it for us. Well, now it lives between the changing table.dresser and the rocking chair. It's diaper central, and yes we are a little crazy and doing cloth. To be totally honest, it's less of an environmental decision, and more of an economic decision. Not that we couldn't afford disposables, but if we CAN save thousands of dollars over the next couple of years, why wouldn't we give it a shot? With all of our generous friends and family buying diapers off our registry, along with gift cards and coupons, we spent under $150 out of pocket for all the brand new cloth diapers our little guy will need until he is potty trained, And since I work at home and will be basically his only caregiver, it just makes sense for us to give it a go. So we'll see what happens...

And of course I went crazy with wall art. I just kept making prints, and I couldn't stop. Most are stolen ideas from Pinterest that I tweaked in Illustrator, along with a few animal cutouts. The frames are all from thrift stores, with a few from Ikea thrown in. I also included black and white baby pictures of Mike and I.

So that's where we are today. Just waiting for baby But to get here. And he has a name! But it's a secret. We were back and forth on the middle name for a while, but we are going with our gut. Well, my gut. Except we have a back up first name in case he comes out and doesn't look like the other name, but it's the only name we both have liked the entire time, so we're pretty sure it's the one.

We'll keep you posted!