I’ll admit, I’m totally intrigued by cloth diapering – the cute designs, saving money, and being eco-friendly are all perks that I’m very interested in…I’m just not quite ready to try it. So when Marisa from My {Kind of} Life agreed to write a post on the basics of cloth diapering, I was pretty excited. If you haven’t met Marisa yet, she’s a self-proclaimed semi-crunchy, first time, working mum to Aubrey who is now 12 weeks old. She started her blog as a modern baby book, documenting their lives, but likes to talk about all sorts of things ranging from food, family, weight, and anything else that happens to cross her mind. In her free time, she loves photography, with her two most common subjects being her dogs and her little girl. Stay tuned at the end of this post for a very special giveaway from SunBaby cloth diapers!
Prior to getting pregnant I was obsessed with all things pregnancy and baby related. I knew that I wanted everything to be safe, natural, and of course affordable! When my time came for me to get pregnant and carry my little one I had decided that I wanted to at least try my hand at cloth diapering.
Why I chose to cloth diaper
It’s good for the earth! I knew that I would not feel good about throwing away thousands of diapers to sit in a landfill for years to come. Cloth diapering also meant my baby would be avoiding the harsh chemicals that disposables are filled with. The cancer causing chemicals freaked me out! The chemical that causes the wetness in the diaper to become a gel like substance in order to get more use out of the diaper is just…wrong, in my opinion. Plus, cloth diapering meant I would be saving hundreds, if not, thousands of dollars! Who doesn’t want to save some cash?
Which diaper is for me?
So, I researched and researched and researched. Oh man, did I research! There is a bunch of information out there about cloth diapering. From the different types of diapers (prefolds, fitteds, pockets, all-in-one, and one size) to the different brands (there are way too many to even try to list!) and all of the ways to wash them it is pretty easy to get confused. It took me a long time just to get the lingo down.
I ended up going with the Sunbaby cloth diapers because the designs were super cute and they were extremely affordable. I spent $150 and got 48 inserts and 24 diaper covers. The Sunbaby diaper is a pocket, one size diaper. “Pocket” means that I have to “stuff” the diaper with the insert. “One size” means that it adjusts with my baby as she grows. The one size was super important to me because I didn’t want to end up having to restart my stash as my daughter outgrew each diaper because those things can get pretty expensive!
SunBaby Cloth Diapers
The Three Hows
How often do I have to change my daughter’s diaper? I get this question a lot. Because cloth diapers do not have the harsh chemicals that disposables do I end up changing my daughter every two hours give or take an hour. But that can and will change as she gets older. People tend to think that because I have to change her so often the diapers must not be very absorbent. Wrong! Those things can hold quite a bit of fluid, it is absolutely amazing! I change her because she doesn’t like to be wet. Who can blame her?
Cloth Diaper with Insert
How often do I wash a load of diapers? Since my daughter is still pretty young (12 weeks to be exact) I still change her quite frequently. So in order to avoid an “I don’t have any diapers” crisis I wash them every three days. It sounds like a lot but it actually has helped me to keep up with the entire household’s laundry so I rarely fall behind.
How do I wash the diapers? Everyone has their own routine for washing cloth diapers. I have even seen chat boards that have the washing routine broken by the type of washer/dryer and whether the water is hard or soft. Personally, I kind of just made up my own routine and so far so good. Right now it’s a pretty easy routine since I breastfeed my daughter. Later on when she is eating solids the routine will include spraying off any poop into the toilet. But for now I just put the dirties straight into the pail. I keep all of the dirty diapers inside of a wet bag in a little trash can. I just dump out the diapers from the bag into the washer and toss the wetbag in as well. I do one cold/cold prewash, one hot/cold wash with a tablespoon of All Free and Clear detergent and then one final cold rinse. I toss them all in the dryer and they are good to go!
Now, I wouldn’t consider myself to be an expert on cloth diapering because after all, I am a first time mommy and I have only used one brand. It is a bit scary at first with all of the information out there but once you give it a true, legitimate shot it isn’t too hard at all. Plus, who can resist a brightly colored baby bum?
Thank you Marisa for taking the time to write this post! If you want to keep up with Marisa, make sure to keep up with her on her blog, My {Kind of} Life!
But wait! That’s not all! After hearing Marisa’s wonderful words about SunBaby cloth diapers, I decided to reach out to them and let them know they had a huge fan. As I researched the company, it turns out they have lots of fans…so many positive reviews. People just love the prints, the price, and the quality of these diapers. They have great customer service too, because not only did I receive an email back in less than 12 hours, but Sun Pei from SunBaby was kind enough to offer a giveaway to go along with this guest post! One lucky winner will receive this “doll” print diaper courtesy of the awesome folks at Sunbaby!
As I looked over the website, I fell in love with this diaper just a little bit. Such a cute clover/heart design, and perfect for St. Patrick’s day! So in addition to SunBaby’s wonderful offer, I’m going to giveaway 2 of these festive cloth diapers:
Unfortunately, you can only purchase 6 or more diapers on the SunBaby website, and no matter how reasonably priced they are, the blog budget just wouldn’t support that, so I turned to eBay and quickly found jnft04’s store. There I was able to buy brand new, genuine SunBaby diapers in current and past prints in single quantities (and again, for a very reasonable $11.99 with free shipping). I purchased the two clover/heart diapers at her store and they were shipped the very next day! She even checked in with me to make sure that I meant to order two of the same print. I love great eBay sellers.
Anyway, that means that means there will be 3 winners for this giveaway – 2 will get the clover/heart design and 1 will get the doll design! All the giveaway diapers are SunBaby 4.0 OS pocket diapers (with microfiber insert), and are a Size 2 which fits babies from 7-35 pounds. They are a one size diaper because they will adjust to fit your growing baby, but are classified as a Size 2 because they are made for average, chunky, or older babies. If you have a skinny baby you might want to check out their Size 1 diapers. You can get all the details on SunBaby diapers by going to their product info page.
The Rules:
Looking to dip your toe in the cloth diapering waters? Or do you already cloth diaper and want to add to your diaper stash? Then you are definitely going to want to enter this giveaway.
Mandatory Entry – All you have to do is leave me a comment with your number one reason for wanting to cloth diaper. That’s it. You’re entered! If you can, please indicate whether you would like the doll print, heart/clover print, or put “either” if you like them both. While the winners will be chosen randomly, once they are selected, I will try to make sure that everyone gets the diaper they would like.
Bonus Entries –
- Follow Marisa at My {Kind of} Life by Google Friend Connect (it’s on her right side bar)
- Follow Diary of a Working Mom on Facebook
- Go to the SunBaby website and and leave me a comment letting me know your favorite diaper print
- Tweet about this giveaway – I’m not picky about how you tweet it, just include a link to this post and my twitter name @WorkingMomof2 so I can verify your tweet.
Once you have completed a bonus entry, come back here and leave me a comment letting me know which entry you completed. You must leave a separate comment for each entry. Each person will be allowed one mandatory entry and 4 bonus entries.
This giveaway will be open until Sunday, March 11th at 11:59 pm. The winner will be selected using random.org, contacted by email, and have 72 hours to respond. If no response is received, another winner will be selected using random.org.
Good luck everyone!
Congratulations to Nicole with comment #27, Beth with comment #121, and Olivia L with comment #183 — They are the winners of the SunBaby cloth diaper giveaway! Email notifications have been sent and the winners have 72 hours to respond. Didn’t win? Don’t worry, I have another great cloth diaper giveaway coming up next month…after, I myself, try cloth diapering.
I cloth diaper to save money and help the environment.
I’d like either diaper 🙂 I have a 17 month old girl in cloth and a baby boy on the way 🙂
Following Marisa at My {Kind of} Life by Google Friend Connect
jkclosso at gmail dot com
AAF of Diary of a Working Mom on FB
I like yellow car and cream zoo.
I tweeted: https://twitter.com/#!/Jenaprea/status/175331974695747585
I love cloth diapering because it is fun and sposies are gross. 🙂
I like your blog on FB. I forgot to mention that I’d prefer the clover print, but I’d be happy with either. 🙂
Following Marisa!
Brown flower is a beautiful print! Love it!
I don’t understand twitter, but I attempted to tweet about you giveaway…haha! Hope it worked.
My #1 reason is because it is safer and cheaper!
Followed my kind of life on GFC as arobinson45
Follow diary of a working mom on FB as Alex Liz Robinson
I like the cream zoo print! Lots of cute choices though!
My number one reason for choosing to cloth diaper was to save money.
Like your Facebook page.
My favorite prints are either argyle or zoo.
Tweeted: https://twitter.com/#!/mummytocharis/status/175359655910969345
Follow My {Kind of} Life via GFC {mummytocharis}.
It’s nice to just have to wash them and not having to buy more all the time. I love the hearts one!
I have two older children (9 and 7) and used disposable for them….we are homestudy approved and waiting to adopt a newborn…cloth diapering this time (to save money and in the in-between years, have tried to be more natural in everything we do – food, cleaning supplies, etc….cloth diapering just makes sense!)
I am now following Marisa with google friend connect
I am now following Diary of a Working Mom on facebook.
I always wanted to cloth diaper. My husband was not on board. If I won a diaper and showed him how easy even just one was I’m sure he’d be on board. I’d love to have the hearts one!
Cream Zoo is my favorite print!
Hard to choose one reason! Better for my baby, better for my pocketbook, better for the earth.
I choose cloth diapering because I don’t want the ick of disposables next to my kids bum….. Im not picky on the print:) Thank you.
I like cd’ing to help the environment and my wallet.
Follow Marisa at My {Kind of} Life by Google Friend Connect…I forgot to write that I like the heart/clover print 🙂
Follow Diary of a Working Mom on Facebook
I like the diamond print, too.
https://twitter.com/momof3dolls/status/175620628659970048
I like cloth diaper because they save money! Being green is a nice bonus. I like either print.
im begining cloth diapers for my 4 month old girl because every disposible diaper gives her a rash and i wasnt aware of all the chemicals until recently. im trying to do whats best for her. i like either print. what your doing is awesome. THANK YOU!!
Brown flower is my current fav sunbaby print
follow diary of a working mom, done
■Follow Marisa at My {Kind of} Life by Google Friend Connect
i did this
i tweeted
following my kind of life, done
my fav sunbaby diaper is elephants one
I am new to cloth diapering, I decided to switch when I got pregnant and actually just started my diaper stash. I have a 15 month old daughter who gets frequent diaper rashes if I dont use cloth wipes on her butt, and I am pregnant due in April. We decided to cloth diaper because it will save us money having two babies in diapers, its better for the environment as well as better for my children. I like the hear/clover print
followed on facebook. its nice to know people like you still exist. willing to help out another momma with a new diaper. im willing to help spread the word however i can.
I am choosing cloth for my baby who is due in April because it is better for the environment and oh so cute 😉
Following on facebook-doll
Brown flower is the cutest!! Doll
I would like to start CD because it will be cheaper. all my friends CD and they have said good things about it. They recommend me Sunbaby diapers. I want to try them, husband is not on board but I will convince him. If I win I would l dont have any color preference.
I did it to save money and the cute prints really help out!!! Either would work on my baby girl.
My sister has been using cloth diapers on all of my nephews. I have 3, and a 4th on the way in a week! I would love to see my new nephew in one of these cute diapers!
I started to cloth diaper to save money (I stay at home with my LO now). I also like how it’s better for Mother Earth too!
I like the brown argyle the best.
Tweeted–https://twitter.com/#!/akbrink2/status/176046541059002369
My number one reason for cloth diapering was an attempt to lessen my children’s chemical exposure. The facts of what are in disposables is really frightening. I like the heart and clover print 😉
I follow Marisa on GFC.
I cloth diaper to save money, but now I love it for so many more reasons.
I like the heart/clover diaper.
I like saving money
I like the elephant print in blue on the sunbaby site
I want cloth diapers because we need to save some money but I can’t afford to buy them outright. I’d like the clover print.
I liked them on fb.
i am entering for my sister who uses cloth diapers to put less diapers in the landfills and the savings of $
the heart/clover.
I love the green aspect along with the money-saving aspect. I like the clover/heart print.
I cloth diaper to save money!!
I like cloth diapers because they really do save money.
I also like the doll print!
Save Me Some Money!
Our number one reason for cloth diapering is our children’s’ sensitive skin. The only thing that keeps their bums from rashing up. Cloth is healthy! We also enjoy the cost savings, the lack of trash, the earlier potty training and the ADORABLE bums!
Tweet!
https://twitter.com/#!/LilyBearLove/status/176872527841333248
Like Diary of a Working Mom on Facebook
Rebecca Smith
Love the Brown Flower and the Elephant prints!
I want to give it to my friend who has a baby.
I would love to win one! This will be the first time that my husband and I try out cloth diapering! So I am looking to get a good stash before our LO arrives. I would like the heart/clover print! 🙂
https://twitter.com/#!/SarahJenkins08/status/177073073294557184 Just tweeted @SarahJenkins08
I am now following Marisa at My {Kind of} Life by Google Friend Connect
I am now following Diary of a Working Mom on Facebook
my favorite print on your site was the yellow car 🙂
Who wants to buy diapers every week?
Following “my kind of life”.
I like the cream zoo….and at that price I will be keeping them in mind.
I would love to cloth diaper because it is better for baby’s sensitive skin and way better for the environment! Would love to try it! Love the heart design! SO cute!
I like the green bear pattern
I would love to win these because its so much cheaper and better for the environment. I used the old kind of cloth diapers on my other babies but these look amazing!
I follow you on FB
Christine hammer weideman
I follow marissa on GFC as
hearthkeeper in christ
I would like to save money on diapers and they are way cuter!
Following Marisa at my on gfc.
Following diary of a working mom on fb (brightbird)
The number one reason I want to do cloth diapering is because it will help save us money in the long run.
I am now following My {Kind of } Life
I liked Diary of a Working Mom on Facebook.
My favorite sunbaby print is Brown Flower 🙂
I like to cloth diaper because I couldn’t have a 4 or 5 year old in diapers. I have never seen an older cloth diapered child still in diapers, yet it is pretty common to see 4 and 5 year olds in disposables. I would prefer the clover/hearts.
I tweeted your giveaway 🙂
I want to try them to see how much I could save
Clover/Heart
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Cloth diapers are a great way to save money. i would love to win either, because my best friend is expecting and I would add it to her baby shower gift.
I would love to be able to say it’s for noble reasons like better for the environment, but it’s mostly to save money.
Our 4th baby is 2 months old and I would love to start cloth diapering.
I’m wanting to cloth diaper because it’s greener and better for baby’s health (no crazy chemicals against baby’s skin!)
(I like the heart/clover print) 🙂
I follow Marisa on GFC (Ledford Land)
I like Diary of a Working Mom on Facebook
I like the Cream Zoo fabric!
My reason for wanting one of these is to reduce the amount of waste from traditional diapers. I like the heart/clover print
I do it as it’s a lot cheaper than buying disposable diapers.
Cloth diapering is important to me for my baby’s health and economical reasons. I love the heart one!
Disposables are so wasteful of money and resources. It’s great to see cloth making a comeback.
Love the Yellow Star print
TO SAVE MONEY AND HELPS THE ENVIRONMENT
FOLLOW ON GFC
LIKE Diary of a Working Mom ON FACEBOOK
I LIKE THE RED PRINT
My main reasons were for environment, baby health and cost. =) I would pick clover/heart.
My favorite print is the argyle.
I think cloth diapers are just more natural for the body
vmkids3 at msn dot com
My biggest motivation for wanting to Cloth Diaper is to save money! I would love to have the heart print.
I followed on GFC.
I liked on FB as Alessandra Perkins Peterson.
I cloth diaper to save money. I would like either print.
Like your page on facebook as Dandi Daffyhill
I like the purple color
I like the Brown Flower print from the Sunbaby website!
Tweeted, https://twitter.com/#!/sneedleali/status/178145408101531648
I cloth diaper because my little guy has sensitive skin and I know cloth diapers are safe to use without his skin getting irritated. Thank you!!
beth.rees333 at gmail dot com
I love the Heart design diaper
beth.rees333 at gmail dot com
I love the Heart design diaper but would love either, but Heart is my first choice
beth.rees333 at gmail dot com
I follow Marisa at My {Kind of} Life by Google Friend Connect (Beth)
beth.rees333 at gmail dot com
I Follow Diary of a Working Mom on Facebook (Beth Rees)
beth.rees333 at gmail dot com
My favorite sunbaby print is yellow car
beth.rees333 at gmail dot com
tweet
https://twitter.com/#!/Gkeeper333/status/178173701643182081
beth.rees333 at gmail dot com
For the cost!
I love cloth diapers, I have been cloth diapering my 6 month old since she was a week old! I would love to try out a new kind!!
We went with cloth diapers because of finances… and because we want lots of babies and they’re more cute. 🙂 I like the heart ones. 🙂
I want to try cloth diapers because I think they are cute and I hope to save money by not having to buy so many disposables! If I won, I’d want the heart/clover one!!
tweeted https://twitter.com/#!/bkxanon/status/178223620601036801
I like Diary of a Working Mom on facebook (becky straub)
I follow my kind of life on GFC (Beck)
I love the pink and brown argyle print!
We chose to cloth diaper our baby first of all for the environment and for baby’s health. We also like that it saves us money! We have a little girl so the doll print would be great but we’ll take either 🙂
I Follow Marisa at My {Kind of} Life by Google Friend Connect as rachelg_
I already liked Diary of a Working Mom on Facebook 🙂
Because I think ultimately it will save me money
There are a few prints that I really like. One of my favorite diaper prints is Red Butterfly.
Tweeted: https://twitter.com/#!/RachelG38/status/178229416491618304
I haven’t started yet but I will when this baby gets here in June! I am trying to save money and the planet at the same time! Also I like the clover print.
I am following you on FB!
I visited the Sunbaby website and I like the elephants print!
I would just like to try the cloth diapers…this would be a good start 🙂 If I win, I would like the heart/clover print, thanks!
simms3710@yahoo.com
I cloth diaper because I want to keep the “fake” diaper chemicals away from my babies. I would prefer the heart/clover design for my twin boys. Thanks!
I liked Diary of a Working Mom on FB. I would love the heart/clover design for my twin boys.
My favorite SunBaby diaper print is the Argyle. I would love the heart / clover print diaper for my twin boys.
I LOVE the heart diaper. Cloth diapering keeps chlorine away from the most sensitive skin on a diaper. They can be handed down until they are just not usable anymore, unlike disposables. And they’re stinkin’ cute!
I follow Marisa.
I follow on facebook! I can confirm my full name if I win, I’d rather not post it here due to my slim chance at having an anonymous blog 🙂
I totally understand! That’s a good way to do it.
As boring as it is, I really like the plain orange ones!
I tweeted (BecomingGreen13).
we cloth diaper to save money and be green! 🙂 we would like the clover print
gfc follow marisa
like diary of a working mom on fb
i like the yellow star print the most
tweet: https://twitter.com/#!/AllisonGunnip/status/178528784067211264
There are lots of reasons but my number one is cost! I really like that heart diaper!!
I’d like to win one for my sister, who wants to try out cloth diapers with her new baby boy.
Definitely would like the clover one, I don’t think my brother-in-law would appreciate the dolls!
the yellow star is my favorite sunbaby design!
Never tried them before
it saves lots of trash in the landfills
forgot to say either is fine
my kind of life google friend kathy pease
kathypease(at)gmail(dot)com
like you on facebook kathy pease
kathypease(at)gmail(dot)com
i like the elephant print
https://twitter.com/#!/klp1965/status/178594829016637440
Reducing sheer cost and waste
My main reason for wanting to cloth diaper was the cost savings and I never wanted to have to deal with having to make a mad dash to the store because we ran out of diapers..Also the environmental concerns and because they are so stinkin’ cute…It’s an addiction 🙂
My Kind of Life GFC @Alisha L.
bakergurl02 (at) yahoo (d0t) com
FB Fan of yours @Alisha Lesage
bakergurl02 (at) yahoo (d0t) com
I would love a Size 2 in the Yellow Star print 🙂
bakergurl02 (at) yahoo (d0t) com
Tweet: https://twitter.com/#!/ALittleIndian/status/178631255485710336
bakergurl02 (at) yahoo (dot) com
I want to cut down on the amount of trash we use
i want to cloth diaper to save money!
i GFC Marrisa at My kind of life
im following dilary of a working mom on facebook
i like the cream zoo size 2 from the sun babies website!
i tweeted as HCeallaigh
My #1 reason is the money that we save.
sandysaveseveryday AT gmail DOT com
Potty training my first was difficult and my second hopefully will be easier with a cloth diaper.
I’d love to cloth diaper, because I know how expensive regular diapers can be.
I love cloth diapers because they are so economical! I’d love to win a heart/clover print dipe!
Following My Kind of Life via GFC as Olivia L
Following Diary of a Working Mom on FB as Olivia Lambert Lasting
My favorite print is the argyle one
I tweeted
https://twitter.com/#!/OliviaLasting/status/178727745084334081
to keep weird chemicals away!
i like on FB
https://twitter.com/#!/DesMoinesDealin/status/178870198072381440
Because it’s the healthiest and safest option for babies! No chemicals or strange synthetic absorbents. What is best for baby should always be the number one reason for everything a parent does.
Oh, and I like the heart pattern. 🙂
Thanks for the opportunity!
Follower of My {Kind of} Life through GFC (Apple Pie).
Fan of Diary of a Working Mom on FB (Ro’Chele Apple).
I love the Argyle print!
Tweeted (https://twitter.com/#!/Away_Giver/status/178887563946377217)!
It’s better for the environment. I’d prefer heart/clover.
I like the argyle print.
I follow My Kind of Life via GFC
I love cloth because it’s so for on my baby’s bottom !
Followed on fb
My favorite pattern is the pink zoo!
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