My Baby's First Month in SoftBums- Shannon's Summary

             As I sit here on my LAST day of maternity leave and reflect on my last 8 weeks being a new mom, cloth diaper explorer and blogger, I feel like crying. I am so sad that I won’t be around my Otis 24/7! At least he doesn’t have to go to daycare as his dad and I are working opposite schedules so one of us is always home. I have probably gone thru nearly 2000 wipes, 850 diaper changes (with cloth) and have saved nearly 300 dollars in disposable diapers.  It has been so much fun documenting my cloth diaper adventures and I have learned so much! I absolutely LOVE SoftBums!!

I have learned that I prefer Aplix. This preference was due mainly because my LO had an in-between size belly for snaps and I couldn’t succeed with a leak-free diaper change so I sold them on the Softbums B/S/T on facebook. I may regret this decision down the road as his hands become more capable. ;)

Things I have learned:

• It is essential to loosen the elastics for a good fit. Tight elastics make leaks happen and red marks on the legs.

• Get bigger inserts sooner- They may make the bum look bigger but there are less leaks, less wardrobe changes and THEY GROW SO FAST! My little guy was 6lbs 15 oz when he was born. I started cloth diapering at 2 weeks right after his cord fell off which he was 7lbs 6oz and now he is about 12.5-13 lbs and the mini’s aren’t working so I ordered bigger ones but I have limited supply right now and I have a lot more leaks even with 2 minis.
• When  you travel it is so much easier to just have a large wetbag in the back of the car to store the wet diapers.
• Bamboo SuperPods ROCK for overnight diapers.

• Check points on every diaper change are essential.  Check the legs, swoop the back and make sure you put the waist on with legs down.  

In hopes of helping others just starting out with a newborn I created this quick SoftBums Newborn video tutorial!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b7QxsxUtSIA

Laundry:

-I've found that starting your laundry in the evening so the diapers can go on the line right away in the morning.  This took me nearly 6 weeks to figure out.

My Favorite Cloth Diapering Gear:

• -My Planet Wise wet/dry bag for town diaper changes
  

  
• My Kelty Kids backpack that came with a really compact changing pad for a diaper bag
• Earth Mama Angel Baby Bottom Balm

Stuff I wasted my money on:

• -Probably too many mini pods yet I can use them as doublers and once we have a second child we will probably need both doublers and minis again for a mini bum.
• Disposable liners- Maybe I will like them down the line when we introduce solids and the poo is REALLY nasty.

Favorite SoftBums Diaper Combos:

I LOVE my Bamboo SuperPods currently on smallest setting . They absorb so much, are nice and soft and they will grow with Otis. I have only 1 Omni which I will be getting more as I like them at night and once Otis goes to daycare using them as a pocket will make it much easier for the provider.

My favorite shell right now is probably Moonlight.  

The PUL is a different texture than most of the others and seems to be softer and more comfortable. I get a wonderful fit and it’s a solid but it is unique enough to bring some fun in to his outfits.  My favorite print is Cowies although I haven’t used it on Otis more than twice total. In fact, I sold it. It had snaps. I’d love to get one with aplix but it is by far one of the cutest prints.

So as I end this blog, I advise families who will cloth diaper their babies;

• Stick with SoftBums- learn the system very well, become an expert. You only have to keep track of one general type of things (shells, pods, wipes and bottom balm-only 4 things). Also having one system makes it easy for your significant other to learn, grandma and grandpa and their acceptance of it will improve.

• Have fun with it. Find the things that make diapering fun. I love to tell Otis that I am going to put chocolate on his butt. Although it’s a shell color it also sounds very goofy.  
• Let your family enjoy the process. I let dad pick a bundle of the shell colors. He is a solids kind of guy and I’m a print kind of girl. We each have our favorites but it lets them participate and adopt the idea more fully.

Things on my mind about cloth diapers:

I have changed so many diapers in the last 8 weeks that I am very comfortable with it. I do have leaks now and then and I figure out why then fix it. My husband has learned some stuff from me but is far behind me in numbers, trial and error and video watching.  I hope as I am off to work tomorrow he does okay with it. I did make a tutorial video and I hope he watches it if he needs to.

I worry that dad won’t be on board with the laundry routine once he learns about the loads and the 2 cycle routine. 

I can’t wait to buy more. I don’t know why I love diapers so much. It seems like there is almost a love affair with them. You first buy them simply for the colors and prints, then, it grows into a conquering ritual as you want to avoid leaks, rash, and banana crotch. With those goals you watch videos, practice a ton and become so satisfied when you “get” it.

I’m going to miss my morning routine and seeing the beauty of natural fibers and colors basking in the sun drying all on their own.  They cost no more than a few minutes of my effort to put them on the line.

With that, the Pitt family is signing off. We hope you enjoy your cloth diapering experience. Fall in love with the money savings and instead of dreading the giant garbage load, smile at the pretty colors on your clothes line and start adding it up.

We hope you find help as I did on Softbums Superfan Facebook page, perhaps buy them cheaper on the B/S/T group and that you adopt the notion that cloth really is better.  Finally remember, you do this all because you care about your baby, and the world you are shaping around them.

Did you follow Shannon & Otis on their journey into cloth diapering in this series of My Baby's First Month in SoftBums!

• Week 1
• Week 2
• Week 3
• Week 4

Let them know what you learned or what you enjoyed from their journey into cloth diapering below!