adventures in cloth diapering

who knew there were so many options out there when it came to cloth diapering! i started looking at all sorts of options while i was still pregnant, trying to decide which would be the most practical for me as well as the most affordable. i initially stumbled across g diapers in a baby magazine at my OB/GYN office and thought they were cute and such fun colors (i mean seriously, who can resist that cute little white "g" on the butt of a baby?). the more i looked into the hybrid cloth/disposable design the more excited i got. we initially purchased four covers and 6 cloth inserts as well as the disposable inserts to use when we were "out about town." although to be honest, the disposable inserts fell into disuse and we are pretty much exclusive cloth option parents now. the cloth inserts, while nice, were super pricey so i decided to make my own.they may look like kitchen dishcloths but they are actually made of an old flannel sheet (100% cotton) from goodwill. i used this tutorial and made about 20 prefolds out of a king-size sheet and some old towels and automotive microfiber cloths. the cloth inserts basically just lay right into the breathable liner and the cover velcros shut. like so:with this set-up you can simply replace the cloth insert for a diaper change or if needs be (when it's more than just a wet diaper) you can unsnap the whole liner out of the cover and replace both! Oliver has outgrown the small size and is now in mediums, so we started over with the homemade prefolds, hunting at the goodwill for some old, quality bedsheets and found a purple and a plaid flannel, way more exciting than just plain white. so, bottom line (no pun intended) is that we are loving them. and a happy bum makes for a happy baby!!

p.s. please forgive me for not posting in so many months, i have no good excuse really, just too lazy to put down the handheld itouch internet access and walk over to the actual computer! after all, convenience usually trumps all else!