Cloth Diapering, the beginning

A sweet friend's dear boys. 

Cloth is so cute!

I came upon the frugal lifestyle quite by accident. Annaliese had just come into our lives at 2 weeks old, she was allergic to every thing. Her formula made her sick, soap aggravated what I later learned was eczema and yes she was even allergic to diapers and baby wipes. As a relatively new mom (my first baby was only a year old at this time) I was clueless until a dear friend of mine very lovingly sent me a set of cloth diapers and inserts. I was hooked. Why hadn't I known about this when Amarissa was a tiny infant? Now if you had told me before the babies came that I would willingly use cloth diapers, I would have laughed at you. That is something my grandparents and mother did.  What I wasn't aware of was cloth diapers have changed radically since my mom was a baby. They come with snaps and velcro instead of needing pins. There are inserts and flip diapers, the possibilities seem endless. I quickly saw that there is something special about seeing your new baby in a pretty cloth diaper, free of chemicals. You know there is nothing next to their skin that could harm them, and they just look so comfy. When Annaliese's rashes started clearing up I knew this was what we needed and we would not turn back.  So I ordered 24 more diapers for Annaliese and Amarissa, and added cloth wipes too. Now in case you didn't know there are some great smelling baby wipe solutions out there, that are gentle on baby's skin and are all natural. So you can find the right "recipe" for your baby.  My dear friend, that sent me the diapers, made such a solution, our baby's always smelled so nice.

The first time I put a cloth diaper on Amarissa she looked at me, smiled and said "ohhhh mama". If Daddy or Amber tried to put a disposable diaper on her she would say "No, No" and go to the drawer and grab a cloth diaper, she was too cute and we knew this was a  more comfortable choice for her. We did use chlorine free diapers for church and long outings just so we knew we had enough on hand and that they wouldn't aggravate rashes or eczema. And with cloth I never had to worry about running out of diapers, or inflation. I knew that this was a need that was always taken care of.  Our diapers and wipes survived 2 babies, potty training and still look great.  It was by far one of our best investments.