Cow Patties Cloth Diapers Featured Owner, Erika P.!

Welcome to the first Cow Patties Cloth Diapers Featured Owner post! We decided to start featuring Cow Patties Cloth Diapers owners for a few reasons. The biggest draw to it was to that although it may seem that disposable diapering is still the majority, cloth diapering is growing in popularity by leaps and bounds. There are people from all walks of life that cloth diaper- people just like you had the same fears and questions you do, they took the leap and it's a decision they feel good about. The second reason was to showcase beautiful babies and toddlers in Cow Patties products to help spread the word about the totally awesome and very cute Cow Patties line. Who doesn't love a fluffy butt?

Our first Cow Patties Cloth Diapers Featured Owner  is Erika P.! She has two daughters, ages 4 years and 4 months and lives about an hour north of New York City.

-How long have you been cloth diapering? How old were your kids when you started to CD them?

I didn't cloth diaper my 4 year old unfortunately, now I wish I had. I started using gDiapers with my 4 month old when she was big enough for the smalls, I think she was about a month old. I used the disposable inserts with those in the beginning, but realized I was still doing diaper laundry anyway and that the inserts weren't really cheaper than regular disposable diapers. I made a few cloth inserts on my own to try it out then started looking into regular cloth diapers. I bought my first prefolds and covers on June 23rd when she was 2.5 months old and haven't looked back since!

-What was your main motivation for starting to cloth diaper? If you were hesitant to start, why? My initial motivation for picking up the gDiapers was all the chemicals in regular disposable diapers. I learned about all the chemicals from mothering groups online that I became involved with after I had my older daughter. I also liked the ecological aspect of keeping all the diapers out of the landfills. I was reluctant to try regular cloth diapers because of the laundry involved, I have a hard time keeping up with the clothes laundry!

-How did your significant other feel about it at first? How do they feel about it now?
He was adamantly against cloth. He was on the fence about the gDiapers, but was willing to give them a try. Once we started with the gDiapers and he saw how easy it was, he relaxed a little and was ok with the cloth inserts but still on the fence about regular cloth. Now he likes the fact that she no longer gets bleeding diaper rashes, we save money, and I am better about keeping up with ALL the laundry. He will use a pocket or AIO diaper but still stays away from the prefolds and fitteds.

-How often do you do cloth diaper laundry?
Every 2-3 days. If we get too far into the 3rd day we sometimes come a little close to running out depending on how her reflux is over those 2 days and many prefolds have been grabbed out of the diaper bag when it is acting up.

-How many diapers are in your stash right now? How long did it take you to get to that many? Do you feel you have too many, not enough, or the perfect number?
6 infant prefolds, 12 regular prefolds, 7 pockets, 1 AIO, and 4 fitteds for nighttime. It has taken 2 months to build it to this point. I would like a couple more daytime diapers and at least 2 more Cow Patties Famous Perfect Fitteds so I can use just those every night and not have to worry that she's soaked if she sleeps in.

-Give us the scoop on the poop-how did/do you handle it?
Right now she is still exclusively breastfed and will be for at least another 2 months. So I don't worry about it at all right now, everything just goes right in to the diaper pail and into the wash. Once we are ready to start solids I will pick up a diaper sprayer and probably some disposable liners for when we are out and about.

-What was the biggest hurdle in your cloth diapering journey and how did you overcome it?
My biggest hurdle was my (and my husband's) fear of the diaper laundry. I think by starting slowly with the disposable inserts, then cloth inserts, then full on cloth diapers, I showed both of us that it wasn't as overwhelming as we thought. And it gave us time to see the real benefits of cloth before making the full financial commitment.

-If you could tell a potential cloth diaper-er one thing about cloth diapering what would it be?
Don't let all the information out there overwhelm you. When I started researching cloth diapers online I got a little intimidated and confused by all the different terms and acronyms, by the conflicting opinions of cloth diaper users, and by the many different types of diapers out there. If you have a cloth diaper store anywhere near you make the trip to check them out in person. My closest store is over an hour away, but actually touching them and playing with them made a big difference. It was worth the drive to see them before making my first purchase.

-What's your favorite Cow Patties Cloth Diaper product and why?
The only Cow Patties diaper I have right now is the Famous Pocket Fitted, but it is my favorite diaper. Because there are no snaps I can get a perfect fit with the Snappi and there is no Velcro to worry about in the wash. The inside and the insert are so soft even after repeated washings, my husband thought it was a shame that something so soft should be pooped on. But I am most in love with how absorbent it is. If we use it during the day I can leave her in it for 3 hours without needing a cover. But it has become my first choice overnight diaper, even after 10-12 hours the outside of the diaper is barely wet to the touch when all of her other fitteds are completely saturated.

-Where did you make your first Cow Patties Cloth Diaper purchase?
I won mine from Tara at The Cloth Chronicles .

-Do you have a blog or site you'd like to share?
My blog is Lilies and Sunflowers. I started it to keep family up-to-date on my older daughter when my mom moved to Oklahoma, but I also do reviews of products that I have bought and love and think friends and family would like too. You can find her Famous Pocket Fitted review HERE.

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If you'd like to be a Cow Patties Cloth Diapers Featured Owner please email me.