This week, I’m pleased to be featuring a two-part feature by Jennifer, from Re-Diaper.com. This work-at-home-mom turned her passion for cloth diaper thrifting into a thriving business, helping other cloth diapering families build amazing stashes without breaking the bank.
First Time Cloth-Diapering Mom to Re-Diaper.com Owner
When I found out I was pregnant for the first time, I knew right away I would cloth diaper. I’ve been a dirt-loving tree hugger most of my life, so becoming a cloth-diapering crunchy mama was a natural progression. It also helps that my husband is… well… let’s just stay he’s “thrifty.” He was on board as soon as I showed him the math.
I had been underemployed ever since my husband had taken a “too good to pass up” promotion in 2009 that involved moving halfway across the country. After I quit the dead-end job that was making me crazy, we decided to try to have a baby and the stick was positive a couple months later.
Unemployment meant I had ample time on my hands to research cloth diapers and to decide what would be best… or so I thought. I was in no way prepared for what “modern” cloth diapering has become. My mom cloth diapered me as a child with good old prefolds and covers, and I was not prepared for the number of styles, brands, and fabrics to choose from. To make things even more confusing, what were all these acronyms??? The more research I did, the more overwhelmed I became.
I decided to go the same route my mom had used and purchased some newborn and small Cloth-eeze prefolds and Thirsties Duo covers. I also registered for a few cloth diapering items. Then I discovered Zulily aka the unemployed pregnant woman’s worst nightmare. Thanks to the amazing children’s resale shops in my area, I was able to control myself for the most part. Except when cloth diapers were available, then I just couldn’t help myself.
I purchased way too many Fuzzibunz (all those great colors!!!) from Zulily, only to realize I hated them. Hate is not a word I use lightly, but let me use it again. I HATE Fuzzibunz. Once my son arrived and was finally big enough for the OS pockets, I just couldn’t get a good fit. After countless elastic adjustment sessions (ending with raw fingers and a crabby sleep-deprived new mom) I would put one on him and it would leak out the leg…. again. Thanks to the Buy/Sell/Trade world on Facebook, I was able to rehome all my dreaded Fuzzibunz and recoup some of my initial investment.
After having great experiences selling my Fuzzibunz to other cloth-diapering mommas, I was at Target one day (minding my own business!!!) when I happened upon a Clearance rack full of Charlie Banana OS Pockets. FULL I tell you. And they were 50% off! $10 for an adorable pocket diaper? Are you kidding me? I took a pic, shared it via Facebook with my local cloth diapering momma friends, and then hummed and hawed about it. I walked around the store and got my other shopping done, only to make my way back to stare at them some more. I bought a couple. I didn’t need more than that. I didn’t really need any, but again… $10? How could I not?
I went home and told my husband about it. I could easily get at least a few more $$ each if I sold them online. He told me to go back and buy them all. BUY ALL THE DIAPERS!!! Could I make a business out of this? We’d been discussing flexible ways for me to supplement my husband’s income. I had been seriously thinking about offering childcare to another child in our home, but my son was very demanding baby and I honestly didn’t think I could care for another child as I was barely able to give him all the attention he needed and take care of myself.
A week or two later, Re-Diaper.com (which I had liked at some point, but never really paid much attention to after browsing around the site a few times) posted on their Facebook page that the business was up for sale. We jumped in with both feet and never looked back….
Well I have to admit that I really enjoyed that post! Surprised because my son is now 25 years old and I didn’t use cloth diapers .. ever. But I sure do admire everyone that does and she took it one step further and I think it’s great!
Thanks, Robin, Jennifer did a great job!
I accidentally left my “how I got into cloth” on your second post, so here’s my tips comment lol. Oops!
I actually have no tips as of yet because I am brand new to cloth and trying to learn more about it. I am wanting to use cloth on my second baby due in November.
I had a couple friends that shared from their stashes so I could try out cloth diapers after my prenatal classes had a guest speaker that taught us about cloth that got my husband hooked. I wasn’t eager to jump into cloth diapering. This was our first kid and I worked 50hr weeks…I didn’t think I had the time to maintain the laundry aspect. Well, 3yrs later and two cloth wearing babes later I’d say I’m hooked. Glad I gave cloth a try! Was a worthwhile invest and my boys look super cute with fluffy cloth diaper bums.
I’m jealous – I would have loved cloth diaper hand-me-downs. Way-to-go on your cloth diapering journey – you need to be the “poster child” for busy families cloth diapering!
I got into cloth diapering because we were struggling horribly with our finances. I had wanted to start with my oldest daughter but my hubby was not into it at all! When my youngest was 5 months and we were still struggling, I showed him that we could save so much more money by using cloth. When he saw the savings he was all for it..As long as he didn’t have to clean them!
Haha! That’s how I convinced my husband – now he loves cloth!
We started cloth diapering last year at a Parents and Kids fair, where I received a really nice demonstration of all the types of diapers
I’m recent to cloth. I used disposables for my son thinking cloth was too expensive at the beginning and didn’t really look into it. My sister had her son and started cloth and loved it and convinced me to try. I haven’t convinced my husband yet, but i love it!
Have your husband read this post by MY husband (regarding cloth diapering): http://themedianmommy.com/cloth-diapering-the-median-daddy-gives-his-scoop-on-the-poop/
I got into cloth diapering to save money.
I started looking into cloth when my baby was 3 weeks old. I was sick of the poo blowouts and countless ruined outfits. Not to mention I realized how much we were spending on diapers! We bought os pockets and haven’t looked back since she turned 2 months.
My mother clothes diapered me and my siblings and I always found it fascinating.
I wanted to cloth diaper because it’s better for the environment and saves money.
I also found that it is healthier for the baby as well.
I can’t wait for our new baby to arrive in 4 weeks so I can get all the cute dipes that I’ve been collecting on their little bottom!
What got me to cloth diapering is my husband. He asked me, should we cloth diaper? and i researched from then on and got me hooked.
Sounds very similar to my story except I was a grad student and I’m not sure how we would have made it without cloth diapers. I now am a consultant for Imagine on top of my job and sew diapers for local moms. How awesome we can supplement our income with something we love!
That’s wonderful! I love how cloth diapering opens doors for people – sense of community, business opportunity, etc.
With my first son… He was is disposable diapers for about 2 months when I switched him to cloth. I was appalled after seeing tiny silicone balls all over his bottom.
My grandma gifted me with 3 months of cloth diaper service with my first son, I knew nothing about it but was willing to try, well I did and loved it! We’re about to be blessed with our 4th baby first girl and can’t wait to see her fluffy butt!
I have just started cloth diapering (baby #1 is due any day now), and have been researching for and buying diapers for several months. As soon as I found out we expecting, I started looking into cloth. I’m environmentally conscious and I knew how much space disposables take up in landfills. I also don’t like the idea of chemicals being on my baby’s bum. So, cloth diapering was a natural choice for me. It took some convincing with my husband, but he’s on board. ….Plus, cloth diapers are adorable!
I got into cloth diapering to save money.
My cousin’s wife and her sister were huge into cloth diapering. I looked into it and became hooked. I’m obsessed with it now.
I had a few hand me downs and I wasn’t going back to work after baby so I bought a lot when I received my Alaska dividend to save money since hubby would be the only one working
We started cloth diapering with our local diaper service. We wanted it to be convenient and environmentally friendly, and the diaper service was both. But I became smitten with all the bright colors and cute prints out there and ended up building my own stash.
My sister in law got me into cloth diaper i didn’t understand at 1st then i tried and was in love
I originally wanted to cloth diaper from the start but my husband was not thrilled about it and didn’t want to do it, i did ask for cloth diapers for my baby shower list but no one got anything i wanted so i ended up doing regular diapers which is what i received instead and eventually went with something a little more Eco-friendly and finally after her being a toddler i managed to win some and i started trying it and we love it. 😀 I am looking to expand since i barely have enough to get through the day and just washing them as soon as i can. 🙂
I always try to live as green a lifestyle as I can, so cloth diapering makes sense for me. However, I was a little apprehensive because I’d only known people who had used prefolds and diaper services, and that didn’t seem like the right path for me. Then I started doing some research and found many blogs detailing the different types of dipes and how to care for them, and the more I read, the more I knew I wanted to try it out. It took a little while for me to get the hang of it, but after a few months of trying various types of diapers on my little one, I was using cloth full time.
I got into cloth diapering because a girl I went to high school with was always posting pics of her babies wearing cute diapers. When I became pregnant, I researched it further as an option and got hooked!
I LOVE that Facebook fluff shots lured you in! I started thinking about cloth diapering long before I was pregnant because I saw a GUY friend from high school post about doing cloth diaper laundry on Facebook; I figured if a guy could handle it, I would be able to do it!
I was sold on the idea by my friends at car-seat.org
I wanted to do something that was more environmentally friendly, and then I read a post of a friend’s about how she was using cloth diapers.
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I got into cloth diapering because of friend of mine uses them! Once she told me how much money we could save, I was in!
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I was searching for giveaways and stumbled upon some for cloth diapers. I read the posts and decided I wanted to give it a try!…then I started winning them!
I plan on cloth diapering to save money and because they have cute patterns. 🙂
I honestly hadn’t thought of it or heard much about it until I won some Buttons cloth diapers in an online giveaway and saw them. They’re cute and the snap inserts looked so easy! I did a little more research and love that they’re cheaper than disposables and better for the environment. Sold.
It was my husband’s idea. First thing he suggested we do when we found out I was pregnant.
Amalah.com was my gateway, saving money was my biggest reason.
i started researching cloth diapers when our first born was 6 months old. i was feeling really bad about the amount of garbage we were producing by using disposables, so i went looking for other options. when i read about the cost savings, i was completely sold. we were in cloth 100% within the month!
I got into cloth diaper very recently due to my friend, who is also expecting, telling me how she wanted to try it. I thought she was crazy, then started researching and feel in love… or maybe obsession? I’ve been testing some out on my 2 year old, but can’t wait to start from the beginning this August with my newborn!
I got into cloth diapering through the group BFMT on facebook, they got me interested and after reading about it, I decided to switch!
I got into cloth diapering through my friends. I have several who cloth, so I started asking questions. I started joining FB groups and next thing I know, I’ve been sucked in!!! I love it! I do think that it takes a little extra time and effort than sposies (washing, stuffing, etc) but I just think being a great mommy takes a extra effort too. So I’ve just added it into my daily routine and it’s normal now!
My husband brought up wanting to cloth diaper early on while I was pregnant. We try to be eco friendly and wanted to save money. I had no clue about modern cloth diapers. Once I did some research, we were sold. We’ve been cloth diapering for 7 months now and love it. They’re so cute and easy to use!
I have a friend on Facebook who cloth diapers her son. One day I saw her post a link about a diaper giveaway and it got me interested in seeing what it was all about.
I got into cloth via working as a nanny. Saw how great and easy it could be and got to experiment with many different styles to boot!
CD is just something I’ve always wanted to do. I’m not sure what put it in my head. My mother CD my older brother. Maybe it was hearing about that that planted the idea. I just know it is the best choice.
With my first son, I stumbled upon some Kushies AIOs that were an in-store return of an online purchase at Wal-Mart. I was intrigued bit they didn’t work as well as I’d hoped. I used them around the house some. When my 2nd was born, he got horrible chemical burn from disposables and I went 100% cloth. My 3rd wore cloth from the very beginning. 🙂
I got into cloth diapering because my sister had a huge stash of diapers that she offered to share with me and it was a no-brainer!
I got into cloth because i got pregnant & there was no other option in my mind that would be better for the env & better for my little one 🙂
I just learned about cloth diapering from someone on instagram! My son is one and we just made the switch!
I am actually just had my third child and decided to start cloth diapering now! My cousin started with her newborn and I thought, I should give it a try. After lots of research I decided to jump in and get a few to try. And I fell head over heals for it! It has become more exciting to get fluff mail then for it to be my birthday! I love the money we save and my daughters forever staying rash is gone!
We just started cloth with baby #3 as well. I’m sad that I didn’t start with my older children. I’m also secretly hoping more kids are in our future, lol
I was up during one of my many pregnancy-induced-insomnia nights when I first learned about modern cloth diapers. I happened to be perusing the green parenting board on whattoexpect.com and saw an active and interesting three. After spending another 2 hours during late night research I knew cloth was totally for us.
I was preparing to get pregnant with our second baby and was thinking about all the money and how many disposable diapers we had used with our first baby and decided cloth would be so much better on the wallet and the environment.
My best friend cloth diapered her daughter, and I ended up getting pregnant about 9 months later. I was so intrigued and interested in cloth, that I decided to cloth diaper my daughter as well. My daughter is now 14 months, and we have used cloth 100% of the time. Its an addiction 🙂
I got into cloth diapering after going to buy buy baby and seeing the cloth diaper section. They all just looked so pretty and I had to have all of them.
I got into cloth diapering because we recently moved into a place with washer dryer hookups and I had never had that with my previous child and so I never attempted CDing with her- I’ve tried washing my own clothing before and it’s a lot of work without a washer&dryer!
I got started with CDing when my son was 8 months old. Money was tight, and our huge stash of disposables was running out. I didn’t want to keep spending $50+ a month on diapers, so I started researching cloth. Eventually, we took the plunge and got 18 bumGenius 4.0s. We’re now huge CD advocates, and have even “converted” some of our friends!
Got into cloth diapering from chemical burns with disposable diapers.
I had thought a tiny bit about cloth diapering but decided not to. However, I had won several by the time I made that decision. When my daughter hit about 6 months she suddenly started pooping up her back. Every single time, in every disposable I tried. So I figured if I was already cleaning cloth all the time it may as well be cloth diapers! She doesn’t leak and I absolutely love them 6 months later!
I got into cloth diapering because of the cost. My younger brother was cloth diapered (I’m 9 years older), so I had some experience with the old style flats & rubber covers. I think having that experience gave me the confidence I needed to start. My husband wasn’t crazy about the idea of dumping the poopy diapers in the toilet, but once I showed him a cost comparison, he was fully on board. 🙂 I just started my 7-week-old on the BG Freetimes today! She is our first, and I plan to use these diapers on all of my subsequent children, as well. I love them so far, and I feel so much better about putting my little girl in cloth than in the disposables.
I started off looking into cheaper diapering options when I was pregnant with my first baby, as money was fairly tight. I wasn’t initially excited about cloth diapering, as I had the “old fashioned” method in my mind, but upon realizing how much things had changed, I realized I could do this -and without the help of a diaper service! 🙂
I got into cloth diapering because my son was 2 months old. by that time, every diaper change, he bled and was incredibly rashy. I literally spent $200 on different brands of disposable diapers. nothing worked! the dr. was confused too. he said it could be a yeast infection. but the meds didn’t work. so, i did research online and found out about cloth diapers. which i never heard about. I got 24 prefolds and 4 covers. i spent very little. more like $50. i got them, prepped and by day 2, my little guy was HEALED. so, i became obsessed. now we are due with baby 4 in july and she WILL be in cloth only.
I haven’t gotten to start cloth diapering yet! This reason, though, will be my sister-in-laws! Both of them currently cloth diaper!
We started cloth diapering due to having our 4th kiddo! It was a must!
I started noticing the great baby giveaways usually had at least one cloth diaper, but they weren’t at all what I thought of when I heard people say cloth diapers. Lol That lead me to start reading reviews and blog posts….. next thing I knew I was convinced that it was the way I wanted to diaper our third baby. Started a couple weeks ago when he turned 5 weeks and love it. Great post. 🙂
I got into cloth diapering because I have a few friends that do it and taught me about it, I also joined Facebook groups.
Cloth diapering is just something that I’ve known I wanted to do since before we started TTC! My husband and I were both cloth diapered and we both have skin sensitivities, he has eczema and I am allergic to pretty much anything scented. At first he looked at me like I had two heads because WHYYYYYYY would we put that stress on ourselves as first time parents?!?! And then, after I showed him how different they were than the ones our mother’s used on us 30 and 32 years ago (what? snaps? engineers love things that snap together!) and how much money we could save, he was on board! He also said he wasn’t going to help me with laundry, but I just sanitized the used diapers I’ve purchased so far (I’m due Aug. 1) and he took them all out and hung them on the line for me. This baby girl already has her daddy wrapped around her little finger!
Congratulations, and welcome to the cloth diapering community!
We decided to cloth diaper after doing lots of research. It just seemed like the right choice for us.
When I was pregnant with my first, my husband suggested cloth diapers. I knew nothing about it, so did some research and purchased a few before my daughter was born. We slowly started since I only bought one size diapers and she was a little too small at first for them. But once we got the hang of it, we cloth diaper almost 100%. Now I’m pregnant with #2 and already have a full stash since I’m still cloth diapering my first. 🙂
i got into cloth diapering by pure curiousity my mom when shopping at our local 99Cent store and she came home with a box of dispobable liners for cocalo cloth diapers thinking they were actual disposable diapers… she showed them to me and i showed her that those belonged with cloth diapers and she said “oh thats why they were next to a pack of underwear” so i figured for $1 a piece why not try them and loved it from their…
I got into cloth diapering when I found out I was pregnant.. I had been trying to live a green life, and keep as many chemicals and stuff out of our household, so it was only natural that I began researching modern cloth diapering.
That’s a great story! I wanted to do cloth disapproval from the start, but disposable was just so much easier. I’ve decided to jump into cloth diapering fully since I’ve been practicing E.C. with my son and don’t use so many disputes.
I got into cloth when one of my internet friend told me about it. I was in love with idea from the beginning, I wanted to be more eco-friendly and the chemicals in disposies scare me. And diapering is much more fun when you can use a diaper that is super cute!
I got into cloth diapering after a coworker schooled me on it. After researching I completely fell in love with all the adorable prints and money saving.
I got into cloth diapering bc we were so financially strained at the time and I was in a Navy wife group that raved about them. Talked about them all the time so I decided to do some research on them and thought this would be great for saving some money. I am planning to cloth diaper my second so I am excited for all the money we will save plus I love how cute the diapers are, which are an added bonus.
Two of my great friends cloth diaper and I just purchased my first lot of used cloth diapers to begin my cloth diaper journey 🙂 Thank you!!!!
I got into cloth diapering after seeing my best friend cloth diaper her youngest. I originally started because they were cute. Then realized after how economical and money saving they were.
I’ve always been more drawn to holistic and more natural paths. My first baby is due this July, and I’m going through a Midwife Birthing Center. It was there that I meant an experienced mom who was singing praises of the cloth-diapering world. Before meeting her, I never even knew that was an option. The more that I researched it, the more I was sold. My husband is…. thrifty, to put it nicely, and he’s completely on board with cloth diapering, particularly because of the investment with finances.
To be honest- I don’t remember…I cloth diapered my son for about 6-7 months when he was an older baby, but had to give it up when we moved to an apartment without a washer…I could not tell you what inspired me to start with him…for my daughter, I decided right away in an effort to save money- and because we DO have a washer/dryer…and have since fallen in love! 🙂
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Husband lost job and trying to find way to save. Came across cloth diapering and love it!
To save money and be environmentally friendly.
I saw a friend’s cute diapers and I had to try for myself!
how much did u wind up selling the fuzzibunz for/