this is what we should have done all along...

so we've been down quite a road toward cloth diapering.  when isaac was born, i mentioned the idea to adam who immediately shot it down saying he would NEVER scrub poop in a toilet.  looking back, i can see how that would be very intimidating to a first time daddy.  it's not the most pleasant of tasks, i'll admit.  when ezra was born(and we were coincidentally trying to simplify/greenify our lives) i brought up the subject again and was shot down but not with the same level of disgust.  i eventually bought some second hand prefold cotton diapers and diaper covers.  those were fine, but would frequently overflow.  i upped the stakes by trying bum genius(also second hand) and they actually made his poor butt so rashy he looked like he had leprosy on his tush(i think the PUL fabric that helps them not leak was too good and was keeping too much moisture right next to his skin).  we tried the nystatin cream the pediatrician gave us thinking it might be a yeast infection.  that also made it worse.  we kept the rash manageable by doing baby powder only.  so one day i was surfing ravelry and stumbled across a wool knit diaper cover(breathable) pattern.  we lanolized it and to my amazement, it did the trick.  i had given several hemp prefolds(love!) which worked awesome not only in softness but in absorbency also(i will admit they are harder to pin, but i think the benefits outweigh that).  i ordered a few more(and might order even a few more here to make my diaper washing more relaxed) and have been pairing them with the wool covers and am thrilled to report his rash is completely gone(although it comes back when he wears disposables for some reason) and we are all a lot happier.  it donned on me today that we have been doing this for a while now and i've never shared it.  cloth diapering is such an intimidating idea for a lot of people(and us at one time!), but i am totally loving it.  knowing exactly what i'm putting on my baby and taking the extra time to do this for him makes me feel like this is what we should have been doing from the beginning.

i know this is a terrible photo, but the one on the right is one of the first covers i made, and the one on the left is one that actually fits ezra.  it took a little pattern-tweaking, but they work for us.