The Art of Sleeping: How I Taught Harrison Sleep

Introduction:

I know what you're thinking. "How you taught your baby to sleep?" Yes. My son did not know how to sleep. He would fight his drowsy feelings all day to stay awake, would become overly stimulated and would finally sleep at night out of pure exhaustion. Then, once asleep, he wouldn't stay asleep for very long because his buzzing, over stimulated little brain would wake him up. I needed to step in and help him sleep during the day so he could sleep at night and become the happy, healthy baby he deserved to be.

When I first brought Harrison home from the hospital when he was just 2 days old, I thought I would just react to what Harrison wanted. If he cried, I would change his diaper, feed him, burp him, or hold him. If he wanted to stay awake, then it was right for him to stay awake. If he fell asleep, then it was right for him to go to sleep at that moment. I mean, he was a baby. They sleep when they want, right? Wrong! At least for Harrison. What ended up happening? I had a newborn who would sleep for 3 hours at night, and then maybe 1 hour sometime during the day on a good napping day. Of course it was exhausting for us but it was extremely exhausting for Harrison. He just did NOT want to sleep. Or so I thought....

About a week and a half of this later, I read online that newborns need about 16 hours of sleep which is crucial for health and brain development. I freaked. My little man wasn't sleeping anywhere near 16 hours! I thought maybe as he got older he would want to sleep more...but when it comes to precious sleep for a rapidly developing newborn brain, waiting around was just not going to happen. 

During this time, Harrison went from being a happy baby in the first few days of his life to a very unhappy baby. He would cry a lot, even when just changing his diaper. And I mean cry. I could tell he would get tired sometimes and I would try to get him to sleep but he would frantically chew and suck on his pacifier and would groan and cry like he was in pain. One day Harrison cried for 3 hours straight and so DH and I assumed it was gas or reflux since he seemed like he was in pain. We researched different ways to get rid of gas and minimize reflux and implemented everything we could. We propped his mattress up to help keep milk down while he slept, we bought special bottles to use when feeding him expressed breast milk that claimed to reduce gas (which we found out later was just a gimmick and did not matter at all, at least for us), we burped him frequently during a feeding and doubled the amount of each burping session to make sure all gas bubbles escaped before becoming painful in the intestines, we even tried to take his pacifier away since he seemed to swallow a lot of air while sucking. We kept him propped up at least 15 minutes after eating and we even bought Gripe Water (which was an even bigger gimmick) and that actually appeared to work, but 10 minutes later he would be right back to discomfort. We have chalked up his momentary relief to him being distracted by the weird new flavor that just filled his mouth because the relief never lasted. (I researched it later and it is bogus. Don't buy it!) We didn't know what we were doing wrong and just thought we would wait and see if he grew out of it. He didn't fit all of the colic symptoms because his crying never lasted 3 hours or more (except for that one awful time) and he still had many moments of happiness and quietness. He still was a bundle of joy and even though we were tired, we thought "Well, this is what babies do. They cry." But something just seemed off to me...

On Becoming Babywise
Finally, around 3 and half weeks I began reading, for the second time, On Becoming Babywise that I had downloaded to my Kindle. My principal at work recommended this title to me. He and his wife had twins and he told me after they implemented this book with their twin girls, they were completely different babies. So I began reading it again and that's when I read about scheduling. Babywise has a lot to offer, and there are many different topics covered in this book, many of which I don't use. But the main theme you will find in this book is implementing certain techniques that will get your baby on a predictable and structured eating and sleeping schedule. The schedules in the book are cyclical, where each cycle is 2.5 to 3 hours of waking, eating, and sleeping. The example schedules offered in the book are down to the minute. I read that some moms actually do have their children on timed schedules. For example, the first wake, eat, sleep cycle starts at 7. The next at 10, the next at 1, and so forth. This means at 7am, baby wakes to eat. Baby is then awake "waketime" then goes to sleep, and then wakes back up to eat. So the time from the early morning eating time to the mid morning eating time is 2.5 to 3 hours. Although I did initially try this out, I quickly realized that this wouldn't work. We needed something much more flexible for our lifestyle, plus my baby wasn't even sleeping so it's kind of hard to implement a wake, eat, sleep schedule. That's when I downloaded another book...

After coming across Valerie Plowman's "Chronicles of a Babywise Mom" I read about this fabulous book that helps with sleep training. Even though there is some controversy over sleep training, there is one thing I knew: sleep is crucial for optimal brain function and development in a newborn and my baby wasn't sleeping...not even for 4 hours. Healthy Sleep Habits Happy Child by Marc Weissbluth M.D. (which I talk about below) was just what I needed to begin "helping" Harrison sleep. I LOVE LOVE LOVE this book and highly recommend it. The only things I took from Babywise were the idea of cycles and the idea that once baby is taking 4 to 5 naps a day he will start sleeping through the night (Harrison did, right at 5 weeks). However, I took almost everything from HSHHC.

After being more educated on sleep training and feeling a bit more prepared, I decided I wanted him on a cycle, not a schedule. And even though he wasn't sleeping yet, I still wanted him getting used to this rhythm. The reason I don't use the word schedule to describe what I did with Harrison is because I don't have him on an exact timed schedule as what is proposed in Babywise. He doesn't eat at the same times of the day and he also doesn't go down for a nap at the same times every day. What he DOES do, however, is wake, feed, and sleep, and he does have a pretty consistent bedtime. After he wakes up from his nap or from his night time sleep he nurses, then he is awake and we play or read or just have quiet time, then he goes to sleep. When he wakes the whole cycle starts all over again. His cycle, right now, is about 3 hours, but can be as quick as 2 or as long as 4. Like I said, we aren't concerned about the exact timing. We just want him cycling through his activities. This cycling works much better for us considering we are really never home on the weekends. My family lives 40 minutes away from us and between us wanting to spend time with them AND my DH's family, we aren't really ever home. Even when we are home on the weekends, we are running all over town grocery shopping, running errands, and home improving. As long as Harrison is eating, playing, and sleeping in this same order, he is predictable. What I mean about being predictable, for example, is knowing that even though we are at Home Depot, I know Harrison's upcoming activity will be napping since he has been awake and playing for a certain amount of time. I can then do things to help him sleep since I know nap time is approaching, like pull the canopy over on his stroller if we are out and about. This predictability makes it very easy to make sure he is getting what he needs even when we aren't at home. When he is ready to nap, he naps. It doesn't matter if he is at home in my arms, in his crib, in his stroller, or in someone else's arms. It's to the point now where it doesn't even matter if you're trying to play with him. He will get drowsy and pass out. Restaurants, familys' homes, stores, it doesn't matter. He has a rhythm and enjoys his naps now so he will nap wherever we are. It is SO great!

Healthy Sleep Habits Happy Child by Marc Weissbluth M.D.
This book ROCKED! No, I didn't use everything in this book, but I used almost everything. There are a several very important ideas in this book regarding healthy sleep habits but the most important ones, to me, had to do with sleep regularity and sleep cues. Once Harrison was napping regularly and taking decent naps, he was a completely different baby! He was a happy, content baby. He was the baby that constantly received compliments on his content, easy-going demeanor, and he still is at 4 1/2 months. And as if that wasn't already great, he began sleeping through the night less than a week after implementing these techniques at a mere 5 weeks. I was one happy mama! So how did I get him to start napping? For Harrison and I, it was all about the sleep cues!

Weissbluth's Sleep Cues
In Healthy Sleep Habits Happy Child (HSHHC) Weissbluth teaches you that not all babies sleep when they should sleep. As I read this book, and as I also read many other articles and topics online, I learned that many babies try to stay awake because they want to be awake with you and many are irritated at the "drowsy" feeling and fight it with all of their might. They become overtired and cranky because they feel funky and just don't know why. This was Harrison. Weissbluth teaches you that it is your responsibility to work on getting your baby to sleep when they should even if they don't seem to want to, just as you should work on getting your baby to eat vegetables even if they grimace. Why force something they don't seem to want? Because you're the parent and you know better. When you know your baby is becoming tired, it is your responsibility to "help" them sleep. How do you know when your baby is becoming tired? You will see his sleep cues.

Looking for and acting on sleep cues are crucial in order to begin teaching your baby to sleep on a regular basis. Weissbluth lists the sleep cues to look for that tell you your baby is entering that period of time where he should be going to sleep. This list is found on page 63 and page 71 in Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child:

• Decreased activity
• Slower motions
• Less vocal
• Sucking is weaker or slower
• Quieter
• Calmer
• Appears disinterested
• Eyes less focused 
• Eyelids drooping
• Yawning
• Less social (smiling less and a lack of engaging you)

Signs your child is overly tired:

• Fussing
• Rubbing eyes
• Irritable
• Cranky

For Harrison, there are certain sleep cues that are present every single time he is getting ready to nap. He gets quieter and calmer, he stares at something or stares off without blinking much (eyes less focused) and when he does blink, it's very slow. His under eye area becomes reddish pink, and he yawns several times. When he begins exhibiting these sleep cues, I know it's time to wind down and help him relax and within minutes he's asleep. At this point I can either hold him while he sleeps (which I love doing) or I lay him down in his crib for nap (what I do most of the time) and that could be anywhere from 30 min to an hour. But this is post-sleep training. It was not always this easy or even possible. In the beginning, before he was such an easy napper, he would fight sleep with all of his tiny might, and would squirm, cry, and become overstimulated and over tired. After reading both books, plus a little bit about the 5 S's from Happiest Baby on the Block by Harvy Karp M.D. this was my plan.

#1 Watch for sleep cues
#2 Create and stick to a sleepy time routine
#3 Lay him down to sleep (and cross my fingers)

Here is each step in more detail:

#1 Watch for sleep cues This is the easiest of my action plan steps. After Harrison ate and we began to play, I would watch for these sleep cues like a hawk! Sure enough, the very moment I began looking for these sleep cues they appeared, clear as day. There was a lull in alertness, eyes got tired, and then the yawns. One yawn, two yawns, three yawns, yep! He's ready for a nap. I would scoop him up in my ams and get to work on #2, the hardest of my action plan steps.

#2 Create and stick to a sleepy time schedule This was by far the hardest. But first, the simple part; creating the routine. For Harrison's sleepy time routine, I would

• take him to his room
• draw his drapes
• only whisper
• swaddle him in a SwaddleMe by Summer (I began swaddling to keep Harrison's newborn startle reflexes from waking him. At 4 months I stopped swaddling because he was no longer waking himself up AND he began rolling over, but at 4 months his sleep habits were already so well established it wasn't necessary anyway).
• Sit with him in our glider
• Sing and sometimes rock in the glider but rocking was rare because too much motion can over stimulate a tired baby trying to sleep.
• When he was drowsy enough, I would lay him in his crib.

Harrison would fight going to sleep in the beginning. He would kick so incredibly hard, squirm, arch his back, and grumble and groan away. He would "kind of" cry (a cry Harrison does when he isn't upset enough to break out into tears but is just irritated). Sometimes this would last half an hour, sometimes this would only last a few minutes. The important thing was to stay consistent. Eventually, regardless of how long this period of squirminess and fighting would last, he would nod off. I would say that this period of fighting and squirming for half an hour before finally falling asleep lasted about a week to a week and a half. After that he fought it less and less and it was at this time (around 5 weeks) that he began to take 4 to 5 naps a day, each ranging from 20 minutes to 2 hours. Hallelujah! Even though the durations were so inconsistent, it didn't matter. My little man that hated sleep and was only getting  few hours of sleep a day was now sleeping 5 to 6 times a day (including night time sleep) and was getting between 10 and 16 hours a day. At this time Harrison's middle-of-the-night feeding vanished and he was officially sleeping through the night at just 5 weeks old! Before this time, from about two weeks old he would sleep for 4 hours at night, wake to eat around 3am, then would sleep for 3 more hours. What an amazing accomplishment for both Harrison and I! 

#3 Lay him down to sleep (and cross my fingers)
Quite often Harrison would start fidgeting and fighting sleep again as soon as I laid him in his crib. Sometimes he would babble and then fall asleep, and other times he would cry. This is where CIO comes in.

My thoughts on CIO (Cry It Out)
CIO is a method of just letting your baby cry without running to their rescue in an attempt to get them to put themselves to sleep once they realize you aren't going to come. The theory behind this is that babies can be innocently manipulative and will learn early on that all they have to do is cry if they want you.

My opinion? This is garbage! It is NOT necessary to get your baby to sleep. The only thing it will do is exhaust and stress out your baby and will make you want to cry.I am not an expert but I personally do not think babies cry as a tool to manipulate their parents, and this is why I loved Healthy Sleep Habits Happy Child so much. They cry when they need something. In Harrison's case, he would cry because he was drowsy and uncomfortable and couldn't fall asleep. He would cry because he needed me. I would pick him up and help him fall asleep, and then he would sleep. Now he never cries when going to sleep because I have helped him and taught him how to fall asleep and I did NOT have to implement the CIO method. I tried CIO for one day and it was AWFUL! It is not natural for a mother to sit and hear her baby scream or have to fight every urge inside of her to go run in and scoop up her baby. It just isn't. It's not what nature intended. I cried the whole time I tried CIO and hated it and I regret I ever tried it. When Harrison cries, I still go in and get him. And guess what? He has been sleeping through the night since 5 weeks, has been napping splendidly, and is still the happiest baby on the block. CIO is not worth it and I have very strong opinions against it. This was another topic in Babywise that I did not like or use.

Let me point out, though, that there are different cries. A grumbling or whining cry is different than a full-blown cry. If Harrison is just grumbling in his crib (as DH and I call "complaining") we don't get him and 9 times out of 10 he goes back to sleep. If Harrison is actually balling his eyes out, THAT is not okay. Something is wrong. 

So this is it! This is how I taught Harrison how to sleep. I watched for his natural sleep cues, helped sooth him with sleepy time routines, and did NOT utilize CIO. Now I have a happy, easy-going baby boy who loves his sleep, naps and all!

Cloth Diapering: The Pros and Cons, IMO

Introduction

 From the very moment I took that pregnancy test, I began researching whether or not to cloth diaper. DH and I read the pros and cons of cloth diapering and decided to make the investment and become CDing parents. The pro's of CDing were cost, green-ness, the adorable factor (each diaper change is like a new outfit!), the all-natural-fiber-against-baby's-skin factor, the leak and blow out proof-ness, zero fake odor, and the just-plain-fun factor. The cons were laundry, initial investment, handling of poo and pee, difficulty with care-takers accepting them and knowing how to use them, and the awkward fit for a newborn. I have to say, however, after becoming a CDing mama and continuing to CD 4 months later, there is only one con (laundry if you are not good at keeping up with it) and a TON of pros so, obviously, the pros far outweighed the cons. Here is my opinion on the internet pros and cons.

The PROS of CDing

Cost

Even though they are hundreds of dollars to initially invest in, CDs are worth it financially considering the thousands you would spend on 'sposies and wipes.

 I AGREE! Yes, when my husband and I took our first trip to Zoolikins in Scottsdale (which, btw, if you live in AZ and are cloth diapering or are considering CDing, go here! Not only do they carry all the better, leak proof brands, in my opinion, they price match! I found fuzzibunz online at diaperjunction.com for $15 a piece and Zoolikins matched it!) it was a hard chunk of change to swallow. We shelled out $700 initially (I'm sure you can do cheaper than this if you went used or were even more frugal than us) but this included all the diapers, a diaper sprayer, pail liners for dirty diapers, wet bags to carry diapers in, all natural diaper rash ointment, all natural detergent and enzyme spray, and a TON of cloth wipes. We were set. And even though $700 bucks was a lot, it was nothing compared to how wonderful it was not to have to run out of the house for diapers and wipes when we had a teeny little man that we just wanted to stay home with. It was awesome and still is! :)

Green 

The amount of waste in America and in the world that is just from disposables is scary. And disgusting! Plus, the WHO warns against throwing away soiled diapers.

But I have to admit, I'm not really a "green" girl. Yes I like to recycle and I am mindful of our energy consumption and I LOVE to go out and play in and enjoy nature, but I am not one to be obsessed with reducing the size of my carbon footprint. I love my steak and my minivan! BUT regardless, I am not heartless, and it is nice to know that our family is not contributing to the massive, disgusting, 'sposies waste pile. It's also nice to not fill our trashcan with poo that would just sit all week until the trash truck comes. Who wants human feces sitting around in their house in plastic bags or cans either inside OR outside!??? Yuck!!! The poo goes in the washer (or flushed in the toilet if you are post-solids or formula feeding) and is cleanly washed away through our sewer system, just where it should be instead of buried in the ground. :)

Adorable Factor

 They are cute and colorful with fun patterns and styles.

 They are! It's as simple as that. And there is nothing I love more than seeing my little man playing in a soft, colorful and fluffy diaper. My favorite outfit for Harrison is just a CD. How comfy! If only I could get away with that.... ;D

All-Natural 

CDs keep your baby in soft, all-natural fibers which are better for their skin. They reduce the incidence of diaper rash, and, if you're into organic materials, can keep them in organic material rather than the chemically-treated plastic and paper from disposables. They also help with potty-training.

True, true, and we'll see. I loved having my little man in all-natural fibers. But as he got older I realized my favorite cloth diapers are not all-natural. They are synthetic but they STILL are just cloth, so there are no scary chemicals on my baby boys skin all day long. It's nothing but soft material and his booty :) There is also growing research that shows children in CD potty train quicker than children in 'sposies since children in CDs are more aware of when they have wet themselves because there aren't chemicals present to quickly absorb any wetness and wick it away from their skin. I have yet to have an opinion on this since my little one is just 4 months old :) But I cannot wait to see how potty training goes since we are CDing and will post about it as soon as I can.

Leak and BO (blow out) proof

Cloth diapers leak less and better keep in the poo. 

 Probably one of the best pros of all! And it is so true. My favorite cloth diapers RARELY leak. The only time they leak is if I or DH put it on too loose, or if Harrison sleeps extra extra long at night. But even then it is minimal and never leaves wet clothes, just slightly dampened. As far as blow outs go, I have NEVER had a blow out with my favorite CDs. The only time I ever had a blowout was when Harrison was wearing a 'sposie while he was being treated for a yeast infection and the ointment would have ruined his cloth diapers. He had explosive poo and it shot out both legs AND the back of his 'sposie diaper. I was shocked! I was used to being very dry and poo free with my CDs and here I was covered in poo in the middle of story time. Not a fan. Give me back my CDs!

No bizarre odor

The very few times I have had my son in a disposable there was a definite "dirty diaper" smell as soon as he peed. That smell is so bizarre because it's suppose to smell good. But that fake fragrance and scent is unnecessary and is stinkier than the waste! I prefer no odor at all. Just fresh, clean cloth!

Fun 

The CDing moms have a blast with the colors, patterns, and accessories of cloth diapers and just love seeing their little ones in chemical-free nappies. 

That wasn't just a gimmick. It really is so fun! I have even started making my own CD accessories including a wet bag and wipes. I have fabric for another wet bag I am getting ready to make as well and actually want to take a shot at making my own cloth diaper cover!

CONS of CDing

Laundry

The laundry that is required is a lot to keep up with and unpleasant if you wait too long (ammonia build up). And even if you wash right away the wash-routine is tedious and time consuming.

This wasn't a con for me, because I do a load of laundry every day anyway (between socks, underwear, towels and clothes from the day before) and an extra load or two on Mondays when I wash the family's bedding, and Tuesdays when I clean bathrooms and wash our rugs. So adding another load was a cinch. As far as a tedious wash routine, how tedious is it to set your machine on soak and walk away,  then meander back over an hour later and switch it to a regular wash? Fortunately for us women in modern times, washing and keeping up with laundry and cloth diapers couldn't be easier. Plus I love folding them. I love folding clothes anyway; it's very soothing to me. I love dumping out a pile of fresh, clean and fluffy diapers, inserts, and wipes on the floor and stuffing and folding them while I watch the news with a hot cup of coffee! I am a freak to some, I know ;)

Investment 

They are very expensive.

 Yes, they are expensive initially. As I mentioned above in the pros list, my husband and I had a hard time paying over $700 bucks for our initial stash and CD supplies. But we have NEVER had to go out and by anything related to diapers. Not diapers, not wipes, NOTHING! We are self-sufficient as far as diapers go and it's awesome!

P&P Handling 

You have to handle poo a lot and it's a stinky job.

 You don't handle pee or poo any more than you would with disposables. Having cloth diapers doesn't mean cleaning them with your bare hands, getting poop everywhere, or gagging over poo smell. The smell is there whether you're cloth diapering or not. It's just a part of life. Also, while Harrison is still EBF (exclusively breastfed) his poo is water soluble, so his dirty diapers go straight into a pail like you would put a 'sposie in a trash can, and then the diapers in the pail are dumped into the washer just like you would dump your 'sposie waste into a trash can outside. Then when they're done in the wash I have a whole new basket of clean, ready-to-use diapers instead of having to go out and buy some! Also, hand scrubbing and soaking is optional and is NOT necessary. I started hand scrubbing because I was concerned they wouldn't get clean enough in the washer but then quickly realized that the washer does just as good of a job if not better because they get to soak. Once Harrison begins eating solid foods, we will "plop" or "swish" any solid waste right in the toilet and flush. And if this sounds gross to you, you are actually suppose to do this with 'sposies as well. The WHO (World Health Organization) warns against ever discarding human feces in a trash can to be taken to a dump under any circumstance, just like you shouldn't dump batteries and other harmful waste. That is serious groundwater contamination!

Care-takers 

Many daycare centers do not accept cloth diapers and I have also read accounts of caretakers within the family not accepting them very well either. Caretakers say the different diaper changing routine that is required is a nuissance and time-consuming and the diapers are complicated to fasten.

 Some diapers can be confusing to other people considering the crazy snap configuration that some have, but DH and I decided to go with aplix (Velcro) for not only ease of use for us but for caretakers and family members as well. The aplix CDs work just like 'sposies. There is simply Velcro on the tabs where the sticky would be. Even if you had snaps on the diaper, it's not rocket science.

As far as day care goes, I don't have to deal with the annoyance of CD rejection since I am a SAHM, but if I did, I would take Harrison to either a facility that did accept CD's, or I would find an individual who watches children from their home who was more willing to use cloth diapers. As far as family goes, I don't have that problem either. Both Harry's grandmas who watch him do not mind CDing at all. They were willing to take a moment to learn and think his diapers are adorable. They even rinse the dirty diapers before they put them in the wet bag and they don't even have to! Even grandpa is totally in love with their cuteness! I honestly don't understand why daycares and some family members are unwilling. They are no different than 'sposies as far as inconvenience. With CDs, you take the diaper off, wipe, and put a new diaper on just like you would a 'sposie. Then, you put the dirty CD and CW in the dirty diaper bag (wet bag) just like you would throw a 'sposie wipe and diaper in a trash can. That's it! And I would actually think CDs would be preferred among daycare centers and caretakers considering the fact that you don't leave your baby's waste with the caretaker or in their trash! Poo leaves when baby leaves! The only person who deals with anything extra is the parent who is the one who cleans the diapers. CDing for a caretaker who isn't responsible for cleaning them is so simple and virtually no different then 'sposies. It's just an unwillingness to learn or accept anything new. And honestly, anyone not willing to learn something so simple or take time to do what's in Harrison's best interest isn't someone I want watching Harrison anyway!

The fit for a newborn

CD companies will tell you that the one-size diapers (diapers that are suppose to fit from birth on up through potty-training) will fit your newborn, and even though CDs are big on newborns, they're cute and fluffy and it's a minor inconvenience considering the amount of money you will save by only having to buy one diaper stash that will last you from birth to potty-training.

Okay, Harrison was 6 lbs 12 oz when he was born and then quickly gained 2 lbs in a few weeks. Even at 9lbs the cloth diapers were just plain ridiculous for the first 3 weeks. The bulk and size were more than just an "inconvenience". It just looked darn right uncomfortable. My baby's legs were forced to be spread apart and when laying on his side, his little legs would stick straight out like two twigs stuck in a giant mud ball. The leg that should have been in contact with the floor while lying on his side wasn't at all! It would float. It was just silly. I wish I would have taken a picture to go along with this con. He looked like Tommy from Nickelodeon's "Rugrats". I will say that I didn't do a whole lot of research on whether or not this is even a concern for developing hip bones. I just know what I saw and how it made me feel to see his legs spread so far apart. Regardless of the exact anatomy of it all, I know newborns' bones aren't as hard or unimpressionable as ours, and I know that I wouldn't like it if I couldn't move my legs! For this reason, we did not CD Harrison until he was 3 weeks. This is the time when his small sized diapers fit without dislodging his legs or leaking everywhere. 

That being said, though, because we were new to CDing we thought the small sized CDs were the smallest you can buy. Now that I am much more fluent with CDs I know that CD companies make extra smalls for teeny babies and newborns so we will be investing in these when our next bundle of joy comes along. :) The main point of this con? The one-sized do not work on newborns if your newborn is around the average size. They say they work from 7 or 8 lbs on up, but they don't. They leak, they're uncomfortable, and just look silly! You will have to buy sized extra smalls for your new bundle of joy if you want to start CDing right away without leaks or discomfort unless your baby is a 10 pounder from birth.

Summary!

The one thing I tell people when they ask me if cloth diapering is easy and worth it is this: As long as you are good at keeping up with your laundry, you'll love it! I absolutely love CDing Harry and am so happy that we decided to try it. As far as I can tell I will be a CDing mama for all future babies too!