Cloth Diaper 101

I had my first baby 9 months ago. She is amazing (well, when she’s not teething, sick or crying). When I was pregnant, well actually before I was even pregnant, I was bound and determined to cloth diaper my baby (along with a whole other list that people thought I was crazy for).

I don’t think I even knew what I was doing. I even tried to talk other mom’s into cloth diapering. Again, I’m not THAT crunchy, but hey, it saves you money. I’m always on board with that.

When I found out I was pregnant I researched, I read, I pinned, I watched, you name it, I did it. But, it was still somewhat confusing. My husband kept reminding me that people have been doing this for years and it shouldn’t be this difficult. But, I had to check our water’s hardness levels, check the ingredients in our detergent, make sure I bought the right brand and the right style, learn how to strip diapers… It was overwhelming.

So, I just kind of dove in to the cloth diaper world. And guess what? I survived and still cloth diaper to this day, and love it.

 

Diapers

So, let’s start with the diapers. There are many different kinds and brands of diapers. I have all bumgenius and love them. But, I think just get a few and try them and see what happens (I wouldn’t suggest buying a whole stash of one kind without knowing if they work for you).

I have the freetime. I don’t even know what kind of “style” it is. It is an all in one, but there’s other all in ones that aren’t like that. See, confusing? But, I love it. It dries fast and there’s no stuffing!!!!!

There are many other kinds of diapers but it’s very overwhelming. So, I would just start with a few and see what you like. The good news is if you don’t like them there are tons of Facebook groups where you can buy/sell diapers.

Wet Bags

Wet bags will be what you put your dirty diapers in when you’re out and about. Here is one on amazon. I also line my diaper pail at home with a wet bag that gets thrown in the wash with my diapers.

Wipes/Cloth Wipes

I was adamant about using disposable wipes because I thought cloth wipes were gross. Then, someone mentioned that it is more difficult with disposable wipes because you have to have a trash can in the nursery as well. Pain. In. The. Butt. So, I decided on doing cloth wipes. I actually had a friend sew some flannel squares that I use, but you can also buy some here. My easiest thing is when I’m at home I actually use my peri bottle from the hospital to wet the wipes, I used to use a spray bottle and it seemed to take forever to get the wipes wet.

How to wash

There’s the fluff love Facebook page that is a GREAT resource. They will actually help you with a wash routine for your specific washer/dryer. My wash routine is prewash on cold, then do another cycle on warm. Easy peasy.

If your baby is exclusively breast fed, poop and all can go straight into the washer. If they aren’t you must rinse your diapers before washing. If your baby has plopable poop, you go ahead and plop that poop right into the toilet. But, if it’s a doozie of a poopie you’re going to want a diaper sprayer…

Diaper Sprayer

This is definitely not a necessity. But, let me tell you it does help. I’m not actually sure how you would clean your diapers if you didn’t have one. When my daughter started eating solid food, she had some mean poops. Thank goodness for the diaper sprayer.

Buying Used & Stripping

I’ve bought most of my diapers used. They are normally more than half the price and still in really great condition! The only thing you have to do to get them ready is strip them, this website has great instruction on how to strip diapers.

Sunning

I love hanging my clothes out on my clothesline. I especially love hanging up diapers. When they sit in the sun it acts as a natural bleaching process for the diapers. So, any staining you may have from poop gets “bleached” out from the sun!

All in all, I’ve loved cloth diapering. They only thing I warn people is to be prepared to do lots of laundry! But, laundry is my favorite chore so I don’t mind it!

Are you thinking about cloth diapering? What’s the scariest thing to you about cloth diapers?