There’s a lot of reasons people decide to cloth diaper their babes. It can save you hundreds to thousands of dollars, saves about 2000lbs of toxic waste, reduces toxin exposure & diaper rash for babies, and honestly- they just look so dang cute in them.
When I was deciding whether to try it out with Ellie, I did so in my usual fashion- the have-one-idea-and-then-roll-with-it-without-any-research-or-education-on-what-I’m-actually-doing approach. Spoiler alert- it all worked out. I was so nervous to tell people what I was doing because of the stigma behind it. “Well she must have really gone off the crunchy deep end now!” But can we just think about this for a second? Majority of our parents were cloth diapered- not because they had hippies for parents but because that's all there was! Cloth diapering isn’t some new aged granola fad, it’s going back to the basics. It’s doing things a different way than the “norm” today, and that’s okay!
When I started, I bought the first cloth diapering system I found and just assumed that it would all work out fine- & it did! But if I knew then what I know now- probably would have saved us lots of poopy hands and a few dollars worth of diapers. So, here is my lazy-mom’s guide to cloth diapering:
Deciding to cloth:
First, don’t talk yourself into thinking this is an all or nothing kind of deal. Whether you’re using exclusively cloth diapers or only 1 a day- you’re doing a great job! Sure it takes some extra work, but it’s worth it if it’s something you feel drawn too. Whether you are a stay at home, work from home, or work out of the house parent- you can make it fit into your schedule. It’s way easier than you think & way simpler than it was when your grandma did it!
When to start cloth:
This is a very individual decision, & again there is no right or wrong answer. For us, we started when Ellie was about 3 months old. Some start straight out of the womb, while others wait until the amount of diapers per day changes, it all depends on your personal preference.
Cloth Diaper options:
Here comes the fun part. There are so many options to choose from when it comes to cloth diapers. We went through a couple of different options before figuring out what works best for us, so don’t worry about making the right or wrong decision. You can always return or re-sell your diapers on FB marketplace! I’m going to list out all of the different options & then talk you through what we have decided is out favorites!
Prefolds
Pockets
Flats
Fitted
All-in-one
All-in-two
Then don’t get me started on the material you can choose. I had NO idea how complicated it could be. So, naturally I went with the first simple system I found. We got the starter bundle from a company called “essembly.” They were all-in-two bamboo inserts with some trendy waterproof shells. We loved them at first, & still use them quite a bit, but realized very quickly that because of the double lining they have, poop liked to hang out in the crevices (yes, this is a cloth diapering blog post so I’m going to talk a lot about poop.) Plus, I realized I was going to have to buy two different systems as Ellie got bigger and it didn’t seem as cost effective as I was hoping.
We decided to try some pockets from both Nora’s Nursery & AlvaBaby and absolutely love them! They are one size fits all so tend to be a bit bulkier, but the absorbency and adjustable size settings makes them plenty worth it to me. You have the choice of cotton or bamboo inserts, but don’t lose sleep over that decision because we have both and don’t notice a huge difference.
All-in-all, do you research and watch some videos of each of the different types of diapers to find out which are the right ones for you!
How many will you need:
We started out just wanting to part-time cloth diaper, so began with 15. We quickly realized how much we enjoyed them, and also how lazy we were, so we bumped up to the 26 we now have. The amount you need depends on how often you can (and will) do laundry, and how much you want to be using cloth. I’ll cover our laundry routine next, but just for reference:
newborns - 8-12 diapers a day
infants-/older babes- 6-10
How to clean your diapers:
The question everyone who isn’t yet CD-ing wants to know...how do you clean those things! I’m going to give you a checklist of everything you need to make this simple and keep as much poop off your hands as possible:
Create your routine: Choosing a few days a week you know you have to wash your diapers helps to make sure you never run out or are stuck using disposables for an entire day. Pick 2 days a week and each morning throw them in there.
Get a toilet hose. My friend Casey explained this to me early on and WOW. We got it 2 weeks in and it about saved my cloth diapering experience. Is this something you absolutely need? No. If we had a hose outside I would happily use it- but we don’t so unless I want to be bopping it up and down while flushing the toilet, toilet sprayer it is! I would also recommend getting a shield to spray the diaper down in, because sh*t can go flying- literally.
Store in a wet bag. Just like you would use a diaper pail for disposables, keep this bag next to your changing table, toss the dirty one in (if you’re using pockets make sure to separate the inserts right away so you’re not left scavenging through loads of dirty diapers) and when the time comes to wash just dump the bag in and flip it inside out to wash with the diapers!
Detergent. This can be a touchy subject with people. Most of the group threads I read recommended Tide, but if you follow me you know we only use non-toxic plant based options when possible. We swear by our Thieves Laundry Detergent. Laundry is one of the most toxin-heavy routines in your home, so going with a brand we can trust that has immune supporting properties inside is a no brainer. I add about 2 tbls of vinegar to every load to help with the scent & follow the routine below:
Quick wash on hot & heavy soil level with 2 tbls vinegar.
Then, add your detergent (if using thieves, you only need a ¼ capful) and wash on normal, hot, heavy soil.
Hang dry on a drying rack preferably in direct sunlight to help brighten and remove poop stains.
Once they’re dry, I like to stuff all the inserts back in right away or else you could be left with a very grumpy baby on the changing table waiting for you to shove a diaper together.
I also recommend getting a smaller wet bag to carry with you for when you’re out and about and need to change a diaper. I’ve been in the situation too many times already where I’ve had to shove one in my purse and it’s a low point.
Some other random tips I’ve been given or have discovered:
If you’re having to change your baby a gazillion times at night because the diaper leaked, just use disposables. I tried to keep it cloth as much as possible but I also want to sleep and sometimes that’s a price you have to pay.
Just like you cloth diaper, you can also cloth wipe! This is definitely something I’m hoping to get to soon, but not going to pretend to be an expert.
Be careful about what diaper rash cream you use with cloth diapers. We use young living seedlings diaper rash cream (as needed) and it hasn’t caused us any issues, but see if you’re noticing build up from whatever you may be using. When in doubt, coconut oil and breastmilk are great options.
Make sure you can fit two fingers in between the diaper and baby when fastening!
If you’ve made it through this, I hope you feel less overwhelmed. There is so much information out there and so many different approaches to take but don’t let that scare you away. Like I said, this isn’t some new thing- it’s how raising babies has always been done!