Cloth Diapering

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**If you are contemplating cloth diapering, the most important thing before starting out is to realize that everyone has personal favorites and preferences so what I may love, you may hate. It is important to dip a toe in the pool before diving in, that way you can test and see what works best for you and what you like more and why. **

A Quick Run Down Of Cloth Diapering:

  •  You need about 12 diapers to get started
  •  You will wash diapers every day or every other day
  •  It helps having a pail liner that is also washable ( I prefer this one)
  • Night time diapers will require extra stuffing /doublers ( I prefer these doublers)
  • You need a special diaper rash ointment and a special detergent because other ones that are not natural can cause a build up on your diaper that can make them less absorbent. I like Charlie's Soap for washing and Grovia stick for diaper rash.
  • Cloth wipes are easier to use and MUCH better on their skin. If you use disposable wipes you will have to separate the wipes from diapers instead of just tossing them all into a pail, which ultimately is more work. For the wipes you can either buy or make some out of small squares of various fabrics. Remember smooth soft wipes are good for newborns and textured ones like terry cloth are good for muddy poops and older kids. You can make your own solution as well but I like to buy these little drops that you dissolve in hotwater and pour over your cloth wipes.
  • The reason that the natural fiber/organic diapers and inserts cost more is cause they are much better. They are much more absorbent and don't hold odors (or bacteria) like synthetic fibers can do. BUT, they will need more time to dry.
  • Trying to figure out how to wash them stressed me out at first but in general the thing you are really trying to do is to wash them enough where the rinse water has NO suds, You want to be sure you can get all detergent out of them.  I usually soak them in hot water, then wash with an extra rinse and that works fine. Top loader washers wash much better than side loaders because they use more water.
  • Drying them outside is much better if you can do it because they dry better and the sun is a natural bleach/disinfectant.
Feel free to email me anytime you have questions!
lg2006@me.com



Wanna see how much it would cost you to Cloth Diaper or use Disposables?
Click on THIS DIAPER CALCULATOR courtesy of The Diaper Pin Dot Com

Cloth Diaper Reviews (click on the links for full article):
  • Shinies (One Size Pocket Diaper)
  • Bum Genius ( One Size Pocket Diaper 3.0)
  • Mama's Little Helper ( one size/Pocket Diaper)
  • Kawaii (One Size Pocket Diaper)
  • Babyland (one size pocket diaper)

Why Cloth Diaper?


- Save Money
(Most parents go through 6 to 8 thousand diapers per child, from birth to about age three. If we take an average of what those diapers cost, that equates to between $2000 and $3000 per baby)

- Better for Environment

- Chemicals in disposables
Cloth Diapers Are Healthier For Your Baby...What should be of serious concern to all parents are the toxic chemicals present in disposable diapers. Dioxin, which in various forms has been shown to cause cancer, birth defects, liver damage, skin diseases, and genetic damage, is a by-product of the paper-bleaching process used in manufacturing disposable diapers. Trace quantities may even exist in the diapers themselves!
Dioxin is listed by the EPA as the most toxic of cancer related chemicals. Disposable diapers contain Tributyl-tin (TBT) - a toxic pollutant known to cause hormonal problems in humans and animals. Disposable diapers also contain sodium polyacrylate. If you have ever seen the gel-like, super absorbent crystals in a disposable, then you have seen this first hand. Sodium polyacrylate is the same substance that was removed from tampons because of its link to toxic shock syndrome.

Places to Shop for Cloth Diapers Online:


Just Getting Started?


Step 1: Learn the lingo! Click here to get definitions for all the Cloth Diapering Terminology

Step 2: Decide which type of diaper is right for you: Pocket , AIO, Fitted, Hybrid, etc
Step 3: Decide if you want  snap or velcro closures. ( snaps are better for older kids b.c they cant easily take diaper off, velcro is better for younger ones because its quicker when changing diaper. Also closest resemblance to disposables)
Step 4: Decide which brand of diaper is for you

Step 5: Read up on how to wash and care for your diapers
Step 6: Purchase Supplies ( diaper detergent, booty balm, wet bags, dirty diaper pail)



A shopping List of What All you Need to Get Started ( IMO... you can definitely get by on less if you so desire).
- 2 Pail Liners
- Diaper Detergent
- Grovia Magic Stick
- Minimum 12 cloth diapers ( 18 is a better number)
- cloth wipes
- Wipes Solution
- Night Time inserts or heavy wetter inserts
- A wet bag (to keep in your diaper bag for dirty cloth diapers)

Extras: 
Diaper sprayer for toilet
Travel wet bag for wipes
Essential oil to mask any odor of diaper pail
Diaper pail or trash can with a lid
Diaper Liners (a roll of what looks like dryer sheets that you can line the inside of diapers with for easy cleaning of poop)



Birth - 6 Months
I really like the aplix diapers for the smaller babies, just because you are changing diapers so often and they are easier to get on and off quickly. Shinies were my favorite for this stage.




6 months
Cloth diapering is still going really well. A bit challenging at times now that we have entered the world of baby food! (stinky) but now that PB is 6 months old he has pretty predictable BM's and so I will put a diaper liner in his diaper that is gonna be a poopy. That is quite helpful in cleaning, and he has also started making solid BM's which is MUCH easier for cleaning purposes! Not sure if that will be a regular thing or not.  I am using all snap One size pocket diapers now, because snaps are much easier to launder and I like being able to adjust them for weight. I found some great ones on ebay for about $6 each that I really like.
He has started wetting much more at night time and sometimes during the day and for those heavy wettings, I have found that organic inserts, particularly the Sprout Change ones are the best. They are very absorbent and organic fibers do not hold odor like synthetics do which is really nice.


I have had a lot of questions about cloth diapers lately and so I thought I would do a blog series on them because it can seem overwhelming at first!

Here is my station! I really like having a changing table. We did not have room for a big one so there is no counter storage, thus the organizer hanging off the side of the table. It keeps things handy!
I use drawer separators to make little rows of clean dipes. To the left are extra inserts, wipes etc.

 I keep cloth wipes and hiney spray on one side, powder and but chapstick on the other. Disposable wipes in that skip hop container on the top and disposables underneath for night time. When peebs was younger I used cloth at night time with a doubler, but as he got older he was peeing too much for that which is why I use a disposable at night. Once I can get him to sleep through the night without nursing, I shall go back to cloth at night.
This is a pail liner. It is made of PLU and you use it like a garbage bag. The advantage of it is you re-use it over and over, and you can just chunk the whole thing, diapers and all into the wash without having to stick your hand in there and pull the dipes out!
It took me months to figure this out, but they have flannel squares on the inside which are for you to put a few drops of essential oils on for deodorizing the pail. I found that this works better than any of the other item they sell for such things. I don't have any problems with odor in his room as I also use a pail with a lid.


Here are my products. I love all 3!  The spray on the far right is for hiney washing. You can spray directly on the skin or onto a cloth wipe for cleaning up the booty!
So there you have it! Storage of the cloth!




Cloth Diapering at 1 year! 


I have been cloth diapering for Fenn's 1st year now and I have learned a lot and things have changed over time so I thought I would update on that progress.
- Now that he is into table food, diapers are getting stained. I blame processed food! Nevertheless, I have to do extra washing practices. So now, before the diaper goes in the pail, I spray it with some sort of stain remover. Currently I am using spray -n-Wash. 


- Every Week or 2,  I will do a special wash cycle with Vinegar in the bleach compartment and a Tide Stain Fighter booster in the washing machine ( additional to diaper soap) just to get them as white as possible and the vinegar is in there to remove buildup of the tide and I use EXTRA HOT water . This seems to be working well to get them clean and has not caused any damage to my diapers on inserts.


- Speaking of Inserts I LOVE the Hemp Inserts from BabyKicks. They are thin, and VERY absorbant and wash well. Natural fibers don't stain as easily as synthetics I think.


- My favorite diapers are still the Charlie banana Size large. I love the diaper style and they are the biggest ones I can find to fit my BIG boy.


- My favorite Diaper Pail is from IKEA. It is plastic, hangs on the side of the changing table ( so out of the reach of dogs) and has a lid. It is fabulous and was uber cheap.