The Diaper Post

A friend asked me to give some information about cloth diapers, and I've had a lot of questions from people about our usage of cloth lately so here it the full story...

I have frequently been asked "why cloth, how cloth...but mostly WHY cloth". I laugh every time I see the camoflauged horror on someone's face when I tell them we use cloth. I promise it's not as scary as it seems.

It all started when I was little. My parents used cloth, as did yours probably. It used to be too expensive for most people to use disposables (it is still WAY more expensive to use disposables) and diaper services were prevalent, so cloth it was.

I grew up using our old soft cloth diapers as dusting and cleaning rags. I remember marveling at how soft they were even after years of use. They were a part of my life from the get go.

But in this world of disposable diapers it was a conscious decision we made to use cloth. It's a choice that I feel I have to defend sometimes, but mostly people are really intrigued.

Let me tell you, I have NEVER regretted using cloth. The only times my girls have had diaper rash is when we use disposables on vacation. The diapers are so soft on their little bums and so cute that in the summer I pop a t-shirt on them and let them romp around pantsless. In short, I highly recommend cloth, in whatever form you choose to use them. Once you get in a routine they are easy as pie to use, simple to wash and care for and best of all, you'll be saving the earth from tons of waste and your pocketbook from dropping thousands of dollars on disposables (they say you spend $2000 PER child diapering them in disposables, we've spent about $400 on cloth for BOTH girls)

There are SO many choices when it comes to cloth. I'll tell you what's worked for us and give you the info I have about the other options.

Prefolds and Covers:

This is the "old school" option if you will. Chinese cotton prefolds are the soft thick rectangles of fabric that you fold in thirds like a letter, place inside a cover and put on your baby. This is definitely the most economical way to go as you would only need about 6-8 nice covers...I recommend the Thirsties Duo Wraps (photo below)...and 18-24 prefolds, which are relatively inexpensive. If you're scared of dealing with dirty diapers, these prefolds are the diapers that most diaper services use. Look into a service in your area to see what they use. The downside to these diapers is that they are a bit more "hands on" in that you have two layers to deal with when changing your dumpling AND as there is no layer between your baby's bum and the cloth they are going to feel wet right away.

Fitteds and covers:

These diapers only differ from the above in that the cloth part is a fitted diaper with snaps. This way you don't have to use pins to secure the diaper. You still have two layers to work with, but these diapers work really well and help with leakage a bit better than the prefolds. The downfall here is you have to keep buying new sizes as your little one grows. It's still cheaper than disposables, but ends up being pricier than the one size. We bought some Kissaluv fitteds (and LOVED them) in a newborn size for the girls when they were newborns and a bit too small for the one size diapers.

Pocket Diapers:

This is our diapering method of choice. I've used the Bum Genious 4.0 one size all in ones for both girls and they are amazing. These diapers have a soft waterproof cover combined with a wick away moisture barrier that you slip an insert into, fold it up and whalla! You put them on and take them off just like disposables, with nothing to pin or wrap. These are the best option for those reticent to try cloth as they are SO easy to use. The hitch is they are a bit more pricey but in my opinion well worth the investment. We have 18 of these diapers and it's just enough to make it three days in between washes. Probably my favorite feature of these dieapers is that they are one size, meaning they can take your baby all the way from birth to potty training without having to buy new, differently sized diapers! If you have a small baby they may be a bit bulky until they're a month old or so, but most people put their baby in disposables until their umbilical cord falls off anyways.

There are so many kinds of diapers and brands of diapers within those kinds that it can be overwhelming to choose your method. I recommend giving it a go, knowing that you really can't go wrong with your choice. Buy enough diapers for 1 day (6-8 diapers) and just see. I highly recommend BumGenious and pocket diapers in general, but prefolds or fitteds with a good cover can work just as well. Give it time to get into a rhythym with the washing and I can almost guarantee you that you won't go back. I am so in love with the 6 new diapers that I got that I'm considering taking our diapers on vacation with us for the first time. I mean we have laundry where we're going so why not?!

Now to address some common questions and concerns:

How many do I need? How do I care for them/store them?

We had 24 pocket diapers with Ainsley and I loved having that many. By the time she was 1 we were washing diapers only twice a week if that. I would say 18 would be a good number to have. It's enough that if you have a crazy need lots of diapers day you should get through fine without running out and in a perfect world you'd have 3 days between washing...which brings me to...

WASHING! and storing. We store our diapers in a big pail lined with a waterproof bag. Our pail is a designated diaper pail with a little carbon disk on top to get ride of the smell. We keep the diapers in our downstairs bathroom and I have yet to smell anything in our downstairs. When I'm down to 3 or 4 diapers I wash them. First in cold, then in hot with a teeny tiny amount of the mildest detergent you can find (We use Mountain Green but Charlie's Soap is also a popular choice). I dry the inserts on low in the dryer and hang the covers to dry (I learned the hard way that machine drying the covers ravages the velcro and elastic much fast than air drying). When they're all dry I pop on a good show and put the inserts back into the diapers, fold them up all nice and Whalla! Clean cloth diapers.

What do you do if your diapers get stained or smell?

First, your diapers will get stained and will probably smell at some point. Our covers have remained immmaculate, but the inserts do get a bit dingy. I have been known to use a "mild" (if there is such a thing) bleach on the inserts, and while that definitely got rid of the stains it also compromised their absorbancy. Drying your diapers in the sun is the best way to get rid of staining. As for smell, stripping the diapers with a little dawn and then rinsing them about 5 times in super hot water can help (thanks for that advice other cloth diapering mama friends!) I've heard you can even soak them in boiling water over and over to kill anything that may have built up. For me a good dry in the sun seems to be the cure all for most diaper issues.

Don't they leak? I've heard cloth diapers don't work as well as disposables.

Actually mine have always worked better. The only real blow outs we've ever had were with disposables. Cloth diapers do need to be changed a bit more frequently than disposables, and we do use disposables at night because I have yet to find a solution for overnight wetting but in general I've have no issues with leakage. All that good elastic and absorbancy does wonders!

How do you deal with...um..#2s?

When they're little and still on a milk only diet those #2s are water soluable so unless there's a LOT just swish it in the toilet and pop it in the bin. Once they start eating solids other things get solid as well. For this they have sprayers you can attach to your toilet to spray out the solids, we've always used a spoon (classy I know, but it works just as well). If the diaper is particularly messy I just swish it in the toilet bowl, throw it in the bin and wash my hands REAL well. Let's face it poop is a big part of life with a baby whether you use cloth or not and truthfully it's never been an issue for either Ian or I.

But Disposables just seem so much EASIER to use, right?

As I said earlier, nope. Just as easy. Of course there is the washing and folding but when you have kids and are doing 10 loads of laundry a week, what's one or two more right?

Where can I buy cloth?

If you're new to cloth I highly recommend trying to find a store that has them so you can go and check out the options. In the twin cities I've loved PeaPods in St Anthony Park and in Oak Park they have cloth diapers at Gepettos the local toy store. I bought most of my cloth diapers from cottonbabies.com and have always been so happy with their customer service. They have EVERYTHING you could possibly need at that website and their shipping is free and super fast.

cottonbabies.com

Plese write with any questions. I am no expert but have put one baby through cloth to potty training successfully (did I mention a HUGE perk to using cloth is that most babies potty train earlier and easier...at least in my experience and from what I've heard...those little ones don't like feeling all bulky and wet) and am 11 months in with Louise.

So there you have it. The whole she-bang. Clearly I am enthusiastic about cloth. That's more than I've written in a post in a LONG time. Happy cloth diapering!