Cloth Diapers 101: How to get started
Ok, let's talk diapers! We are about to have our 7th baby very soon, so it was a good time for me to bust out all the cloth diapers and get them ready for our little guy. I have successfully cloth diapered 6 of our kiddos which is so exciting knowing how much money we have saved. However, I will let you on a little secret...Im crunchy...but Im not that crunchy. I absolutely love cloth diapering for newborns and babies, but once those babies start eating solid foods and that poop turns into something a little bit more solid, it is much harder for me to commit to cloth diapers. It's hard enough to get my husband to agree to clean the breastfed diapers, let alone the toddler poop. So instead of making myself feel guilty or feeling like I have failed, I embraced the fact that, just like everything else, I can make cloth diapering work for me and what best suits our family. The best routine that I have found that works for me is very simple. Like I said earlier, breast fed diapers are the easiest to manage, even my husband who doesn't love cloth diapering, can spray off the contents and throw it in the wash! I normally spend all of our home days exclusively cloth diapering, but the moment we go to town it's disposable diapers for this girl! I spent much of my time with the first few kiddos trying to full time cloth diaper and that made it very stressful while out in town with multiple kids in tow. I can't tell you how many times I had to deal with a complete blow out all over the carseat, because let's face it, cloth diapers just don't last as long as a disposable diapers do.
The best solution I have found
With that said, I have found the cloth diapers that I love the best. I have found that these are the easiest to put together, easiest to clean, and less blow outs! I found Nora's Nursery with my 5th baby and it was truly such a blessing as it made my daily routine run much smoother! In fact, I cloth diapered with our 5th when we were full time living in an RV! You can read all about that adventure here.
First, let me give you a quick run down on the different types of cloth diapers.
All-in-One
These diapers are just like they sound. They have fabric for absorption that are sewn into the cover. There is no need for stuffing, pinning, or gathering enough fabric to hold absorption. These are great for beginners due to the obvious name...it's all in one! You don't need to make sure that there is fabric because it's already sewn into the cover! I do not prefer these simply because I found that they leak more, and in order to prevent that, I found myself adding more fabric to the diaper which kind of defeated the purpose.
Prefolds
Prefold diapers are a larger piece of cotton square that you place into a cover. These are easy and probably what your grandma used when she was cloth diapering. In fact ask her about them, I bet she use to call the covers "rubber pants"....Thats what my mother in law still calls them. These are a simple design, however you do need a pin to close the refolds, and I found them to be a messier clean up.
Fitted
Fitted diapers are like prefolds, just easier! They have snaps so you dont have to fuss with a pin, and they usually have elastic to help hold in the contents of the diaper. You still need a cover for these as the entire fitted cloth diaper will get soaked. My favorite brand for fitted diapers are Cloth-EZ workhorse and you can find them here.
Pockets
This diaper has a cover that you stuff with the fabric liners for absorption. One side is the waterproof side, while the inside is a Microfleece liner. I have some bamboo liners that I stuff my pocket diapers with but you can use any kind of thick fabric. These are by far my favorite as I will explain below.
I have used every type of cloth diaper...All in ones, pockets, pre-folds with covers, fitted with covers, you name it! The type of cloth diapers that I prefer are the Pocket diapers. I prefer this method for a few reasons. Number 1, I find that my babies are less likely to get a rash with these. The Fleece cover is soft, and the bamboo liners that I stuff the cover with keeps baby's skin drier for longer. That way I don't feel like I need to change every time baby urinates. Number 2, I find that the elastic on the pocket diapers have a stronger hold which gives me less leakage. Number 3, in my opinion, they are just easier to clean. All I have to do when prepping them for the wash is pull out the liners, spray the yucky contents in the toilet and pop it in the wet bag until my next wash! Some people say that the all in ones are the easiest for beginners. I agree with that to some degree, but I haven't found an all in one that holds for a longer period of time without leaking. Remember, I am a mama of many, so I don't have the time to be constantly changing diapers, I need a diaper that will hold for a bit longer so I can get through a math lesson or finish my muffins that are in the oven.
Washing
Now I could do a whole post about how to wash the diapers, but I will save that for another time. The main thing you need to know now is to keep it simple! Spray off the contents of the dirty diaper in the toilet. You can find the toilet sprayer that I use here. Pop the dirty diaper in what is called a wet bag (also sold on amazon or Nora's nursery). Then when it comes to wash day, you need to use diaper friendly detergent. My favorite one is called Dirty Diaper by Rockin Green and you can find it here.
Sometimes, I have to add a treatment if I let dirty diapers sit a bit too long, and that powder you can purchase on amazon here. Just add it to your normal wash and it will do all the magic. Drying your diapers on a clothes line will bring out your inner Laura Ingalls so get yourself line and channel that energy! OR.... you can just pop them in the dryer. Drying them out on the line will allow you to preserve your diapers for longer... over time the elastic will start to loose its elasticity, but that's also something that you can fix and your grandma would be proud to see you sewing your baby's cloth diapers back together! That's all for now friends, happy diapering!