When I first got this big idea in my head that I would like to use cloth diapers, I had no idea where to begin. I don't know anyone (who isn't at least a generation older than I am) that used cloth diapers. And then when I started looking for information, it was a bit overwhelming. And it seemed like all of the sites and blogs I visited were sponsored by certain brands, making hard to sort out the real reviews and information from the subtle advertising. So here is what I have learned in case you are interested.
Benefits of Cloth Diapering
There are a few main benefits of using cloth:
- They are better for the environment. Since disposable diapers are not biodegradable, they sit in landfills for longer than a person's lifespan. This is my main reason for wanting to do cloth. (I must note that this is debateable as some disposable diaper proponents suggest that cloth uses so much water that it negates them from being more environmentally friendly.)
- They can be cheaper. I say "can" because you can spend a lot of money on cloth if you aren't careful. And from what I've read, if you use them on only one child, the savings is marginal. The initial cost of the diapers and supplies is pretty expensive but we recently checked our water bills and they only increased about $10 over a quarter (so around $3-4 per month) which I thought was great. We use a little more detergent than normal but it hasn't been noticeable. We do have a high-efficiency front loading washing machine so that may help with our savings. I was able to sell my used diapers since they were only used on Kyler and ended up doing pretty well overall so I would think we saved a lot of money by not using disposables on Kyler.
- They are better for your baby. There has been a lot in the news lately about some of the mainstream disposable brands causing really horrible rashes because of the chemicals they use. This is rarely a problem with cloth diapers. Babies in cloth who are changed reguarly almost never got a bad diaper rash. By nine months, Kyler had only had one not-too-bad diaper rash. When he was a year and had been getting a lot of teeth, we had some bad rashes. I find that a bath, diaper cream, and a cloth diaper to bed usually clears up the rash by morning. I usually put a cloth wipe between the diaper cream and the diaper so that it doesn't affect he absorbency of the diaper. We did have a teething rash that we had a lot of trouble with though. With Myelle, I actually had a lot of rash issues with cloth diapers and we had to start using disposables. I think the issue was that her urine was irritating her skin and the disposable diapers pull the moisture away more than cloth. We continue to have rash issues even with disposables because of her sensitive skin.
- They do a better job at holding in the poo. I have had personal experience here. We put Kyler in disposables for one weekend while we were camping and he had two out-of-the-diaper explosions in the first morning. The same thing has happened other times he was in disposables. I think we have had only a few leaks ever with cloth and they were not nearly as bad. And there were several times I was very thankful he was in a cloth diaper or we would have had a disaster! This may very well be our favorite reason for cloth - it just works better!
The first thing I discovered is that there is a language you have to learn to navigate the cloth diaper world. Most of this revolves around the different types and pieces of the diapers.
Prefold Diapers
Prefolds are what I primarily use. Specifically, I use the ones from Green Mountain Diapers (pictured below). They are called prefolds because the center section is made thicker (which requires less folding). The alternative to a prefold is a flat diaper, described in the next section. These prefold diapers are made of cotton and their purpose is to absorb all the pee and poo. A diaper cover (also described below) goes over the prefold to lock in the moisture and mess. Although you don't have to use diaper pins since the cover can hold the prefold together, I have found that it makes it easier to use the pinning alternative, a snappi. I purchased two dozen each of the newborn and small diapers. If you have a bigger newborn you may be able to get away with skipping the newborn - but Kyler was pretty small so we really needed them. I skipped the mediums, which are red, and started using large now (brown) when Kyler was about 6.5 months old. We purchased a total of 16 large diapers since he doesn't need changed as often and that is plenty. He was still fitting into them at 17 months old so they were a great value.
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| Green Mountain Diapers Prefolds |
Flat Diapers
These are very similar to the prefolds except they are "flat." They need to be folded a few more times to get them to be as thick and absorbent and to fit into the diaper. They are a much cheaper alternative and are easier to hand wash if you use cloth while traveling. Plus, they are usually one size fits all so that also saves some money. I don't have any personal experience but I do know they are not as popular as prefolds becuase of the extra folding. If I could do it all over again, I would probably try flats because I don't think the folding is as hard as it seems once you get used to it.
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| Flat Diaper from GMD |
All-In-One Diapers
These are also abbreviated as AIOs. It basically means that the diaper and cover are one piece. This makes it extremely easy to diaper (basically just like a disposable). The downfalls are that they are a lot more expensive and don't hold up as well. I ordered a couple of newborn and small sizes but for me, they aren't worth the money so I only have prefolds now. When we are traveling I will just take a prefold and travel size wet bag or just do disposables since we use them for daycare anyway.
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| SposoEasy All-In-Ones |
Diaper Covers
This is where the options are seemingly endless because of all the brands available. Our favorites are the type that have a velcro closure (rather than a snap). Thirsties are my personal favorites because they have what are called leg gussets to help keep everything in rather than coming out the leg holes, which we have had problems with in the past with wet diapers. They also have more of a slick waterproof inside than the Bummis. We have also had good luck with Bummis Super Whisper Wrap although for some reason it is easier for Kyler to wet through the waistband on those. We have a couple of one size covers from EconoBum which are really nice because you can use them for all sizes; but we just like the convenieve of the velcro over snaps (especially Brett). The one size covers use a snap system where you can expand or contract the diaper to the correct size. We started with seven covers when Kyler was in the small size. Kyler poops a lot and it often got on the cover at that age so we probably changed them more than most people. We started using medium Thirsties when Kyler was over 6 months and growing out of the smalls. We have 6 Thirsties covers as well as the 2 EconoBum covers that expand. That is more than enough and we could get by with only 6 covers, especially if I were diligent about washing every other day. Around a year old or so, those covers started getting too small and he was leaking out the front near his belly button. So I purchased a few of the large Bummis Super Lite as well as a large Litewrap. Both are worked much better. We still used a disposable at night though.
Diapering Accesories
Wipes
Cloth wipes are a must when you are using cloth diapers. For one thing they work way better than a disposable wipe. And secondly, why would you want to worry about separating the diaper and wipe and throwing them in two separate places when you can just dump the whole thing into your diaper pail? I purchased four dozen wipes but probably only need two to three dozen. A friend of my made her own to save money. I got a wipe warmer to store the wipes but I don't even keep it plugged in, it just keeps the wipes moist. In the diaper bag I just shove a handful of wipes in a small tupperware container to keep them wet - I don't use a baggie only because of the environmental reasons. Even when we use disposable diapers, I prefer to use the cloth wipes. They are so much easier and you don't feel like you're going to get poo on your hand. Plus, you can use as many as you want and not feel bad because it isn't costing you any more money.
Diaper Pail and Liner
I use a trash can with a lid for my diaper pail and I bought two liners (one to use while the other is in the wash). I would recommend doing the same. Our trash can has a lid on it which helps when it is warmer and the diapers stink faster. If you wash regularly (every other day or so), it is probably better to leave the lid off for the most part to let them air out. Usually you can't smell unless a diaper was particularly stinky.
Wet Bags
I have two of these. They go in the diaper bag when we're out and about so I have a place to store my dirties until we get back home. Alternatively you could use a plastic grocery bag and just throw it out when you get home. I do that a lot when I forget to throw a wet bag in the diaper bag.
Snappi
Last but not least let me tell you about this gem I found called a Snappi. It is awesome and a must if you are using cloth diapers (flats or prefolds). It replaces diaper pins (which I tried once because I got a set free with some diapers and they are a huge pain) when it comes to securing the cloth diaper in place around the baby before the diaper cover goes on. At first we weren't pinning at all but that made for a sloppy diapering job. This way is much better. We bought a pack of two and they have lasted us to 9 months and are still going strong... so no need to buy the multi-pack.
Doublers are thick pieces of cloth that you can insert into the diaper for extra absorbency. Kyler has gone through a couple of stages where he wets very heavily at bedtime to the point where his pajamas are soaked when he wakes up. When this is happening frequently, I use a doubler and it completely eliminates the problem. I have around 4 of them but could probably get by with 2 pretty easily since they aren't a necessity. Once Kyler was over a year, even the doublers didn't keep him dry at night. Other cloth diaperers recommend to go in and change him when I go to bed but Ky probably wouldn't sleep through that like some toddlers would. So we started using disposables at night to keep his pajamas dry. At 20 months, the disposables aren't even keeping him dry at night.
Washing the Diapers
Washing the diapers is very easy. When the baby is only eating breastmilk there is no need to scrape or rinse anything out of the diapers. They just go into the washer and everything rinses down the drain. When the baby starts eating baby food or other solid foods you will have to dunk the diapers in the toilet if the poo is firm but sticking to the diaper. Alternatively you can get a sprayer to attach to your toilet to use to spray the diapers. I get by fine just dunking. Usually though it will just shake right off and plop in the toilet. I first wash using 2 cups of white vinegar on a cold cycle with an extra rinse to rinse everything out and try to minimize stains (although you will always have some stains). The vinegar helps neutralize the acid so that you can avoid the ammonia smell when they are wet. Then I wash with a little less than the normal amount of detergent (I use Tide Free) on hot with an extra rinse to make sure all odors and bacteria are out of the diapers.
Then the diapers and wipes dried on a hot cycle in the dryer. I wash my wipes, wet bags, and covers the same way and then hang dry my bags ad covers because after time, drying in the dryer will damage the waterproofing. They also recommend that you line dry the diapers partially because the sun is a natural bleacher. I have done this at my mom's house and we still had to throw everything in the dryer because the diapers seemed so stiff and scratchy.
I occasionally use about a tablespoon bleach in the first cycle rather than vinegar (***never use both bleach and vinegar together as it emits a toxic gas***) when I feel like the diapers need it. As with anything you bleach, you have to be careful because it breaks down the fabric. Once I learned that vinegar gets rid of the ammonia smell, I very rarely use bleach.
I highly recommend washing diapers about every other day. I have some smell problems but I think it has to do with me not washing often enough. Since Ky wears disposables at daycare and now at night, I just don't have a full load as often. I have also heard that if you boil the diapers to strip them it will eliminate some of the odors. Particularly, my diapers smell like ammonia pretty quickly after they are wet.
Questions?
Leave a comment on my blog if I have left anything out or if anything is unclear. It is hard to remember everything at once but I would love to make my page more complete if possible. Thanks!
** One other thing that I don't mention above is regarding the bulkiness of the diapers. It is a little shocking at first how much bulk you putting on the baby but I can assure you that it doesn't bother them at all. Even now that Kyler is moving around more, he doesn't seem to mind having a cloth diaper any more than when he's in a disposable.
Also, because of the bulkiness, their clothing fits a little more snug. We mainly have problems with onesies being too short to comfortably snap at the crotch or with pant waistbands being too tight to be comfortable. So you may have to buy a size up from what they would normally wear which is not a big deal for us.
