Everyone I’ve ever talked to about cloth diapers seems intimidated at first but TRUST ME it is so much easier than you would ever expect! We have been doing it with my son for over a year and we are SO GLAD we made this decision (yes, even my husband is happy about it!)! We do a load of diapers about once every three days and it only takes about 10 mins to put the diapers together once they’re done drying. I would say that is WORTH saving THOUSANDS!
First let me start off with this fun fact:
THE AVERAGE BABY WILL USE OVER 7,000 DIAPERS BEFORE THEY ARE POTTY TRAINED; THIS EQUALS ABOUT $2500 PER CHILD!!!
Let that sink in for a second.. ;)
Here are a few of the reasons we chose to cloth diaper..
1. SAVE MONEY – You will save hundreds (even thousands) and this even includes the added cost of laundry detergent, water, etc– the more babies you use them for, the more you’ll save! But even using them for just one baby will save you money! If you add some of these items to your registry, you may not have to pay for any diapers at all!
2. Good for the ENVIRONMENT! – We all need to do our part, and this is an easy way to keep tons (literally TONS) of waste out of the landfill! Disposables produce 7.6 BILLION pounds of trash A YEAR in the US. I’ve heard people argue that you use more water when you cloth diaper; yes, this is true, but consider the amount of water and resources the factories use to make the millions of disposables every year!
3. Cloth diapers have come a LONG WAY – They’re built just like disposables, easily snap on and off & they come in cute colors and prints! No cloth diaper sheet and clothing pin.. (I know thats what some of you were thinking!) You can use the same diapers from newborn to potty training.. the snaps allow the diapers to grow with baby!
4. Healthier, Safer and More Comfortable for baby! You won’t be exposing your baby to all the harsh chemicals (Dyes, Perfumes, Dioxins, Carcinogens, etc) found in disposable diapers! This leads to another point; that cloth diapered babies also have less diaper rashes! And also think about this, would you rather be in cloth fabric or plastic/paper all day, every day??
5. Cloth diapers are known to have less leaks and less blow outs! They are more reliable than disposables, which is one less thing to worry about! All of the snaps on the diapers allow for a better fit!
[This post is not to shame any parent who chooses to use disposables, but rather to spread awareness of how EASY cloth diapering is and to encourage anyone to consider cloth diapers instead of disposables :)]
What You’ll Need!
This may seem like a long list but remember, this is taking place of buying thousands of diapers! (and even with disposables, you would need a pail, trash bags, wipes, cream, etc).
1. (About) 30-40 Pocket Diapers – We use pocket diapers because they were reasonably priced and easy to use! Our favorite brand is Alva Baby (we also like Nora’s Nursery which are almost identical but more expensive). Alva Baby are on Amazon for about $30 for 6 diapers. They come in solids and cute prints! We have more expensive brands too (Bum Genius, Charlie Banana, Fuzzibuns, Etc).. Alva Baby is still our favorite! We chose Pocket style cloth diapers because the All-in-Ones were super pricey and the fold/cover type seemed a little too much work! The pocket diapers are the sort of “in between” kind. For less than $200, you can get ALL THE DIAPERS you will need for baby!!! (I have discovered that many of the more expensive brands are US companies and have to comply to better working standards for their factories; I can’t say one way or the other for how AlvaBaby and other similar companies produce their diapers.. but it’s something to consider when choosing your brand)
2. Dekor Diaper Pail – To hold your dirty diapers!
3. Reusable Bags – Pack of 2 – Use these for inside your pail. When you take a full load of diapers, you just throw the bag inside out into the washer with the diapers. Place the second one in the pail so it’s ready to go for more diapers!
4. Nighttime Hemp Inserts – We have 6 total of these (bought three sets of 2, Size Large). Add this under the normal insert for night time! These are super absorbent!!! We have barely had any leaks and our son sleeps 12+ hours at night! [We started using these around 3 months old, when he was sleeping long periods of time]
5. Wet Bags – [Large and Medium] These are great for in your diaper bag, travel, etc! We have one large one for longer stays and a medium sized one for our diaper bag. Our medium bag came with our Nora’s Nursery set of diapers. But you can buy one separately like these! They come in super cute prints!
6. Drying Rack and Laundry Basket – Cloth diapers cannot be put in the dryer, therefore a drying rack is essential. I set our drying rack by a large window during the cold months and set it outside in the sun in the warm months. (Bonus: The sun will bleach any stains from the diapers naturally!) I added the laundry basket to this section, just to make things easier, if you don’t have a convenient one already! I bought my laundry basket for $1 at the dollar tree!
7. Biodegradable Liners by GroVia– These are used when you start feeding your baby solids! Just put a liner in the diaper (if baby only pees, you can reuse it for the next diaper since they do not absorb liquid); if baby poops, it keeps the diaper “clean”; just toss the mess in the toilet, throw away the liner, and put the diaper in the pail! Easy Peasy!
8. Laundry Detergent – These are many cloth diaper friendly types of laundry detergent. We use Seventh Generation Ultra Power Plus! Here is a site to help you with laundering Dos and Don’ts of washing cloth diapers! Found here. I use this for all of our regular laundry too and I am very happy with it!
9. Optional: Diaper Sprayer – This attaches to your toilet so that you may rinse off the diaper. But, since we use the liners to “catch the mess”, we have never used a sprayer!
Every day essentials that are cloth diaper friendly
We use:
- Grovia Stick
- Natural Boudreaux’s Butt Paste and Diaper Cream brush (to keep your hands clean!)
- California Baby Diaper Area Spray
- Baby Wipes – We use three different types and I’ll explain why below!
[We use Honest Company wipes for #2 diapers and for when we’re out places; we use cloth wipes aka washcloths at home with pee only diapers (we just use the California diaper area spray listed above and use baby washcloths to dry the bum) We do NOT use these washcloths for bath time, we keep those separate :) and we use Water Wipes along with the spray/washcloths when our son has a diaper rash. He has only had a few diaper rashes, and we have found that these are more gentle when baby’s bum is hurting]
[Most diaper creams are NOT cloth diaper friendly – Here are more cloth diaper friendly products options KellysCloset.com]
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More and more people are choosing to cloth diaper these days, you can google just about anything you need to know! I encourage you to at least think about giving it a try! Once you realize how easy it is, you’ll be on board for sure!
[This is just my “list” of necessities to cloth diaper; I’m planning to add a “how to” blog post soon! Stay tuned!]
Thanks for stopping by!
Other Informational Sites:
Fluff Love & CD Science – This is a facebook group I joined when I first started; I searched my type of washing machine in this group and found the wash routine that works for my machine!