Cloth Diapering

So you’re thinking about using cloth diapers…. Do it!!

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Cloth diapers save millions of pounds of plastic and chemicals from being put into a land fill. They also look super cute and our baby has experienced less rashes with cloth (we use disposables at certain times such as vacations).

Cloth diapers are a bit intimidating at first, but once you get the hang of using them it’s pretty easy. There are many types and brands of cloth diapers, which can be confusing. (chart to help you quickly answer some questions with so many choices out there, COMING SOON!).

We started with an array of different brands, colors and styles because I wasn’t sure what we’d like. We quickly found our favorites. When our baby was a newborn I loved Kawaii brand Little Green Baby diapers. They were soft and small enough to fit her when she was little.

As she grew past about 15lbs we started liking Bum Genius a lot. Bum Genius just seem to fit our baby really well and seem not to leak. When I retired the newborn diapers from the mix I knew I had to order a few more and right away I knew I’d be ordering Bum Genius. I decided to order all in ones rather than more pocket diapers, which is what we already had been using. I researched brick and mortar stores and online and finally found Cotton Babies, an online store that sells many brands and types of cloth diapers, accessories and also other baby items. I ordered from them because they had excellent reviews, a great story about how they started and because they seemed to have the best deal. My experience with Cotton Babies matched the many reviews I read. The diapers were perfect and came super fast. I even got a free diaper as part of one of their promotions! You can also buy them from places such as Babies R Us, Buy Buy Baby, Target or Amazon. You may want to go this route as part of a registry, using gift cards etc. (or you can also register at Cotton Babies). If you use these stores watch for their baby sales and remember to shop through Ebates first do you can earn cash back on your purchase (see my post about Ebates if it’s unfamiliar to you. It can save you lots if you shop online, no credit card/ check required).
We LOVE the Bum Genius, All in One diapers because they are so easy. Our other diapers are all pocket diapers, which means they have to be stuffed with an insert. The all in ones are made different (all one piece, see below) and just have to have the absorbing pads folded in. All of them work pretty equally, but the all in ones take less time to wash and prepare for use.

UPDATE: As our daughter continues to grow (she is almost 2), we are finding ourselves liking the Bum Genius pocket diapers the best as they are easier to deal with than the all in ones when she has messy poops. Bum Genius brand continue to be the diapers that are holding up the best and fit the best out of all of our diapers.

Types of Cloth Diapers

There are many types of cloth diapers as mentioned about. The most well-known are perhaps the ones that have been around the longest, those are pre-fold diapers. These diapers are common with diaper services and can also be purchased at most stores. They look like a towel or burp cloth. These diapers get folded to fit baby and inserted into a water proof liner. There are many different liners and fasteners for this type of diaper.

Pocket diapers are another type of cotton diaper. These diapers have a waterproof outer piece that gets stuffed with an absorbent insert. These diapers come in many brands and styles and you can stuff them to fit your babies needs (thicker at night etc.).

All in one diapers, as mentioned above are all one piece. They look like a pocket diaper from the outside, but there is no stuffing required. If you need absorbency you can stuff in another insert, however.

Washing & Caring for Cloth Diapers

All the diapers I’ve purchased came with very specific care instructions. Most need to be washed a few times before baby can wear them. This conditions your diapers. Once that is done, I use the diapers and wash them all together long cycle, with an extra rinse with free and clear soap. When the first cycle is complete, I switch to the normal cycle, still add extra rinse and wash one more time. Before starting the second cycle you can quickly open the washer and make sure all the inserts agitated out if you have pocket diapers. (I don’t always do this, so sometimes there are a few inserts left in the diapers. They still get clean in my washer, so I’m okay with it). I wash all my different brands and types of diapers the same. We use free and clear, liquid soap on our diapers. This has worked great on our many brands of diapers. Some manufacturers suggest using their own brand of soap. I recommend checking the diaper manufacturer’s washing instructions and doing what works best for your family.

Cloth Diapers on the Go

You may be wondering how you could possibly cloth diaper your baby when you are out and about. It’s actually way easier than it looks. We still use cloth most of the time when we are out, because our daughter’s skin reacts better to them than disposables, they look cuter and it saves us money. When I first purchased our diapers I ordered some wet bags, which are just little zipper pouches that are waterproof. We simply change the diaper, put the used diaper in the wet bag and as soon as we get home drop them both in the diaper pail. Wet bags are washed with diapers, no special care necessary except opening the bag and removing the diaper (you can push the diaper out from the outside so you don’t have to touch the diaper again).