Saving for our next baby has led us to change quite a few things in our budget. One of the biggest changes has been switching to cloth diapers. Honestly, this was something I had been thinking about doing anyways for months and I finally switched when we came back home from summer break. We have been cloth diapering for about 3 months now and it is awesome! Well it's diapering, so let's be honest, it's not that awesome but for what it is, it's great. Plus, it has saved us a lot of money already so it's doing its job.
I think people assume that cloth diapering is just going to be gross. It really isn't that bad, I promise! Besides, if you're a mom you know that getting poop on you happens. If you're going to be a mom, WARNING: YOU WILL GET POOPED ON! {SH}IT HAPPENS! So yes, occasionally with cloth diapers you get poop on your hand, it really hasn't happened any more than when we used disposable diapers though.
So let's go over the basics:
We have 15 one size fits all pocket diapers (Alva baby rebrands... Which I'll talk more about later...)
I have 2 wet bags, one for the diaper bag, one for our "diaper pail"
We use Ecos free and clear detergent
We wash every 2-3 days
We use cloth wipes
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| Alva baby one size pocket diaper. |
Diapers:
As I said before, we have 15 pocket diapers that are Alva baby rebrands. Basically, someone ordered wholesale from Alva baby, put their own tag on it, and sold it for twice as much. I ordered mine from a discount website not knowing that was what I was getting. I actually love our diapers but any future orders will be done directly through Alva baby. Which lots of people do this, so just so you know what I didn't, if it looks like an Alva baby diaper (above), it probably is. It was my own fault for not educating myself before purchasing, but don't spend twice as much on something if you don't have to.
For our inserts, we use the triple layer microfiber that came with the diapers and they work great! At night we add an additional layer that I made from repurposing pre-fold cloth diapers I got from the hospital when Isla was born. Isla sleeps 12+ hours at night so we need the extra absorbency.
I love the pocket diapers because it isn't as bulky as some cloth diapers, it has a layer that wicks away wetness from her bum, and we can really customize the absorbency.
We chose the one size diapers because we are trying to save money and don't want to purchase more diapers when she grows out of them. Also, we can reuse these ones for future babies.
Our "night time" inserts:
I tried just putting 2 microfiber inserts into the diaper, it looked ridiculous and Isla could hardly walk her diaper was so giant. So I came up with this quick solution.
Take a pre-fold diaper and cut it into thirds...
Like this.
Zig-zag stitch the open sides closed.
Wow, that was easy! So now you have a thick, multi-layer absorbent middle, and thinner but still absorbent front and back to prevent extra bulk. These have worked great for us. If Isla has been drinking a lot of water before bed, we sometimes add 2 and they are still thin enough that she can walk.
Wet bags:
We have one wet/dry bag that has 2 pockets (one for wet diapers, one for dry diapers) that is great for the diaper bag. I just ordered it with my diapers but the same bag is also available from Alva baby for only $5.
Our second bag is this
Kanga Care wet bag that we ordered on Amazon. It easily holds 15 diapers and inserts. This is where we put all of our dirty diapers between washes. We don't soak, we don't spray, we just remove the inserts and stuff them in there. I literally shake off any solids into the toilet and that is it. If it doesn't shake off, I don't worry about it and I just put it in the bag. It is so airtight that there is no smell and I could literally fill it with water and it wouldn't leak a drop. We love using this bag as our diaper pail.
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| Kanga Care Wet Bag |
Washing:
We live in an apartment and have a standard top loading washing machine. Whenever I have 2 diapers left, I do laundry, this is usually every 3rd day. If using pocket diapers I highly HIGHLY suggest that you take the inserts out before putting them in your diaper pail. You don't want to be sifting through diapers as you put them in the washing machine! We dump everything in, including the bag, every time we wash. I always start with a cold rinse, wash on hot, and then do an extra rinse cycle.
We use Ecos free and clear detergent but once this is gone we will be switching to good old fashioned tide powder. This has been recommended to me by a few diapers stores and by friends that cloth diaper. It's a little less expensive so that is mostly why we'll be switching. Since we don't have a HE washer, I always squirt about a tablespoon of Dawn dish soap in with my diapers. It helps so that I don't have to strip my diapers periodically. We also use coconut oil as diaper rash cream and this helps remove any of that so we don't get build up.
When washing cloth diapers always fill your washing machine as full as it goes, you want to make sure there is plenty of water in there to get your diapers clean. If you ever have problems with ammonia smells, rinse your diapers on cold and then fill up your washing machine and let then soak for an hour or two, then wash and rinse as usual.
Occasionally, I will bleach my inserts just to get them a little whiter and cleaner. I lay my diapers out to "sun" almost every time I wash them. The sunlight helps to naturally whiten and disinfect the diapers.
Cloth wipes:
When I first switched to cloth diapers we were using regular wet wipes. This was fine until the first poopy diaper when I realized I couldn't flush the dirty wipes and I didn't really want to throw gross wipes in my garbage can. It just made sense to switch to cloth wipes as well. So I made wipes from some of Isla's receiving blankets that never got used once. I just cut the flannel blankets into squares and then zig-zag stitched around the edges to prevent fraying. They look like crap but they're wiping up poo so who cares? I then searched the internet for a wipes solution and from what I found, I combined different solutions to create my own. For our wipes at home, I have a reusable container that I put enough wipes in for about 2 days and then I pour the solution over the wipes so they are saturated. You don't want to have too many wipes in there because you don't want them to get moldy. For the diaper bag, we have a little spray bottle of the solution that we spray either on her bum or on a dry wipe depending on how messy she is.
If you don't want to use cloth wipes, I highly recommend getting "moist flushable wipes." You still have the ease of disposable wipes but you can flush them right down with everything else. They're also pretty reasonably priced if you buy them in bulk from a warehouse store.
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| Pretty simple, doesn't have to look amazing. |
Here is my wipes solution:
2 Tablespoons coconut oil (to moisturize)
2 Cups water
4 Tablespoons witch hazel (to disinfect and sooth)
1 Tablespoon castile soap (or baby wash)
2 Drops tea tree oil (natural anti fungal)
Combine, shake, pour over wipes.
We have done our best to keep our diapering system low maintenance and low cost. It's pretty basic but it is definitely working for us. One of the biggest helps is knowing someone that cloth diapers. It is so great to be able to ask questions instead of trying to figure it out on your own. If you have any questions please feel free to ask. If I don't know the answer I will find it for you!
