Ok guys. I’ll be honest with you. I never expected to do cloth diapering because it was so intimidating. But I also care a lot about the environment and feel a degree of responsibility to take care of the planet while taking care of my children.
I started SMALL like really small. I put a cloth diaper pack (ALVA brand) on my registry and thought, if someone gets it for us, I’ll give it a spin, and if not I’ll tackle it when I feel like it. Well I was given the diapers and when Lottie was 4 weeks old I jumped in. And I LOVE IT. Its really easy and the extra time it takes to clean them is a small sacrifice to make for the environment but on the flip side really good on the wallet.
Below I will provide the links to all the items I got to complete my cloth diapering and I think I have spent $220. Thats the same amount I would spend on disposable wipes/diapers in just a few months. These will last years and even our second baby. *we will probably do disposables when traveling or visiting family if they don’t want me doing the wash haha and if we do disposables we will go with Dyper brand (compostable bamboo diapers) or Coterie.
Now, before you go and just do what I do, go into it knowing you might need to tweak things depending on your lifestyle/if you live in a place with hard water or soft water for washing/if your baby prefers a different style diaper. This is what works for us so I just wanted to share for those that wanted to start out and hopefully this is helpful! I got a lot of these tips/products from friends that have been cloth diapering for years & watching lots of YouTubes on the subject.
DIAPERS: I like the snap kind, but this is the only kind we have tried. Fits newborn (8lbs & up all the way till toddler!) This brand comes with inserts and a traveling wet bag so that’s a huge plus, but you can always BUY MORE INSERTS and WET BAGS if you notice your lifestyle asks for more. I love this gender neutral pack but they have other packs with super cute designs!
CLOTH WIPES: Just have a spray bottle in your changing station or access to water if you’re out and about and its works great! You don’t even have to buy these if you have some old flannels to cut up and sew the border. We bought two packs of these so we can have a travel pack and one that stays at home.
DIAPER PAIL: This will come with plastic bags inside so use those however you see fit, but you will be putting wet bags inside that will hide the smell and make it easy to throw your dirty diapers somewhere until you are ready to wash.
WET BAGS FOR DIAPER PAIL: Say its Thursday, by Friday night I have two of these bags full so I load the third in the diaper pail and soak the dirty ones in the washer over night. Saturday morning I: wash/dry (inserts and wipes only)/hang dry (diapers) and repeat this process come Sunday night/Monday morning. So three bags is perfect.
DETERGENT: Most people swear by powder being way more effective than liquid. And to not go too “natural” as you need the detergent to strip the dirty. Not sure if brand matters, but everywhere i’ve seen says Tide.
*extra tip: if your diapers have poop stains after washing just put them in the sun for a couple hours and the sun with bleach out the stains.
WASH ROUTINE: (always have your second rinse option chosen & know you might need to tweak this to work for you)
Empty wet bags into washer and make sure all inserts are out of the pockets. Cold cycle with half the detergent you would use for the size load for 10 minutes.
Run again but with double the detergent you used last time (this cycle contains the amounts of detergent you would normally use for this size). Run on hot for 14-16 minutes.
Now hang dry the diapers/wetbags or lay them out in the sun on a towel whatever works for you and throw the inserts and cloth wipes in dryer on medium. Some people throw everything in dryer and some hang dry everything. Just depends on you and your lifestyle.
you can google/YouTube different wash routines and depending on your hardness of water you might have to strip every ten washes or so if your diapers have an ammonia smell to them - I have not experienced this yet so I’m no help in that department.
(this post was written when Lottie was a breasted baby under 3 months, so diapering may vary for a baby that is older/eating solids)
