Who:

I was pretty nervous to make the transition from disposable to cloth diapers, so we didn’t start until Liam was a month old. However, I’m loving it! My husband, on the other hand, would prefer to use disposables. He’ll put him in cloth if I insist, but when he was alone with him for a couple of hours last weekend while I got my hair done, baby TTT was in disposable diapers. Mr. TTT also doesn’t do the diaper laundry or stuffing – not because he refuses, but because I’m still not working so I have the time to do it and I haven’t showed him how yet. My mom is also not a fan, so if I need her to watch the baby like I did the other evening while I tutored, I put him in a disposable before I drop him off at her house and leave her with some extras in the diaper bag. Hopefully everyone will get on board once we all have more time to get used to it, but for now, I’m sort of alone in my love for cloth.

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What:

We have 23 diapers total –  20 bum genius 4.0 snaps, 2 velcro, and one fuzzibunz. I chose to go with bum genius because I’ve read so many positive reviews (MODG and Emily are fans), and didn’t want to invest in other types just to try them out. To be honest, the only reason I bought the fuzzibunz was because I wanted a red one, but I can already say that I don’t like it as much as the others. I bought 18 new and 5 used from a friend who tried cloth diapering and didn’t love it. She had mostly velcro, so I took her snaps and a couple velcro, knowing that I could change them to snaps using this Convert My Diapers service if they got worn out. We also use these Grovia cloth wipes and have 24, but might need more in the future once poop gets yuckier.

Why:

Many people cloth diaper to be more environmentally friendly and while that is a nice benefit, it’s not why we’re doing it. The main reason we cloth diaper is because it will save money in the long run, especially if we use them for more than one child, which is the plan. Another big benefit is that they’re better for baby TTT’s sensitive skin, which he undoubtedly got from me, and don’t cause diaper rash as much as disposable diapers can.

How:

When we first started, we were using disposables at night, but now we’re using cloth around the clock. At night I stuff an extra hemp insert into his diaper to prevent leaks, and I don’t change him until the morning. Instead of disposable wipes and all the chemicals they come with, we use cloth wipes and water. Since breastfed baby poop is water soluble, we just spray a wipe with regular water before we take off his dirty diaper and use it to wipe his little bum. We also have California Baby’s diaper area wash, but we don’t use it every time. With cloth wipes, we can just put the wipe in the diaper and throw it all in the wet bag, as opposed to having to throw the dirty disposable wipe in the trash. We spray each diaper with a deodorizing spray, similar to Bac Out, before putting it in the wet bag. We also remove the inserts first and spray those as well.

I wash everything every other day. First, I do a cold prewash, then a hot wash with Trader Joe’s detergent, then a cold rinse. I haven’t stripped the diapers yet, but plan to on the next wash because the used ones seem to be repelling liquid. To strip them, I’ll just add a couple drops of dish soap to the wash cycle. The directions on the diapers say to hang the covers to dry, but we don’t have a clothesline and I’ve read it isn’t necessary, so I dry everything on low heat, then remove the covers and dry the inserts and wipes on high heat for an additional 20 minutes or so. I usually stuff them while baby TTT is napping in the moby because he usually stays asleep longer if I’m moving.

For diaper changes away from home, I use cloth diapers and disposable wipes because spraying a cloth wipe with water just isn’t practical away from home. We’re going on a little overnight trip for Memorial Day weekend, and I still haven’t decided if we’ll stick with cloth or go with the convenience of disposable. It’s only one night and we will have our car, so it doesn’t seem like it would be a big deal to use cloth diapers with disposable wipes, but we’ll see how I feel when packing.

Now that we’re a couple weeks in, I see that it was silly for me to be so scared to try the cloth diapers out. I am glad we waited a bit, though, because at this point I don’t feel so overwhelmed taking care of baby TTT and can handle the extra work that cloth diapering requires.

Let me know if you have any questions in the comments and I’ll do my best to answer them all!

When did you start cloth diapering your LO? Was your significant other and other baby caretakers on board with cloth as well?

Cloth Diapering part 9 of 11

1. Cloth Diapering by parenting
2. On Cloth Diapering a Newborn by Mrs. Superhero
3. Easy Cloth Diapering by Mrs. Superhero
4. How to choose a cloth diapering system by Mrs. Superhero
5. Cloth Diaper Styles by Mrs. Pen
6. Cloth Diapering Diaries by Mrs. Sketchbook
7. Confessions of an (Ex) Cloth-Diapering Mom by Mrs. High Heels
8. They really are genius! by Mrs. Tea
9. Who, What, Why, and How: Cloth Diapering by mrs. tictactoe
10. On Cloth Diapering at 4 Months by Mrs. Stroller
11. Real Registry: Diana's Cloth Diaper Registry by Real Registries

Cloth Diapers part 9 of 17

1. Cloth Diapering by parenting
2. Washing Cloth Diapers by parenting
3. Cloth Diaper Update and Potty Pail Review by parenting
4. How to choose a cloth diapering system by Mrs. Superhero
5. Real Registry: Diana's Cloth Diaper Registry by Real Registries
6. On Cloth Diapering a Newborn by Mrs. Superhero
7. Cloth Diapering Update by Mrs. Hopscotch
8. Easy Cloth Diapering by Mrs. Superhero
9. Who, What, Why, and How: Cloth Diapering by mrs. tictactoe
10. On Cloth Diapering at 4 Months by Mrs. Stroller
11. Building a Cloth Diaper Stockpile by Mrs. Hopscotch
12. Confessions of an (Ex) Cloth-Diapering Mom by Mrs. High Heels
13. Cloth Diapering Diaries by Mrs. Sketchbook
14. They really are genius! by Mrs. Tea
15. Wool, the Other Sleep Sheep (and Adventures in Early Toileting) by Mrs. Twine
16. Adventures in Cloth Diapering by Mrs. Lion
17. Cloth Diapering: We're back! by Mrs. Deer