Note: This is not the post to read if you want to know the right way to select, use, or clean cloth diapers. (Fortunately for you, Hellobee has posts on all these topics!) But if you are wondering what it is like to transition from disposables to cloth when you are a complete newbie, perhaps this post will help encourage you to try cloth!
I did zero investigation into cloth diapering when I decided to try it. I love doing parenting research, but diapering wasn’t something I was passionate about. I knew I would start with disposables because I wanted to get used to having a baby before I tackled any ambitious projects. Once Scribble got here I had very little time to think about anything, so I stopped considering it for a while. After we got into a daily rhythm– and once the baby shower disposable stash ran out!–I decided I could find the time to try cloth, especially if it would save us some money.
I still didn’t do much research. My goal with cloth is to save money; environmental and aesthetic concerns run second and third to my financial interests. We were cash-poor at the time and just didn’t have the capital to invest in all the cloth diapering gear. So instead of researching stuff I couldn’t afford anyway, I got on Facebook to see if any friends had a few I could borrow or buy. I decided it didn’t really matter what type of cloth diaper I tried in the beginning; I am a hands-on learner and probably couldn’t select my preferred brand by looking at pictures or reading diapering blogs. If my friends who use prefolds let me borrow theirs, I would benefit from learning how to use the most energy-intensive type of diaper from the outset. If my pocket-diapering friends offered theirs, I could try them out and see if they were as easy to use as they seemed.
Folks, I hit the jackpot on Facebook. A friend had recently moved to a more urban area and didn’t have a laundry area to herself. So she sent me all her Kawaii baby pocket diapers plus a pail liner and all the cleaning supplies! I was bowled over by her generosity.
I don’t expect everyone to be so fortunate. Still, I suggest not spending too much time or money in the beginning. If cloth diapering turns out not to be your preference, or if you realize you don’t like the brand you chose, then you don’t want to be stuck with a hundred– or hundreds!– of dollars in gear you won’t use. So borrow a few or buy a limited quantity to try out — any brand or type of diaper is fine; I suggest the cheapest you can get your hands on. It is only after you see how a brand fits your baby and lifestyle that you want to consider making a big investment of time and money.
Below is my day-by-day chronicle of how I eased into cloth diapering. I try to include all of the frustrations and benefits I encountered along the course of the week. Like I said, I did almost zero research before embarking on this project so everything I am learning is new to me!
Day 1:
UGH. Today I told myself I’d start cloth diapering! I have used the holidays as an excuse not to try it. I decide to attempt one day just to see how I like it– trying is not a commitment!
Kawaii diapers are pocket diapers, meaning they snap-on like a disposable and don’t need to be folded or pinned on. But they do require users to slide a fleece insert into the diaper for absorbency.
I spend a few minutes in the morning putting the liners into the pockets and arranging them in a basket under our changing table. Then I take an old bucket, wash it out, and set it up in our powder room to use as a makeshift diaper pail. My friend included the rest of her detergent with the diapers she sent us (Crunchy Green brand), as well as instructions for how to launder them (extra soak cycle, then hot wash, extra rinse). I am so thankful for this; I had no idea how to get them clean and selecting a detergent brand would have been one more barrier to me trying these out.
I put him in one–is it just me or does he give me a look of relief as I snap the fuzzy, warm, diaper on?
A few minutes later Scribble poops. GAH. I dread changing this diaper because I know I’ll have to deal with its contents. I change him, then put him down so I can I handle the poopy diaper. I rinse it in the sink, using the liner to rake the solids off. I hate that I have to do this in our powder room; I wish I had a utility sink!
After trying cloth all day we revert back to disposables when we drop baby off with his grandparents; we are going out for New Year’s Eve! I have a full pail of cloth diapers to deal with when I get home. Although I hate having to rake the poop out, I do realize that it doesn’t really matter how many he uses in a day; either way I’ll be doing the same amount of laundry. So that’s really not an issue.
Day 2:
Today we are out of the house visiting friends an hour away. I don’t fool with cloth diapers today. Baby has a blowout in his disposable diaper all the way up his back– and this time it isn’t urine. Looks like our size two disposables are nearly useless to us; this is the second time he’s grown too big for a disposable size before he reached their maximum weight and before we were able to use all the ones we had purchased. What a waste of money!
Plus, even with a disposable I end up handling poop. Cloth is starting to look more compelling by the minute!
Day 3:
I start cloth in the morning. This brand has snaps down the front, in addition to those on the waist, to help the diaper fit better. Scribble is still able to wear his regular sleep-and-play, even the one that is slightly too small for him, after I snap the diaper up to fit him more snugly. I realize I need to set up a cloth diapering station; it is annoying to change baby in our room and then haul the diaper all the way across the house to the mudroom/laundry area where my powder room and washer sit.
That evening I wash my first load of dirty dipes. Getting the soggy mess into my front-load washer is the worst part. I end up slinging water all over the front of my front-load washer. Now I have to bleach it down. Gross! Next time, only enough water in the pail to keep the diapers moist!
Day 4:
We use cloth diapers all day today. They take a little longer to put on than a disposable and while I am wrangling it, my poor kid pees and scares himself! I have to take the new diaper off and use another. Still, I would be more frustrated if it had been a disposable; in that case I would have had to throw it away. It will be nice not to have to worry about running out of diapers too! I notice a few of his snugger onesies refuse to clasp shut. Oh well, he was almost out of that size anyway.
I take some time in the afternoon to reassemble the diapers that I’ve washed. There is drudgery in putting the inserts into the pockets, but it is more satisfying than having open diaper boxes sitting around my bathroom.
Day 5:
I find a soiled cloth diaper on our changing table. Hubby changed him last night but forgot to do anything with the dipe. Party foul! I rinse out the now dry diaper, then throw it and the rest of the soiled diapers in the wash. When I am rinsing out my pail I accidentally spill dirty water all over the counter. I have to get out the bleach and clean up the mess; meanwhile my kid is pitching a tantrum in the next room. Ok, why did I decide to try this? It really wasn’t that bad; I needed to scrub down this counter anyway.
A pail with a lid would be nice so that my guests don’t have to see diaper soup.
Day 6:
We accidentally used a cloth diaper last night and didn’t realize it until Scribble was sound asleep. But the next day he woke up leak-free!
And yet, today we have had about a zillion leaks…. up the back, on the side of the legs, etc. I do a little research to find a solution. Do they need stripping?
I decide I need to pay attention more to fit: making sure the front is snapped up tightly and that the leg holes aren’t too loose is a problem for me (I never want to cinch them up too tight!). Pulling the gusset as wide as possible before snapping in order to create a tight seal around the legs will help too.
Check out that too-loose diaper!
I notice today that Scribble looks a little rashy, so I smear on the butt paste and put him in a disposable, because you can’t use creams when you’re using cloth diapers. This derails us for a day. In the meantime, I determine the culprit– the disposable wipes I was using are irritating his skin. Will I be switching to cloth wipes soon as well?
I put some baking soda in his bath water and give him plenty of diaper-free time.
Day 9:
We are back to cloth diapering. I attempt to put soiled diapers directly into the wash— total fail! I think this works depending on your diaper and washer brand. For me, the best course of action is to hand-rinse them and leave them damp before washing.
~~~
After a few weeks of cloth diapering I’m hooked! I don’t feel hemmed in. I can do cloth when I want (which is most of the time), and can use disposables when I must. I am convinced that either method is equally convenient. With cloth I do have more interaction with my kid’s byproducts, and I have more laundry to do, but it doesn’t matter how many we waste, and we don’t have to spend time scanning the aisles or Amazon for deals.
I am realizing that the 15 covers my friend gave me aren’t enough to make cloth diapering a daily habit, so now I’m shopping for more!
What was your first week of cloth diapering like? Any tips for me?
Cloth Diapering part 6 of 11
1. Cloth Diapering by parenting2. 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
Hellobee Series: Cloth Diapers part 13 of 14
1. Cloth Diapering by parenting2. 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
blogger / pear / 1598 posts
We’re in our first week right now. I have liners and covers in one big basket and just stuff as needed during each change. I also just pull the insert and dump the whole thing in a wet bag – no rinsing or pail with water – I’m lazy! I do have stains on my diapers with a soak cycle, cold wash, hot wash, extra rinse method. It doesn’t bother me, but I may try spraying them with bac out before putting them in the bag to see if that helps.
Have you seen the diaper sprayers that hook up to your toilet? Then you don’t have to use your sink.
Sounds like you’re figuring things out!! :)
blogger / apricot / 483 posts
@Mrs. Tricycle: for whatever reason when I threw mine in the wash without rinsing them, a few had crust in the gussets– eeewwww. Staining I don’t mind, but crust, ugh! It may have been the setting I used though. I’m still learning how to get the most from my washer and it is low flow so that is annoying too. Staining doesn’t bother me too much except mine are borrowed so I guess I need to try to keep them in ok condition. I am actually planning just use these and buy them new ones when the time comes as a thank you! Right now we only have about a dozen. I need to get more which is probably part of the reason I am so overly worried about staining– I’m afraid I will wear them out! I need to buy more but also need to convince DH of their value…hard for him to see the value of a 20 dollar diaper that requires special detergent, extra care, and energy costs….u have to use it probably fifty times to turn a “profit.” Maybe buying used is the solution for us!
blogger / pear / 1598 posts
@Mrs. Sketchbook: Crusty bits are ewww! :) Luckily I have yet to witness those. I have a front load HE washer, too, and from my annoyingly extensive research, they recommend a soak, cold wash, hot wash, extra rinse cycle.
Here’s a cloth diaper savings calculator if you’ve got a lot of free time (haha) on your hands: http://www.diaperpin.com/calculator/calculator.asp
GOLD / pear / 1769 posts
I put everything directly into our washer (baby is ebf) and do one hot wash and one cold rinse and they come out totally fine…
I use Charlie’s laundry soap and so far I have not had to soak, prerinse, etc.
blogger / apricot / 483 posts
@Mrs. Tricycle: how often do you wash yours? Right now with only 12 diapers, for me to do that level of washing would take like, 4 hours (my regular hot/cold cycle is 1 hr long, soak is 2 hrs, not sure how much the extra rinse adds….maybe 30 mins?). It just seems like a long time to wait for diapers to be done when you’re relying on those diapers, and a lot of washing to expose your diaper to if you’re washing them every day or every other day….See…this is why I need more diapers!! So they get a break every few days from being washed. Gotta go shop…!
blogger / persimmon / 1193 posts
Sounds like you’re doing great! I waited about 3 weeks before we started to use cloth exclusively because we had so many NB diapers from the hospital.
Just a couple of thoughts for you, I’ll list them out to make it easier to read:
1. Don’t leave them in a “wet” pail – as in you don’t need them to remain moist. It can cause the PUL to breakdown faster to be wet all the time and you never want to have standing water anywhere when you have a baby (albeit a slightly more mobile one!) Just rinsing and squeezing all the water out and throwing in the pail will suffice.
2. I find throwing EBF poops in my washing machine without rinsing disgusting. That poop cannot possibly wash totally clean from the machine (in my mind anyway) and I also wash my clothes…and sheets in there. Mmmm snuggly poop. Plus, before you know it 6 months will be here and he’ll no longer be EBF, so you may as well just rinse now.
3. I find it easier to rinse in the toilet. We hooked up a sprayer and that gets it really clean. Plus, when the poops get solid, you can just plop them in, totally easy! If you don’t want to invest in a sprayer, just swishing them around in the toilet works (it’s clean water if you’ve flushed, ya know) and that keeps you from getting poop all up in where you wash your hands and brush your teeth….
4. In our house breaking up the duties helps – I rinse and wash diapers, DH stuffs. Equal enough for me
5. You don’t have to rinse your diaps as they happen. I leave my folded in half on the back of the toilet and then deal with them at the end of the day. So much easier to do it once a day than 8 times a day. Although when M was little I used to have him do his tummy time while I rinsed every diap.
6. I called BumGenius the other day re: stinky diaps and she suggested that in a front loader I add a soaking wet towel to trick the washer into adding more water. I haven’t had a problem for a year, so I think they really did just need a strip, but I like the trick, so I’m using it. A cold wash with a little detergent then a hot wash with a little detergent and an extra rinse should be all you need.
7. When you go to give them back just hang them to dry in the direct sun and 95% of the stains will disappear. Magic
8. If you have a BuyBuyBaby near you, they sell BG4.0 diapers (pockets like you have, they’re my favorite and the most popular) and you can use a 20% off or $5 off $15 coupon on them. They come out to be about $12, which is a great savings.
olive / 82 posts
We’ve been cloth diapering for a bit over a year now (PB is almost 15 months old and VERY mobile). A few notes from our experience:
1) We use all BumGenius 4.0 snap pocket diapers. We have 26 of them now, collected over 1.5 years via gifts and sales at cottonbabies.com. I didn’t do a ton of research, I just saw that several people liked them, and it’s nice to be able to change how much stuffing you put in each diaper (we triple-stuff for overnight, and it lasts 12 hours). I like them and they’ve held up well to many many washings.
2) Our “diaper pail” is a giant painter’s bucket from the hardware store with a lid. Cheapo and sturdy. We fill it about a third full with a solution of water and Borax to soak soiled diapers. (ETA: I know everyone says we shouldn’t leave them soaking… we haven’t had issues from this yet but we wash fairly frequently. YMMV).
3) We tried a sprayer on our toilet, but then we moved and never installed one in the new place… and don’t really miss it.
4) When PB poops, we change him on the floor of the bathroom (it’s where his changing station lives… the changing table is too dangerous for our little acrobat!). Clean him up with disposable wipes (we used cloth wipes when he was still EBF, but once he was eating solids the poops got… well, like actual poop.) Wipes go in lidded trash can. Clean baby gets briefly stashed across hall in his crib where he plays with a toy. Diaper liners get pulled out and thrown in to bucket. Diaper gets swished in toilet. I generally flush while swishing, it helps. Wet, de-pooped diaper goes in to bucket. Lid on. Scrub hands! Done.
5) Every two days or so we wash the diapers. Since they’ve pre-soaked in Borax solution, we just wash hot in Charlie’s soap (I always throw a bit of baking soda in, too – maybe 1/2 cup per load), then extra rinse. Every month or 6 weeks we put in a splash of bleach… if we don’t do this PB starts to get a mild rash. Never had stains or crustiness issues.
Over the holidays we traveled a lot and used disposables for almost two weeks. I forgot how expensive those things are!!
Scribble is a super cutie in those diapers. :-)
nectarine / 2253 posts
We don’t rinse the diapers at all after a diaper change. We just throw them straight into a wet bag. I’ve never had any trouble with crust or remaining gross stuff on the diapers. (My wash routine is to do a full cold wash, then a hot wash with an extra rinse cycle. It works like a charm.)
Before DD started solids, we just threw the poopy diapers straight into the wash with the wet ones as well. Now that she eats solids, we use a flushable diaper liner to catch the poop. It’s an added expense, but not nearly as expensive as disposable diapers, and if your baby poops reliably at certain times of the day, you don’t even need to use a liner with each diaper.
GOLD / pear / 1576 posts
We just throw our dirty diapers into a dry diaper pail. I don’t Prince them or anything before hand….just throw them in the washer every few days. We use liners though so they help collect a lot of the mess. We don’t have any problems with how they cone out clean. Our wash cycle is be cold rince. Hot wash followed.by 2 cold rinces. We use a top loader when qw used our front loaded we had issues with the diapers smelling bc they use such less water and cloth diapers love a lot of water.
guest
Like everyone else is saying, you should try a dry pail!
And for a diaper pail with a lid, go to Target and buy a kitchen trash can. We’ve been cloth-diapering for about 10 months now, and we love it.
guest
Congrats on making the switch!
I have been doing a combination of Elimination Communication (EC) since two weeks, and cloth diapers since 1 month. I have 27 bumgenius 4.0s and 6 Alvababies. Generally he gets a disposable for overnight from 12-8am.
He is exclusively breastfed so we always just left the poop in there. We used to wash about 2 or 3 times a week at the laundromat (front loading). Sometimes I do them at my moms house (top loading) to get more water and an extra rinse through them.
At 6 months old he no longer poops in his diaper (thanks to EC) and goes exclusively on his potty. I am SO thankful for that because I really don’t want to deal with solid poops. Sounds like a lot of work!