Hellobee

Before I had LeLe, I started researching cloth diapers because I thought I wanted to go that route, but I wasn’t sure. If I am completely honest, the number one reason I decided to cloth diaper was because it was way cheaper than using disposables. I have better reasons now beyond the costs. With both my kids in cloth, I can consider myself somewhat of an expert now.

I’ve laid out the basics here of the types of diapers that are available, the accessories, and how to wash and collect them. To start with, disposable diapers will be referred to as “sposies” from this point forward.

K I N D S  O F  C L O T H  D I A P E R S

1) AIO – All in ones:  These are as close to a sposie as you can get in cloth diapering. They are ready to use with the insert sewn in. These tend to be more expensive, with diapers costing between $15.00 to $40.00 per diaper. There are a ton of different brands with their own special features. AIO’s take a long time to dry and aren’t great for travel as they are rather bulky and you can’t break them down into smaller pieces like you can with other options. They are really nice for overnight, especially if you pair them with an additional soaker layer.

2) AI2 – All in twos: These are two part systems. You buy waterproof covers or shells and soaker inserts that either lay in the cover or snap into it. The poop or pee are contained (in theory) by the soaker, and you can re-use the cover if it doesn’t get soiled. You can get away with less covers because you can re-use them for several changes. The other benefit is that they travel easy. There is also the option of using disposable soakers and that is appealing for some people who would rather not have any contact with the poop or pee. Covers usually run between $15.00 to $40.00 and the inserts can be as little as $1.00. You can also get creative and use absorbent fabric that you purchase yourself, which can make it even more economical.

3) Pocket – This is a two part diaper system with an absorbent cover and soaker insert that you stuff into the diaper (pocket). These are a little more work than AIO’s and AI2’s, but they tend to be cheaper. They travel pretty well and you can get a lot of them for pretty cheap. There are a wide variety of insert options from microfleece, bamboo, and charcoal, or you can make your own. These are the Cereal household’s diaper of choice, but I am not sure if I would go this way again.

4) Prefolds or Flats and Covers – This is more like your parents’ or grandparents’ cloth diapers.  ou use prefolds or flats (plain cloth diapers) and you fold them in a variety of ways, then use a waterproof cover. The options are endless for what you use for the actual absorbent layer and they are generally very cost effective. You can travel very easily with these. There are a million youtube videos about how to fold them that are really informative. Probably the biggest pro for this is how readily available they are. If you are in a pinch, you can pop into almost any department store and find them, whereas the other options are a little harder to find.

H O W  T O  C H O O S E

For me, I went with what my sister was doing, but like I said above, I would probably go a different route if I were starting again. I really like the prefold/flats and covers idea, and I think that is probably what I would have chosen had I not already decided on pockets. I do love my pockets though. I am a little obsessed with cloth diapers and I am constantly looking at patterns and new options.  I use a variety of three different brands and all of them have their pros and cons.  Surprisingly, my favorite brand ended up being the cheaper ones, which meant that I could buy more of them.

My initial investment is probably right around $350 for both kids, and I have somewhere around 80 diapers right now. Part of this investment included upgraded inserts with more absorbency.

A C C E S S O R I E S

7) Diaper pail – pretty self explanatory, but it helps to have a bin or some sort to toss the used diapers into for in between washings. Our pail also has a deordorizer, which is really helpful.

9) Disposable Liners – These are pretty self explanatory, but they are basically liners that can lay on top of the diaper so when your baby goes to the bathroom, you can just remove the liner and there is less mess. I have never used these so I can’t really vouch for their effectiveness, but I can definitely see the appeal.

10) Diaper Sprayer – This is a hose and sprayer that you can hook up to your toilet. There are entire sets available or if you have a handy husband like Mr. Cereal, you can use a kitchen sprayer and hook that up to the toilet. I prefer the kitchen sprayer because I think I get more power behind it than I did with the diaper sprayer we started with.

11) Spray Pal – A plastic cylinder to hook the diaper into for spraying so you don’t get water and grossness everywhere.  I didn’t start out with this because I thought I didn’t need it, but I was very wrong.  We went a different route and purchased a cheap garbage can and cut off the bottom, which saved us quite a bit of money.  Mr. Cereal grabbed a shop clamp for me and I just clamp the diaper to the garbage can and spray away.

12) Snappi – If you go the prefolds/flats and cover route, you will need a snappi. This is a little rubber device that you use to hold the prefold or flat in place after you put it on baby. These come in a variety of colors and sizes.

13) Rubber gloves – No need to explain here. Trust me, you’ll want them for when you are washing diapers.

14) Coconut Oil – We only use coconut oil for diaper rashes (which are rare around here). Cloth diapers lose their absorbency if you use traditional diaper rash creams, so coconut oil is the best option out there. Plus, it smells great! There are some creams designed specifically for cloth diaper users, but I do not have experience using them.

15) Wet bag – These come in a variety of sizes and patterns. You will probably want a few, and I recommend that the ones you get for traveling with have an outside pocket to put soiled clothing into as well. I also have two large ones that I line my diaper pail with.

16) Cloth Wipes – This is totally optional. I use flannel wipes that I make myself, but there are a wide variety of cloth wipes available to purchase too. You have the option of making something to soak your wipes in, but I just use plain old water and it works great.

H O W  T O  W A S H

This is one of those personal preference things, so I will talk about what my routine is, but it may not work for you so do some experimenting to see what works best for you.

I wash every other day at his point. Every night I remove the inserts from the diapers and put the pee ones into the diaper pail and I knock any poop off of the poop diapers into the toilet. I spray down the poop diapers and put them into the diaper pail. I used to be really careful not to let too much water end up in the pail, but now I don’t really try as hard to avoid it because it actually help now if there is some moisture in the pail.

Once all diapers are ready to go into the wash, I put them into the washer on cold for a rinse. I follow that with another rinse on cold. About once a month, I add some bleach to my rinse, but this is a very controversial topic in cloth diapering, especially because it will void a warranty for some of the more expensive diapers. Because I am using what is commonly referred to as “cheapies,” I don’t really care about a warranty. After the two cold rinses, I wash on hot with regular detergent. Again, this is a controversial topic because there are a lot of detergents that are made specifically for cloth diapers, but I have found that they are not very effective in actually cleaning the diapers. I use Arm and Hammer unscented detergent and it works great.

Once they are washed, you have two options depending on the type of diapers you are using. I throw my diapers straight into the dryer most of the time. This can void warranties on some diapers, so you will need to check before you go this route. The other option is to let them hang to dry. This takes some time, and you’ll need to have some sort of drying rack for this. Sometimes if I have extra time, I will put all my diapers outside to dry in the sun to bleach them out. This isn’t always a viable option based on weather, but man is it nice to do sometimes.

I stuff my diapers once they are dry, but a few of my cloth diaper mommy friends choose to stuff as needed. It’s just a personal preference. My routine takes about four hours, so I often will start a load at night and finish them the next day.

C O L L E C T I N G  C L O T H  D I A P E R S  &  T H E  C L O T H  D I A P E R I N G  C O M M U N I T Y

This is a phenomenon I was completely oblivious to when I started cloth diapering, but once I figured out what it was all about, I was 100% on board. A lot of cloth diaper manufacturers release limited edition prints. These are generally in high demand, and it’s a fun collecting thing to try to get some of the prints that you really like. For me, the holiday related prints are my favorite to pursue. I was amazed to find a bunch of co-ops online that sold diapers from member to member. This was a great way to increase my stash and oftentimes be able to do it on a budget. I can search within the co-ops I am in to see if any of the members have a print I have been looking for, and I can sell some of the prints I am no longer using. The other really awesome part about the community is being able to get my cloth diaper questions answered by other parents who have experience with what I am curious about.

The absolute best part of cloth diapering, in my humble opinion, is seeing your cute little baby’s bum in a cloth diaper. I love that I am being more environmentally friendly by not using sposies, and I also really love how much money we have saved.

Anything I didn’t cover? Are there any other cloth diaper experts out there with their own advice?