My most obsessive nesting behavior was getting ready to cloth diaper H. I knew from the start that I wanted to cloth diaper, and I wanted to be fully prepared. I read endless blogs and websites, and I built a stash of new and pre-loved newborn and one-size and even created a spreadsheet so that I knew what we had and what we needed.
Well, just like anything else with parenting, expectations rarely match the reality. The diapers I thought I would love were terrible for us. The wash routine took lots of trial and error. Bottom line (pun intended), it hasn’t been as easy as I thought it would be. Then we moved from Austin to Dallas when H was 3 weeks old, and was hospitalized for a week when she was 6 weeks old, so trust me when I say that there were many opportunities to just throw in the towel due to extenuating circumstances. Or, rather, throw in the pre-fold. But, we kept on, and I’ve been fully committed (Jude took lots of convincing…this is my “thing” for sure) for almost two years now. At our last pediatrician appointment, our doctor told us that we’ve lasted longer than most of her patients, and that made me proud.
Cutest tush!
When we moved in November and decided to live in a construction zone for more than a month, we obviously switched to disposables. No washer and dryer, no fluff. Then H started at MDO two days a week (disposables only), and on top of everything, her most recent growth spurt made all of our previous go-to diapers start leaking. I was ready to raise the white flag for good. After all, we can’t possibly have too much time before potty training, right? I prepared to start selling off our stash, and stocked up on some disposables. But…as I type this, my kiddo is playing at my feet, fluff-bummed and adorable. I just can’t fully quit yet, I just can’t.
I’ve come to the conclusion that it’s okay not to be all or none. Life changes and we have to make concessions, and for all you cloth diapering mamas that are starting to waver, my hope is that our experience helps your decision either way. Here’s my plan.
– Keep the cloth wipes and the diaper pail. I am not a fan of disposable wipes AT ALL. I feel like I use half the container every time. Cloth wipes are one of my favorite baby products ever. They work for everything, including snotty noses, dirty hands, and even the worst of blowouts only necessitates 2 or 3 tops. I “make” (water only) about 5 or 6 wipes at a time and throw them in my wipe warmer so they are never sitting in there very long to mildew. My favorites by far are the Thirsties which have now helped us practice colors during diaper changes. Since I am not giving up cloth wipes, this keeps it open to part time cloth diapering because I’m not getting rid of our diaper pail/wet bag situation.
– Disposables overnight and for school. I gave up on cloth diapering overnight a long time ago. We tried so much, and she was still waking wet. Sleep > all other things in the night. And for outings like the zoo, museum, etc. I usually put her in a disposable as well. I don’t want to stress about leaks when I’m trying to wrangle a toddler at a public event.
– Cloth after poops. Okay, I know this is way TMI about my kid’s poop, but as I mentioned here we have had poop issues from the start, and let’s just say that we don’t have complete consistency on consistency. Thanks, Miralax. When we moved, I didn’t move our diaper sprayer. To be honest, I just don’t like diaper sprayers. Even with the SprayPal, I just still don’t like dealing with the mess, and I didn’t want to install one in our brand new beautiful bathroom. I know, a tad superficial, but it’s the truth. The good news is that toddlers get somewhat on a pretty steady poop schedule. It’s not every 3 hours, and it’s more predictable. So post-poop is a great time to throw some fluff on, because you are probably in the clear for a good amount of time.
– Say goodbye to fixer diapers and diapers that just don’t fit anymore. My kid is big, and we have a relatively small stash. That means that elastics are starting to relax (leading to leaks) and some styles just don’t fit her as well as they did when she was six months old. And some of my least favorite diapers that have been in the back of the drawer for a year now work perfectly. Yes, it’s weird that I’ve gotten attached to diapers (symbol of her babyhood?), but I have accepted that they need to go. I also take into consideration whether or not paying someone to fix elastics (I don’t sew) is worth the investment or not. On some diapers with a great range of sizing that fit my kiddo well (Bumgenius elementals); this makes some sense, but my well-loved SmartBottoms are going to make their way to a new family for some fixing and loving. And I’m hanging on to my Grovia hybrids too because they can also be used as disposables, and they double as a swim diaper, which we will still be needing this summer.
. . . . .
I’m not sure why it’s been so important to me to keep cloth diapering, but I’m feeling way better now that I’ve created a bit of a plan. Anyone else somewhat irrationally attached?
guest
I tell friends o ask themselves 3 questions : is it important to me (for environmental or cost)? Do I LOVE laundry/am I efficient at laundry? Am I grossed out by toilet stuff?
All answers should be yes before proceeding. 2 or more you should give it a try with flexibility.
They are cute tushies though.
blogger / apricot / 389 posts
This is a great post. I think a lot of people have this all or nothing mentality when it comes to a lot of things. We scored 20+ cloth diapers used for $100, and were gifted about 5 new ones. We have to retire a few of the used ones, but have loved our experience thus far.
We’re both pretty relaxed about it though. I don’t ever want it to be stressful. So, we use disposable at night, we don’t always take cloth when we run errands (our little guy is not a fan of being wet in a cloth, so wearing a disposable when we have errands kind of avoids the icky public washroom change), and well sometimes the laundry is just not caught up and we use disposables for a day.
In the end, we’re still making less of an enviromental impact and saving money, which was our goal.
And I SO hear you on cloth wipes. We have disposables as well, but love the cloth wipes for EVERYTHING. I have a bum spray and wet them each time I use them.
guest
*am I NOT grossed out by toilet stuff (double negatives FTW)
pea / 9 posts
I heart cloth diapers and all the cloth diaper accessories. Wet bags? Love them for diapers and wet clothing/swim stuff. Diaper sprayer? Love it for obviously spraying off dirty diapers and all spraying out the little training toilet (and also great for vomit buckets – though that might just be me). Wipes? Great for wiping hands/mouths/noses and anything else. We did cloth for my first and we had some trial and errors at times but we persisted and I was heartbroken when he potty trained and my cloth was temporarily put in storage. Baby number 2 on the way and using all my fluff again is something I am eagerly looking forward to.
persimmon / 1095 posts
We do cloth diapers but use disposable wipes. When DD poops it is messy and the wipes are covered in poo. I have no desire to spray the poop off of each one so it can be washed. My husband uses a TON of wipes when he changes DD but I can handle even a really bad poop in 4 wipes. I’ve thought of doing them just for pee but think it’d add one more confusing step for DH since like you, cloth diapering is “my thing” and he just goes along with it.
We started with cloth part time and when she was a year old we finally made the switch to full time cloth except at night when we use a disposable (due to occasional leaks and mostly to a horrible ammonia smell from her overnight pee). *Knock on wood* but we don’t really have daytime leak issues as long as we change her every 2 hours. Not sure if you’re on an FB groups, but they help a ton with trouble shooting fit or leak issues! I like the Fluff Love University group and the Nicki’s Diapers group! Our daycare has been really great about using the cloth diapers too!
nectarine / 2821 posts
@Mrs. Marshmallow: I had trouble with part time with a toddler because I had so few to wash! Do you just do tiny loads?
blogger / kiwi / 626 posts
I’ve now done two kids in cloth and I love them. I don;t really mind the extra work, although there are times when I am sort of grossed out (but also amazed) by the mess. I use disposables at night because I have yet to find a cloth diaper that can hold the massive amount of pee that my kids produce overnight. I also use flannel wipes that I made myself. All in, we spent about $300.00 and probably an additional $6 per month in disposables.
One of the best things I tell people about cloth diapers is that I have yet to have a blow out with a cloth diaper. They contain the mess so much better than disposables.
blogger / apricot / 275 posts
I can’t quit cloth diapers either! I just stripped our entire stash and implemented a new wash routine that’s working amazingly well (working on a post about it actually – it’s almost completely stopped all of our leaking problems!) I also just started using cloth wipes and am loving them so much for all the reasons you outline.
persimmon / 1281 posts
We’ve prettt much given up on CD (I think) we did it from month 2-about 14/15. DS started having monsoon pees and leaking every time he peed. I couldn’t handle the clothing change after every pee so I threw in the towel. Though DH can’t commit to being done!
persimmon / 1310 posts
We are potty training now at 23 months after using mostly cloth. We combined part time elimination communication (EC) with cloth diapering, which I think it is ideal. Since 2 months old, we helped LO poop on the potty (pees were a mix). Rarely needing to clean poop off of diapers made it SO easy.
Now we primarily use cloth trainers (Gerber and Nicki’s mostly). Pull-ups are expensive and irritated her thighs.
I look forward to using EC and cloth diapers with the new baby due in a few months.
guest
We have a small stash, figured out our overnight routine, and constantly forget we cloth diaper. I was definitely more into talking about it the first time around whereas now cloth vs disposable seems more like comparing different brands of diapers to me: just different takes on the same product. We use Best Bottoms and Blueberry covers because we really chose to go this route for environmental reasons, but I admit pocket diapers look oh so cozy!
blogger / olive / 53 posts
@Mrs. Marshmallow: yes, I’m the same! I never chose cloth diapering to save money, I just wanted to contribute less disposable diaper waste to the world, which we have achieved.
you had a great run!
@DaisyDreamer: I really do miss the diaper sprayer…there are always things you would rather spray than swish!
@alphagam84: I’m a fan of fluff love U! I admit that I probably just need to change her more often now that she pees so much. But grrrr toddlers and the diaper war, it’s such a pain to hold her down haha!
@junebugsmama: I do small loads and try to throw in there other things like bath rugs or other little things. I do hate small loads, but hey, less folding at least, haha.
@Mrs. Cereal: This is so funny because my almost two year old (battling a stomach bug) had a blow out in a disposable today after school. I have NEVER had a blowout like that with cloth!
@Mrs. Peas: I’m anxious to read about the wash routine!
@Portboston: seriously, sometimes it’s literally shocking how much they pee once they get bigger.
@Iced Tea: super cool! i like the idea of cloth trainers WAY more than pull ups, but we will see what the tiny dictator thinks.
nectarine / 2047 posts
My 15 month old is in cloth full time except at night and it’s been going really well. Luckily,our daycare accepts cloth, which I’m very happy about. I don’t mind the extra work, but I’m hoping DS might potty train a little faster due to the cloth. Fingers crossed! @Mrs. Peas: I would love to read that post!